As this season of SOUL Food Salon ends, I wanted to leave you all with some parting thoughts. This past year has been like no other in our lives. There was uncertainty, isolation and fear mixed with random silver linings of more time with family, kids home from college and less work travel. It is truly incredible that we are where we are today. Who would have ever imagined that we would have vaccines for a global pandemic within one year of its shutting down the world? Science has prevailed.
The lack of human touch was felt and experienced deeply. It was devastating not to be able to hug friends and family members. I never fully realized and appreciated the importance of human touch and physical connection. It’s ironic and sad that, so often, you don’t value what you have until it is gone.
We’ve all likely cooked more in this past year. Early on, I even prepared a few dinners with some of you over Zoom. I was also fortunate to have my kids around and in the kitchen cooking with me at the beginning of COVID. I actually taught them a thing or two! A few standout favorite family recipes are spiced chickpea stew, sheet pan baked feta with roasted vegetables and these salted brownie cookies.
Our mission at SFS is to provide inspiration and education for leading a healthy lifestyle. This past year, we shared content ranging from Finding Joy & Humor During a Pandemic to Nourishing Your Immune System to Cultivating Peace at Home. I’m hoping you have found us to be an informative, reliable and comforting space.
As we return for our new season late this summer, I am hopeful we will be able to meet in person for our salons. Perhaps we will have a hybrid of sorts, with some in-person events and some virtual ones. Stay tuned… I look forward to being with you all when we resume salons again in September.
I’d like to end this post by sharing three concepts that were front and center for me during this past year.
Gratitude: For what we have and what we have lost. More appreciation for people, places, good health and a sense of “normalcy.” Nature. Walks outside. Clean air. Less pollution and traffic.
Connection: I will never take human touch and connection for granted again. Feeling connected to others is paramount to leading a full and meaningful life.
Nourishing practices: Experiencing a sense of grounding, balance and total presence is truly nourishing. Giving yourself time to rest and restore, pausing, taking time for deep breaths and noticing all the beauty we have.
I part with some beautiful words from Mother Teresa, “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”
Jeanne Rosner is a board-certified anesthesiologist who practiced pediatric anesthesia at Stanford Medical Center for nearly 20 years. In 2011, she began teaching nutrition classes in her son’s 5th-grade science class. It was an “aha” moment for her. She realized that learning and teaching about nutrition, health and wellness in her community was her destiny.
Since retiring from anesthesia, she has been a nutrition educator at local middle and high schools throughout the Bay Area. She teaches students about the importance of eating food closest to the source, making good food choices and eating in a balanced and moderate way.
Jeanne started SOUL (seasonal, organic, unprocessed, local) Food Salon in 2014. SOUL Food Salon’s mission is to educate and empower people to be healthier. She holds events (salons) at which experts in the health and wellness community share their knowledge on how to lead a healthier life.
Find more information about SOUL Food Salon: https://www.soulfoodsalon.com/ or follow on Instagram @soulfoodsalon
Jeanne Rosner, MD, June 3, 2021
