About

kusadama slight blur

A Kusadama (kusa = medicine, dama= ball), originally hung to clear noxious vapors (from Japan)
 

Hello,

Welcome to vim and fancy.  My name is Neelam Misra.  Vim and fancy is a health and wellness resource  to create a  more sustainable and healthy lifestyle.  It is a space that I hope is warm, welcoming, and supportive. Many posts explore emerging and ancient traditions in well-being and health. Much of the content will be replete with recipes, remedies, and insights from the traditions of Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine. Personally, I find It especially satisfying to see age-old remedies supported by scientific research. Often the scientific details underscore an intuitive understanding long  held for centuries.

 

Although illness and disease can play a part in our lives they need not be a passively accepted outcome, but rather as a signal to perhaps shift our approach.  We can make choices that support our optimal health.  There are multiple diverse factors contributing to health and wellness: diet, physical activity, the impact and management of stress, emotional reserve/resilience,  adequate rest and relaxation-to name but a few.  One that I feel is especially paramount to good health is diet.

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 The Garden’s Bounty

Simply put, food is medicine.  When utilized as such, there is little need for actual pharmaceutical medicines.  Consider that everything consumed will ultimately be utilized by the body to make new cells, fire nerve impulses, create thoughts and actions. The act of eating becomes a sacred rite in maintaining our health.  If the most basic building  blocks (food) are deplete, processed, industrialized, imagine the thoughts, actions, and cells arising from these degenerate “ingredients”.  On the other hand, if recipes are thought of as  “farm”aceuticals, each ingredient alive and able to provide its unique, venerable  health benefits, one can prepare meals that support our healthiest potential.  The formidable health properties of plants and herbs are humbling at the very least.

 

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Photo Credit: Vineet Choudhary  

Digestion is hardly limited to the stomach and gastrointestinal tract. Visual impressions, sounds, scents, and tactile sensations are  taken in and “digested” by the mind and the five senses perpetually.  Awareness and modification of one’s “sensory diet” and  can further support health and wellness.  Other considerations include the process of  digestion (metabolism),  the end-products of digestion, adequate exertion and rest,  relaxation,   stress management, emotional reserve, attitudes and temperaments, ancestral traits, inherent characteristics and qualities, and  of course, a celebration of the whimsical- that which intends to solely delight and amuse.  Although this list is hardly exhaustive, it is apparent that the nature of health and wellness is complex, nuanced, and interdependent.

 

Please note, the information presented on this website is not a substitute for  medical care or advice rendered by your healthcare provider.  It is not intended to diagnose or treat. The material provided here is intended to educate and inform.  If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me. I will do my best to respond. If you seek something more detailed for your specific situation,  hang on tight, private consultations are coming soon. Welcome!

References:

Yamaguchi, Makoto.  (1990) Kusudama Ball Origami. Tokyo, Japan: Shofunotomo/Japan Publications.

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