The BLOG
In The BLOG we share our thoughts, observations, processes and discoveries about trauma/PTSD, creativity, healing, art, diet and food, travel, Philosophy of Peace and War, and life...
December 23. 2023 - Moving back into The Chapel House
We were in such Christmas fever to be ale to have the holidays inside the chapel. We were clearing debris and scrubbing the floor on the day. It was important us to lay our heads down on our mattress in the chapel for the Holy Nights as a reconciliation prize for all the hard physical- and mental-work, and internal growing-pains we felt we had been through. We were at the end of our wits and desperately needed the chapel to embrace us and bring us peace. And so it happened...and we are thankful for this special space for teaching us about the sacredness of the sentient!
Summer 2023. - USA Road Trip / A 27 states-bonanza...
This was a bum-trialling and draw-dropping trip of 12,600 miles in a time frame of 3 months. We have visited many of James' old military bodies and family. I got to see America from a closer look. And once again I fell in love with the spirit of the people and the vastness of the landscape but this time it was the countryside, the real America not New York City; like 20 years ago. Below is a page from my journal...as a sum up!
February 4-7. 2023. - A 3-day Water-Only Fast
We chose to fast now because renovation works on The Chapel House will start again early Spring, which would not allow us to take time off. And during fasts we stay at home and rest. It is most advantageous for the body to fast during Spring and Autumn times. The changing mood of these seasons may assist the cellular shifts within the body more so than other times of the year. Given that the best time to start the fast is during Full Moon; February 5th was such day. In preparation for the fast we tend to stop eating meat at least a week before and dairy 3 days before a 3 day fast. In literature this preparation time is suggested to be longer (2 weeks for meat and 1 week for dairy) in order for the metabolic system to be better prepared for cell autophagy during the fast.
It is also useful for female bodies to consider menstrual cycles and hormone changes within this period. Each period has 3 cycles: Follicular when oestrogen hormones are increasing (before egg release), Ovulatory when oestrogen peaks and drops (egg release) and Luteal when progesterone hormone increases (after egg release). Good times to start a fast is during menstrual cycle (very strong cleansing) or before the ovulatory period but not suggested during luteal period.
August 23 - October 30. 2022. - Road trip in Europe and the Camino de Santiago (Norte) pilgrimage (230km)
These is a video of James playing his travelling guitar at a monastery and below are some of Andrea's paintings from her Camino Journal...
March 17-20. 2022. - A 3-dayWater-Only Fast
We have welcomed the Spring Equinox with a 3-day Water-Only Fast to allow autophagy (the body cleaning out damaged cells), rejuvenation and spiritual growth. We have never fasted in our lives before James stayed with me in my little forest womb-shack simple-living accommodation in 2018 July. Since then James has done 5 water-only fasts and I have done 6 (either 3 or 4 or 5 days).
Each time is different as we research more and more on the topic and we are learning to listen to our body intuitively. In order to hear and be able to act on the needs of the body and work with the traps of the wants coming from unresolved or unaware emotional needs (we we tend to suppress/avoid by bringing food into our body that doesn't protect the liver and certainly doesn't feed the microbiome). That is the work which is on-going in our every day life. Dance between getting things done to move onto the next task (fast) and the meditative self-reflective way of executing tasks (slow).
This time our preparation was very short. We only stopped eating meat and dairy 4 days before Day 1. Ideally this should be 2 weeks before for the meat and 1 week before for the dairy products. As a last meal we had gluten-free pasta with hummus, pine nuts and steamed vegetables with a splash of home-made tomato sauce at 6pm. Then we had water only for the next 72 hours. We also had reflexology on the second day and shiatsu massage on the third day.
Re-feeding Day 1:
First meal (supper): I prepared a biodynamic-chicken soup for 6pm but we only ate the BROTH and perhaps 3 small pieces of vegetables. The hot soup felt like bliss and tasted extraordinary!
Breakfast: The next morning we had strawberry, raspberry, pear, banana, cacao powder with 100% Stevia powder and coconut collagen SMOOTHIE and some blueberries on the side.
Lunch: yesterday's broth and a few vegetables from the soup + raspberry,coconut collagen, cacao with 100% Stevia powder and coconut flakes thick smoothie
Re-feeding Day 2:
Supper: Salad garnish, vegetables from the soup heated in coconut oil and hummus
Breakfast: gluten-free porridge, fresh fruit, few mixed nuts and cacao with 100% Stevia powder
Lunch: steamed veggies, roasted squash and sweet- and regular-potato with hummus and pine nuts with the neck-bones from the first day broth.
Re-feeding Day 3:
Supper: perhaps toast with 2 poached eggs, hummus and cucumber garnish
Breakfast: as above porridge plus more mixed nuts
Lunch: Lentil jeu (it is a thick soup-like dish) with toast
And that brings us out of the re-feeding time. We hope to gradually incorporate a whole-some diet ! It is a process and we are learning how to eat according to our body's needs rather than enslaved to our triggers.
March 9. 2022. - We delivered more needed supplies for people in need who fled Ukraine at the Budapest-West and Budapest-East Train Stations...
March 2. 2022. - Our Humanitarian Trip to the Hungarian-Ukrainian Border-crossings (Lónya, Barabás, Beregsurány and Tiszabecs)
August 14. 2021. - Veterans For Peace (VFP) Convention 2021 USA Online Event
Andrea and James performed at 3am CET/ 8pm EST on the East Coast of America at this online event. You can listen to this performance on the link below:
June 2021. - The Garden is developing at The Chapel House
May 16 2021. - Andrea presented The 7 Fold Process (colour journey) at the EFAT (European Federation of Art Therapy) Conference. You can watch this presentation by going onto the Natural Colour Studies page and click on the button: 'The 7 Fold Process' Presentation EFAT 2021
Andrea presented her transformational colour journey process and spoke about the importance of aesthetic experience in therapy, learning and education.
The inductive nature of aesthetic experience is the main focus of this presentation. The benefits and importance of inductive learning and processing for a thoughtful-will (will as an ability to act intentionally). We live in times of deductive learning and its influence on willful-thinking. Also how do we work consciously towards such transformation individually and socially.
The 7 Fold Process being just one of many tools...
May 11 2021. - James shared his transformational journal on Lifelines.com with Melissa Bernstein
James spoke about his journey on childhood trauma perpetuating more trauma in his adult life. He shared how it affected him throughout his almost 30-year carrier in the ARMY, his family life and his personal growth.
Talked about the changes since he retired 7-years ago. The process he went through and continues to do so in order to find acceptance of himself and keep working on his transformation...
September 2020. - Beginning of The Chapel House Renovation
It has been a week since we have taken possession of the chapel and we have been working tireless to make it live-able. Everyday something else brakes and/or falls apart. The house is showing its needy side and we are trying to listen with integrity and care. We are grounding ourselves to arrive into this magical space in order to bring it into the 21st century with a fresh breath and in dignity.
Newsletters and videos of the renovation can be found on The Chapel House Renovation page:
February 2020. - Further Notes on our Diet Journey from November 2019.
Since November 2019 we have been experimenting with bread mainly sourdough and ancient grain with the occasional croissants. As I am more aware of my body functions and movements it is clear to me that the inflammation in my body has increased, my body aches after a bit of strain and after eating my belly swells up. On the other hand I feel cheerful about eating bread but that glucose increase in my blood sugar is usually very short lived. These are obvious signs that I shouldn't be eating these products...so, I am left with some more soul searching on my relationship to food and ways to transform these cravings and habits.
We also have been only using unsweetened almond milk and we remain on 100% Stevia and Monk fruit sweeteners; which I feel good about.
On the other hand, I am fairly in a hesitant and procrastinating mood about planning our next 5-day water fast for March (either during the Full-Moon 9. March 2020. or during the New-Moon 24. March 2020.).
January 2020. - An Article on War - James is featured in YES Magazine
January 7.2020. - children's book
The 200 copies of limited edition of the book have been printed and it is being hand-bound...It is very exciting for us to see the book taking the final stages in the making. It has been over a 2-year process.
December 20. 2019 - Andrea and James shared their music in Agard, Hungary.
December 6-7. 2019. - Workshop in Nemesvamos, Hungary
Meeting with the wounded-lover within the self - colour Indigo
It was a privilege to accompany these participants on this self-reflective colour journey. The workshop started with a sound-circle to meet each other through the vibrations of sound and hear what lives in each of us at that given time. We then explored the secrets of paint-making (gum-Arabic, honey and pigment) to prepare the paint for exploration (on small square hand-made paper) and for the moist-paper painting process. In-between we used pastels on paper to work the physical body in playful colour expression. Opening one's soul to meet the wounded-lover within can leave someone vulnerable. Conversations on colour indigo and it's symbiotic relationship in the soul meant to serve as a reflective self-care tool. The meditative painting process can take us on a journey within this vulnerable place tier by tier into the depth of hurt, trauma and self-acceptance. In releasing one's self into this gentle process truthful self-reflections can free and/or loosen one's inner shackles of martyrdom towards one's self and others. These are some of the photos from this day and a half workshop:
November 2019. - Notes on water-fasting, keto diet and a delicious chocolate recipe
Sugar-free, organic, home-made, hazelnut crunch chocolate bar - RECIPE by the photo
Since July 2018 we have been exploring water-fasting (twice/year). We have done one 3-day and four 5-day water-fasts for detox, decreasing inflammation in the body, clarification in the self, spiritual growth and for transitioning into a NO-SUGAR diet; as much as possible. In May 2019 we went on a 5-month keto (ketogenic) diet period and during September-October 2019 we were transitioning into a more wholefood diet. We are eating a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and legumes and learning how to eat food as medicine. We are still figuring out what that means for us as we miss wheat/bread...but one thing remains, we are use only 100% Stevia and 100% Monk fruit to sweeten our food and try to avoid processed food as much as possible.
I have been asked to share how I made my sugar-free, hazelnut crunch chocolate bar:
Prepare your Ban Marie on the stove and put 100 grams of 100% organic dark chocolate broken into small pieces, 3 generous table spoon of organic cacao powder, 50 grams of organic cacao butter coins/chip, 1 generous teaspoon of Inulin powder, 2 teaspoon of Sunflower Lecithin, 1 generous tablespoon of 100% Stevia Powder (in Europe this isn't available so sweeten it with what you like but keep in mind shop bought Stevia crystals are made mainly of Erythritol which is 1:1 sweet ration with cane sugar) and 1 generous tablespoon of organic Hazelnut butter. Slowly melt all together! In the meanwhile prepare a shallow tray lined with baking paper. I used a 20x25 cm tray. Pour organic whole toasted hazelnuts (I used almost 2 bags of 200 grams bag) onto it so that they all touch one another. I know you think that is insane as you have never seen a chocolate bar like that but trust me that is why this is brrrrrrrilliant!
So, when all melted in your Ban Marie and your hazelnuts are prepared waiting for the chocolate put a generous gulp of Vanilla Bean Paste (Vanilla extract will not taste the same) into the melted ingredients. Stir it in and pour chocolate-melt onto the tray. Move your pour along the tray and adjust the distribution evenly afterwards. Put it in the fridge for a few hours. Then you can have a little taste...it will thoroughly harden by the next day; if you can wait! Enjoy...and let me know how you get on
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