After a wonderfully sunny and unexpectedly warm (25C) weekend, in one night the temperature dropped at least 10 degrees Celsius, and it now rains cats and dogs. Yes, the weather in Taipei is notorious for being unstable («just like Taiwanese ladies» according to my local friends:)

The weather changes, things don’t necessarily happen the way we want them, nothing lasts for long or forever. That’s the law of the Universe. If we accept it, we can eliminate a lot of suffering and find balance and warmth within. And sometimes we need just a bit of an extra help – here comes my best remedy– ginger tea!!!

Buy some fresh ginger root.

Fresh Ginger by Zoya Lu

Here is sold everywhere as it is widely used in Chinese cooking. Hopefully it will be available in the produce section of your local market. The quantity of ginger you want to use will depend on its maturity (the older – the spicier), on the number of mugs required and on your taste butts. You can always experiment with it, and if it’s too spicy for you simply add more hot water into your mug. This piece in my hand was big enough for 4-5 cups of quite strong ginger tea.

ginger on Zoya's hand

Wash ginger really well with a brush to remove any soil or rough pieces of skin. Slice it. No need to peel off the skin as long as you washed it well (I like this part as peeling ginger is not easy).

ginger slices by Zoya Lu

Put ginger slices into a required quantity of water. Bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 min. I like to keep my teapot just partially covered, so the wonderful smell of ginger fills in my kitchen and flat. Strain the tea and serve. Sometimes I like to add a bit of a lemon juice; sometimes I add some brown or palm sugar. Try what taste you like most!

Ginger tea is not just going to really warm you up from inside out. It will also boost your energy level and immune system. It’s widely used as a home remedy for nausea, indigestion, to relief menstrual cramps, heartburn and migraine, and to prevent and treat colds, flu, and sore throats. It’s even believed to have anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties.

my cup of ginger tea by Zoya Lu

Enjoy your cup of invigorating freshly made ginger tea and stay warm in your heart!

 

Zoya

 

7th of Feb, 2012

 

A new year of Water dragon, the Chinese year 4710(!) will begin on Jan. 23, 2012. Congratulations to all!

illustration by Jason V Lu

A year of Dragon is the luckiest year out of the 12 years cycle as Dragon is believed to be the most powerful of all Chinese zodiac animals . Did you know that Chinese people compare themselves to the descendants of Dragon? Yes, Chinese emperors were believed to be the incarnations of dragons from the heaven and enjoyed the title “the Son of Heaven”. In Dragon year, as it is so lucky, many people try to start something important – new projects or careers, marriage or even a new life – giving birth to “a baby dragon” is the luckiest event for any family! In Taiwan, there is already 10% increase in pregnancy rate (to compare with last year)!

baby dragons bought by Zoya Lu:)

The celebration of the New Year is very important in Chinese culture. Every family has been preparing for weeks now. People have started shopping, decorating their houses and preparing gifts of red envelopes well in advance. You can see bright coloured new-year stuff on sale everywhere.

lucky symbols to stick on the doors

flowers and plants to decorate the house

sweets for kids

On Saturday, Jan. 21st, we’ll gather for a big Chinese family lunch and a ceremony of praying to ancestors. Then on the 22nd, on Sunday night, is the New Year’s Eve (called 除夕”Chuxi” by Chinese), so there will be a huge family dinner in every house. On that day, no matter how far, people will go back home, and the whole family will get together to celebrate the coming New Year. Chinese New Year of 2012, which is usually called Spring Festival, begins from the first day of the first Chinese lunar month (Monday, January 23), and lasts for 15 days till Monday, February 6, the Lantern festival (I’ll post some Lantern photos then). Starting from Monday most people will have a whole week off work. Most shops and restaurants will be closed.  People will stay home and eat, drink, play, rest and eat more! There is a great post on Chinese traditions for this time of the year here.

May this special Chinese Dragon year become a special year for you too!

Zoya

19th of Jan, 2012

Posted on December 29, 2011

2012 is around the corner! It’s time to make New Year’s resolutions! I see the start of a new year as a perfect time to bring welcomed changes into my life. If I don’t even decide what I want to achieve, how will it ever come to me? It’s important to have enough clarity to choose the right direction, and to have enough determination to continue moving on the chosen path.

You’ve tried making resolutions before? You didn’t stick to your resolutions? It didn’t work out? Don’t feel disappointed! Resolutions made on New Year’s Eve have notoriously low success rate, so you are not the only one to fail. Then what’s the point, you ask?

This year will be different! We’ll make the resolutions the yogic way!!! I’ll share with you the secrets that will make your resolutions stickyJ I’d like to share with you a yogic method that has been used for centuries, and shaped people into heroes, and lives into fairytalesJ Seriously, it works! I, my husband and my numerous friends and yoga students are all the proof that it does!

In yogic science, all the terms are given in Sanskrit, an ancient language of wisdom. A Sanskrit word for resolution is «sankalpa», it can be also translated as an affirmation or a positive mental statement. I would like to use the word «sankalpa» rather than «resolution» as there are some important differences between the two (which make sankalpa very successful and resolution – not so much).

How to choose and formulate my sankalpa?

1. The correct formulation of sankalpa is critical to the success of its practice. So it is worth taking some time over this process.  Make an appointment with yourself to sit alone in a quiet place. Reflect on the past and dream about the future. Think about what areas of your life you would like to improve, how you might want your personality to change as well as about your goals and the purpose of your life. Write it down. You could be aiming at very specific goals or formulating how you would like to feel in general. 
2.  Next, you want to choose what’s most important out of all the goals listed and formulate just one sentence that will get us to where we want to be. There should be only ONE sankalpa which should aim at ONE goal only. Yes, only ONE. Go for quality, not quantity. Any fisherman knows you can’t catch two fish on the same hook! The same way you don’t want to de-focus the power of your mind. However, this one sentence can be so powerful that it will bring all the changes in life that you need.
3. To create your own sankalpa, don’t just ask WHAT you want to achieve, ask WHY? For example, if you want to have more money, go beyond saying, “I want to have more money because I need more cash.” Connect to something deeper. What’s behind your desire for more money? Say, you answer is to feel more confident / secure/ at peace with yourself, then your sankalpa should include «feeling confident/ secure/ at peace with myself » rather than «getting more money».When you clarify the “why” behind what you want you’ll feel much more driven and connected to your goal. Also, working on self-confidence might not only manifest more money into your life but also improve your relationships. The same way, working on security or feeling at peace with yourself might not only bring more money but it might help you to get connected to the Earth, your family, your inner self, and the life flow itself. So the result might be greater than the original goal!
4. The sankalpa should be short.  The wording should not change, even if the meaning stays the same. If you are bilingual, you also need to fix the language of the resolve. Whichever phrase and language you choose, it should always be the same, until the sankalpa is fulfilled.
5. The sankalpa should be made in the first person by using “I” or “my”. Completely different from a prayer in this sense, your sankalpa must involve you only, and cannot help to change something in another person. However it definitely can be formulated to change your attitude towards the situation around that person.
6. The sankalpa must be joyous in its essence and therefore “not/don’t/won’t/can’t” and other negative words should not be used. For example, if you desire to recover from a medical condition it should not be structured as “I am not sick”; instead a positive statements such as “My physical body is healthy and strong” or “I enjoy perfect health” can be used. Only positive language should be used.
7. It should be stated in the present tense as if it has come to fruition already. For instance, not «I will enjoy perfect health » but “I enjoy perfect health”. However, if you have some serious illness, saying “I enjoy perfect health” might sound too fake to you to experience positive feeling when you pronounce it (which is essential! but more on it in my next post). In this case you might need to modify it into «I choose to enjoy perfect health». It takes off the resistance, yet it’s much more powerful than saying «I will enjoy perfect health» (the last version will normally never come to the now, it will always stay in the future for your mind).

Let me give you another example: the statement “I will not be smoking in 3 months” is not a good sankalpa to stop smoking (negative + future tense). A better statement could be “I am free of addiction” but it contains the negative word «addiction» and has a limited therapeutic aim. By looking deeper at the roots of the problem and widening the understanding of the inner causes, one might come to a stronger and more efficient sankalpas as”I am at peace with myself»,  ”I am secure in myself”, «I resolve to take care of my body and accept it as it is today», «I trust that my Higher Self fulfils all my needs»”, “I am open to share my truth and integrity with the world», «With playfulness and humor, I raise my vibration in the world», etc.

You are welcome to read some examples of sankalpas that I offer for each chakra (energy center) on my website. Click here, and then on any of the chakra article where you’ll find suggested sankalpas at the end. Just choose one sankalpa which feels most appealing to you.

During my yoga lessons I usually recommend starting with a simple sankalpa ”I am at peace with myself”. The need for inner peace is often the «WHY» behind many desires. People might want all sorts of different things in life – to loose wieght, to find a loving partner, to be healthy, wealthy, joyful, generous, etc. But deep inside it’s all for the sake of feeling at peace with themselves. Looking from the other perspective, by re-connecting to inner peace we can be more successful in achieving any goals and reshaping direction in life along positive lines, and that, in its turn, eventually leads to more inner peace,  balance, happiness and fulfilment. That’s why «I am at peace with myself» is my all times favourite:).

While you are having fun pondering over your possible sankalpas, I’ll write my next post on how and when to use sankalpa to make it efficient and get your dream come true! I would love to hear from you if you find any difficulties, or if you simply want to share a thought. Thank you for reading! Talk to you soon!

Zoya

 27th of Dec, 2011

Tomorrow (Dec 22nd) is the winter solstice! Here comes the longest night of the year! That's the time when we must be most introspective and allow plenty of rest to the body and mind. And what do we find in reality? Paradoxically, these days can be the most hectic and least peaceful time of the year...