Twelve minutes a day

Twelve minutes a day, four or five times a week. That’s the answer to the question you didn’t ask, so I’m asking it for you, which is: What’s the minimum effective dose of mindfulness meditation to help you “focus without all the struggle, take back your attention from the pull of distraction, and function at your peak,” as Dr. Amishi Jha puts it in her new book Peak Mind: Find Your Focus, Own Your Attention, Invest 12 Minutes a Day. Dr. Jha is a professor of psychology and the director of contemplative neuroscience for the Mindfulness Research and Practice Initiative at the University of Miami (which sounds like something they could use a lot more of in Florida, am I right?).

 

I listened to an interview with Dr. Jha on Dan Harris’s Ten Percent Happier podcast. She has spent the last eight years studying the impact of meditation on people who work in high-stress professions such as the military, first responders, and elite athletes. There has been good science for a while now finding that meditation improves attention and lowers stress, so Dr. Jha set about figuring out how much was enough. She started with the well-studied paradigm of Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program, which requires 45 minutes every day for 8 weeks.* Dr. Jha knew no one she worked with was going to commit to that much meditation, so she systemically lowered the dosage until she arrived at the minimum required to still reap the benefits of meditation, which turned out to be 12 minutes, 4 or 5 times a week, for at least 4 weeks to get you in the habit. While that doesn’t mean that meditating more than that won't have greater benefits, that is enough to help you focus better, etc. So download a meditation timer app, program in 12 minutes, and get started today. Aren’t you glad you asked?

 

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*Yes, the MBSR program is actually proven to help with stress, and not just to put your Mom to sleep instantly while she's "meditating."

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You all know what a fan I am of Gena Hamshaw's Power Plates, which has yielded some of our favorite meals, including Rice, Beans, Tofu, and Greens. Even she recognizes, though, that a lot of those meals are a bit complicated to prepare. So I was excited to read in one of the recent posts on Hamshaw's Full Helping blog that lately she's been eating a lot of chickpea burrito bowls that are "quite a bit simpler than nearly all of the bowls in Power Plates." I don't know why she calls these "chickpea burrito bowls" because they don't seem anything like burritos to me, but whatever, they are tasty, and Mom and Brad both also approve. They're also flexible, and Hamshaw gives lots of options for substitutions for just about all of the ingredients, some of which I've noted in the recipe's headnote.

Chickpea-Sweet Potato Grain Bowls

Adapted from Gena Hamshaw via the Full Helping (Oct. 7, 2021)

Time: ~35 minutes, plus 10 minutes to make the sauce and extra time for cooking brown rice

The bowls are very adaptable. Instead of sweet potatoes, you can roast regular potatoes, or carrots and/or parsnips, or broccoli of cauliflower florets. Instead of chickpeas, you can use black or white beans. Instead of shredding lettuce and cabbage, you can buy some kind of pre-shredded coleslaw or similar mix at the grocery. Instead of Tahini-Turmeric Sauce, you can use Cashew Cream, Spicy Cashew Sauce, or Cashew Queso Sauce (which is Hamshaw’s first choice for this dish; we loved the Tahini-Turmeric, which is also the quickest).

For the sweet potatoes
~1¼ pounds/570 grams (3 medium or 2 large) sweet potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
2 tablespoons (27 grams) olive or sunflower oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

For the chickpeas
One 15.5 ounce can chickpeas (or 1½ cups cooked), drained and rinsed
115 grams (⅔ cup) store-bought salsa of choice

For the bowls (see note)
2 cups cooked brown rice or quinoa
170 grams (1 cup) cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
Shredded lettuce
Shredded cabbage
1 cup Tahini-Turmeric Sauce (recipe below)

    1. If you’re using brown rice as your grain, get that started first; if you’re using something that cooks faster, like white rice, quinoa, or millet, you can wait until after you get the sweet potatoes in the oven. Make the sauce now, too.
    2. Place a rack in the center of the oven; heat to 425 degrees. Line a 13-by-18-inch half-sheet pan with parchment or foil. In a medium bowl, coat the sweet potatoes with the oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and a few grinds of black pepper, and toss well. Transfer to the sheet pan. Roast for 15 minutes, then give the potatoes a stir. Roast until the potatoes are tender, about 10 to 20 more minutes depending how large your cubes are.
    3. Meanwhile, combine the chickpeas and salsa in a 10-inch skillet (preferable nonstick or cast-iron). Place over medium-low heat and cook until the chickpeas are warmed through and the salsa has reduced a bit, about 5 to 7 minutes. Turn the heat down to the lowest setting.
    4. When the sweet potatoes are done, divide the brown rice, sweet potatoes, chickpeas, tomatoes, and shredded greens among four bowls. Drizzle with plenty of sauce. Serve promptly.

Tahini-Turmeric Sauce

Adapted from Gena Hamshaw via the Full Helping (Dec. 29, 2016, under the name "Yum Sauce")

Time: <10 minutes

118 grams (½ cup) water
95 grams (6 tablespoons) tahini, well-stirred
30 grams (2 tablespoons) apple cider vinegar
15 grams (1 tablespoon) freshly squeezed lemon juice
15 grams (1 tablespoon) Dijon or yellow mustard
10 grams (2 tablespoons) nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon turmeric
¾ teaspoon sea salt
a few grinds of freshly ground black pepper

Weigh and measure all of the ingredients into the bowl of a blender (a bullet-style blender is especially easy and convenient for this job). Blend until smooth. You can also whisk everything together in a small bowl. Taste and adjust the salt, pepper, and acid to taste. Store in the fridge for up to 5 days. Makes ~1 cup.