Friday, February 25, 2011

Friday-11:15am

Okay, I know it looks like a big bowl of baby food and you may not like pureed soups, but I think it is really good. ;)
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Flemish Carrot Soup
4 large pared carrots, cut up
2 medium onions, cut into chunks
1/2 cup celery chunks
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup milk
1/2 cup cooked rice
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon seasoned pepper
1 cup light cream (half and half)

Lightly saute carrots, onions, and celery in hot butter.
Add broth and milk.
Simmer until carrots are tender.
Let cool off a bit.
Put into blender or food processor with other ingredients.
Blend until smooth.
Heat and serve.
Makes about 6 cups.

I got this recipe from my mom when Dagan was little. I think she got it out of a cooking magazine, but I don't know which one. I usually add a little more rice than they ask for and I used brown rice this time instead of my usual jasmine. I think I prefer jasmine, but it is still good.
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My friend, Ruby, gave me this sign years ago. I used to have it hanging on the wall in my office at the senior building. :):)
Well, let's see...I've been listening to a lot of audio talks. First--the tapping series.
You do these series of taps cycling on the above body parts while you focus on what you want to release. (Karate chop point, eyebrow, side of eye, under eye, under nose, chin, collarbone, under arm, and top of head--around and around.) I am not sure what I think of tapping, to be honest. What doesn't feel right to me is that at first they have you saying negative things...and I really wonder about that.
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For example, the last session was about love relationships and they had you start out saying "even though I don't feel worthy of love, I deeply and profoundly love and accept myself anyway", etc. You tap on different spots and say things like; "I am unworthy of love"..."nobody good would possibly be interested in me"..."I'm just not lovable", etc. You keep cycling around your body tapping on those spots and what you say does get better and better until eventually you are saying things like; "all children are beautiful beings of light and that includes me"..."what if somebody found my quirks endearing and could see my heart inside"..."what if we could each see and accept our own issues and challenges"..."I am worthy of love"..."my future partner is also worthy of love"..."and we will come together".
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Well, I guess the idea is that you are first getting in touch with the blockages and negatives you carry around--but it feels wrong to be saying those things out loud to myself as I am tapping away, you know? Maybe that is just my own prejudices, but it seems to me that maybe you are first reinforcing the negatives? Or that they kind of negate the positives you end up saying later, you know? Well, I am not sure what I think yet about tapping. I guess I will reserve final judgment.
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There are ten days of tapping....tap, tap, tap. So far they have had sessions on money/finances, pain, weight loss, and love relationships--two sessions by two different people on each subject. I didn't do the first ones about money. Frankly, it put me off that they started out with that subject, I guess. But, then I thought I should give it a fair shot and have done the following three. The next ones are on anxiety and anger. Tap, tap, tap.
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Hey--if my pain goes away, I lose weight, and my soul mate comes knocking at my door, I take it all back--ROFL!!;)
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The speakers on the Kabbalah are going to be the first three Tuesdays every month and start on March 1st. I'm not sure how many months it goes, but I am thinking it might have been May? I'll let you know if those are interesting.
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The other series I am listening to right now is called Quantum Healing, Consciousness, and Soul. This series is all about transformation. They have 2-3 speakers every week for about 90 minutes each and will continue thru April, I think. This week was Mon-Tues-Weds. The first guy I enjoyed--Gregg Braden. The second guy--Brian Clement--a lot of holes in his ideas, if you ask me. And the third guy--Chunyi Lin (who teaches Spring Forest QiGong in Minneapolis)--I loved! I might talk more about what they had to say later. Lots of information to digest. :):)
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Anyways, we're back to 8 below and light snow. I had to cancel on Sacred Circle with Dagan and Leah this week because of my hours being so crazy--was just plain too tired and sore. We'll try for next Tuesday. I finally collapsed yesterday--slept from afternoon till about midnight. Today--just washing clothes right now. I'll be quite ready to climb into fresh sheets later on this afternoon when they come out of the dryer. Karma is sound asleep in her blue suede bed. :)
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Life is good.
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"May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder."
John O'Donohue

14 comments:

AliceKay said...

The soup looks interesting. I was wondering what it would look like.

Cute sign! :)

The tapping thing puzzles me. I think I'm with you in questioning why they want you to bring out the negative. I would think the positive thoughts would give more insight into your being.

We have lots of wet snow here today. Woke up to a mess and it's been a mess all day. We weren't supposed to get much, but I guess the air has stayed colder than anyone thought it would in our area so we received very little rain. It's been mostly snow. (it's still snowing out there...i have pics and video to post when i get some time)

I hope the rest of your day was a good one.

akartisan said...

When I looked at your blog today, I say the place that says "subscribe" but I can't get it to do anything.

The tapping is supposed to be particularly good for fibromyalgia and other things.

I have another carrot soup recipe I'll send you - it's too long for here.

We've been having record snowfalls here. I almost couldn't open my door on Monday and had to dig out my car, then last night got another 6-10 inches. Monday, I had 3 feet of snow on my car!

tattytiara said...

As I say, tapping never really seemed like the right thing for myself, but the fact that it feels wrong to say those negative things does seem like it might be part of why it's important to. You can't fix something until you really understand how it's broken and all.

Rita said...

AliceKay--I know--I am still kind of thinking about the tapping. As I am doing this I see that you can change the wording any way you want to fit you personally, too. And I think the negative talk is to get you to start feeling those things so that you can be in touch with them to release them. Not sure.
I saw all your snow on your blog! :)

Sue--I did delete that gadget and then re-installed it. I hope it is working for you.
Thanks for the new pureed carrot soup recipe you sent me! I will try that later. I like that it has potatoes instead of rice. :)
I hope you get dug out up there!! :)

Tatty--As I said to AliceKay--I am beginning to think that maybe they have you say the negative stuff to get the emotions up to the surface so you can release them? I have noticed that the speakers running the different sessions have different ways of approaching the tapping. I think that guy was just so harsh about it. Some of the women have such a more loving approach. I'll have a better idea by the end of the ten days, I'm sure. Wouldn't hurt for me to read a book one day, I suppose, or find some more information online to understand the reasoning behind the process--duh! ;) Have a good weekend. :)

Deanna said...

I don't think I could handle the tapping. I'm assuming you have tried yoga? It is great for the mind and body.

I'm glad to hear you FINALLY got some good sleep. I'm going to have to do laundry today. It piles up everytime I blink.

Hope Spring visits you soon.

Deanna

Toriz said...

I'm with you on that tapping thing. It's difficult enough for people to try not to focus on the negatives, and saying them out loud would - I would think - make accepting the positives more difficult, since negatives are easier to accept as a rule, so I would think they would negate the mental effects of the positive comments. But there you go!

I'm sorry you had to cancel your sacred circle this week.

Rita said...

Deanna--No, I never tried yoga back when my body could have handled it. I had done QiGong (modified version to avoid twisting my hips, knees, and ankles) a few years ago and have been thinking about doing that again. :)
I finally got all my wash done yesterday! It had piled up while I wasn't feeling very well. But there comes a time you have no clean underwear--hehe! :):)

Tori--I've also been wondering if it is a way for people to get in touch with their feelings? Might work better with people who haven't already dug around a lot, you know? I think when I have some time I should snoop around online and find some information I can read on the principles involved. Good idea--hehe!
Yes-I hope we get to do Sacred Circle this coming week. :)

Queenie Jeannie said...

Brrr! Another cold one for you!! What a strange winter it's been for the US this year - yikes!

Sounds like you have tons and tons of stuff going on. All this *brain activity* keeping you up??? I know if I can't turn off my voice, it disturbs my sleep.

Sleeping on warm, clean sheets is heaven!!!

Rita said...

Jeannie--Yah! We've had roller-coaster weather up here. Not that any of it is exactly shocking or anything--hehe! Here we've just had a little extra cold and snow. They started sandbagging in February because we get flooding on the Red River here. (Not near me, tho.)

It always takes me 15-30 minutes to fall asleep because of mind chatter--hehe! This stuff hasn't added to it, luckily. Maybe I am doing enough thinking about it during the day...or the meditation is helping? ;)

Ahhh! I agree about the warm clean sheets! Especially in the winter! :)

Anonymous said...

Thats an interesting chart and I love that sign that you got from a friend. I dont like onions or celery so I dont think I would like the soup but it definately looks like something yummy for a cold day :o)

Serena Lewis said...

That soup sounds delicious! I don't mind pureed soups at all.

I tend to agree with your thoughts on the stating of negative aspects. However, I guess it's similar to other 'courses' or even 'visual journaling' where negative perceptions about one's self are noted first and then, 'replaced with a positive' or 'painted over' as a way of cleansing it from our minds. As an Abraham-Hicks devotee, negative statements would defeat the purpose but, to each, their own.

I have a Tai Chi DVD and book which includes some Qi Gong exercises. I haven't used either yet but I've always wanted to try Tai Chi so maybe I'll add it to my growing 'To Do' list for this year.

Rita said...

Lynn--Supposedly the points you tap on have to do with the ancient Chinese meridians/acupuncture points/chi or some such. I suppose you could make the soup without the onions and celery. And you can season it any way you want to, really. But, I'd stick with what you know you love. ;)

Serena--Yes, that seems to be the method they use--getting in touch with the negative emotions first and then releasing and replacing them. Still just doesn't feel right to me.

Let me know if you try it. I know Tai Chi and QiGong are different, but I couldn't tell you exactly how. They both use the chi energy. My impression is that QiGong is generally a gentler practice (from the tapes I rented), but there are supposed to be soooo many types or versions of Tai Chi and QiGong that you can find something that suits you. I had to look for something I could adapt for my bad hips, knees, and such. I like that it has to do with energy balancing. :):)

Intense Guy said...

It doesn't sound like you "really, really" believe the tapping thing will work ... so it won't.

:)

It does sound kind of counter-intuitive but our brains aren't very intuitive are they? Reverse psychology works (sometimes)... but smart people get caught up in reverse-reverse (end even reverse-reverse-reverse) psychology knowing its been reversed.

I'm going to go rest my head - I think I blew a mental fuse.

Rita said...

Iggy--True. I just couldn't believe it was a positive thing to say negatives to yourself. Went thru the ten days--mostly listened. Had a hard time participating. Not for me. Unless I used the tapping points for all positives? I think I blew a mental fuse just trying to understand tapping the way they presented it. ;)