How to deal with pain....

Pain! We're all in pain. Living in this world, the mess it's in, being human, the mess we are, all the trauma we've all experienced. Pain is part of the human emotional palette. It is one of the colors of our emotional rainbow. We're meant to feel it. It deepens us. And it actually increases our capacity for joy.

But we're taught from the start not to feel pain. Stop crying. Take this pill. Our parents can't handle their own pain, so they certainly can't handle ours. We have to allow our children to feel their pain to be fully alive.

How do you deal with pain? I eat. My pain is all in my gut, where it doesn't belong, instead of in my heart, where it does belong.

Can we open our hearts to the pain? Can we embrace the beauty of our pain? Can we just allow ourselves to FEEL it? To "Be" with it? I think that's all we have to do, to deal with it, is to just be with it for a while.

We don't have to to go around in pain all day every day. No. But we do have to deal with it sometimes. And by dealing with it I don't mean we have to wallow in it or solve it or make it go away. Just feel it. Just be with it.

That's your happiness exercise for today. Be with your pain, whenever it comes up. Look at it. Notice it. Feel it. Let it talk to you. Let it tell you its stories. Don't judge it. Allow it space. Give it love. Let it be in your heart for a time, instead of stuffing it down in to your gut.

If no pain comes up, just be with whatever emotions do come up. Maybe some people are fine with pain, but don't allow themselves to feel happiness. So, whatever emotions arrive at your door today, honor them with some attention.

And may we find a new level of balance, peace, and poise emotionally that becomes reflected in our relationship to food.

 Journal all your feelings, let them flow out of your body and onto the page.

then when your ready to treat yourself to something special prepare yourself this delicious dish...

Chicken Au Champagne

INGREDIENTS

4 organic chicken breasts (with skin and bone)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Chervil, tarragon, or thyme (optional)
1 shallot, quartered
1 cup Champagne (Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut recommended)
 
Yield: 4 Servings

RECIPE

Place the chicken breasts in a roasting pan, and season them. Pour 1/2 cup of the Champagne over breasts. Make a slit in each breast and insert a piece of shallot.

Place the pan under the broiler, skin-side up, for 3 minutes, until the skin is nicely browned. Turn and broil the other side for 5 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the broiler, baste with the pan juices, and add the remaining 1/2 cup of Champagne. Adjust the oven temperature to 475 degrees and bake the chicken for 30 minutes, basting once or twice.

Serve over brown rice. Sautéed mushrooms add a special touch and go beautifully with Champagne. (In a warm frying pan with a touch of olive oil, add clean, roughly chopped mushrooms, and cook for a few minutes. Add a few drops of lemon juice, freshly chopped sage, seasoning to taste and 1 tablespoon of butter.) Pour the cooking juices from the chicken over the meat and rice. Serve the remainder of the bottle of Champagne (about 6 glasses) with the meal.