From TCM workshop (in collaboration with Le Frigo Vert) Jan 26, 2022 –

Acupressure/Reflexology/TCM Dietetics for HEADACHES/MIGRAINES

Soul and body nourishing Recipes

from

 Garlic Avocado sauce with spaghetti (2 servings)

• 2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
• 1/2 big or 1 small avocado, smashed with fork
• sparingly sprinkle with salt (I like Himalayan salt)
• sparingly drizzle with olive oil (I like extra virgin cold press organic)
• serve it with your spaghetti and Enjoy!

Roasted kale, edamame, dumpling with egg noodles (2 servings)

• 2-3 branches of kale, take out the leaves, drizzle with olive oil and salt, massaged it for a min, place them evenly on a baking sheet, put in the oven for 3-5min at 350 degree or till it’s crispy
• 2-3 egg noodles, boil water in a pan, put in noodles when the water is boiled, cook for 10-12min, add edamame, drain out the water, put noodles+edamame in a frying pan, add 1 tsp sesame oil, 1 tsp olive oil, cook till warm
• 10-12 dumplings of your choice (homemade dumpling recipe coming soon) bring water to boil, put in prepared frozen dumplings, cook for 15min

Pad Thai with gyoza and arugula salad (2 servings)

• 1/2 a pack of rice noodle, bring water to boil, add the rice noodle, cook for 7min, then drain out the water, rinse in cold water to prevent them from sticking together
• sauce: 1 tbsp peanut butter, 1.5 tbsp tahini, 2 tsp soya sauce, 1/2 cup of hot water, mix them well (add chili sauce optional) put it on the noodle, sprinkle with black sesame seeds
• 10-12 gyoza, pan fried, heat up 1.5 tbsp of oil, put in frozen gyoza, cook for 7-9min, add 2 tbsp of water, let it half pan fried half steamed for 6-8min or until the bottom is golden and the wrapping is soft
• a handful of arugula, wash and rinse out the water, add oil, salt and 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice

Ginger Molasses Cookies

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/17165/big-soft-ginger-cookies/ 

Seedy Energy balls

• mix sunflower seed, pumpkin seed, walnut, almond, black sesame seed, dates, figs, raisin. (Optional) blend it roughly or finely in a blender; or leave it as is without blending. Add honey and (optional) peanut butter or any nut butter. Mix well and use a teaspoon to scope them up in small balls, place them on a plate and put them in the freezer until it’s solid. Then you can move it to the fridge and it can keep for weeks or leave it in the freezer for months.

Tapioca Coconut Cream with Black sesame seed

• 1/2 cup tapioca in a sauce pan, 2 cups  water, cook till the tapioca becomes transparent
• add 250ml coconut milk or cream, cook till boiled.
• garnish with black sesame seeds
• sweetened with molasses or maple syrup or honey
• (optional) add dried fruits (eg dried apricot, dates, raisins, etc.)

May 5, 2020

Last time posting was end of March. Five weeks have passed. We have been through about 8 weeks is social distancing. Can you tell me how are you doing?

It is not easy to answer. It has never been an easy question, even since English become the common language in my life. This has always been a very puzzling question to me, as i don’t know how much time the person who asked me this question would like to spend with me, as it is quite a complicated question to answer…but that’s another story for another time 😉 This manifold question has become even more complicated under the current circumstance. Luckily, i have a cat who always reminds me that feeding her is the most important thing to do every day, it’s a fact but on the joking side 😉 I feel extremely fortunate to have a lovely family (when chaos are dormant that is, cos you know, family is another complicated matter that needs another blog to talk about…) who embraces challenges, and working towards the need to support each other. I feel extremely fortunate to be connected with some of you through online yoga classes that i teach 4 times a week, and some of you who have joined me various online sessions or workshops, videos and audios that i posted online. Connection feels ever tangible these days. For someone whose family or childhood is not in the same city or country, we have lots that felt like we have left behind, yet, in fact, the furthest the distance those dear ones/things are, the closest, if not deepest they hold within me. 

Within walls of confinement, being restricted to only be with ourselves, has created the time and space that forced us face the person we are. There can be very deep, dark moments. There can be pains, wounds, scars, yearning to be touched, screaming to be seen, wanting to be loved. This confinement has created the time and space for us to face ourselves that normally we won’t. Normally, we would be able to find any other reasons to not go there, but not this time. This is probably a time since the industrial revolution or the invention of washing machine and television that time creeps in the cracks and knock on door that no one can see. 

Please be scared. Cos you are. 
Fear, like other primal emotions, are a strong protective mechanism to allow the body to react and the brain to redirect the message in front of us.
Fear is not you. You are not Fear.
Just like you may be feeling like worries is taking over you. In fact, you have the power to take over the worries. WE just need to identify the way, the path, the perspective that is different from the one that always seem to bring us back to the same sadness or madness.
You are more than your emotions.
Emotions, they can be our allies or at least ‘known enemies’ 🙂
It is not about being nice to them. Not about conquering them. Not about being better at it. Not about being enlightened.
It is about taking that breath, that precious moment, all to yourself, for yourself.
Allowing yourself to do nothing but to listen to the self. It may be the physical self, may be the emotional self, may be the childhood self, may be the abandoned self, etc. the description is endless, as long as you know that they are all you.
To accept that we are the multiplicity of one-self, who can be connected to the collective wisdom as well as the unique me within our-selves.
Now lie down and be cozy.
This audio is for you:

* * * * *

march 27, 2020

Cute kittens always melt our heart, whether you like cats or not. Its symmetrical face naturally have a warm response in our heart, even is an image of an electric plug that resemble a smiling face. Emotions can be explained as chemical synapsis triggered by hormonal regulations and the functions of appropriate glands. Emotions are felt in our heart.

A flock of birds flying in the gloomy sky.  You may unconsciously let out a sigh – your chest feels heavy, as if the image has brought you to the darkest, saddest corner of your memories.

A Chinese quote : “May we live in challenging times” And, geeze, do we. It is challenging because it is uncertain. The sense of uncertainty leads to fear. Fear induces the feeling of anxiousness. Being anxious, we loose our patience to even everyday stuff, like being angry at dropping some toothpaste on the floor. Normally, we will just grab a sponge and wipe it off, that’s it, that’s all. However, in a state of impatience, which leads to frustration and irritation, next thing you know, we are in an argument with someone about the most mundane thing and for the most unimportant reason, if there’s a reason to it at all. Then we sorry for letting out our anger to the other person. One may even beat ourselves up for unreasonable or

During this time of practicing social distancing, my mailbox and on the internet are full of all sorts of new updates, other than that, i received the most are spiritual masters, herbalists, holistic therapists, yoga masters’ newsletters, friends and families on fb, even Tom Hank has a testimony about his experience about the current situation, honestly sharing how they are facing the challenge. How we all have sleepless nights or waking up with thoughts of fear: what happens next? One thing to be grateful for through these messages are their openness to express their feelings: sadness, grief, fear, worry, uncertain. You are not alone. We are not alone. Whether you are a medical doctor, nurse, spiritual master, yoga guru, movie star, the senior resident next door, we are all experiencing this t-o-g-e-t-h-e-r.

Emotions can be managed. We don’t need to keep ourselves in a closed space and punish ourselves for feeling how we feel. It is only natural that we feel scared when we have fear, that we feel anxious when facing uncertainty, that we feel worry because the future is unclear, that we feel sad because of what we did in the past. Buddhist teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh,

“Suffering is not enough. Life is both dreadful and wonderful…How can I smile when I am filled with so much sorrow? It is natural–you need to smile to your sorrow because you are more than your sorrow.”

I saw this in my backyard yesterday. I don’t know what is going to be? A flower? What color? How big? When will i find out? And I thought of you, all of you, who i have encountered. That life is blossoming in front of me and it is still blossoming inside me, if i allow myself to pause from all the external sensational stimulations and turned inwards to listen, allow myself to find the heart that is still beating, that breathe that is still moving.

And these also in my backyard where the sun is shining. I still don’t have a fix schedule at home (everyone is working at home) to offer you online classes. So i hope sharing some words with you will bring you a smile in your heart and may be some sun on your face.

Sending love to you all

sally

* * * * *

2018

SPRING HAS ARRIVED!

Autumn-Fall-Automne

Sounds of leaves crushing under the feet and the monarch butterflies surrounding you; it is partly why i like living in Montreal. The fallen leaves and yellow street remind us that Autumn has arrived; just as the moon announced it is Equinox – the autumn harvest – the time to slow down, reflect, recollect, centre…allowing the yin side of the nature awakes, allowing the yang energy within us subside, but not completely, recreating a balance that is a little bit of both worlds and energies.

It is quite apparent that we have more of a tendency to slow down the pace, feeling staying in bed a little longer, yet, taking the advantage of the sun and warmth still lingering in the late afternoon. You may find yourself a change of appetite (having unreasonable cravings, like sweet, greasy, buttery food) in the past few weeks (and may be still going), hence gaining some weight. The change of eating habits may lead to some indigestions and henceforth pronounced dreams or even nightmares. Seasonal allergies bugging the heck out of you, hence a bit of headache. You may even noticed that your hair is a bit frizzy, the scalp a bit itchy or oily, hands and feet a little sticky or sometimes swollen, joints a bit achy, the skin a bit dry, etc. To some of us, may even find the tongue and bottom of feet itchy, acnes, pimples that are not usual, mysterious tinny tiny water bubbles on fingers or toes, having constipation or diarrhea, being impatient, loosing the cool. The change in temperature may confused you whether you are having a cold or it is allergies…Yup, these can all be signs the environment and the body adjusting to the change of season – entering Autumn.

Watching the butterflies hovering amongst the flowers, i can’t help but get sentimental about the image as i perceive it, which reminds me of this everlasting Chinese parable: “…Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man…” – 莊子 Zhūangzi (c. 369 BC – c. 286 BC) The perceived and the reflection; the real and the image; the you and the i – all returning to the earth by the natural force of gravity, calling, pulling, adjusting, resting, with each exhale and inhale.

Yellow, the third chakra, the centralized force, be seated with personal power and awareness, dawning for new perception. It is where our solar plexis is, also know as the furnace, if we feed it with too much wood, it builds too much heat, and we become firey. If we cool it with too much wind, energy doesn’t get move and disperse fluidly, we feel weak and achy. It has to be a well balanced fire to roast that tender mashmallow, which we have saved it all the way to the height of the campfire night. Enjoy the fruits of the season, namely pears and apples, and savour it in however manner you prefer – roast with maple syrup and pine nuts, purée it with cinnamon and nutmeg, bake it with peaches coconut flakes, have it fresh off the tree. Forget the refined pastries and embrace the natural sweetness from earth.

My readers supporters followers clients friends are caretakers in nature or at work a mother figure in different aspects and lives. I wish you all whom we have connected through various sources that we can all be surrendered – allow, receive and accept the gratitude of others and of nature.

– May it be an abundant and radiant Equinox to us all –

Spring – awakening from the dormant state, entering the renewal energy, and getting ready to take some actions

– the SPRING edition –

I was very amused by the productivity, positive and creative energy in the past few weeks. Ideas of all paths of life just kept streaming in, and i found myself writing notes to myself, texting and emailing to remind myself all these ‘excitement’ pouring in and out of my consciousness.
Next, i realized that ‘this is SPRING TIME – earthly creatures emerging from the cold and darkness of the dormant state of winter.
Drinking as much liquid as the rain is providing. Washing and cleaning the atmosphere that the wind has left behind. Absorbing and adjusting to the warmth and energy of the sun.

I wanted to do workshops about this, but there’s not even time. I just want to share this sense of abundance and energy with you, as you are the ones who i have in mind, when i am having this moment of epiphany! (that’s it, i said it!)

Spring – Wood element – Liver and Gall Bladder meridian

If we can relate ourselves to the nature and its rhythm, the intensed allergies that you may have been going through is partly due the ‘Spring cleaning’ that the environment is doing, and partly our internal body is unearthing from the winter. Spring is also a time to plant the seeds, just as ideas sprouting inside us, asking us to do something about them. It is the yearning to make changes, this sense of making-it-happening, that we are filled with excitement and stimulations. As much as this positive energy is churning within us, the excitement lead us afloat. If you also feel this way, and would like to take that one small but significant step to nurish your brilliant ideas, below are a few simple steps that you can follow that may be helpful to unleash t before the igniting power takes place into actions once summer arrives.

As mothers/parents, lacking of sleep and rest, constantly wrestling with crying babies, screaming toddlers, shifting energies from your partners, friends, and colleagues, etc. this creative energy may not be as pronounced and may even likely to be manifested into another form of energy/emotion. No matter what that energy that you have been noticing, be it positive or negative ( as in a feeling, not as a judgement), take a note so we can be aware of it/them, and eventually make use of it. The present moment is where we live; wisdom, however, arrives in hind sight. If this resonate with you, i wish this email accompanies you like a friend; walk with you for a few moments as it echoes. If it doesn’t resonate with you, i wish it accumulates as an additional perspective on to your collection.

Feel free to take the following exercise or leave it or pass it on to whoever you would like to share with.

Day 1
1. Take less than 2min to make a ‘this is what i want’ list, side by side with ‘don’t want’ list. Treat it like a brainstorming exercise. Do not take too much time to think – no thinking, just write what comes to mind.

Move on to #2 right away

2. Take a few breathes, deep and exhilarating, and then look at the list you just wrote.

Let it settle with you.

Day 2
Take the list you wrote yesterday and see which ones you have already done or are alreafy doing and which one you are going to do, when and how and which one don’t
3. Make a list of all the ideas you have in mind or have scribbled on pieces of paper. Keep writing, allow the hand to follow your thoughts, and ‘not’ the other way round.

Take a few deep breathes,

Let it settle in you.

Day 3
4. Take a moment, one breath at a time, to listen to each inhale and exhale and watch/observe how the body is receiving and releasing the breath, physically, metaphorically, emotionally, and psychologically.

Spring
Harness that energy, like they are seedlings, that you will plant them in the soil. When summer comes, the season of heat and action, will get the ball rolling. The following simple exercise may give you a lift to take some first steps, and allow us to see the ideas in words, which often is not quite the same as a conceptual state in the head. But if you have already begun and has sown your seeds,

May we all able to connect with the powerful energy deep within ourselves. May we graciously accept this innate wisdom that has passing on from generations to generations. May we truthfully manifest this subtle beauty – through our breath, a blink of the eye, a twitch of a finger, each step we make with our feet, each beating of the heart – into a tangible means, one motion, one step, one inhale and one exhale at a time.

Let’s all our creative energy meets at some planes at some point at some time.

Remember:
[ b-ê :: well ] is where cannot be filled and never full.

😉

Humidity level – SPRING in Full Swing

If you have had a session with me (massage, yoga or YT) this week, you will know what i am writing here:

Humidity in the air/environment is in full swing, so is our body.

If you find yourself feeling heavy, headache, nauseous, fatique, puffy eyes when you wake up in the morning, swollen feet/ankle at the end of the day, diarrhea/looser stool than usual, peeing often, etc. These are all signs of water retention in the body. The best way to resolve it so that we can feel lighter in body and spirit is a little bit of cardio exercise to sweat that trapped liquid out, even walking faster than you normally would, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, etc. will be a good way to increase your heartrate and sweat out the particules that the body needs to get rid of.

It may sound counter-intuitive but in fact, drinking more water will be helpful to how you may be experiencing. It is because water retention is one condition amongst other signs of the ‘dampness’ trapped in the body.

‘Dampness’ can be understood as extra humidity or liquid in the body. In TCM, dampness can be manifested as:
Mucus
Phlegm
Discharge
etc.
Water is not being absorbed as much as the digestive system would usually do, so uneliminated liquid is stored in the different parts of body in various forms described above.

There many things that can ease this discomfort. One of the easest, practical and delicious (to some people) are raw barley (not recommended for pregnant women) and cilantro/la corriandre FR (NOT Italian parsley, NOT Canadian coriander)