Valerie Reiss: May 2009 Archives

I'm a sprout farmer! What started out as a handful of mung beans are now nice, crunchy, protein- and enzyme-rich sprouts. Very exciting. And you can do it too if you haven't before. Here are easy-peasy basic instructions for mungs and a few links in case you want to get fancier.

1) Get a Mason jar (the bigger one) and fill it about a quarter full of washed and sorted mung beans.

2) Cover completely with sprong, distilled, or filtered water. Cover with cheese cloth and a rubberband. Soak for 6-12 hours.

3) Rinse the soaked beans well in a strainer. Put beans back in the jar. Re-cover with cheese cloth and rubberband. Set the jar at a 45-degree angle if you can, or if you don't have something you can prop it with, simply set it on its side. Cover with a dishtowel to keep it from sunlight (or move into my apartment where there is none).

4) Rinse the beans once a day through the cheese cloth. Be sure to completely pour the water out before setting it back in its angled or side resting place.

5) Do this for about three days, until the sprout tails are about 1/4-inch long.

6) Eat! Put on salads or blend into smoothies for an extra enzyme kick. Congrats, you are a sprout farmer.

Next, I'm onto lentils. A friend tells me the green ones work better than brown. And of course you can sprout so many different things--raw peanuts, sunflower seeds, dried whole peas, and more.

Here' s some more in-depth sprouting instructions and information. 

Do you sprout? Any tips?

[Image via: Me]

Lately I've been waking up in the morning and just lying in bed for a while, listening. My ears fill with a rush of... nothing. Just a rich silence. I can almost see it. It's like a dense meringue of nothingness. And it seems to help with my day to really drink that in first thing.

Maybe give it a try. Whenever you catch a moment of quiet, imagine it filling your ears, your brain, your whole body with calm.

Thanks to my friend Deb for posting this little collection and image on Facebook. Enjoy!

"You need not wrestle for your good. Your good flows to you most easily when you are relaxed, open, and trusting." - Alan Cohen

"Laughter relaxes. And relaxation is spiritual." - Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

"A cheerful frame of mind, reinforced by relaxation...
is the medicine that puts all ghosts of fear on the run." - George Matthew Adams

"Making love is like hitting a baseball. You just gotta relax and concentrate." - Susan Sarandon

"Smile, breathe and go slowly." - Thich Nhat Hanh

[Image by Rob Sawkins: http://www.robsog.org/]

The latest in several studies on how meditation affects the brain (and thus our lives) found that meditators' noggins actually have more gray matter in certain areas than non-meditators.

According to Dr. Belleruth Naparstek, those spots are associated with "emotional regulation and response control." She adds that this "might account for meditators' singular abilities to cultivate positive emotions, retain emotional stability, and engage in mindful behavior."

So cool! And a great reminder to stop, drop, and breathe. Here's the meditation study's abstract. 

Do you have a meditation practice? If so do you find it helps you?

[Image via: http://belleruthnaparstek.com/hot-research/yes-virginia-size-matters-meditators-really-do-have-bigger-brains.html] 

Chynna Phillips, daughter of John Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas, is putting out a tribute album to dads. On it she and a bunch of other offspring of famous father musicians are singing covers. It comes out June 2nd (only on iTunes) and Jen Chapin sings Harry Chapin's "Cats in the Cradle;" Salvador Santana does his dad's "Evil Ways;" "Bartender's Blues" is sung by Ben Taylor, son of James; and the Nelson twins perform Ricky's "Travelin' Man." All good, mellow 60s-ish music.

Not sure from this clip how good it is, but it sounds like a sweet way to honor your dad.

What are you planning to do to honor father's day in a couple of weeks?