I have two different types of mint growing in the yard, and I don't do much with them. This year I decided to make some homemade mint extract. I used a recipe I found on the Mommypotamus blog as a rough guide. I bought some cute Fido jars at TJ Maxx that have a small chalkboard paint label area on them. I picked about a cup of mint leaves and washed them up.
Then I laid them out on a paper towel, covered them with another towel to dry them gently.
Then I put them in the jar and covered them with rum. Vodka is what was in the original recipe, but I didn't have any. You can use bourbon too. The ratio is roughly 1cup leaves to 1 1/2 cup alcohol.
Close the lid and leave it alone for about a month. You can test it then, and if it's minty enough strain out the leaves. It should last indefinitely.
I plan to use it in hot chocolate, whipped cream, and brownies. Yum!
So, I had a session of acupuncture. I was a little nervous, as I didn't know what to expect. All I knew was there would be needles!
We pulled up to the building and Corey and Peyton dumped me out and went shopping.
The door to the center for healing and wholeness offices had a sign asking that people take their shoes off when they entered. The man at the front desk was a 40 something white guy with long hair pulled back in a ponytail. Sure enough, he was the acupuncturist. He actually has a masters degree in acupuncture so I trusted that he knew his stuff. We went back to a room and went over what I wanted treated and how my health was. This was the cot I'd lay on. My knees rested on the foam roll, and I didn't get a pillow.
He stepped out for a minute while I hopped up on the cot. I got to leave my clothes on, thankfully. I was wondering what you wear when you get acupuncture. I just pulled my shirt up enough to expose my abdomen and rolled my jeans up to my knees.
This is a picture of the supplies he had ready. Needles.
The actual placement of the needles wasn't bad at all. I didn't even feel most of them, and the ones I did feel were just a mild pinch. After he had them all in he put a heat lamp over my abdomen, turned on some music, and dimmed the lights. He told me I needed to lay there for about 20 minutes and he'd come check on me in about 5 minutes. So...as soon as he left I took stock of where all the needles were. I had one in the top of my head. One in each ear. eleven in my abdomen, five in each leg/foot, and three in each arm/hand. I laid there and tried to relax. I found myself taking very shallow breaths. He came back and asked me if I felt any warmth or tingling around any of the needles. Nope. Evidently that's an indication that you are getting increased energy and circulation to those points. In an effort to make me feel better he said sometimes it takes a couple of sessions to get that sensation. He told me to take very deep breaths and left me alone for the rest of the session. Its hard to breath deeply when you feel like you have a porcupine pressing on your belly.
During his assessment he felt my neck and said I had a huge knot on the left side and he'd do a muscle release after the acupuncture. He took out the needles in my head and ears and a few on the upper belly. Then he put some oil on my neck that was a blend of camphor, peppermint, and cinnamon to help my muscles relax and began the muscle release. It was seriously uncomfortable. He applied strong pressure to my neck, asked me to exhale, and pressed in and down toward my shoulders. With each exhale he'd move down about an inch. Then he started at the top and did it again. My neck did feel much better after he was done.
So, when it was all said and done I paid, made another appointment, and he gave me a bottle of water and said to push fluids. I didn't really feel much different after the acupuncture, I guess I was hoping to hear angels sing or something. They recommend getting about 5 treatments a week apart, but It's hard for me to wrap my head around making the 6 hour round trip every week. I'm going again this week because Lauren has another Cross Country meet at a town not too far from there. I'm also getting an integrative assessment by another practitioner while I'm there. They assess your health and diet and make recommendations for dietary changes and supplements. I am already avoiding wheat and sugar, and I've been drinking kombucha and water keifer soda so it will be interesting to see what else they suggest.
