food is fuel: Carrots & Connection

I haven't been feeling sick in the sense of stomach flu or head congestion but I'm simply not able to get into the rhythm of joy and purpose I felt deeply inspired by and inherently connected to just a few weeks ago.. I feel off. Even in the naming of my alarms, instead of starting with excitement or the occasion.. I begin with questioning myself. (yes, 5:45am, that 3:45am BC time...)

... I have returned to reading "yoga books" and put down the fiction... Returned to pencil note making and highlighter reading that is still pleasurable, yes, but done with a different root source, different intention... Pulling myself through the heaviness of truths I live with. Not ashamed of, just living through them as honestly as I can.

I haven't been cooking or baking new things, I've switched modes. Now on the hunt for easy to follow ingredients & recipes whereas a few weeks back I felt like I was on an episode of Iron Chef where they are given random ingredients and just a moment's notice and somehow create a tasty and beautifully plated food..?? Yeah, that's not so much how i'm feeling now.

I buy the things on my grocery list, written with planned meals in mind and by the time i've shopped, washed and put vegetables and ingredients where they need to be, I can't seem to assemble them as per directions -- I don't want to follow simple directions even though I want to make the meal!

It's not just with cooking I have noticed this.. this forgetting or burn out. I know it from my physical body when I practice sometimes. When I get on my mat simply because I know I should and the movements feel robotic and I'm completely unaware of any breathes.

I feel off on my mat sometimes... I forget why I practice because it doesn't feel as euphoric as I remember from that last really good practice... So I am just a body going through the movements..

What I know from my practices that has helped me over rule my mind's capabilities: If I stop when I feel off the feeling doesn't go away. The only way to be rid of the feeling (even then it will only be temporarily gone) is to allow myself to feel it.

"So I feel off, what do I do... notice what is off. Do not curse myself or woner what is missing, do not judge my body or mind or the experience itself. Simply, notice what is off.

I had to make smoothies today, I had fruit and veggies that was going to turn soon and I've stopped throwing food away because there's not the same support for 'food scrap recycling' here... in fact, it's not even a topic. So that means being on top of what gets pushed to the back or bottom of the fridge. This week:

Carrots, Oranges and ginger pieces and actually, a lot of stuff (told you, I haven't been inspired to cook!!) Anyways, I was forced by my moral boundary/self guilt to turn the near rotting food into a smoothie and freeze them for next week consumption.. or never to be consumed, who knows at this state of my mind :/ Anyways, so as I am painfully peeling the carrots, I notice "Hey.. when I loved this, 2 weeks ago, I would take pictures" ... So I stopped peeling, wiped my hands, grabbed my phone and snapped a few photos.

Then I noticed, it's awfully quiet in here... "oh, yeah... I was listening to music before.." So I cranked Eric Clapton's greatest hits... AND THEN, I picked the carrots backup and had a little extra umph in my carrot peeling skills... And I added the water and ginger, snapped another picture.. giggled to myself a little bit about wanting to get my shadow out of the photo... retook the photo... :)

The point: I didn't stop making smoothies because it wasn't 'as fun' as I had remembered it.

I didn't want to recreate the past... I wanted to enjoy what was happening right frickin' now.

BE PRESENT

I hope this smoothie brightens your day, like it did mine. It will for sure brighten your kitchen and depending on your ginger amount, it will put a little skip in your step too. It's a vitamin packed smoothie. If you're at all interested in learning, check out the wikipedia page on carrots... scroll about half way to read about the insanely low percentage our bodies can use if we just cut and eat them and a few simple ways to increase our ability to absorb the goodness they offer...

Oh, and the inspiration to juice these things in the first place (other than my moral heaviness about them going bad...) The one and only Christine (urbanwildyoga). It wasn't just a picture she shared some days ago via Instagram but what she shared resonated with me.. it was a seed in my subconscious at first but then suddenly that seed sprouted and turned into nothing less than a game changer in my life... and resulted in a nutritional and delicious smoothie.

Connection. Never underestimate connection. Connect with your friends, connect with your loved ones, connect with your body, be present in your life... connect with yourself.

Carrot + Orange smoothie

6 peeled and halved carrots

2.5 cups water

1 peeled orange

1 inch (or less) ginger root

2 dashes of ground tumeric

Put water in blender

add everything else

start blending slow speed

turn up intensity until max capacity

blend for 2-4ish minutes... you decide the consistency.

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Also really worth noting the pulp... if you aren't a pulp person you're probably going to cringe at the texture.. so just heads up :)

I poured these into glass bottles right away and froze them.. I take them out for lunches and snacks when Daniel and I are planning a busy day of work at his shop. These are energizing and have a zing to them...

Be well friends,

Brittaney