With so many of us confined to our homes, and take away food not on offer, we are having to prepare the food we eat. In our bubble we make the daily bread. I make sour dough and it is a labour of love. It is the essence of simplicity ingredient wise; flour, water, salt. The levening comes from a mixture of flour and water that is 100% hydrated and left to rise until it is three times its original volume. It is a visual confirmation of alchemy. The secret – the art of of this bread is two things: Time and a gentle, consitent touch until baked. My mother's foster father was a chef and his rule for great cooking that was instilled in her was the less you touch the food, the better. This is the same and in fact essential to making a light, bouncy, loaf of bread. The recipe that I found works the best there is no kneading. Yet there is consistent interaction that you must do in order to get the result.
As I feed the starter, I make sure that my thoughts are clear and harmonious. When I mix it by hand it is done consciously and lovingly. I speak out loud my appreciation for the gift of having the ingredients and the the ability to use my hands to make this. I ask it to bloom and grow and nourish my family. The same intention goes for the two day process to bring those simple ingredients to the finished result of a lovely loaf of bread. When I mix the ingredients, stretch and fold the dough and shape it it is with the lightest of touch and clear presence. The finished loaf is always the measure of quality of the ingredients, the way it was handled, enough time for total hydration and rest between stretching and folding. Not enough water, the loaf is dry. Over-handling of the dough results in a loaf that is dense.
“I am the Bread of Life” - is attributed to Jesus and in the Bible, bread is often used as a metaphor in teaching about Life. For like bread, the experience of Life is dependant on the quality of your ingredients, the way in which they are applied or handled, and the time given for hydration, and rest between stretching and folding. Life is a graceful process. Our beliefs, and the way we apply them have everything to do with how our life unfolds.
Closely held beliefs, extreme beliefs, creates a density, a heaviness of spirit. It has no space in it and therefor no flexibility. Many people live in a Prison of mind. It is fear that locks people in the noise, ugliness, terror of internalized information that is a distortion of Life as it is. The Ojibwe have a saying that says in essence, only tell the things you have seen with your own eyes. There is such wisdom in this! How many of our beliefs are based upon what others have told us? Or things we have read? In this time we are living, this simple teaching can serve us. And seeing with our own eyes does not mean everything you see on the YouTube! It means that you must trust the Source of your information. You must know for yourself, that it is trustworthy. Especially before you take the information and create a belief. If you do not know the person (source) you must hold the information lightly. You must test it in your experience.
Any belief also must be tested against the degree of peace and quiet that it brings to your mind. And how you move with that informantion must be for you to see how much peace and wholeness it brings to your interaction with those you love and those you interact with. There must be the willingness always to evolve your understanding through your lived experience even if that means releasing what you once believed. It is hard for some to thow off their internalized beliefs. Usually there is a search for a substitute to believe in. We are taught to search for an Authority instead of cultivating Courage to dive deep into the what is thought of or believed in as Self.
We must be prepare to Love the inward most Self, the Source in each of us. We must learn to be the patient teacher and student in this learning. We must give ourselved the the time to grow and understand when we have been 'stretched' or and experience in Life causes us to fold in on ourself.
We must drink in the beauty, simplicity and Intelligence that is observable in Nature. We are here to experience our unique Life in order to know what Life means for us. Not what we think it is, but what is our direct experience.
We are all born from Sweet Mother Life. Life must be touched and appreciated. Our thoughts and beliefs must be touched gently. Ultimately it is when we leave them alone, and don't pick them up that the true Beauty is revealed. Then we are nourished at the deepest level and we are true nourishment to all in Existence.
My teachers always said there is no substitute for doing. I include a link on how to make Sour Dough Bread. This video encapsulates the teachings here. Look closely how she handles the ingredients. Then consider instituting this practice. By doing we understand and then we can extrapolate this learning to all aspects of our life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAH28Hm81FQ&feature=share
