The Heart of it All
“She’s supporting the community in large part by opening doors to people.”
Happy Wednesday! We are in the last full week of February, and I just can’t believe that this month has gone by as fast as it has!
Mardi Gras was yesterday, and it sort of inspired my pick for the person I wanted to highlight for Black History. Lena Richard was one of America’s first celebrity chefs. She predates Julia Child by 14 years! Chef Richard is known all over the nation as the best Creole chef in New Orleans. People ignored the segregation laws to eat at her establishment. In 1939, she became the first Black person to publish a Creole cookbook, and she self-published it at that! She also opened a cooking school so that the local Black community could command higher pay in the culinary sector. Chef Richard influenced Creole cuisine with her TV show and culinary school, and made many of the dishes accessible to homecooks with her cookbook. Her cookbook was so popular that the next year Houghton-Mifflin published it internationally.
American Heart Month is still in motion and this week we have an article about reducing stress.
Reduce Stress for a Healthier Heart
Whether it’s from everyday deadlines, financial struggles, or the COVID-19 pandemic, stress shows up often in life. And your body reacts to it: your heart rate increases, your blood vessels narrow—and over time, these little blows can add up and do damage to your health, particularly your heart. With chronic stress, you’re more likely to have high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and poor sleep. Even other parts of your body – from your lungs to your gut – can take a hit.
But while you can’t always limit the amount of stress in your life, you can work on changing how you respond to it. Just like the automatic “fight or flight” response that kicks in when you’re scared – your muscles tense, heart rate increases, and brain becomes more alert – your body also has a built-in, healthy relaxation response. When that’s triggered, the opposite happens: your breathing and heart rate slow down, and your blood pressure decreases.
Luckily, with practice, you can learn to trigger that response. Try these techniques on your own or find a teacher or class to help you get started. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get the hang of it quickly. And if one approach doesn’t work for you, try something new. You can learn to de-stress in lots of other ways.
Meditation. One of the most studied approaches for managing stress, this involves developing your ability to stay focused on the present, instead of worrying about the past or future. Find a quiet location with as few distractions as possible. Get comfortable by either sitting, lying or walking. Focus your attention on a specific word or set of words, an object or your breathing. And let distractions, including thoughts, come and go without judgment.
Progressive muscle relaxation. To feel the effect, first tense your muscles for a few seconds, then relax them. Start by tensing and relaxing your toes, then your calves and on up to your face. Do one muscle group at a time.
Deep breathing. Take in a slow, deep breath, let your stomach or chest expand and then exhale slowly. Repeat a few times. Many people don’t breathe deeply, but it is relaxing and something you can do anytime, anywhere.
Guided imagery. This involves a series of steps that include relaxing and visualizing the details of a calm, peaceful setting, such as a garden.
Getting your mind and body to a place of calm doesn’t always mean being still, however. Other healthy ways to manage stress include taking a yoga or tai chi class, talking to a professional counselor, joining a stress management program or an art class, or meeting up with friends for a brisk walk. Being in nature can be very soothing for some people.
Combining de-stressors like these with other healthy habits can go a long way toward strengthening your heart. Eat more veggies, fruits and whole grains, and less sodium, sugar and saturated fats, for example. Move your body more – like through dancing and walking meetings. Find exercises you actually love and do them regularly. Get enough good, quality sleep. And develop a strong social support system. Then rethink some of the familiar ways you may be coping with stress, such as drinking alcohol frequently, using drugs and other substances, smoking or overeating. They can actually worsen your stress – and your health.
Taking care of your heart health is a lifelong journey, but at a time when the risk of severe illness from COVID-19 remains higher in people with poor cardiovascular health, learning new ways to make your heart strong has become even more important.
Learn how to stress less for a healthier heart and more about heart health from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute by visiting www.nhlbi.nih.gov. If you need help finding additional resources to help you cope with stress, talk to a healthcare provider. Seek urgent care if you can’t cope at all or have suicidal thoughts. Resources are also available at nimh.nih.gov/health/find-help.
Here is some more about Chef Lena Richard:
https://nolachic.blog/2017/12/07/new-orleans-own-chef-lena-richard-1892-1950/
https://www.bhg.com/black-history-month-food-heroes-7098187
https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/lena-richard
And here is more information about American Heart Month:
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/education-and-awareness/heart-truth
Thank you so much to everyone who supports this market! We are so incredibly grateful for all of you! Whether you are coming in the rain or the shine or both, we are thankful for the support you show us each week! Whether you have yet to make it to the market, but are sharing our information with others, thank you! We could not do this market without you, our community! We really do love to see each and everyone of you each week! We hope to see you tomorrow!
Here’s a lineup:
Mitchell from Buckwheat Farms and Morgan from Urban Harvest will have various microgreens at their booths! We will have Bon Bon Bakery, Ms Shirley, Marie’s Baked Goodies all there with wonderful sweet baked treats. Jams Jellies Jewelry and More and Rosa Ray’s Farm Fresh will also be out there with wonderful jams and jellies, breads, and teas. And we can’t forget about the arts! Prachi Henna art and Sonder Collective will be at the park along with Jump 4 Joy Creations! Hank's Food Truck is a wonderful way to enjoy a late lunch or early dinner at the park! Mr Porter will be there with his wonderful creations and he also has some beautiful produce for us as well! And to keep us all smelling delightful and our hands clean, Chemscentations has us covered!
We are always looking for more people to join our fun! If you or anyone you know is interested in becoming a vendor at our market, follow the link below for our vendor application!
Just a hint of all the fun we have to offer! Come join us!