Eat to heal

It's just over a month since my surgery and I am still wending my way as judiciously as I can through the healing process. (BTW, for those of you who are wondering, I am cancer-free, PTL!)

It can be frustrating for I am still unable to do normal stuff, nor should I try for fear of doing injury to my body. Recovery is slow and moving at granny speed is tedious but essential.  

Despite all that, I've enjoyed this time of convalescing for Mum has kept me company and I've even managed to teach her how to do a basic stir-fry.

Yes, we have been cooking big time - two meals almost every day. It's a little tiring but eating nourishing, home-cooked food has been vital for the restoration of my health.

It started with my Aunty S., Dad's sister, who came to my home the minute I got home from the hospital and cooked me lunch and dinner for the first week and subsequently popped by from time to time. I am ever-grateful for her love and care when I needed it most. 

She has inspired my taste buds and fired my interest in cooking with more thought put into preparing dishes that are not only delicious but will provide the needed nutrients in a way that goes beyond eating fruit for the fibre and vitamins needed by the body.  
 
Poring over recipes, consulting with Aunty S. and my brother J., I am awed at the level of sophistication the Chinese have in approaching something as fundamental as food.

How each ingredient is carefully selected and painstakingly prepared so that the final dish will be a lip-smacking marriage of flavours, textures and nutrients, designed to bring the body back into balance.

I am still a little lost at the many and complex combination of herbs in the brewing of restorative soups and tonics, but the concept of harmony to ensure health - balancing the yin (cooling*/feminine) and yang (heaty*/masculine) - is fascinating.

It's been great fun re-discovering my Cantonese roots and, of course, I now wish I had paid more attention to what my grandmother cooked, taking notes. Never mind, I still have Aunty S.

For the last seven years, I have been seeking balance and harmony through formation, growth and integration.

Although I've sorted out many answers to the meaning of life and my life, in particular, I am still deciphering my vocation, realizing all the while that it will be a journey of constant change and refinement.

This month of resting, cooking, eating and healing has brought into focus the importance of harmony within the body and it has answered partially the question What next? that I have been asking myself.

The body: restoring it to health when needed, maintaining health and preventing illness. I simply need to explore which What next? now.

Even as I continue to cook, eat and heal first.



* To understand what is meant by heaty or cooling foods, go to: http://ezinearticles.com/?Heaty-and-Cooling-Foods&id=461430