Nourishing your body and mind!
This past Monday we celebrated the Dragon Boat Festival in Taiwan. For those who are unfamiliar, the holiday is said to commemorate the death of the 4th century BC poet and government advisor, QuYuan. As one story goes, out of desperation regarding the decline of his influence and the ensuing government turmoil, he threw himself into a river to drown. In hopes of saving him, people raced in boats to retrieve his body, and when unable to do so, threw rice dumplings into the river to prevent fish from feeding on his body.
Today, the holiday is primarily celebrated with dragon boat races and eating zongzi , rice dumplings filled with sticky rice, pork, mushrooms, chestnuts, egg and other oily yummy goodness wrapped in bamboo leaves. This week, my students and I joked often about needing to work extra hard during classes to burn off all our zongzi, but what I wish I had said was: enjoy , every, single, bite.
Like so many people, I fall very easily into the trap of categorizing food into two groups: “good” and “bad.” I ate a salad for lunch yesterday; I was being good. I ate ice cream as a midnight snack; Oh, I’m soo bad! Lumping everything into these two categories in effect sucks a lot of the pleasure out of enjoying a delicious meal, and actually dissuades me from making healthy choices at times because, well, being “bad” can feel good sometimes!
A few months ago, I started paying more attention to what I eat. Instead of thinking about what I shouldn’t eat, I’m focusing on what I want my food to bring to me—nutrients, vitamins, energy, happiness and pleasure! When I see the value of the food in this way, I find so much more joy in eating everything from salad to chocolate. Especially when it is shared between friends, homemade, and in celebration of someone or something, the food feels like it has more value and fills me up in even more ways!
Food that is made with love, food that comes from tradition, it not only nourishes the body, but also the heart and soul. Enjoy that piece of birthday cake with your good friend; eat that zongzi that only your grandma can make right. Life, meals, and special moments are meant to be savored!
Keep moving!
xx,
Katie
滋養你的身體與心靈！
上周一我們在台灣慶祝端午節。如果你對端午節不太熟悉，端午節是在四世紀的愛國詩人屈原的逝世紀念日，因為楚王不聽屈原的諫言而被敵國殺害，心痛的他最後抱石跳河自盡。當地的百姓被屈原的愛國情操所感動，於是就用竹葉包著糯米的飯糰投進江中給魚吃，希望魚不要吃屈原的屍體；相傳當時有人想要找尋屈原的屍體，所以就划著船在汨羅江上找，就演變成划龍舟的習俗了。
現金我們仍用划龍舟比賽和吃粽子來慶祝端午節。粽子就是用油飯、豬肉、栗子、香菇、蛋黃和其他油膩好吃的食材包在粽葉裡。這周我和學生們不停地開玩笑，說要特別用力地跳才可以燃燒掉粽子的熱量。現在想起來，我希望我當時反而是說：我要好好地享受每一口。
和大多數的人一樣，我也很容易掉入將食物分為「好」、「壞」兩類的陷阱。我昨天的午餐是沙拉，很乖！今天消夜吃冰淇淋，真不應該！ 把每一個食物這樣的歸類，讓吃美食這件事變得不那麼令人享受了，事實上有時候它反而會讓我更想要做「壞」的決定，畢竟當壞女孩的感覺有時候也很不錯！
幾個月前，我開始注意我的飲食。不總想著我什麼不能吃，取而代之的，我專注在我希望食物能帶給我：養分、維生素、能量、開心與享受。當我用這樣的角度看待我的食物時，我開始享受吃每一餐、每一樣食物，從沙拉到巧克力。尤其是當和朋友們一起分食，一起做菜、一起慶祝的時候，我發現這些食物吃起來不只讓我吃得飽，心理上也有另一份不同層面的飽足感。
不論是帶著愛心做的餐點，或是傳統佳餚，它們不只提供身體上的養分，也滋養我們的心靈。和你的好朋友一起享受那塊生日蛋糕，吃著你阿嬤親手包的沒人比得過的粽子，生活、餐點和特別的時刻都是值得我們細細品嘗的。
繼續前進！
愛你的 Katie
( Anna Liang 譯 )
Comments