The first part of this series made an important point: the body best understood as an interconnected system of bones, muscles, fascia, and the nervous system working in relationship, rather than as a set of isolated parts. It described elasticity as the body’s capability to undergo stress and absorb hits while remaining whole and return to equilibrium quickly, linking that quality to adaptability and recovery. It also framed fascia as a body-wide connective web that distributes force and contributes heavily to body awareness, while the nervous system shapes muscle tone, posture, and our capacity to move with fluidity or defensiveness.

Developing Elasticity

To cultivate elasticity, then, we have to work with the body in this integrated way. Elasticity emerges when tissues regain their ability to load and release, when joints are no longer braced by unnecessary tension, when fascia is hydrated and able to glide effortlessly, and when the nervous system feels safe enough to permit responsiveness instead of chronic guarding. And this is separate from flexibility, by the way. Flexibility is useful, and we will surely delve into it in subsequent articles, however the aim here is not to become more loose, but rather more responsive. Stretching will gradually force more range into the limbs, and weight-lifting will work to contract muscles into greater and greater hardness. Elastic movement will guide greater aliveness into our body. This begins with a shift in how we move. Many people treat movement as either stretching for flexibility or straining for power. But elasticity belongs to neither. It lives in the middle ground between surrender and rigidity. To cultivate it, movement needs to include oscillation, rebound, rhythm, and whole-body coordination. Think of the natural spring in walking, the pulse of a light skip, the coiling and uncoiling of the spine when reaching, or the way the ribcage, pelvis, shoulders, and feet subtly converse during a balanced gait. These are not dramatic actions, but they are foundational.

Look at how these children play in this park. This is what we’re going for. A return to who we really are. Arms swaying, legs squatting, bodies rolling, knees galloping.

Fundamental Movements for Elasticity

What about the movements you ask? Well, we’re not there yet. Movements are unique to you. Posture and good body alignment is crucial throughout. Breathing in harmony with the movements is fundamental. And for this reason, we are in the process of building out an entire adaptive catalogue so that you can create a guided program based upon where you are, and what your unique needs and goals are.

However, that said, we present below a few general exercises that work for almost everyone. Since these were filmed by other practitioners, we cannot emphasise enough how important it is to pay attention to your body and breath as you move, and ensure they are operating in harmony with the movement and with your own self and capabilities.

Skipping combines rhythm, rebound, coordination, breath, and posture in a single action

Whole-body bands are useful, since they offer resistance that encourages continuity rather than rigidity

Rhythmic squats for compression and rebound through the centre

Hanging for length, decompression, and restoring spring through the shoulders and trunk

The Mental Component

There’s more to elasticity than just the body movement though. There is also a psychological dimension. A big part, in fact. The first article noted that the nervous system can hold protective patterns for years, particularly when stress becomes chronic and postural contraction becomes normal. When this happens, the parts of the body where this trauma goes into may not only tighten and lose mobility, but trust. It begins to anticipate force before force has arrived, in a visceral kind of perma-contraction. Developing elasticity, in part, means teaching the body that it no longer has to grip. It means releasing that long-held psychological trauma from the body, returning it closer back to it natural, childlike state. This is one reason why forcing intensity to movement too early can and does backfire (think weights). A body organised around defence does not become elastic by command. It becomes elastic through repeated experiences of playful, fluid, free movements, purposeful recovery, and coherence.

In practical terms, this means favouring movement practices that build responsiveness over control. The elastic band work we looked at earlier makes not only practical sense, but common sense then. Skipping and rhythmic squat-and-rise patterns, crawling, hanging, rolling, and light rebound actions that travel through the entire body. These forms of movement invite participation from multiple tissues and systems at once. They ask the body to organise holistically, rather than merely exert bit by bit..

The real measure of progress is not how movement looks from the outside. It is whether the body inside feels more unified, more springy, more spacious, and less effortful in daily life. Walking should feel lighter. Standing should feel less compressed. Reaching, bending, and turning should involve less local strain and more whole-body support. The body should become better at meeting demand without bracing against it. And perhaps above all, the mind and our personality patterns in daily life will come to reflect the freer, more confident nature of bodies too.

• Inhale 5–6 seconds: Don’t lift your shoulders or expand your chest! Imagine a balloon in your stomach inflating. Draw the air in slowly through the nose. Smooth and deep

• Hold 1–2 seconds: Just a moment of suspension. Enjoy the fullness.

• Exhale 5–6 seconds: This is where the magic happens. Let the air out slowly, again through the nose, feeling the belly button pull toward the spine. Let it gently contract deeper than your natural state to feel a sense of being empty of air.

• Hold 2–3 seconds: Sit in the stillness. That brief moment of “empty” is where the nervous system realises it’s safe to switch off the alarms.

(If this all feels a little uncomfortable for you at first. Trying placing your hand gently on your stomach, and harnessing that touch to guide your awareness of a rising and falling stomach, beneath a quiet upper body).

We call this The Resonant Breath. This name, as poetically creative as it may be (thank you :)), also carries biological significance. The rhythm of the resonant breath is one that balances the sympathetic (fight-or-flight) and parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) nervous systems. The inhale slightly accelerates your heart rate, while the long exhale and that crucial empty pause at the bottom actively slow it down, stimulating the vagus nerve. By breathing in this specific ratio, you aren't just relaxing; you are nudging the two systems into coherence. You’re manually levelling the seesaw, proving to your brain that you are safe enough to drop your guard, think clearly, and be present to all of experience. The Resonant Breath is the pathway to relaxed concentration.

Your Portable Sanctuary

The deeper beauty of this technique is its invisibility. Your point of contact is the expanding and contracting stomach, alongside the smooth rhythm of air moving in and out of the nostrils. The oxygen of life. And with these two simple effects, you can access this stabilising mind and body rhythm everywhere you dwell.

• In the Car: People today spend a great deal of their life behind the wheel. When in the car, keep your external attention on the road in front of you and your internal attention on the breath and stomach. Inhale for 6, hold, exhale for 6, hold. Expand, contract, expand, contract. You will find that this practice not only wakes you up on the drive, increasing your alertness, it also will stabilise your mood.

• The Meeting: Hidden beneath the level of the table, the stomach expands, and contracts. While you listen, breathe into your stomach. It keeps your brain oxygenated and the mind clearer and calmer.

• The Grocery Line: Instead of scrolling on your phone while waiting to pay, practice accentuating the empty pause (the 2–3 second hold out becomes a 3-6 second moment of visceral awareness). Expand, contractttttttt. It turns a boring wait into a micro-meditation.

• On A Walk: One step after another. The mind focuses on the point of contact of the foot with the ground. The breath begins to synchronise with the rhythm of the walk.

Over time, this way of breathing and the steady mindfulness that comes with it becomes your whole way of being. Each time something internal or external triggers you out of balance, your mind and body start to know it’s time to rebalance, and how to make it happen. That’s the quiet magic of breathing well, everywhere you dwell.

Renown for their umami taste, which translates in Japanese as “essence of delicious”, shiitake mushrooms have become one of the most cultivated foods on Earth. They are able to be home-grown by using spawn and old logs, while existing in the wild far and wide across underground mycelium networks that can stretch out for miles in diameter and live as a quiet architect of forests, decomposing wood, cycling nutrients, and building the invisible networks beneath our feet. Funghi truly are unique organisms to what we are accustomed to in our daily, above ground, conscious life.

Qualities

· Inward moving · Immune potentiating · Healing · Umami taste · Below ground · Calms the nervous system · Warming · Chewy and meaty ·

Character

The name Shiitake comes from the Japanese words shii (the type of oak tree they often grow on) and take (mushroom). While they are available fresh year-round due to modern indoor cultivation, their natural season leans toward the cool, moist transitions of spring and autumn. Historically, they were wild-harvested from the decaying wood of deciduous trees, playing the vital ecological role of saprotrophs—organisms that feed on and break down non-living organic matter.

Growing shiitake does require the cutting down of healthy trees, where the mushroom mycelium needs to grow. However, these trees are usually harvested as part of forest thinning or management, taking out poor-quality, crowded or suppressed trees to allow healthier ones to grow.

Once harvested, shiitake is eaten in a variety of ways. Fresh sautéed, simmered into soups and broths, or dried to intensify its flavour and shelf life. During the drying of dried shiitake, the mushroom’s cells break down and create a surge in 5′-guanylate, a key umami compound.

Rehydrating the Dried Shiitake

When using dried shiitake, the soaking liquid becomes a “dashi” or gold-standard stock. Never discard this water; it is rich in guanylate, an umami-providing compound that amplifies the taste of other ingredients it is cooked with.

The fresh caps tend to have a mellow, earth, springy feel, while dried caps bring a deeper aroma, and more concentrated umami. When soaked in liquid, they can become intensely savoury, and often form the soul of broths and stews. They are also available in extract form (powdered or liquid), as well as in the extract of certain active compounds of the mushroom (such as lentinan).

All these varieties of cultivating and cooking shiitake result in an assortment of character traits when we eat it. We’d like to hear about how you experience shiitake and its effects on your state in the comments below, though our suggestion is that overall it promotes a grounded, nourished state.

When we look at how this food influences the body, it is generally viewed as deeply restorative, calming, and grounding, associate with earth and wood. Unlike light, leafy greens that might feel cooling or cleansing, shiitake possesses a “heavy” and substantive quality that anchors the body. It is often described as having a sweet, neutral warmth—not the spicy heat of a chili, but the slow, building warmth of a hearty broth. This makes it particularly effective for those feeling “air-bound,” scattered, or physically depleted. In a society overwhelmed with stimulants like coffee, it can be a balancing blessing. It acts as a builder, replenishing deep energy reserves and nourishing the blood, rather than just providing a quick burst of fuel. When paired with warming aromatics like ginger, garlic or spring onion, shiitake becomes even more regenerating and easier to digest. However, because of this rich, building nature, it can sometimes feel too heavy or sluggish for those who already feel weighed down or lethargic.

We believe in a feeling approach to food. Paying whole-hearted attention to our current state of being. Paying attention to how each food affects our state of being after eating it. And asking ourselves — how do I want to feel? — as a barometer for what food to eat. Everything from how the food is prepared, to its taste, adjacent ingredients, and what part of the day and season it is eaten, as well as our own unique biology, influence this.

Nutrition Information

Shiitake mushrooms are a low-calorie food rich in fiber, B vitamins (particularly B5 and B6), and minerals like copper, selenium, and manganese. However, their true value seems to be in their bioactive compounds. Shiitake contains lentinan, a polysaccharide (beta-glucan) that has been studied extensively for its ability to activate the immune system.

Uniquely, shiitake mushrooms are one of the few non-animal sources of Vitamin D. They contain a precursor called ergosterol, which converts into Vitamin D2 when exposed to ultraviolet light. Placing your store-bought mushrooms in direct sunlight (gills up) for an hour before cooking can actually spike their Vitamin D content significantly.

Inflammatory Notes

While beneficial, Shiitake requires proper preparation. The cell walls of mushrooms are made of chitin, a tough substance (also found in crab shells) that humans cannot digest well. Cooking the mushroom breaks down this chitin, unlocking the nutrients and preventing digestive distress. Furthermore, there is a rare condition known as Shiitake Dermatitis, a whip-like skin rash caused by a reaction to lentinan, which usually occurs only when the mushrooms are eaten raw or undercooked. Finally, shiitake contains moderate levels of purines; while generally safe for most, those susceptible to gout or kidney stones should monitor their intake.

Scientific Research

The primary modern research around shiitake’s effects on human biology concentrates on immune function, gut microbiome modulation, cardiovascular health, and lentinan as an adjunct compound in cancer care research.

Immune health

• A randomized dietary intervention in healthy adults found that daily consumption of dried shiitake improved immune markers (including increased salivary IgA) and shifted inflammatory signalling in a favourable direction.

  (Dai et al., 2015) — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25866155

Gut microbiome

• A clinical trial in hypercholesterolemic adults evaluated a β-D-glucan-enriched extract from Lentinula edodes and reported modulation of the intestinal microbiota composition (with mixed/nuanced changes across other endpoints).

  (Morales et al., 2021) — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33580297

Cardiovascular health

• Shiitake contains a compound called eritadenine, which has been shown to inhibit an enzyme involved in producing cholesterol. Studies suggest that consumption of shiitake can help lower serum cholesterol levels, supporting the ancient claim of it penetrating the blood circulatory system. (Yang et al., 2013) — https://tcr.amegroups.org/article/view/1136

• Older human feeding studies (summarised in later scholarly reviews) suggest short interventions using fresh, dried, or UV-treated dried shiitake were associated with reductions in mean cholesterol in specific cohorts—an early “food as intervention” signal that likely relates to multiple compounds (including eritadenine) rather than one isolated mechanism.

  (Breene, 1990; summarised in Lindequist et al., 2024) — Science Direct

Cancer adjunct

• Individual patient-based meta-analysis work suggests adding lentinan to standard chemotherapy may offer a survival advantage in advanced gastric cancer settings (with the important framing: this is adjunct research using lentinan, not culinary shiitake as a standalone treatment).

  (Oba et al., 2009) — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19596954

• Lentinan, the beta-glucan isolated from shiitake, has been used as an adjuvant therapy for cancer in Japan and China. This review highlights its mechanism of action, showing it does not kill cancer cells directly, but rather enhances the host's immune response to recognize and attack tumor cells. (Zhang et al., 2011) — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21520446/

• A more recent systematic review/meta-analysis similarly reports improved efficacy outcomes when injectable lentinan is combined with chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone, while emphasising that additional high-quality RCTs are still needed.

  (Wang et al., 2024) — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38100922/

Nervous system regulation

• Preclinical work has explored shiitake’s high ergothioneine content and potential neuroprotective/anti-senescence effects in neuronal cell models—promising as “directional science,” but best treated as emerging evidence rather than settled human outcome data.

  (Apparoo et al., 2024) — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38036238/

Vitamin D2 boosting

• UV-B exposure substantially increases vitamin D2 concentration in shiitake (measured in different parts of the mushroom), supporting the logic of UV-treated mushrooms as a food-based D2 source.

  (Ko et al., 2008) — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18442245

Recipes

This is the world of duality in everyday language. And duality needs polarity. Me and you, good and bad, success and failure, safe and unsafe, here and there. Duality is how the mind creates order, but it can become a prison when it is the only lens we use and alienate us from the very aspects that can make us whole. We start to experience life as two separate things, a self on one side and the world on the other, and relationship becomes a negotiation across a boundary line that feels permanent. Non-duality, put simply, is the visceral recognition that beneath those useful distinctions, experience is one unfolding; you and I aren’t the same person, but the sense of hard separation softens, and life stops feeling like a problem “over there” and starts feeling like something happening in and as us, right here.

The phrase “I am” is deceptively powerful. It sounds like a simple statement of being, but most of the time it’s an act of possession: I am the artist, I am the wounded one, I am the caretaker, I am this, I am that. Identity relies on continuity, who I was and who I must become, and so the mind recruits memory and prediction, often replacing direct contact with the present. You are in the model of the moment, not the moment. Identity comes to lean on assumption for a great deal of its existence. And language matters here more than we admit, because the words we use do not merely describe experience, they condition it, shaping what we notice and what we ignore, what we allow and what we brace against. Identity does not merely describe experience, it claims it. It reaches into the flux of the present moment, grabs a handful of sensations and meanings, and attempts to form a solid shape called “me,” and equally so for “you.” And then, almost automatically, it begins to grasp. Grasping is attachment to a preferred story and aversion to whatever threatens it. The stance becomes “I am here, and life is over there,” and that stance can make experience feel like something you manage rather than something you are intimate with. This is the grasping mind reifying a personal self and reifying phenomena (including you), which immediately breaks the felt wholeness. The ego does its job is to manage life, but when we come to be absorbedly wholeheartedly in it, we contract our selves, and others, down to a narrow band of experience where everything must be evaluated, useful, safe, impressive, or explainable.

It’s also no coincidence that suffering, trauma, and chronic stress tend to intensify this contraction. When a part of us viscerally senses it is fighting for survival, it becomes extraordinarily difficult to see and experience the wholeness of life; the nervous system prioritises threat scanning and control, and the ego’s protective strategies become louder and more convincing. And yet the path of healing often runs in the opposite direction of effort: not more control, but a gradual surrender of that inner bracing, a willingness to let awareness widen beyond the small perimeter of protection and into the greater expanse of the soul, where experience can be held without immediately being turned into a threat to manage. This surrender isn’t a single dramatic letting-go, and it isn’t a bypass of what hurts; it’s the slow re-learning of safety through presence. Of course, in the thick of that contracted state, even our most sincere attempts at presence can feel like trying to relax while bracing, because the body is not yet persuaded that it is safe enough to soften the boundary lines.

And then sometimes, without fanfare, something else arrives, something less interested in winning and more interested in truth. Some would call it movement toward wholeness, some people simply call it soul. When the soul is present, the atmosphere changes. I stop relating to you as a bundle of attributes and start sensing the harmony of whatever energy is moving between us as the moment unfolds. I’m less concerned with what I can extract from the interaction and more aware of how life is meeting itself through two different forms. The attention shifts from outcomes to aliveness. I begin to notice patterns that feel meaningful in a way that bypasses my usual logic — synchronicities that are almost certainly no accident; I can’t prove they are cosmically ordained, yet they arrive with the unmistakable texture of significance, like a quiet intelligence threading through events, inviting me into a larger coherence than my ego could imagine.

In that soul-space, relationship stops being a contest and becomes a kind of mutual completion. I notice ways you make me whole, less through flattering my persona and more through revealing an edge of myself I couldn’t see alone; and I see ways I make you whole by meeting you where you’re split, ashamed, or tired of pretending, without trying to fix you.. There is a strange, tender reciprocity to it, almost musical: when you hit a peak, I often find myself in a trough, and I can hold steady while you rise; when I’m up high, you may be down below, and something in me naturally wants to pick you up, an instinct toward balance rather than a sense of obligation. While the ego-mind may look to extract concessions and assert power when the other is weak, soul asks for the path toward balance again and patiently invites the other to walk along it. Over time, if we are willing, we learn our harmonies, we learn the particular way our nervous systems dance together, and instead of constantly trying to rearrange the music, we begin to inhabit it, connected, distinct yet not separate. Still two lives, still two perspectives, yet participating in one shared field of experience that neither of us controls alone.

And this is not simply an ode to the romantic relationship. When we orient our attention to the whole of life, our experience starts to revolve within it, and the same soul-quality that deepens intimacy can begin to illuminate friendships, professional relationships, the bond between parent and child, and to our relationship with the natural world. We become more sensitive to the timing of encounters and the strange intelligence in what arrives when. We come to appreciate the “strangers” that somehow pop into our daily life are instead a delicate new fabric waiting to be woven into the textile that is our life, and start picking up on the synchronicities of why life itself has brought these people into our lives. They are no longer accessories to our identity, to be ignored or invited based upon our rational preferences, but as catalysts for our growth, mirrors for our blind spots, and companions for the particular journey we are living through in this moment. We walk in the public eye not with our heads down, buried into the safety and utility of our smartphones, but with eyes, mind and heart open to what life may have on offer for us in this moment.

This is also where an apparently egoic tool can become surprisingly sacred when it is held with awareness. The words “I am” do not only imprison us in old stories; they can also organise the mind around a deeper intention. Used consciously, “I am” becomes less a claim of superiority or deficiency and more a compass, an identity chosen in service of values, vision, and the kind of person you are practising being. The danger, of course, is that any identity can become a cage when it is unconscious, when the phrase “I am” starts to run by itself, attempting to take over the entirety of the mind and turn every moment into evidence for or against the self-image. The practice is not to abolish identity, but to stay awake inside it, so that identity remains a tool and not a tyrant, something you can inhabit when it helps and release when it hardens.

Meditation offers a clean way to taste the difference, and it does so with surprising humility. Sit and notice the breath, a sound in the room, a scene in front of you, and you begin to sense how experience is always arriving as one living field. Immersion in nature does this too. Step outside into an expansive panorama where sky, trees, birds and natural organisms are each doing their quiet work and the mind remembers that it belongs to something larger than its internal monologue. It is difficult to maintain the same tight, self-referential contraction when you are surrounded by the panorama of interdependent life, each part influencing every other part without needing to announce itself. By contrast, the small black screen of a laptop or smartphone can narrow attention into a tunnel, shrinking the world to a feed, a task list, a comparison machine, and it is no surprise that the ego loves that setting, because it is easier there to believe that the self is the centre and everything else is “over there.” None of this makes technology bad, but it does invite a useful practice: noticing what environments widen us into wholeness, and what environments compress us back into the narrow version of “me.”

When a thought arises, especially a self-thought, the subtle “I” that evaluates and narrates, see if you can notice it as a simple event. You do not have to argue with it, you do not have to believe it. Just watch the mind’s habit of claiming: “I am thinking,” “I am failing,” “I am becoming.” Then experiment with a gentler, non-dual language as a direct cue: it’s just happening. Thoughts are happening, sensations are happening, emotions are happening; I am not it, and it is not me. The most interesting part is that the seeing itself does not require an “I” at all; cause and effect can be understood directly. Tighten around fear and the world narrows, soften into presence and life reveals more of itself, without needing a separate narrator to own the experience.

The irony is that nothing mystical needs to be added for this way of life to become our default state of being. The ego can remain functional, while the deeper sense of self stops being trapped inside the persona’s constant negotiation. What we are really learning is fluidity: a mind that can move between its different functions without friction, using the ego and persona when structure, boundaries, and execution are needed, and yielding into soul when it’s time to listen, to feel, to connect, to receive. Incorporating both is wholeness, the full range of being human, where identity is neither denied nor worshipped, and where the world is less a stage and more a living field. When grasping relaxes, even briefly, what we call “me and you” begins to feel like a useful convention rather than the deepest fact, and something larger than either of our identities is allowed to move through the moment, making its quiet, integrating art out of ordinary life.

Now, it’s worthwhile to point out that these foundational resting postures stem from the sequence that happens to and for every developing infant through the first year of their life (before modern life has time to interfere).

By engaging in these foundational postures, we encourage our bodies to decompress and realign, promoting natural musculoskeletal health. A crucial aspect of the postures is the natural state of the spine. When we rest in flexed positions with traction—such as squatting or sitting cross-legged—we facilitate spinal decompression. This contrasts sharply with the flexion and compression experienced in conventional sitting. In these natural postures, the spine can elongate, relieving pressure on intervertebral discs and promoting better overall spinal health. It’s important to note that these positions are not about being in them for hours on end. Rather, it is the postural integrity and transition they provide which creates the dynamic process the body asks for. Transitioning through them for a few minutes, several times a day, is plenty.

Sitting Cross-Legged

The most basic, and accessible, of our foundational resting postures is simply sitting cross-legged on the floor or sofa (or chair if you can manage it).

Now, it’s important that we have this posture right in order for it to turn into a positive feedback loop of bodily health, rather than a negative one. So here are a few cues and potential issues to be aware of. First of all, if the breathing feels restricted, the posture is too rigid. Try to enter your body with the mind’s awareness, and gradually loosen it up wherever it may need loosening up. Let the sit bones feel rooted and weighted, not tucked under, with the pelvis in a neutral to slightly anterior position allowing space of the spine to rise. And while we would like a generally upright spine, invite the spine to self-organise over the pelvis with natural curves remaining present. Finally, gradually allow the knees to descend below or toward hip level (with support if needed). Of course, everyone has different levels of flexibility and motion in their joints. The majority of issues with this posture, if they occur, can be resolved by introducing a sitting object, like a cushion or blanket, underneath the pelvis to raise the hips.

Passive vs. Dynamic and Maintaining The Integrity of Transitions

Chairs are designed for comfort and convenience, not biomechanical health and rejuvenation. The foundational resting postures naturally spread load across tissues and hydrate the crucial fascial layer of the body. And as we’ve already mentioned, they also help to regulate and elongate the spine, integrating breathing and pelvic mechanics.

Chairs make the body passive as sitting on them tends to shorten the hip flexors, disengages the deep core, stacks the pelvis posteriorly, compresses the lower back and narrows breathing. While the foundational resting postures usually require active hips, active feet, a long and neutral spine, balanced diaphragm (for breathing) and mobility transitions.

Moreover, chairs remove the crucial importance of transitions between postures. A simple movement from a floor or sofa posture to stand and back helps to maintain strength integrity in the body, preserves balance, keeps joints lubricated, stimulates fascia and retains neurological patterning. Chairs, quite frankly, attend to none of these. And as a result, promote, rather than prevent, age-related mobility loss.

Long Sitting

This is another foundational resting posture that can be easily accessed and reintroduces the body to upright sitting without hip flexion or knee folding. Biomechanically, it places the pelvis in a neutral or slightly anterior tilt, encouraging the spine to organise itself vertically rather than collapse (as in most chair sitting), while gently loading the hamstrings and posterior fascial line. Unlike chair sitting, sitting upright on the floor requires active postural awareness and subtle muscular engagement, helping restore spinal length, improve proprioception, and rebalance habitual flexion from modern life. When practiced as a resting shape rather than a stretch, by spending several minutes in it with a quiet breath, sitting upright becomes a quiet tuning posture — one that supports transitions, encourages breath to move freely through the torso, and reminds the body how to sit tall.

As with the cross legged posture, the cues to wholly experience this posture are similar, involving a grounded pelvis and relaxed yet elongated spine. Sit on the sit bones with the pelvis gently tipping forward, allow the spine to rise naturally without forcing uprightness, and keep the legs relaxed rather than locked, with the feet soft and toes pointing upward. If the lower back rounds or the chest collapses, it usually indicates tight hamstrings or sitting too low — elevate the hips on a cushion or briefly lean forward and rock back to find neutral. Discomfort behind the knees often comes from over-straightening the legs; allow a micro-bend or place support under the knees. If effort accumulates in the neck or shoulders, soften the ribs and let the arms rest slightly behind or alongside the body. As with all of these postures, long sitting is best used briefly and revisited often, with transitions in and out preventing stiffness or strain.

Coming Back to Ourselves

As we introduce this new way of resting, and moving, into our lives, we must also move away from the manmade structures like chairs and sofas (at least some of the time), and come back to the solid ground of the earth. As we start to sit on the floor in these postures, postures that are our birthright, postures that our modern society neglects to value, we come back to ourselves.

Then, we can start to incorporate rising from these foundational postures to our full upright bipedal posture to fully experience our deeply embedded patterns of movement. In a sense these resting postures are a way of toning, tuning and resetting our body using the patterns that we as humans have utilised for millennia. They are empowering in that they don’t require external practitioners to create positive change in the body. Everything happens in and of its own, by the simple manipulation of our own body. To stand up from the floor is a movement sequence we mastered as children. Regrettably, in our busy lives this mastery has lessened over time until the normal act of rising from the floor becomes awkward and uncomfortable. Our musculoskeletal system needs the exercise of erecting to stay in good moving health. No matter the age, no matter the current conditioning of the body, everyone has the capacity to rediscover the natural structure and movement of their body. It simply may ask of us a bit of practice and a changing of certain habitual patterns.

The body is actually a complex, interconnected system. Like any complex system, it has developed self-correcting mechanisms over time. When a system isn’t allowed to self-correct, problems arise. Individual elements become overused, and we see things like low back pain pop up like weeds. Complex systems crave variety. They actually thrive from a bit of manageable disorder. Changing up your habits and patterns can have huge benefits for the health of a system. For the human system, something as simple as sitting on the floor can be just the change we need.

The Postures

Notice the structural integrity of the body in each of these postures. The left and right hips are working in harmony, supporting balanced load and ease of movement. The spine is naturally elevated and organized, with the head resting above the pelvis (with the deep squat being the notable exception). When the pelvis makes contact with the ground, the body is deeply rooted. In these positions, the body is relaxed yet responsive — loose, but in control — allowing freedom of movement alongside a light, unforced breath.

These resting positions invite you to tap into the body’s natural ability to tune itself. The simple truth is this: if you want to move better, you need to rest better. And just like any instrument, the body needs to be tuned from time to time. Fortunately, it comes with a built-in tuner — or it did, before we decided to spend most of our waking lives in chairs.

Here are some further guidelines for these postures:

• Be gradual and gentle in getting into them and out of them.

• Breathe consciously and deeply throughout the movement/posture.

• Be mindful of where the movement touches, accesses and stretches.

• Be playful with allowing other movements (e.g. stretch your arms overhead in a squat)

• Respect the experience of pain and recognising the edge of pain. Not forcing through but building tolerance to some mild discomfort.

• Repeat them several times through the day (not as a chore but as if you were re-acquainting yourself with a long lost friend – kindly and respectfully).

Eating belongs to this system. To digest is to trust. To fully assimilate nourishment, the body must feel safe enough to relax its guard. Yet the modern evenings many settle for today, force the opposite upon us. The same food eaten in different ways creates different outcomes. Consumed in a rush, under bright lights, in front of phones or televisions, it can feel anxious, heavy, disruptive. Received in stillness, in joy, it becomes grounding, therapeutic, bringing us more alive. Evening invites us to eat not for stimulation, but for restoration.

The evening food practice begins before the meal appears. In the preparation of food, slow the body enough to listen. Ask quietly: How am I feeling today? What thoughts are moving through me? Notice without fixing. Then ask a second, orienting question: How do I want to feel? Let these answers guide not just the food you decide to cook, but how you cook—when we creatively imbibe our meal with an energy, that energy finds a way to transfer itself back into us.

As evening arrives, dim the lights. Darkness cues melatonin, signalling safety, telling the mind it no longer needs to scan the horizon. Try to eat at a place that is routinely reserved for eating. Create a quiet, unstimulating environment—no screens, no urgent sounds. Silence itself becomes an ingredient. In this setting, the parasympathetic nervous system can do what it does best: help us absorb life.

When you sit in front of the meal, pause. Place both feet on the floor. Feel gravity holding you. Take a moment to go through all the thoughts running through your mind. Think them all. Then when you realise there’s nothing left, and they just want to run on repeat, let them go. That’s enough thought for now.

And transition toward gratitude—not performative, not polished, but honest. Thank the food for the nourishment it will offer. Thank it for its energy, and for its willingness to support how you wish to feel. Gratitude is a bridge between intention and digestion, and this is a blessing.

Eat slowly. This meal is a symphony between you and the food. Look at the food— really look at it. Feel how your body is responding to each bite. And after each one of these bites, place the spoon, fork, or chopsticks down. Do not be in haste to gather up the next piece. Let chewing be complete. Let swallowing be felt. Taste fully. This rhythm—breath, awareness, bite, awareness, pause—tells the body there is no emergency and heightens your intimacy with the food. The vagus nerve responds. The system softens. Assimilation deepens.

When the meal is complete, do not rush to rise. Remain seated for five to ten minutes in silence. Longer if you feel the need. Close the eyes if it feels natural. Focus on the breath, keeping the mind slow with its rhythmic flow and allow the digestive organs to transfer the energy from the food effortlessly into the body’s cells. Allow the food to digest in peace, without movement, without stimulation. This quiet integration is part of the nourishment.

Then, and only then, continue into the slower cadence of evening. Let the meal be the moment the day releases you. Let it be enough. You have done enough for today. You are enough.

Method

• Use freshly boiled water

• Add 2-3 tablespoons dried chamomile flowers, allow a few minutes to infuse

• Let the infusion cool for 30 sec before steaming or maintain a light simmering heat underneath the pot (with caution)

• Keep face 25–30 cm (10–12 inches) above steam, with a towel over the head, and feel comfortable to adjust the distance so as to keep a gentle heat on the skin, yet never too hot.

• Steam 5–10 min total, in 30-60 sec increments with a 30 sec pause

• Focus on rhythmic, slow breathing and feeling the sensation of the aroma and light heat on your skin and entering your body.

We prefer to use fresh chamomile for this practice because it is energetically anti-inflammatory and calming for the nervous system. Other herbs you may consider using in combination with chamomile or on their own include lavender, calendula and rose.

You may notice other effects during or after this practice, and it is important to exercise a mindful approach if issues arise. Warm humid air causes vasodilation (blood vessels widen), which can lower blood pressure and while this is the process for tension relief, it may also lead to a sense of dizziness and lightheadedness particularly in individuals carrying excess tension. Additionally, people sometimes breathe more quickly or deeply during the steam inhalation—especially if they’re congested or anxious— and it is important to consciously aim to maintain a rhythmic and steady breathing pattern (if preferred, practice this before the steaming).

A single inhale can feel like a time machine and a mood shift at once. When I build a small ritual—strike the match, breathe in, and voice inside what I want to feel—I’m not just decorating the air. I’m laying down a cue. Research shows that odor-evoked memories tend to be unusually emotional, vivid, and often older than those cued by words or pictures1. That “Proust effect” doesn’t just tug the heartstrings; it can tune my state in real time. If I pair a rosemary or citrus note with deep work, for example, the scent becomes a handle my brain can grab the next time I need focus. And smells are potent prompts, because of their neural wiring.

Some scents do more than recall—they nudge physiology. Peppermint has been shown to heighten alertness and improve certain aspects of cognitive performance; I keep a tiny vial at my desk and touch it to the underside of my wrist and sides of my neck when I’m dragging through an afternoon of emails2.

Rosemary is subtler for me, a green, resinous thread that seems to stitch attention together. I’ll diffuse it lightly when outlining a talk I’ll have to give; later, the faintest whiff helps me re-enter the structure I built.

And then there’s lavender, my evening scaffolding. I add a drop to the shower or massage it into my temples before winding down. The evidence base is nuanced—oral preparations appear most robust for anxiety reduction, while inhalation shows promising but varied effects. For me, though, the ritual is half the medicine: slower breathing, softer light, a signal that the day is shutting down. The research suggests I’m not imagining it, but it also reminds me to keep expectations grounded.

These practices work best when I treat scent like music: consistent, purposeful, matched to the task or the memory I want to evoke. A “focus blend” lives by my keyboard; a “peacefulness” note waits by the bed. On anxious mornings I revisit a steadying aroma while recalling a time I handled hard things well—using odor as both anchor and bridge. It’s ordinary, even domestic, but that’s the point.

With each inhale I’m rehearsing a way of being, and the nose, happily, is an excellent teacher.

By early adulthood, most humans tend to be going through life with unconscious imbalances in their body. Parts of the body become more rigid and breathing tends to speed up, or worse, occur increasingly through the mouth. The person’s neuromuscular system undergoes a remodelling, which involves muscles, fascia and the central and peripheral nervous systems. Even if they are aware of some of them, they conclude that these imbalances are irrelevant or unfixable. Often, they even try to do more strength training, further exacerbating the imbalances. And above all else, they stop listening to their bodies, perhaps lightly at first, yet the ignorance grows more pronounced as time wears on.

However, I’m here to try to prod you in the other direction:

• What's going on in your body is a big deal (even if you’re still young or not in major pain now);

• Being aware of your body and its sensations and messages is one of the most important traits you can maintain and build upon; and

• If imbalances can’t be fixed entirely, they can be significantly ameliorated.

Keep in mind, not all issues with the body are bad. In fact, in certain cases, temporary discomfort and light pain can be healthy for the development of the body and mind. However, when that discomfort and pain is directed toward an already occurring imbalance, or when it starts to become systemic and unconsciously embedded into the structure of our body, our approach contends that we must proactively intervene. This is how we foster elasticity, length and strength in our body and mind.

Elasticity, Length and Strength

So, what do we mean by elasticity? Elasticity is the dance between tension and release, the living quality that keeps you both grounded and fluid. It is the capability of the body to undergo stress and absorb hits, while remaining whole, and it mirrors your nervous system’s adaptability: the more elastic your body, the more you can handle stress and recover gracefully. Elasticity is nourished through movement diversity, which remind tissues how to glide and breathe.

And length? Length is about creating space within the body. When you lengthen through the spine, limbs, and fascia, you create internal decompression, allowing blood, lymph, and energy to flow more freely. Length encourages postural expansion, which in turn opens breathing capacity, balances the nervous system, and improves circulation.

Finally, strength is not about bulk or rigidity. Strength emerges when muscles, joints, and fascia cooperate rather than compete. A strong core, balanced hips, and stable shoulders create the foundation for efficient movement. It is integrity in motion — the ability to support your structure while staying fluid and aware, rather than rock-like and numb.

Our purpose is to foster a body that is adaptable, contains space, and cooperates in an integrated manner. To do this, we want to weave a movement plan into our rituals that motivates a body in harmony with the daily needs of our unique life. This is the body we were born with, and it is the body we deserve to spend our lives in.

Bones, Muscles, Fascia, and The Nervous System

Most people are taught in their early years about the basic building blocks of the human body. This is an arm, that is a leg. As time goes on, they tend to take their body for granted, except as it relates to the utility of daily life. It’s just there as I go about my day. Gym goers may notice that repeatedly lifting a weight with the arm tends to make it feel stronger over time. Yoga practitioners may feel that this pose makes that part of the body more fluid. Athletes are often told to stretch before practice to prevent injury. This is all well and good, except that such a detached and reductionist approach begets a lifelong disconnect from the essence of what our body actually is.

The human body is a complex system of interconnected structures, with bones, muscles, fascia and the nervous system working together to provide movement, support, protection and life.

Bones

Ok, let’s start by taking a look into the individual components of the body, starting with bones.

Bones support and shape the body plan and protect vital organs. They serve as attachment points for muscles and are connected by joints which facilitate movement. In this way they are very much the plan, or architectural scaffolding, for the human body - we don’t have much say about how we’re built, however we can be proactive in keeping it in good order with helpful daily habits and periodic renovations. And bones are indeed living tissue that remodels and regenerates in response to pressure and energy flow. They produce blood cells in the bone marrow and store minerals (like calcium and phosphorus). When you move, breathe, and live as if your bones are alive, not objects, they respond. We’ll talk more about what that means more specifically for bone health later on in this series on the body.

Muscles

Muscles function by contracting and relaxing to produce movement, maintain posture, and support bodily functions. It is important to understand that muscles work in pairs (agonist & antagonist) to allow controlled movement, and that movement within the body is relative: the contraction of one muscle, impacts many others simultaneously. For example, when you reach with your hand, your whole back body participates to stabilise and support that movement. Muscles function in chains and spirals, not in isolation, and movement is a whole-body conversation (this is why localised strength training can lead to some disastrous compensatory knock-on effects). And like bones, muscles are a form of tissue, which is malleable and regenerative, however one which can weaken with lack of use and without proper maintenance over time. Muscles also store emotional patterns, and communicate with the nervous system. Muscle tone, whether tight, weak, or supple, is not purely physical. It’s a neurological and emotional expression. Whether you are physically or psychologically safe and relaxed, or under threat and stress, will be reflected in the tension and fluidity of your muscle tone (traditionally, this used to arise from a physical stimulus, however in today’s modern sedentary life, it is primarily psychological).

Fascia

The third component essential to the everyday well functioning of the human body, and often overlooked until recent years, is fascia. Fascia is a continuous connective tissue of fabric that holds our trillions of wet, greasy cells together and forms a singular and fibrous net which can be found almost everywhere in the body (only in the open lumens of the respiratory and digestive tracts is fascia absent). Among its many functions, it allows for smooth movement by reducing friction between muscles, and when unhealthy (due to lack of movement, dehydration, or stress), fascia becomes tight and restricted, causing felt pain and stiffness. Most injuries occur because of issues in the fascial net, rather than in the muscles or bones. Fascia are a sensory organ containing an extraordinary density of sensory nerve endings, more than muscles by far. It’s packed with proprioceptors, mechanoreceptors, and interoceptors. Meaning it’s a major sensory organ that helps you feel your body from the inside. Your body awareness primarily happens in the fascia. Moreover, the interrelated nature of the body has muscles creating tension, bones bearing compression, and fascia distributing force throughout the whole system. This means that structure emerges from relationship, not rigid stacking, and strength is distributed, rather than localised.

So, when considering bones, muscles and fascia together in the context of the whole human body, what is apparent above all else is that our bodies are not simply reductionist pieces of muscles working individually depending on the function we need at any given moment. Whatever else muscles may be doing individually, they also affect the functionally integrated body-wide system within a vast fascial webbing. This is such an important point, that I will harp on it again in a different way. When it comes to recovery and healing, issues in one area of the body can be linked to a totally different area far removed from the one presenting symptoms. And for performance enhancing strategies, building isolated points of strength will invariably lead to imbalances in other points of the body. These two relativistic principles are worthwhile to keep in mind as you engage in either rehabilitative practice or performance training.

We’re almost there, but that’s not quite the whole story. To go further into the practical understanding of our body, we also need to incorporate the neural circuits running through every corner and nook of the body.

Nervous System

When interacting with the human body, it is impossible to contact and utilise muscle tissue without also contacting and affecting the accompanying fascial tissues and the function and perfusion in neural, vascular and epithelial cells and tissues as well. The interwoven network between muscles, fascia and the nervous system is referred to as the neuro-myo-fascial system. Muscles require innervation to function, and even just to maintain muscle tone, avoiding atrophy. In the neuro-myo-fascial system, nerves from the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system are linked and work together with muscles and surrounding fascial connective tissues. This system is essential to movements of the body, the control of posture, and breathing. The brain does not sit “above” the body; it is shaped by the body, and the body by the brain. Sensory feedback from movement, posture, organs, and fascia constantly influences brain activity. The “mind” is distributed throughout the body, with nerve plexuses in the heart, gut, and fascia that think and feel in their own ways.

Understanding the neuro-myo-fascial system opens the door for understanding the link between our state of mind and the state of our body. The way we routinely feel, our emotions, our thoughts, are messages passed on through the body, and, occasionally stored there, particularly if they are accompanied with a meaningful nervous system response. The classic “startled response” postural imbalance is an example of this. Individuals experience flight or fight nervous responses, the way animals would do in front of physical danger, yet in these contemporary cases it tends to be from psychological threats like relationships or work. The body coils inward, in an unconscious attempt at protecting our delicate parts - the neck, genitalia, and heart. However, instead of letting this physiological response go, in seconds or minutes, the way ancients would, the nervous system holds onto it for days, years, even decades. This postural imbalance is indicative of an individual in a near-perpetual state of threat. If identified and acknowledged, the psychological state can subsequently be reversed through corrective bodywork on the posture, a reverse physiological-to-psychological process, yet it is one which takes time and commitment on the part of the individual.

Integrating Thoughts

The human body is more than a machine composed of individual parts. It is akin to a field composed of relationships. And bones are not just things inside the body; they are the way space takes form around the body, its architectural scaffolding. They carry compressive forces, while the fascia and muscles manage tensile (stretching) forces. When you stand or sit in balance, with your bones stacked along the line of gravity, something subtle happens: the body feels lighter, not heavier; the breath deepens; the nervous system calms; and there’s a sense of lift from within. This is space as felt experience, not external volume, but internal openness. With this felt and real sense of space, the muscles can begin to ease into cooperation, the fascia tends to rehydrate and distribute tension evenly allowing for appropriate adaptability, and the nervous system calms, sensing safety in balance. This is elasticity, length, and strength at work in the bones, muscles, fascia and nervous system of the human body.

Creating space in the body — Length opens up the door for a regulated nervous system, and energy to flow seamlessly.

Fostering adaptivity — Elasticity allows for a resilience to external shocks, and an ability to remain whole as we are.

Inviting cooperation throughout — Strength is not localised, it is distributed.

This is living in harmony with our body, as it was intended. And this becomes the purpose of our movement patterns. Truly, It is crucial that we move, daily. Everything in the body and mind comes to function inadequately if we remain sedentary for too long. Movement is life.

A Footnote on Aging

What happens as we age? Well, for one, a gradual loss of muscle mass begins to be detected in most humans in the third decade of life and progressively increases with age. It has been estimated that during aging, there is a 30-50% reduction in the number and 10-40% decrease in the size of skeletal muscle fibres123. There is also a shift toward a slower phenotype of muscle fibres, as aging seems to induce the replacement of fast-twitch with slow-twitch motor units.

It therefore becomes meaningful for us to incorporate a level of strength into any exercise we do. Walking around and doing sun salutations just won’t cut it. We must engage in a push-pull force that actively engages our body. Just remember the relatively principle of muscles: what happens if our muscles and bones atrophy? Weakness or strength in one area of the body, will translate into compensation or weakness in other parts. Thus, move the whole body in an integrated way.

This recipe is made in one pan with limited ingredients. It is one of those meals that is so simple that it is surprising how flavorful it is. The mushrooms are cooked in sesame oil and then coated in a sauce with sesame oil so that flavor really shines through.

Why you'll love this recipe

• It is vegan, gluten free, healthy and plant based

• The sticky sauce is full of flavor

• This recipe is perfect for a mushroom lover and will convert over any mushroom hater

INGREDIENTS

Prep time: 5 minutes; Cook time: 13 minutes; Servings: 2.

Mushrooms

• 4 cloves minced garlic

• 4 cups thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms or about 18-20 mushrooms

• ¼ teaspoon cumin

• ¼ teaspoon paprika

• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

• Pinch salt/pepper

Sauce

• ¼ cup tamari (gluten free soy) sauce

• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

• 3 tablespoon rice vinegar

• 2 tablespoon tomato paste

• ½ tablespoon maple syrup

• Pinch red pepper flakes

• 1 teaspoon grated ginger

• 1 tablespoon arrowroot or cornstarch

Optional sides

• Cooked rice or quinoa

Optional toppings

• 1-2 tablespoons sesame seeds

• 1-2 tablespoons cilantro

INSTRUCTIONS

• Heat sesame oil over medium heat. Add garlic, spices and mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes.

• While mushrooms are cooking, make your sauce. Mix together sauce ingredients until fully combined

• Pour sauce over mushrooms and fully combine sauce with mushrooms. Cook for 5-8 minutes until mushrooms are cooked through.

• Serve mushrooms with sides and toppings of choice. I went with rice, sesame seeds and cilantro.

NOTES

This recipe can be eaten on its own, but I recommend serving it with quinoa and a side of vegetables (I like broccoli).

The starch is absolutely necessary to thicken up the sauce.

Recipe by Kristi over at Avocado Skillet

What Does Roasted Fennel Taste Like?

Fennel in its raw form is slightly sweet and crunchy, with a light anise-licorice flavor. But when fennel is roasted and caramelized, it transforms into a tender, savory side dish. In fact, I’ve found that people who don’t enjoy fennel in its raw form love it cooked. The licorice flavors take a back seat after roasting.

What’s the Best Way to Roast Fennel?

I based my roasted fennel recipe off a method I learned while working at Nougatine, sister restaurant to the acclaimed Jean-Georges. I ate the best fennel I’ve ever had while working there, and I wanted to bring that experience to you.

At Nougatine, the chefs roasted the fennel in a covered hotel pan with fats like olive and butter and special seasonings. Roasting it covered locked in moisture, giving the fennel a tender, buttery interior. Then, they seared the roasted fennel in a skillet, which enhanced all the lovely flavors that were locked in during the roast.

Here, I’ve simplified the method so all you have to do is roast it. You’ll start with it covered, roasting until knife-tender, then uncover it until the edges are caramelized, mimicking the sear.

What Should I Serve with Roasted Fennel?

I often eat this fennel straight from the baking sheet, but if I manage to resist, here’s how I like to serve it.

• Alongside risotto, or chopped and stirred right in.

• Chopped up and added to pasta dishes.

• Layered onto a roasted winter veggie sandwiches.

• Paired with goat cheese and a citrus vinaigrette, like they do at Jean-Georges.

• Topped with Parmesan.

PREP TIME: 5 minutes

COOK TIME: 50 minutes to 55 minutes

SERVES: 4 to 6

INGREDIENTS

• 2 large fennel bulbs (about 2 pounds)

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1/4 teaspoon ground fennel or ground anise (optional)

• 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

• 1 medium lemon

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 400ºF.

2. Trim the stalks, fronds, and any browned edges from 2 large fennel bulbs. Reserve some fronds for garnish. Halve each fennel lengthwise through the root, then cut each half into 4 wedges.

3. Transfer to a baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon ground fennel or anise if desired, and 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes if desired. Finely grate the zest of 1 medium lemon over the fennel. Toss with your hands until well-combined, then arrange the wedges cut-side down in a single layer.

4. Cover the baking sheet tightly with aluminum foil. Bake until the wedges are knife-tender, about 25 minutes. Uncover and toss the fennel. Return the baking sheet to the oven and bake uncovered until deep golden-brown in spots and the edges are caramelized, 25 to 30 minutes more. Meanwhile, cut the zested lemon in half.

5. Juice one lemon half over the fennel (reserve the remaining half for another use) and toss to combine. Transfer to a serving platter and top with the reserved fennel fronds.

Recipe by Amelia Rampe

Character

Fennel is both uniquely cooling and warming (read on, and we’ll explain). Its taste tends to range from sweet licorice-like to pungent and occasionally bitter, with an anise undertone to the aroma, depending on the particular part of the plant. And in fact, all parts of the plant can be eaten: the bulb, stalk, leaves, flower and seeds (fruit). The seeds are typically dried and eaten alone or in combination with a meal, while the bulb can be eaten raw, steamed, boiled or roasted.

Fennel Traits

• Fennel, in all its forms, helps to calm down fire energy in the mind and nervous system (cooling traits), while stimulating digestive energy and soothing our gastrointestinal tract (warming traits).

• It contributes to the growth, development and reproductive processes in the body.

• Diuretic in nature, fennel can purge excess water weight and detoxify the blood. In some cultures it is used as a method for flushing the urinary tract in order to soothe burning sensations if they arise.

• Fennel is estrogenic, and contains compounds known as phytoestrogens. It has been used to balance hormones, relieve menstrual discomfort and support lactation.

• High in vitamin K, it is also considered a blood coagulant and provides additional support for bone formation.

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Harvesting Fennel

The bulb variety of fennel is a cool-season crop, preferring cooler temperatures and can be sensitive to bolting (premature flowering) in high heat. It is typically sown either in late winter/early spring and harvested in late spring to early summer, or in late summer and harvested in late autumn before the first frost. The herb variety is a perennial in warmer climates (regrows on its own after dying off in winter), and annual in cooler climates (must be replanted again in early spring). Its leaves are harvested throughout the growing season, typically from spring through early autumn, while the seeds are harvested in late summer to early autumn when the flower heads dry and seeds turn brown.

Nutrition

Fennel is an alkalising food that helps balance our blood acidity levels. Its PRAL score is one of the most alkalising, next to leafy greens. It also has a low glycemic load of 1, so it is unlikely to spike blood glucose levels whatsoever. It is therefore a sustainable source of nutrients for anyone with cardiovascular issues.

In its bulb form, it is primarily comprised of water (87%). Carbohydrates (8.5%) are the most abundant macronutrient, and have a relatively equal balance of dietary fibre and sugars, with protein making up 1.5% and fat 3%. This is a balanced, neutral food that is a great addition to a meal.

The main micronutrients are vitamin K (67% DV for 100g cooked fennel bulb) and the phytochemical anethole which is the primary component of fennel’s essential oil and is responsible for many of its aromatic and therapeutic effects (including mimicking the role of estrogen as well as relaxing gastrointestinal muscles).

Inflammatory Notes

• Fennel in any form is a high estrogen food, so it might be prudent to avoid when you need to lower estrogen levels or if you are pregnant.

Fennel Recipes

Throughout the history of Western society, the dragon often came to symbolise chaos, destruction, power, and the danger of passivity, and this is where the hero’s confrontation with the dragon emerged as a major theme. Though, it appears that this antagonistic perspective toward the dragon in the West is shifting. Meanwhile, Eastern traditions have long portrayed dragons as representations of life-affirming energies, harmony, and cosmic order, most notably in China. Unlike their Western counterparts, they are not adversaries to be conquered but powerful beings that guide and support humanity.

As we’ll come to see, the diversity in these representations in the East and West relate to their respective relationship with the conscious and subconscious aspects of the human mind. For the story of the dragon is in no small part a story of mankind itself.

Describing the Dragon

Protector · Sometimes chained · Immensely powerful · Beautiful soul · Fiery exterior · Water · Air · Heaven · Hell · Land · Fire · Emperor · Friend · Satan · Guards treasure · Life-affirming · Chaos · Destruction · Introverted · Extraverted · Loyal

The Dragon at Face Value

The dragon is entirely a human creation of the mind. Initially, most ancient dragons were depicted as serpentine creatures. For example, in early Egyptian mythology around 4000BCE, Apep, the embodiment of darkness and chaos, was created as a giant, legless serpent in perpetual war with the deity of the Sun, known as Ra. The serpent, both for biological and mythological reasons, came to represent mystery, danger, the duality of life and death, and inherent process of rebirth.

It is here we come across the Ouroboros, an ancient symbol of a serpent eating its own tail, and one of the earliest and most powerful representations of the cyclical nature of life and rebirth, dating back to ancient Egypt around 1600 BCE.

The serpent now begins to take on four legs. These dragons often had a hybrid form—part reptilian and part lion, tiger or eagle. Lions, with their majestic, powerful bodies, were combined in this way to evolve into dragons as creatures with a more formidable and grounded presence, acquiring legs for strength, speed, and mobility, and a connection to the Earth.

By the time of the Han Dynasty in China around 200 BCE, the common dragon starts to be more or less fully-formed with the following traits:

• Serpent: The serpent body endows the dragon the fluidity to move effortlessly between realms (heaven, earth, and water).

• Eagle: The claws of the eagle merge its keen vision and hunting authority into the dragon.

• Lion or tiger: The legs of a lion or tiger symbolising their power and bravery.

• Deer: The antlers seen on the head of the dragon often represent an air of regality, grace and wisdom, from an animal of innocence and purity.

• Fish: The scales of the fish seen on the body of the dragon weave into the symbol of the dragon as a water deity and the abundance it can bring.

In China, this hybrid creature came to be a symbol of the Emperor himself, reflecting a belief that the Emperor was the “Son of Heaven.” The dragon emerged as a link between Heaven and Earth. While rooted in the ancient symbolism of the serpent, this hybrid dragon combining many species across land, sea and air, becomes a holistic creature with a sense of uniting opposites, fostering a harmony of yin yang and the capacity to transcend natural boundaries.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Eurasian continent, Greco-Roman culture seems to be the birthplace of the winged dragon. While the Chinese dragon, also known as 龙, lóng, was often considered capable of flight without the need of wings, by the early medieval period in Europe wings were being included in many depictions of the dragon symbol. This endowed it with an otherworldly character that could master all of land, sea and air. In Greek, the original term given to the symbol was δράκων (drákōn), meaning "to see clearly" or "gaze sharply."

Eventually, in the Western tradition, the dragon came to breathe fire. The classic story of Saint George in the Middle Ages tells of a courageous Christian knight (Saint George) who confronted a monstrous, fire-breathing dragon to save a princess and liberate a kingdom. This picture would go on to be portrayed extensively in art and national emblems over the next millennia, west of Asia.

Understanding the Dragon

Importantly, do we have to understand the dragon? The perspective of this piece you are reading here, resoundingly contends, “No.”

If the dragon symbol sparks your curiosity and comes into your life, its meaning emerges from a world deep inside of you, and this is a world which only you can decipher and listen to. By inviting this symbol into your world and flowing with it as it comes, rather than trying to understand it, you open up to learning more about yourself and evolving as an individual.

The purpose of every section here is to serve as a guide in helping you explore and discover your unique relationship with the dragon symbol.

龙 Lóng

In China, we find probably the longest standing and most devout following of the dragon symbol. Known as 龙 lóng, as we saw earlier, it is often depicted as a giant and hybrid creature which dwells in either water sources or clouds. For many people in this region of the world, it has come to be associated with the life-affirming force known as qi. Chinese dragons are heralded as bringers of good fortune, health and abundance, yet if they are treated in the wrong way, can also erupt immense destruction by virtue of their command of the skies and seas.

The Chinese Zodiac

In the Chinese Zodiac, the dragon is one of the twelve animal signs and holds a place of honour and prestige. These animals are thought to influence the personality traits, fortunes, and compatibility of individuals born in that year. The system is deeply rooted in Chinese mythology, philosophy, and astronomy.

The dragon is considered the most auspicious and powerful of all the zodiac signs, and while it is the fifth animal in the twelve-year zodiac cycle, legend has it that during the race held by the Jade Emperor to determine the zodiac order, the dragon arrived fifth because despite its immense power, the dragon paused to help others, showcasing its benevolence.

People born in the following years are considered to be born in the Year of the Dragon: 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012, 2024 (The years repeat every 12 years in the Chinese lunar calendar.)

The Number 9

Numerology retains its importance in China to this day, and the number 9 is the highest of all the single digit numbers. Its relevance stems from the pronunciation, which is a homophone for the word 久 (jiǔ), meaning "long-lasting" or "eternal." Traditional thought divides the heavens into nine layers, with the dragon acting as a bridge between the earthly and celestial realms. This reinforces the dragon's role as a mediator of cosmic balance and harmony.

Further, in the I Ching (Book of Changes), 9 represents the ultimate potential for transformation and power in the yang trigram (☰ Qian), associated with heaven and the dragon. A famous phrase from the I Ching says:

“The dragon appears in the sky; it is time to ascend.”

The dragon and the number 9 symbolise upward movement, transformation, and the realisation of great potential.

The Dragon and Water Symbolism

Dragons possess a softer and more yielding aspect alongside their formidable nature. While they are at ease in all elements, it is water with which they are most commonly associated. The Tao, the way of the universe according to East Asian traditions, has a water-like nature: it is soft and yielding and yet it has the power to wear rock and shape the landscape. Chinese dragons are believed to be the rulers of rain, rivers, lakes, and seas. They control the vital water resources needed for agriculture and life. In this way, the dragon's association with water highlights its role as a mediator between the heavens and the earth, embodying the flow of life-giving energy in Chinese culture. And water itself has a dual nature: it can be either nurturing or destructive.

Water is also deeply intertwined with the notion of the subconscious part of the human mind, or that which lies below the conscious thought and feeling we experience. Just as the sea contains hidden treasures and dangers, the subconscious mind harbours hidden memories, emotions, and desires.

Across many cultures, water also symbolises cleansing and renewal. In psychological terms, this relates to the process of emotional healing, shedding past traumas stored within our subconscious, and transforming into a more integrated self. In this way, the dragon as a balance of opposites, is the medium through which this transformation can occur.

The Role of Christianity

Christianity significantly influenced the symbolism of dragons, reshaping their meaning in Western culture. We’ve come to see so far that on the eastern end of the cultural spectrum, the dragon is held in highest reverence. As we start to move west, into Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt, the dragon continues to be associated with power, protection, creation and an ability to erupt chaos, yet there tended to be a greater fear and awe inspired by this symbol compared to Chinese lore, and it would often be paired with another neutralising deity to reflect this struggle between chaos and order in the balance of life. It is Christianity then which re-frames dragons as pure symbols of evil, Satan, and sin.

For instance, in the Book of Revelation, a great red dragon is explicitly linked to Satan, described as "the ancient serpent" who leads humanity astray:

"The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him." (Revelation 12:9, NIV)

Christianity brought the responsibility of chaos and disorder onto the individual himself. One must atone for their sins. And the role of the light was God himself, with Christ as the redeemer. As it is written in the New Testament, where in the first epistle, John says, “God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.” (John 1:5, NIV)

And so it was from the scriptures that became the Holy Bible, and the Church of Christ which was entrusted to interpret it for the people, the dragon now had to be conquered and slain by the individual, for the only way was the way of the light, of God.

The Hero’s Tale

“The universal hero myth always refers to a powerful man or god-man who vanquishes evil in the form of dragons and liberates his people from destruction and death.” — Carl Jung, Man and His Symbols; p68.

Over the course of the first millennia after Christ, the religion of Christianity devises for its people a new story around the dragon. It comes in the form of the creation myth, in which a serpent-like antagonist of the Creator appears and lures man to disobedience by the promise of increased conscious knowledge. And as Christianity would spread across the whole of the Roman Empire and beyond, so would grow the power of the hero’s tale.

We’ve written earlier in this piece about the classic tale of Saint George which emerged in the 11th century BCE, and whose representation of the brave Christian knight slaying the dragon and rescuing the princess would be found in the emblems of countries far and wide for centuries to come.

More recently, J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit centers around an all-powerful dragon named Smaug and a tiny hobbit character by the name of Bilbo Baggins. Smaug represents evil, inner demons, and menacing greed, hoarding vast treasures in isolation. Meanwhile, Bilbo Baggins’ journey to confront the dragon mirrors personal growth and the rediscovery of courage. When Bilbo sneaks into Smaug's lair using the invisibility granted by the One Ring, he witnesses the vast treasure and the sleeping dragon. Bilbo cleverly engages Smaug in conversation, flattery, and riddles, learning about the dragon's vulnerabilities. Smaug, however, boasts of his nearly impenetrable armour of scales, with only a small weak spot in his chest where a scale is missing. Eventually, Bilbo, in cooperation with other creatures of the Middle Earth, defeats the dragon. Bard the Bowman, a skilled archer and descendant of the lords of Dale, manages to slay him by shooting a black arrow into the weak spot on Smaug's chest, as described by Bilbo.

21st century stories have started to look at the dragon in a new light. For example, in Harry Potter they are again introduced as giant winged, fire-breathing beasts. Widely regarded as terrifying yet awe-inspiring, they feature in the traditional hero’s journey, particularly in the tri-wizard tournament as creatures to be overcome, and amidst the underground depths of Gringotts Bank protecting the treasures of the wealthiest witches and wizards. Yet, we are also shown how an outcast in his own right, the giant Hagrid, develops a loving, nurturing relationship with the dragons. And how Hermione’s courage in the depths of Gringotts rescues both her and her friends, and the chained dragon itself. We see another side to the dragon, once again. In George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones, dragons also feature prominently. And here again, the dragon is represented to subvert their traditional role, being neither purely antagonistic nor entirely heroic.

A Modern Shift

In the 2010 film “How to Train Your Dragon,” Hiccup is a Norse teenager from the island of Berk, where fighting dragons is a way of life. His progressive views and weird sense of humor make him a misfit, despite the fact that his father is chief of the clan. Tossed into dragon-fighting school, he endeavours to prove himself as a true Viking, but when he befriends an injured dragon he names Toothless, he has the chance to plot a new course for his people's future. Berk begins a new era of humans and dragons living in peace.

This a new narrative around the symbol of the dragon. And this series has spawned into a massive franchise incorporating additional films, TV series, comic books and more. It is not alone. In the enormously popular Pokémon game, the dragon-like Pokémon, Dragonite, is known for its kindness and protective instincts, often helping humans and other Pokémon. In the alternate-history fantasy series, Temeraire by Naomi Novik, the main character Temeraire is a highly intelligent and noble dragon who forms a deep bond with his human companion, Captain Laurence. Their partnership reflects mutual respect and affection.

We see a recurring theme of the modern dragon symbol involving the creature as a loyal companion, as one initially misunderstood, then subsequently revered, and as a powerful guardian.

The Serpent as a Bringer of Health

Asclepius is a figure from Ancient Greek mythology and religion, who was revered as the god of medicine and healing. His most famous symbol is the Rod of Asclepius, a staff entwined with a single serpent. It is widely recognised even to this day as a symbol of medicine and healthcare. It is said that in return for some kindness rendered by Asclepius, a serpent licked Asclepius's ears clean and taught him secret knowledge (to the Greeks these creatures were sacred beings of wisdom, healing, and resurrection)

Meanwhile, in India, the serpent is at the basis of a whole philosophical system of Tantrism. It involves Kundalini and the Kundalini serpent. While many individuals report to experiencing a temporal condition known as Kundalini awakening, this is something sustained with intention only by a few practitioners, for generally it is neither known that we have a serpent in the abdomen, nor is the ability appropriately developed to move this energy through the body. The Kundalini serpent is normally coiled quiescently at the base of the spine. When this energy is aroused in the practice of Kundalini Yoga, it uncoils and rises up the spine through six successive chakras, or centers of consciousness. The serpent power in Tantric Yoga or Kundalini Yoga is an attempt to reach the condition where Shiva (symbolising consciousness, the masculine) is in eternal union with Shakti (representing the feminine, activating energy). Shiva is then encircled by Shakti in the form of a serpent. It is a merging of consciousness and energy.

The Ouroboros

We have already touched on the symbol of the Ouroboros at the start of this piece. Now, in the final chapters, as we attempt a deeper dive into the psychology of the dragon symbol, it seems relevant to look into it once again.

Firstly, since psychology is an inherently personal and subjective matter, we pose a personal question:

What does the representation of a dragon wrapped around in a circle and eating its own tail mean for you?

One way to look at this symbol is through the lens of alchemy. Alchemy is a subject that has an equally diverse and long-standing history as the symbol of the dragon, and an array of purposes over the course of time. From turning base metals into noble metals like gold, to creating an elixir for life in the philosopher’s stone, to arriving at the wholeness of the individual and mankind itself. From a metaphorical perspective, these are all one and the same. The alchemical process of breaking down and reforming material into something new, is much like the way psychological growth requires decomposing old aspects of our personality to allow new attitudes to emerge. The dragon circles around itself devouring its tail, entering a cycle of transformation and renewal through a unity of opposites, and then the rebirth. From the perspective of the mind, we could say that which is unconscious becomes conscious and subsequently integrates into the whole of individual as they experience themselves in the present moment.

The Ouroboros thus initially surrounds the unconscious, protecting us from being overwhelmed by irrational impulses. It demands a level of conscious maturity before we can pass through deeper psychological layers and integrate them. It acts as a necessary dynamic barrier mediating between conscious and unconscious. This is possible for the dragon, because the symbol itself is a duality of opposites. The Ouroboros is then the mandala representing eternity.

The Four Elements

We’ve seen how in Eastern traditions, the dragon would typically be portrayed amidst the air in the clouds or down below in the waters of the seas. Water and air. And we’ve also seen how in the Western tradition, the dragon would often be portrayed on earth, guarding treasure, conquered by man while breathing fire all around. Fire and earth. The symbol of the dragon integrates them all.

Physically, the dragon is menacing, powerful, aggresive and masculine. Metaphysically, it is a source of creation, renewal, wisdom, and the feminine.

It is capable of both chaos and order. Protector and destroyer. Loyal and unpredictable.

The Extravert and the Introvert Meet the Dragon

Expanding on this duality of the dragon, we now move into the personality types. The outward focused extravert, and the introvert with their inward tilt.

If the extravert meets an object in the outside world they are enamoured with, they will inherently seek to blend in with it. The extravert merges with the object of their affection. However, if that object is chaotic and fiery and dark, the natural reaction is to project a need for control and clarity onto it.

In the case of the introverted type, the focus is on the subject themselves. And so begins the creation of a mythological world on the inside of the individual, and in doing so they attempt to create sense of comfort and stability for all the chaos the dragon represent in the material world.

The Psychology of the Dragon Symbol

By now, if you’ve come this far, you may be connecting certain dots for yourself from the variety of representations associated with the dragon across East to West. I present one interpretation of the psychology of the dragon symbol and a fork in the road for the future to come.

From the perspective of the mind as the point of focus now, the Eastern view historically looked upon the inner world of the subconscious as the all-mighty, and much like the dragon, they approached it with reverence and as a life-affirming energy. This character type listens to the inner world and lives through it in many ways. On the other hand, the Western view from the birth of Christianity onward tended to look upon the subconscious as something to be feared, and their approach was to seek to conquer this inner world.

The Western man willingly moves away from the depths of the subconscious, and upward toward rationality and determinism. The Eastern man is comfortable swimming within the subconscious and uses it as a filter for how to live their conscious life in harmony. Both ways of living have their own unique uses.

The proponents of the harmony of the inner world way of life, may indeed have found a sense of harmony in their lives, yet they continued to exist in the cycles of chaos and order incumbent from nature itself, including the nature within. What we may call a psychotic episode today, would be perfectly natural to this way of life. The thunder last night was responsible. Their understanding of and ability to control the physical world, and themselves, was simply undeveloped to live any other way. They co-existed with the dragon, because they had to. And the dragon came to reflect the relationship with their inner world.

Meanwhile, the proponents of conquering the inner world, gradually morphed Christianity into science and then into a techno-utopia full with a plethora of information and knowledge about the physical world. By becoming rulers, in many ways gods, of the Planet Earth and Mother Nature, they have very clearly slain the dragon, and domesticated it like any other fluffy pet. Yet, their understanding of their own nature within, still comes up as an empty box. Science and technology have not been able to discern any meaningful understanding of the qualitative nature of nature itself, including the human mind.

One example of this interpretation of the East and West, is the evolution of China and the Western Powers (first the UK and then the USA) when this willpower toward rationality started to truly come into its own. China was an innovative and vast empire for millennia, with incredible knowledge and traditions, yet while the West transitioned into the Industrial Revolution, the Eastern way of life apparently did not see a reason to adapt. Soon enough, the West had conquered China starting with the Opium Wars. China has since been forced to adapt its ways to the Western approach. A similar story played out in Japan. Following the invasion of the imperial powers of the Dutch and British, Japan began to “modernise” and within a century became one of the wealthiest regions in the world.

However, this industrialisation is an extremism. Slaying the dragon and converting it into just another toy to control, is analogous to numbing the entirety of one’s subconscious. Indeed, this rapid global industrialisation has led to an exponential destruction of the natural world, alongside an equally exponential rise in the population of mankind which the Earth may not be able to sustain. If the analogy of the physical natural world is to the inner subconscious world of the human mind, then humanity can done an exceptional job in slaying its dragons. Without this natural world, what happens next? Existence necessitates the duality of that which is seen and that which is unseen. Without it, we come back to the Ouroboros, where One is All, All is One, the cessation of existence itself.

This may well be path that humanity appears to be on. For only the individual who confronts and triumphs over the dragon without being consumed by it can claim the "treasure hard to attain." Yet, humanity has indeed been consumed by it. For fighting against this uncertainty toward determinism has been its resounding mission for centuries. The “treasure” on this particular path might just be the evil that has been suppressed by Christianity with its one-sided approach: “God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.” Is it undoubtedly merely a speculation, yet the new artificial world and incumbent artificial general intelligence, which much like the subconscious, few can understand and control, might be the future polar opposite to the consciousness of the human. As humanity enters a new cycle, we may once again see the control of the human by the subconscious, as the tribal man lived millennia ago. In this new cycle, it may well be China that leads the way, for while the conscious rationality of life led by the Western power has dominated mankind for many centuries, the subconscious is the realm of the Chinese.

However, this is not the only path available.

When the symbol of dragon becomes integrated into both the introvert and extravert, into the rational feeler and the sensitive intuitive, into the East and West, they are reconciled into one, the beginning and end of all transformation, reflecting the human soul’s quest for balance and unity.

Finally, What Does the Internet Have to Say?

I asked ChatGPT: “What does the internet via forums such as Reddit, Twitter, Quora say about dragons, and what they represent personally to each individual?”

Response Summary-

Common Threads: Across these various interpretations, dragons often represent a balance between power and wisdom, freedom and responsibility, mystery and clarity. They evoke feelings of awe, wonder, and personal connection, offering a symbolic framework for people navigating their own struggles, creative endeavors, or spiritual quests.

You’ll be able to source a plethora of recipes online about how to make mulled wine. The Romans were already at it 2000 years ago and the process generally boils down to: (1) how one mixes the spices and citrus with the wine; (2) how long the pot of ingredients is left to simmer; and (3) whether any spirits are added in.

How is this recipe any different? Well, it’s not really. We’ve chosen to focus on emphasising the taste combined with a reasonable level of convenience in preparation time (about one hour). And for this, we want to create a simple syrup-like liquid from the spices and brandy before adding in any wine. This will serve to flavour the wine more aptly as they simmer together.

Here’s what we’ll need:

INGREDIENTS

• 2x cinnamon sticks

• 4tbsp. coconut sugar

• 2x whole nutmeg

• 1x vanilla pod

• 2x fresh oranges

• 1x star anise

• 4x whole cloves

• 1x bottle of red wine

• 10-15 allspice berries (optional)

• 30-50mL of brandy (optional)

• 1tbsp. of honey (optional)

It’s important to use fresh ingredients and whole spices.

What type of wine to choose? The best variety for mulled wine will be on the darker side, fruity and full-bodied, so that it can withstand the heat and not have its aroma completely drowned out by the spices. This might be a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Merlot, or Syrah.

METHOD

1. Prepare the ingredients by grating the nutmeg and one of the cinnamon sticks, peeling off portions of the orange peel, dicing a few slices of the orange (for decoration, mostly) as well as the whole vanilla pod into halves or thirds. Squeeze the remainder of the oranges to make a cup of orange juice, strain the pulp, and leave to the side.

2. Bring a large saucepan to medium heat and place the tablespoons of sugar, orange peels, grated nutmeg and cinnamon stick, whole cloves, and a portion of the vanilla pod.

3. Add the brandy. If you aren’t using brandy, use the wine instead. Let this simmer until the sugar and grated nutmeg dissolve into the liquid and it starts to form a thickening paste consistency. Keep on low-medium heat and mix in a touch of the orange juice, and continue to let it simmer until the paste consistency forms up again.

4. Once the paste has lightly thickened up again, gradually start pouring in the red wine (and remainder of the brandy, if any). Now add the allspice berries, star anise, as well as the rest of the vanilla pod. Add a few pieces of orange slices, and let this heat until it almost comes to a simmer. Avoid letting it bubble in any way. Alcohol begins to vaporise at 77°C (172°F), so take care to ensure that the wine does not evaporate. Bring the heat to low, and cover entirely. Let this potion blend together for at least 30 minutes, ideally 1-2 hours.

5. Using a fine mesh strainer, remove and discard the solid ingredients in the saucepan. Add an optional touch of honey and stir in well, and you’re ready to enjoy.

Character Traits

The jester flaunts and taunts us with shadow, playfully bringing to light often uncomfortable truths about cultural norms and human complexity both pointed and palatable.

There is more to the jester than being a simple comedian, however. In his positive manifestation, he approaches life in a fresh and innocent way - trusting, uplifting, and completely in the moment. The jester does not tend to struggle between the opposing forces of life, because he rather likes to exist in between them, in a place somewhere akin to what Buddhists refer to as the bardo state. They can be a paradox.

In fact, for all their outwardly jest, the jester or fool can have profoundly healing capabilities precisely because of their reluctance to maintain the rigid social norms, and rather bring to light the unconscious - which is where the revelation and healing can happen - while doing so in a light and playful way - which again is often the smoothest way to make change. They have the innate capacity to come from a place more present and ordinary, being able to bring us back down to earth.

It is in this world of contrasts that the fool often thrives. Traditionally, the jester has been depicted as a complement to the upper classes of the social hierarchy, serving as a counterbalance to the “rarefied” air where they make their existence. However, this not need be so. For it is in every class of persons where imbalances exist, and the fool is uniquely adept at picking out these incongruences in the balance of a man and poking at them silently or vociferously, whatever the circumstances may atone, in order to provide the stimulus for personal change.

In many ways, the jester himself is a representation of the natural personality without the mask of persona most people tend to put on as they evolve into their identities within society. There is a felt humility there when this finds the right audience. It can be said that the natural fool lives through the heart, while the professional fool through the mind.

“...and ask what conscious situation is compensated by such a myth (of the fool). Then you see clearly that such a story compensates the conscious attitude of the society in which patriarchal schemes and oughts and shoulds dominate. It is ruled by rigid principles because irrational, spontaneous adaptation to events is lost. It is typical that stories of the fool are statistically more frequent in the white man's society than in others, and it is obvious why that is so. We are the people who, by an overdevelopment of consciousness, have lost the flexibility of taking life as it is. We have also an overwhelming number of stories for their hero excelling through just plain laziness. He simply sits on a stove and scratches himself and then everything falls into his lap. These stories also compensate for the collective attitude which puts too much emphasis on efficiency. Then those lazy hero stories are told and retold with great delight and with a healing meaning in them”

— Marie von Franz, Interpretation of Fairy Tales

The jester’s self esteem does not emerge from holding onto his outward possessions and achievements, for he typically has none. Nor does he feel a sense of inward grandeur or entitlement. He is almost transparent of the ego, existing somewhat in the space between the conscious and unconscious. Therefore his confidence, or lack thereof, can be felt by others socially conditioned to look for it. And this contributes to his role as the one not to be taken too seriously.

This archetype’s ability to remain present can be a shadow to their inability or reluctance to assume responsibility. They can become perpetually stuck on the journey, without any fixed goal or outcome being sought. If they do happen to fit into the role within society as a jester, harmony can be found. However, the willingness of their contemporaries to hear out their pointed criticism and unspoken truths, stems from the point of view of the jester as an innocent, vulnerable fool. This fine thread being walked can turn against them if this perception shifts, where the positive traits which they were looked upon suddenly evaporate, and the sheer crudity of their weak position in society comes front and center.

If another archetype, such as the king archetype which represents a position of power in society, were to assume the jester into their character, perhaps in a bid to speak against the tides of society, it can go indeed horribly wrong. This is in no small part because of the paradox the jester symbolises, a paradox of contrasts most character profiles are not comfortable existing in. For instance, the king’s role is strengthened by the fact that they serve to solidify society, rather than take apart its inconsistencies like a jester, and the inconsistency this creates would mean the chameleon would have to tread water very carefully in their attempt to channel the jester archetype.

The Fool in Tarot

In the modern 78-deck, tarot cards are split into the first 22 major arcana and the remaining 56 minor arcana. From their Italian roots in the 15th century as a card game, analogous to what bridge or poker may be today, these cards began to take on a more esoteric meaning from the 18th century. They can be considered as psychological images, symbols with which one plays, as the unconscious seems to play with its contents. The cards combine in particular ways, and the different combinations correspond to the playful development of the individual as they undergo self-realisation.

The fool has the number zero and in most decks can be optioned as either first or the last card of the 22 major arcana, the 21st, and last number card, of which is the world. In the world card, there is a large laurel wreath symbolising wholeness, where the fool, who is androgynous, becomes the cosmic dancer and the anima mundi (world soul). However, just as the journey toward wholeness ends, it begins anew, for it is a lifelong process. We understand the fool is both the beginning and the end of the journey.

Inventors and men of genius have almost always been regarded as fools at the beginning (and very often at the end) of their careers.

— Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The fool is typically depicted as a young man holding a white rose symbolising innocence and purity, and a small bundle of possessions in the other. He is willing to sacrifice everything for the journey. Tarot itself is also called the “fool’s journey,” and the fool is paradoxically a symbol of the heroic because he jumps off the place of comfort into the place of the unknown. Here, he must defeat his inner dragon (worst fears, persons, events or memories long avoided) and gather the gold. The journey is a psychological and spiritual death and rebirth, in which an old aspect of oneself dies, giving birth to a new and more capable self.

The major arcana tarot cards can be viewed as the typical experiences along the age-old path of self-realisation, and in this sense, the fool is the most powerful of all tarot trumps, always in the process of becoming.

The Evolution of The Fool

The jester or fool is a unique archetype as may be evident from much of what has been written thus far. It does not pair effortlessly with too many other personality types, and as a result there are only so few paths the fool ends up moving through in their lives.

In the positive realisation, the jester will often end up somewhere behind the scenes, yet in a position able to exert meaningful influence over the fabric of society. They may become a trusted courtier to the upper reaches of society and gradually evolve from a character who attracts attention through comedy and superlatives, into a level-headed confidant and source of balance. In this way, they make a harmonious transition from one aspect of their character, the inner child, and into another, the wise old man. Can you observe this archetype in some prominent members of society today: individuals who don’t actually produce anything of value themselves such as art or products, yet are always close to others which do? Another form of positive evolution emerges out of the jester’s ability to see life from a unique point of view. If they can pair with the ability to execute and take action, they may launch a venture such as a business or social project, all the while leveraging their connection to those with influence to seed their work. It is not uncommon for modern day founders or entrepreneurs to exhibit a lot of the fool archetype, especially behind the scenes.

In the negative realisation, the jester will be squashed into a position similarly behind the scenes, yet of lowly means, largely because their ability to weave into the fabric of society has been rejected over and over again. Some of these characters have been depicted over the course of time. In one of the oldest tarot decks (Visconti-Sforza Tarocchi) The Fool of the Tarot was a homeless beggar, stumbling around village streets in a daze. Back in the 15th century, in the Mantegna Tarocchi, this image was known as il Misero, which means ‘the beggar’. In the Steele Manuscript (a sermon written by a Franciscan monk) it was listed as El matto sine nulla (nisi velint), which can be roughly translated as ‘the fool with nothing’. Both represent a person trapped in the lowest of human conditions. It was a life without money, skills or education. Fools and beggars were a common sight in Renaissance Italy where tarot cards were created. The madman is also a typical path for the fool who fails to adapt to the world. The Joker comic book and movie series is an example, where the urge toward the superlative has been rejected by society and suppressed by the individual for many years, and without a healthy avenue to step into, takes a negative turn.

The Tale of Parsifal & the Holy Grail

The story of Parsifal is part of the medieval legend of King Arthur and the Quest for the Holy Grail. The Grail myth dates back to at least the twelfth century in Europe, and was transmitted in various versions, including French (from the poet Chretien de Troyes), English (Le Morte Darther, by Thomas Malory), German (Wolfram von Eschenbach’s version, which became the basis for Richard Wagner’s “Parsifal” opera) and others. The Grail myth speaks directly to our psyche, and in particular to the development of the psychology of the masculine, in both men and women – and it is as relevant now as it has ever been.

The myth1 surrounds the wounded Fisher King, Amfortas, the king of the Grail castle. He is in agonizing pain, and the kingdom suffers as a result. The Fisher King wound, in psychological terms, is a common condition for Western Man, where every young man “has naively blundered into something that is too big for him. He proceeds halfway through his masculine development and then drops it as being too hot. Often a certain bitterness arises, because, like the Fisher King, he can neither live with the new consciousness he has touched nor can he entirely drop it.” This wound, however, is crucial for the development of consciousness, for its redemption, through the intercession of Parsifal, is what leads to the complete integration of the Self – it is what leads to a life of self awareness, contentment, passion and authenticity.

The court jester explains that the Fisher King could only be healed through the actions of an innocent fool, who would spontaneously need to ask a specific question.

“A man must consent to look to a foolish, innocent, adolescent part of himself for his cure. The inner fool is the only one who can touch his Fisher King wound.”

— Robert Johnson, He

Enter Parsifal, a name which means “pure fool,” an innocent young man raised by his overly-protective mother in poverty, knowing nothing of his dead father (who himself was a knight), without any direction or schooling. He is dazzled one day by the appearance of a group of knights who visit his village and, to his mother’s dismay, decides with all the bluster of youth to seek them out to become a knight himself. She agrees to let him go, but gives him a homespun garment that he elects to wear for much of his life; this garment, represents the “Mother Complex” in psychology, and will prove costly to Parsifal in his development.

Parsifal finds and enters Arthur’s Court but is initially ridiculed and expelled; however, legend held that a damsel in Arthur’s Court who had not smiled for years would burst into laughter at the sight of the greatest knight – which she did at the sight of innocent Parsifal. The Court immediately held Parisfal in high regard and Arthur knighted him on the spot.

Parsifal, naive and not burdened with fear or anxiety, seeks out the most fearsome knight of all, the Red Knight, a warrior so fierce he had never been defeated. Parsifal, in his earnest naivete, confronts him and asks him for his horse and armor. Laughing, he agrees, but only if Parsifal can take it. Predictably, Parsifal is knocked to the ground by the powerful knight but, as he fell, Parsifal throws his dagger into the Red Knight’s eye, killing him. This victory, as Robert Johnson surmises, represents the integration of the “shadow side of masculinity, the negative, potentially destructive power . . . [he] must not repress his aggressiveness since he needs the masculine power of his Red Knight shadow to make his way through the mature world.”

The newly empowered knight goes out seeking battle and adventure, rescuing maidens and defeating opponents, but not killing them; any knight Parsifal overcame he instead instructed to join Arthur’s Court and swear allegiance to him.

One day along his heroic quest, Parsifal sought lodging, but was told there was no place to stay for miles. He then encountered a man fishing in a boat on a lake, and asks if he knows of any place to stay for the night. The fisherman, the Fisher King, tells him to go down the road a little bit and go the left. Parsifal obliges and suddenly finds himself on the grounds of the Grail Castle, windows gleaming, knights and ladies greeting him, the splendor of which he had never dreamed of in his life.

A great ceremony was about to begin, one which occurred every evening. A great feast and celebration was held where maidens brought out to all assembled the Holy Grail, from which all would partake, immediately granting them whatever they desired – everyone, that is, except for the Fisher King. Because of his agonizing wound, he was unable to drink from the Grail, and his affliction continued to wreak havoc across the kingdom.

During his quest, Parsifal had encountered a mentor, Gournamond, who had instructed him in the ways of knighthood. When encountering the Holy Grail, Gournamond instructed Parsifal to ask an important question, “Whom does the Grail serve?” This was the question that would heal the Grail King’s wound. However, his mother had also told him not to ask too many questions and hers was the advice Parsifal heeded this time in the Great Hall. All assembled knew the prophecy that one day an innocent fool would enter the castle and ask the question that would heal the King – all except Parsifal – and very quickly the ceremony ends, with everyone retiring for the night. The next morning, Parsifal rides out and the Grail Castle disappears.

This loss tormented Parsifal, and it would take years of grueling, rigorous battles and quests before Parsifal realized that the homespun garment that he wore beneath his armor – the psychological symbol of the Mother Complex – had to be removed before he could partake of the Grail and heal the Fisher King.

Parsifal spends some twenty years earning his way back to the Grail Castle. They are difficult years, however, and he grows in bitterness and disillusionment; these represent the difficult years of middle age, where one begins to question one’s very existence and the choices made. After twenty years of searching in vain for what was lost in his first encounter at the Grail Castle, Parsifal has had his arrogance and pride beaten and humbled. One day, along his latest quest, he is introduced to a forest hermit.

At first, the hermit scolds him for his failures – especially for not asking the question when he first encountered the Fisher King. However, he soon softens, sympathising with Parsifal, and then invites him to go down the road a little bit and go to the left . . .

Again, Parsifal suddenly finds himself on the grounds of the Grail Castle, this time, however, with twenty long years of earned experience and humility. Again, he finds himself in the midst of the great feast and celebration where maidens brought out the Holy Grail for all to partake.

This time, however, Parsifal asks the question, “Whom does the Grail serve?” The simple act of asking the question immediately heals the Grail King and the entire Castle erupts in celebration! What is the answer to the question? “You, My Lord, the Grail King.” And what exactly does this answer mean? Very simply, we serve something far greater than ourselves. Carl Jung, the great psychologist, would say that by asking this question, one comes to the realization that the Ego now comes into service of the Self.

The goal of life is not merely to attain personal happiness. Rather, it is to serve the Grail – that is, to live a life not of ego but of our most authentic nature, our souls. As Robert Johnson so eloquently sums it up: “One cannot pursue happiness; if he does he obscures it. If he will proceed with the human task of life, the relocation of the center of gravity of the personality to something greater outside itself, happiness will be the outcome.”

Beetroot is the taproot component of beet greens, an edible plant that has been grown for thousands of years and began to be used medicinally in the Roman-era to alleviate blood and digestive concerns. Today, we understand the high dietary nitrate content (which converts into nitric oxide, the same molecule released via nasal breathing) in Beetroot serves as a mechanism to dilate our blood vessels, allowing for more energy delivery through the body, as well as cerebral blood flow into the brain. This coupled with its meaningful concentration of phytonutrients - which serve as anti-inflammatory vehicles by aiding in the reduction of stress in the body - make Beetroot a powerhouse for vitalising our energy levels. There is ongoing research into its blood pressure-reducing and cancer-preventative qualities. Just remember that most of the good stuff is contained in the peel of the beetroot!

Qualities

· Natural energy boost · Stimulates blood flow · Astringent and sharp when raw · Warm and earthy when cooked · Sour and tangy when fermented · Anti-inflammatory · Neutral, balanced ·

Character of Beetroot

Beetroot is typically harvested bi-seasonally in the milder weather of spring and autumn. It is an easy food to grow in a home garden and can be ready in as little as 40 days, though the usual time to harvest is between 50-60 days. Once harvested, it is eaten in a variety of ways: in its raw form, being boiled, steamed (one of the best ways to cook it while retaining much of the nutrient profile), or roasted. It is also combined with water and salt to form a fermented variety, and as well as being pickled by adding vinegar and conducting a short heat sterilisation - in both cases allowing the beetroot to be preserved for longer periods. Fermenting beetroot generally tends to increase its nutritional value, while pickling will reduce the nutrient quality.

Growing Beetroot at Home

Shared via GrowVeg

All these varieties of both cultivating and cooking beetroot result in an assortment of character traits when we eat it. We’d like to hear about how you experience beetroot and its affects on your state in the polls below, though our suggestion is that overall it promotes a light Earth-Fire state. When we start to look at the unique ways of eating it, raw beetroot tends to have an astringent and sharp profile, where as boiled or steamed beetroot is more relaxing and warming with an earthy sweetness to it, and fermented beetroot brings about a distinct sour, tanginess about it that couples with beetroot’s nutrient profile to create an uplifting affect to our state.

Nutrition Information

Beetroot has a powerful nutritional profile, with a long history dating back to the ancient Egyptians and Romans of its medicinal affects. Modern science informs us that what appears to contribute to beetroot’s potent blood nourishing quality is the high amount of inorganic dietary nitrates it contains. These nitrates are transformed in the digestion process into a gaseous molecule called nitric oxide (that is also released in the nasal airways, when we breathe through our nose, but not our mouth) which has a vasodilating effect on our blood vessels, essentially promoting blood to flow more effortlessly throughout the body and into the brain. These nitrates are complemented by other phytonutrients in beetroot, such as betalains, carotenoids, flavanoids, and ascorbic acid. These phytonutrients, also commonly referred to as antioxidants, are able to de-stress the cells in our bodies. The raw and cooked (steamed) methods of consuming beetroot seem to preserve the largest concentration of these compounds, even over the concentrated powdered form because some of the nutritional value is lost in the drying process.

On the other hand, beetroot is deceptively high in sugar. Its macronutrient profile tells that us the vegetable in cooked (boiled) form is composed of 10% carbs, of which most are sugars (8%), 2% protein, and 2% fibre, with the remainder being mostly water. In addition, uncooked beetroots are high in oxalic acid, which can be irritating to the kidneys in excess, with the potential to evolve into kidney stones. This is particularly important to consider when juicing beetroot as the quantities consumed be quite high, even from a large glass for some people. As well as the oxalic acid, beetroots are a source of fructans (a type of carbohydrate classified as FODMAPs) and it is worthwhile to be aware that certain people have an awfully hard time digesting these. Of note, though, is that cooking or fermenting the beetroot tends to do away with most of these potentially disruptive components.

Scientific Research

The primary research around beetroot’s effect on the human biology has been in its benefits to cardiovascular health. This correlates with the material we have already covered on its blood nourishing and cellular de-stressing qualities. Additionally, studies have successfully looked into its ability to cleanse the liver, and potentially prevent the development of cancerous cells.

Cardiovascular health

• Beetroot is a meaningful source of dietary nitrates. This paper in part explores the link between the health of the digestive system and its role in the bioactivation of nitrate, and the value these bioactivated nitrates play in supporting the cardiovascular system from issues such as hypertension, stroke, myocardial infarction and gastric ulceration.

  (Lundberg et al., 2008) — https://www.nature.com/articles/nrd2466

• In another study, it is again shown that ingestion of dietary nitrate (beetroot juice) results in bioactive nitrite substantially decreasing blood pressure, inhibiting platelet aggregation, and preventing endothelial dysfunction in healthy volunteers.

  (Webb et al., 2008) — https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.107.103523

Cleansing the Liver

• Research conducted explored the role beetroot juice played on the level of liver enzymes, and indicated a significant reduction in hepatic steatosis (excess liver fats) among the groups receiving beetroot juice.

  (Fateh et al., 2023) — https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10469647

• Another paper found that beetroot can protect against iron-mediated liver damage by suppressing oxidative stress and cholinergic and purinergic activities while regulating gluconeogenesis.

  (Ojo et al., 2024) — https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-77503-6

Cancer Preventative

• Carcinogenesis is the process whereby a normal cell is transformed into a neoplastic cell, and driving these stages are oxidative stress and inflammation. This paper worked to isolate a betanin/isobetanin concentrate from fresh beetroots, and showed that the concentrate significantly decreased cancer cell proliferation and viability, particularly in breast cancer cells. Importantly, the betanin-enriched extract had no obvious effect towards normal cell lines.

  (Nowacki et al., 2015) — https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ptr.5491

• A summary of cancer preventative effects of beetroot

  (Lan Tan & Hamid, 2021) — https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8020175/

Recipes

We’re working on this component to aware, and it’ll come soon enough.

Trends in ADHD Diagnoses and Sleep Issues

To begin with, let’s explore the rising trend in a couple of mental-health related topics, ADHD and sleep.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, otherwise known by the acronym ADHD, is affecting a growing percentage of the population in the 21st century. A study of 180,000 adolescents aged 4-17 in the United States over a 20 year period from 1997-2016 measured an almost doubling of diagnosed ADHD in the nationwide population. According to the study, 10% of the population were diagnosed with ADHD, up from 6%1. And this does not factor in the many that were not diagnosed, yet experience attention and or impulsivity issues in their day-to-day lives.

What about the fundamental necessity of sleep? A study of over 30,000 individuals in the United States aged over 18 found an increase in prevalence of sleep insomnia or trouble sleeping from 17% to 19% from 2002-2012; and notably within the study, the growth in people aged 18-24 was far higher at 30%2. These are high percentages, both on an absolute basis and in measuring the rise in trend.

Let’s just zoom in a little into what we’re dealing with here when it comes to both sleep and ADHD:

• Sleep issues are self-explanatory, and though we can break down an array of unique reasons people encounter them, for the purpose of this article we will take a general approach defining sleep issues in the context of people who have trouble regularly sleeping a stable 7-8 hours per night.

• ADHD we can separate into a pair of its constituent parts:

  • Inability or a lack of willingness to pay attention for sustained periods

  • Proclivity for impulsive behaviour and an inability to regulate it, even having recognised the potentially harmful impact on well being and/or life.

Link Between ADHD and Sleep Issues

It may seem to some readers that it is common sense these two issues be related. If a person struggles to obtain a good nights sleep on a regular basis - which is imperative for both healing and re-invigorating the mind and body - they will tend to be low on energy, and low energy inherently makes it more challenging to pay attention and focus, as well as to regulate our behaviour. At the same time, if a person is frequently hyper-aroused this may often transfer unpredictably into the evenings and nights and affect the time they go to bed as well as the quality and length of sleep. It is somewhat like a vicious negative feedback loop. And the data backs up our common sense. Problems with sleep can lead to the development of ADHD-like symptoms, potentially resulting in misdiagnosis34. Moreover, the effects of sleep troubles emerge as symptoms that are remarkably similar to those of ADHD56

Another study involving neuroimaging analysis revealed that regions of the brain indicated a link between both ADHD and sleep disturbance. And while the study takes a uni-directional conclusion with its data suggesting a stronger relationship in the way of ADHD → sleep issues, for those looking to investigate this further from a neuroscience standpoint, it points out: “Lower gray matter volumes in the middle frontal gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus, amygdala, striatum, and insula were associated with both ADHD symptoms and sleep disturbances… Among the subcortical structures, we identified a number of genes with higher expression levels in those brain areas where a greater proportion of the brain-sleep association was mediated by ADHD. These genes included those playing key roles in dopamine signaling and in the circadian cycle.” 7

Mouth Breathing and Sleep

So, how is mouth or nose breathing related to all of this? Well, quite substantially as it turns out.

The strongest evidence for sleep issues giving rise to ADHD-like symptoms comes from a host of recent studies which investigated surgical intervention on breathing patterns during sleep (to allow for breathing to happen with the nose, instead of the mouth) and resulting in a significant improvement to the daytime behavioural patterns associated with ADHD89. Furthermore, a systematic review in one of these studies indicated that the prevalence of a specific type of sleep issue - sleep apnea - in patients with ADHD (~30%) is far higher than in the general population (~3%)10.

In fact, the polarity in consequences from mouth breathing versus nose breathing during sleep has been noted in modern medical studies for over 500 years! The earliest account we can find of the “deleterious” effects from mouth breathing during sleep dates back to the 16th century made by the Dutch physician Levinus Lemnius.

To really understand what’s going on here, we have to investigate what’s happening in our brain and body when we breathe with our nose as well as when we breathe through the mouth. There are two ways to approach this: one is empirically by observing a sample of people who either nose or mouth breathe; and another is to understand the biological differences.

Understanding Nose and Mouth Breathing

There are a few significant differences in what happens biologically when we breathe through the nose in comparison to the mouth.

Perhaps the most pertinent of all is that the inherent design of the body intends for respiration to occur through the nose, the majority of the time. This has numerous ripple effects. One way is to analogise this with another component of our bodies - the necessity of using our feet to walk and our hands to perform more dextrous functions.

The Diaphragm

Natural breathing through the nose activates the use of the diaphragm muscle, which rests below the lungs and above the stomach. This muscle is designed primarily to assist with the breathing function in our bodies and its strength and pliability is necessary for the stability of the spine. It is not possible to maintain sustained use of the diaphragm by breathing with the mouth. When we breathe in through the nose and move the air into our belly, the diaphragm moves down laterally expanding the lower rib cage and creating greater lung volume capacity.

Facial Skeletal Development

When nasal breathing does not regularly occur during childhood, forcing primates to breathe through their mouths, the resulting change in breathing pattern can alter the natural growth of the craniofacial complex. This includes elongation of the face, narrowing of the dental arches, and increased facial height.

Nasal breathing promotes proper tongue posture, with the tongue resting against the palate, which encourages balanced growth of the facial structures. Research indicates that children who habitually breathe through their mouths may develop distinct facial characteristics, such as an increased mandibular plane angle, elongated lower anterior facial height, and reduced posterior facial height.11

Nasal Passages

Inside the nose and sinuses there are tiny hairs called cilia. These cilia trap larger particles like dust, pollen, and pathogens before they enter the respiratory system. The nasal passages are also lined with a mucous membrane that traps smaller particles, including bacteria and viruses. The mucus contains antimicrobial substances like lysozyme, which can break down the cell walls of certain bacteria. Antibodies and nitric oxide (produced by the sinus mucosa) then act to destroy these microbes.

The nasal passages also humidify and warm incoming air, making it less likely to dry out the mucous membranes in the lower respiratory tract. The throat and lungs function more optimally with warm, moist air.

Nitric Oxide

Nitric oxide (NO) is essential for the proper functioning of the brain and the endothelial system (veins and arteries). Since this gas is produced in large quantities in the nasal sinuses, breathing through the mouth is like depriving yourself of the benefits of natural breathing, i.e. through the nose. Thanks to NO, nasal breathing improves the oxygenation of the brain, compared to breathing through the mouth.

The oxygen needed by the cells is supplied via the blood vessels by the red blood cells. The blood flow, and therefore the amount of oxygen, is dependent on two parameters: the pressure impelled by the heart and the diameter of the vessels. NO has a vasodilatory effect on these blood vessels (i.e. it increases their diameter) and therefore increases this blood flow. This dilation, especially in the lungs, allows oxygen to better penetrate the blood vessels and CO2 to escape. In 1998, Dr. Louis Ignarro was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his discoveries showing NO’s strong ability to improve cardiovascular health and prevent heart disease.

The Resonant Breath and ADHD

The autonomic nervous system has two components: a stress response and a recharge response. People with ADHD tend to have nervous systems which are out of sync, and most of the time the stress and recharge responses are under active. However, when the stress response kicks in for an individual with ADHD, it goes far and above the typical level. For the brain to work in its natural way - and to be less impulsive and hyperactive - both components of the nervous system need to work optimally and in the right balance.

At aware, we believe in the Resonant Breath as a way to bring ourselves into balance. Whether we are sitting at a desk at work, walking along the street, lying in bed, driving a car, we can practise this mode of breathing.

Several studies have looked at the effect of this type of conscious breathing on the nervous system, with strong results. One study found that slow breathing could improve sustained attention, affect, and cortisol levels.12 Another study proposed that “slow deep breathing functionally resets the autonomic nervous system through stretch-induced inhibitory signals and hyperpolarization currents propagated through both neural and non-neural tissue which synchronises neural elements in the heart, lungs, limbic system and cortex.”13

Concluding Thoughts on Nose versus Mouth Breathing

Ok, now you might say the data highlighted in this article represents only isolated pockets of the world over a relatively short span of time. And you would be right in making this point. To this, we would respond by saying that the imperative principle of breathing with the nose, in lieu of the mouth, has been around dating back to the Upanishads in Ancient India some 2500 years ago.14 Modern science and modern principles (of before Christ and before Science) converge rather tightly to the same conclusion. This is not a “drop the mic” moment where we leave it at that, case solved, though. Rather, to simply serve as fuel for further investigation or experimental application, where necessary.

We exist in our bodies and energy in the form of oxygen and nutrients moves through our bodies which gives us life. That energy can move effortlessly, or it can be strained at knots and regions of tightness within the body.

Good posture is light and alert. We are not slouching, we are not heavy. Good posture is balanced and in natural alignment. There are minimal points of tension being created which are not in harmony with the natural state of our bodies.

And this begins with wakefulness spread across the whole of each foot, rising up an elongated spine, and into free and loose shoulders and a focused set of eyes.

With this, we set the foundation to be alive and free, stable and firm, and nimble. All in one body.

Here are the five key elements to good standing posture:

1. FEET

   are pressing down equally across the whole of each foot, positioned hip-width apart and parallel;

   the sensation here is of wakefulness spread across the whole of each foot.

2. KNEES

   are ever so slightly bent, soft and pliable;

   the sensation here is of bounce.

3. NAVAL

   is delicately pulled in, in the process elongating the spine, and gently tightening the buttocks;

   the sensation here is of balance between left and right, front and back.

4. SHOULDERS

   are lightly pulled back, open and down;

   the sensation here is free and loose.

5. HEAD

   is tilted slightly down, in the process extended the neck, with the eyes looking over the top of the nose;

   with a sensation of focus.

Good posture is about both mechanical alignment and being in tune with how our body feels.

Like a river bed, ensure your posture is right, with a little adjustment here and there, and the water will flow effortlessly through you.

Control of fire in the world empowered humans to evolve through stimulating warmth, lighting dark nights, building advanced hunting tools and cooking various foods. Today, it seems like a bygone component in our technology-driven lives. Yet, there still remain parts of the world who remain reliant on fire for everyday survival, and prior to the explosion of innovation in the recent centuries, control of fire was just as integral to all of mankind.

Here, we present the idea that fire, of a different sort, can produce the same exponential benefits, in this case for our well being, as fire on a plank of wood or candle wick has been for millennia in the evolution of mankind. Here, we find a way to use the candle for a meditative practice to foster clarity and focus in our minds.

With this meditation, we turn inward, and light up the fire within us. Once it is stable and under our volition, we then use it to burn away the impurities and noise going on inside of us, creating the space for creative focus on an object of our choice.

What is the essence of focus? It is to give all of our attention to one aspect of reality, big or small, in the present moment.

And what hinders our focus? In the outside world, all the noise around us. In the inside world, all the noise within us.

This meditation will guide us to melt away that noise within us.

It can be done in any quiet, dimly lit space, and all we need is a candle (we prefer staying away from paraffin-based candles, and use a naturally-sourced beeswax candle wherever possible). In fact, for those looking for a unique way to re-focus throughout the day at work, this practice can be incredibly rejuvenating.

1. Find yourself sitting in a comfortable posture with upright back and bring a candle to burn in front of you

2. Close your eyes, and perform a cleansing breathing practice. Then, bring attention to your body and ease into opening your eyes again.

3. Focus on the candle flame. Begin to hold the attention a center point in the white space, where movement is least volatile. Stay here for 2-3 minutes, coming back to the center point if your mind or eyes wander elsewhere.

4. Once the candle flame picture is clearly embedded in the mind, close the eyes, and bring up the visual of the flame burning. Stay here once more for 2-3 minutes. If you would like to explore this further, merge yourself into the flame itself

5. Now move the visual of the flame burning into your body, and down into the naval region. Do so gently and gradually, seeing the flame as it moves through your body. Hold it here, establish it stably for another 2-3 minutes.

6. The will be clearing up now. With the attention remaining on the flame at the naval region, begin to see aspects in your mind that are burdening you, that are top of mind, or that you simply want to let go of for the time being. As you see them, let them all into the fire. See them burn away to ash. Keep this process going with interludes of simply experiencing the flame and the emerging space.

7. Allow the flame within you to gently extinguish, and settle into the place of space. Be here. Hold this space.

8. At the end of the meditation, move the object of your intention into the front of your awareness, spending 30-60seconds on it, and proceed to open your eyes.

• Where our focus resides, evolves to become our reality

• Our reality with others is only shared as much as our individual foci are woven together

• Focus oscillates, constantly

• Our brain in singular focus mode is associated with our brain in survival mode

• Heighten focus through play

It may seem awkwardly simply to state: our focus is our reality. Yet, this astonishing statement is proven true in every moment of our lives. For reality happens in this moment, and with all that may be arising and ceasing in the world around us, and in our minds, those aspects where our focus resides also become our reality.

In some ways, we all experience a shared reality on this Earth. We see sky, we see land, we see flora and fauna. We feel things. And while we are all a part of aspects of this world, in truth, our reality is only shared as much as our individual foci are woven together.

To take an extreme scenario: the multi-billionaire who works atop a 50-story tower, resides in a gated mansion, and moves from place to place either by chauffeured car, helicopter or private plane, experiences a truly distinct universe to the tribal man who sleeps under a shelter made of mud and wood, roams the forest daily on foot, and whose sole “work” is to forage for food and (plant) medicine for himself, his family, and the broader tribe. They may as well be living on different planets, so divergent is their outer reality.

And how to even being to speak of our inner reality? For you and I, we may be in the same room, standing face to face, both with delicately upturned lips, attentive eyes, and erect postures, dressed in the finest that Italy has to offer; yet on the inside, I may be focused on a gorging pain and despair, while your mind may be as perfectly still as a summer seabed. “Hello, how is your day?” We begin.

If our focus is our reality, it seems plausible that the next step in the inductive ladder of consciousness, is to ask ourselves how we can exert some conscious volition over our focus, and therefore, direct our reality. And as just about the entire human population on Planet Earth will attest, this is no small feat.

Focus is constantly oscillating. This is an internal functional layer of the human mind. One thought shifts to the next. One feeling blurs away into another. We look at a tree in one direction, then move our vision a few metres left and look at a car. On and on. Focus oscillates. In order to assess some conscious volition over our focus, we have to be able to hold it still, on a single object, and sustain this, at least for a period of time.

The question arises - do we even want to be able to artificially sustain focus for extended periods? It does seem useful in our present day world. The men and women we laud in our society, the Picassos, the Sheryl Sandbergs, the Tom Bradys undoubtedly do this, very, very well. Meanwhile, our brain in singular focus mode is also very, very much associated with survival mode. To be aware of this, may be useful to you. For Tom Brady, even at the very top of the football chain after 20 years of great success, tomorrow is a day of survival… should he continue to want to win at the highest level. Survival means we continue building our tower, higher and higher, better and better, to be further insulated from the dangers below. Survival means hyper stress.

Typically, after the initial impulse to focus triggers a survival impulse, we enter a flow state. We remain on alert, however that alertness becomes driven less by danger, and more by the activity itself and our interaction with it. Moving away from the example of the superstar athletes and billionaire CEOs on one end, and over to the other end of our man in the jungle; he has passed the initial danger zone and is now in a familiar area of trees and plants, animals and insects, an area where he knows his way around and how to find what he needs. Unknowns still arise, sometimes he deals with them, sometimes he doesn’t, yet his awareness of the specific area expands further and further with each foray into its depths, and he is able to pick out what we wants from it.

What about those situations where focus is not artificially sustained, where it seems to occur naturally in and of itself? We call this play. Focus through play resides in an entirely alternate component of our psyche to survival. Play is also present to the environment, to the people, to the activity, much like survival is, though it emerges from a totally different place. Play is independent of needs, desires, fears and.. you get the idea. Players also stumble and cry, they laugh, and they go back to what they are doing, playing presently. To want to play with something or someone, means you enjoy being with it. Survival does not directly infer this, quite obviously.

Play focus thrives on newness and variety, while survival focus thrives on contained limits and more of the same. Paradoxically, when we think of the people who tend to play (i.e., the children in the playground, the designer in the studio, the couple on a romantic retreat), they tend to be in situations of safety and routine, within contained limits, albeit imperceptible ones. Play is the exploration of life, traversing a vast field of land flourishing with an assortment of life. You can think of it as horizontal. An expansion of our awareness of life. Survival is building our singular high tower rising up into the sky. Think of it as vertical. An intensity to our will for life (or repulsion from death).

In both cases, play and survival, we grow into that which we focus on. The greater our focus, the more our perception of reality expands; the longer we remain focused, the more our perception of reality expands. Our reality quite literally expands. We give our energy to focus, whether by necessity in the case of survival, or by (let’s say) curiosity in the case of play, and through this exchange of energy, our universe grows, inflates, widens, balloons. And it’s not easy to go back.