– this statement is printed on my cardboard box of Jiffy peat pots I had shipped to start my garden seeds in. I am literally sitting here at my kitchen table and I looked out the door with the words on this box in front of me. I can’t think of a better saying to build a post around dealing with relationships. This month we have focused on a garden theme and how these themes impact our health.
We started with “New Life in the Spring” and concrete ways to grow your own produce. I then touched on “The Garden of our Gut”, and the importance of growing a healthy gut biome. Our third post dealt with “The Garden of our Mind” and the impact our thoughts can have on our physical health and wellness.
The Longest Relationship Research Study Ever Done
This post targets the deeper meaning of planting and harvesting healthy relationships and the role they play in our health over a lifetime.
My husband really enjoys “TED Talks”, and my friend sent me this video to watch. This video is a little over twelve minutes, but the impact of this very real research is astounding. The title is “What Makes a Good Life?” and his opening question is “What makes us healthy and happy as we go through life?” Please watch, as I cannot explain this research with the ease and expertise of Robert Waldinger.
What If ?
I love watching the real stories of this research, but what about your story? I began thinking through my life and the relationships I have. I have had ups and downs; good and not so good – but overall, I have been completely blessed. My mind quickly went to people I have had contact with or have read about who have not had a life of great relationships. What if there are horrific circumstances of children sold into sex trafficking, or a lifetime of any variety of neglect or abuse? What if people are isolated or lonely (even in a room full of people)? What if depression or any number of blocks prevent relationship? What answer for health and happiness can we look for here?
The Answer
In my own mind and heart, I can only find one answer. During this incredible Easter season, it is the answer I have always clung to – the answer of Jesus Christ. His story is the ultimate relationship that can always be there in any place, at all times, all over the world. This relationship is full of love and hope and breaks through pain and loneliness. This relationship is always with us because we carry it inside us and it goes with us into eternity, forever. This relationship heals all wounds through forgiveness, mercy and grace. When this relationship is right, then all other relationships are just “gravy” or “icing on the cake”. God is relational and He built us to be relational. Our spiritual health does impact our physical health. I encourage you to focus on this relationship with Jesus this Easter. The story of Jesus is all about sowing and reaping; planting and harvesting – and bearing fruit in our relationships. Grow this garden well. Be blessed and have a very Happy Easter!
Of all the creatures on our wonderful planet, we humans have the unique ability to contemplate and think deeply about our lives and circumstances. We have the ability to ask ourselves questions like “why am I here?” or “how can I better myself or impact others in a positive way?” We have opportunities to to share our failures and successes to better equip and encourage others when they are struggling.
To continue with our Springtime garden theme, I would like to share a beautiful analogy of planting and harvesting. My husband often talks about the mind and the heart and the importance they play in our physical, emotional and spiritual health and well-being. He has shared many times that our minds are very fertile ground and that they will grow whatever is planted there.
The process I am continuing to work through– learning technology and social media has truly stretched me out of my comfort zone… see “Chaos” for some background here. This desire of wanting to stay in our “comfort zones” can slow us down or even prevent us from pushing through and striving for change in many areas, but especially in the areas of diet, exercise, recreation and inspiration. These are the areas that can have a large impact of our overall health.
Let’s just click out of that, and start over
The same dear friend (Janice Nastav) that I wrote about in “Chaos” has given me the inspiration for this post. She has been patiently talking me through steps over the phone of what others may understand as basic website and computer skills. Whenever I am confused or unable to complete whatever she is trying to teach me, she will gently say, “Let’s just click out of that, and start over.” There are times I just want to give up, or shut down for the day and try again later. She encourages me to stick with it and continue again and again until I master the task at hand.
Worry is a weed
I giggle now every time I catch myself going to a place in my mind with my own thoughts that are negative and I apply the gentle words, “Let’s just click out of that, and start over”. I am becoming more and more aware of when I am filled with worry or anxiety. I can physically feel how that changes my stress level or creates a sense of being overwhelmed. I can use this garden analogy and understand that I have the ability to see that as a “weed” in my mind and know that I have the ability to pull that “weed”.
A seed is a start-over
I can literally just “click out of that, and start over”. I can replant new seeds and fertilize them with thankfulness and gratitude; hope, faith and encouragement. This may be a cute anecdotal story, but is there any real scientific research to back up this truth and the impact it has on our health? Yes there is.
Dr. Caroline Leaf (yes, ‘Leaf’) is a cognitive neuroscientist with a PhD in Communication Pathology specializing in Neuropsychology. Since the early 1980’s she has studied and researched the Mind-Brain connection. She has written several wonderful books as well as many you tube videos on how negative thoughts can actually be toxic how it is possible to remove them. Our thoughts have a very real impact on our physical health.
This also relates well to our post The Garden of Our Gut which deals specifically with the Brain-Gut connection.
I will continue to check in and expound on all of our Garden themes through this growing season and into harvest time. Now is the time for planting. Choose your seeds well and diligently pull those weeds.
St. Patricks Day has it’s own traditional recipes that many people use. I wanted to come up with a recipe that I could feature using some fresh herbs from a container pot in my small greenhouse. I found these herbs earlier in the grocery store and I re-potted them so I could use them all summer. The pot came with a cute tag to make Irish Stew, so I adapted it to use cabbage (totally traditionally Irish), sweet potatoes, jicama, celery and bone broth. Deliciously Paleo.
Sticking with this Irish theme I wanted to pair this main dish with a “rainbow” beauty. Please see “Eat the Rainbow“. This side dish recipe is truly a “pot of gold at the end of the rainbow”. Recipe found Here.
You can top this with a “green” smoothie or even “green” kombucha to add to the wonderful health benefits of this meal. St. Patrick’s Day is a fun day to “get your green on”, and I challenge you to put it on inside and out! Have a very Happy and Healthy Day!
This recipe gives a Paleo twist to a traditional Irish them.
Author: Melanie Dearing
Course: Main Dish
Ingredients
1 beef brisket (cooked)
½ head green cabbage (chopped in 1-2 inch chunks)
½ cup red cabbage (chopped in 1-2 inch chunks)
5 carrots (cut into ½ inch chunks)
3 celery stalks (cut into ½ inch chunks)
1 Medium Jicama (peeled and cubed)
1 sweet potato (peeled and cubed)
1 red onion diced
3 Tbsp. fresh thyme lives
3 Tbsp. fresh sage (chopped)
2 Tbsp. fresh rosemary (chopped)
4 Tbsp. coconut aminos
1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
4 Tbsp. ghee, butter or avocado oil
64 ounces beef bone broth, beef stock or vegetable stock (or a combination that equals 64 oz.)
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 Tbsp. arrowroot or tapioca starch to thicken (optional)
Instructions
Roast brisket in the oven at 300° until fork tender and cooked through (about 1 ½ hours per lb. of meat or until internal meat temperature is between 185-190°.
Remove fat and cut into stew sized chunks.
In a large 6 quart pan melt ghee or add avocado oil
Add onion, carrots and celery and sauté until slightly tender.
Add broth or stock to pan.
Add herbs, green cabbage and red cabbage
Bring to a boil on high heat.
Add brisket, potato, jicama, coconut aminos, balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper.
Lower to medium heat and cook until potato and jicama are just tender.
Add arrowroot or tapioca if a thicker broth is desired.
When I began exploring Paleo friendly options, a whole world of new vegetables opened up to me. People in my workshops often ask “what can you eat?” I ask them what they are use to eating, and then have them look through a list of vegetables that are considered Paleo. This very list forced me to try vegetables I was not in the habit of eating. The colors and the flavors were remarkable. I realized I had been missing out on many health benefits of these “rainbow” beauties. I will refer to a post that explains the importance of this concept Eat the Rainbow.
I am not a doctor, but as a wife, mom, grandma and dealing with my own body, I am intimately involved in healthcare. We are all in the business of self-diagnosis to some degree or the other. We each are our own best describers of how we feel and what things we do to help make our own body feel better. My own body system has always seemed to struggle with digestive issues as well as extended family members dealing with Crohn’s disease, Celiac disease and a variety of other autoimmune issues.
One of the foundational building blocks for WellStone Gardens is “Food is Medicine” and across the board, everyone would agree that diet and exercise are fundamental in health and wellness. There is more to nutrition and the foods we eat than just the vitamin and mineral content. There is the larger implication of how and if the healthy foods we eat can actually be absorbed and the waste disposed of properly, which is a big part of our digestive health. In terms of “gut” health there is a growing body of research focusing on the importance of a healthy gut biome and the impact of bacteria on our overall health and wellness.
I have been reading, researching and exploring in this area of our human microbiome. This post is meant to pass along a variety of resources that you might also enjoy investigating.
Cultured Foods – Grow Your Own
About a year ago, I was introduced to the concept of making my own probiotic foods and beverages in the form of cultured vegetables, kefir (a type of drinkable yogurt), and Komucha (a fermented tea beverage). These are incredibly easy to make at home and so tasty and beneficial.
I don’t want to “reinvent the wheel” in this area. Instead, I want to send you to the resources of those who are far more experienced than I, that may help you understand how to use the “wheel” better. The easiest place to start is with Donna Schwenk at culturedfoodlife.com
You may be asking why our gut biome is so important? For even more research and resource, I highly recommend Dr. David Perlmutter, neurologist and author of the book “Grain Brain”. This book deals with how sugars, or anything that converts to sugar, can cause inflammation and inflammation causes disease.
Dr. Perlmutter has a second book titled “Brain Maker”. This book is the featured book this month here at WellStone Gardens. Brain Maker focuses on the importance of our gut biome and the impact this has on a variety of aspects of our health including our brain.
More Resources to Explore
Hay House Radio has some excellent radio broadcasts. Free 14 day trial, then a very reasonable yearly fee.
As with any garden, you can always replant and regrow those healthy bacteria needed in your system, as well as being watchful for those “weeds” of bacteria that are not helpful. I love watching my own kefir grains reproduce and my kombucha scoby grow. My cultured vegetables are on hand to use as an easy healthy side dish. I will write future posts going into more details on these areas of a healthy microbiome. I wanted to give you a beginning point of reference. The garden I am growing in my gut is as important as my garden outside and I love learning from others how to tend it well.
