Enchantment Learning & Living Blog

Welcome to Enchantment Learning & Living, the inspirational space where I write about the simple pleasures, radical self-care, and everyday magic that make life delicious.

On the Breath

February 11, 2014

Sometimes it eludes you.

You realize you have gone through your day taking only short sips of air through your mouth. It isn't until you feel the tightness in your chest that you realize your lungs have not had the chance to expand--in and out, in and out. You don't know when you stopped taking full, belly-deep breaths only that now they have turned shallow.

You stop what you are doing and simply stand there. You close your eyes. And you breathe. It is a slow breath in; you feel the air filling your lungs and making its way down to your belly. You feel each rib expanding. You feel your chest opening up, shedding the short survival breaths and the pinched feeling that came with them. You breathe out, letting a slow stream of air leave first your belly then your chest, finally your nostrils.

You do it again and again, pausing between your inhale and exhale. Now you feel your breath, not just in your lungs and belly, but your veins, your spine. It travels through each sinewy muscle bringing life with it; it sings up your spine--a vibrant coil of Shakti energy. You feel it down in your toes last. They tingle and reach towards the earth, grounding you to this world.

And you move through your day once again aware, once again firmly planted in your own skin, air filling your lungs one long, deliberate breath at a time.

Enchantment Learning & Living is an inspirational blog celebrating life’s simple pleasures, everyday mysticism, and delectable recipes that are guaranteed to stir the kitchen witch in you. If you enjoyed what you just read and believe that true magic is in the everyday, subscribe to my newsletter below for regular doses of enchantment. Want even more inspiration? Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Here’s to a magical life!

On Camel Pose

February 10, 2014

You take a deep breath and stretch your body upward even as you kneel, shins planted firmly into the ground, the top of your feet glued to the floor. Your hands are anchors pressed soundly into your lower back.

Each slow sip of breath helps you reach higher into the sky until you must bend. Your spine curves in a backward swan dive; your chest is open, more open than you've dared let it be all day. It is as if the backward movement peels back the layers of your day like fragile onion skins from your body. Slowly your hands fall from your back to cup your heels, grounding you so you can fly. Your arms have become wings that lift you from your day.

You can feel your heart beating through your rib cage, light seeping through the slats of your chest bones. The well of emotion tumbles out of you, starting first in your belly, then traveling up your spine, and pouring out of your heart; it is a song you had forgotten you could sing. Your throat tightens then opens, ready to receive this luminous gift--the breath, the song, the slow dance--of camel pose, releasing all that has been buried in your soul, covered in a layer of dust, to be purged through your open chest, a ball of cleansing light.

Orange Lavender Tea

February 9, 2014

This time of year, I always have the faint longing for spring. I eye the ground hopefully, looking for that first almost-there flower bulb peeking out of the earth, its green shoots braving the cold winter air, while its roots stay firmly snuggle underground. I begin to think of my garden, of the radishes and lettuces I wish to plant. I find there is no better remedy for this early spring fever than a cup of Orange Lavender tea--it has the subtle brightness of spring from the citrus and the soothing floral aroma of winter's passing from the lavender. So when you find yourself longing to be in the dirt sowing those first seeds in your garden even though spring is still a long way off, console yourself with this gently fortifying blend.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup tulsi

1/2 cup dried orange peels

1/4 cup lavender

1/4-1/2 cup spearmint (depending on how minty you want it to be)

Blend all ingredients in a bowl and transfer to an airtight container. Keep away from direct sunlight and heat. To brew, use a heaping tablespoon per cup of hot water. Add more tea per cup of water for a stronger brew. Makes approximately two cups of tea. Enjoy!

Health properties of ingredients:

Dried orange peel: contains vitamins A, B, and C; unblocks stagnant energy.

Lavender: a traditional nerve tonic and relaxant; antiseptic and antibacterial.

Spearmint: soothes nerves, motion sickness; cures headaches, cramps, sore throats, and stomach aches.

Tulsi: helps body adapt to stress by balancing out cortisol levels, antibacterial, and anti-fungal.

On Preparing a Dinner Party

February 8, 2014

You feel like Mrs. Dalloway on the morning of her party: fresh, excited, ready to relish everything from the flowers at the market to the bright red radishes you will pair with your Toscano cheese for appetizers.

You get to use your fancy dishes--the elegant salad bowl, a gift from your parents; the cheese tasting slate board, a new-home-splurge; and the rich gold and teal cake stand, the perfect accent for your chocolatey desert. You are even pleased that your pantry is fully stocked, ready for an impromptu dinner party without much fuss. It takes only moments to sift through the contents of your freezer and refrigerator and put together a menu--braised pork chops with winter vegetables, a salad with pistachios and beets, a platter of artisanal chocolates and citrus.

Menu complete, you turn your attention to your apartment. It is clean and tidy, as it always is. You must only tuck away your knitting and blankets, leaving your couches free for guests. You pick out the records that will best fit the evening: Bill Evans, Dave Brubeck, Gerry Mulligan. They are the perfect backdrop for a dinner with family, mellow but festive. They won't overshadow the laughter or the conversation.

The food preparations complete, your apartment fragrant with the scent of pork chops simmering in apple cider, the only thing left for you to do is don your festive dress and put on some records while you wait for your guests to arrive.

On An Unexpected Friday Morning at Home

February 7, 2014

It is not quite the snow day you had hoped for the day before. Although the trees are still coated in white crystals and there are patches of ice on the grass, most of the snow has melted, leaving behind only bracingly cold air and a pleasurable hush.

Still, it feels as if it is a snow day. Your meetings have been canceled one by one, toppling like a string of dominoes after the first push. Afternoon plans have melted with the snow too for one reason or another. It is as if the world has granted you an honorary snow day: no important things to do or places to rush off to.

You linger over your morning coffee, aware of the fact that you would be applying your last swipe of mascara and hurriedly stepping into your shoes now if you still had those meetings. Instead, you putter around the house makeup-less in a cozy cardigan.

You are hesitant to fill up this time stretched out before you; you want to continue to feel the abundance of this moment as you fill the kettle with hot water for tea and then step out onto your patio to breathe in the winter air.

There will be plenty of other Fridays to venture from your home and flit from one activity to the next. But today is not that day. So instead you linger on your porch to savor this unexpected gift and the sweet slowness of the morning.

On Almost Snow Days

February 6, 2014

The night before you had watched the snow pile up outside your window.

You went to bed thinking perhaps there will be no school tomorrow. No. That's not true. You hoped fervently there wouldn't be. Not that you don't love your work, but as soon as the snow started falling the playful child in you woke up and began dreaming of making snowmen and drinking hot chocolate and curling up next to a fire after you've exhausted yourself playing out it the snow all day.

Your childish hope was almost answered: a two-hour delay. You discover this early the next day when your alarm goes off and you roll out of bed, ready to begin your morning rituals of yoga, breakfast, coffee. Then you remember the snow and rush to your computer to check the news as if it were a gift you couldn't wait to open. There it is. A two-hour delay.

You peak outside to see the snow glowing in the darkness. You eye the clock. For a moment, you don't know what to do. Email your students? That would be the responsible adult thing to do. Stay up and go about your routine? That would be the organized thing to do--think of all the work you could get done at home. But you leave both ideas behind in favor of the simple joy of crawling back into bed, snuggling under your pile of downy comforters and knitted blankets.

It is, after all, an almost snow day.

On Introverts

February 5, 2014

You know who you are.

The quiet soul in need of home, a good book, a cup of tea to replenish yourself. The one who knows that a mellow evening listening to jazz records in the comfort of your pajamas is a legitimate Saturday night plan.

It is not enough for you to simply be out with strangers--seeing and being seen--filling up your time in an effort to be busy or important. No. That way leads only to tiredness and a dry, brittle feeling deep in your bones. If you must surround yourself with anyone, it will be your fellow introverts, the kindred spirits who understand the intricate world that unfolds in solitude. They are the ones you can linger over a pot of tea with or share in a yoga practice. The ones who relish time spent together but understand--even appreciate--when you need to curl up on your couch, just you and a novel.

Other would say you are doing nothing when you turn inward. But they do not understand the luxury of letting your mind roam unfettered, unfurling in the silence and tenderly probing one thought after another, then drifting beyond the borders of this world into others.

In these silent hours, you begin to cast off that dusty brittle feeling in your bones like an old coat, filling your body up with stories and dreams and the gentle murmur of a heart content.

On the View Outside My Office Today

February 4, 2014

So it snowed last night in Albuquerque and I woke up to a desert city powdered with snowflakes. Then this glorious winter-scape greeted me when I got to work. Seriously have no words for this kind of beauty, so I will let the picture speak for itself.

On Mondays

February 3, 2014

They are the ugly duckling of weekdays, lacking the glamor of Saturdays or the flirty hope of Wednesdays winking and hinting that the weekend is just around the corner.

But Mondays. Mondays. If you are willing to peel back the beat-up old exterior like scraping off faded decorative paper from your walls, you will find the fresh patina of promise. A crisp, spring green frond unfurling into the workweek, delicate leaves licking possibility. The week is as yet untouched by extra hours at work or unexpected busy evenings.

Oh, Mondays. They are unabashedly ready for the bustle and industry of the next five days, leaving long naps and late nights in the wind as they jump and dance through the week on a full battery. You are completely recharged, gliding through your day, ready for anything. You have not yet begun to feel the gentle tiredness in your body and mind as you do on Thursdays, a sign of a week done well.

You know Mondays are one of the great unsung pleasures of the world, too often lost in the shadow of the weekend, made from its louder, flashier siblings. But Mondays, Mondays. They are the dependable pleasure of your afternoon cup of tea and your evening yoga; your daily walk and time at your writing desk.

Mondays. They merely go about their day, asking only that you sometimes pause and take in their quiet possibility.

On the Ritual of Tea

February 2, 2014

It is a symphony for the senses. The gentle whistle of the boiling kettle; the soft murmur of tea leaves being poured into a strainer like grains of sand slipping through an hourglass; the first splash of hot liquid hitting the teacup; the fragrant steam washing over your face.

And that first sip. Nothing compares to that first sip of a fresh cup of tea. The welcoming hot brew on your tongue, washing away the wrinkles of the day. Your hands wrap around the ceramic mug enjoying the heat radiating from it, wrapping around your fingers like cozy mittens.

You contemplate this as you watch your tea brew in a hand thrown ceramic teapot. You peer into the pot's open top to see leaves unfurling like tiny dancing figures gliding through the hot water.

Earlier you stared into your pantry, debating what tea to brew. A black tea would be the ultimate refreshing burst of energy, but you dismiss the Earl Grey and smokey Lapsang Souchong before you because they belong to your office time. They are the beverage of Victorian ladies and Sherlock Holmes respectively, reminding you to move through your day with grace and awareness. No, you need something else now. You sift through your green teas, all promising that meditative calm and clarity, but push further still to your own herbal blends--not teas at all, really, but herbal steeps.

These herbs call to you, the soothing balm to your soul. The tulsi and raspberry leaf fill the pot with a delicate, earthy perfume that washes over your face in a gentle warm mist. It is time to pour. You savor your cup while gazing out the window at the bare tree branches. And when the tea is gone your eyes fall to your empty cup. You see stray leaves sticking to the bottom of it, teasing you with glimpses of your future if only you knew how to read them.

I Made It Through the First Month of Daily Blogging!

February 1, 2014

I have spent all 31 one days of January posting blogs daily about the magic of everyday life and the simple pleasures we often take for granted. Woohoo!

This one-month milestone has whetted my appetite for more meditations on the delicious moments of day to day life. What's more, I want to hear from you--what topics are you enjoying? What simple pleasures do you look forward to in your day? It has been a treat to share my bits of daily magic and find kindred souls who feel the same way about yoga, reading, or tea. So let's keep the conversation going! Tell me what you would like to read more about. You can comment on this post or email me at enchantmentlearning@gmail.com to share your thoughts.

If you've been loving what you're reading and want these daily meditations emailed directly to you, please subscribe to my blog here--and spread the word to your friends and family. Thank you, everyone, for your support with this writing project and for sharing in this conversation!

Women's Soothing Mint Tea Blend

January 31, 2014

This tea is dedicated to all the ladies in my life who need a little extra TLC now and then. It has the soothing flavors of mint kissed with cinnamon and orange peel, with the healing power of raspberry leaf--a plant traditionally considered a healing tonic for women. Personally, I drink this tea pretty much nightly before I go to bed since it's caffeine free. Drinking it regularly allows me to get the maximum health benefits of the blend.

Ingredients:

1 cup raspberry leaves

1/2 cup peppermint leaves

1/2 cup spearmint leaves

1/2 cup cinnamon bark

1/2 cup dried orange peel

Health properties of herbs:

Cinnamon: antiseptic, aids digestion, calms nervous system, anti-inflammatory.

Dried orange peel: contains vitamins A, B, and C; unblocks stagnant energy.

Peppermint: a cure-all herb for headaches, cramps, sore throat, and stomach aches.

Raspberry leaf: rich in vitamins A, B, C, E, magnesium; tones uterus; relieves tension.

Spearmint: soothes nerves, motion sickness, along with the properties associated with peppermint; stronger flavor than peppermint.

On Birthdays

January 30, 2014

You are a kid again. The day is about cake and polka dots and fun.

Each part of your routine sparkles with the pure enjoyment of the day: the promise of celebrations, the excitement of opening a present carefully chosen for you by someone you love. Even the sun seems to hold you close.

It is a day begging to be dressed up in a fancy frock and ribbons in your hair; a day that calls for a lighter work load if not downright hooky. It is a day lived in the present even as it acts like a camera reel sliding over scenes from the past year--accomplishments, heartaches, adventures, and curve balls. But the reel stretches beyond the year, reminding you that today of all days is where you can feel not just your age but also 25 or 12 or 7. These years, these ages, these other yous all weaving together to make the you that is you right now.

The you that is seven still thinks of this day as the one where you get to eat a big piece of vanilla cake smothered in brightly colored frosting. The you that is now--the one that has almost grown out of the frosted cake eating--looks to the day as one in need of champagne or bubble baths or both. Both yous--the seven and the now--will forever agree that it is a day for a fancy dress, a cheeky A-line skirt that shouts girly fun and frivolity.

And all of the yous know that the cake, the dress, the champagne, the pure giddy enjoyment of being one year older, pale in comparison to spending a day with those you love, celebrating the you that is now with people who have known all the yous, sometimes better than you have. They are the hugs and love and proverbial warm fuzzy blanket that make the day worthwhile.

Energizer Bunny Bars

January 29, 2014

On the days I teach three classes in a row, I need a little snack to get me from my 6 am breakfast to my 1:30 pm lunch. This is especially important since I'm not the type of person who can function while hungry (that's the hobbit in me). Plus, getting too hungry can lead to grabbing easy but often unhealthy snacks on campus...so I Iike to have my stash of readymade delicious, healthy treats I can take with me to school.

One of my new favorites is this Energizer Bunny Bar, packed full of chia seeds, oats, and all sorts of good-for-you nutrients. I adapted it from the Healthy Family and Home's raw hemp and chia seed bar, supplementing ingredients with what I had on hand. What can I say? I'm an improviser. These bites store well in the fridge and freeze well too. Remember, this raw bar is full of fats--good for you, yes--but stick to a small 2inx2in square for your snack so you aren't eating more calories than you can burn. To learn more about the health properties of these ingredients, check out the link to the raw hemp and chia seed bar above.

Dry Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups multigrain oats (rye, barley, wheat)

1/2 cup organic blue corn meal

1/2 cup organic chia seeds

1/4 cup organic flaxseed meal

3/4 cups organic almond meal

Wet Ingredients:

1/2 cup organic honey

1/2 cup organic applesauce

3/4 cups organic peanut butter

1/4 cup organic coconut oil (melted/liquid)

2 teaspoons organic vanilla extract

Mix all wet ingredients together. In a separate bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together. Then slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, stirring frequently (you may also need to get in there and mix it up with your hands). Put mixture into a 9x10 baking dish or piece of Tupperware and press down firmly until the mixture spreads out evenly. Let chill in the fridge for at least one hour to firm up (you'll want to continue to store them in the fridge because they soften at room temp). Cut into little squares and enjoy!

Makes approximately 12 squares.

On Figuring Out What to Write About

January 28, 2014

You've been on a roll lately, writing about this bubble bath and that morning walk. But today you mull over each new topic and discard them one at a time as if they are cards in a tarot deck and you aren't quite ready to hear what they have to say, although you know you will eventually return to them.

If you had more time, you would write a little on that topic and a little on another, until one sucks you in completely and you're off and running, spinning out words until you've said what you needed to say. But the time between coming home from work and going out to tea is limited. Each minute slips by in a flurry of dinner preparation and the transformation from teacher to person. No. It's not your normal routine, not the leisurely evening you usually enjoy, the unhurried unrolling of the night conducive to writing and reading.

Your dinner is heating on the stove. You have changed from your teacher uniform into your civilian jeans and boots; there is nothing left now but to return to your words. Then it hits you: what greater joy is there than to ponder writing--the luxury of worrying a topic in your mind like it's a frayed piece of yarn in your hand?

That's it. It's there within your reach. You've found it. You sit at your desk and begin the daily ritual again. You put fingers to keys and write.

On Cooking Dinner

January 27, 2014

The news plays softly in the background, the day's events unfolding one after another in a smooth narrative stream. A glass of wine sits on the counter next to your cutting board and pile of vegetables. Thin medallions of sausage cook on the stove, perfuming the air with their rich, spicy aroma. The dhal, made up of sweet onions and cooked-down lentils, simmers on the stove, adding to the tantalizing aroma.

As you wash and slice your green beans into inch-long slivers, you let the last of the day roll off you, the last little coil of tension that your yoga loosened, if not released. You sip your glass of wine; the dry kiss of the white nectar rolls across your tongue in a burst of crisp citrus and honeysuckle. Next, you tackle the ripe cherry tomatoes which burst under your knife, spilling their wet seeds all over the cutting board. You pull a jar of olives from your refrigerator, deciding they would be a nice addition to your stir fry. You scoop a small handful out and cut them in half, popping a salty jewel into your mouth as you finish chopping.

As world events turn over to national coverage, you pile the vegetables in with your sausage, letting the flavors meld. They mix in the pan while you finish your glass of wine and the news. It is time, then, to pour the steaming stir fry over the dhal. You serve yourself in a big shallow bowl, grateful for this plateful of nourishment, this edible gift.

On Brunch

January 26, 2014

You sleep in today--much longer than you had expected to. You relish the sleepy feeling, the delicious laziness of a long night spent dreaming, the happy promise of a free day.

The day calls for a breakfast as leisurely as your waking. You toy with the idea of waffles, but quickly dismiss it as too much work, too much to focus on. Eventually, you ease yourself out of bed and claim jeans and a sweater. The sun and fresh air lure you outside with the promise of a morning walk to the store, your mind finally settling on fresh fruit and a pastry for breakfast, maybe an omelet. You walk down the street, coffee cup in hand, appreciating the birds' song, the steady hum of light traffic.

The market has the same unhurried bustle as the street outside. You peruse the fruit spread out like edible jewels before you. Add some blueberries to your basket. They will pair well with the almond croissant you decided to commit to after examining the seductive confections lining the pastry case.

On your walk home, your brunch menu forms in your mind. A scrambled egg stuffed with vegetables. More coffee. Your fruit and pastry. Vivaldi is serenading you as your eggs sizzle in the pan. The only thing missing is the paper spread out before you, the world's events broken into columns and captions. Instead, you decide to let your mind breathe, free of words, of information for the moment, indulging in the slow breakfast preparation and the gradual unfolding of a lovely meal.

On Playing with Herbs

January 25, 2014

You have your jars of herbs lined up before you like wild soldiers. Each is stuffed with gifts from the ground--fat golden flowers and thick roots and long needles--each its own medicine. Here is calendula, that happy marigold, ready to soothe irritated skin and frayed minds; there is ginger root, the fiery cleanser of the solar plexus, stoking the heat, the determination within yourself; tucked in the back is that brash kitchen herb rosemary, that fearless sharp evergreen the clears the mind and heals your tired bones.

You let the scents of each open jar mingle and cloud your nose as you take first a pinch of this herb and a scoop of that. You want something--your body is humming, calling for the soothing wisdom of these plants and they answer that call with the gentle melody of tiny buds bouncing against the sides of your mixing bowl, dried leaves whooshing into the pile of your new blend.

You inhale the rich grassy scent of alfalfa leaves, hungry for their nourishment. You search through your jars looking for alfalfa's mate, that balancing force that tempers the mouthful of mowed grass with sweet and soft. Your eyes light on fennel, that little seed made up of licorice and mint; yes, this will pair well with your other leaves.

Each addition to your bowl is the promise of a new healing elixir that will float from a steaming cup and into your soul to mend, to cleanse, to ground. And though you started with your jars and only a vague sense of needing a cup of wellness, you find that after your blend is made and steeped and drunk, that what you really needed was time in the kitchen. Time to unscrew the lids on those jars of herbs and play with nature's medicine cabinet. Time to let your mind drift, to let the taste of rosemary settle on your tongue, and to have no other aim but to blend.

On Peanut Butter

January 24, 2014

Peanut butter.

The patron saint of don't-know-what-to-eat-for-lunch and desperate-for-a-quick-afternoon-snack. Chocolate's perfect mate, jelly's no-fail dance partner. The smooth glob of velvet in your mouth that your tongue runs over and over in an attempt to make sense of the thick taste. Equally at home in the embrace of a fat spoon or a breakfast smoothie, smeared on apples or poured into soup.

Peanut butter.

It is the soothing memory of childhood PB&J lunches--the butter kissing grape jelly, smooshed between two slices of whole wheat bread. It's ants on a log, the flavor of raisins and the crunch of celery.

Peanut butter.

You stand in front of your refrigerator door, pondering these facts, these memories, as you root through your fridge, past the mustard and pickles, searching for your jar of peanut butter. You want something--not quite a meal, nor a real snack, just something to hold you over for the stretch between lunch and dinner, something indulgent, but healthy--the satisfying alternative to the chocolate that calls your name.

You unscrew the lid and inhale the warm, buttery scent of creamy nuts and memories of peanut butter cookies after a long summer day of mosaic-making. In goes your spoon to scoop out some of this edible gold from the jar. It sticks a little--the spread hard from weeks of sitting in the cool confines of the fridge--but you finally get your spoonful of heaven. You wrap your lips around the spoon and lick off the peanut butter, letting it slowly warm then melt in your mouth, filling you all the way down to your belly.

There is only one expression for that warm gooey feeling, that comforting taste of nourishing food--it is, simply, peanut butter.

Easy Peasy Baking Soda Face Scrub

January 23, 2014

First I will say that baking soda is the miracle kitchen staple, good for baking, house cleaning...and beautifying. Truth be told, I'm obsessed with baking soda because of how good it is for you--a cheap, natural, healthy product you can put in almost anything to make it better.

Which brings me to my love of a good face scrub. The skin on your face is more fragile than the rest of your body, so you need something that will scrub away the dead skin and other bad stuff without irritating it. This is something I take to heart, since my skin is super sensitive--so sensitive in fact that even gentle organic products can irritate it, making it feel like it's burning or drying it out. But I do like to give my face a little extra TLC, so after some experimentation, I've found that baking soda is a perfect primary ingredient for an easy, gentle face scrub. I then use olive oil as the wet ingredient (although you could use just water or another lighter oil) because it hydrates the skin. A drop or two of clove oil gives the scrub antibacterial qualities--but be careful not to overdo the clove oil, as it can irritate your skin. I recommend using the scrub no more than once or twice a week, so you don't strip your skin of good-for-you-oils. And of course, all ingredients are organic.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup baking soda

1/2 cup olive oil

1-2 drops clove oil (optional)

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and transfer to a mason jar to store. Makes a little over 1/2 cup. Enjoy!