Walking, Winter & White Wine

Movement

Mindful Walking

Brian Robert Marshall / Trees and bluebells, West Woods, near Marlborough.

I recently watched The Connection, which is a documentary by Shannon Harvey about the healing power of meditation and mindfulness. In it experts from top universities and hospitals across the globe discuss the indisputable connection between the body and mind. The opposite of the flight or fight response is the relaxation response, which is key to stress reduction and healing, especially of chronic conditions.

Walking mindfully, cooking and eating mindfully all contribute to a deliberate, calm existence that supports the relaxation response. I recently joined the workout tracking app Strava (let me know if you’re on there too and I’ll follow you.) Now tracking my lunchtime walks may not seem relaxing, but since I am more likely to stick with something if I have external accountability, having a place to log my walks makes me more likely to take them. I do a slow 0.6mi loop around the block along the Ebbw River. It takes me about 30 minutes and I always feel better for having done it.

Art + Culture

Beijing 2022 Olympic logo

The winter Olympics never seem to get the same hype as the summer Games. As a child I really idolized figure skaters going to see the likes of Nancy Kerrigan and Bryan Boitano, throwing flowers onto the ice and marveling at the triple salchow and double axel. The logo of the Beijing 2022 Olympics reminds me of the speed and grace of the figure skaters.

The logo was designed by Beijing native Lin Cunzhen who is no stranger to Olympic graphic design. She also worked on the design of the 2008 games. She is a professor and the vice president of the School of Design, Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing.

Oil-Free Vegan Cooking

Mushroom Risotto

Arborio Rice by Schwäbin

This is a household favorite. The trick is to keep stirring and stirring to get the creaminess and keep the rice from clumping or sticking to the pan. 

Mushroom Risotto Ingredients 

• 1 onion finely diced 

• 1 stick celery finely diced 

• 2 cloves of garlic finely diced

• 220 g arborio rice

• 900 ml veggie stock 

• 30 g dried porcini mushrooms 

• 1 bay leaf

• 6 fresh button mushrooms (or whichever type you like) roughly chopped

• 1 c wine (optional) 

Method

Soak the dried porcini mushrooms in the boiling broth until softened. Sauté the onions, fresh mushrooms and celery together with water until translucent in a wide, deep sauté pan. Stir the rice in the pan and add the garlic. Add the wine and cook on low heat until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add the bayleaf then stock little by little to the pan and stir until most of the liquid evaporates. Keep stirring. When all the broth has soaked into the rice, add another dash of wine and salt and pepper to taste and stir some more. The rice is done when it has soft edges and is creamy.