Let Go of Stress – 3 Steps to Help the Process

Too often we forget how simple and sweet life can be, how it is supposed to be. In the hustle of life we tend to loose track of what ACTUALLY matters…which is OBVIOUSLY a terrible thing!

Over the past several months I have been allowing the seriousness of life to link up with everyday stresses, resulting in a perpetual chain of things to do and time to spend in places other than those places that deeply nourish me.

But a few weeks ago I renewed an important commitment to myself, which is to tap back into the blissful state of mind that is waiting just on the other side of stress. It’s funny how easily we can forget to come back to this “home base”, this alive, peaceful, and conscious mindset/place.

Being busy is fine and can be very fun and rewarding on many different levels, but to allow it to cut into those personal practices that nourish you is not the way to live a long and joy-filled life. We create Heaven and Hell on earth through what we CHOOSE to focus on… and the world will push you into that place of torment if you allow it to. We have to vigilantly stand guard of where our minds go if we truly want to tap into our personal power and the deep well of love that fuels us.

The careless breeze, happy birds, and kid’s songs I heard this morning reminded me of one of the best things you can do for you body and your mind…. which is none other than rest. This morning’s moment was inspiring and it was the perfect reminder for me to continue (and to deepen) my commitment to nourishing myself.

It is so easy to get wrapped up in day to day activities and responsibilities, but we must remember that the MOST important thing is to spend sufficient time rejuvenating ourselves. Doing so enables us to show up more fully in the world, to face challenges with alert optimism, and to be present while giving our undivided attention to the job at hand.

Focusing is a lot easier when we aren’t daydreaming about escaping our duties! Remember, we can only give sufficiently if our cup is overflowing. I implore you to wake up each day with a plan of how and when you are going to etch out a little bit of time to take care of yourself. Will it be yoga? a bike ride? meditation? a walk in nature?

It is so easy to forget, but taking care of oneself really should be the MOST important thing. We cannot give sufficiently without nourishing ourselves first. If the fruit tree doesn’t receive enough water, it won’t fruit. For me, reminders are crucial. Here are a few helpful ways to keep yourself on track.

1. Pre-Commit. When you make a plan and budget your time appropriately you enable yourself to exercise, meditate, enjoy a nourishing tea, etc. WITHOUT guilt. Commit 100%…not 99%. That one (missing) percent gives you an easy out that may soon spiral out of control. When you commit 100% you won’t let this sacred time be compromised!

2. Take care of the most important things first. Because will power is fueled by glucose, you have more will power during the morning hours than you do in the evening, so take care of the hardest, most important, or most dreaded things first. Getting a win or two under your belt first thing in the morning is an important way to trigger serotonin release and to create healthy momentum for a productive day.

3. Prominently display encouragement and inspiration related to your goals. Just like new years resolutions or weight loss programs, we like to think we will change – but often we do not follow through till the end. These types of reminders are a great way of getting and keeping yourself going. Reminders can be simple post-it notes in specific places (moved around occasionally so you don’t start ignoring them), quotes, or emotion-provoking/visually appealing displays. For example, if you want to create a new habit of reading and drinking herbal tea, position your tea cup and book in a place (and in a way) that will invite you to follow through on that decompressing and energizing activity. Symbolic reminders need to be…well, symbolic! They need to mean something and instantly remind, encourage, and inspire you on a subconscious level.

Sometimes keeping stress at bay only takes 10 minutes a day. So what will you add into your life that will take away some of those burdens on your mind?

What You Focus On Grows

The whole idea that by simply focusing on something will actually bring more of it into your life may seem strange. However, if you play with the idea for a little while, you will quickly see what is meant by “What you focus on grows”. For an easy example, think about body builders. When they focus on building muscle, the muscles grow. Of course it takes more than just thinking about it and hoping that it will happen. When you focus on building muscle, it will probably lead you to research how to actually do it. You will probably be led to talk to people who have successfully built up their own bodies, you will likely research the topic on the internet and you may hire a personal trainer to direct you and speed up the process. Focusing doesn’t mean staring. Focusing doesn’t mean magically creating. Focusing means devoting significant amounts of time and energy to accomplish your goals.

Really, we are talking about manifesting what we want out of life (think: law of attraction), whether it be health, happiness, love, intelligence, money, fame, or combinations of different things. When we want something in life, we can acquire it. And as the old addage goes, don’t worry about the “how”, that will come.

When we focus on a health issue in the wrong way, it grows in the wrong way. What does that mean? Well, when you focus on your shoulder pain or your migraines using a language such as “why does this pain have to be so bad” or “why does it have to happen to me?” you actually play the role of a victim disallowing yourself the ability to gain control of the situation. Thinking of how bad the pain hurts and how much you hate it is not something that I recommend. Think about it this way, when you hate something that is part of you or your own body, you are hating a part of yourself. When you hate a part of yourself, you are trying to deny that piece of your Whole Being from love and attention. Stereotypically, men will “hate” a health issue or pain by ignoring it, and in general women will ignore it also but in a different way. Men ignore their symptoms by “being a man” about it and not complaining and not worrying about it. Women tend to ignore their symptoms by continuing to say “Yes” to people and situations they know they should say “NO” to, just not listening to their body when it says (or screams) “Slow Down”.

So, try this for your health complaint or pain…Think about the situation in a solution oriented way opposed to a problem oriented way. We are so used to looking at the problems of our world and we don’t have enough time or pay enough attention to creating solutions. The next time that you have a problem, first of all don’t deny it. Give it some credibility and let yourself believe if only for a moment that it is actually there for a reason and that it is actually NOT an accident. When you think about things in this way, you cross the bridge of being someone who is a victim into someone who is a Powerful Co-Creator of his/her reality! If you don’t think that this style of thought is for you or that it would really make a difference, try it out before dismissing it. I can tell you that living in a left brain dominated society has made us imbalanced and has led to us missing out on many experiences for ourselves. The right brain is the part of ourselves that is not linear and logical. Let it take up its role in our reality by starting to shift from problem oriented to solution oriented. I’m sure that you will be happy that you did. Leave your comments below to share how this approach has changed your circumstances.

Pre-Order Your Raw Chocolate Truffles

5-Minute One-Pot Mini Peanut Butter Cups (Healthy, low-carb, and delicious!)

This is a simple version of making peanut butter cups that you’ll find very easy. These minis combine the nut butter with the chocolate for a quick stir-and-set treat.

Yield: 16 servings (mini cups)
Active Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Preferences: Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Vegan, Paleo

Ingredients
• 6 Tbsp. unsweetened organic cocoa powder
• 3 Tbsp. virgin coconut oil
• 3 Tbsp. Creamy Organic Peanut Butter (or your nut butter of choice)
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (optional)
• 4 tsp. coconut sugar (or organic maple syrup)
• 1 pinch finely ground Celtic Sea Salt
• 8-10 drops NuNaturals Stevia (to taste)

Tools
• Heavy-bottom saucepan
• Candy molds or silicone muffins cups or paper mini muffin liners in a mini muffin pan

Preparation
1. In a medium saucepan, combine cocoa powder, coconut oil, and nut butter over very low heat. Stir occasionally until mixture is completely liquefied.
2. Remove from heat and stir in salt, vanilla (if using) and coconut sugar. Add stevia to taste.
3. Pour mixture into silicone candy molds, silicone muffins cups, or paper mini muffin liners in a mini muffin pan.
4. Transfer to freezer to set (about 15 minutes).
5. Pop the peanut butter cups out of silicone molds
6. Store them in airtight container in freezer or refrigerator.

Nutrition Information Per Serving
47 calories, 4.4 g total fat, 2.6 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 0.24 g monounsaturated fats, 0.06 g polyunsaturated fats, 0 mg cholesterol, 8.7 mg sodium, 2.1 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 0.56 g sugars, 1.1 g protein

And for more than 50 additional makeovers of your favorite treats… plus valuable education on how to live a low-glycemic lifestyle, without giving up your favorite sweets, try out Carefree Candies – Your Guide to Healthy Homemade Indulgences.

Are You Sad?

There are so many people that suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder. Simply, SAD. There are many reasons that this occurs, but some of the main reasons this symptom raises its head this time of year is because of these foundational aspects:

1. The sun that we are so used to seeing here in Central Texas is hiding more than it ever does during the year. The sun sends us an abundance of full-spectrum energy that we need for life and health. Of course it also helps us to produce vitamin D within our bodies. Vitamin D is well known now to be an essential ingredient in so many processes of our body. In fact it is actually a “pro-hormone”, much more potent than just a vitamin. Beyond vitamin D, there are also many known and unknown aspects of the sun’s energy that keep us strong and healthy.

2. Our diets tend to go south during this time of year with all of the parties and festive events. This all tends to start at Halloween when we gorge on candy and it continues through Valentines day in mid-February. Since there are so many opportunities to indulge, many people will just decide not to worry too much about their diet during this period of time (which consists of about three and a half months)! I can list 147 reasons why you don’t want sugar to be a part of your diet, and many of those reasons have to do with the fact that it screws up your hormonal balance and creates tendencies that you don’t want.

3. Family. Need I say more? Ha, just kidding….kind of. I’ve seen some of my most healthy and well-rounded patients get completely stressed out during the holidays. It happens to the best of us, and in fact, Ram Dass said, “If you think you are so enlightened, go and spend a week with your parents.” Our family thinks they know who we are, but usually they know who we were much better.

                                                                “Usually people are completely unaware of the roles they play.

                                                                                         They are those roles.”~ Eckhart Tolle

So, there are a few reasons you may be feeling blue this time of year. Blue is just a state of mind. It too will pass. If you need to, spend a couple of days in a “pitty party” for yourself. But don’t let it take over your life…these types of party’s can become a slippery slope.

“The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation

but your thoughts about the situation.”

~ Eckhart Tolle

Here are a few things that you can do to break out of the blues, or keep it away.

1. Observe the 80/20 rule by indulging only 80% of the time. For instance, two out of every eight meals, allow yourself a desert or a bite of a desert. When you master this, move onto the 90/10 rule (same principals).

2. Eat protein or something healthy before every “bad” piece of candy or desert. Filling your belly with quality will cut down on overall quantity. You can only put so much into your body any given day. So fill up with the good stuff first. Also, make a new recipe for dinner or make a new tea for sipping.

3. When the sun comes out, be sure to get in it! Even stand by the window if you can’t go outside. 15 minutes per day is often adequate.

4. Ground yourself! We live in an electrically charged world. There are so many positive ions floating around and bouncing off of you that it will create imbalances. Electricity is absolutely everywhere so take the time to walk barefoot on the earth. Seriously, this is not a meaningless or woowoo thing. When you are barefoot on the earth, you are grounded and these electric currents aren’t trapped in you. Again, 15 minutes a day will usually suffice for getting the effects.

5. When you do go home to family, make sure that you don’t add to a negative situation. Really, it’s not worth it. Let the ego relax and imagine a brilliant inner light that comes from within you and attracts only positive experiences. When something is said or done that normally gets you upset, know that this is the ego that is getting upset and that you can operate from your higher self, your brilliant angelic higher-self if you so choose. It is all about choice. You may be surprised how the situation will change.

“What does not move through you defines you” –Unkown Author

If the depression or SAD has grabbed a hold of you this winter and just won’t let go, look into some things that are proven to work for emotional issues such as Body-Mind Nutrition Oriental medicine, or Brianwave Optimization. Call us to see which one is right for you.

Enjoy the holiday season, and if you aren’t looking forward to it at all…remember it to will pass.

Smoothie Recipe – A Wave of Almond Joy!

Ingredients

1 heaping Tbs. of almond butter

2 Tbs. raw cacao nibs

1/8 – 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/2- 1 tsp. cinnamon

8-10 oz. almond or coconut milk (no sugar added)

1/2 – 1 tsp. honey or 1/2 banana

4 ice cubes

Right before blending is complete, add 1 Tbs. coconut oil

Directions (warning! very complicated!…ha just kidding)

Place liquid in the blender first, add everything else except coconut oil. Blend and then add the coconut oil at end to avoid clumping (ice+coconut oil = weird clumping textural experience)

Enjoy!!! YUMMM

Purification Time!

Detoxification is an important natural part of life. Our bodies have innate intelligence and know how to heal. The only two pieces of the detox equation that we have to be a part of is:

A). Getting out of the way (ie. letting it happen), and

B). Giving the body the right foods while avoiding the “wrong” ones.

Detoxing is a natural process that all forms of life go through. Many animals will go without eating one or two times each year in order to let their body enter into a period of increased cleansing, which then helps rid the body of accumulated substances therefore increasing vitality.

Cleansing is not fasting. Cleansing and fasting are two completely different things.

Cleansing is giving your body an abundance of what it needs to unlock toxins that have been stored away. Fasting is allowing your body to prioritize cleansing over metabolizing. Needless to say, cleansing is much easier on the body and much easier on you.

Toxins and Fat

Did you know that most of your toxins are stored in your fat cells? One reason that many people are overweight is because of the toxic load they are carrying. Fat cells act to neutralize toxins (as best as they can) by coating them in fat so that the organs and tissues of your body are protected from the damage that their free radicals create.

Because fat cells store toxins, cleansing the toxins out are one of the reasons our 21 day purification program helps people to lose weight.

We are our Environment

Even if you eat really well, you should consider a regular cleansing program once or twice per year. We are sponges in our environment and we are exposed to chemicals and metals on a daily basis. There are now 80,000 man made chemicals in the environment that did not exist over 100 years ago. Wow! Many of these are considered safe by the FDA and some aren’t even labeled.

Foods as Toxins

Even the foods that you consume on a regular basis can cause you problems that you wouldn’t expect. For instance, many people consume wheat three times (or more) per day every day of their life. This is not natural and will eventually lead to problems. I can explain the different reasons why you don’t want to consume this much of any food, but I’ll leave that to another post. Clearing these common (and often processed/denatured) foods from your diet for the magical three weeks will do you a world of good.

So what are you waiting for? If you haven’t cleansed in the last year, you definitely want to do your body (and mind) this favor. Our Purification program is designed to make it as simple as possible for you. We give you all the real food supplements that you need so that you have the abundance of nutrition to unlock some of those stubborn toxins. We also give you 50 great recipes, a guidebook, daily emails to motivate and encourage you, and free support by phone if needed.

AND, we are giving you 25% off this week only! So, give us a call to start yours.

If You Know Your History…

…“Then you would know where you’re coming from. Then you wouldn’t have to ask me who the heck do I think I am.” Ah…the words of Bob Marley! In another song…”Remember that I and I are the roots, Some are wolf Inna sheep’s clothing.”

…Wise words indeed!

We have to know our roots in this world. We have to reconnect with them if we don’t know them…if we have lost them, if we are confused. We have to know who we are in order to grow into who we can and will become.

Searching your genealogy, the meaning of your name, your birth signs, etc. can help tremendously. But getting to the roots of your food is what I want to talk about here. There is so much value in knowing where your food comes from, and being connected to that major source of nourishment. When we are connected to our food we are automatically more healthy, vibrant, and limitless. There are so many different dimensions to every action that we do that most of us are completely unaware of. When we go into the grocery store and load up on cheerios, toaster strudels, sodas, bagels, etc. we are consuming a lot of calories at the same time that we are starving our body of what it really needs – Nutrition! And when we feed these things to our children, we are robbing them of their ability to access a greater potential in life.

When we let go of these convenience foods and actually spend a little time on the preparation, consumption and digestion of our food we give ourselves a great gift. Greater than I think many of us realize. As we all know, we are creatures of habit. But most habits need to be broken. The term habit infers a subconscious action, but when we know what we are doing and the consequences it is called other things such as addiction and laziness. Of course a lot of the times we buy these “foods” because we are stuck in a poverty mentality too.

This is a huge condition in our country and our times. The poverty mentality invades most people’s minds, giving the assumption that organic food is too expensive. I also see a lot of this in my practice when I am told that alternative medicine is too expensive because insurance doesn’t usually cover it. My reply to this is simple. I believe and have seen proof of this many times, that when we spend time and money (two of the most valuable things really) on our food, our mental health and our physical well being, we don’t get sick, don’t stay sick or don’t need to seek drugs and surgery. As someone who has not had health insurance in eleven years, I can say proudly that I haven’t needed it. Yes, of course there is always the argument that insurance is important to pay for accidents, etc. but hey, that is what savings, Aflac and car insurance are for.

There is a huge movement going on right now. People are buying local, organic, and sustainable more than ever, well since the agricultural revolution anyway. This is so exciting. Maybe because food is becoming more expensive we will actually start eating more nutritious foods by necessity. And maybe when we start eating these foods we will see our bloated medical industry shrink to a more appropriate size due to lack of its importance in daily life. Maybe we will fall a few points closer to the healthier countries like Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Columbia, etc. Yes, you heard that right, our health as a nation is poorer than a total of 11 NON-industrialized countries. How does that make you feel? I’ll talk more about this in another post.

So grow a vegetable or two this year, and add one each season. Go to the farmers market, it is an amazing place to celebrate local culture and local food. There is such a feel-good aspect to a farmers market. There is a vibrancy there that even just going and being there brightens your spirits. We have to get back to our roots, meaning we have to get back to REAL FOOD if we want to make it!

50% of men get cancer and 33% of women. This is ridiculous and there are many things that we can do to PREVENT IT. So many organizations are working to cure cancer and so few in comparison are helping to prevent it. We’ve got to take back our health and our power. So get to the farmers market this weekend, call up your local CSA if you’ve been debating it, “splurge” on your produce at Central Market, or trade your basil for your neighbors tomatoes! Pick a peach off of a neighbors tree and give them some okra. It’s now fall in Austin and an amazing place to grow and forage food. So get to it!

Time Saving Kitchen Tips

Happy Valentines Day!

Well, there are no desert recipes today, look at to our recipe box for those, but here is some practical information you can use in the kitchen.

We have all heard that we should consume less fast food and more real food. Of course the fast food industry is staying the course, and always will try to coax us in the door. But, as a whole, our subconscious drive is becoming less and less susceptible to the appeal of the golden arches or the charm of the Colonel’s smile. We know that eating fast food appeals to our emotions and contributes to our sense of comfort, and there are many reasons for this including the amounts of fats, sugars and carbs typically found in the “foods”. We could speculate and even verify that there are many other reasons we crave the quick fix of fast food, such as chemicals that affect neurotransmitters and hormone levels. Remember how in the movie “Super Size Me”, Morgan Spurlock was completely addicted to Micky-D’s even thought he felt horrible after eating it?

Well, there are many reasons that we want those foods, the top 7 reasons are as follows..

They’re quick.
They’re easy to get to.
People like the taste.
They’re inexpensive (not counting the cumulative toll on your health).
People claim to be too busy to cook.
It’s a “treat”.
People don’t like to prepare food.
I’ll stop here. But basically, people stray towards these foods (and really I do hesitate to call the foods since a true food nourishes the body) mainly because they are quick, easy and monetarily inexpensive. The whole thing about it tasting good doesn’t make sense to me since all real food should taste good if it is prepared well. So if these top reasons are our “need” for fast food, how can we transform the circumstances that lead us to the front doors of these establishments (since transformation is the only way something can sustainably change)? And unless you have been living under a rock, you know that eating nutrient dense foods is one of the top ways of staying healthy. So, how can we make it easier?

A dear friend recently gave me a Mother Earth News magazine, and there was a great article in it that I thought had great information on how to save time in the kitchen. So if you want to change the circumstances that lead you astray, try the following tips:

Batch-Process Produce. Take a few minutes when you get home from the market to rinse, chop and properly store fruits and veggies so they’re ready to use.

Soak beans overnight and keep them in the fridge for the week or freeze some to thaw when you need them.

Make double batches and freeze. Especially useful for baked dishes.

Use a slow cooker. Start it up in the morning for dinner!

Pre-measure the required spices and dry ingredients of your favorite dishes and store them in a container for speed seasoning when you’re ready.

Put roasts in the oven before bed at 200 degrees (helps keep your house warm during winter nights and cool during summer days), pop it out when you wake and an hour before dinner put it back in at 350.

Chop extra for today’s meal and package them for another.

Cleaning as you go makes the whole after dinner experience better and cooking becomes an overall less dreadful project.

Juice your meal or eat them raw. Most raw foods have so many more enzymes and vitamins than their counterparts.

Structure determines behavior. So change the structure of your environment so that it is easier and quicker than jumping into the car and driving to eat that chemical burger at the fast food shop.

Simple Dessert

 Ingredients and Directions:

Slice mangos and strawberries, place in bowl

Pour organic coconut cream all around

Toast coconut shavings until just slightly browned and sprinkle on top

And there you have it…there is a delicious vegan dessert!

Use this recipe or change out the fruits with berries to help yourself transition off of sugar and floury deserts.

Enjoy!