Fall Equinox & September Blessings

This was a big month for me.  First, I turned fifty-five years old. Hard to believe so many years have flown by so fast!  Last year on my birthday, I made a 90 minute yoga dance video that included my daughters, my twin sister, and friends.  Just the process was so gratifying and so much fun and if it can inspire wellness in you, I served my mission. You can see some of the clips on the Carpe Diem Wellness App under Fun, Fitness & Fashion.

This year, two of my daughters went with me to Baltimore for Body Love Day where we practiced some wonderful meditation and yoga and feasted on green juice and chocolate…heavenly.

And last weekend, I was invited to be the keynote speaker for Women’s Wellness Weekend and provided an interactive workshop on my Seven Steps to Optimal Health.  First everyone patted herself on the back for already doing the first step…BEGIN.  Prioritizing time for selfcare is often the hardest task for those of us who are givers and doers.  We had begun the day with sunrise yoga, then a great breakfast followed by a warm up  of yoga dance let by Rosalie Grazzini.

The night before, we celebrated the Fall Equinox with a beautiful fire circle where we let go of what no longer served us. Most of the 90 women present gathered, wrote on index cards and threw these intentions into the fire.  There was a lot of surrendering of fear, inertia, indecision, and struggle.

The retreat center was located on a peninsula, 175 acres surrounded by water, a river and creek leading to the Chesapeake Bay. After we finished tossing cards into the fire, the most surreal thing happened.  The water next to us, that had been calm, began to churn loudly with with so much energy that the leader of the fire circle stopped talking about the fire and had to comment how water we can also be a cleansing aid to release negative energy.  Could 90 women’s thoughts and intentions have been so strong as to literally move water?  (If you were present, please share your comments on the experience.)

Next, we stood arm to arm and each one spoke of what we wanted to bring into our lives.  For when we let go of the negative energy, we open up space for new thoughts, behaviors and positive change. The most beautiful part was that we had time and space to bring in what we wanted to bring into our lives.  We wanted more fun, joy, love, and peace. We felt warmed not only be the fire but the camaraderie, of all of us united arm and arm in support of our positive intentions.

This is so symbolic of the Fall Equinox… a time to slow down, relax and let go of so much of the hot (Pitta) struggle. This is a time to savor the beauty of the fall leaves, and to be open to a new beginning, and to new ideas with the start of the new school term. For many the New Year often starts in the fall, not in January.  Commit now to a new strength to become more grounded.  A time to prepare yourself for the winter by fermenting food not only to make the harvest last through the winter but to help you prevent allergies, colds and flu through the winter.  This is a great time to do a seasonal cleanse to prepare the body for the winter.  Fall harvests like kale, collards, cabbage, cauliflower and apples are detoxifying, alkalinizing and full of vitamins essential for boosting the immune system and for good gut health. How do you strengthen your immune system?  By healing the gut and eating the bounty of the fall harvest available to us.

How will you celebrate life this fall?  Will you join us for the Savvy Secret Seven Day Cleanse or Kickstart to Wellness Program?

Carpe Diem,

Lisa

Savvy Secret Survey Results #2

Thank you again for your wonderful feedback!  What are the top two obstacles you are facing that is keeping you from feeling and looking your best?

1.     Time!   Those who have been to my cooking classes have seen the sign my daughter gave me:

Everyone laughs at this and I say that I’m going to disagree with this statement because we live in a fast food world.   Our food preparation does not need to take hours, it does not need to be too hard or expensive, but it cannot be FAKE.  

We are constantly being sold a bill of goods.  Michael Pollan, NY Times best selling food writer and author says in his book, “Food Rules” the more health claims and advertising given, the more suspect the packaged food should be.

Our grocery stores are inundated with hundreds of thousands of products that are being marketed to us, mostly convenience non-food that is designed to sit on the shelves for months, food that less organized creatures like bugs, won’t eat.  Food devoid of nutritional value and food where vital nutrients are replaced with chemicals that are “hyper-palatable” laboratory food like high fructose corn syrup, (HFCS) and monosodium glutamate, (MSG), that create strong cravings for more, mood swings and worse. There is even a new term for these: Obesogens. 

I’ve included some of my favorite whole foods that are fast, easy and inexpensive to make.

2.    Discipline! Do you think that you lack discipline to meet your goals?  Here’s an excerpt from the book where I talk about this:

YOU BECOME WHAT YOU THINK; Take an honest personal assessment and inventory

Unfortunately, what we think is buried for most of us deep within our subconscious.  We have been programmed since birth.  We come into this earth like a clean Macbook, with a blank hard drive full of promise and potential. Every input, every parental fear, every song, TV show and commercial, teacher, friend etc. writes on our discs.  We are all subject to corrupt data and information overload.  If we do not have a practice to clear out our minds and our bodies, we eventually crash. (Plus, far too often what we are choosing to read and watch and feed our minds is not much better than the synthetic junk foods we are feeding our bodies).

These downloaded messages from childhood linger within the subconscious and interfere with our goals.  My own experience is a case in point. I now recognize messages downloaded to my “hard-drive” that no longer serve me.  In high school, (despite the fact that I had won an award writing in junior high), when I told my stepfather I wanted to be a writer, he laughed at me. He said I would never be a writer because I was not disciplined enough. True, I was the “social butterfly” (and the comic relief in the family) and lacked discipline. I could continue to believe this self limiting belief or I can do what I’ve done which is to hire a coach plus engage in an accountability buddy to help me develop my discipline and focus to complete this book. We often just need a little support to develop these healthy habits.

Many of my clients tell themselves this same misperception that they don’t have the discipline to meet their goals. 

Savvy Secret: Discipline can be cultivated with the right motivation, the right vision and the right support.

In order to live life fully and to work in our zone, we have to shine light on these ANTs that have been programmed so that we can decide whether they are true or not and whether we want to continue to be limited by them. It is the attachment to these thoughts that cause pain and stress. We are not our thoughts.  It took me 40 years to fully realize this desire to write, thanks to a coaching program that offered me the structure, support and discipline to complete this goal. 

We all have discipline in some area of our life, most of us have jobs and/or families that we care for.  That is discipline.  Think about it and I think you will find at least one area in your life that have some discipline.  Discipline comes from creating habits and I can guide you toward habits that are fun and inspiring. A good coach will get you back on the path to health when you naturally want to stray or hit a roadblock.

Contact me if you want to have a discovery call to clear any roadblocks www.carpediemwellness.org.

Savvy Secret Survey Results: Everyone wants to feel and look your best and have more energy

Savvy Secret Survey Results:

Thank you to everyone for filling out my survey to be sure that I am writing about what you are most interested in.  Of course, everyone wants to feel and look your best and have more energy and less stress.  

Can you really achieve this with diet and lifestyle?  Absolutely!

Here’s some of the top questions that you sent me that you want answered in the book:

1.  How to address fatigue and what may be inherited.  (Good news is that we can change the expression of our genes with diet and lifestyle!)
2. How to take baby steps to meet your goals. (Yes, the tortoise wins the race!)
3. How to educate the American public about nutrition when the stores are full of junk and we are fed so much misinformation?  (This is a major part of the book and my goal is that this both educational and inspirational.)
4. The link between nutrition and mood and wellness and happiness. Absolutely!
5. Minimum things to do every day, easy recipes and how to address sugar cravings.
6. How to balance, high intensity exercise and rest and repair.
7. What is inflammation, how does it affect the body and how can I control it naturally?   Inflammation is the body’s natural response to healing. It is also the root cause of chronic illness when we are chronically inflamed due to diets high in sugar, acidic food, artificial ingredients, GMO’s and toxins.  I’ve definitely included solutions and those who have worked with me or have been part of my Cleanse and Kickstart to Wellness Program have witnessed the healing from lowering inflammation through food and stimulating the body’s own detoxification
8. How to live the healthiest life for the longest time! Yes! We become what we eat and what we think and our actions determine our destiny.  There are over 50 Savvy Secrets to show you how!

Next week I will share some of the biggest obstacles and challenges that you all face with some excerpts from the book.

Thank you for your interest in optimal health!

Carpe Diem.  We only have this day to live life to its fullest!

With Love & Gratitude, Lisa