"Jitterbug Perfume"

“Breathe properly. Stay curious. And eat your beets.”- Jitterbug Perfume 

I'm obsessed with this book right now. So obsessed, in fact, that I intentionally only read one chapter at a time, so as to put off ever finishing it. Concurrently, I have fallen in love with beets. Before, throughout, and after reading this book, I love beets.

In the book, a once king seeks to live forever and ignore death. The king soon befriends the goat-like deity, Pan. And as Pan faces near extinction, and is being hunted by angry religious radicals, who think him to be Satan, the king designs a perfume to hide the goat's unmistakable stench, thereby covering his tracks. The perfume includes a base note made from beets.

Part of the king's ritual for longevity are a few basic principles, including: "controlled breath work, simple eating, sex, and bathing in extremely hot water."* Sounds like he'd make a good hot-yogi. 

And while I recognize this book to be a work of fiction, I believe their is some truth to the fact that controlled breath work can ward off stress, disease, and and even aging (to some extent). The ancient yogis certainly believed it.

Beets have some pretty amazing qualities as well. Some call them 'Nature's Multi-vitamin." In addition to protein, magnesium, and potassium, beets are full of vitamins, and minerals your body needs, but most especially, folic acid. It's no wonder Tom Robbins made it the favorite vegetable of his protagonist. Folic acid aids in cell renewal, which if you've watched any ad for skin cream in the last ten years, helps fight the look of aging. Some articles I found said that folic acid can prevent or slow the greying process of your hair, and even slow the aging of the brain, thereby preventing side effects such as dementia.  And although cooking any vegetable reduces their antioxidant power, and nutrient value, I prefer to eat my beets after they've been roasted (Although, I recently did a juice cleanse that involved a lot of beet juice, but that's for another blog).

In this entry, I share a recipe inspired by one of my new favorite tales, and give some tips on using your breath to increase the quality of your life. 

My mom gave me a beet plant...

So I harvested them.... 

...And washed them...

 ...And roasted them with garlic, and then I peeled them. For instructions on this, see my recipe for beet soup. I used goat cheese, for Pan; and mint, because it smells nice, and this dish needed an herb; mixed it all with brussel sprouts, because it's a delicious combination unearthed by my fellow yogi, Kate Korman (her blog here). Eh voila!

Jitterbug Brussels & Beets

Ingredients :

• Equal weight beet root, and brussel sprouts (I used about a dozen brussel sprouts to match my mom's beets)  
• 1-2 ounced of plain organic goat cheese
• 1-2 sprigs of mint, chiffonade 
• Garlic
• Olive Oil
• Salt & Pepper to taste

First, wash and trim your beets, drizzle lightly with olive oil, and add a few halved cloves of garlic, wrap in foil, and bake at about 400 degrees until the skin of the beets is easily removed with the swipe of a finger (about 25 minutes). Set beets aside. 


Wash and quarter the brussel sprouts. In a small roasting pan, coat brussels lightly with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes, or until the green color has brightened. 

Slice the beets to resemble the size of your quartered brussel sprouts and sprinkle goat cheese on the mixture. Toss lightly and roast for 20 more minutes, or until some of the brussel sprouts have begun to brown and crisp. 

Right away, sprinkle the mint, toss, and serve. 

My mom's beets tasted sweeter than cherry tomatoes, this is a delicious easy recipe for impressing at a potluck. Easily eaten cold or hot the next day.  

Pranayama - प्राणायाम 

Prana, in Sanskrit, is life force. To the yogi, this is your breath. 

Pranayama, is the extension of life force, otherwise known as breathing. But the way we usually think about breathing in and out, is different than the yogi practice of breath control. We use our breath to control our body temperature, our heart rate, blood pressure, vitality, and especially our deepness of concentration or meditation. Prana is the ever-flowing force of life, it does not just move in and out. It flows throughout and around our bodies to where there is pain, where there is restraint, and where there is static or cold energy. Prana ignites movement in the bones and muscles, and soothes the wandering or troubled mind. 

If you've taken a yoga class recently, you may be familiar with, "Ujjayi breathing," or "breath of fire," or even "standing deep breathing," as is done in Bikram classes. But let's forget all this for a while, and just imagine, you're lying in bed at night and you can't sleep. Instead of counting sheep, try counting your breath. Maybe you're counting 3 seconds on each inhale and and 3 seconds on each exhale. Now try making your exhale ONE second longer than your inhale, and repeat. As long as your exhale is longer than your inhale, your heart rate will slow, creating a calming feeling, which should help you get to sleep. Enhance this practice by only breathing through your nose. 

Simply taking notice of your breath can help reduce stress and anxiety at anytime in your day. Try even-counted inhales and exhales for 1-2 minutes the next time you get frustrated at work, or sitting in traffic.  See how you feel after taking control of your breath. You should feel like you've gained more control over your emotions as well.

Prana is amazing. Play with it. 


That's all for today.

Namaste 

"We relate to air through the breath. Most of us don't breathe properly, which is to say, we take in too little or too much and fail to consume it efficiently. Alobar and Kudra develped a method o' breathin' whereby the inhale and exhale were connected in uninterrupted rhythm, a continuous, circular, flywheel pattern like a serpent swallowin' its own tail. Their breathin' was deep and smooth and regular. When they brought air into their bodies, they visualized suckin' in as much energy and vitality as possible; when they expelled air, they visualized blowin' out all the staleness and flatness inside o' them." Pg 257