“The most powerful relationship you will ever have is the relationship with yourself.” Steve Maraboli
Loving ourselves is by far one of the biggest challenges many have, including me. It is a daily decision, and a life long journey. One of my biggest challenges as I have written about many times is food. So I choose to surround myself with awesome humans who I can learn from, like Lisa Botts, who created this simple yet powerful post. Enjoy…
Guest Post by Lisa Botts, Vegan Chef, Founder of Good Fuel
Enough with the diets! I mean really, they only give temporary results at best and set you up for failure because they are unrealistic and unsustainable.
Let’s look at food differently. The new way of eating is about abundance. It’s about eating a broad spectrum of nutrient-rich foods.
Nutrients that the typical American diet lacks…BIG TIME! These are the vital micro-nutrients that give us natural boosts of energy, great looking skin, weight loss and, in some cases, reverse chronic and life-threatening disease.
There are only two steps you need to take to get MORE of these little guys in your body:
Eat whole, unprocessed foods.
Eat more plants.
That’s it! By eating whole, unprocessed foods the food retains the nutrients it was born with and not stripped out by machines and then put back in as “fortified”.
Micro-nutrients, like vitamin C (for energy) and Magnesium (keeps us chilled out) are abundant in fruits and vegetables. They’re your friends. The friends that want you around living your dreams and supporting you in becoming an even more awesome YOU!
Lisa Botts blogs at www.goodfuelgalore.comabout living a lifestyle of substance, cooks anytime she can and is certified in plant-based nutrition through e-Cornell University.
Want to learn more from Lisa and experience her delicious vegan fare? Join us for Whole Body Whole Business, March 1 in Los Angeles.
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
Melody Beattie
(photo credit: The awesome Anne Slattery)
Here is the audio version of this post. Thank you so much for listening.
As we enter upon the annual week of giving thanks, I could not pass up this opportunity to share my thoughts on gratitude, again.
Why do I share so often about gratitude? Simple. It saved my life.
The quote above, gracefully crafted by Melody Beattie, author of several books such as Codependent No More, spoke to my soul when I was at my darkest time, fighting for my life in rehab. So much so, that it is tattooed on the left arm. The whole quote, for those moments, I just may forget.
Recently I have received several questions about “my story”, how did I do it; you know, survive and thrive. Walk away from all the safety, security and notoriety of my career. How did I build Passion Squared? All awesome questions, many of them, being answered in my new group coaching program A(awesome) School, launching in January 2015.
But before anything else, the road to living an authentically awesome life is paved with gratitude.
OMG. So simple. Yet so very difficult for many to grasp.
A UMass Dartmouth study says “There is a complex relationship between thoughts, moods, brain chemistry, endocrine function, and functioning of other physiological systems in our bodies. Daily discussion of gratitude results in higher reported levels of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, attentiveness, energy, and sleep duration and quality. Grateful people also report lower levels of depression and stress, although they do not deny or ignore the negative aspects of life.”
I can attest to this. Living a grateful life does not mean we avoid conflict, issues, pain, or troubles in the world. No, we address those, and work through those. But at the same time, we make a choice, to practice gratitude 365 days a year.
Here are just two examples of how I shift to gratitude in what could be a defeating or stressful situation…
Traffic
People get so stressed out about traffic. Like you have any control over the road conditions or all of those cars on the freeway. When I get stuck in traffic, I focus on being grateful for the time to catch up on an audio book, catch up with an old friend on the phone, or simply sit in peaceful silence.
Delays
This could be a delay of a project, a relationship, a vacation, whatever. I see delays not as denials, but as gifts and messages from the Universe, telling me, slow down, think this through a bit more, it’s not the right time. Thank you Universe.
As I was writing this post, my ADD brain jumped over to Facebook, and then this awesome status update appeared by the beautiful Ginger Boyle…
“Reality is things to do not manifest instantly, there is a wonderful buffer of time that gives us opportunity to redirect our attention to what we want to experience. Have a beautiful Sunday! Start by being grateful.”
You see, we all have choices. I choose gratitude. Not just on the last Thursday in November, but every single day of the year.
Here is the audio version of this post. Thank you so much for listening. Enjoy.
Gifts are everywhere. Gifts can be found in the smallest things, and the grandest of experiences. I experienced some amazing gifts this past weekend as I set out on a Retreat with my friends and client Whole Body Method, a Pilates, Fitness and Wellness Studio in Los Angeles. While there are probably a gazilllion things I could share about the specialness of our time together, there were three gifts that really stood out to me.
Gift #1 Shattering The Routine A break in routine is good for the soul but even better for the mind. Can you relate to the term auto-pilot? I know I sure can. Routine to me feels natural, but also can be so limiting and keep us from new experiences. So when I realized that the Friday night Breath Workshop was going to begin right at my bedtime, I had a dilemma and a choice. Do I break my routine and be present, or fall back into the OMG I am so tired I have to go to bed? Well, I made the right choice for me, attended the Workshop, had some insane breakthroughs, and slept like a baby. Ahhhhhhhhh.
Upon arrival, it was evident we would not have any cell reception. None, zero. Hmmmmm. We had spotty wireless but in order to get it you would have to sit inside the main house, which while it was absolutely gorgeous, why in the world would I go on a Retreat and sit inside a house just to stay connected online? I actually loved to be unavailable via my phone because it helped me be completely available to the beauty and people around me.
Gift #2 Sights and Sounds of Silence I live in a very noisy world today, DTLA. I love noise, life happening. Energy. People creating. People suffering. All of it. I dig it. But there is something about absolute silence that is so healing. On the first day, I spotted the cutest lizard who brought me immediately back to childhood which inspired me to begin and almost finish the first draft of Chapter 1 in my next book, Untitled.
As evening fell and I was walking to my room, in the dark, I heard the loudest frog, which actually scared the crap out of me but also reminded me to surrender to my fears. Along with the frog was the most beautiful creek that created the most peaceful music and was a gentle reminder for me to go with the flow and surrender.
Gift #3 Look Up and Look Around
It seems like many of us move through our days and lives so quickly and almost unconsciously. It’s amazing what there is to see when we stop, look up and look around; the stars, the birds, the flowers, you know, nature. Even in the city, there’s a beautiful sky, buildings, people, art. Beauty is everywhere. If we just slow down long enough to look up and look around.
I was so inspired by not only the beauty around me but the possibility of sharing this experience with the Passion Squared community. My mind is racing and my soul is stirring with possibilities for a Whole Body + Whole Business Retreat in partnership with Whole Body Method in 2015. If that sounds as awesome to you as it does to me, click here and let me know you are interested. My dream is to have you to discover your own gifts of Calliote Canyon, just like I did. They will live in my heart forever. And for that, I am grateful.
