We are More than the Servings on our Plates ||

This was originally posted to There's Beauty in Recovery last week... jump through to the site at the end of the excerpt to read more...

Today, I write this having just had a meal that was composed of every color of the rainbow. It was beautiful for my body and for the planet and for the soul. It provided me energy and strength and kick-butt properties that help me fight cancer and support my immune system, all while tasting so darn good. Food is so much more than what we choose to put in our mouths. Food shapes our emotions, our sense of culture, our seasons and ages and time periods. In some countries, it makes a political statement. In others, it demonstrates a political affiliation, a movement, an opinion. We charge our global footprint based on the foods we consume, we liberate some and harm others. We can make change with food. Food? Yes. It is so much more complicated than the bite that passes between our lips. This. This is what changed my life. This is what made me fall in love with the enemy. This is so much more important than just me with my plate – this is my life and my future and my imprint on this beautiful, divine Earth... [keep reading]

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anything exciting going on on this wonderful hump day? comment below...

xxoo

Life as a Practice ||

This was originally posted to There's Beauty in Recovery a few weeks ago... jump through to the site at the end of the excerpt to read more...

I was sitting in yoga the other day, blissed out and listening to Sam Smith’s Nirvana and Safe with Me, when it occurred to be that in class, we are often told that there is no mastering a pose. When you think you have gone as far as you have gone, there is always a tweak, a transition, or a place to go further and explore a little more.

Huh. There is no mastering? So I don’t have to constantly feel like I am not enough or I don’t compare?

Yes! There is no need for feeling that sense of lack, because exactly where I am is enough. If one day I cannot even get into a pose I could just yesterday, that is okay, because I am exactly where I need to be in this very moment. I do not exist in the body of yesterday or the person of tomorrow. I exist in this very moment and that is all that matters.

With this vibrational shock to my core, I naturally took it to everyday life, and here’s what I learned. You can’t master life either. Nope. What happened yesterday, what you wore, what you ate, what you felt, all of that happened in the past. And you aren’t there anymore. You are here! You are reading this post and maybe realizing that life, like yoga, is just a practice. It’s not a practice for a big finale, either. Just a practice that is always ebbing and evolving and flowing into magnificence until one day you pop up in the most extraordinary version of an adventure and you realize woah – today it was all just meant to work. [read the rest...]

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Stay tuned to tomorrow's post -- a little coconut chocolate bliss recipe and then the benefits of coconut over the weekend! Woohoo. Love you all.

anything exciting going on on this wondrous hump day? comment below...

xxoo

Truth Walking ~ 9.1.14

Walk in your truth while allowing others to have their own truths as well. Notice how the world naturally becomes an ideal sanctuary. People are living in harmony with one another, with no judgment, an absolute acknowledgement that we are all human, friend, and spirit, and therefore deserving of love, truth, and respect.

September already!! Two months and my birthday comes… woo! I'm getting ready to write my birthday list, sending out positive vibes and intentions to open my heart to receiving. I firmly believe that you receive what you put out into the universe. But there’s something to think about—learning how to open ourselves and be receptive to love and happiness just as much as we give our heart and emotions to others. I know I have difficulty accepting an offered hand or word of praise. Because to be receptive, I have to be vulnerable and aware. Of suffering, guilt, sadness, bliss, peace, and vibrancy. Sometimes this is the only thing I can accomplish during the day, and other times times it's so hard I can only hope for an ounce of awareness.

But each day is an opportunity to start fresh, so take that chance and be receptive, breathed, and loved!

Just start today loving and being loved. Imagine it. Let your pores breathe it in! Let your being soak up what is good and bad and beautiful. And then share it with others. Share your good, allow another to be receptive, and repeat the beautiful process until we are all humming with gratitude and loveliness and truth.

||Gratitude||

I am grateful for my truth.

I am grateful for those that allow me to be exactly who I am, whether they agree with my ideas or not.

I am grateful for fire, water, earth, & air.

I am grateful for sleeping in too late and allowing myself to let it go.

I am grateful for readers in different countries that draw forth my curiosity and love.

I am grateful for collaborations with inspired spirits thousands of miles away.

I am grateful for creativity.

I am grateful for Netflix and naps on hazy Sunday afternoons.

I am grateful for breaks and breaths.

I am grateful for profound self-discoveries.

I am grateful for the realization that today is perfect. Living for tomorrow, the future, the ifs and whens, doesn’t bring gratitude and love now. To be present is to be surrounded with happiness and purpose. To live for a later time is false hope and a lack of reality.

I am grateful for the present.

I am grateful for love.

I am filled with the heart-overflowing-with-love emotion for those who read my posts, support my dreams, and allow me to walk in my truth.

Where would you be if you walked in your truth instead of your shoulds?

xxoo

[picture of a Carolina sunset by yours truly]