Mongolian Food and Yoga: A Chat with Michelle | @mishiim on Instagram
“Life is so rich”
Today I was able to speak with Michelle from @mishiim on Instagram. I connected with her on Instagram and she inspired me to find my own journey to health and well being. Michelle came from an immigrant family and growing up, being Asian-American, she thought that Science was her path in life. She applied for college with an Engineering major, got an Economics and Business degree, and thought that was what made her valuable, but then Michelle realized she is a creative being and that was not the road she wanted to lead. She took the wheel and changed the direction of her life. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Michelle is finding a more creative side of herself. She says, “Life is so rich. Art and creativity are worth living for and what the human experience is.” Here, I spoke with Michelle about her journey in food, the outdoors, and yoga.
Out of all the places you have been, what is your favorite dish, and what makes it memorable? The food I had in Mongolia. I was actually born and raised there and [I’ve] lived in the states for 11 years now. After around 10 years, I visited back for the first time, and just eating traditional meals was so fulfilling.
Because I spend a lot of time doing outdoor activities, I also want to talk about the meals you have on the trail. When you are backpacking or [doing other outdoor activities], you have a very small amount of things. Like camping. You just make something up and share it with the people around you, around the fire. Or after 10 miles of hiking, regardless of what your food is, a big part of it is just the experience and who you're having [food] with and what kind of connection you are making. Nowadays especially, over just dining out, [whether] you want to spend time with your friends, meet new people, or go on a date, you’re always eating.
People can get really creative though. I remember my friend having this wasabi soy sauce mushroom little dish and it was SO delicious, I was just like, “Oh wow, you can use wasabi to season regular items.” I just thought you would eat that with fish, you know? You just discover a lot of new tips and tricks.
I haven’t been to Mongolia before. What would be a typical Mongolian dish? There are dumplings kind of like the Chinese bao, but there is usually like a juice inside too, so maybe it is similar to Xiaolongbao, but it usually has beef and onion inside.
My favorite is this stone barbecue that is common when you travel to the countryside. You make it over an open fire and it’s got a lot of meat, usually lamb and vegetables inside. I’ve never had it anywhere else. It’s such a signature dish and it’s delicious. It’s quite a complicated meal too, but if you have the wheel, you will be able to learn it and you can also look it up online.
“I found yoga, and yoga found me”
Can you tell me a little bit about your journey with yoga? My main focus is well being and health. Due to my own mental health issues, a couple of years back, I started breaking out and I really was not feeling well. I was like, “What is going on?” I tried some makeup products and buying all these expensive things and nothing was working. What helped me to feel better was really listening to my body and connecting with food. [Asking questions like] what kind of food do I need and how can I step away from processed foods and eat more whole foods? I have been practicing yoga for 6 or so years now. I love this question because I would love being around the space with yoga, physical movements, and healthy being in the future. I kind of just found yoga accidentally. I remember in college I heard about this studio offering a 30-Day special and I was just like, “Oh I heard about this. Let's just see what it is.” So I went ahead and took classes and I really loved it right away.
Overall, I found yoga, and yoga found me where I had hard times figuring out who I was when I was younger, at crossroads where I wasn’t really sure what to do, or when I went through some kind of sadness. Yoga was always there. When you are doing hot yoga and you are in a very hot room, every move is very difficult to go through, but when you learn to go through it and be on that edge of your comfort zone, [you] get stronger. I have found yoga to be my teacher through all of those times.
In my first few years, I would only start doing yoga when things in my life were going turbulent. I found that it helped me and empowered me to go through it in real life. But now [yoga] is more for regular practice for me so I’m already going to be so zen and ready for it when the sh*t comes down.
I’m actually taking a yoga teacher training at the end of this year so I’m super excited. Yoga brought me so many friends, good connections, and so much insight within myself as well. I definitely grew a lot because of my practice and everything that relates to it. My favorite thing about yoga is it’s the practice of your physical body and it’s also the practice of your mental and emotional body. I really appreciate that and there is an amazing, active, yoga community in Sacramento, [shout out to] my Echo Yoga friends. [They] are amazing. I am so grateful that I am on this path. I have met so many amazing people and continue to learn and try to become a better person.
In all, I think that yoga movement and nourishing food all go around being healthy and well. That’s the space I like to grow in. With yoga and dancing, I’m finding myself and expressing myself creatively. With food, I’m finding myself to be very creative in what I do. Creativity plays into your life in communication and connection with people. I’m a creative and I’m looking to explore my potential and create new things in all areas that mold my life and I also hope your readers understand that being creative doesn’t mean that you are only a dancer, poet, or filmmaker. It can also mean you can be creative in your relationship [asking the questions like] how can I make it more nourishing? How can we have new experiences? And always be present to understand each other and communicate in different ways instead of just drawing some fancy painting. Even when creativity comes to you in that way, that’s great, but I hope everybody opens their mind to the word “creativity” and realizes we are all creative people and it could be applied in every aspect of your life.
