We wish all mothers and mothers-to-be, a wonderful celebration!

We promised you your special day!

Did you know? Supplements made from the turmeric plant were found to be more effective at curbing heartburn and indigestion symptoms than a placebo!

Do you want to feel again, in front of your screen, the peaceful environment of Kocoon Spa? We would like to introduce our teasing video of Kocoon Spa.

How do I avoid air pollution? How can I keep my children healthy? You actually have the exact same concerns as local Chinese people!

Feeling bogged down by the Beijing air? Annoyed by that constant neck ache? In 60 minutes, learn how to awaken your inner energies to regain freedom in your body. Through simple exercises, Jireh will show you how to open up your shoulders, loosen tight joints, and find your ideal sitting and standing posture. You will leave feeling rejuvenated with a new confidence in each step you take.

at Kocoon Spa's new branch in Sanlitun South.

Please email us if you would like to be reminded or sign up at community@kocoonspalounge.com.

What to wear: Comfortable exercises clothes, no jeans, no dresses. Bring a small towel or gardening gloves and a pair of socks.
Who can come: Men and women, old and young!

About BodyChromatics

In essence, we use movement to help improve your quality of life. We choose to do it through Gyrotonic exercises because of its effectiveness - both immediately after class, and longer-term for holistic health. A session usually starts with gentle spinal movements followed by legwork. Exercises are done under the guidance of the teacher, as well as with the help of the Gyrotonic machine. The machine is fully adjustable for height, strength and ability, making it both safe and possible for even the most inflexible person to stretch out and workout. Each client's goals are discussed right from the start, because Jireh tailors every exercise to her client's specific needs. To learn more, please visit BodyChromatics.com.

About Jireh:

Miss Jireh Li is a Cer­ti­fied GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® Instruc­tor and taught exten­sively in New York before mov­ing her prac­tice to Bei­jing. She has completed all Core Certifications with the GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® International Headquarters. She trained exten­sively with inter­na­tion­ally renowned Autho­rized Mas­ters Train­ers Sebas­t­ian Plet­ten­berg (GYROTONIC® Man­hat­tan) and Erika Has­san in New York, Miami and Tokyo, as well as completed train­ings in Hong Kong and Jakarta.
A Hong Kong native, she dis­cov­ered Gyro­tonic while work­ing as an invest­ment banker. Strug­gling with headaches, back and shoul­der pains at the com­puter all the time, she prac­tised Gyro­tonic twice a week. When it only took 3 months to undo the pain and spinal dam­age (sco­l­io­sis) she lived with for 20 years, she real­ized that Gyrotonic’s holis­tic approach to health was very dif­fer­ent from other exer­cises she tried, and found it a very effec­tive and effi­cient method to rebal­ance, keep fit and stay strong in an enjoy­able and effort­less way.

This recipe is from sally fallon’s nourishing traditions.

Makes three cups

2 c fresh mint leaves
1 medium onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
4 jalapeno chilies, seeded and chopped
2 T cumin seeds, toasted
2/3 c almonds, chopped
1 T sea salt
4 T whey
1 c filtered water

Place all ingredients except salt, whey, and water into food processor and pulse until finely chopped but not paste-like. place in a quart-sized, wide-mouth glass container (mason jar, etc) and press down tightly. mix salt and whey with water and pour into jar, adding more water if necessary to cover chutney. top of the chutney should be at least 1 inch below top of jar. cover tightly and store at room temperature for two days before transferring to fridge. this should be eaten within two months.

I did not have whey so I replaced whey by sea salt. It made the mixture too salty, thus I added half cup of mint and almond. After 3-4 weeks of fermentation, it was perfect! i love to put it on chicken, split pea soup, or black beans

Maika send me the recipe to try those delicious Caramel-Chocolate Oatmeal Bars and I couldn't wait to try them! The recipe comes from Our Best Bites and even if I do not used the all-ready-caramel and I mixed the dough with my own hands (unfortunately I do not have a hand mixer..) it was quite delicious. For the next time I think I would try to make the bars with less sugar, as it was probably a little bit too sweet (if this is even possible).

Ingeredients:

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups packed brown sugar (I actually used cane sugar, that's probably what made it too sweet)
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips (I took a bar of chocolate and chopped them)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (I took walnuts and peanuts and toasted them first)
30 caramels (9 ounces), unwrapped (..or just do it on your own;)
3 tablespoons milk

Recipe:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 15×10 inch baking pan with foil, leaving about 1 inch extending over the edges of the pan.  Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.  Add brown sugar.  Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally.  Add eggs, vanilla, baking soda and salt; beat until combined.  Add flour slowly and mix until combined.  Stir in the oats.  Press 2/3 of the dough (about 3 1/3 cups) evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan.  Sprinkle with chocolate pieces and nuts.

In a medium sauce panheat and stir the caramels and milk over low heat until melted and smooth.  Drizzle caramel mixture over chocolate and nuts.  Take remaining dough and flatten small pieces with fingers and place evenly on top of the caramel layer.  Bake for 22-25 minutes or until top is just barely light brown, don’t overbake!.  Cool in pan on a wire rack until room temperature.  Use foil to lift uncut bars out of pan.  Place on cutting board; cut into bars.