walking back to the office after lunch...

dance of rain drops
click of heels
the chirp of sparrows

from within the eaves

what small things are you noticing today?

As the rain falls outside...

It seems as if every autumn, just as the New England leaves are about to reach a crescendo of other-worldly color, the rains come to knock them down. For several saturated days after the woods are tree trunks hanging in-between colored leaves.

I haven't had much success capturing this seasonal color with my camera, and even question what can be accomplished with words. The running dog is a black blur against golden ground. Sunrise lights a temple of young maples in the early morning. No no, it's so much better than all that, walking over and under and through it. Taking a photo restricts beauty to a frame, limits it to the capabilities of the camera and the person taking the picture. Words limit beauty to the extent of vocabulary and the imagination of the writer. But some things are limitless — how can one describe them?

"...it is only when one has no desire for adoration
that one is truly qualified to receive it."

— from The The Journey Home, Autobiography of an American Swami
by Radhanath Swami

I just loved this passage...

"Every morning at 4:30, Babaji was given the honor of leading the assembly of monks in prayer. As prayer grew to kirtan, or congregational chanting, everyone dance in joyous abandon. While beating his drum, Babaji, who was small, thin and old, would dance out from the Krishna temple and into the courtyard as the rest of the devotees trailed behind him. Entering into a small temple of Shiva, he sang loudly as twenty monks leapt high, bells clanging. Then, leading the procession around the tulasi garden and back into the temple, Babaji performed a grand finale that electrified the normally grave monks, who went wild with bliss. This is how every day began in the ashram."

— from The Journey Home, Autobiography of an American Swami by Radhanath Swami

Six Senses Sunday #66

See:
• the overlapping Berkshire hills
• little goats and a llama grazing beneath apple trees in a neighboring field
• high school football practice, a hunched gathering of kelly green jerseys and over sized white helmets
• a small boy raking leaves in his grandmother's front yard
• my mom's grave site (what a strange-sounding combination of words that is), my friend's father's grave site, the grave site of my neighbor who was like a grandmother to me, the grave site of my parish priest when I was growing up, and of the woman whose wake and funeral were the first I ever went to as a child — my mom's way of gently preparing me for the many more to follow.

Hear:
• in the final stretch of its season, the crackling intercom at the fried food shack announces who will be eating next as I drive by with my windows open on the way home from work
• like buskers bringing unfamiliar songs, new birds on their way to warmer places stop to rest in our trees

Taste:
• Biryani — pea and potato curry over saffron rice topped with yogurt, raisins and cashews, then baked in the oven
• a plateful of Concord grapes that appeared in the kitchen at work brought back happy childhood memories of eating these same tart-skinned fruits from my neighbor's overgrown arbor
• Linguine with curry cream sauce

Touch:
• dog tick attempting unsuccessfully to sneak up my arm
• trying to relocate the sticky strands of a giant spiderweb so I can pass without destroying it completely, and wondering where the spider is while I'm doing this
• pinching soaked almonds out of their skins
• gently peeling away the paper-lantern-like coverings of slightly sticky tomatillos

Smell:
• fresh paint, though perhaps not the right color
• Windex and newspaper ink as the window-washing continues

Feel:
• after two decades of not formally "studying" anything, my mind feels like an old lawnmower that won't start up until I've practically exhausted myself with the cord-pulling
• while I haven't determined exactly what I want to do next, I know what I don't want to do, and that's a step.
• overwhelmed by how many separate car trips and errands need be run on a weekly basis, and wondering how I can efficiently reduce this and eventually spend less time in my car

Fall cleaning. Fall canning. Fall buttoning-up-of-the-house. Fall standing in the yard and looking at the vibrant, turning leaves with awe and delight, forgetting the task list for a few sun-drenched minutes. What's on your agenda this first weekend of autumn?

I wanted to let those of you who are interested in learning more about Ayurvedic cooking know about tomorrow night's online video broadcast from the Ayurvedic Institute.

Visit their website on Friday night and log in (they provide the password right on the page) to watch and learn! These lectures are just 2-hour introductions to the longer 1 and 2 week hands-on workshops the Institute provides, but so informative. I stay home and watch them every Friday night, party animal that I am. Except that this Friday there's also a kirtan at my yoga studio, so I'm hoping the Institute will re-broadcast this episode soon!

Friday, September 24th, 7 to 9 PM MDT

Ayurvedic Cooking Class, recorded on April 9, 2010

Two week long lecture outline (Fridays are just an Introduction)

with Usha and Vasant Lad

Food is Consciousness. Food nourishes not only the body but the mind and awareness as well. Learn how to choose foods for your constitution, emotional patterns and environmental fluctuations. A standard tri-doshic diet is suitable for everyone and we will learn a practical, simple way of cooking balancing foods. Healthy food is equal to a healthy body and a happy, healthy human being. Learn about the energetic effects of different foods, the role of taste in Ayurveda, their effects on the doshas, and their actions on the body and mind. Enjoy a combination of lecture and practical "hands on" cooking as Usha Lad brings her decades of Ayurvedic cooking experience to the classroom. Vasant Lad, B.A.M.&S., M.A.Sc., discusses the importance of proper food combining and gives appropriate diets based on the season and geographical location.

"The only thing that makes pain painful is your resistance to allow the lessons of time
to pass through you." — Guru Singh

Six Senses #65

See:
• A lone coyote running across my path in the woods, about 50' away. So close I could clearly see his thick, multi-colored coat
• In the early morning a pileated woodpecker has been finding his breakfast in the tall tree by the house, and if I open the door very carefully I can sometimes catch a glimpse of him before he flies into the woods
• Someone has been selling towering chainsaw-carved mushroom sculptures on the side of a nearby road, and last week I spotted the tallest of the wooden fungi being driven around in the back of a pick up truck — almost parade-float-like if there had only been some kids dressed like gnomes or fairies sitting beneath it
• Driving to RI to attend a mass marking the 10-month anniversary of my mom's passing, the first car we get behind has a bumper sticker that reads, "I Break for Winnie!" What are the odds?

Taste:
• Something new: Chyavanprash, an Ayurvedic herbal jam made in a base of Amalaki fruit. Second only to Triphala in terms of its terrible taste — at least when spread on toast. Mixed into warm milk it quickly becomes more palatable
• A delicious birthday dinner prepared by my brother on his new stove, followed by two types of pie from Wright's bakery and a choice of 4 different ice creams, yum
• Carrot Ginger soup that required blending and then pressing the cooked vegetable pulp through a fine sieve — but was worth it in the end

Smell:
• Basmati rice on the stove
• Sniffing the insides of new books
• Sandalwood incense

Hear:
• "So, what's your dosha?" I kid you not, a guy asked me this as I filled up a cup of chai at the Ayurveda opening on Saturday night.
• Sing to the mountains, sing to the sea...
• My dad telling stories from years ago, something akin to switching a channel and having our old dad back for a few minutes, tuned in to a different frequency than the dementia
• A wonderful talk by Dr. Partap Chauhan

Touch:
• Last night yoga classes have resumed after a month's break, and my legs trembled through every pose
• Standing barefoot on the lake's edge
• Soaking in the warm sun on the steps of Kripalu
• Scooping up unsuspecting bugs on a nature walk

Feel:
• A bittersweet day spent with my dad, brother, and J. Why didn't I think to take photos?
• Grateful for friends who like to run barefoot in the grass
• Anxious that work is nearing the crazy-making time of deadlines and rushing and stress
• Proud that on most nights I get myself to bed at a decent hour now, for the first time in many years, and can see and feel the effects of not running myself into the ground on a regular basis

Is Ayurveda the Next Yoga?

Source: www.lassiwithlavina.com (picked up by Hindu Press International then Valley Ayurveda posted a link to it on Facebook...and now I share it here. That's how things "go viral" I guess).

UNITED STATES, August 27, 2010 (by Lavina Melwani): Will students be heading to American universities to get their degrees as Ayurvedic doctors? Will patients seek out practitioners of this 5000-year old system of medicine from India? And will Ayurveda form the basis for new health and beauty products, even of restaurant menus, in the U.S.?

If that sounds unlikely to you, consider the journey of Yoga through American consciousness. This once equally obscure ancient practice from India is hardly considered Indian anymore and has gone global. Now there’s a yoga studio in practically every mall across America.

Ayurvedic practitioners are gradually taking root in the U.S., and Ayurveda is entering the lexicon in everything from spas to restaurants to supplements and cosmetics. As the world turns ever more complex, people yearn more for the natural and the organic, the simple and the pure.

“Ayurveda” is being heard more often, with many of the Western spas providing Ayurvedic massage and treatments. Skincare products which are based on Ayurvedic formulations are also increasing in the U.S., from tulsi body lotion to neem hand cream to Indian-rose scented bath salts.

Easter in Autumn

These colors surprised me.

Mushroom?

River Booty

These were from my birthday wade in the river with J — shards of old pottery, worn down bricks, antique glass, and smooth rocks of various colors and patterns.

A New (Old) Way to Cook

Annam Brahma Raso Vishnu,
Pakto Devo Mahesarah,
Evam Jñtva Tu Yo Bhunkte,
Anna Dosho Na Lipyate.

The creative energy in food is Brahma,
The nourishing energy in food is Vishnu,
The transformation of food into pure consciousness is Shiva.
If you know this, then any impurities in the food you eat
will never become a part of you.

After last week's cooking post Suki inquired about which books I'm using to prepare Ayurvedic recipes, and as I began to answer her in the comments section I realized I was half way to writing a blog post.

As I mentioned after returning from my spring retreat there, the food at Kripalu really impressed me. I returned home with their 400+ page cookbook and was soon introduced to Indian cooking, and specifically to the use of a vagar, a type of saute in which spices are cooked in oil or butter (ideally in ghee, clarified butter). Seeds are added to this hot oil/butter first — usually the mustard and cumin. When the seeds heat up, pop and release their flavors into the oil, it's time to add more spices, which will slightly cool the temperature of the oil — usually chopped fresh ginger and cilantro as well as garlic. Then the more delicate powdered ingredients are added to this slightly cooler oil — usually turmeric, hing, paprika. One still needs to be careful about burning them. By now, between the nutty sweet scent of the warm ghee and the hot spices, the kitchen smells pretty amazing. To this vagar the remaining vegetables or dal are added.

Indian cooking is only a small part of The Kripalu Cookbook, however. This summer, after my retreat with Dr. Lad, I wanted to investigate the tradition further. Therefore the first book I purchased on the topic was the one he and his wife created: Ayurvedic Cooking for Self-Healing. This has been my mainstay and the book I took with me to the Indian market in Brattleboro a few weeks ago to purchase ingredients. I carried home enough bags of various dal to survive the apocolypse, and as I hauled everything up to the counter I was perhaps a little overly excited with my ziplock bags full of dried green curry leaves, the yellow-capped container of fenugreek seeds, the exotic rose water, the huge brown sack of basmati rice...the man ringing me out seemed a bit stunned. Honestly I was little stunned that the shopping spree didn't cost more, so I will add "affordable" to the growing list of good reasons to cook Ayurvedic recipes.

Once you have the various spices and dals on hand the recipes in Dr. Lad's book are easy to follow, tasty, and nourishing — and I love that the effect of each dish on the doshas (the three principles or forces —vata, pitta, and kapha—that maintain the integrity of the human body) is included for each dish. I would recommend this as the book to start with.

Other cookbooks I'll be using include Amadea Morningstar's Ayurvedic Cooking for Westerners and Harish Johari's Ayurvedic Healing Cuisine. Johari's book just appeared in the mailbox this past week and I'm looking forward to using it. His recipes sound pretty traditional (Lentil Kababs, Broccoli and Mushroom Curry, Pea-Stuffed Potato Patties) and a little more varied than those in Dr. Lad's book, and I think the two of them are going to work well together.

I also purchased Heaven's Banquet by Miriam Kasin Hospodar. This 600 page book includes both traditional and non-traditional recipes from around the world. The author has worked as a chef in Ayurvedic spas and centers in the US, France, Switzerland, the Philippines, Taiwan, and India so it includes recipes for such things as Greek-Style Green Beans, Mediterranean Spinach, Provencal Stuffed Tomatoes from France and Rice with Caramelized Coconut Milk from Columbia (suddenly can't believe I'm writing this post on an empty stomach). Lots of interesting sidebars are mixed in.

As a book designer I can't help but have two small gripes about Heaven's Banquet — one is the paper, which is an unappetizing grayish-toned newsprint-style stock. The second is that in order to squeeze in as many dishes as possible the layout is designed with one recipe following directly after another — which means recipes sometimes start at the very bottom of a page and there will be much page-turning involved. If you're a messy cook like me and have bits of each ingredient covering your hands midway through the preparations, the combination of absorbent gray newsprint + page-turning will be deadly. But these are small, picky things. It will be the recipes that count in the end.

in the woods
i am just a being
sitting amongst the trees
holding a rock or a feather
between two fingers
and watching as breath goes out and
wind comes in
watching as wind goes out and
breath comes in
the trees bend
so hum.

Six Senses Sunday #64

Touch:
• river slime between my toes
• red, rash covered arms from picking beans - who knew I'd be so sensitive to bean leaves?
• dry fingertips from using newspaper for window washing
• squeezing the silver band of a new bracelet around my wrist, thank you j...

Smell:
• musky Indian rose oil
• the nutty popcorn scent of ghee cooking on the stove
• the licorice-scented steam of Breathe Easy Yogi tea

Taste:
• tart, sun-warmed fallen apples along our hikes
• chocolate layer cake with mint buttercream frosting
• homemade Jasmine rice with cardamom and cinnamon
• homemade buttermilk curry with tofu and green beans
• homemade sweet almond khir

See:
• the green, peaceful campus of Omega Institute. Above, the main hall where the Chantfest was held
• dozens of deer feeding along the rural New York roadways
• new space on the bookshelves, in the attic
• the elements of a freelance design job coming together at last on screen
• a friend at the door holding a dozen fresh eggs

Hear:
• chickadees at the birdfeeders, a wintery sound
• ravens and hawks active in the woods and sky
• the sound of storm windows sliding downward in their metal tracks - there have been some chilly nights in the hills this week!

Feel:
• happy that my first attempt at ghee resulted in a canning jar full of golden oil and not the brown, burnt substance I'd feared
• absorbed in the pages of a sweet new book
• glad 8 new weeks of yoga class begin tomorrow night

A funny little piece of the past...

I just found this note from 5th grade tucked into an old Black Stallion book of mine. I was obviously passing it back and forth with my very best friend at the time, Kelly. It's too good not to share. I have a feeling there are many more things like this in my trunk of old "junk." It's almost time to start going through it...

K: Mel, Want to write notes? Yes ___ No ___ (I checked yes and handed it back.)

K: What do you want to write about? (Other than dreams).

M: Gross things (blood n' junk).

K: What do you mean?

M: Like telling about times our pets got sick, or cut. (She scratched this out and handed it back.)

K: Forget that! I really think Mr A. (our teacher) is dating. Don't you?

M: No, not really. (She scratched this out too)

K: Mr A. always winks at us when you ask him! Don't write anymore until you finished all reading.

I used to be able to make Kelly scream with horror just be mentioning the words "vein" and "blood" which I did with frequency just to witness her impressive reaction. Of course I wanted to pass notes about sick bleeding animals instead of our teacher's love life, wouldn't you?

An apple a day...and some turmeric

Yesterday the mail brought a notice from my doctor that the aches, pains and creakiness I was experiencing a few weeks ago are not due to rheumatoid arthritis, lyme, lupus or anything else I was tested for last week. And furthermore they disappeared almost entirely when I resumed my daily intake of turmeric and black pepper capsules, and ramped up my addition of ground turmeric to our diet (which is actually more effective than taking capsules). So three cheers for turmeric, which first came to my attention a couple of years ago when I read the book Anticancer: A New Way of Life.

That book turned out to have a long-lasting effect on my lifestyle. After reading it I immediately tossed out any cleaning and body care products that weren't made with all-natural/organic ingredients and replaced many of them with simple homemade substitutes, using recipes from this book and this book (full disclosure: both are published by the company I work for). I made adjustments to my diet that have become part of my lifestyle.

Beyond even those positive changes, the book provided me with factual information I felt I could trust — and filled me with the hope that we can indeed take control our own health and be active participants in both the prevention and healing of disease. Now, with stacks of books and videos on Ayurveda growing up around me (I'm almost ready to answer the first 10 questions of the Institute's correspondence course, whoo-hoo!) I think my reading of Anticancer was a small part of what sparked my interest in studying integrative medicine.

In fact "turmeric" the author Dr. Servan-Schreiber writes, "is one of the most common ingredients used in Ayurvedic medicine for its antiinflamatory properties." He goes on to explain its ability to inhibit the growth of a large number of cancers, by not only preventing their development but by forcing their cells to die (a process of cell suicide called "apoptosis"). Despite being exposed to numerous carcinogens in their environment, Indians (who consume on average 1.5 - 2 grams of turmeric a day) have "one eighth as many lung cancers as Westerners of the same age, one ninth as many colon cancers, one fifth as many breast cancers, and one tenth as many kidney cancers."

As an antiinflamatory I've found turmeric effective in treating those idiopathic aches and pains I was worried about. And turmeric is tasty. Especially with beans. Or in buttermilk curry, which I'm about to go prepare for dinner right now...

I'll leave you with a video of Dr. Servan-Schreiber discussing not only the book (which has now sold over a million copies) but his plan (in partnership with the world renowned MD Anderson Cancer Center) to utilize integrative medicine and oncology approaches to improve standard cancer care worldwide.

More Mushrooms...

All of these were spotted on Sunday's walk in the woods.


No, the photo isn't sideways but the mushroom was — growing just like this on a rotting log.

I thought this tiny 'shroom was very Jellyfish-like.


I've been taking photos of mushrooms for a few years now, and it never ceases to amaze me how many different varieties appear in the same stretch of woods. For example, I think this is the first time I've seen what appears to be a true "shelf" mushroom, above.

Gift(s) of Jewels

I love mail, don't you?

Se'lah's Gift of Jewels brought two wonderful jewels to my mailbox this week. The first was part of a give-away I won on her blog - a travel tea tumbler and a jar of delicious Marmalady's Cherry Amaretto jam from Marilyn, which J and I have been ladling onto fresh buttermilk white bread from the local bakery. Yum! I couldn't help but notice that Marilyn also makes a chai apple butter which sounds absolutely delightful and is also for sale at her site.

This morning, still rubbing my eyes and groggy after getting in at 3am from yesterday's chantfest, I had a beautiful card and note from Elizabeth at Retinal Perspectives. I look forward to spending some time acquainting myself with Elizabeth's blog, which I could tell right away I'm going to love.

Meanwhile, a box containing my Gift of Jewels is headed to Nova Scotia, and hopefully was not blown away by tropical storm Earl!

This was my first time participating in Gift of Jewels and I want to thank Se'lah for organizing such a positive blog event. I imagine that lots of new friendships have blossomed as a result — personally I've discovered three new bloggers I may not have found otherwise, and all over the world people are opening up their mailboxes to find cards and gifts mixed in amongst the bills and solicitations. Not a bad way to end the season.

It's another beautiful, sunny, crisp day and I'm off to the Labor Day Ecstatic chant, where I hope to join a friend who has been there all weekend. Above is a painting of Sri Chaitanya and Nityananda, performing a kirtan in the streets of Nabadwip, Bengal.

September Woodswalk

The woods change subtly every day. Yesterday morning it was still enough to hear the shrill call of a broad wing hawk overhead and the croak of a raven in the branches of a nearby hemlock. A busy chipmunk with cheeks full of food noticed me sitting by his gathering-grounds and froze in place, his tiny heart beating rapidly beneath his striped chestnut coat. When he finally mustered up the courage to chirp his warning was quiet and garbled through whatever his mouth was stuffed with. "Don't talk with your mouth full." I told him.

This morning gusts of wind stirred fallen leaves and the trees groaned. Animals were smart enough to hide, but I passed beneath the waving branches with my fingers crossed. I guess this was the remnants of Hurricane Earl visiting Western MA.

Though it's still very dry here some mushrooms are finally dotting the woods.






Guinea hen feathers. From the look of it my neighbor's flock is dwindling.

Summer is ending. I've been doing a lot of organizing around the house this weekend, some kind of season-driven nesting instinct I suppose. J calls it "futzing."

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Labor Day weekend, whether you're traveling, relaxing, walking in the woods, fluffing your nests, or just futzing around.