A handful of ideas
Being a life-long introvert, self-isolation has been my modus operandi as long as I can remember, especially so over the last few years when I decided to move to the countryside and work as a freelancer. I understand that the current distancing behavior can be hard for some people because we are social creatures after all, we love sharing, touching, talking, being listen to and seen. Yet good things can come from some time spent by ourselves: we can catch up on reading and podcast listening, rest and practice more self-care, and I think it’s the best time to pick up a new routine or heathy habit, given that there are less distractions in our daily schedule.
Anyway, I thought I’d share a handful of ideas, some practical, others that allow for exploration, which hopefully will help you through the next few weeks.
Tips to keeping your fruits and vegetables fresh
I’m sure that by now your pantry and freezer are well stocked on non-perishable and frozen food, but we all know that the best source of vitamins and minerals is in fresh produce. After being harvested, plants remain alive for some time – a few days in the case of leaves, a few months in the case of stored potatoes – and it’s the plant’s continued metabolic processes that may cause some of their loss of flavor, and that eventually makes them deteriorate. Here are some general tips to help slow down the deterioration process, keeping your fruits and veggies in good shape, and your trips to the supermarket to a minimum:
Plant foods are best kept in restricted places like refrigerator drawers, bags and containers, lined with absorbent paper, to slow down moisture loss and capture condensation;
Ideal storage temperature is different for different fruits and vegetables: those from temperate climates keep best at or near the freezing point and the ones from warmer regions keep best at 10ºC, sometimes even at room temperature (like melons, eggplants, squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, beans);
Refrigerator drawers and fruit bowls should be regularly cleaned to reduce microbes;
Mushrooms, berries, apricots, figs, avocados, papayas have a naturally high metabolism and deteriorate faster than apples, pears, kiwis, cabbages and carrots;
Some fruits like bananas, avocados, kiwis, mangoes and pears can be picked when mature but still green and will continue to ripen after picking.
Fast and simple pantry-style meals
Most of the meals I’m making now are smoothie bowls and soups. I’m making them as nutrient dense as possible and I love the fact that they’re easy to digest - which is good if you can’t be walking around.
My main tip for the smoothie bowls is having them at room temperature or warmer if the ingredients allow for it. Right now, I’m more concerned with having functional smoothies than super tasty ones so I tend to avoid sugar or syrups of any kind. Instead, I’m using licorice tea, which is naturally sweet, and fresh bananas. I then top them with more fruit, bee pollen, seeds and nuts.
As for soups, lately I’m using a lot of garlic and onions, ingredients I wouldn’t normally use because of its effects during meditation but that I now give privilege to in order to build a stronger immune system. To these two I’ll add another “pantry-style” ingredient, like a cup or two of beans (canned is fine), a jar of roasted red peppers, a sweet potato, a chunk of pumpkin or half a pack of frozen veggies, pour enough water to barely cover everything, cook, blend and serve, topped with fresh herbs or kimchi. Here are a few ideas, starting with a base of onion and garlic, add:
Sweet potato, ginger and curry spices, top with lots of chopped fresh coriander
Frozen peas and leaks, top with lots of chopped fresh mint
Sweet potato and roasted red peppers, top with lots of chopped fresh parsley
Red kidney beans and smoked paprika, top with homemade or store-bought kimchi
Also, there’s a general recommendation to drink plenty of warm water, with or without lemon juice, and herbal & spices infusions along the day. I’m making licorice and ginger, fresh thyme tea, and chai with plant-based milk every day, having at least 2L in total.
Give your body some extra love with an Ayurvedic morning routine
Ayurvedic morning routines have always seemed too complex for me, even though I love morning routines. But remember what I’ve said above, about now being the perfect time to pick up a new habit? I’m giving it try now. It takes close to an hour, depending on how much time you want to practice yoga and meditate, and it follows this order (click the links for instructions):
Oil massage followed by a warm shower
Breath work (I’m doing 6 cycles, each cycle is an inhale from the left nostril, and exhale through the right, and then a inhale from the right nostril and an exhale through the left)
Yoga (I’m adapting these series and doing 6 sun salutations, 3 standing poses, 3 sitting poses, including at least o1 twist, 1 shoulder stand and 1 bridge to compensate, and finishing with 5 minutes of Shavasana)
Meditation (I tend to practice Vipassana meditation, but I sometimes do other mediations, see tip bellow)
Spiritual and mental care with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield
At unpredictable times like this, it wouldn’t be unusual to feel some anxiety and fear. Both of these emotions are perfectly understandable as long as they don’t paralyze us or make us panic. Jack Kornfield was just at The Tim Ferriss Show last week, sharing his wisdom on this pandemic in specific, and Tara Brach has a beautiful podcast too, with many guided meditations and with a couple of talks focusing on fear, like this one and this one.
Expand your knowledge by enrolling in a MOOC
Another option to keep your mind busy and making the most of your spare time is learning something new. I’ve been a fan of edX almost since their launch in mid 2012. With thousands of Massive Online Open Courses (MOOC’s) to choose from, it will be hard to pick just one. What I normally do is enroll in three or four courses, browse the materials (check if the videos aren’t too boring), and then focus and finish just one. This gives me time to really dig deep into the subject that I chose and a feel sense of accomplishment after I finish the course.
This is it for now. I’ll keep on writing about the second trip I took to Asia last year, share it very soon. Take care, stay safe.
