Beat the Heat

This is a throw back from the days when I was writing for the Greenwich Journal and Salem Press. The article name was called Lessons From the Mat. I decided I wanted to get some of those articles here on my new website so you all have more to look thought when you are passing through. It is very appropriate for today and I wrote this July 21, 2015. Please enjoy!

Lessons From the Mat- Beat the Heat

Wow...we've had some real summer weather here this week. It feels good but it can also be draining. Here are some quick ideas to help you stay cool.

* No need to cook! Prepare your food raw. This is prime garden harvest time and everything that comes out of the garden right now can be eaten raw. Then you don't have to make more heat by turning on the stove.

* Run cold water over your wrists. My grandmother taught me this one. The veins are close to the surface at the wrists so you can cool the body down by cooling the blood a bit.

* Living near the Battenkill and some of the other beautiful natural water gives everyone an opportunity to go for a dip on the cold water. The cold water not only feels good but helps make the body's electrical charge match the earth's charge. This needs more explanation if you don't know about the concept of "grounding" or "earthing," so I suggest you look it up to learn more as I couldn't possibly get it explained in this article. It is an old practice and is said to create a balance in the body that allows healing.

* try doing "sitali breath" for a few minutes.

              1. Find a place to sit and close your eyes.

              2. If you can roll your tongue into a straw like shape then do that. If not curl you tongue tip to middle of the tongue. Then inhale through your mouth so the air passes over or around your tongue like you are sipping the air through a straw.

              3. Exhale through your mouth.

As the kids say in my kids yoga group "It feels like you are drinking a cold glass of water!"

              * Speaking of water...drink more.

This is a great hot summer day recipe using what is most prevalent in your garden right now.

Zucchini Pasta al Pesto

Yield: 1 Serving

Ingredients:

1 zucchini, peeled

2 TBS pesto

Instructions:

Cut the zucchini into thin noodles using a vegetable spiral slicer. Alternatively, use a vegetable peeler to create long ribbons , or "fettuccini", by drawing the peeler down all sides of the zucchini until you reach the core. Place thin a medium bowl and toss with the pesto, serve immediately.

Pesto

Yield: 1 cup, 4 servings

Ingredients:

2 cups basil leaves (stems removed), tightly packed

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp crushed garlic (2 cloves)

1/4 tsp plus 1/8 tsp salt

1/4 cup raw pine nuts or walnuts

Place the basil, olive oil, garlic, and salt in a food processor ,fitted with the S blade, and process until the basil is chopped. Add the pine nuts and process until smooth. Stop occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Do not over process: you should still see flecks of pine nuts throughout. Stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator. Pesto will keep for five days.