Post Surgery Mantra, Recipes, and Revelations

Nothing gives you time to pontificate on life’s meaning like a forced halt. Recently, I had urgent surgery on my sinus and mouth after wisdom tooth removal went terribly wrong. About a month ago, I agreed to letting a dentist pull all four. One was deep inside and the gums were cut to remove it. All went smoothly, seemingly. However, after no stitch, no antibiotic, and a slow growing asymptomatic infection, three weeks later, a large bubble and abscess formed on my gum and began to erupt. I could give a lot of “TMI”(too much information), but the short of it is that the dentist pulled out a gigantic blood clot, did some further hacking away as she cleaned, and couldn’t finish the job. A hole was created between my tooth and sinus; and I had to find a surgeon to clean and sew me up.

I’ve been taking some time off to heal and process what felt like a slightly traumatic experience. As a natural health practitioner myself, this was fairly distressing. However, once I got over the shock and realizations about the cause of the injuries and ailment, this has given me time to cook, rest, and practice what I preach.

My work consists of teaching yoga (ironically, a lot of breathing techniques) and as an Ayurvedic practitioner, I also work with food and nutrition. I help others create meal plans and offer recipes based upon their health goals, so while breathing and moving were out of the question this week, I dove into some of my own advice around eating for health. Here’s a few examples: