A (0:11)

Hi, I'm Jessica Porter and welcome back to Sleep Magic, a podcast where I help you find the magic of your own mind so you can sleep better and live better. Thank you everyone for being here and it's so nice to be here myself. I just want to say we got a couple of shout outs I want to give tonight to Julie Rose who says the Sleep Magic podcast is amazing. I recommend it to everyone I know. Thank you. We need that. We want to keep growing, we want to keep spreading this vibe. We all need to function more from our own subconscious minds. That's where we're loving and calm and creative and we need more of that. I also want to give a shout out to someone named Parsi in Iran who recently broke up with a girlfriend of a long time. And it's been a tricky experience to go their separate ways because there's still a lot of love and Sleep Magic is really helping him make this transition. So thank you, Parsi. I'm sending you all my best and I just want to remind everyone that relaxation helps with everything. So as you bring this into your sleep, I encourage you to bring it into your life and see what happens. And if you want to tell us how this is working for you, you can reach out to us at Sleepiest or on the podcast platforms or the socials or at my website. Before we get started, let's hear a quick word from our sponsors who make this free content possible. You know, deciding to start therapy is a big step, and in my experience, actually finding the right therapist can feel like its own barrier. Before I met my therapist, Meredith, I remember that search feeling frustrated at times, hoping I'd eventually find the right fit. And that's why I love Rula. They make the whole process simple, matching you with a licensed therapist who fits your goals, preferences and insurance coverage. Most Rula patients pay around $15 a session, sometimes even less, and appointments are often available as soon as tomorrow. It's care that supports you every step of the way as Rula stays involved, checking in to make sure your therapy is helping you move forward. Thousands of people are already using RULA to get affordable, high quality therapy that's actually covered by Insurance. Visit rula.com sleepmagic to get started. After you sign up, you'll be asked how you heard about them. So please support our show and let them know we sent you. That's r u l a.com sleepmagic. You deserve mental health care that works with you, not against your budget. Hi everyone. I hear from you guys all the time. About those nights where your thoughts just won't switch off no matter how tired you are. It's exactly what we work on together here with Sleep Magic. And it's also the idea behind another podcast called Nothing Much Happens, hosted by Catherine Nicolai. Her show, like ours, is all about calming your nervous system with gentle storytelling. Nothing stressful, nothing dramatic, nothing you need to keep track of. Just soft narration and repetition to help you drift into rest. Millions of people around the world listen to Nothing Much Happens to quiet their minds before bed. And I recently checked out an episode called from the Hammock on one of those nights where my thoughts wouldn't quit and it really relaxed me. So if you'd like another tool in your bedtime kit, it could be worth adding this to your listening routine. You can listen to Nothing Much Happens wherever you get your podcasts. Episodes every Monday and Thursday. Enjoy. Okay, great. Tonight, mindful cooking. Get healthy in your sleep. That's a big. That's a big promise. We're going to be making tofu quiche tonight. Many of you might know that a big chapter of my life was focused on learning about cooking and eating super healthy food. And that was a very big and exciting time for me, especially considering I grew up eating total junk food. So it was a big switch and it was a dramatic thing. And during that time, I learned a lot. And some of the things I learned are basically cliches that we've all heard, like you are what you eat and food is medicine. But I think my biggest takeaway is that food, real food that comes from the earth, has power. And when we eat foods that are natural, we get power from them. It sounds super simple, and yet I think we forget it all the time. I mean, even I forget it all the time. So this episode is to remind all of us that what we put in our bodies matters. But one more thing before we go on. I just want you to know I'm not here to judge how anyone eats. I've never been into that because not only is it an obnoxious stance to take, it doesn't get anyone to change. For me to judge or for anyone to judge, your relationship to food is yours, and it's an intensely personal thing. So all we're doing tonight is exploring a new recipe that includes a variety of plants. And you'll learn about their qualities, their medicinal powers, and I'll give you a sense of how they'll make you feel. So no matter how you currently eat, we can all add more plants to the mix. There's no arguing there. So I hope you enjoy this episode, whether you taste it in reality at one point or just imagine it tonight. All right, so get yourself into a safe and comfortable position. And let's begin. Allow your eyes to close easily and gently. As you bring your awareness down into your right hand. Just feel the palm of your hand against whatever it's touching. Maybe it's palm down on the mattress or against a blanket, or touching a part of your own body or up toward the air. No matter. Allow your mind to sink down into the palm of your hand just for a moment. Focusing your mind, aiming it, directing it, guiding it. You have more power over your mind than you know. And it begins with guiding it. Very good. Now bring your awareness to your breathing and allow your awareness to hang out on the wave of your breath. It's a softer, gentler place than the palm of the hand. It's more subtle to allow your awareness to rest on the breath. Well done. Now bring your awareness up into your eyelids. And imagine now that your eyelids are feeling heavy, sleepy and relaxed. And as you imagine this heaviness in your eyelids, pretend that you're an actor and you're actually sleepy and relaxed. Imagining is very powerful. So as you imagine, allow it to happen. Good. Now your eyelids are feeling heavy, heavy and relaxed. Excellent. And now we make the suggestion that your eyelids are, in fact, so relaxed they will not open. Of course, this is a ridiculous suggestion. Your eyes could open if you wanted to open them, but we're pretending that you can't. So as you pretend that your eyes are so heavy they won't open, wiggle your eyebrows and allow your eyelids to stay closed. By doing this, you're actively engaging with your imagination. And now you imagine that not only are your eyelids feeling heavy and relaxed, your whole face is feeling heavy and relaxed. The muscles of your cheeks releasing and relaxing, the muscles of your jaw letting go, your forehead feeling soft and relaxed. Good. As your face lets go, you find that your belly is letting go. Good. As your face is becoming more and more relaxed, you notice that your whole pelvic area is relaxing and softening and letting go as your breath deepens. Now you allow your head to move back, sinking into the pillow. Feel it getting heavy. Allow the heaviness to transfer to the back of your head and down into your shoulder. And any tension you may have carried on your shoulders today, any responsibilities or burdens, allow them to fall into the bed, through the bed, down into the earth. You can pick those burdens up tomorrow if you want them. But Right now you're free. Free and relaxed. And your arms are feeling soft and relaxed as they sink and melt to the bed. Your hands feeling warm and smooth, sort of floppy. Good. And you imagine now that a very special invisible mist of relaxation is moving down through your neck, down into your chest, inside of you. We're so used to relaxing our bodies piece by piece. But what about the inner world deep inside your chest? A warm, swirling relaxation. Softening, relaxing your heart. Softening and relaxing your lungs. Spiraling, spiraling inside of you. Moving down, down, down deep into your belly. Spiraling inside of you. Deep in your belly. Good. And you may notice that there are sounds going on around you. Perhaps there are noises from outside or noises from within your environment. Just notice them, notice them, and now allow them to take you deeper and deeper. Those sounds are simply vibrations. And as you allow the vibrations to move inside of you and pass right through you, they are taking you deeper and even deeper. And now you may feel more relaxed than you have in a very, very long time. As your legs are feeling heavy against the bed. Your legs are done for the day. They're on vacation. As you go deeper and deeper and even deeper. Good. Imagine you are standing in a kitchen of an old farmhouse nestled in the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts. Several million years ago, the Berkshire Mountains were as high and as jagged as a Himalayas. But now they're low, soft, worn down by time and the elements. More like grand, elegant rolling hills. You look outside the kitchen window. It is the height of autumn, and the trees are aflame with color. Maples and oaks and birches, their leaves exploding with the turn of the season. They flicker like candle flames. The air smells of cold earth. And as a cool autumn breeze moves through the forest, you watch the red and yellow leaves float to the ground. Inside, the rustic kitchen is warm. It contains the scent of wood smoke and pine and contains the calm hum of the late afternoon. You set your basket on a worn wooden counter and you take out the ingredients one by one. Mill it. Fresh shiitake mushrooms, a block of tofu, onions, garlic, fresh rosemary, olive oil, tahini, vinegar, sea salt and soy sauce. Each ingredient has a lineage, a story, and powerful healing properties. You begin with the millet. You pour it into a bowl, where it gathers into a small mound of tiny golden spheres. You may have heard of millet as an ingredient in bird seed, but this tiny yellow grain predates rice and wheat, first harvested almost 12,000 years ago. In Asia, there are more than 20 types of millet, and it has been a staple grain in both India and China ever since. You select a tiny round grain from the bowl and place it in the palm of your hand. It's the size of a seed, only 2 millimeters in diameter. You roll it between your fingertips. It's hard and strong and powerful. Millet was later cultivated by the ancient Romans and was popular throughout Europe well into the Renaissance. Historians discovered that Leonardo da Vinci loved millet when they found it on one of his shopping lists. You pour the tiny grains into a fine sieve and rinse them in cold water. The little spheres shimmer in the light. Millet is known for its grounding effect. It is gentle on digestion and strengthens the spleen and stomach. It stabilizes blood sugar and offers a quiet, calm energy. You ignite the gas beneath a well worn saucepan. The blue flame licks the bottom and you pour in a swirl of olive oil, just enough to shimmer. You add a handful of ch chopped garlic. It sizzles and smells sharp, bright and alive. Garlic is naturally antiviral and antibacterial. You take a nice big whiff. It opens your lungs, cleans your blood and wakes up your appetite as you go deeper and deeper into relaxation. Cooking itself makes you feel good, but cooking with natural foods gives you a deeper energy, because your body knows these foods. Your ancestors knew these foods, going back hundreds and even thousands of years. You add diced onion and it sizzles in the pan. You stir over the heat until the edges brown a little and the dices begin to soften. And as you watch them soften, you are softening. As you go deeper and deeper, you add a pinch of salt. And as the onion softens, its sweetness is emerging. This onion contains compounds that cleanse and purify, that help your body release what it no longer needs, just as you are releasing what you no longer need and your sweetness is emerging. You throw in some chopped rosemary and it fills the kitchen with its piney perfume. In ancient Europe, rosemary was burned in temples to purify the air. It brightens the mind. Finally, you add the millet and the grains sizzle gently, soaking up the perfume of garlic and onion and rosemary. You stir with a wooden spoon, tracing a spiral in the pan, watching as the steam rises from the wet millet. As you watch the spiral going deeper and deeper. You add your spring water now and raise the flame to high. And as this mixture comes to a boil, you feel energy rising inside of you. You add another pinch of salt, cover the pot and lower the flame as the millet settles into a soft Simmer. You lean in close and smell its nutty scent. Already you feel grounded, connected to nature or connected to yourself. As you turn your attention to the filling, you unwrap the block of tofu. It feels cold and heavy. Its surfaces are soft and pale. This block of tofu has traveled through time as an ancient accident. Two thousand years ago, a chef in China made the mistake of mixing soy milk with a coagulant called nigari. The nigari caused the soy milk to curdle like a soft cheese, and tofu was born. You crumble it into a food processor. It feels cold in your hands. Tofu is so cooling that it can be placed on the forehead in the case of a fever. It's used in poultices to draw out heat from the body. It will cool down a burn or a blister. Brought by Chinese Buddhist monks to Japan in the 8th century, tofu became a very popular food throughout much of Asia. But it only ended up in Western kitchens when vegetarian hippies began eating it in the 60s. Little did we know what a gift that was, for tofu is good for the heart and the bones and balancing hormones. You drizzle tahini over the tofu in the food processor and a spoonful of olive oil. You measure out some umeboshi vinegar. It is a vivid pink brine, both salty and source, made from pickling Japanese plums with shisu leaves. Umaboshi cleanses the liver, alkalizes the blood, and restores strength. You add just a few drops to the tofu mixture to awaken the taste buds, enlivening the whole dish. You turn on the food processor and watch the mixture spiral inside of it as you go deeper and deeper. You feel the hum of the motor as the mixture transforms into something creamy, almost silky. And when you stop the food processor and lift the lid, the scent of sesame and the tang of umaboshi rise together, rich, earthy, mysterious. You place the filling aside and heat another saute pan over a flame. You heat more olive oil and and saute more onions and garlic and rosemary, repeating the ritual, layering the scent. The sound of sizzling fills the room. And then you add a big handful of sliced shiitake mushrooms. They are dark and soft, almost rubbery. And as the mushrooms join the onions, they curl and soften even more, giving off a deep forest aroma. You season them with soy sauce, the liquid hissing and caramelizing the mushrooms just slightly at the edges. Shiitake mushrooms have been cultivated for over a thousand years. They contain natural compounds that support the body's defenses, and in traditional medicine, they're said to strengthen the life force, or chi. You fold the mushroom mixture into the tofu cream, stirring until the textures merge. Your gentle kitchen timer goes off because the millet is ready. Now. You turn off the stove and remove the lid, steam rising in your face. It smells nutty and fragrant. You spoon the millet into a baking dish, pressing it gently down to form a rustic golden crust. Now you spread the tofu, more mushroom filling, on top of the millet, smoothing it with the back of a spoon. The colors are beautiful, pale cream and brown, flecked with green rosemary, and they echo the hills outside the window. You drizzle one last spoonful of soy sauce over the surface to help it brown, and then you slide the dish into the oven. And now you rest. The air in the house is becoming warmer. The scent of rosemary and roasted millet fills the room. You look through the window and watch as the afternoon light fades. You hear a crow call from a maple tree in the distance as the quiche is baking quietly, steadily. The millet is setting and the tofu is gathering a golden crust. You pour yourself a cup of tea and go outside. You sit in a rocking chair and watch the leaves fall. And as they fall, you're going deeper and deeper as you align with something very old, very intuitive, the letting go of autumn. And as the leaves float down, bright red, perfect orange, vibrant yellow, you are letting go, going deeper and deeper. You return to the house and pull the dish from the oven. The top is golden and the edges are crisp. Its surface is glistening faintly, and you set it on a potholder to cool. And as it rests, the aroma deepens. It smells of roasted grains, herbs, and the faint sourness of umaboshi. There's a round wooden dining room table in the middle of the room, and you set it with old family placemats and mix and match silverware. You light three candles in the middle of the table and set the quiche in front of them. On the side, you place a big plate of steamed greens. Your friends arrive. It's getting dark outside and colder now, but you are all here together in the warm, cozy farmhouse, and you have such warm, nourishing food, food bringing you together in this dark season. You cut a slice of the quiche. The millet crust holds firm. You pass pieces around until everyone has one. And now you sit down to yours. Steam is rising from the filling. Your fork moves down through the tofu, creamy and tender, and you take your first bite. The flavors are simple, and deep and satisfying, warm and comforting. These are ancient foods. Your body is responding. The millet is grounding you, the tofu sustaining you. The garlic is cleansing you. Rosemary is opening you. The mushrooms are strengthening you. And the olive oil oil is soothing you. And your friends are loving you. And you feel fully alive. You chew slowly. Gratitude. And the food itself is slowing you down, bringing you home to your body, back to this moment. And you feel the warmth of the food spreading through your chest, down your arms, deep into your belly as you go deeper and deeper. As the leaves drift down through the cool autumn air. You feel warm and full as you drift and float and dream it. It. It.