Tag Archives: family

Bringing Back an Old Pow-Wow Traveling Tradition

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Powwow Food Prep

When I was little and my mom took us on vacation, she would always pack a cooler. Sandwiches, fruit, crackers, chips, etc. We looked forward to stopping at this rest area north of Grand Rapids that had a creek, lots of trees, and picnic tables. We had our lunch there and then continued on. When we started traveling to powwows my mom would bring a cooler as well. She would surprise us at some powwows by bringing out a package of ring bologna and crackers and some sliced cheese.

Over the years as we camped less and stayed in hotels more, we relied less on coolers and more on food available at powwows. The usual fair: Indian Tacos, soup with none of the fat trimmed off the meat, and Ndn dogs. Now we have walking tacos, cheeseburger, Ndn burgers (cheeseburger in a piece of fry bread instead of a bun), funnel cakes, chicken strips. A plethora of fried foods, white flour, and saturated fat. And not to mention the casino buffets that we frequent now that casino powwows are well-attended. I know from research that the reason many people gain weight is because they overestimate the calories they burn through exercise and they underestimate the calories they consume. I think this is common during powwow weekends where we think we are burning more calories that we actually do when dancing. I know several people who feels its challenging to maintain their healthy habits during powwow weekends.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, preparing for powwows this summer is my priority. I wanted to get back to bringing my own food like my mom used to, and when we used to camp. There was nothing better than a sandwich and fruit (and maybe some chips) at our camp after a session, and fresh fruit always helps during the hot afternoon sessions. I did my powwow prep a few weeks ago when we traveled 7 Clans Casino Powwow in Thief River Falls, MN and it worked out great. I made smoothies and the kids had all kinds of fruit. No one gained weight that weekend and we actually saved some money.

So here is my #HealthyPowwowFoodPrep for this weekend. Shelby and I stayed up late last night making whole grain muffins and shredding chicken I cooked in a crockpot. We are staying in a hotel where all the rooms have refrigerators. I’m packing the following in my cooler.

  • Lunchpail Muffins
  • Lean deli turkey
  • Diced chicken cooked in a crockpot
  • Chicken salad with diced celery, apples, almonds in low-fat olive oil mayo
  • Boiled eggs
  • Sliced apples
  • Grapes (in 1-cup portions in zip-lock bags)
  • Whole wheat sandwich thins
  • Nonfat vanilla yogurt
  • Plain nonfat greek yogurt
  • celery
  • What is left of the blueberries and strawberries in my fridge
  • Thin sliced Colby-Jack cheese
  • String cheese
  • I have cherries washed but they didn’t make into the picture. They WILL be in the cooler

My girls are learning nutrition through Kurbo Health (I’ll write about our experience in a separate blog entry) so making these preparations has become even more important. If we can make 90% of our food choices over the course of a powwow weekend healthy choices, then I won’t have any problem with splitting a piece of fry bread with someone and enjoying.

Our friend Grace Pushetonequa asked for suggestions on healthy food to bring to powwows on FaceBook and then she posted a picture of her food prep today. I’m going to encourage people to do the same….take pictures of their healthy powwow food prep and post them on their social media. You never know who you will positively impact just by sharing your experiences.

Some Thoughts on “National Day of Running”

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Today is the “National Day of Running”. I assisted in getting a couple of my friends/relatives running several years ago, and we helped found a local American Indian running group called The Smoking Moccasins. Some highly motivated individuals then created a youth running group for local Native Youth called The Mini Mocs.

I miss running. So I try to run a little bit with Shelby now. I have to accommodate my hip arthritis by changing my stride and my foot strike. Where I once had a mid-foot strike, I now have to focus on a fore-foot strike, so that my feet and ankles will absorb most of the impact. Then I have to shorten my stride to accommodate the new fore-foot strike and also to keep myself low to the ground. I can’t bound like I used to, again in an effort to minimize what impact I can on my hip joints. So I’m running. It’s not pretty and it’s not fast…it’s not even continuous. I feel like an agitated turtle at times. But I am running.

I had some thoughts on running yesterday and updated my FaceBook status. I decided to turn that update into a blog entry since it coincides with today’s running holiday. 🙂

I remember dancing at Prairie Island Wacipi in 2007, the year after I had Sara. We had to contest Sunday afternoon in the blistering heat. It was so hot the heat from the ground just burned right through the bottoms of our moccasins. Our brother Clay Crawford said to me, “Do you and Joe run outside in that Kansas heat? It really must help. Everyone else looks like the heat is getting to them except for you two.” Lol.

What I remember from my running days is that yes, training in the heat (not in the hottest part of the day, but when the heat was still high) helped with my powwow conditioning. Also running outside on the cross country trail. The combination of running outside and on grass or gravel was very effective. When you run on an uncontrolled surface, it strengthens all the little helper muscles in your feet, ankles, and knees in order to keep your joints stable. Ideal training for shawl dancers and fancy dancers to prepare to dance on grass. It kept my ankles from rolling as much they used to even after I had my kids.

I’m seeing videos and snaps of young powwow dancers running on treadmills. My strong advice: If you have a safe place to do so, get outside and find some grass or gravel to run on. If you live somewhere blistering hot then run early in the morning or in the evening before dark. If you run races and train on grass, you will be able to fly when you race on a controlled surface. I noticed the difference when I started to rely more on treadmill runs than cross country trail runs. One of the first times my sister ever beat me in a 5K was because she trained on grass while I ran on pavement or on a treadmill. When we got onto a controlled surface, she was just fast.

Running on grass or gravel is better for your joints that running on concrete or a treadmill, (unless you have existing knee issues, then running on an uncontrolled surface may not feel so great). But if you don’t have access to a safe place to run on a soft surface, running on any surface is better than doing nothing.

That’s my public health PSA for today. Thank you. Lol.

“Bite Size” Documentary

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My Amazon Prime has been getting a workout this week. I purchased a book titled “Who’s the New Girl?”, and also purchased a documentary.

The Swirlies and I stayed up late last night watching the documentary called “Bite Size”. The topic is childhood obesity and focuses on 4 children and the steps they take to manage their weight. It just came out this year and I first saw the information on the Kurbo Health blog (more on the Kurbo program in a future blog entry)

It’s heartbreaking at times….I think I was crying 5 minutes into the film. And it’s inspiring. It reinforces the importance of family support, and how the entire family needs to make positive change in order for the kids to be successful with healthy change.

I highly encourage parents to watch this film. The film has it’s own website and FaceBook page. I purchased it through my Amazon Prime Instant Video for $8, and you can rent it for 4 days for $4, I think. I believe it’s also on iTunes. I rarely promote stuff on my page, but this really moved me. The Swirlies are inspired as well to continue with learning healthy habits…I heard them talk about goals, as well as ideas how to help other kids once they reach their own health goals. ❤

Watch it. Buy it. Support the independent filmmakers that are bringing this to us. Support the brave children and their families who shared their stories. And maybe one of our own Native filmmakers will tell our story of our own Native youth and health someday soon.

http://bitesizemovie.com/

https://www.facebook.com/bitesizemovie

2 Smoothie Recipes from The Swirlies

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What an extremely hectic April and May we had!!! Too much to write about so I’ll just cut to the chase.

We ended our indoor powwow season last weekend with Haskell’s Commencement Powwow. Two weekends in a row of working powwows (for me), and 2 weekends in a row of my kids dancing. I got a rude awakening once again at how difficult it is to maintain healthy eating habits during powwow season. Fry bread everywhere you turn, fatty/starchy soups, candy, Gatorade and soda/pop…..*sigh*  And I didn’t have time to prepare and bring healthy snacks like my own fruit, veggies, cheese sticks, turkey, boiled eggs, etc. Making time to prepare before every powwow will be my priority this year.

So, in an effort to get back on track, the Swirlies (my 2 daughters) decided to have smoothies for breakfast this week. They both have their own recipes, and both are delicious! And very simple to make.

I keep forgetting how small their tummies are, so I made too much the first day. By this morning I had the ingredients down to where they fit into a regular size coffee cup (8 oz, or 1 measuring cup), which is the perfect amount for them. Myself, I can always knock out at least 12-16 ounces of one of my smoothies.

Shelby’s Smoothie – Strawberry Pineapple

  • 1 C-heaping, sliced fresh strawberries and pineapple combined
  • 1/3 C fat-free vanilla yogurt (I buy the Dannon Lite & Fit vanilla because it has much less added sugar than other non-fat vanilla brands)
  • 2 Tbs (1/8 C) water
  • Add ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Fits in the coffee cup.

Sara’s Smoothie – Pineapple Apple

  • 1 C-heaping, sliced fresh pineapple and apple combined (I leave the skin on)
  • 1/3 C fat-free vanilla yogurt
  • 2 Tbs (1/8 C) water
  • Add ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth

I was amazed at how sweet the Pineapple Apple smoothie was. Almost tasted like a treat!

I am going to try to talk the girls into having a “Smoothie Party” for their combined birthday parties. Let them and their friends have fun creating and get many different fruits (and veggies) in their systems!

No picture this blog entry, but will try to summon up my amateur photography skills on the next one. 🙂

Family Recipe for Tacos

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I’ve mentioned before that my mom used to cook for us all the time. Eating out at a fast-food place back then was a treat reserved for payday, and it might have happened every other week at the most. My mom cooked all the time for us. We never ate Hamburger Helper and she made her own taco meat and seasoning. I’m lucky to still have several of her recipes that I cook for my family today.

Her taco recipe is one of my go-to meals. I’ve cooked it for company and it is always well-received. I usually make a double batch because they make great leftovers and can be used for taco salads or taco bowls. My daughter likes to take this in a thermos for her lunch at school and I love to pack it for my lunch at work as well. It’s also a great vehicle to sneak some extra veggies in. My addition to my mom’s recipe is the shredded zucchini. It cooks down and blends in with the tomato sauce and beef until you can barely see it.

What I love about this recipe is that you have several options for your protein. I’ve cooked this using 95% lean ground beef, I’ve used ground bison meat, I’ve tried it with half lean ground turkey and half lean ground beef. I love ground bison meat but it is expensive. I also love using grass-fed beef, but it costs about the same per pound as ground bison. What I often do is mix ground bison or grass-fed beef with lean ground beef. If I can’t swing the expense of using all bison or grass-fed beef, I will up the nutrition value of the beef by mixing it with a less expensive, but lean protein.

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs lean ground beef (optional: mix 50/50 with ground bison or grass-fed beef, or lean ground turkey)
1 – 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 small onion – diced
1 small zucchini – shredded
2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cumin

Brown diced onion in a heated skillet. Add ground beef and brown until cooked through. Remove cooked beef and onions with a slotted spoon to drain excess fat, place in a medium sauce pan. Add tomato sauce, chili powder, cumin and shredded zucchini. Simmer for about 20 minutes until zucchini has softened and some of the liquid has cooked down. The meat mixture will have a little extra liquid the first night, but it thickens up when re-heating the leftovers.

There are a variety of ways to serve this. My girls like using regular corn tortilla taco shells. I like to make a soft taco using a whole grain flour tortilla. Top the hard shell or soft tacos with shredded cheese, shredded lettuce or spinach, chopped tomato and salsa or hot sauce. Joe B likes to make deluxe nachos.

I also love to make a taco salad out of this. I’ll take one serving of tortilla chips (about 8 chips) and break them up in the bottom of a bowl. Then I’ll layer on about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of some type of leafy green (I like to use spinach but will serve romaine lettuce to company), approximately half a cup of the taco meat mixture, then top with shredded cheese, salsa or picante sauce, and chopped tomato.

I’ve experimented cooking different vegetables with the taco meat such as red bell pepper, and one time I mixed a can of rinsed and drained black beans into the meat mixture while it was still in the skillet. That particular experiment didn’t go over so well because my girls could see and taste the beans. I’ll try that one again a later date. 🙂

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By the way, this is my first attempt at photographing a meal I cooked for the blog. I’ll continue to be brave and experiment some more with this.

Springtime Heralds a New Beginning

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This week spring has arrived in our region! We have an additional hour of daylight as well, so there is more time after work to enjoy the outdoors. Spring always feels like a new beginning….trees and plants are starting to bud, people are talking about turning over the soil in their garden beds, and you see people outside enjoying walks and riding bikes. The smell of charcoal and cooking outdoors is also a welcome part of spring.

Spring also feels like a new chance to do things differently, or to try things again. A new growing season, another chance to eat locally as much as possible (our CSA application for the summer is due at the end of this month), and another try at the home garden. We built our raised beds last year but didn’t have the time or money to do the rest of the steps to start our garden. We have time and money budgeted this year, so I am excited to give it whirl.

Spring feels like hope. It feels positive. Spring always has the “goodest vibes” (as my friend Mike likes to say). It feels better than the calendar New Year’s Day. And yesterday just made me realize how much I’ve looked forward to spring and the new beginning it heralds.

My 76-yr mom is recovering from knee replacement surgery. She came home last week after her hospital stay, and then 2 weeks in a rapid recovery rehabilitation facility. She is scheduled for outpatient physical therapy 4 times per week as she continues to work on getting her knee to bend and walking without a walker. She chose outpatient PT over in-home PT because she and my dad and her doctor felt it would be best because it would make her get up and out of the house and be more mobile. We had a cookout yesterday to celebrate her being home.

I’ve always felt that my family eats pretty healthy due to my mom. She always cooked for us growing up and she always made her own potato salad and/or macaroni salad for cookouts. We rarely bought sides from the store. I had my nutrition class watch a segment of the HBO documentary “The Weight of the Nation” and a visual that has stayed with me was one of a cookout or dinner at the beginning the episode….there was fried chicken, white bread, several salads heavy with mayonnaise, greens drowned in butter, anything that had fruit was covered with a cool whip & cream cheese mixture. I always have mixed feelings when I see things like that. I feel empathy because I know people are socialized to eat those foods for celebration or for comfort (I see foods like that after a funeral). I feel a little sad because people want to be healthy and it makes it hard when families/communities default to food like that in times of celebration or sorrow. And I feel fortunate because my family has the motivation and means to do things differently.

The menu for our cookout was burgers and hotdogs (of course), but the burgers were 95% lean ground beef and the hotdogs were all-beef franks. We had whole wheat hamburger and the closest thing to whole wheat hotdog buns that I could find at the store (enriched wheat flour does not a whole grain make). I looked at the table before we started eating and it made me feel good. In addition to the meat my husband cooked on the grill, I saw a bowl of homemade potato salad that my sister made, baked beans, fresh watermelon and strawberries, and plates of cucumber slices, baby carrots and lettuce. There was some debate about whether to get a pie or potato chips, but my sister gave up potato chips for Lent and we decided we had enough without a pie. We gave in slightly and got a bag of organic tortilla chips. It was the nicest feeling to be sitting at my parents table, with the windows and door open, in warm weather with a table of fresh food. We all got full off of some good and healthy food. And the fact that we were celebrating my mom being home made it that much better.

Hopefully spring signals a new beginning for this blog as well. Lol. I am going to make an effort to blog once per week at a minimum, instead of my sporadic monthly installments. I hope the weather is warm where you are and that you enjoy the beginning of the new season.

Encourage, don’t discourage

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I am always happy to see others succeed in their quest for health, especially those who have been unhealthy for most of their adult lives. It’s gratifying and encouraging when our Native people (or any group of people who suffer from similar health disparities as American Indians) find the motivation to learn about nutrition, physical activity, and how to incorporate both into their daily lives. However, I take issue with those new to the health scene calling others down for their lack of knowledge or motivation. I am thinking of specific examples where I’ve read about people on social media sites bragging themselves up and simultaneously putting others down for not being “on their level”….whatever that means. And the same people bragging themselves up and putting others down have just recently discovered their own good health.

Those people who engage in that type of behavior don’t realize that we remember how unhealthy they were 5 minutes ago. They are not in a position to judge others and their efforts, or lack of efforts. I also take issue with those who make condescending remarks or belittle those who are trying to be health and/or active. People don’t realize how fortunate they are to have grown up with sports or active families…..or to have grown up with parents/caregivers who cooked all the time and had basic healthy eating knowledge, and access to healthy/whole foods. I see kids in my own community whose parents don’t feel that sports are important, or they don’t get out and engage in activity with their kids. Also people don’t realize how fortunate they are to have healthy, fully functioning bodies….bodies without arthritis, without chronic injuries or illness, bodies that don’t prevent them from doing anything they want to do.

I will admit to being a running snob towards one or two people that I didn’t care for back in the day….I remember thinking and making a couple of comments about someone I had seen running for a few years, that with all their running you would think they might be a little faster or look a little lighter….the epitome of a running snob. But since then I’ve seen that there is no excuse for that type of behavior and snobbishness. We don’t know by looking at someone what their story is, or what their challenges are. Maybe that person whom I saw running at a snails pace for years has managed to keep from gaining 50 pounds and prevented diabetes with that activity. Maybe that person has some health issues that keep their running from looking like what we believe to be a runner’s pace/gait/form/body. Maybe the person NOT running and just walking is a former runner who physically can’t run anymore. Maybe the person who expresses their pride in running 3 miles has just done something they never thought they were capable of.

We don’t need to put others down in order to elevate ourselves. And we are in no position to judge another’s journey towards health.

We, as Native people, need to encourage others in our quest for health. We need to model the behavior that we want others to emulate. We need to do this so the generations that follow will be healthy and ensure our continued presence on this planet. And the people most secure and sincere in their own quest for health are the ones who are most encouraging to others. Be that kind of person. We can’t have too many of those in our communities.

New Breakfast Recipe

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Being considered the “Food Police” has its benefits. It gets people talking with me about healthy food which I think is always a good thing. I usually get asked for ideas on healthy meals, but once in awhile I get a message from someone asking if I’ve ever tried a certain recipe.

My friend Justin (fancy dancer from Canada) asked me a year ago if I’ve ever made oatmeal banana loaf. I hadn’t because I’d never heard of oatmeal banana loaf. There were some confused messages from me until I got an idea of what he was talking about. He sent me a link with the recipe and for some reason I just sat on it and never tired it. Until this morning.

And I have to say I now have a favorite weekend breakfast. The recipe is called Blueberry Banana Baked Oatmeal and the recipe is found on the Budget Bytes website. http://www.budgetbytes.com/2012/08/blueberry-banana-baked-oatmeal/

This oatmeal bake is warm, sweet with all natural sugars, and loaded with whole grains, fruit, and milk. I wish I had a picture but we ate most of it before I thought that maybe I should’ve Instagrammed it. 🙂

Depending on your nutrition goals, this can be made in several different ways. You can use different types of milk such as skim, almond, low-fat or whole milk. You can substitute different types of sweeteners, such as maple syrup, evaporated cane sugar, or stevia for the 1/4 C of white sugar that the recipe calls for. It can be “clean” and all natural or it can be fat-free and table sugar-free.

Since I am back on Weight Watcher and following the “Simply Filling” plan, I used fat-free milk and Splenda for baking in this recipe to keep the ingredients all Power Foods or 0 point ingredients. I will plan to use Stevia next time, but I was in a hurry and didn’t want to sit and do the calculations with Stevia when I could just use 1/4 C of baking Splenda.

This was absolutely delicious and easy to make. I broke mine up in the bowl and topped it with a little unsweetened vanilla almond milk. My husband topped his with chopped pecans and almond milk. I have no idea why it took me whole year to try it, but we both agreed this will be entered into the weekend breakfast lineup. Enjoy!

 Prep time
15 mins
Cook time
45 mins
Total time
1 hour
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 1½ cups (3 med) mashed bananas
  • 2 large eggs
  • ¼ cup white sugar (I used Stevia
  • ¾ tsp vanilla extract
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¾ tsp baking powder
  • 2 cups milk
  • 2½ cups old fashioned oats
  • 8 ounces frozen blueberries
 Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Mash the bananas in a measuring cup, starting with two or three and adding more until you have 1.5 cups of banana mash.
  2. Combine the banana mash in the large bowl with the eggs, sugar, vanilla, salt, and baking powder. Whisk to combine. Add the milk and whisk again until smooth.
  3. Stir in the dry old-fashioned oats. Lastly, stir in the frozen blueberries (keeping them frozen and stirring them in last helps prevent the entire mix from turning purple). Spray an 8×8 inch baking dish with non-stick spray and then pour in the oat mixture.
  4. Bake in the preheated 375 degree oven and bake for about 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the center is no longer wet to the touch.
Notes
Serve warm or refrigerate until ready to eat. These oats can be quickly reheated in the microwave each morning for a quick, filling breakfast.

Learning Gratitude in 2014

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Today is January 31 and tonight people will be celebrating the coming of the New Year. In typical New Year’s fashion, I am reflecting a bit on the past year. I love the beginning of the calendar New Year. People are motivated and hopeful….I’m not into the “New Year-New Me” kind of thing because I’ve learned that you can’t wait to make positive change, but I’m always happy to see people motivated. That positive energy is contagious.

I actually renewed my health goals at the beginning of December. I didn’t want to wait until New Year’s to do it. I wanted to get a jump start on what I want for myself and my family. I went back to Weight Watchers (which helped me lose 32 pounds in 2001-2002), and continued with my personal training sessions. I’m going to begin my New Year 7 pounds lighter as a result. I’m also going to begin 2014 feeling much better mentally, spiritually, and emotionally than the last 2 years.

The biggest contributor to the improved mental/spiritual/emotional condition in 2014 was actively practicing gratitude….consistently remembering to give thanks as soon as I wake up. We tend to think we are grateful for this life, but you notice a difference when you start to consciously develop the habit of saying “Thank you” and counting your blessings upon waking. It puts me in a positive frame of mind before I get out of bed. It generates positive energy. And like I said a few paragraphs ago, positive energy is contagious.

Gratitude brings positive energy….positive energy brings peace of mind and spirit….and that peace leaves room for the good stuff, like being happy for others and enjoying their successes. It also brings the belief that you can have your own success in whatever way you define that for yourself, and motivates you to take the steps to gain that success.

I do love this life and everyone in it. It’s amazing when I hear my children say at random times, “I’m thankful for…….” As I am re-learning gratitude, they are learning it as well. My Christmas gift from my babies was  bracelet with a charm that says, “I love you to the moon and back”, and it came on a card that said: Love this life….Love is about welcoming the blind turn and the possibility that there’s no such thing as coincidence….and that empathy is incredibly sexy….and that it’s never too late to pick up a guitar or a paintbrush…or to make an amend or to make a new friend….Love this Life.

Those are my thoughts this morning in my quiet house, while everyone sleeps…..while enjoying my coffee. Feeling grateful for all the blessings in my life.

Why Culture is Important to Health

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This is the original, unedited, version of a newsletter article I wrote that was just released today. I wanted to share this on my blog after it came out in print.

One dictionary definition of “culture” is “the sum total of ways of living built up by a group of human beings and transmitted from one generation to another.” Indigenous people are rich with culture. Not only because each sovereign nation has its own definitive and unique sum total of ways of living, but because cultural knowledge is seen as valuable…priceless. And cultural knowledge is deemed necessary to our way of life as Indigenous people.

Dakota/Lakota/Nakoda people have a term for “healthy lifestyle” or a “good way of life”. Wicozani is not simply a state of physical health, but a world-view, a philosophy practically applied, that attends to a person’s physical, mental, social and spiritual wellness. Wicozani encompasses all that contributes to our wellness, our good way of life, which for Indigenous people begins with culture.

Indigenous ways of life prior to Western contact included our own food systems, healing traditions that included knowledge of medicinal plants and spiritual practices, plenty of physical activity, and strong social support amongst our tiwahe (immediate family) and our tiospaye (extended family). Our gender roles were strong and equitable and contributed to the well-being of families and society. Our adults taught children what was expected of them to become strong, healthy, productive individuals by example. All generations were considered valuable to society and were cared for accordingly. Tribal and family history was taught with stories. Our Indigenous languages offered explanations for environmental and universal phenomena that cannot be wholly translated into English, but recently have been found to be in –line with prominent scientists and theorists. We continue to transmit this knowledge to younger generations today.

We were once some of the healthiest people on the planet. We lived and practiced Wicozani. It was normal to us to pay attention to and take care of all aspects of ourselves.

Life is not easy today. Stressors abound with personal and family finances, job insecurity, limited access to affordable, healthy food and exercise outlets. There is social stress from living as an Indigenous person in a Western world. Contemporary society pressures us to believe that one aspect of our wellness is more important than others, whether it be education, job success/material success, or physical health. When life’s stressors start to pile up and make us feel overwhelmed, or when we start to notice our own mental, emotional and physical health failing, or that of our loved ones, our biggest asset in the search for Wicozani, is being able to tap the innate cultural knowledge that exists in all Indigenous people. Remember how strong your people were at one point. Know that you already possess the knowledge passed down from our ancestors. And know that you have everything you need to be strong and healthy once again.