In next month’s posting, I will feature sprouts, one of my favorite foods. Sprouting is also one of my favorite kitchen activities. When my first husband and I were in business together, we grew sprouts as our business, so I have become a sprout maven (Yiddish word for expert), and will pass as many “gems” as possible about sprouts and sprouting next month.

In the meantime, here is how to keep delicate alfalfa and radish sprouts from rotting:

1. Fill a large bowl with cool water. Place sprouts (from the store or your own home grown ones) in the water and swish with your hands, gently. (Important: Water should be right at the top edge of the bowl.)

2. The ungerminated seeds will fall to the bottom and can be discarded after you harvest the sprouts.

3. The hulls will float to the top and cling to the side of the bowl. With the side of your hand gently scoop off the hulls. When you have removed all the loose hulls, use a small strainer and scoop the sprouts into a collander to dry, but do not go deep down into the bowl or you will get some of the ungerminated seeds.

4. Allow to drain and place in a GLASS jar. (Plastic tends to impede freshness.) Alternatively, if you have a salad spinner, you can spin them dry, which helps keep them fresher even longer.

P.S. If you buy bean sprouts from the local supermarket or health food store, place them in a jar or bowl of cold water and drain off only what you need, changing the water daily. Left in their plastic bag from the store will shorten their shelf life considerably. In Asian markets, the sprouts are often already in water and the water is drained when you purchase them. At home, put them back in water, enough to cover the delicate sprouts.

Suza Francina, the author, dedicates this book to the Yoga Sisterhood, of which I consider myself a member. I have been practicing yoga off and on since my early 30s and have never really lost my love for this practice. (See my article in This ‘n That, entitled “I Always Come Back to Yoga.”

In this wonderfully arranged book with lots of snapshots of many yoga poses (asanas), Suza has provided the midlife woman with “tools” to help her with the transitional period of midlife that we call menopause. Each chapter tackles a specific topic. For example, Chapter One covers alternatives to hormone therapy and Chapter Two delves into the endocrine system. (Hormones are the substances secreted by the endocrine glands. Hormones are also called “biochemical messengers”.) Chapter Four is called The Power of Hot Flashes and Chapters Five, Six, and Seven deal with healthy bones, cancer, and heart disease, respectively.

Each chapter is filled with stories of other women’s menopausal stories and how yoga helped them through this midlife transition. In this way, the author also draws upon the wisdom of other yoga practitioners and writers in the field of yoga, putting quotes as sidebars in appropriate places in each chapter. In effect, you are getting the wisdom of many authors, not just Suza’s.

The book is easy to read and quite comprehensive. Each chapter has photos of poses that help women as they navigate the menopausal trail. The final chapter is a series of photos as part of Suza’s Practice Guide. There is also a helpful Resources section of yoga teachers featured in the book and a Directory for finding a yoga teacher in your area. Francina also includes women’s retreats that offer yoga, as well as miscellaneous websites and associations.

Here are a few quotes from Francina’s book that will hopefully encourage you to read the book and/or join a yoga class, if you have not already done so:

“Menopause is a metamorphosis, a complete change at the cellular level.” (p. xvii)

“Yoga is a ‘unification’ of physiological, psychological and spiritual therapies. It is a healing science that addresses all the concerns of women going through menopause.” (p. xviii)

“Yoga postures, besides providing a superior form of weight-bearing exercise that stimulates bones to retain calcium, also help to stimulate and distribute the flow of synovial fluid, which lubricates the joints between bones.” (p. 105)

“Yoga can help reduce the risk of breast cancer by stimulating lymph flow, strengthening the endocrine and immune systems, and helping you be more in touch with your body.” (p. 127)

“The feminine path to self-realization unfolds when a woman reclaims her own authority over her body and her life. She learns to honor her own needs and rhythms, and to trust her body’s innate wisdom.” (p. 179)

This book is an excellent resource for all women. It is informative, uplifting, and powerful. Yoga and the Wisdom of Menopause is published by Health Communications, Inc. in Florida and costs $12.95 (soft cover), a bargain for so much information. The publisher’s website is www.hcibooks.com.