Tea in my hotel room

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Selene Kumin Vega

I don’t take photos of the tea I drink, but I do drink a lot of tea. I usually start the day with green tea, then have a yerba mate based tea later on, and sometimes something herbal. I bring plenty of tea bags when I travel, so I can have the kind I like. Here in the hotel, I make use of the coffee maker in the room to heat the water for tea in the morning before my movement practice, and at night as I’m winding down and putting together my food collage. It’s a simple ritual that helps provide a structure for quiet time with myself in the midst of a busy schedule.

Everything changes when I travel!

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Selene Kumin Vega

Somehow travel helps me reset my eating process to listen more closely to what I really want and need. I am more finely tuned when I am away from home. Since I’ve been eating a bit more than I’ve needed to in the past month or so, I’m finding that I’m eating less right now. Of course, the excitement and adrenaline of traveling and teaching may be a contributing factor! But I am feeling very connected with my body right now, trusting that how I am caring for it, with food and with morning movement and workout, are supporting all that I’m doing.

Preparing for the Rain

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Selene Kumin Vega

I was out and about the SF Bay Area yesterday, stopping for a meeting in Palo Alto, then picking up new business cards from Greenprinter in Berkeley and dropping in to visit friends before heading back. Then out again for a few more errands, getting what Rene’ needed for our washing machine repair adventure.

We’re trying to get everything done and ready for the predicted rain storm. Rene’ has been sweeping the driveway to clear the road of the rest of the debris downed in the last windstorm, over a month ago, and burning it. The washing machine is not the only repair going on right now – our main propane backup generator is down. We’ve been using the old, hand-pulled one for about an hour every other day to give us that bit of extra power to take us through on these still long nights, but in the rain, without sun on our solar panels, it will be every night. Not a great time for slow cooker recipes, but I will probably make some kind of hearty soup to sustain us through these cold, gray days. Recipe for that on the next post!

Checking in

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Selene Kumin Vega

I am truly grateful that I have so many places where I can check in – with friends and family and colleagues who I love and respect and who love and respect me, and who care about what is going on with me. Not just the stories of what’s happening, but the thoughts and feelings and struggles and joys that I experience as I go through days and phases of my life. When I am with a group, all of us checking in, one by one, going around the circle to each speak what is true for us in that moment, in our lives right now, and being witnessed and held by that circle, I am grateful. And even more so when I hear from some in the circle, as is often the case, that this may be the only place this person has to speak and be heard in this way.

I am reminded of how much I value checking in even beyond my usual home groups that I rely on for this, having just returned from 2 days with the Saybrook College of Mind-Body Medicine residential conference. At this conference where we hold our new student orientation, and coursework for many of the MS and PhD students in the program, there is still room for check-ins. I am so grateful that check-ins are an important part of our work, along with the serious academic rigor of the research work. The best of both worlds!

I rely on the people in my life, the people in my communities, to hold a space for me that I feel even when I am not with them. Knowing I am held in this way, I can go forth and take action in the world, and I can come into my own center when meditating and/or moving alone, and know that I am not truly alone. This means a lot to me, and I thank all of you who are part of the larger community that I belong to. Just by reading this, just by being someone I have contact with in whatever small way, you are part of the community I belong to. In my meditations, I reach out my sense of community even beyond that, to those I don’t know, those I don’t understand, those I struggle with because of actions that they take that seem to me to be harmful to the earth and to other beings who live here. But what helps me to do that reaching beyond is knowing that I have a closer community to come back to, people to check in with on the simplest levels of what it is to live. Even as simple as sharing the food that I eat every day.

Days rushing by

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Selene Kumin Vega

I’m not sure how days go by so quickly – I do keep up with my food collages pretty much daily, but all of a sudden I’ve got a bunch of them that haven’t been posted. When I started these I was involved with a web fitness community where I posted them every day, along with my workouts and a bit of reflection about how the day had gone. Although I still reflect on these as I’m putting them together, I miss the daily semi-public reflection of that time. Perhaps part of my hesitation about posting these daily is that keeping an account of what I eat every day does seem like a very personal process. I’ve been very willing to share it in response to inquiries and interest, and it is helpful in keeping me accountable (knowing it will be public does keep me from going too far beyond healthy eating parameters). But when I post for some time without feedback that these postings are useful to others as well, I get shy.

When I see someone in person who I haven’t seen in a while and the first thing they say is how much they enjoy these food photos, that can sustain my posting confidence for some time. But I’m always glad to hear about how you see all this or if it has any impact on you – or just anything that will remind me that I’m not just posting these for myself. Please do comment here on the blog or over in Facebook or Google+ – I’d love to hear from you and promise to respond!

Holiday Indulgences & Curry Yogurt Dressing

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Selene Kumin Vega

The holiday season with its wealth of treats has begun, and my Sunday eating reflects it! I definitely had more of the Gianna’s cookies than I needed, along with a few yummy tartlets, and just too much food in general.

I am so grateful that my appetite does balance itself out, so I found myself not all that hungry on Monday, and ate fairly light. My approach to eating is never an all or nothing deal – I eat what I want to eat, but usually in moderation, with planned indulgences that are a small part of the overall picture of my nutritional intake. When I stay aware of what I am doing, and make conscious choices, and pay attention to what my body tells me, this works very well.

Tracking my intake, through these pictures and through writing it down much of the time (I’ve used DietPro in the past, I’m now experimenting with LiveStrong.com’s MyPlate) gives me the information I need to keep my eating supportive of my health and fitness.

Curry Yogurt Dressing

A creamy dressing for salads, made with yogurt and mayonnaise with spices. You can substitute other herbs or spices, and use various kinds of vinegar instead of the lemon juice.

1/4 cup Greek Yogurt – Plain, Nonfat
1/4 cup Mayonnaise
2 tbsp Lemon Juice
1 tsp Curry Powder

Serves: 5
Yield 5 ounces, 2 Tblsp. per serving
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1 oz
Calories 80, Total Fat 8.86g, Saturated Fat 1.61g, Cholesterol 4mg, Sodium 75.45mg, Total Carbohydrate 1.24g, Dietary Fiber 0.14g, Sugars 0.65g, Protein 1.08g

Fall shifts, inside and out

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Selene Kumin Vega

I have been feeling the shift that comes for me in fall. Slowing down, not so interested in getting out and about. I’ve missed several events that sounded wonderful because I just couldn’t get myself to make the drive out into the world beyond our place here at Skyote Mountain. Not that my energy is low – I’ve been working hard every other day with Rene’, clearing large French broom bushes from an area on our land that had been totally overgrown. We thought we’d be doing the hard labor of pulling them up from the ground with the weed wrench, but it seems that most of them have died. What’s left is a huge tangle of dead matter, still an effort to break and gather and stack in piles to be burned.

I’m enjoying the last of the summer fruit – plums seem to be the last holdover at the farmer’s market – and diving into the fall fruit. Persimmons, both the hard fuyu and the soft, sweet hachiya, along with pomegranates, and feijoa (pineapple guava), and pears. And of course, apples. The vegetables are shifting as well – I’m savoring the red and yellow and orange bell peppers, knowing that their time will soon be over. Last night our neighbor brought over some wild fall mushrooms he’d gathered, which we cooked up with garlic for a tasty snack together.

I’ve been running a day behind on my photo collages, and have been very lax about posting them, so I’ll finish up October here, and then start on November’s eating with the next blog.

Balance Over Time

Posted on October 18, 2011 by Selene Kumin Vega

Any given day of eating can look out of balance or not so healthy if you look just at what was eaten in that 24 hour period. It’s the balance over time that makes the difference. Sunday we had an alumni gathering with potluck snacks, and my Meal 2 eating was scattered over an afternoon. I found myself hungry and craving after that, and ate considerably more than I usually would in one day. Back on track Monday, and my body finds it’s own balance – I just wasn’t as hungry, and didn’t really want anything other than protein, vegetables, fruit, and nuts. I am grateful that if I listen to my own body, balance returns.

Return of the Computer Routines – and Poppyseed Ginger Rye Muffins

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Selene Kumin Vega

After 10 days of computer nightmare, I am back on my laptop again. Perhaps a break would have been easier if I did not have so much work and so many projects that are computer dependent. Now there is catching up to do – and getting ready for travels again, as I am off to Gabriola Island, BC on Friday to teach Guiding the Journey. Once again, I work my way through what is in the refrigerator, using up what I can in the next few days. I have a wealth of plums that I could not resist at the Farmer’s Market last week – time to think of what I’d like to create with them, in between packing and preparing.

In the midst of the most distressing parts of the computer struggles, I was reminded of how calming cooking can be. The familiar rituals of chopping vegetables, puttering around the kitchen, preparing something nutritious and satisfying to eat – these activities were grounding at a time when it was easy to fly off into distress at the idea of not having my handouts put together in time for the workshop, or not having my primary music source for the movement work. I am deeply relieved that all is in place to proceed – and glad that I can be soothed by something as simple as preparing food.

Poppy Seed Ginger Rye Muffins

I developed this recipe originally during the time of much muffin baking as our house building project started in spring 2000 – I’d feed muffins to the crew that had come to prepare our driveway and dig our foundation. Today, by mistake, I used rye flour, and came up with this adaptation.
1 cup rye flour
1/2 cup poppy seeds
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
3/4 cup yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup crystallized ginger

Mix wet and dry ingredients separately. Combine briefly and scoop into muffin tins sprayed with cooking oil (I used Spectrum coconut oil). Bake at 350° F for 20-25 min.
Makes 12 muffins
Nutrition (per muffin): 189.8 calories; 42% calories from fat; 9.4g total fat; 39.7mg cholesterol; 143.5mg sodium; 136.5mg potassium; 24.1g carbohydrates; 1.8g fiber; 14.7g sugar; 22.2g net carbs; 3.4g protein.

Impatience

Posted on September 16, 2011 by Selene Kumin Vega

My computer is back, but we’re setting it up with a new, larger hard drive – which means installing everything from scratch. Some of it is just time-consuming, other parts require the assistance of my in-home tech service – my husband, Rene’. He has his own deadlines to deal with, so I am in waiting mode on my process of completely transferring my work back to my own computer. Not that there isn’t plenty to do, around the house, and even on the computer (as fragmented as that process is right now, spread over three computers!) but I am certainly confronted with my own impatience in the process!

It reminds me of what happens when I move – I feel compelled to unpack everything and get it all set up right away. Forget about sleep or anything else – I want my things to be accessible and my space to be organized asap. Even my experience of developing tennis elbow after a full night of putting books on shelves (I have a lot of books) has not dampened the inner pressure I feel until I am set up and settled in.

Ah, well. Another opportunity to observe my reactions and practice calming and soothing myself.

SpiritMoving

Selene Kumin Vega, Ph.D.

Category Archives: Personal Reflection