A conversation with Avery Whitmore, humanitarian of healing arts
Recently, the ancient practice of breathwork has gained renewed attention as a powerful tool for enhancing overall wellbeing. Its bodily, mental and emotional benefits have been reported by the most rigorously peer-reviewed, respected medical journals. New England Journal of Medicine found that regular slow breathing exercises improved lung function and reduced asthma symptoms while International Journal of Behavioral Medicine reported breathwork was associated with improvements in immune system function in HIV patients. So what exactly is breathwork and how does it work? To explore these questions, Normal’s Founder Jinou Park, sat down with Avery Whitmore, a Healing Arts Practitioner, who is…
Wonders of non-alcoholic cocktails (and 4 of my best recipes)
Each year in October, an estimated 60,000 people give up drinking for Sober October, Macmillan Cancer Support’s fundraiser. In the UK, about a fifth of adults say they’re teetotal, and among 16-to-24-year-olds it’s almost 30% (yikes!). Although stats presented here are those of the UK, this isn’t a local trend but rather a global and cross-generational phenomena. In developed countries, alcohol consumption is in long-term decline. And people’s reasons for abstaining are various: generational, cultural, religious. Non or low-alcoholic drinks (No-Lo) market has exploded in the past few years: it’s now possible to find non-alcoholic beers (shout out to Erdinger…
Descent into baloney we must fix
Boisterous bullfrogs wake me up earlier than usual. They’ve been going literally since three in the morning, went on for 30 minutes, stopped and started again at six, they haven’t stopped since. I am not in favor of killing them but I’d love to figure out a way to get them outta here. Yesterday, a chicken guy (he called himself that) came and took three of them away but they were immediately replaced by four others. As I said, they’re ‘bull’-proportioned and I tried to physically wrangle one of them away and he mauled me. That wasn’t so smart. I’m…
On eating wholesome – sattvic diet (plus recipe)
If there is one thing that this Upside-Down-tragedy gave than took, it is my new found energy to peruse recipes I learned over the years and kick my hindside back to the stove. True, YouTube helped. So did Jamie Oliver’s army of mignons that dominate search rankings for any food item you google. But it was also having spent so much time on the road when I surrendered control of what goes in my food to hotel cooks and airline catering and extended periods as an expat in cities where food supplies are outsourced to distant lands that always gave…
Belitung EcoBeach and surrounding islands
When Davide (pseudonym) first made an appearance in my office with an hour notice and announced he owned one-tenth of Belitung Island and that he’s wanting advice for developing that area as socially and environmentally responsible project, I only had two questions – first, where in the heck is Belitung (I’ve been in hospitality for 20 years in Asia and never heard of it) and second, ”ya that environmentally, socially… you and everybody else”. Then I forgot about it for months until he called me again when I was sitting in the back of bus in Singapore. Second time, I…
산채정식 (sanchae jeongshik, mountain vegetables course meal)
산채정식 (sanchae jeongshik) is the dining experience you can’t miss when in Pyeongchang area. Mountain ranges in the area boast endless variety of wild vegetables. They are leaves, sprouts, fern, roots of all kind which are foraged, simmered, cured (mostly in soy sauce and vinegar but also in red chili paste occasionally) and then stored in low temperature until serving. Low temperature controlled storage is the mainstay of traditional Korean cuisine which adds depth to natural flavors and allows convenient long term storage, particularly in winter when there is little to forage (!). At least a dozen variety of vegetable dishes…
Normal . 