Blog Posts

Love Revolution

11/8/2015

Recently I was reminded of how critical I am of myself. How much I doubt myself. How much I expect others are judging me and seeing every flaw I have. Why do we do that? Why do we think that way of ourselves and others? Why in the world would I feel that people around me are just waiting to find a way to break me down? Honestly I don't know, but we do. It was laid on my heart when I was speaking with a young man who'd had an accident, he wasn't at fault for the accident but there was an issue with the insurance so his vehicle hadn't yet been repaired. He was upset and frustrated because he thought that people were staring at him and judging him because his front bumper was torn off. It reminded me of how often I go in front of people or talk to people and wonder what they're thinking of me.
I won't lie, I do worry about what people think of me. Everybody wants to feel accepted and loved and treasured. But mediation on this helped me realize I am accepted and loved and treasured—just not by myself first. And therein lies the problem. If I don't guard myself and my thoughts I can tear myself down so much thinking “that must be what that person is thinking when they look at me” that “they” never have a chance to express what is on their mind. When given the chance to express themselves, I've found that most of the time “they” aren't thinking about me at all. The “stare” was just that person looking into space and thinking something completely unrelated to me. So this begs the questions, how do I stop the negative thoughts? Accepting myself.
Committing myself to telling me that I am loved by me, that I am enough, that I am loveable, smart, beautiful, perfectly me. Now this doesn't mean I can't improve myself, but I need to learn to accept who I am, where I am. There are lessons here. There are victories here. There is beauty right where I am at. I am enough. There is no shortage of people who can and will be negative. I don't have to be that person. And I definitely don't want to be that person towards myself. I'm making a commitment to tell myself daily how much I love me-even through my growing process. I challenge you to make that same commitment to yourself too. Let's start a revolution-to no longer perpetuate self-victimization but to keep self-celebration.

Fall is Fabulous

10/17/2015

Fall is all about transition and harvest. Going from growing to storing, long days to shorter ones, warm weather to cooler, rainier weather. This means our bodies are in transition as well. We're going from eating salads and cold, raw vegetables to needing warmer, cooked vegetables. If we don't eat the right foods, vegetables especially, we will be colder during fall and winter and more susceptible to colds and the flu. You see our body and our Earth are perfect. Our bodies know exactly what we need to keep warm and healthy. And the Earth does too. That is why at this time of year we have warmer foods that have more vitamin C and other nutrients to help us stay healthy. Your body wants to survive. It's also why we crave more food to help insulate us from the cold winter weather. This doesn't mean we need to pack on 15-20 lbs but if you gain a few pounds (typically 1-5) it is normal. Your body will lose those extra pounds over the course of the winter and in the spring when we shed all the extras from winter and start getting out and more active.
Another important aspect of winter is wanting, needing more sleep. Your body needs sleep to heal and to fight off illness and to refresh and revitalize. If we didn't have all the artificial lights we would be sleeping more during the winter. That's just how we are designed so that we can stay healthy. So give yourself permission to sleep more, eat locally grown, seasonal vegetables and enjoy the beauty of the season. Your body needs this season just like all the others. Fall is Fabulous!!!

FALLING IN LOVE WITH FALL EXERCISE

10/3/2015

As we head into Autumn; then Winter I think it's a great time to revisit movement. It's very easy at this time of year for us to decide to stop exercising and moving because the weather takes a turn. The truth is though that this is the perfect time of year to keep your movement. Our bodies need to feel each season in order to function properly. There truly is a reason for each of the seasons. When making efforts for Fall and Winter movement, be creative. Movement should be mostly effortless and feel natural. It should be activities you enjoy. Keep thinking outside of the box. Go to the pumpkin patch and enjoy a corn maze, go cut your own Christmas tree at Christmas time, go for a walk through the neighborhood to check out all the Halloween and Christmas decorations. Rake leaves and then play in them-reconnect with your inner child. If you absolutely have to be an adult all the time at this time of year winterize the house, split wood, shovel snow. All of these are great ways to incorporate movement at this time of year and get you outside time. Your body still needs vitamin D and you can still get that naturally-from the sun. All it takes it getting outside for 15 minutes a day in the middle of the day. Your body will feel and function better with both movement and natural vitamin D so get out and enjoy the seasons-your body will love you for it.

The Perfect Me

9/24/2015

As we head into Autumn I'm reminded that my body knows exactly what I need to nourish it. I find myself craving warmer foods, foods that supply a little more energy and heat. More grains, fewer salads, more warm vegetables. Root vegetables, cruciferous vegetables, foods higher in vitamin C for the cold/flu season. It is vital I stop believing the lies I was told for years that I'm not perfect, I'm not beautiful, I'm not a whole person. That I need to look different or thinner or prettier or any number of different things. It is very freeing to not have to doubt what I need or who I am. To understand the perfection of this creation I call my body. To be able to trust myself to lose weight naturally, heal my thyroid naturally, heal my adrenals naturally and take care of the whole being. I know at the root of who I am I was created perfect. I am the perfect me.

Learning to hear our heritage

8/15/2015

Today I was speaking with a friend, I'll call her “Sarah”.
“Sarah” was saying how she’s not been able to pick a watermelon this year that was really ripe and tasted good. I was telling her the way my grandpa (God bless his soul) taught me how to pick out which watermelons to buy because he rarely picked a watermelon that was not super sweet and beautiful. “Sarah” told me that the information I gave her wasn’t what the produce stocker at the grocery store told her and he’d been in produce for 15 years so he knows better than my grandpa would have. I thought “Wow!! Seriously, you’re going to reject the advice of a man who’d been picking produce since he was very young and lived to be 80 years old picking his own produce.” My Grandpa lived a very healthy life-he had to. When he was 18 he tried to join the military for WWII but during the physical they found he had an enlarged heart. He was told he would not live past the age of 21. Again, he lived to 80 years old being active up until 3 weeks before he passed. He taught me to love homemade, non-processed food and I’m so grateful.

Today I’m reminded of how often we reject the ancient knowledge, the information passed on from generation to generation about the foods we eat and how to pick them and prepare them. We reject that information for the new information science has just come out with or the latest and greatest fad because it worked for Suzy down the street. But the truth is that in doing so we’re killing ourselves. I too chased that new scientific information for more than 30 years and at the end of that wild goose chase I ended up sicker than I ever could have imagined with a bunch of doctors telling me they couldn’t figure out why I was so sick.

I finally rejected the “proven” way developed by the scientists and went back to the ancient knowledge I learned from my Grandpa and those before him and my body started healing itself.