The Best Comfort Food For Sadness or Depression

best comfort food for sadness and depression the sunnah way

Looking For The Best Comfort Food For Sadness or Depression? Have Talbina, The Sunnah Way

Recipe of talbina – How to make it.

Talbina has got to be the most forgotten comfort food yet it is the most simple to make. It consists of only two main ingredients and takes only 5-10 minutes to prepare.

Talbina is actually a simple nourishing barley broth, made from two spoonfuls of barley flour mix with milk or water, cooked over low fire.

It is called talbina because it resembles milk (laban) in its color and consistency.

I first heard of talbina (barley porridge) last Ramadhan 1435.

One of the sisters in our friendly support group had shared the virtues of reviving a sunnah and one of it is by consuming talbina as a means to dispel sorrow and sadness.

Well I have always love just any kind of broth and I love barley too. So the thought of barley broth, soothing.. I just had to try making it.

Despite it being simple to prepare I only had success in preparing it by the third attempt.

It burned easily so you really have to keep your fire real low. I kept my stove fire as low as the stove allows.

Barley Water

During my growing up days, mom used to prepare barley water for our late afternoon tea by boiling whole barley grains. She would add in screwpine leaves for added essence and fragrance while simmering it gently over low fire.

Mom used to boil it in a pressure cooker. That way, it keeps the nutrient, preserving the all needed barley benefits.

It also helps to reduce the cooking time of the barley

My favorite way to have it, is to scoop it into a big bowl, top it with sweetened condensed milk and a pinch of salt.

It tastes heavenly sweet and creamy.

Satisfying and fulfilling for a growing up kid with an apetite. Today, I still love the taste of barley water served this way.

Talbina, The Sunnah Comfort Food to Overcome Sadness or Depression

At that time, I had no idea that talbina was one of the best comfort food for sadness or depression .

Had I known about it, I would have had it served to me daily, to heIp overcome my depression that I was going through then.

Drinking talbina as an effort to remove sorrow, has been a tradition practiced long since our messenger of Allah’s ( peace and Allah’s blessings be upon him) times.

So please allow me to share this little piece of long forgotten sunnah that might help to alleviate your pain and sorrow that you’re going through and may it bring comfort to us all.

I have written the recipe How to prepare talbina in step by step, you can easily follow it here.

Talbina Benefits

Talbina has been mentioned in many narrations of the messenger of Allah (peace and Allah’s blessings be upon him) each pointing exclusively of talbina, as a comfort food towards relieving sorrow and a relaxation for the heart of the sick person, such as

The narration of Aisha (May Allah be pleased with her ) that when someone from her relatives died, the women would gather for that (reason) then they would disperse except her family, she would order an earthenware pot of talbina be cooked, then thareed (a dish made form meat and bread) would be made and the talbina poured over it. Then she Aisha (May Allah be pleased with her) would say (to the women),

‘Eat from it for indeed I heard the messenger of Allah (peace and Allah’s blessings be upon him) say: “Talbina is a relaxation for the heart of the sick person and it removes some of the sorrow”

[Bukhari 479/9, Book of Food, Chapter of Talbeenah

Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) also said: the messenger of Allah (peace and Allah’s blessings be upon him )said:, “You must have what you find unpleasant but beneficial: the talbina.” She further said –

“whenever one of the family of the messenger of Allah (peace and Allah’s blessings be upon him ) was troubled with sickness, the pot never left the fire until he reached one of two extremes”

Ibn Majah #3446]

Ibn Qayyim explained this means until he or she recovered or died.

Now because of this newly founded sunnah, I got all excited because it contributed towards prophetic medicine.

So I have made an extra attempt to ensure that I have enough stock of barley grain in my freezer.

Yes (that’s how I store mine) I kept it an airtight container then placed it in the freezer.

That way it will keep fresh longer and keep rice weevil at bay.

I live in a very warm and humid country , an ideal climate for rice weevil to breed and I am certainly no fan of weevil.. Ergghhh

There are several ways to prepare talbina but the most basic and simple way to prepare it is mixing barley flour with milk

Barley flour benefits

Ibn al-Qayyim said:

If you want to know the virtue of talbina, then think of the virtue of barley water, for it is barley water for them. It is a soup that is made from barley flour with bran.

The difference between it and barley water is that the latter is made from whole grains, whereas talbina is made from flour, which is more beneficial as the properties of the barley are released through grinding.

You may get your barley flour from here https://www.amazon.com/Barley-Flour/b?ie=UTF8&node=16317631

It has been the common practice of the people then to drink barley water made from flour rather than whole grains, which is more nourishing and effective in overcoming sadness and to regain strength.

Barley Water

Where I used to live, barley water is the local favorites of the young and old generation alikes.

Step into any drinks stalls scattered around the neighborhood and request a glass of barley water, served warm or chill.

Squeeze some lemon juice into it as an added zest.

It is also available in a can but of course nothing beats the goodness of a freshly homemade lemon barley drink.

In sha Allah I will be writing down the recipe for making homemade lemon barley drink as soon as time allows.

So do come back and check up on me.

It is my hope that this post provides you with another option of comfort food and may it helps to ease your sorrow.

If you have tried consuming talbina and it has benefited you, please do leave a comment here, or if you are like me, an introvert who would rather go on one on one, then email me, I‘d love to hear from you.

Let’s connect!

~Su Zu

Disclaimer :

Though barley is well tolerated, it is best to follow with caution
Gluten allergy ––barley should be avoided by people with celiac disease and gluten intolerance.
Type two Diabetics who take drugs to lower blood sugar may need to exercise some caution until the proper dosage is established.

While I tried to share and provide with the relevant quoted narrations from the messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) I am by no means a scholar. So If you noticed of any error or weak narrations do please alert me, I would be most willing to learn and rectify the above post to make it right. And Allah knows best

13th February 20178th June 2018

How I Overcome Panic Attack The Natural Way, Drug Free

How I Overcome Panic Attack the Natural Way

I used to wake up in the middle of the night hyper ventilated. It was extremely difficult to breathe, like a huge monster had pinned me down and I can hardly moved.

It happened so often that I was so afraid to fall asleep. When night came, I became restless. I hated darkness so much that I had to sleep with my room lights on covering my head with a pillow to block out the glare.

This was such a long time ago and I have long since forgotten all about it. Back then, I didn’t realise I was in a depression and panic attacks? I never heard of that term.

Doctors had assured me then that it was a mild panic disorder, nothing to be too concerned about. It’ll eventually go away. Sure it was mild, but the attacks were too frequent and it bothers my sanity.

Over the years, I had fewer panic attacks and then it stopped just as how it came and I forgot all about it.

It wasn’t until last fall 2016, when I was in Manchester, travelling back to Preston . That was when the panic attack returned. I had attended a roman blind making class in Sale.

It was peak hours and I was travelling in a jam packed train with commuters. I had a window seat, so I sat quietly watching the commuters crowding in the aisle and by the door.

It became uncomfortably hot in the train. The heat was unbearable that I felt there was lacking of air to breathe.

I became anxious and felt that I had to get out of that train.

The sudden feeling that I was being pinned to my seat surrounded me. I wanted to say to the person next to me, “Please let me out, I wanna get out” but I was tongue tied.

Not a mumble escaped my lips.

I couldn’t budge my butt like it was glued to the seat.

I was utterly confused and briefly disoriented too. Then I thought, Ya Allah, what was happening to me?

It took a while for me to realise then that, that was panic attack revisiting me. Its panic attack relapsed! Haha.. is there such a thing as panic attack relapsed?

Maybe not, its just my way of saying it.

So what do you think I did, to calm myself down?

I didnt have the chance to think on which method works best. I just had to do it to overcome my panic attack and to avoid strange stares from strangers.

This is what I did.

How I Overcome Panic Attack The Natural Way

6 Ways to overcome panic attack the natural way — Overcome panic attack the natural way

1) Closed my eyes

I closed my eyes. I thought, that way I am shutting the real world out as I crawled into my inner space. This was my only comfort spot.

2) I breathe

Yes, it sounded silly now but that was what I told myself repeatedly, breathe Su, breathe. Remember to breathe.

Ooohhh.. That pre natal class that I took, how it taught me to breathe, it comes in handy!

Telling yourself to breathe may sounded silly but believe me, when anxiety sets in, that’s the first thing we tend to forget to do.

So do remember to breathe, slow and deliberate breathe in through your nose, then take your time to slowly blow it out.

3) Glorify and praise Allah

With every breathe that I inhale, I recited Subhan Allahi wa bihamdihi . When blowing out, I recited it in my heart, Subhan Allah al Azdim with a slow deliberate blowing out. I

That takes effort mind you haha.

4) I continued glorifying and praising Allah until the panic subsided

5) Refresh with water

When I finally felt calm and well composed, I had a sip of water from my water bottle that I always carry with me.

I poured a little bit of water onto my palm and slowly run my palm across my face anti clockwise.

6) Remembrance of Allah

I continuosly did the zikir until I reached my destination. That sixty minutes train ride, felt like the longest time in my entire life.

Looking back now, I have sum up those actions into my “6 simple steps to overcome panic attact the natural way”

I have applied these techniques upon myself. It has helped me greatly so I would encouraged you to try it out should you have a sudden anxiety or panic attack.

Especially when you are alone, travelling during peak hours where are hordes of people pushing and shoving into the train.

It should work in most anxious situation.

But I think it would worked best to hold the tasbih beads and push each bead with your finger along with every count.

Its kind of like grounding your mind. Forcing it to stay focus. I now have a few tasbih strings in colorful beads.

I put one into each handbag that I would normally carry with me. I name it “my anxiety tool kit”

I have been having difficulty in staying focus. My mind wanders off everywhere and it takes a lot of effort to bring it back to where I want it to stay ,haha.

As a continuation to my healing process and preventing a recurring attack, I take further precaution by practicing several steps which I named it “Daily dose dessert” the ultimate soul booster.

Sounds like yummy only better, don’t you think so?

Now I’d like to hear from you, how do you stay focus and keep those anxiety away.

Owhh and did I tell you about my recent discovery of The Best Comfort Food For Sadness or Depression, you might want to try that too.

Its simple to prepare and yummy yummilicious.

And may Allah keep you steadfast in your faith sister.

~~Su Zu

Virtues Of Remembering Allah

Remember Allah - The Remiinder Benefits The Believers

Remember Allah and He Will Remember You

The secret to keeping your poise sister, is to remember Allah.

These days, keeping calm and well composed is a lot easier for me compared to those times. I hated it not knowing what it was that causes me that constant annoyance and irritability over little teeny weeny minor things.

I got angry easily within a snap of a finger.

Was it due to the fact that I that I forgot to remember Allah? Growing up in a secular world, surrounded with non practicing muslims, sadly I thought that was the way of life.

I failed to understand the fact that:

Indeed Allah, He is near. He is with us wherever we are. He is always available for us, on call for 24/7 and that there is never the need for an internet to connect with Him.

So why then, do I need a reminder that I was never alone and that I should remember Allah is with me at all times?

Why is there a need to contantly tell myself, that indeed I can reach out to Him whenever I feel lonely?

Yes, I do feel lonely, all the time, at that point of time.

And there is nothing shameful about having to be reminded to remember Allah, for indeed, Allah says in the Quran:

Image credit : iQuotes.com

It is without doubt that the virtues of remembrance of Allah benefits us immensely

In my younger days, plenty of time had gone by without me uttering His name or having Him in my heart. I was a total bummer at that.

Its those due negligence that accumulated over time that eventually resulting myself into a continuos depressive state feeling lifeless and hopeless.

I was at the point of suicidal!

The messenger of Allah ( peace and blessings of Allah upon him) said:

“He who remembers his Lord and he who does not remember his Lord, are like the living and the dead ”

And he said,

“Shall I not inform you all of the best of your works, the purest of them with Master (Allah) the loftiest of them in your stations, the thing that is better for you than spending gold and silver (in charity) and better for you than meeting your enemies and slaying them and being slain by them?’

They (the companions) said, “Of course!”

He said:

“Remembrance of Allah, the Most High”

At-Tirmithi 5/459, Ibn Majah 2/1245

So I suppose I was a walking corpse then, more like a zombie, Subhan Allah the thought already sends shivers to my spine.

It reminds me of that movie Walking Dead.

Guess that’s where the producers got the ideas from, the Quran itself!

I pray that I never have to go back to that state May Allah have Mercy on me and forgive me of all my sins.

Remember Him and He will remember you.

I thought it was just some kind of cliche that doesnt even hold an inch of truth in it. I used to ask myself, why does He need us to remember him for?

I wished that He had given me the light then, it was a long wait. I went through hell, back and forth. Forty years of my life, a wasted life.

But Alhamdulillah it was a worthwhile wait and now, these ayah just bring smiles to me. Though I live alone, I no longer feel the kind of loneliness that used to nag at me even though I was surrounded with friends partying away.

“And remember your Lord by your tongue and within yourself, humbly and in awe, without loudness, by words in the morning and in the afternoon and be not among those who are neglectful”

Quran : Al A’Araf 7:205

Now, I absolutely love my solitude.

I practice meditation, though it’s the hardest thing for me, keeping my mind focus is never an easy task. It keeps floating from space to space that I have to keep grounding it.

The best part of remembering Allah?

“Allah the Most High says, “I am with my slave when he thinks of me and I am with him when he mentions me.

For if he mentions me to himself, I mention him to myself and if he mentions me in a gathering, I mention him in a superior gathering,

If he approaches me by a hand’s width, I approach him by an arm’s length and if he approaches me by an arm’s length I approach him by two arms’ length and if he comes to me walking, I hasten to him swiftly.

al-Bukhari 8/171, Muslim 4/2061

Assalam alaikum sister, so tell me how was your day today? <3 <3