Do you want the most passionate love affair of your life? Take Two Minutes to Choose Love

We rationalize and fill our minds with self limiting beliefs about how long it's going to take… to lose weight, to get our blood pressure down, to heal and repair, to change negative relationships, lifestyles, or diet…to find love, joy and happiness.

The reality is, and the beauty and the curse is, that we all have free will. We are the only species on the planet that has free will; the choice to choose at every moment every thought, what we are going to do, think, and feel. Yes, we even choose how we are going to feel about something.

We can follow our amygdala primitive brain and react based on history and past experience, or we can choose to think differently and take our mind in a different place. We can choose loving, nourishing, self-affirming thoughts and actions, or we can choose fear, worry, doubt and chaos.

Food is the foundation that gives you the ingredients needed to nourish your body; but if your mind is not in the right place, you won’t be able to digest it. Choosing stress makes it physiologically impossible to digest your food, lose weight or to heal and repair. Diet is the food you eat; nutrition is what is derived from the food. Nourishment is not just physical; it’s mental, emotional and it’s spiritual.

Here’s some food for thought. How will you choose today?  How will you make two minutes count? What choices will you make today as far as your food, relationships, thoughts and actions? Will you choose love? One of my mentors said to me recently, “Change takes only as long as you choose.”

Carpe Diem,

Lisa 

www.carpediemwellness.org

About Lisa Jackson, RN, CHC, RYT

Author of SavvySecrets: Eat, Think & Thrive, Seven Steps to Optimal Health; Lisa’s mission is to inspire wellness through speaking, writing, coaching and yoga dance.

Lisa is the Executive Director of an Integrative Wellness Program for an oncology group in Bethesda, MD; she is part of the New Self Health Movement, the International Health Coach Association, and the Wellness Inspired Network. Lisa is the mother of four adult children, a grandmother, and believes that optimal health should not be a secret!

Superfood and Super Self-Care for Super Bowl Sunday!

How I love alliteration J  Read on to see what I am doing this Super Bowl Weekend, plus the recipe that I will bring to my friends Super Bowl Party.

I am currently struggling with a sore shoulder, a message from above to pay attention and to practice what I preach. Which, btw is the most challenging thing for all of us to do! (Want to know my secret how to start? See next week’s blog).  

I have all kinds of excuses for the cause of this shoulder pain...from falling asleep while holding my grandson for hours at a time (something I am not willing to give up), combined with spending too much time on the computer (also unlikely to change).

What’s the real culprit? Runaway stress, cutting my “time for self” out, when life gets too busy. Saying NO to me and my own needs.

So this weekend is, YES, all about me…self-love and self-nourishment.   Saturday morning, after my morning sadhana (self-care ritual) I will give a private yoga session dedicated to breathwork and preparing the body for rest and digest, and relaxation. One of the essential 5 R’s from functional medicine.

Next, I am seeing my chiropractor, Dr. Joseph Esposito of Life Wellness Centre, one of the founding members in my Wellness Inspired Network Group.

Then, I am back to Beloved Yoga Studio for a restorative workshop led by Ashley Zuberi, my fellow yogini working towards our 500-hour therapeutic yoga training program. 

Sunday, is more self-love as I try something totally new. Last week I met Laura Freix of iEmbrace Wellness, at Neck Back & Beyond’s movie night where she invited me to Mardi Gras for your Heart, a chance to experience Heart IQ. This will be my pre-Super Bowl party to get heart centered.

Last but not least, is my date with my husband to a Super Bowl Party.  Since I LOVE to eat life-affirming, nourishing and delicious food, here’s my favorite time tested nacho “cheese” dip.  Picture is from one of the Living Social Demo Kitchen classes I thought last year on Superfoods. Instead of Chips, try serving with sweet crunchy jicama or vegetables like red peppers.

1 cup sunflower seeds soaked 1/2 hour

1 lemon juiced

1 small tomato (optional)

11/2 T chickpea miso

1/4 cup water (may add more if you want thinner dip)

I clove garlic

1/2 cup of red bell pepper

1-2 T nutritional yeast

Optional: jalapeno pepper (remove seeds and mince)

Add all ingredients in a blender or food processor, add 1/4 c water at a time until desired consistency. 

Enjoy the life affirming benefits of B vitamins, probiotics and phytonutrients in this nourishing and delicious dip!

ABOUT LISA JACKSON, RN, CHC, RYT 
Lisa is an author, inspirational speaker, retired RN, Certified Health Coach and Yoga Teacher. Her book, Savvy Secrets: Eat,Think & Thrive; Seven Steps to Optimal Health, is a self health book to enable healing from within. Her goal is to inspire wellness and to help others look and feel their best at any age. Lisa is part of the New Self Health Movement, the International Health Coach Association, and the Wellness Inspired Network. She is the mother of four adult children, now a Grandmother, and believes that optimal health should not be a secret! When she is not coaching, speaking and writing, you can find her practicing yoga and joyfully sharing Carpe Diem Dance at every opportunity.