Teatime With Toni

The Knowing of the Nose

2011-11-25T12:51:00.001-07:00

"And when you crush an apple with your teeth,say to it in your heart,

"Your seeds shall live in my body,and the buds of your tomorrow shall blossom in my heart,

And your fragrance shall be my breath, and together we shall rejoice through all the seasons" Kahllil Gibran
How was Thanksgiving? This is the beginning of the Holiday challenge. We so often feel guilty if we overdo but don't. Life is so much about the lessons we are willing to learn. What was the experience around the feast. Did your eyes get the satisfaction they needed? I made food preparing a high priority. I wanted everyone to see all of the beautiful colors of the harvest feast. And to whiff the aromas coming from the kitchen to set their pallets. We lit an old fashioned kerosene lantern on the table and built a fire in the fireplace. The mix of the roasting bird, (we have family members that are not vegetarian) with spiced yams, sage stuffing, all accented with the raw cranberry relish made for a heavenly, tantalizing nose experience. The hunger for loved ones was definitely satisfied by having all the people around me that I love deeply. Seeing their faces glow at the table, and as we sat by the fire watching a movie with laughter thrown in to balance the whole occasion. Have you ever had one of those exasperating days where it seems nothing is going the way you planned? Have you ever had the experience of walking into a room and the aroma of something fantastically delicious smelling triggers every cell in your body to seek comfort in that food? We see that happen pretty regularly in our teahouse. Good food smells wafting out from the kitchen into the entryway seem to set people up for the comforting experience for the wholesome meals they are about to receive. I have had it happen to me. Sometimes it is for the right food but sometimes people get hung up. Their nose is triggering a response to the emotion which then sends them spiraling into poor food choices for comfort(the drive through at Kentucky Fried Chicken). More evidence that the disharmony with food begins with lack of awareness within the body, heart and mind.
What we call taste or flavor of a food is almost entirely smell. Our tongue is only able to taste five flavors. These are sweet, salty, bitter,and amino-acid/protein. If you have ever lost your sense of smell for any reason such as colds or sinus issues, it can be quite distressing. When we can't smell food properly, food seems to be rather tasteless and bland. So if you experience lack of taste it most likely has something to do with sinuses.

BECOMING Mindful of Nose Hunger: Before you start to eat a meal, sit up straight, smell the food you are about to eat by lifting the plate or bowl to your nose and inhale deeply. Try to detect as many components of the smells as you can. Close your eyes and imagine that you are doing an investigation of the ingredients. As you take the first bite, continue to smell or be aware of the smells. Chew and chew, notice whether the tastes get stronger on the in-breath or the out-breath. Try not to take another bite until you can no longer taste the last bite you swallowed, in your mouth. This could mean sitting between bites. How does this make you feel? What emotions if any are recalled?

Tea of the day: Moroccan Mint. This tea is very cleansing to the palette. It is a very aromatic blend of an organic
special grade Gunpowder green tea and Organic peppermint, with a hint of Osmanthus Flowers for a honey experience. Traditional Moroccan Mint is made with fresh mint and gunpowder with loads of honey or sugar. This is my answer to the issue of sweetener and convenience. The Chinese have been using Osmanthus for hundreds of years to sweeten and delight the senses. What a perfect tea for broadening your practice of testing your nose and clearing the palette. Close your eyes and sip the tea, holding it in your mouth. Try to identify with your nose the different components. Unlock the inner essence of your taste and smell and understand how the nose fills in the experience of taste. Take your olfactory nerves on a magical carpet ride to Morocco.

A Feast For The Eyes

2011-11-17T13:27:00.001-07:00

Raw pasta with Raw Alfredo at Shangri-La

November is the beginning of the feast season. We tend to go internal, light candles more or linger near a fire. As the darkness outside begins to consume more of the daylight it is important to feast with the eyes. Create a feast once a week for yourself. Treat yourself as a most treasured guest to the banquet. Flowers or greens on the table, tablecloth, nice dishes and flatware, candles, these will set the stage for your eye feast. Plan and prepare a nutritious beautiful meal for yourself. Remember that this is a meditation. Start with an exotic tea in a favorite teapot and cup. Notice the simplicity of this practice. How do you feel just watching the steam rise from the cup. Keep your meal simple and small and elegantly arranged. Remember that your stomach when empty is only as large as your closed fist. how do you feel hunger. Sit before your table and let your eyes be filled. rate your eye satisfaction from1-10. Be thankful for the gift you have given yourself. If you need help get yourself a book on Japanese food and flower arranging. Even if you don't particularly care for Asian cuisine the Japanese know how to present food and flowers.

Feasting on Eye Hunger Without Eating

Feast your eyes on a flower and how the light plays on the curves of a petal

Often times our body does not really want more food. But we eat because we are not in touch with what is really going on. With the eyes as part of our hunger system often what we are seeking is more beauty. Or more awareness of the beauty around us. I know this seems far fetched, but we are connected to the world around us in very deep subtle ways and what we feast our eyes on resonates deep in our body through a messaging system. So if you want, experiment with feeding the eye hunger itself by feasting your eyes on something lovely or interesting to look at. Stop, stop and really look for a few minutes, drink it in with your eyes. It could be anything you want . Try different things. A flower, it's petals, how the light plays on the curves of a petal. Or a painting in an art gallery. Or my favorite, Hands. I love the character of hands. Old hands that have withstood the hard life of working. They are a beautiful feast for the eyes. What ever you choose, imagine the energy that radiates from this sight entering the eyes and absorbing into the body. Feed the eyes for as long as you like. You may discover that feeding the eye hunger also feeds the heart.

I would Like to suggest a tea in honor of the heart.
Heart's Rhapsody. Divine Lotus Tea Company
Heart's Rhapsody is designed for just overall healthy heart. I thas herbs that have been known for thousands of years to regulate and maintain healthy pressure. It also contains Tulsi which has been used in India for thousands of years to calm the adreanals and oxygenate the blood so that your indurance is better.: Of course you should always be in consult with your health care provider if you have serious heart conditions. Go to our website to get more on this tea or come by and see us at Shangri-La Tearoom and Vegetarian Cafe, 1800 w. Overland Rd., Boise Idaho

Are The Eyes Hungry?

2011-11-15T10:46:00.001-07:00

So, when are you hungry? Is it satisfaction of a beautifully presented plate of food that brings you to eating? It should play a very large part in the nurturing process. There are different reasons we eat. There are actually 7 senses that come into play when hunger strikes. It is important to come to terms with these. Sometimes one sense is much stronger than the others. Here they are: Eye hunger, Nose hunger, Mouth hunger, Stomach hunger, Cellular hunger, Mind hunger. I know it seems too confusing but lets just take one at a time and try some exercises.

Shangri-La 1/2 salad with Fried Dulse added

First, just take a minute before eating whatever you are planning to eat at your next meal and do a baseline observation. How hungry are you really? 1-10. Where is the first place your mind goes? Did you really take time to plan this meal? if not what has driven you to eat right at that moment? Lets pretend you are an investigative reporter from another galaxy. You have never seen Earth food before. What would you report back about the food in front of you? As an earthling would this morsel of food be an embarrassment as an example of what earthlings live on or would it be alive and a source of pride to share with other beings? Just with the eyes notice the color, shape and texture of this morsel of food. How alive does it look? Practice this for a few meals and take note of what might change in how you pick your meals.

Photo sharing

Natalie and Toni hanging at Native Foods Cafe

David Wolfe, Daniel Vitalis and Toni


Toni and Jason Wrobel and his Lovely lady

Toni and Kim Sol Yoga Instructor for the Longevity conference

Natalie and Alicia Hodge the most striking ladies at 118 Degrees

Natalie on the boardwalk at the beach

At the beginning of October actually for my Birthday my 2 daughters and I went to Costa Mesa, California for the Longevity Now conference. While we were there we payed a visit to 118 Degrees a raw food cafe, and Native Foods Cafe. What we discovered is that we at Shangri-La are right where we should be given the amount of time we have been in business and the awareness of our client base.We are excited to bring new thing to our home town. We had a great time and met some fun people. The super-food industry is really starting to break open and now all of the things I have been taking in my private health care are now becoming mainstream. Our Wild mushroom soup is loaded with the medicinal mushrooms that everybody is talking about and it really does heal the body: Reishi, Maitake, and Shittake, among others. It is a super food soup with the greatest immune system potency.

OOPS! Wrong Button, I Guess.

2011-10-28T20:51:00.001-06:00

Well due to an unfortunate mishap, I have lost my past blogs. I am sorry for the inconvenience. I think I will try to just move on from here. I was working through some thoughts on Mindful eating. Nose Hunger is where I was when the program failed. I am sad but I will try to recap. This project is about establishing a healthier relationship with food. And perhaps discovering what mindfulness really means. Not as a concept, but a learned powerful tool to help us awaken to the full potential of our lives. What is Mindfulness? Simply put, it is deliberately paying attention and being fully aware of what is happening. This means inside your body, heart,and mind and outside yourself, in your environment. Mindfulness is awareness without judgment or criticism. My first thoughts are the joy that can be claimed if we can release ourselves from the bondage of eating disorders and create self-nurturing. The science of eating says that whether we know it or not, all parts of our body are engaged in the eating experience. When we get our eating into a mindful state great healing can take place.
The Joy of Mindful Eating

Mediterranean Platter with added raw crackers at Shangri-La Tearoom

Mindful eating involves all of the senses. We get immersed in colors and textures:eyes. Aromas and scents:nose.Tastes and mouth texture: mouth. Even the sounds surrounding eating and drinking, such as conversation, dishes clinking with silverware or glasses coming together. And the actual body sounds of chewing and and drinking that you can hear inside the head:Ears. All of these ideas allow us to be present and playful while we find the cues to what actually makes us hungry. No charts or graphs.No counting this or that. In my opinion, mindful eating is freedom, moment by moment experiences unique only to the practitioner. It is an opportunity to implement self-nurturing and self-respect through your own disciplines of inner knowing and wisdom. Eating is one of the most pleasurable and sensual experiences we have as a human being. Don't you think it is time we take this experience back? The simple act of eating mindfully can also help us uncover other wonderful activities happening right under our nose and inside our own bodies. The joy found from mindful eating has the added benefit of helping us tap into our heart's natural ability for gratitude and openness.
Be curious: Questions for starters-Am I really hungry?
Where in my body do I feel hunger?
What do I crave? Is it food really?
What am I tasting? Just think about these questions over the next day or so. It is helpful to journal about your thoughts.