Flow with it

About this picture: Taken in Arches National Park (Utah), it reminds us in a very real way of the healing power of movement. There is a saying “dogs and kids are happiest when running”; here you will see our 3 year-old son Bah'hozhooni running after our dog. My corollary to this saying is that our goal as adults is to keep the child within alive. Movement = Medicine.

Slow. Sluggish. Feet dragging. Legs heavy.

The run was not the effortless morning wake-up I had envisioned when I sat on front steps tying the shoes. The gazelle I had envisioned, gently bouncing over the trails, had turned into more of a hippo waddling along.

Then, around 15 minutes into the run, I remembered a friend’s wisdom. “Don’t fight the current. Find it and flow with it.”

So, flow with it became my mantra.

As a competitive runner, flowing at an admittedly pedestrian speed is sort of new.

But then again, I am a competitive runner 3 months into a pandemic, exhausted from work as a family physician to support others in movement and health. I am a runner whose competition has become measured by resilience more than by mile pace or race times/awards.

It took some effort, but over the next miles of the run I repeated flow with it and let the run take over. Suddenly, the trees seemed more present. The flowering plants of our New Mexico landscape became more fragrant. The sand beneath my feet that had earlier seemed a culprit in my slow pace now welcomed my every step with a grainy cushioned embrace.

Before I realized it, I was in that wonderful space that running offers us, escape from pandemic and all of life’s stressors. I hardly noticed that my pace had quickened.

Flow with it.

That’s my prescription for us all. Let your movement be medicine on all levels – mind, body and spirit. Let your runs/walks/hikes/dance/gardening/etc. be a way to connect with yourself and nature in a way that we know is deep in our DNA as humans: running. As we see a world suffering, dedicate your movement to the healing of those infected and all of us affected. Flow with it.

And in the fine print of the prescription, I might also add that flow with it means to take care of being gentle with ourselves in this moment. Your movement is a chance to make space for yourself, but make sure that space is healing, loving, uplifting. Flow with it and appreciate your body for what it is doing, not what it isn't doing. 

On some pandemic days, gentleness with ourselves is going to mean throwing out the pace or mileage goal for the day; instead, focusing on being present, giving thanks for the moment and gratitude for your body that allows you the gift of that day’s movement. 

As we say in our Running Medicine program, “Breathe deep, forget all worries, and get your medicine.” 

May your movement be wonderful and healing today. May you have the strength and presence to flow with it. 

When life gives you lemons...fermentation begins!

Chef Joe Romero (Navajo/Hopi/Zuni/Taos) and I connected over food, healthy and creative food to be exact. He has offered his time and talents to NHI’s “Food is Medicine” 6-week challenges, with recipes that “remix” the ideas around sustainability, affordability and “make-ability” (e.g. someone without the title ‘chef’ can actually produce it). 

Some of his creations were so packed with life and art and creative energy that I started writing spoken word poetry inspired by his recipes. Well, this will give you a taste of the creative energy – in this case, he took a piece from this blog and created a recipe he felt expressed the piece in a culinary form. I then took his savory lemon recipe and wrote a short piece of poetry to add even more flavor. Get your tastebuds ready!

From Chef Joe:

Inspired by the words of Dr. Fleg and his kids’ response to these uncertain times, I too was trying to see the light in this situation. 

After reading the blog "A Gratitude Perspective On Coronavirus", I asked myself, “How can one turn some invisible microbes and bacteria into a blessing?” Then it hit me like a rotting tomato - fermentation!  So many of our everyday and favorite foods are fermented blessings - coffee, chocolate, bread, and hot sauces to name a few. In the fermenting process we harness the microbes in the air to interact and create beneficial bacteria in simple ingredients to transform and aid flavor development and to preserve. Bonus! These foods boost our immune system too! Rotting food – noxious or nourishing? It is all in how you choose to digest it! So with no further delay, here is a recipe for one of my favorite kitchen blessings, culinary art inspired by the first piece of this blog adventure.                       PRESERVED LEMONS When life gives you lemons…you ferment those beauties! The bright citrus flavor of fermented lemons, balanced by brininess and sourness, can add so much depth and nuance to so many dishes. Try adding to your salsas, pan sauces, and yogurt toppings for both savory and sweet applications. This can be added anywhere you would add regular lemon – have fun experimenting!         Ingredients:                                                                                   12 Lemons (4 scrubbed and dried, 8 juiced to yield 1 1/2 cups), plus extra juice if needed 1/2 cup Kosher Salt Recipe: 1.       Cut lemons lengthwise into quarters, stopping 1 inch from bottom so lemons stay intact at base. 2.       Hold 1 lemon over medium bowl and pour 2 tablespoons salt into its cavity. Gently rub cut surfaces of lemon together, then place in clean 1 quart jar. Repeat with remaining lemons and salt. Add any accumulated salt and juice in bowl to jar. 3.       Pour 1 1/2 cups lemon juice into jar and press gently to submerge lemons. Add more lemon juice to jar as needed to cover lemons completely. Cover jar tightly with lid and shake. 4.       Refrigerate lemons, shaking jar once per day for first 4 days to redistribute salt and juice. Let lemons cure in refrigerator until glossy and softened, usually 6 to 8 weeks. (Preserved lemons can be refrigerated for up to 6 months.) 5.       Cut off desired amount of preserved lemon. Using knife, remove pulp and white pith from rind. Slice, chop, or mince rind as desired. Only the rind is usable.

Lemon madness

Digging

Deep

Into tastebuds treasury

Waste product no more

Lacto-fermentation, wearing Superwoman’s cape,

Has saved the day

Has reminded us of the cycle of life

Has begged us not give up when things begin to spoil, soil, rot, ferment.

Has begged us to have faith and simply stay (in)tuned –

This is where new life, new taste

Blossoms

Blooms

Explodes

Expands

Mind and mouth consciousness of

what was

and

what is

and

what can be

The shoe-less hike

We had escaped to hike, a Mother’s Day celebration.

I was depleted, finishing a 7-day stretch of hospital medicine in the new world order – face masks, globs of hand sanitizer, lonely patients, and some conversations reduced from in-person to tablets.

So depleted, in fact, that I worried if I could muster energy to make Mother’s Day special for my wife.

“Get the kids ready, pack them in the car,” I texted as I left the hospital.

I knew if I could avoid slumping into a chair or onto a bed, I had a chance.

So it went – “Dad’s home” followed a minute later by the car starting our escape into the Sandia Mountains that shadow our city of Albuquerque.

We arrived. The ritual of checklist that comes with having four children began. Water bottles? Check. Sunscreen? Check. Hats? Check. All children present? Check.

All looked to be in order until my personal check. Shoes? Shoes? In my haste to leave, I had left shoes behind.

Leaving me with a quick decision to make. Option 1: Smile and enjoy a shoe-less hike, saving our Mother’s Day adventure from crashing to a halt. Option 2: “Everyone back in the car. Wave to the hike that would have been.”

Option 1 is our world.

Making the best out of the less-than-optimal, far-from-normal options. Option 1 is virtual 

birthday parties, graduations, and weddings. Option 1 is our decision not to give up, not to give in, but to get creative.

So we hiked. Passerbys trying not to stare too long at my socks. A few made jokes. One family with young children asked “What happened to your shoes?” as they headed up the trail as we made our way back to the car.

“A bear just jumped out of nowhere and snatched them. Said he wanted Nikes.”

The “really??” look on the faces was a small victory for my defeated feet, stinging from the rocks and roots incessantly poking from underneath. My wife, citing social decency and Navajo tradition that says by naming an animal you call them to you, gave me that look, ending my shoe-less victory dance.

My feet survived, the hike was saved, and Mother’s Day happened. Maybe my feet were even strengthened by the uncomfortable experience.

Today will give us such moments, with an Option 1 in each case that does not feel like the right answer, but which is the best option.

Pick Option 1. Be proud. Get excited for what this path might hold. Feel free to laugh - at yourself, at your feet, at the moment - if needed.

Option 1, as a friend reminded is simply this: “Don’t fight the current, find the current and flow with it.”

My 5 biggest motivations to go with Option 1 (from L-R are my wife Shannon, son Bah'hozhooni, and daughters Nizhoni, Sihasin and Shandiin)

Corona - Tha Verse

This week's piece is a visual art/poetry collaboration. I gave the initial lines of this poem to collaborator Christian Gering who worked on art that he felt embodied the poetry. See more of his art @ www.christiangering.com

Corona

              beer or virus

              killers of livers

                                           lungs

                                                          longevity

                                                                        life purpose

Corona

              “crown” en español

              symbol of colonizer’s destiny manifested            

                                                     globe infected

                                                     pandemic ignored

              not-so-covid operation

              dissecting

              commodifying  

              all that is within

                                           and

                              on

                                           Mother’s Earth

              unlike surgeon’s scalpel

              this infectious quest claiming no intention to heal

Corona

La Rona

SARS-CoV-2

                             miniscule RNA sequence bringing down double-stranded DNA world

     (distinct from Ebola, H1N1 and others who have tried)

has huddled humanity

stopped a world of speed

stripped us of the 

                             “social” 

                                     into just
                                         “being”

Corona

COVID

“Mr. 19”

Plague ‘20

                            lurking in the shadows

                            longing for host

                            looking

                                           4

                                                         way

                                                                       in

                                                                                       2

                                                                                                     lungs

              Bringing

                                           us                       

                                                         2

                                                                        our

                                                                                       knees

                tears

                                                                                                  suffering

                                                                                                  pain

  Bringing

                                           us                       

                                                         2

                                                                        our

                                                                                       knees

                                                                                                     prayerful

                                                                                                     grateful

                                                                                                     humbled

      

Corona,
            brothers and sisters
            is our 3-day Hogan healing, and we sit collectively in its first night                                                                  

                                                                       

This is Ceremony

                                                          This is Beautyway*

This is Enemyway*

This is Hozho*

                                                          This is Cleansing

                                                          This is Renewal

                                                          This is Healing

*Beautyway and Enemyway are names for traditional Navajo Ceremonies. Hozho is a Navajo concept invoking “peace, balance, harmony”