Meditating My Way Through an MRI

image from glowellness.wordpress.com

A couple nights ago I received an MRI of my right wrist. I would be lying if I said I'd been dreading it, since in fact I get somewhat excited at the prospect of medical interventions, especially non-intrusive ones. And indeed it was totally fine, particularly since I didn't have to get an injection beforehand. (Needles are not really my strong point. No pun intended.)

Anyway, the technician was very nice and must have warned me about fifteen times that the machine would be noisy and that I would have to remain very still. Neither of those aspects turned out particularly problematic.

The thing is, when you find yourself in that machine with its noise completely engulfing you, there's something almost euphoric about it. You can almost sense yourself merging with the sound altogether, and in fact there are magnetic waves passing through you at every moment. Dare I say the experience is almost...spiritual?

Fleeting, inchoate thoughts of gratitude floated through my mind: namely, that I was lucky to live in an age so advanced that this monstrous, blustering device could, in the span of twenty minutes, provide an accurate, pain-free, and harmless assessment of the inner workings of my wrist.

I tried not to let the noise or the rush of thoughts overcome me, and envisioned my mind as an open, empty space.

 Less than twenty-four hours later, my doctor called. There was nothing terribly wrong with my wrist, he said, but a small dorsal ganglion (cyst) that I'll probably need to be treated for. Incidentally, it's common in young women. Go figure! I'll let you know how meditating during the aspiration goes.

MACROBAR Organic Almond Butter with Carob

image from VitaSisters.com

Yum!

I stumbled across this in a grocery store and had to buy one since it was gluten-free, organic, and yummy-sounding.  Ingredients: organic brown rice syrup, organic almond butter, organic puffed brown rice, organic carob powder, organic coconut oil.

Unfortunately, I realized after checking Dr. D'Adamo's food lists that as an O+ non-secretor I'm probably not supposed to consume rice syrup, so I might have to nix these bars. But they're also a little high in calories and sugar and rather low in protein, so I might not have kept them around long anyway. Nonetheless, a delicious snack.

Happy first day of spring :-)

Best Chai in New York City

I found it! It's brewed at a place called The Bean near Union Square, right across the street from Strand. They use David Rio chai, and you can drink it hot or iced with regular, soy, or almond milk. They pride themselves on their Dirty Chai (with a shot of espresso), which I didn't try, not being a coffee person myself. My iced soy chai was refreshing and sweet!

Kir Royal Hibiscus tea

Took a long stroll outside yesterday since it was a beautiful spring day, and I stumbled into Spices and Tease. I ordered iced "Kir Royal Hibiscus" tea, and it was delicious. With hibiscus, blueberries, papaya, raspberry, strawberries, and rose petals, how could it not be good?

Blue Frog Chocolates bar

My new favorite chocolate bar is this Blue Frog Chocolates bar, 71% cacao. My dad somehow procured three of these and immediately thought of me. He made a note to his secretary to send them separately so that I would receive three, not one, delectable surprises in the mail, preferably spaced apart by a week. This proposition must have struck her as pure idiocy because I received them all in one box and was, of course, quite thrilled.

Sorry the photo is rather truncated; not sure why Instagram insists on cropping!

Chai Latte

Anyone who knows me well knows I love chai lattes. I've tried making them myself, but they never seem to come out right. The balance of spice, milk, and honey (or any sweetener of choice) is a delicate one, and my $10 milk frother doesn't seem to be up to the challenge. Perhaps one day I'll give it another go, but for now I'm content to let Oren's and Joe's brew my chais.

What most of us think of as chai is really "chai masala latte," spiced tea with milk (chai = tea; masala = mixed/spiced; latte = milk). "Chai" itself is really just a generic term for tea in the Indian subcontinent. The chai lattes sold in the West today derive their inspiration from this original, simple beverage but deviate from it quite a bit and are usually over-sweetened, in my opinion.

Oren's brews its own chai from scratch, mixing tea, cardamom, cinnamon, anise, peppercorn, and cloves (or some variation on that theme). I order it with soy milk and honey.

If your only option is Starbucks, I'd recommend ordering it with less of the chai mix than they normally use, cutting back on sweetness and calories. Also consider asking them to make it without water--tastes infinitely better when it's just milk and chai.

Enjoy!

Fragrance therapy

Moseyed into Sephora today during my lunch break and spritzed on "Light Blue" by Dolce & Gabbana. Delightful! Ingredients listed are Sicilian citron, bluebell, Granny Smith apple, jasmine sambac, bamboo, white rose, cedar wood, amber, and musk.
Light, fresh, and romantic...a summery scent that makes me think of sailing. Perfect mid-day pick-me up!

Note to boyfriend: *wink*  :-)