Sunday Edition: Take Care of Your Physical Body

Plus the best protein hot chocolate.

The Sunday Edition is Tuesday’s little sister—off-the-cuff updates I’d bring up over a coffee catch-up with a friend.

At the end of last year, I attended a Winter Solstice ceremony led by Portland-based yoga instructor and therapist Audra Carmine, which included a German “thirteen wishes” ritual or “Rauhnächte.” In it, we wrote down thirteen intentions on different slips of paper, which I folded up and kept in a box. Write my next book. Spend more time in nature. Deepen my friendships. Each night for twelve nights, we were told to burn a slip of paper. Whichever papers are burnt will be handled by the universe—except for the one slip of paper left, which becomes your responsibility for the year.

The attire for a recent hot pot night was "stretchy pants"

I did this diligently until I had two slips of paper left, at which point I willingly forgot about the ritual (probably too nervous to see what my responsibility for the year was!). This week, I finally burnt the last slip, which revealed my responsibility: Take care of my physical body. It’s an apt start to a year that has already included a dozen physical therapy and acupuncture appointments to heal a body that has never felt physically weaker, since I sprained my ankle six weeks ago.

It’s also a good place to start, any time I need to take care of my mental health—where do I need support in my body? How can I nourish or heal or move myself? This week was filled with nourishing meals, often with friends… read on for three recommendations from this week, including:

1. How to make a difference in five minutes

2. The best protein hot chocolate for a midday break

3. A lipgloss I’m newly obsessed with

A cookie at Loretta Jean’s pie shop in Portland

1. Don’t be a bystander. I downloaded the app 5 Calls this week and have been calling my representatives every single day about defunding ICE. It could not be easier and these calls make a difference! You add your location in the app, then click on the issue that’s important to you and it gives you a script for calling your rep. Call the provided number, which will either go to voicemail (leave a voicemail with your address!) or to a human, who will likely say, “Hi this is [your representative’s office].” It can feel awkward to read the script, but that’s literally all you have to do and it takes maybe fifteen seconds. At the end, the person on the call will say something along the lines of, “Thank you, I’ll pass this along.” I also cancelled my subscription to most streaming services I subscribe to as part of the national strike on Friday, to put pressure on corporations to take notice and take a stand. Finally, here are some additional ways to help Minnesota right now, complied by Jenny Rosenstrach.

The House is expected to vote on the funding package on Monday February 2nd (tomorrow) and Congress has a new deadline of February 13th to pass a new DHS bill. These calls and this pressure makes a difference.