Slow Sunday, reflections, rhythms & a recipe

Beetroot infused salmon with creamy mash & winter squash

This slow Sunday morning the day is slate grey. Wet roofs; one of those still quiet mornings on a suburban street in a city that hasn’t woken up yet.

Nothing moving except single raindrops on a telegraph wire, sliding along like trains coming into a station, then at a chink they stop; and plop. Onto a red brick wall one at a time.

The firework tree out front is standing tall, wet trunk looks like velvet, drops of rain on branches; beautiful.

Warm mug in hand. Daffodils in a little vase. Time stands still; to the dawn chorus and a day full of unexpected perfect possibilities. With this moment; laid down.

The human world, motionless on this part of the planet, out of sight; taking a break while birds and worms and soil creatures, air, earth and other elemental things, wend their way to their own rhythm. And I am glad that I am part of that.

A day for curling up and reading books. Or, for going to the woods and getting damp, sploging through muddy pathways, collecting the first harvest of wild garlic, and looking forward to the things I will make with it. The air refreshing as every little thing glistens from the rain, and tiny birds come back out to sing when the rain stops.

I’m looking forward to the time when the sun returns. When the world and I remember. Remember there is gold in this world.

But today, the light is shades of silver, charcoal, greys and white across roofs that shine with the wet.

I think. I will go. To the wood.

Joy dots

Raindrops

Wet tree trunk

Stillness

Seagull

Wood pigeons

A tiny robin singing his heart out

Blackbird replying

Silver skies

Warm mug

Possibility

Curiosity

Circadian rhythms

The scientific research in the West into circadian rhythms is relatively new. It’s looking at molecular clocks within the body, a main one in the brain and smaller ones in each cell, that allow our biology to adapt to the earths revolutions—apparent movement of the sun throughout the day and year.

Every tissue and organ of your body is governed by these rhythms.

The science is quite complex and research is ongoing, with each organ responding to different things. For instance, the brain syncs with the sun, while the liver is affected by cues such as meals. Other things that have been shown to synchronise the bodies biological clocks include social interactions, daily routines, meal timing, and physical exercise.

The experience of jet lag is caused by the body moving out of sync with the external environment, due to crossing time zones. The body is so regenerative that after a few days and given the right conditions, everything is back in sync. However, if we constantly live out of sync through our lifestyle choices, this can undermine the body’s ability to stay well.

Research shows that disruption occurring in circadian rhythms can affect biological and mental processes. It’s suggesting that the daily schedule of when we do things like eat and exercise, go to bed, and when we’re exposed to light; play a vital role on day-to-day bodily functioning, and ultimately it may be connected to whether we develop longer-term health conditions such as diabetes or cancer—the Western culture pushes us to live out of sync.

Ayurveda

Ayurveda understood that our whole biology operates to rhythms that are effected by the 24 hour solar cycle, and how this changes across the year due to the Earth's rotation; over 5000 years ago. It is this understanding that underpins Ayurveda’s daily, seasonal and yearly guidelines.

If you follow the Ayurvedic daily, seasonal and yearly guidance, you are living in balance with your circadian rhythms. Soon I will be sharing about all this for my paying subscribers, through a little book I will be writing called “21-Day Ayurvedic Challenge”, which I will serialise the first draft of for you. I’ve been piloting the challenge with a lovely group of 6 people.

Next week I will share how to carry out the Ayurvedic spring cleanse in my Slow Sunday letter, and why you may want to do this. Then, in April I will set up a What’s App group for my paying subscribers who would like to carry out the Ayurvedic spring cleanse with my support.

My aim is to build up enough paying subscribers so that I can offer to work on a donation basis one day a week, perhaps you would like to be part of this adventure into a better way of living with each other! In return I will be writing another two books after the “21-day-day Ayurvedic Challenge”—My cookbook with everything you need to know to take care of your digestion, nourish your tissues and strengthen your immunity, according to Ayurveda. And, one about stress and digestion. I’ll also be making recordings of Fall Asleep stories and other relaxing things for tired brains.

I spoke about this last year, but, to be really honest, I was at the tail end of caring for my mum who had dementia and passed on at the end of 2022 and, I was starting a new job too—I just didn’t have the inner resources to move forward with all my substack plans. In April I will be cutting back to 3 days a week, and this will free up some time to produce all the ideas I have for my paying subscribers—my Slow Sunday letters will always be free, and it is £4.99 each month to support my work and plans if you would like to.

Recipe

Beetroot & ginger infused salmon with creamy mash and squash

This was a simple lunch and the colour of the salmon was rich and deep. I blitzed a beetroot with freshly grated ginger and a tiny bit of water then coated the salmon with this and put in the fridge for a few hours. I think next time I will put in over night because I didn’t get much of a ginger taste. And I think I will add cracked black pepper. I cooked this in the oven wrapped in baking paper with butter. I made a creamy mash potato with mascarpone. I steamed some winter squash, dressing with lime, butter and good salt. It all tasted really nice and felt very nourishing.

As I write this, the sun is coming out through rain clouds. I went to that falling down tree wood I have talked about in past letters, and collected wild garlic, a couple of days ago. So good. Smelt the earth and the wild garlic was already a carpet. On the way home I sniffed the insides of my garlic collecting bag, all the way. Thinking about the wild garlic pesto, potato cakes, soup and puree I would make with it. And other things I’ve yet to think of.

I wonder how your week has been, perhaps you’ll pop something in the comments! Either way, I hope it has been a good one.

Warmest wishes,

Lucy x