Last March when we stepped into the great unknown now called a Pandemic I wondered how I might offer further support to my community.  What I knew I was going to need in the time of uncertainty was more meditation.  And so along with my friend and colleague Isabel Frankel, I began offering a free drop-in gathering on zoom.  Much to my surprise,  seven months later we are still at it.  In this podcast, you will find a selection of the meditation practices we have shared.  Whether you are just beginning your meditation practice or are looking for some new techniques you are in the right place.  Welcome!

Inspiration for this recipe came in the form of my prolific sage plant and the oversized butternut squash that arrived in my CSA last week. As I write this it is seriously taking every bit of will power I have to not sneak back into the kitchen for another bite of this amazing combination. I hope you and someone you love can enjoy this dish as much as we did.

Ingredients

1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed

1 liter of prepared veggie broth ( use only enough to keep vegetables covered while cooking)

1 medium onion diced

Olive Oil

1 cup of soaked cashews, soaked in very hot water for 30-45 minutes and drained

12 sage leaves, plus an extra prig or so for serving 

1 bunch of cleaned and trimmed spinach or 1 bag of baby spinach

Salt and Pepper 

1 box gluten-free pasta, cooked al dente 

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large pan, add onions, saute on medium heat until soft and they begin to turn golden. Add the sage leaves, squash, and just barely cover all vegetables with veggie broth.  Simmer until squash cubes are quite tender. 

Add cashews and blend with an immersion or high-speed blender until very smooth and creamy.

Season to taste. 

Fold spinach into sauce and pour over prepared pasta. 

Top with a sprig of sage and serve. 

Enjoy!

Chopping these gorgeous vegetables is a perfect opportunity to practice mindfulness in simple everyday kitchen tasks. Take your time and appreciate the gift of this present moment.  

Ingredients

Salad

• 1 large or 2 medium kohlrabi, peeled and cut into matchsticks
• 2 medium carrots, grated
• ½ medium red cabbage sliced thin
• ½ cup of toasted chopped nuts and or seeds

Dressing

• ½ cup vegan mayo
• ½ cup of toasted chopped nuts and or seeds
• 1.5 tabl coconut vinegar
• 1-2 tabl maple syrup or 2 dates
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• ¼ water to thin to desired consistency

Mix prepared vegetables in a large bowl.  Blend all dressing ingredients in a high-speed blender or with an immersion blender, thinning with water to reach the desired consistency.

Cover vegetables with dressing and allow to sit at room temperature or in the fridge for an hour before serving.

Enjoy!

Enjoy this refreshing potato salad from the Swabian region of Germany.  Be sure to plan ahead as it improves when the potatoes are given a few hours to absorb the simple dressing. 

Ingredients

• 1 ½ lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled
• 1 veggie broth cube and ½ cup boiling water  
• 3 Tbsp white or apple cider vinegar
• 3 Tbsp mild oil such as sunflower
• 1-2 Tbsp maple syrup or coconut sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp ground white pepper
• ½ onion, diced
• Chopped fresh chives or dill for garnish (optional)

Directions

1. Steam unpeeled potatoes until fork tender but firm. Set aside until cool enough to easily handle.
2. While potatoes cool, dice onions and prepare the broth, 
3. Add onions to the hot broth along with vinegar, oil, sweetener, salt and pepper to make a dressing.
4. Peel potatoes, slice and arrange in serving bowl.
5. Cover with dressing.
6. Set aside at room temperature for flavors to meld.  
7. When ready to serve, adjust seasonings and garnish with fresh herbs.

Enjoy!

If there is any remaining salad (which would be a rare occasion at my house), refrigerate. Then, prior to serving again, allow the salad to once again reach room temperature.

“Safety and security don’t just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment.”

– Nelson Mandela

Safety.  It is exactly what your emotional core longs for.  When you are safe, you can connect. When you connect, you can create. And when you create, you experience freedom to be who you were born to be. 

So how do we achieve safety, especially now, in this unprecedented time? I certainly won’t claim to have the answer to that question, but I have been making important connections worth sharing as I strive to take what I know and grow it further.  

I know that when something is of great value to my work, it begins to show up in different forms from a variety of sources. That has been my exact experience with Polyvagal theory, the masterful work of renowned neuroscience researcher, Dr. Stephen Porges. 

What is Polyvagal Theory?

“Polyvagal theory offers a way to understand the human autonomic nervous system and directly engage with our habitual patterns of response.”

This is the definition that Deb Dana, the foremost teacher of Polyvagal theory, shares. 

I have found the Polyvagal theory to provide a remarkable lens offering insight into how and why smart, capable people often find themselves stuck in a loop of making forward strides, becoming overwhelmed and then shutting down.  This short video cuts to the core of the theory and will illustrate my point.

While there is certainly much more to this theory to address in future posts, I want you to understand this.  A perceived sense of safety is the key to step out of the cycle I described. Achieving that can begin with the use of some certain extracts in microdoses.  

How Polyvagal theory (PVT) connects with Gemmotherapy

Over the past two years, I have been framing and reframing the use of microdoses of specific Gemmotherapy extracts in search of a coherent and accessible method for selection.  I have looked at extracts through the lens of whether they are stimulating or sedative, what emotion they best address and whether their action on the nervous system is to tonify or harmonize.

While it has all helped me move closer to something useful and applicable, the selection of extract relied on a considerable amount of subjective information. To teach others to make a reliable decision, objective symptoms are needed, and that just may be where the Polyvagal theory is leading me.  

Through private tutoring sessions with a colleague of Dana’s and discussions with my Gemmotherapy colleagues, I have begun to develop what may be the guideposts I have been in search of all along. The recent pandemic has certainly pushed things along, giving me fertile testing ground for harmonizing jangled nervous systems. 

At this point in the development, I am borrowing some PVT language and looking at extracts for the nervous system as either mobilizers for the central nervous system or organizers for the sympathetic response. The mobilizing extract would be used first thing in the morning to support forward movement, and the organizer would interrupt old patterns of fight or flight when encountered. 

And how will this help me be an activist?

Let’s now weave Polyvagal theory and Gemmotherapy’s support for the nervous system into the present moment. To speak out against injustice, whether it is in the form of microaggressions or the blatant disregard of lives, requires you to begin from a place of safety. If you have suffered from injustices or any trauma, staying both mobilized and out of fight or flight will be nearly impossible.

This is where Gemmotherapy can come in, because the plant meristem cells in the extracts are actually reminding your autonomic nervous system how it is meant to respond, pretrauma. Combined with therapeutic support, your first steps as an activist, recognizing there is innocent suffering going on in society, stand up and call it out, can be successful. You will no longer fall into habitual patterns of response. To do so without experiencing a perceived threat or danger will allow you to call it out again and again without becoming overwhelmed or shutting down. Just think of all the good that could be done.

Ingredients

• 500 g organic okra, well dried and stems trimmed (careful not to open pods and expose the seeds) 
• Avocado, grapeseed or olive oil
• Juice from one whole lemon
• Sea salt
• Za’atar seasoning mix (make your own or order this one)
• 12 -15 organic cherry tomatoes

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Heat cast iron skillet over medium to high heat.  
3. Add one layer of okra and dry roast until skins begin to blister, shaking pan so that all sides of the okra begin to color.
4. Continue until all have been lightly roasted, moving each completed batch to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and drizzled with oil. 
5. Add whole cherry tomatoes.
6. Sprinkle with seasoning, salt and lemon juice.
7. Using your hands, see that the veggies are covered with oil and seasonings.
8. Place the pan in the preheated oven for 15-18 minutes or until cherry tomatoes begin to color and collapse.

Serve and enjoy!

Gingko biloba is the one and only surviving species in the lone genus of Gingkoacea. It is nearly extinct in its native form, with the exception of some found in eastern China. The Gingko you will meet today will have been cultivated. This deciduous, resinous tree can grow up to 120 ft, but perhaps only half that height in cooler climates. Gingko is known for its longevity and resilience. The tree is very adaptable surviving in settings where it doesn’t get much oxygen, such as near cement curbs, barriers, parking lots, etc.

Who might benefit from Gingko Gemmotherapy extract? 

Adult men and women who experience physical symptoms with the head, ears, eyes or mental symptoms involving lack of clear thinking or mild depression. Although well known in phytotherapy for its anti-aging properties, it is now understood that the positive effects of Gingko are most helpful for those under the age of 60.

In my system for restoring immunity, Gingko is best used in a protocol once elimination has been optimized for these symptoms: 

• Vertigo
• Hearing difficulties
• Eye symptoms, to include disturbances to the retina

Important to note: Due to the anticoagulant action of Gingko, it should not be taken by those prescribed blood thinners.

There is much more to learn about Ginkgo as a Gemmotherapy extract, so be sure to listen to this 25-minute podcast. You will discover the primary and secondary actions of Ginkgo Gemmotherapy extract and gain a clear picture of the various use cases of this extract. Consider subscribing now to my Restoring Immunity podcast on Spotify or ApplePodcast/iTunes.  

You can find Gingko as well as other single extracts for purchase on my Immunity store.

If you are on the lookout for a quick, healthy and satisfying weeknight meal, search no further. This lemony kale pesto is as nutrient dense as it is delicious. A favorite way to serve it at the Hubele house is tossed with freshly cooked gluten-free penne, adding in a handful of chopped garden fresh tomatoes. An equally good alternative would be to coat these salt crusted fingerling or baby creamer potatoes with a few heaping tablespoons of this pesto and serve them up with a salad or slaw.

Here is the basic pesto recipe, but please feel free to make it your own by switching out the greens or fresh herbs.

Ingredients

• 2 cloves garlic (although I like to use shallots for a milder flavor)
• 2 bunches of kale, stripped from the stems
• A handful or two of fresh herbs (consider basil, parsley and cilantro)
• Juice from two large lemons
• Good quality organic olive oil (adjusting amount to achieve desired pesto consistency)
• 1 cup nuts and seeds (can be a combination of pistachios, almonds,walnuts, pumpkin seeds and/or pecans)
• 4 heaping T nutritional yeast
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Place nuts/seeds in the food processor. Pulse and process until finely ground. Add kale and herbs, pulsing until all are chopped. Drizzle oil through opening of the food processor, adding a few tablespoons at a time, pulsing and checking consistency, scraping down sides if necessary.
2. Sprinkle in nutritional yeast, pulse again until well incorporated. Finally, add salt and pepper to taste, setting aside while pasta cooks.
3.  Once pasta is tender, drain, reserving a bit of the cooking water for thinning the pesto if needed. Add pesto by heaping tablespoon, stirring gently. Toss in tomatoes and fresh herbs for garnish.
4. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Pinus Montana, commonly known as Mountain Pine, is a towering evergreen native to the subalpine zones of the Pyrenees, Alps, Erzgebirge, Carpathians, northern and central Apennines, and higher Balkan Peninsula mountain ranges. It is considered a wilding conifer and classified as an invasive species in some regions. 

Mountain pines are known to form a belt of protection at the edge of forests, often serving as erosion control or as effective avalanche protection. Mountain Pine is known for its ability to stabilize the ground it grows on. In open valleys and on moors, they can grow up to 10 meters high

Those who could benefit from Mountain Pine extract, unless exhibiting acute symptoms, would be in Stage 3 of the Restoring Immunity system having already optimized elimination.  They will be mature women and men who exhibit one of the following symptoms:

• Acute or chronic weakening or pain associated with the bones
• Acute broken bones

PRECAUTIONS: As like all conifers, Mountain Pine is a stimulating extract which can negatively impact sleep when taken after 12 noon. If sleep is disrupted by a midday dose, then consider taking it first thing in the morning. 

There is much more to learn about Mountain Pine as a Gemmotherapy extract, so be sure to listen to this podcast with my colleagues, herbalist Teri Brooks and acupuncturist Maegan Lemp. You will discover its historical uses, the primary and secondary actions of Mountain Pine Gemmotherapy extract, and insight to how it is viewed through the Asian medicine lens.  

Consider subscribing now to my Restoring Immunity podcast on Spotify or ApplePodcast/iTunes. Or, if you prefer to watch videos, subscribe here to my YouTube channel.  

You can find Mountain Pine as well as other single extracts for purchase on my Immunity store.

Abies Alba, commonly known as Silver Fir, is a towering coniferous tree growing 130–160 ft tall at altitudes of 300–1,700 m (980–5,580 ft). It is native to the mountains of Europe, from the Pyrenees north to Normandy, east to the Alps and the Carpathians, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and south to Italy, Bulgaria, Albania and northern Greece. In North America, it is best known in its cultivated form and found on Christmas tree plantations in the North East. The leaves are needle-like, flattened, thick, glossy dark green above, and with greenish-white bands below. 

Those who could benefit from Silver Fir extract would be male or female, children to young adults, who exhibit one or more of these symptoms:

• Acute bone fractures
• Acute dental decay 
• Chronic susceptibility to viruses and colds
• Rapid growth spurt
• Symptoms of anemia

PRECAUTIONS: As like all conifers, Silver Fir is a stimulating extract which can negatively impact sleep when taken after 12 noon. If sleep is disrupted by a midday dose, then consider taking it first thing in the morning. 

There is much more to learn about Silver Fir as a Gemmotherapy extract, so be sure to listen to this podcast with my colleagues, herbalist Teri Brooks and acupuncturist Maegan Lemp. You will discover its historical uses, the primary and secondary actions of Silver Fir Gemmotherapy extract, and insight to how it is viewed through the Asian medicine lens.  

Consider subscribing now to my Restoring Immunity podcast on Spotify or ApplePodcast/iTunes. Or, if you prefer to watch videos, subscribe to my YouTube channel.  

You can find Silver Fir as well as other single extracts for purchase on my Immunity store.

Don’t waste any time waiting for a special occasion to make this yummy dish. It goes together in a snap as you prepare the filling and topping while the potatoes bake to a creamy and caramelized perfection. 

Ingredients

• 4 medium organic sweet potatoes, washed and sliced in half lengthwise (all varieties are suitable)
• Olive oil
• 1 medium onion peeled and diced
• 1 sweet pepper seeded and  diced
• 1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
• 1 can black beans rinsed and drained
• 2 medium seeded and chopped tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1  teaspoons cumin
• Pinch of cayenne or chili pepper of your choice
• 1 avocado
• 2 T vegan mayonnaise
• Juice of 2 limes
• Handful of fresh parsley and cilantro leaves (reserve a few for serving)
• A few slices of jalapeno (adjust to taste)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Liberally oil heavy baking dish or parchment lined baking sheet and arrange potatoes cut side down, not touching each other.
3. Bake until tender and cut side is caramelized but not burnt, 25-35 minutes.
4. While potatoes bake, heat a heavy skillet, covering the bottom of the pan with olive oil.  When the oil is hot, add onions, saute until translucent, adding peppers. Once peppers are tender, add corn, allowing it to roast and color a bit. Add tomatoes, black beans, seasonings and salt and pepper to taste.  Stir well and cover with lid, simmering 5-10 minutes for flavors to meld. Set aside.
5. In a small blender or food processor, add avocado, mayo, lime juice, fresh herbs and jalapeno slices if desired. Blend until smooth, season to taste.
6. Once potatoes are ready, arrange the cut side up on a serving platter. Use a sharp knife to split open down the center without cutting all the way through. Potatoes should be quite tender and fall open, wide enough to be filled. If not, gently use a fork to open up the space.  Divide the filling between the potatoes and top each with a generous dollop of the avocado cream. Sprinkle each with a bit of smoked paprika and some of the parsley and cilantro leaves before serving.

Enjoy!

Learn about the Silver Fir tree, the potential healing actions of the Gemmotherapy extract made from Silver Fir Tree Buds, and how this extract can be viewed through the lens of Asian medicine.

Gemmotherapy extracts are a unique botanical therapy, originating in Belgium,  that utilizes the meristem cells of trees to restore immunity. Discover the healing potential of these individual extracts through the lenses of your hosts, herbalist Teri Brooks, Gemmotherapy expert and health coach Lauren Hubele, and acupuncturist Maegan Lemp.