Blog Posts

Healthy, Happy, Sexy Book Recommendation!

5/6/2018

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I just finished the book, “Healthy, Happy, Sexy: Ayurveda Wisdom for Modern Women” by Katie Silcox. She is also a student/trainee of Rod Stryker who is a well know tantric yoga and Ayurveda teacher that I have followed over the years.

Although this book it geared towards women, it also has helpful tips for men to balance their dosha (body system). The book takes you through the 5,000-year-old practice of finding balance with your body type (dosha). The main doshas are Vata (Air/Either), Pitta (Fire/Water), and Kapha (Earth). She goes into depth into each one so I highly recommend reading if you want to learn more!

There are so many Ayurveda books out there and I have used the science of life way of living over the past few years, but this one is simple to follow and really encouraged me to stay with the daily rituals along with look at how I am eating for my dosha type (y’all, I’m a Vata/Kapha!). I have loved the healthy glow from oil massage! And I make sure to oil pull/ tongue scrap dental health daily too.

So check out this book for yourself and I’ll be sharing some more highlights from it in my upcoming blogs!

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Energy Check List for an Enhanced You!

5/1/2018

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We all want to feel good and have the energy to live the best life possible. So what areas of our life do we need to check in with to see where we are imbalanced? Below is a check list to start looking at all aspects of your life and find ways to start enhancing your schedule for a more energetic you!

1) How much sleep have you gotten lately?

Sleep is an important part of your daily cycle and helps to recharge your body and mind each night. The optimal time for sleep is from 10 pm-6 am. When we go to bed after 10 pm, your body finds its second wave of energy and relaxation becomes more difficult.
Start going to bed 15 minutes earlier each night, turn off the TV or electronics at least an hour before bed and drink some warm herbal tea or water to help your body/mind relax.

2) What kind of movement have you done lately?

Movement throughout your day is key to keep the mind and body fresh, alert and happy! Park further away in the parking lot, take a walk at lunch or even doing a few stairs will help you get movement throughout your day.
What is one thing you can do right now for movement?

3) What have you eaten or drank lately?

There are foods that can increase or decrease your energy. We know the key ones like fruits and vegetables for energy boost compared to sugar and processed foods for decrease in energy boost but we can also look at whole grains, healthy fats and some protein (depending on your body) for a pick me up during the day or at lunch.
Starting your day with a warm glass of lemon water or two 8 ounce glasses of water can help jump start your day in a fresh way!
Make sure to amp up the water intake and notice the difference between physical and mental hunger. Sometimes all our body needs is a boost of hydration.
Look at what time your energy runs out during the day and what you're craving at that time. Maybe replace the afternoon sweet with some carrots or a piece of fruit.

Take time to listen to your body, what it needs and know that life is a balance. Remember to get the most important vitamin, Vitamin J(oy)!

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Boost Your Immune System with Elderberry Syrup

3/4/2018

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Oh Elderberry, why did I ignore you my whole life?

Recently I started coming to back to the healthy berry called Elderberry to help aid in building my immune system and others to protect us from this terrible flu session that we are having.

Elderberry is broken down into a syrup or juice to help to build immunity against influenza or boost to help get rid of the flu faster. It also helps with sinus pain, back and leg pain, your nervous system and chronic fatigue syndrome. It’s also used for making wine and a food flavoring but this is a whole other use!

I got my dried, organic Elderberry on Amazon and created the syrup from there. I also added cinnamon and honey. Clove and ginger can also be added to boost digestion and more immune supported properties.

So, how do you make Elderberry? Below is the recipe and this can stay in the fridge up to two weeks. Some also freeze the syrup but make sure to research how to do this properly.

Enjoy and get ready to boost your immune system!

Ingredients

2/3 cup dried black elderberries (about 3 ounces)
3 1/2 cups of water
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1 cup raw honey

Instructions

Pour water into medium saucepan and add elderberries and cinnamon (Do not add honey yet!)
Bring to a boil and then cover and reduce to a simmer for about an hour until the liquid has reduced by almost half. At that point, remove from heat and let cool enough to be handled. Mash the berries carefully using a spoon or other flat utensil. Pour through a cheese cloth using a strainer.
Discard the elderberries (or compost them!) and let the liquid cool to lukewarm. When it is no longer hot, add 1 cup of honey and stir well.
When honey is well mixed into the elderberry mixture, pour the syrup into a quart sized mason jar or 16 ounce glass bottle of some kind.
Store in the fridge and take daily for its immune boosting properties. Some sources recommend taking only during the week and not on the weekends to boost immunity.
Standard dose is ½ tsp to 1 tsp for kids and ½ Tbsp to 1 Tbsp for adults. If the flu does strike, take the normal dose every 2-3 hours instead of once a day until symptoms disappear.

You can add 1/2 teaspoon cloves or clove powder or 2 Tablespoons fresh or dried ginger root before boiling.

You can also make this in small batches too!

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Lessons of 2017

12/31/2017

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2017 was a year in Saturn for me. If you have experienced one recently, you know its a rough one! This year provided a lot of lessons including pure love, heartbreak, and awakenings especially in the last four months. As I open the page tomorrow in a new book, I've deciding to take the time to share what I have learned this year about endings and my start of transitioning into new beginnings.

I started the year with a heart full of love and ended it with a wounded and broken heart. 2017 brought a painful break up, ending of friendships that no longer served me and death of a beloved uncle. And through it all, even with a still sad and transitioning heart, I realized the love I had all along. It would be the perfect time to say it was the love I have for me but I always knew I had this. I never not loved myself. Yes, there were days of doubt, questioning and inner reflection but these were times that I worked hard to connect most to the love of myself and I started to grow after one of the darkest periods that I have had in the long time.

The love that I had all along was the love from my support group. They all know who they are and have always been my constant cheerleaders. Without them, I wouldn't be the person that I am today. These amazing individuals are all unique in their own way and shape parts of me. I know who to turn to for each situation because they are the voice buried inside of me. Each one of them were there for me to cry with, laugh over FaceTime, remind me of how strong I am, and that I wouldn't be where I am now with my goals if I had stayed where I was at.

Some of them might be reading this and to them, I say, "Thank you with all my heart." And to those who don't know me, know that you are creating a impact in my life reading this. You're impacting me by empathizing with my pain of loss, heartbreak and not being sure what lies ahead and I empathize with you on whatever lessons 2017 has provided you.

When everything you fear happens overnight or in short period of time, you understand that life is happening no matter how much you worry and that you have people who love you no matter what even if you don't see or talk to them all the time. Through the darkness, we find the light. Tonight I turn to the ancient chant of the Gayatri to awaken myself into the light of 2018. May all your blessings come true, may you find your own new beginnings and may you take with you the love that surrounds you in the new book of your life.

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Keeping the Balance in Your Life

12/17/2017

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Last week I brought in the practice of the Trimurti Trinity to my classes and this teaching is perfect for the ending of 2017 and to keep balance on this earth during the holiday season.

I've heard many people say they are busier than ever this holiday season and I have been feeling this sense of chaos as well. What has caused this season to seem more overwhelming than others? Part of this feeling is caused by not being balanced and letting the stress of the "perfect" holiday season overtake you.

So what is the Trimurti Trinity and how can it keep balance on this earth? The Trimurti is Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. When all three come together, they create the balance we need to keep life on earth following. These three can also be used to keep balance in our own personal lives.

So here is what the trinity is made of:
Brahma is the Creator
Vishnu preserves life
Shiva has the power to destroy everything

Who do we turn to and how do I corporate it into my daily life?

Here is a breakdown of who we turn to in order to find the balance in our lives.
Brahma is for creativity
Vishnu (whose wife is Lakshmi) for peaceful lives and monetary benefits
Shiva for destruction of all things unnecessary and by people who are willing to make radical changes to their lives.

We can turn to each depending on where our lives are at and we can also connect them all together to create the balance we need. We bring them all together by using our pranayama and internal mantra practice to settle into ourselves and know that the flow of life is happening whether we know it or not.

The pranayama/mantra practice is:
Inhale: Brahma (creator)
Pause: Vishnu (preserve/peace)
Exhale Shiva (let go/change)

And remember this holiday season the beauty of Bhakti Yoga and share love with all!

"It's not bhakti (devotion) to give a man some money or to give him a meal as charity. Bhakti is universal love. Seeing God in all beings, without the least idea of duality, is bhakti." -Nityananda

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Redefining Bravery

11/19/2017

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Last week I was able to experience lectures and conversations that opened my mind deeper into what bravery means in this world. I have been connecting with Brené Brown's meaning of vulnerabilities and bravery lately and realized that I am braver than I thought.

We look at bravery as something we do and we are only strong if we hold in our emotions. To be brave in this world means to not show the world who you truly are, never see you cry and to not be weak or vulnerable. What if it has been the opposite all along? I read an article that we are lonelier at work than ever before. This loneliness is leading to depression, chronic illness, stress and many other health problems. The main reason being is we aren't connecting in ways that we need to as humans. We are feeling lonely because we aren't expressing our true selves to our coworkers and only have brief conversations in fear of our jobs. We've been trained to keep our head down at work, sit at our computers all day, only email each other and have neutral conversations.

This sense of thought is hurtful for our society. What happened to the sense of community? We've lost the knowledge of seeing ourselves through their eyes. We are afraid to ask someone who looks like they are hurting if they are okay because emotions are hard to deal with. We are afraid that these emotions will ignite feelings we don't want to deal with. This week I used these lessons to connect to people. To have real conversations at work to get to know people a little more and connect on a personal level with people I normally don't see. Through these conversations, I found my own loneliness lift a little and that I am part of a community.

We need to learn to heal, experience every emotion and find gratitude in our life in order to start experiencing happiness and joy without the attachment of something bad happening next. We're starting to learn that we are all connected and when the world suffers, we suffer too. Now is the time for us to show up for ourselves in order to show up for others.

So what does this have to do with bravery? When we can fully tell our stories, express our emotions and be vulnerable to the world, we are the brave ones. I always thought that being too emotional and hurting deeply from those around me was a weakness. That I had to suck it up and not show the world how I feel or cry in front of anyone. Over the past few years and months especially, I have learned that the world needs me to show up exactly as I am. My calling is to show the path to bravery and teach others to feel their emotions, understand their thoughts and know they are never alone even when suffering makes us feel this way. Being vulnerable is never easy but know there are people like myself who see you for yourself and know you're brave!

"Owning your story can be hard but not nearly as spending our lives running from it. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy-the experiences that make us the most vulnerable. Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of the light." -Brené Brown

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Tools for Relieving Stress

11/12/2017

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Our lives are have become so fast paced that we found an art to keep ourselves busy and not really deal with our vulnerabilities and emotions. Stress piles up and can make our bodies, minds and lives explode with no warning. It's important to learn tools to notice stress, identify its source and take a moment to help bring the nervous system back into balance.

Here are a few tools that I have found helpful during stressful times:

-Take time to dive deep into a project for 27 minutes. Set a timer and work on this space only. Ignore phone calls, emails, texts, etc. until your time is up. Once your time is up, take a break and decide to come back to the project or move on to another.

-Refocus your stressful thoughts into something you enjoy doing. Go for walk, draw, color, start a long thought about project or watch your favorite movie. All these help get you out of the situation or thought pattern that is making you stressed and reconfigures the brain to focus in a new way.

-Detach yourself from technology! Stop yourself from scrolling on social media, turn off the tv or step away from the computer screen. Even doing this for 15 minutes will give your brain a rest and time away to reconnect to living a simple life. Social media has a way of showing us what we are missing out on, longing for or don't have in our lives. This can trigger unneeded stress and why add more to your already full plate!

-Take time to focus on your breath. Learning to fully breathe into your body helps you calm the nervous system and bring fresh oxygen into unconnected parts of our body. It's simple, can only take a minute or two but the benefits will last a long time.

I encourage you try a few of these this week to find a balance and allow yourself to not let stress overcome you! There are many more tools to explore, but starting out simple helps create a wellness practice that lasts. I love to hear if there are any other tools that work for you or if any of the above helped you this week!

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There's Nothing To Worry About...

11/2/2017

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Recently, I've been turning to the angels for guidance during this hard transition in my life. A few times in the past two months, I've pulled the "There's Nothing to Worry About" card. Each day when I feel lost, overwhelmed or not sure what the universe is heading me towards, I come back to this card. There is a lessons in everything and now I share the magic of this card with you!

There's Nothing to Worry About:
"You are safe, and this situation is under the perfect control of the Divine providence and universal order. Only infuse loving thoughts and emotions into the situation to ensure that the highest possible outcome flows effortlessly to and through you."
-Angels Oracle Cards by Doreen Virtue

This card comes to us to remind ourselves that we are not alone. The angels are listening and ask us to give them our worry. They provide us the inner knowledge to know that they're working us towards our greatest potential even if it feels like life is a never-ending record on repeat. Our brain is programmed to suffer and as life has become easier for us in terms of resources for survival, worry now crawls into holes that man-kind was not programmed to fixate on. Remember you're human and we all have worry to some degree, so you're not alone!

Now is the time to give your worry, stress and not knowing to the angels. It is not for us to know what the future holds but for us to stay in the present moment, breath and know our angels are keeping us safe.

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