Healing with Soups

Eating lots of soups may keep you well during cold and flu season!  And some can help to heal you if something does settle in.

I first learned about the healing power of soups when I arrived in Phoenix, Arizona in 1978. After days of traveling, limited nutrition, and very little sleep, I found myself with a severe case of flu.

A neighbor directed me to an unusual doctor. He was an M.D. from the Phillipines, who believed strongly in food as medicine. He introduced himself, and asked abruptly, “Do you have insurance?”  When I shook my head, he said sternly, “Then you can’t afford to be sick in Arizona!”  After examining me, and deducing that I did indeed have the flu, he wrote me an unusual prescription.

He said, “You can get these items at any grocery store. Go and get them right now!”

Here is the shopping list and recipe he gave me, as nearly as I can remember:

• A package of chicken backs
• A bulb of garlic
• An onion
• A piece of fresh ginger
• Some black pepper
• Some brown rice

Chop up the onion, garlic, and ginger.  Put them in a large pot with the chicken backs, and add the brown rice and pepper.  Fill the pot to the top with water and bring it to a boil.  Once it’s boiling, lower the heat to simmer until the chicken falls from the bones. Keep it on the stove simmering and keep eating until it’s all gone.  You should be feeling better soon.

I did exactly as he said, and was amazed that I  had mostly recovered  by the time the soup was gone.  I’ve used this recipe with similar results, numerous times since.

Check out these additional healing soup recipes and resources:

• The Healing Properties of Homemade Broths, Stocks, and Soups
• Immunity-boosting chicken soup
• 3 Healing Soups

Starting a brand new year, a time to renovate…

Like many people, I’m approaching the New Year with some thoughts of things I’d like to change. Some improvements I’d like to make.  Some personal innovations – or more aptly, “renovations.”

From that perspective, I’m asking,” How’s my personal foundation looking?”  Seems like my foundation could use a little shoring up.  Remembering the “Power of Now,”  perhaps mindful awareness of this moment can help me to focus and identify opportunities. I believe it was Jon Kabat-Zinn who said, “If you can be present in this moment, there is the potential for the next one to be exponentially better. “

That kind of awareness is one of the 5 behaviors common to successful innovators, according to the authors of The Innovators DNA a book based on detailed investigation of how innovation happens.

My framework for Personal Innovation borrows some tools from the authors of The Innovator’s DNA:

By asking more questions, and observing the way things are more intently, opportunities for change become clearer. I’m sure you have different resolutions for your new year, but maybe you’ll get some ideas from my path.  Here are some of my questions and observations:

What do I want to be doing with my time?  Continuously learning and sharing new knowledge and processes for living well.

How that going?  Not nearly as productive as I would like!  I’m often distracted and spending time on things that aren’t important.

Why is that? Taking a step back to get a better perspective,  and relating to my experience in the corporate world, a few familiar tools jumped out.

1. Clutter clearing.  Focusing on key objectives and the related activities is much easier if obstacles are identified and cleared away before pushing forward. For me this means both mental and physical clutter… Where are my comfort zones?

2. Time management. Not just allocating time and prioritizing, but recognizing how to optimize my best times.  I’ve started to observe how I feel – what time of day do I consistently write best?  What time of day am I learning better by reading.  How does eating more at lunch make me feel? What time of day does exercise feel energizing, instead of tiring?

3. Just do it!  There’s an old saying, “Luck hates the slow and loves the bold.”  Or as Dr. Wayne Dyer writes: "Excuses begone!"

This will be a good year to overcome my tendency to hesitate.  That’s not to say I don’t want to approach new directions with caution, but when adequate analysis, research, and soul searching are done, it’s time for me to stop “dawdling.” (Wonder where that word came from?)

Hope this gives you some ideas.  Happy New Year!