#my biggest issues are sleep and interpersonal these are things that take practice

[xxleondraxx]

Jaal and Evfra

Warning. This post is a bit of a rant. If you don’t like that, please go look at pictures of your favorite animal doing cute animal things.

Ok. So there’s something that really bothers me and it’s been sitting in my head for weeks now.

Game fandoms can be incredible. There’s a lot of amazing art, literature, headcanons and theories that come out of the collective. However, fandoms, ESPECIALLY the Mass Effect fandom, have this REALLY bad habit of simplifiying down complicated characters to make them more ‘cute’.

Over the last month or so I’ve been seeing this a LOT with Jaal and Evfra (I can’t speak for other characters because Jaal and Evfra are my focus in that game).

I won’t deny that in game, Jaal has his cute moments. However, Jaal isn’t all cute all the time. He has moments of profound sadness and anger. This is a guy who has a goal in life of killing other living things to help keep his people safe.

Jaal is also riddled with self doubt. He doesn’t show it at first but the more you get to know him, the more he lets his guard down and shows you that he isn’t sure what he should be doing with his life and that he’s worried about not living up to the accomplishments of his family and those around him.

Jaal is also amazingly intelligent. Even as a child he liked to take things apart to try and figure out how they worked. As an adult he is now a tech expert; an acomplishment he basically had to reach on his own as the angara don’t have organized schooling anymore.

And let’s not forget that inside Jaal also lives a philosopher. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard him say deep, introspective things that really make you think.

And yet he is always reduced down to the cute moments. Very seldom do you see any of the rest of that in all the fandom whatnots. He’s always depicted as cute and, frequently, innocent. Jaal is FAR from innocent. He’s seen some shit. He’s DONE some shit. He’s a soldier in what is basically the closest thing the angara have to a military anymore. Talk to any soldier that has done a tour of duty during times of war and has had to kill someone. You don’t walk away from that clean and innocent.

Now let’s talk about Evfra. Depictions of Evfra as cute are probably my BIGGEST issue because Evfra is NOT cute. He doesn’t do cute things. He doesn’t say cute things.

Evfra is not only the leader of what is basically the angaran military, he’s the guy that made it what it is today. His own codex entry says that he’s shut himself off to others. That he tries to create either respect or fear in those around him.

FEAR. Evfra ACTIVELY makes people fear him. And it shows in some of the ambient dialog you can hear on Aya and other places with Resistance angara. Such as the two angara getting his shuttle cleaned up and ready for… whatever. One of them doesn’t so much as want to SAY Evfra’s name aloud because he’s always listening and he’ll catch the two of them talking about him behind his back. I mean, that’s practically Voldemort levels of fear.

And Evfra has completely closed himself off from all interpersonal relationships. He doen’t let people close. Paaran is one of the people that is likely closest to Evfra and even SHE says she doesn’t know how to get on his good side.

Evfra doesn’t let people in. He doesn’t make friends. Why? Well for one he’s the leader of the entire Resistance. His JOB is to knowingly send angara, his people whom he loves and wants to survive the kett, to quite certain death to fight the kett in hopes that more kett than angara die. He even says so when you ask about him.

“You want to know what being me? I wake up every morning to fight a war. I send people to kill, and die. If I’m lucky, there are more dead kett than Resistance when I go to sleep.”

A word for word quote from Evfra. That isn’t cute. That’s haunting. His words and his tone are both angry and haunted, but resolved. He knows he has to do this.

And let’s not ignore the 'if I’m lucky’ part. That’s telling in and of itself. It’s probably very common in a day for Evfra to learn that more of his people died than there was kett that died.

So why make friends with people you are knowingly sending to their death? Evfra already knows the pain that can cause. He lost his ENTIRE family to the kett. Not just a couple family members, but everyone. Evfra is the only Tershaav left, which is a hell of a thing when you consider how large angaran families are. Not to mention the game just says his 'family’. It doesn’t list out family members which leaves it up to speculation on who all he lost. Since it doesn’t say otherwise, it’s possible that Evfra could have lost a mate and children along with the rest.

He’s deliberately closed himself off from being friends. The best a person can hope for his his approval. Nothing more.

And the ammount of stress this guy must have is difficult to imagine. He’s basically holding his entire people on his shoulders. Without Evfra, the Resistance wouldn’t be an organized group. It would still be a bunch of angara running around trying to do something and getting nothing done. Hell, maybe the angara wouldn’t even exist anymore if it wasn’t for Evfra. And he can’t just quit. Can’t just walk away. Can’t stop what he’s doing. For better or for worse, he’s stuck in the role he’s in until the threat of the kett is elimiated and his people are safe.

Evfra is all hard, sharp edges. There’s no cute in there save for his physical features because all the angara have that kinda cute squid cat thing going on. And yet despite that, I increasingly see Evfra depicted as cute. Often time it’s as an uncle to Ryder and Jaals children, a friend to Jaal or more unusally, a participant in a poly relationship between he, Jaal and Ryder.

Evfra. Is not. Friends. With. Jaal. I mean, yes yes yes. It’s all headcanon. Everyone is entitled to their headcanon. It just BOTHERS me. Everyone has their buttons, and this is one of mine.

Jaal is a SOLDIER. Yes, he’s one of Evfra’s best, but they aren’t buddies.

And I think my biggest issue with the two of them being depicted as cute all the time is it’s happening BECAUSE angara look like adorable squid cats. I mean, that kind of shit happens all the time in real life; having the rest of your intelligence and personality pushed aside and deminished because you’re adorable/hansome/beautiful/etc. Making a false image of a person in your head based on what they look like and just blatantly ignoring the rest of them, even when you know the rest of them, in favor of the image in your head. It’s up there on a list of 'don’t do that’ along with things like infantalizing grown people.

And yes! I know! They’re fictional characters in a video game. But that doesn’t mean the core issue isn’t a real one. I mean, people were fucking up in arms to make Jaal bisexual due to the real life issue of bisexual erasure in media. And this particular issue, of ignoring a personality and just making them cute because they look cute, is also a real issue. Except this issue isn’t one that is IN the video game itself. This is one that is being perpetuated BY the fans.

And not everyone is guilty of it. I know that. There are some amazing creators out there that don’t just ignore the rest of the character’s important personality points because they want to make them more cute. And good on you people who do that.

It just bugs me when people constantly depict those two as cute. Especailly Evfra. he just… isn’t. He isn’t a cute little kitten with pinchable ears, he’s a freaking sea urchin. All sharp edges.

(Lets out a breath). Ok. I think I’m done with that rant. And that was… a lot longer than I thought it was gonna be.

#evfra #evfra de tershaav #jaal #jaal ama darav #mass effect #mass effect andromeda #rant #grinds my gears

[oovitus]

Weekend Reading, 1.21.18

I remember being introduced to the concept of anavasthitatva the first time I read the yoga sutras. I’ve seen this word translated as “regression,” “backsliding,” and—my favorite—”slipping down from the ground gained.”

I was struck by the concept because I wasn’t far into anorexia recovery at the time, and discouragement at my own regressions, even minor ones, was one of my biggest challenges. It’s hard to say what was a bigger problem: the fact that I still got tangled up in old habits, or the fact that I felt so defeated when it happened.

The Yoga Sutras sum this pattern up perfectly:

“Another obstacle is slipping down from the ground one has gained. This puzzles many people. Beginners, for example, will practice with intense interest. Every day they will feel more and more interested and feel they are progressing steadily. They may even be proud of their progress. All of a sudden one day they will find that they have lost everything and slipped down to rock bottom.

It happens to many people. If we know it is a common occurrence on the spiritual path, we won’t get disheartened. Otherwise, we will say ‘Oh, I lost everything. There is no hope for me,’ and we lose all our interest. Let us know that this is common in the case of every aspirant. The mind can’t function on the same level always—it has heights and depths. If there is going to be steady progress always, there will be no challenge, no game in it.”

If you tend toward perfectionism, it can take a lot less than rock bottom to evoke that feeling of puzzlement or being disheartened. And it rings very true to me that acceptance of regression is a fundamental part of moving forward.

I regressed in various ways this week, for all sorts of reasons: being sleep deprived, feeling overwhelmed with the start of my final semester, interpersonal triggers, the ebb and flow of my moods. I fell into patterns that have been pretty dormant since last year, including the listless inertia that always characterizes my depression, self-destructive impulses, self-pity, and overthinking.

The big challenge, of course, was to accept the inevitability and normalcy of slippage, and to avoid panic at old “stuff” resurfacing. I think I did alright. I was uncomfortable and unhappy to be reunited with tendencies and feelings that cause me pain, but I didn’t create a dire story about it. Instead, I let it be what it was, and I reminded myself that it would shift. (It hasn’t yet, but it will.)

On many occasions I’ve written or said that I don’t really regard regressions in ED recovery as “lost” ground; instead, I see treading through old terrain as an important part of moving forward. It’s often not until you revisit old habits with fresh eyes that you’re able to truly see them for what they are, and sometimes it takes an experience of relapse to become fully committed to recovery. That’s how it was for me, anyway.

Today, I’m issuing the same thought to myself in the context of overall mental and physical well-being. Feeling the tug of my “worst” tendencies doesn’t mean that I’m not moving forward. I find it helpful to think of growth not as a linear process—with only the possibility of forward or backward motion—but as a winding and expansive one. Embracing unruliness is part of my work these days, so a meandering map is probably the one I need to have, anyway.

Enjoy this week’s roundup of recipes, which I’m excited about (I unintentionally selected a lot of golden-hued food!), and the reads.

Recipes

How pretty is this Chiogga and golden beet salad with grapefruit? I love the harissa tahini drizzle and garnish of fresh herbs.

A bright and refreshing meal for these dark winter months: Brianna’s crispy tofu tacos with cilantro avocado pesto & chipotle mango salsa.

If you’re craving something a little more warming and seasonal, take a peek at Deryn’s awesome vegan chickpea quinoa stew, which is loaded with veggies, Indian spices, and coconut milk.

Ilene is the Queen of beautiful, colorful, and creative vegan sammies! I’ve been eyeing all of the offerings in her lovely new cookbook, but right now what I really want is a giant bite of her balsamic sweet potato grilled cheese. Yum.

Golden lattes are everywhere lately, but this is the first golden latte-inspired cupcake I’ve seen, and it’s a beauty. Leave it to the ever-whimsical and innovative Hannah to create these tasty vegan treats, which also happen to be gluten-free.

Reads

1. Vegan dietitian Taylor Wolfram has a really interesting article on the gut/brain axis in the latest issue of Food & Nutrition magazine.

2. These made me smile: six fairy tales for the modern woman.

3. New York Magazine‘s The Cut interviews a psychologist to gain more insight into how we can overcome our fear of trying new things (this is a good one for me to read).

4. I’ve seen a lot of sensitive and probing articles on the grieving process since the holidays, and this one from Jane Brody—the upshot of which seems to be that there’s no “right” way to experience mourning—is a valuable addition.

5. Emilie of Emilie Eats published this post last spring, but I missed it at the time. I’m so glad to have found it now. Emilie shares what she’s gained along with pounds as a part of her recovery from disordered eating. Her reflections are honest, heartfelt, brave, and celebratory.

On that uplifting note, I’m off to work on some school related projects in time for a new week to begin. Power Plates will be published on Tuesday (!), and I plan to share a recipe from the book that afternoon. I’ll be back later in the week with a new, sweet, and seasonal breakfast/snack idea.

Till then, be well.

xo

 The post Weekend Reading, 1.21.18 appeared first on The Full Helping.

Weekend Reading, 1.21.18 published first on https://storeseapharmacy.tumblr.com

[gardencityvegans]

Weekend Reading, 1.21.18

https://www.thefullhelping.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/weekend_reading.jpg

I remember being introduced to the concept of anavasthitatva the first time I read the yoga sutras. I’ve seen this word translated as “regression,” “backsliding,” and—my favorite—”slipping down from the ground gained.”

I was struck by the concept because I wasn’t far into anorexia recovery at the time, and discouragement at my own regressions, even minor ones, was one of my biggest challenges. It’s hard to say what was a bigger problem: the fact that I still got tangled up in old habits, or the fact that I felt so defeated when it happened.

The Yoga Sutras sum this pattern up perfectly:

“Another obstacle is slipping down from the ground one has gained. This puzzles many people. Beginners, for example, will practice with intense interest. Every day they will feel more and more interested and feel they are progressing steadily. They may even be proud of their progress. All of a sudden one day they will find that they have lost everything and slipped down to rock bottom.

It happens to many people. If we know it is a common occurrence on the spiritual path, we won’t get disheartened. Otherwise, we will say ‘Oh, I lost everything. There is no hope for me,’ and we lose all our interest. Let us know that this is common in the case of every aspirant. The mind can’t function on the same level always—it has heights and depths. If there is going to be steady progress always, there will be no challenge, no game in it.”

If you tend toward perfectionism, it can take a lot less than rock bottom to evoke that feeling of puzzlement or being disheartened. And it rings very true to me that acceptance of regression is a fundamental part of moving forward.

I regressed in various ways this week, for all sorts of reasons: being sleep deprived, feeling overwhelmed with the start of my final semester, interpersonal triggers, the ebb and flow of my moods. I fell into patterns that have been pretty dormant since last year, including the listless inertia that always characterizes my depression, self-destructive impulses, self-pity, and overthinking.

The big challenge, of course, was to accept the inevitability and normalcy of slippage, and to avoid panic at old “stuff” resurfacing. I think I did alright. I was uncomfortable and unhappy to be reunited with tendencies and feelings that cause me pain, but I didn’t create a dire story about it. Instead, I let it be what it was, and I reminded myself that it would shift. (It hasn’t yet, but it will.)

On many occasions I’ve written or said that I don’t really regard regressions in ED recovery as “lost” ground; instead, I see treading through old terrain as an important part of moving forward. It’s often not until you revisit old habits with fresh eyes that you’re able to truly see them for what they are, and sometimes it takes an experience of relapse to become fully committed to recovery. That’s how it was for me, anyway.

Today, I’m issuing the same thought to myself in the context of overall mental and physical well-being. Feeling the tug of my “worst” tendencies doesn’t mean that I’m not moving forward. I find it helpful to think of growth not as a linear process—with only the possibility of forward or backward motion—but as a winding and expansive one. Embracing unruliness is part of my work these days, so a meandering map is probably the one I need to have, anyway.

Enjoy this week’s roundup of recipes, which I’m excited about (I unintentionally selected a lot of golden-hued food!), and the reads.

Recipes

How pretty is this Chiogga and golden beet salad with grapefruit? I love the harissa tahini drizzle and garnish of fresh herbs.

A bright and refreshing meal for these dark winter months: Brianna’s crispy tofu tacos with cilantro avocado pesto & chipotle mango salsa.

If you’re craving something a little more warming and seasonal, take a peek at Deryn’s awesome vegan chickpea quinoa stew, which is loaded with veggies, Indian spices, and coconut milk.

Ilene is the Queen of beautiful, colorful, and creative vegan sammies! I’ve been eyeing all of the offerings in her lovely new cookbook, but right now what I really want is a giant bite of her balsamic sweet potato grilled cheese. Yum.

Golden lattes are everywhere lately, but this is the first golden latte-inspired cupcake I’ve seen, and it’s a beauty. Leave it to the ever-whimsical and innovative Hannah to create these tasty vegan treats, which also happen to be gluten-free.

Reads

1. Vegan dietitian Taylor Wolfram has a really interesting article on the gut/brain axis in the latest issue of Food & Nutrition magazine.

2. These made me smile: six fairy tales for the modern woman.

3. New York Magazine‘s The Cut interviews a psychologist to gain more insight into how we can overcome our fear of trying new things (this is a good one for me to read).

4. I’ve seen a lot of sensitive and probing articles on the grieving process since the holidays, and this one from Jane Brody—the upshot of which seems to be that there’s no “right” way to experience mourning—is a valuable addition.

5. Emilie of Emilie Eats published this post last spring, but I missed it at the time. I’m so glad to have found it now. Emilie shares what she’s gained along with pounds as a part of her recovery from disordered eating. Her reflections are honest, heartfelt, brave, and celebratory.

On that uplifting note, I’m off to work on some school related projects in time for a new week to begin. Power Plates will be published on Tuesday (!), and I plan to share a recipe from the book that afternoon. I’ll be back later in the week with a new, sweet, and seasonal breakfast/snack idea.

Till then, be well.

xo

  [Read More ...] https://www.thefullhelping.com/weekend-reading-1-21-18/

#infrared #health

[foundtheworl]

New Post has been published on Found The World

New Post has been published on https://foundtheworld.com/couchsurfing-best-worst-way-travel/

Couchsurfing: the Best and the Worst Way to Travel

Couchsurfing is a budget traveler’s best friend; it is sleeping on a strangers couch for a period of time while in a different country. It is defiantly a unique form of accommodation, and creates some of the best or worst memories abroad. Through the couchsurfing site, people can create profiles, which resemble Facebook. Here they list who they are, their interests, languages they speak, countries they’ve visited, people can also add friends and be a part of groups. Yet, the most used feature of this site is to search for people who are willing to host travelers in their home.

While this concept might seem a little strange, it can save hundreds on travel expenses. In Europe the average cost of a hotel is around $100 per night, taking a vacation for 2 weeks suddenly has a base cost of $1400. Being able to save all of that money allows for that $1400 to be used in a different way, eating at nicer restaurants, indulging in more expensive sight seeing, maybe even shopping. It sounds like the perfect way to travel; the only downside is you are staying with a complete stranger.

Humans are very interesting in general, now applying this to sharing accommodation with someone you have never met, makes couchsurfing comparable to playing roulette. It is one of the best ways to meet locals, practice a new language, and cuts more costs because usually guests can use the kitchen to cook instead of going out to eat. Each time that I have stayed a strangers house, I always had the opportunity to experience new activities that I would never have imagined myself doing.

When I was backpacking in Europe last year, after staying with my relatives in Germany I went to visit my friend in Madrid, however on a whim she decided to go to a concert in England, leaving me homeless, luckily for me through the couchsurfing site there was a group of people from Portugal renting out an apartment in Madrid and invited me to stay there with them for 3 days. During this time, they cooked for me; they brought me to restaurants and bars that no tourists have discovered.

Being in Europe during this time would have been a dream for anyone interested in the European soccer league. The rival teams of Real Madrid and Barcelona FC were fighting for the championship title. Without even realizing it, I was in Madrid while this game was going on, my couchsurfing hosts from Portugal told me they were taking me to a sports bar to see the game. Little did I realize how big of deal this game really was, practically the entire city was shut down to watch the sports match. Yet, the biggest surprise was seeing how Madrid reacted when Real Madrid won.

I have been to Dublin on St. Patrick’s day, and the party to celebrating the winning team was huge. So many of the streets were shut down, everyone was drinking, a massive concert was held in the city center. I have never seen so many ecstatic people running around a city so full of joy. If I didn’t stay with this group of guys, I would have never been able to experience such an extraordinary event. After leaving Europe I developed an interest in European soccer and now I am especially glad that I had the opportunity to go there and be a part of it.

Outside of asking for places to stay there are also many groups that connect communities of people around the world. I turned to one of these groups for help because I wanted to go back to the Dominican Republic for a little while but hoped to live in another part of the island and work at a hostel. Prior to reaching out this couchsurfing group, I had searched and found no leads, and was getting really discouraged that I wouldn’t be able to return because I didn’t have enough money to rent an apartment. I created a post and within a day I was connected with the manager for a hostel and was employed. Outside of that message so many people messaged me saying that they could help me and knew of places to stay. All around the world there are groups on couchsurfing for different events, and they are a great way to make connections.

After getting situated working for the hostel in the Caribbean, I was sitting around the living room with my coworkers, and we were all talking about our couchsurfing experience’s. This is where I learned that couchsurfing is the ‘tinder’ of the travel world. As something I would never assume, I learned that some people offer accommodation to who they are attracted too. Some of my coworkers had stayed with random people from the site for really long periods of times, sometimes they had dated their hosts, other times became friends, and really anything is possible because of the site. Most people have fantastic experiences, it takes like-minded people who are crazy enough to let strangers into their home and to stay at a random persons homes. Usually stories of couchsurfing are really positive, however some of them are unusual or disastrous events.

There are things that you can do to avoid really bad situations before you stay at someone’s house. First of all it is a good idea to check out their social media, make sure they seem normal, and talk to them for a while, and get a feel for their personality. Because couchsurfing is so interpersonal compared to hotels, finding accommodation is a lot more stressful due to the fact that plans can so easily change. The host last minute can say that they can no longer provide accommodation or their home could look a lot different in person than how it was described online. Many hosts and couchsurfers have reviews on the site, but meeting someone in person is a lot different than meeting online. Be captious, always be prepared for the worst, and have a back up plan of a hotel just incase something happens.

Saying all of this, strange things happen when people couchsurf, while nothing awful has ever happened to me, you can probably imagine some of the colourful and awful situations people have gotten into.

The worst that ever happened to me was in Spain, when I was searching for a place to stay because my friend last minute was traveling to England for a concert. There was a man that saw I was looking for a host, and he decided to offer me a place to stay, which was really nice. However, after talking to him I realized that he had a very unusual job, he was a cameraman. Yet he specialized in shooting for a porn company. Not only was this his career, but he told me that he worked from home. As you can imagine, I declined his offer to sleep at his apartment.

Other people I have talked to have told me stories about the strangest and weirdest people they have come across. One girl I’ve met came across a catfish of the traveling world. In Europe she was expecting to stay with a white women who turned out to be an Indian man. She said he was still a really nice person, yet it was concerning that he was using a fake account to get people to stay at his house. Usually the issues with couchsurfing are similar to typical roommate problems but amplified because both parties are strangers. Problems of cleanliness, social norms, and political and religious views are often areas of potential conflict. As I previously said, people use couchsurfing as a dating app, the only difference is that using the site to find love is like tinder on steroids. My coworker stayed at male hosts’ house for a week and he was really attracted to her but she didn’t have romantic feelings for him at all, which made for a very uncomfortable experience. Even if people don’t have social problems with each other, if you are really neat and your host is a hoarder, this can cause issues. One of the worst stories I’ve been told is of a female who stayed with at a man’s home, he lied about having an extra bed and his house smelled awful. For some reason the girl decided to stay at his place and sleep in the same bed as him, but was less than enthusiastic to wake up to find him watching her sleep.

Couchsurfing is a risk but the connections that can be made through the app can be incredible. It is possible to find a place to stay, save money, experience love, make new friends, and maybe even get a job just by messaging strangers and asking them to host you. Remember to be smart about who you offer your home to and who you decide to stay with, because humans are very interesting creatures.

[oovitus]

Weekend Reading, 1.21.18

I remember being introduced to the concept of anavasthitatva the first time I read the yoga sutras. I’ve seen this word translated as “regression,” “backsliding,” and—my favorite—”slipping down from the ground gained.”

I was struck by the concept because I wasn’t far into anorexia recovery at the time, and discouragement at my own regressions, even minor ones, was one of my biggest challenges. It’s hard to say what was a bigger problem: the fact that I still got tangled up in old habits, or the fact that I felt so defeated when it happened.

The Yoga Sutras sum this pattern up perfectly:

“Another obstacle is slipping down from the ground one has gained. This puzzles many people. Beginners, for example, will practice with intense interest. Every day they will feel more and more interested and feel they are progressing steadily. They may even be proud of their progress. All of a sudden one day they will find that they have lost everything and slipped down to rock bottom.

It happens to many people. If we know it is a common occurrence on the spiritual path, we won’t get disheartened. Otherwise, we will say ‘Oh, I lost everything. There is no hope for me,’ and we lose all our interest. Let us know that this is common in the case of every aspirant. The mind can’t function on the same level always—it has heights and depths. If there is going to be steady progress always, there will be no challenge, no game in it.”

If you tend toward perfectionism, it can take a lot less than rock bottom to evoke that feeling of puzzlement or being disheartened. And it rings very true to me that acceptance of regression is a fundamental part of moving forward.

I regressed in various ways this week, for all sorts of reasons: being sleep deprived, feeling overwhelmed with the start of my final semester, interpersonal triggers, the ebb and flow of my moods. I fell into patterns that have been pretty dormant since last year, including the listless inertia that always characterizes my depression, self-destructive impulses, self-pity, and overthinking.

The big challenge, of course, was to accept the inevitability and normalcy of slippage, and to avoid panic at old “stuff” resurfacing. I think I did alright. I was uncomfortable and unhappy to be reunited with tendencies and feelings that cause me pain, but I didn’t create a dire story about it. Instead, I let it be what it was, and I reminded myself that it would shift. (It hasn’t yet, but it will.)

On many occasions I’ve written or said that I don’t really regard regressions in ED recovery as “lost” ground; instead, I see treading through old terrain as an important part of moving forward. It’s often not until you revisit old habits with fresh eyes that you’re able to truly see them for what they are, and sometimes it takes an experience of relapse to become fully committed to recovery. That’s how it was for me, anyway.

Today, I’m issuing the same thought to myself in the context of overall mental and physical well-being. Feeling the tug of my “worst” tendencies doesn’t mean that I’m not moving forward. I find it helpful to think of growth not as a linear process—with only the possibility of forward or backward motion—but as a winding and expansive one. Embracing unruliness is part of my work these days, so a meandering map is probably the one I need to have, anyway.

Enjoy this week’s roundup of recipes, which I’m excited about (I unintentionally selected a lot of golden-hued food!), and the reads.

Recipes

How pretty is this Chiogga and golden beet salad with grapefruit? I love the harissa tahini drizzle and garnish of fresh herbs.

A bright and refreshing meal for these dark winter months: Brianna’s crispy tofu tacos with cilantro avocado pesto & chipotle mango salsa.

If you’re craving something a little more warming and seasonal, take a peek at Deryn’s awesome vegan chickpea quinoa stew, which is loaded with veggies, Indian spices, and coconut milk.

Ilene is the Queen of beautiful, colorful, and creative vegan sammies! I’ve been eyeing all of the offerings in her lovely new cookbook, but right now what I really want is a giant bite of her balsamic sweet potato grilled cheese. Yum.

Golden lattes are everywhere lately, but this is the first golden latte-inspired cupcake I’ve seen, and it’s a beauty. Leave it to the ever-whimsical and innovative Hannah to create these tasty vegan treats, which also happen to be gluten-free.

Reads

1. Vegan dietitian Taylor Wolfram has a really interesting article on the gut/brain axis in the latest issue of Food & Nutrition magazine.

2. These made me smile: six fairy tales for the modern woman.

3. New York Magazine‘s The Cut interviews a psychologist to gain more insight into how we can overcome our fear of trying new things (this is a good one for me to read).

4. I’ve seen a lot of sensitive and probing articles on the grieving process since the holidays, and this one from Jane Brody—the upshot of which seems to be that there’s no “right” way to experience mourning—is a valuable addition.

5. Emilie of Emilie Eats published this post last spring, but I missed it at the time. I’m so glad to have found it now. Emilie shares what she’s gained along with pounds as a part of her recovery from disordered eating. Her reflections are honest, heartfelt, brave, and celebratory.

On that uplifting note, I’m off to work on some school related projects in time for a new week to begin. Power Plates will be published on Tuesday (!), and I plan to share a recipe from the book that afternoon. I’ll be back later in the week with a new, sweet, and seasonal breakfast/snack idea.

Till then, be well.

xo

 The post Weekend Reading, 1.21.18 appeared first on The Full Helping.

Weekend Reading, 1.21.18 published first on

[oovitus]

Weekend Reading, 1.21.18

I remember being introduced to the concept of anavasthitatva the first time I read the yoga sutras. I’ve seen this word translated as “regression,” “backsliding,” and—my favorite—”slipping down from the ground gained.”

I was struck by the concept because I wasn’t far into anorexia recovery at the time, and discouragement at my own regressions, even minor ones, was one of my biggest challenges. It’s hard to say what was a bigger problem: the fact that I still got tangled up in old habits, or the fact that I felt so defeated when it happened.

The Yoga Sutras sum this pattern up perfectly:

“Another obstacle is slipping down from the ground one has gained. This puzzles many people. Beginners, for example, will practice with intense interest. Every day they will feel more and more interested and feel they are progressing steadily. They may even be proud of their progress. All of a sudden one day they will find that they have lost everything and slipped down to rock bottom.

It happens to many people. If we know it is a common occurrence on the spiritual path, we won’t get disheartened. Otherwise, we will say ‘Oh, I lost everything. There is no hope for me,’ and we lose all our interest. Let us know that this is common in the case of every aspirant. The mind can’t function on the same level always—it has heights and depths. If there is going to be steady progress always, there will be no challenge, no game in it.”

If you tend toward perfectionism, it can take a lot less than rock bottom to evoke that feeling of puzzlement or being disheartened. And it rings very true to me that acceptance of regression is a fundamental part of moving forward.

I regressed in various ways this week, for all sorts of reasons: being sleep deprived, feeling overwhelmed with the start of my final semester, interpersonal triggers, the ebb and flow of my moods. I fell into patterns that have been pretty dormant since last year, including the listless inertia that always characterizes my depression, self-destructive impulses, self-pity, and overthinking.

The big challenge, of course, was to accept the inevitability and normalcy of slippage, and to avoid panic at old “stuff” resurfacing. I think I did alright. I was uncomfortable and unhappy to be reunited with tendencies and feelings that cause me pain, but I didn’t create a dire story about it. Instead, I let it be what it was, and I reminded myself that it would shift. (It hasn’t yet, but it will.)

On many occasions I’ve written or said that I don’t really regard regressions in ED recovery as “lost” ground; instead, I see treading through old terrain as an important part of moving forward. It’s often not until you revisit old habits with fresh eyes that you’re able to truly see them for what they are, and sometimes it takes an experience of relapse to become fully committed to recovery. That’s how it was for me, anyway.

Today, I’m issuing the same thought to myself in the context of overall mental and physical well-being. Feeling the tug of my “worst” tendencies doesn’t mean that I’m not moving forward. I find it helpful to think of growth not as a linear process—with only the possibility of forward or backward motion—but as a winding and expansive one. Embracing unruliness is part of my work these days, so a meandering map is probably the one I need to have, anyway.

Enjoy this week’s roundup of recipes, which I’m excited about (I unintentionally selected a lot of golden-hued food!), and the reads.

Recipes

How pretty is this Chiogga and golden beet salad with grapefruit? I love the harissa tahini drizzle and garnish of fresh herbs.

A bright and refreshing meal for these dark winter months: Brianna’s crispy tofu tacos with cilantro avocado pesto & chipotle mango salsa.

If you’re craving something a little more warming and seasonal, take a peek at Deryn’s awesome vegan chickpea quinoa stew, which is loaded with veggies, Indian spices, and coconut milk.

Ilene is the Queen of beautiful, colorful, and creative vegan sammies! I’ve been eyeing all of the offerings in her lovely new cookbook, but right now what I really want is a giant bite of her balsamic sweet potato grilled cheese. Yum.

Golden lattes are everywhere lately, but this is the first golden latte-inspired cupcake I’ve seen, and it’s a beauty. Leave it to the ever-whimsical and innovative Hannah to create these tasty vegan treats, which also happen to be gluten-free.

Reads

1. Vegan dietitian Taylor Wolfram has a really interesting article on the gut/brain axis in the latest issue of Food & Nutrition magazine.

2. These made me smile: six fairy tales for the modern woman.

3. New York Magazine‘s The Cut interviews a psychologist to gain more insight into how we can overcome our fear of trying new things (this is a good one for me to read).

4. I’ve seen a lot of sensitive and probing articles on the grieving process since the holidays, and this one from Jane Brody—the upshot of which seems to be that there’s no “right” way to experience mourning—is a valuable addition.

5. Emilie of Emilie Eats published this post last spring, but I missed it at the time. I’m so glad to have found it now. Emilie shares what she’s gained along with pounds as a part of her recovery from disordered eating. Her reflections are honest, heartfelt, brave, and celebratory.

On that uplifting note, I’m off to work on some school related projects in time for a new week to begin. Power Plates will be published on Tuesday (!), and I plan to share a recipe from the book that afternoon. I’ll be back later in the week with a new, sweet, and seasonal breakfast/snack idea.

Till then, be well.

xo

 The post Weekend Reading, 1.21.18 appeared first on The Full Helping.

Weekend Reading, 1.21.18 published first on https://storeseapharmacy.tumblr.com

[oovitus]

Weekend Reading, 1.21.18

I remember being introduced to the concept of anavasthitatva the first time I read the yoga sutras. I’ve seen this word translated as “regression,” “backsliding,” and—my favorite—”slipping down from the ground gained.”

I was struck by the concept because I wasn’t far into anorexia recovery at the time, and discouragement at my own regressions, even minor ones, was one of my biggest challenges. It’s hard to say what was a bigger problem: the fact that I still got tangled up in old habits, or the fact that I felt so defeated when it happened.

The Yoga Sutras sum this pattern up perfectly:

“Another obstacle is slipping down from the ground one has gained. This puzzles many people. Beginners, for example, will practice with intense interest. Every day they will feel more and more interested and feel they are progressing steadily. They may even be proud of their progress. All of a sudden one day they will find that they have lost everything and slipped down to rock bottom.

It happens to many people. If we know it is a common occurrence on the spiritual path, we won’t get disheartened. Otherwise, we will say ‘Oh, I lost everything. There is no hope for me,’ and we lose all our interest. Let us know that this is common in the case of every aspirant. The mind can’t function on the same level always—it has heights and depths. If there is going to be steady progress always, there will be no challenge, no game in it.”

If you tend toward perfectionism, it can take a lot less than rock bottom to evoke that feeling of puzzlement or being disheartened. And it rings very true to me that acceptance of regression is a fundamental part of moving forward.

I regressed in various ways this week, for all sorts of reasons: being sleep deprived, feeling overwhelmed with the start of my final semester, interpersonal triggers, the ebb and flow of my moods. I fell into patterns that have been pretty dormant since last year, including the listless inertia that always characterizes my depression, self-destructive impulses, self-pity, and overthinking.

The big challenge, of course, was to accept the inevitability and normalcy of slippage, and to avoid panic at old “stuff” resurfacing. I think I did alright. I was uncomfortable and unhappy to be reunited with tendencies and feelings that cause me pain, but I didn’t create a dire story about it. Instead, I let it be what it was, and I reminded myself that it would shift. (It hasn’t yet, but it will.)

On many occasions I’ve written or said that I don’t really regard regressions in ED recovery as “lost” ground; instead, I see treading through old terrain as an important part of moving forward. It’s often not until you revisit old habits with fresh eyes that you’re able to truly see them for what they are, and sometimes it takes an experience of relapse to become fully committed to recovery. That’s how it was for me, anyway.

Today, I’m issuing the same thought to myself in the context of overall mental and physical well-being. Feeling the tug of my “worst” tendencies doesn’t mean that I’m not moving forward. I find it helpful to think of growth not as a linear process—with only the possibility of forward or backward motion—but as a winding and expansive one. Embracing unruliness is part of my work these days, so a meandering map is probably the one I need to have, anyway.

Enjoy this week’s roundup of recipes, which I’m excited about (I unintentionally selected a lot of golden-hued food!), and the reads.

Recipes

How pretty is this Chiogga and golden beet salad with grapefruit? I love the harissa tahini drizzle and garnish of fresh herbs.

A bright and refreshing meal for these dark winter months: Brianna’s crispy tofu tacos with cilantro avocado pesto & chipotle mango salsa.

If you’re craving something a little more warming and seasonal, take a peek at Deryn’s awesome vegan chickpea quinoa stew, which is loaded with veggies, Indian spices, and coconut milk.

Ilene is the Queen of beautiful, colorful, and creative vegan sammies! I’ve been eyeing all of the offerings in her lovely new cookbook, but right now what I really want is a giant bite of her balsamic sweet potato grilled cheese. Yum.

Golden lattes are everywhere lately, but this is the first golden latte-inspired cupcake I’ve seen, and it’s a beauty. Leave it to the ever-whimsical and innovative Hannah to create these tasty vegan treats, which also happen to be gluten-free.

Reads

1. Vegan dietitian Taylor Wolfram has a really interesting article on the gut/brain axis in the latest issue of Food & Nutrition magazine.

2. These made me smile: six fairy tales for the modern woman.

3. New York Magazine‘s The Cut interviews a psychologist to gain more insight into how we can overcome our fear of trying new things (this is a good one for me to read).

4. I’ve seen a lot of sensitive and probing articles on the grieving process since the holidays, and this one from Jane Brody—the upshot of which seems to be that there’s no “right” way to experience mourning—is a valuable addition.

5. Emilie of Emilie Eats published this post last spring, but I missed it at the time. I’m so glad to have found it now. Emilie shares what she’s gained along with pounds as a part of her recovery from disordered eating. Her reflections are honest, heartfelt, brave, and celebratory.

On that uplifting note, I’m off to work on some school related projects in time for a new week to begin. Power Plates will be published on Tuesday (!), and I plan to share a recipe from the book that afternoon. I’ll be back later in the week with a new, sweet, and seasonal breakfast/snack idea.

Till then, be well.

xo

 The post Weekend Reading, 1.21.18 appeared first on The Full Helping.

Weekend Reading, 1.21.18 published first on https://storeseapharmacy.tumblr.com

[oovitus]

Weekend Reading, 1.21.18

I remember being introduced to the concept of anavasthitatva the first time I read the yoga sutras. I’ve seen this word translated as “regression,” “backsliding,” and—my favorite—”slipping down from the ground gained.”

I was struck by the concept because I wasn’t far into anorexia recovery at the time, and discouragement at my own regressions, even minor ones, was one of my biggest challenges. It’s hard to say what was a bigger problem: the fact that I still got tangled up in old habits, or the fact that I felt so defeated when it happened.

The Yoga Sutras sum this pattern up perfectly:

“Another obstacle is slipping down from the ground one has gained. This puzzles many people. Beginners, for example, will practice with intense interest. Every day they will feel more and more interested and feel they are progressing steadily. They may even be proud of their progress. All of a sudden one day they will find that they have lost everything and slipped down to rock bottom.

It happens to many people. If we know it is a common occurrence on the spiritual path, we won’t get disheartened. Otherwise, we will say ‘Oh, I lost everything. There is no hope for me,’ and we lose all our interest. Let us know that this is common in the case of every aspirant. The mind can’t function on the same level always—it has heights and depths. If there is going to be steady progress always, there will be no challenge, no game in it.”

If you tend toward perfectionism, it can take a lot less than rock bottom to evoke that feeling of puzzlement or being disheartened. And it rings very true to me that acceptance of regression is a fundamental part of moving forward.

I regressed in various ways this week, for all sorts of reasons: being sleep deprived, feeling overwhelmed with the start of my final semester, interpersonal triggers, the ebb and flow of my moods. I fell into patterns that have been pretty dormant since last year, including the listless inertia that always characterizes my depression, self-destructive impulses, self-pity, and overthinking.

The big challenge, of course, was to accept the inevitability and normalcy of slippage, and to avoid panic at old “stuff” resurfacing. I think I did alright. I was uncomfortable and unhappy to be reunited with tendencies and feelings that cause me pain, but I didn’t create a dire story about it. Instead, I let it be what it was, and I reminded myself that it would shift. (It hasn’t yet, but it will.)

On many occasions I’ve written or said that I don’t really regard regressions in ED recovery as “lost” ground; instead, I see treading through old terrain as an important part of moving forward. It’s often not until you revisit old habits with fresh eyes that you’re able to truly see them for what they are, and sometimes it takes an experience of relapse to become fully committed to recovery. That’s how it was for me, anyway.

Today, I’m issuing the same thought to myself in the context of overall mental and physical well-being. Feeling the tug of my “worst” tendencies doesn’t mean that I’m not moving forward. I find it helpful to think of growth not as a linear process—with only the possibility of forward or backward motion—but as a winding and expansive one. Embracing unruliness is part of my work these days, so a meandering map is probably the one I need to have, anyway.

Enjoy this week’s roundup of recipes, which I’m excited about (I unintentionally selected a lot of golden-hued food!), and the reads.

Recipes

How pretty is this Chiogga and golden beet salad with grapefruit? I love the harissa tahini drizzle and garnish of fresh herbs.

A bright and refreshing meal for these dark winter months: Brianna’s crispy tofu tacos with cilantro avocado pesto & chipotle mango salsa.

If you’re craving something a little more warming and seasonal, take a peek at Deryn’s awesome vegan chickpea quinoa stew, which is loaded with veggies, Indian spices, and coconut milk.

Ilene is the Queen of beautiful, colorful, and creative vegan sammies! I’ve been eyeing all of the offerings in her lovely new cookbook, but right now what I really want is a giant bite of her balsamic sweet potato grilled cheese. Yum.

Golden lattes are everywhere lately, but this is the first golden latte-inspired cupcake I’ve seen, and it’s a beauty. Leave it to the ever-whimsical and innovative Hannah to create these tasty vegan treats, which also happen to be gluten-free.

Reads

1. Vegan dietitian Taylor Wolfram has a really interesting article on the gut/brain axis in the latest issue of Food & Nutrition magazine.

2. These made me smile: six fairy tales for the modern woman.

3. New York Magazine‘s The Cut interviews a psychologist to gain more insight into how we can overcome our fear of trying new things (this is a good one for me to read).

4. I’ve seen a lot of sensitive and probing articles on the grieving process since the holidays, and this one from Jane Brody—the upshot of which seems to be that there’s no “right” way to experience mourning—is a valuable addition.

5. Emilie of Emilie Eats published this post last spring, but I missed it at the time. I’m so glad to have found it now. Emilie shares what she’s gained along with pounds as a part of her recovery from disordered eating. Her reflections are honest, heartfelt, brave, and celebratory.

On that uplifting note, I’m off to work on some school related projects in time for a new week to begin. Power Plates will be published on Tuesday (!), and I plan to share a recipe from the book that afternoon. I’ll be back later in the week with a new, sweet, and seasonal breakfast/snack idea.

Till then, be well.

xo

 The post Weekend Reading, 1.21.18 appeared first on The Full Helping.

Weekend Reading, 1.21.18 published first on https://storeseapharmacy.tumblr.com

[foundtheworl]

New Post has been published on Found The World

New Post has been published on http://foundtheworld.com/couchsurfing-best-worst-way-travel/

Couchsurfing: the Best and the Worst Way to Travel

Couchsurfing is a budget traveler’s best friend; it is sleeping on a strangers couch for a period of time while in a different country. It is defiantly a unique form of accommodation, and creates some of the best or worst memories abroad. Through the couchsurfing site, people can create profiles, which resemble Facebook. Here they list who they are, their interests, languages they speak, countries they’ve visited, people can also add friends and be a part of groups. Yet, the most used feature of this site is to search for people who are willing to host travelers in their home.

While this concept might seem a little strange, it can save hundreds on travel expenses. In Europe the average cost of a hotel is around $100 per night, taking a vacation for 2 weeks suddenly has a base cost of $1400. Being able to save all of that money allows for that $1400 to be used in a different way, eating at nicer restaurants, indulging in more expensive sight seeing, maybe even shopping. It sounds like the perfect way to travel; the only downside is you are staying with a complete stranger.

Humans are very interesting in general, now applying this to sharing accommodation with someone you have never met, makes couchsurfing comparable to playing roulette. It is one of the best ways to meet locals, practice a new language, and cuts more costs because usually guests can use the kitchen to cook instead of going out to eat. Each time that I have stayed a strangers house, I always had the opportunity to experience new activities that I would never have imagined myself doing.

When I was backpacking in Europe last year, after staying with my relatives in Germany I went to visit my friend in Madrid, however on a whim she decided to go to a concert in England, leaving me homeless, luckily for me through the couchsurfing site there was a group of people from Portugal renting out an apartment in Madrid and invited me to stay there with them for 3 days. During this time, they cooked for me; they brought me to restaurants and bars that no tourists have discovered.

Being in Europe during this time would have been a dream for anyone interested in the European soccer league. The rival teams of Real Madrid and Barcelona FC were fighting for the championship title. Without even realizing it, I was in Madrid while this game was going on, my couchsurfing hosts from Portugal told me they were taking me to a sports bar to see the game. Little did I realize how big of deal this game really was, practically the entire city was shut down to watch the sports match. Yet, the biggest surprise was seeing how Madrid reacted when Real Madrid won.

I have been to Dublin on St. Patrick’s day, and the party to celebrating the winning team was huge. So many of the streets were shut down, everyone was drinking, a massive concert was held in the city center. I have never seen so many ecstatic people running around a city so full of joy. If I didn’t stay with this group of guys, I would have never been able to experience such an extraordinary event. After leaving Europe I developed an interest in European soccer and now I am especially glad that I had the opportunity to go there and be a part of it.

Outside of asking for places to stay there are also many groups that connect communities of people around the world. I turned to one of these groups for help because I wanted to go back to the Dominican Republic for a little while but hoped to live in another part of the island and work at a hostel. Prior to reaching out this couchsurfing group, I had searched and found no leads, and was getting really discouraged that I wouldn’t be able to return because I didn’t have enough money to rent an apartment. I created a post and within a day I was connected with the manager for a hostel and was employed. Outside of that message so many people messaged me saying that they could help me and knew of places to stay. All around the world there are groups on couchsurfing for different events, and they are a great way to make connections.

After getting situated working for the hostel in the Caribbean, I was sitting around the living room with my coworkers, and we were all talking about our couchsurfing experience’s. This is where I learned that couchsurfing is the ‘tinder’ of the travel world. As something I would never assume, I learned that some people offer accommodation to who they are attracted too. Some of my coworkers had stayed with random people from the site for really long periods of times, sometimes they had dated their hosts, other times became friends, and really anything is possible because of the site. Most people have fantastic experiences, it takes like-minded people who are crazy enough to let strangers into their home and to stay at a random persons homes. Usually stories of couchsurfing are really positive, however some of them are unusual or disastrous events.

There are things that you can do to avoid really bad situations before you stay at someone’s house. First of all it is a good idea to check out their social media, make sure they seem normal, and talk to them for a while, and get a feel for their personality. Because couchsurfing is so interpersonal compared to hotels, finding accommodation is a lot more stressful due to the fact that plans can so easily change. The host last minute can say that they can no longer provide accommodation or their home could look a lot different in person than how it was described online. Many hosts and couchsurfers have reviews on the site, but meeting someone in person is a lot different than meeting online. Be captious, always be prepared for the worst, and have a back up plan of a hotel just incase something happens.

Saying all of this, strange things happen when people couchsurf, while nothing awful has ever happened to me, you can probably imagine some of the colourful and awful situations people have gotten into.

The worst that ever happened to me was in Spain, when I was searching for a place to stay because my friend last minute was traveling to England for a concert. There was a man that saw I was looking for a host, and he decided to offer me a place to stay, which was really nice. However, after talking to him I realized that he had a very unusual job, he was a cameraman. Yet he specialized in shooting for a porn company. Not only was this his career, but he told me that he worked from home. As you can imagine, I declined his offer to sleep at his apartment.

Other people I have talked to have told me stories about the strangest and weirdest people they have come across. One girl I’ve met came across a catfish of the traveling world. In Europe she was expecting to stay with a white women who turned out to be an Indian man. She said he was still a really nice person, yet it was concerning that he was using a fake account to get people to stay at his house. Usually the issues with couchsurfing are similar to typical roommate problems but amplified because both parties are strangers. Problems of cleanliness, social norms, and political and religious views are often areas of potential conflict. As I previously said, people use couchsurfing as a dating app, the only difference is that using the site to find love is like tinder on steroids. My coworker stayed at male hosts’ house for a week and he was really attracted to her but she didn’t have romantic feelings for him at all, which made for a very uncomfortable experience. Even if people don’t have social problems with each other, if you are really neat and your host is a hoarder, this can cause issues. One of the worst stories I’ve been told is of a female who stayed with at a man’s home, he lied about having an extra bed and his house smelled awful. For some reason the girl decided to stay at his place and sleep in the same bed as him, but was less than enthusiastic to wake up to find him watching her sleep.

Couchsurfing is a risk but the connections that can be made through the app can be incredible. It is possible to find a place to stay, save money, experience love, make new friends, and maybe even get a job just by messaging strangers and asking them to host you. Remember to be smart about who you offer your home to and who you decide to stay with, because humans are very interesting creatures.