I'm a menace to society—I was just driving down the freeway blasting the radio, when I felt blood trickling down my nose because my third eye acupuncture point was bleeding.
As I glanced in the rearview mirror and discovered this, I nearly rear-ended someone because traffic had suddenly slowed down. Then I got home, and had to go to the bathroom really bad! I ran into the guest bath downstairs, and promptly tripped on a dog ramp I had shoved into the bathroom to get it out of the way before taking it to Goodwill. Which as I’m writing this, makes no sense at all. Nevertheless—there it was. And there I was,
on the floor with my dog, licking at my face.
Wait, let me back way up—last night I couldn’t sleep. I was too wound up. I sat on the edge of my bed staring at something stupid on tv, eating a pint of ice cream out of the container. Then I thought, I know what will help! I’ll buy a new outfit. I caught myself and realized that sounded insane. I immediately course corrected myself in the wrong direction to a $400 side table. Which I purchased, and then frantically tried to un-purchase.
Cross addiction, much?
I finally went to sleep about 3:30 AM, and woke up in a total full body panic. I was sick from the ice cream and jangly from lack of sleep. I drank some detox tea, and then my vitamin mineral adaptogen collagen drink, and threw on some clothes and drove to acupuncture.
I confessed my sins, and got needled up. Usually I listen to a meditation during acupuncture, but I was still too wired. So instead, I spent the time recording voice memos.
Then, I got in the car, and you know the rest.
I got up off the floor, went upstairs and changed my clothes.
I made some relaxation tea (light of day organics) and sat down to write this.
Do I know better than to allow myself to get in such a state? Yes.
Do I sometimes do shit like this anyway? Yes.
So, let's break it down. Heres my ideal day—
- Wake up without an alarm between 7:00 and 8:00 AM
- Morning ritual: Drink a green juice, make some tea, meditate,
study, write...
- Do whatever Im doing for that day
- Get off the phone, laptop, and iPad by 7:00 PM
- Short walk with Lobo (my dog)
- Make dinner
- Eat dinner
- Nighttime ritual: Drink tea, take a bath, get ready for bed,
drink my nighttime smoothie, turn off the TV, listen to a guided meditation or ASMR
- Sleep
I accomplish all of these things in a single day about 20% of the time.
I manage about half of 50% of the time.
And barely manage a green juice, and cup of tea the remaining 30%.
What I do know, is the very most important thing that will determine how the rest of my day, or even my week will go—is if I do my morning ritual. This can be accomplished in 20 to 30 minutes. Or up to 2 hours, depending on where I’m at time and energy wise.
You live and you learn. Be kind to yourself, and if you spin out like I did—just right yourself by taking two or three manageable steps toward self care.
Ive found I just can’t rush through a day willy-nilly, (ha! Willy-nilly) and expect to stay sane. Think about all the things that you can do for yourself each day that will keep your blood sugar, and energy balanced.
Nourish your mind with reading, studying, writing, listening to a podcast and / or walking outside barefoot.
Nourish your body with a healthy meal that preferably you made yourself.
Teriyaki sweet potato bowl is a perfect lunch, or dinner when you’re feeling jangly and unsettled. Or just need to come back to earth like I did.
The sweet potato is grounding and the teriyaki and pineapple will satisfy a sugar craving—without allowing your blood sugar to take you on a roller coaster ride.
This recipe is so easy. You only have to cook the sweet potatoes and the rice.
The challenge for me was how to get the teriyaki flavor into the sweet potatoes while still keeping them tender crisp, like al dente pasta. Pretty sure I nailed it.
Other than that, and the pineapple, (You have to keep that, you just do!)
You can customize it however you like.
It's the perfect blend of crunchy and smooth—salty and sweet.
- 2 large sweet potatoes (4 cups chopped) cut into medium dice. They don't have to be perfect, but make them as uniform as possible for even cooking.
- ½ cup homemade* or bottled teriyaki sauce
- 2 cups cooked white or brown rice
- 2 cups fresh or frozen pineapple large dice
- 1 cup chopped or sliced fresh red bell pepper
- 1 cup fresh or frozen corn
- 1 cup sliced green onion
- 1 large avocado sliced
- small bunch sunflower sprouts (optional)
- 1 Tbl sesame seeds
- *Teriyaki Sauce
- soy sauce
- rice wine vinegar
- honey
- ginger
- garlic
- cornstarch
- In a large skillet with lid, combine water, teriyaki sauce and sweet potato.
- Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.
- Remove lid, increase heat to medium high and, stirring frequently, cook for an additional 7-10 minutes until sauce is syrupy and sweet potatoes are cooked through but firm. A fork should go in easily without breaking the sweet potato apart.
- Let sweet potato sit in the skillet off heat while you prepare theother ingredients
- To serve:
- Place ½ cup rice in a large single serving bowl
- Give the sweet potato a toss and place on top of rice
- Top with remaining ingredients
- Finish with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and a drizzle of teriyaki sauce if desired.
