My hope is our mild winter will equal a mild summer come our way, but it sure is getting warm early here in Houston! I made myself a refreshing treat of watermelon water last weekend. After rushing about and being outdoors I felt run down, dried out and decided to nourish my yin. There is yin and yang in everything, or a duality constantly striving for balance found in ourselves and reflected in nature. In the body yang represents heat, being active and all around extroverted. The yin is represented by being cool, relaxed and reflecting inward about the world. Women especially have to take care of our yin since we are naturally more yin than men.
You can usually tell if your yin is deficient or imbalanced if you are fairly warm and sweaty at night (when yin is dominant), if you are restless but are also tired and unmotivated and if you find yourself more agitated or irritable than usual. Yes this can have a lot to do with hormone balance and why women can be easily affected. Being stressed over a long period of time can easily create a yin/yang imbalance in the body so it is best to utilize preventative measures of meditation, deep breathing exercises and food therapy on a daily basis. With yin being cool in nature, cooling foods can be nourishing, but take care not to go to the extreme. Ice cream and iced drinks are the extreme here unfortunately.
Your best options are in the form of refreshing fruits and vegetables since there is an excellent selection this time of year. So bring on the salads and fresh fruit! Definitely keep in mind cucumber, celery, beets, lettuce varieties, blackberries, raspberries, bananas, grapes, watermelon. Other yin tonics include seaweed, micro-algae (Ex: spirulina and chlorella) tofu, black beans, kidney beans, mung beans, millet, barley, quinoa, wheat germ, wheat, amaranth and rice.
Here is my favorite fruit water recipe. It's super easy, delicious and will have you sipping on watermelon water in less than ten minutes. Stay cool and enjoy!
Watermelon Water
serves four
1 personal watermelon (seedless optional)
1 cup of purified water
1. Cut your small watermelon into decent wedges with a large knife. If you can resist the temptation to bite into your watermelon right then and there, you are doing great! :)
2. Slice the flesh into criss-cross chunks close to the rinds of the wedge and then take a paring knife and underscore fruit at the rind so you can pile your chunks of fruit into the blender.
3. Add 1 cup of purified water, unless you prefer a thicker juice. Then I would add a half cup of water and keep adding until it's just right. Yup, just like Goldilocks.
4. Blend slowly working up to the highest speed. Serve and enjoy right away or store in your fridge for a refreshing snack later that day.
