Paying Personal Attention

"Our relationship with ourselves is as important as any other relationship in our lives. It is easy to think that since we take ourselves wherever we go, we don't have to schedule time with ourselves. The truth is, that time spent in the company of others is attention we pay to our other relationships, and if we don't have time for ourselves then we deprive ourselves of our own company. It is during these moments that we stop hearing what we are saying, and we slowly begin to lose our center. Our other relationships begin to suffer because if we can't be present to ourselves, chances are that we won't be present to others."  -Daily Om

So often, I hear what I most need to hear when I most need to hear it. The last couple of weeks, I have been running on empty, so to speak. Things that once gave me great joy have seemed burdensome. Inspiration was not forthcoming. I felt an increased need for sleep and found myself stealing quick naps whenever I could, which is not like me at all!

These were all red flags for me, as I am typically a pretty upbeat and positive person, excited about my life and seeing opportunity everywhere. I started combing through the details of my life, looking for something that was different, something that had occurred, something I had eaten...I couldn't find anything! I was busy, but that wasn't unusual. My life seemed the same pattern- a daily weaving of work, running, coaching, friendships, personal development, and writing.

I dug deeper...there had to be something! I didn't discover it until this morning. I woke up early and carved out time to read, reflect, journal, and just LISTEN to myself. The last 2-3 weeks, I had convinced myself I was too busy and needed sleep. Therefore, this hour had been cut out of my day. I saw it as an indulgence, a luxury, a precious hour during which I could sleep or cram another hour of activity into.

But sitting here, this morning, in the stillness I sensed something different, a peace, a stillness, an inspired way to start my day. And I wasn't cognizant of it until I read the above passage from Daily Om.

It doesn't have to be at the beginning of the day, but it is so vital to our well-being to carve out time for our own personal care. If we don't spend time listening to ourselves and recharging our batteries, we are going to expend all of our energy without ever replenishing it. This makes us useless to both ourselves and others.

Can you find 20-30 minutes to carve out for yourself today? If you have a family that places a lot of demands on your time, maybe it is in the morning before the kids wake up. Maybe it's stopping at a coffee shop or bookstore on the way home from work. Finding ways to restore yourself will help you be more effective, productive, and loving when you return to the world.

Community Supported Agriculture

 Cut down on the cost of produce, develop a relationship with your local farmers, and help preserve our environment...join a CSA!


Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a great way to save money on produce while making an environmentally conscious choice. With community supported agriculture, the community member makes an investment in the farm and the farmer's salary in return for a "share" of the crop. Typically, this consists of a weekly delivery of produce for a season. It can be an economically sound decision as the investment can often be shared with another person or family. In addition, it keeps money circulating locally and cuts down on the resources needed to transport produce when purchased locally.

You can find out more about CSA's and find a local CSA farm by visiting The United States Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Library .

Another benefit...Research has shown that the fresher the produce, the more nutrient dense! Reducing travel time ensures that you are getting the freshest produce possible and by developing a relationship with the farmer, you become familiar with his farming practices, including what kind of pesticides (if any) are being used.

Let Your Inner Light Shine!

"To acknowledge that there are areas in our lives in which we excel is to fully realize the potential that lurks in every one of us. Although many of us are taught from childhood to downplay our aptitudes so as not to appear immodest, we gain little from dampening the glow of our inner light. When we let our light shine forth brightly, we discover that there are many people who can benefit from our skills and talents. Whether or not we receive accolades for these gifts is typically less important than our choosing to use them to make the world a better place. We are rewarded for our openness with the discovery that abilities with which we have been endowed are more valuable than we had imagined them to be. You will feel brilliant today when you recognize that you have so much to offer."  -www.dailyom.com

Although I am not a mom, Mothers Day has moved me into a state of appreciation for my own mom and for the miracle that is life. My thoughts have been taken on an interesting route this Mother's Day weekend as I have connected with so many other moms at the "Day for Babes" event through the Common Unity Center, and I have reflected on the purpose that we all have and the deep connection and affect that we have on each other on a daily basis. 

What is your passion? What is your purpose? Don't let fear prevent you from being all that you can be, all that you're meant to be in this life. Take baby steps. Figure out your passion, your goal, and then take one small step each day, or even each week, until it becomes reality. Reach out to others for support. Tell them what you are doing!! You would be surprised how people WANT to support you.

If you are interested in sharing your passion, please visit The Common Unity Center to connect with like-minded others and share your gifts!!

Just do it already!

Sometimes, when contemplating a change, we spend far too much time thinking about it and it never actually gets done. Why? Because we want to do it perfectly or not at all. We research all of the diet plans that we can to find the "perfect" one for us. We don't want to go to the gym yet, because we need to lose a few pounds before we can be seen in our workout shorts. If we finally take the plunge and then have a bad day, we feel worthless, convinced that we don't have what it takes to make this change. How self-defeating is that?

No matter what change you are making, it is about taking it one step at a time. Yes, you should do a little research before you begin- read a few articles or books orconsult with someone who has already made the change. This can give you a sense of confidence and help you to set goals for yourself. But please don't get stuck in this stage!

Ultimately, making a change is not about perfection. It's the little things that you do that add up day after day. If you can choose a new behavior 80-90% of the time, your life will shift in dramatic ways. So think about the quality that making this change will give you. If your goal is to lose weight, the quality you may be trying to attain is healthy and moderate in food choices. Visualize what this looks like. What choices is a healthy person  making? What are they eating? Where are they eating? What do they do when they are offered seconds? Choose one of these behaviors and try it on for size today. As you do this more and more often, it will become comfortable, exercise the areas of your brain responsible for delayed gratification and impulse control, and help you develop confidence in your ability to control your weight and your health.

Today, choose one healthy behavior and practice it. See how it feels. See whether you feel like doing it again tomorrow.

Simply Raw: Raw for Thirty Days

Raw foods have an amazingly cleansing effect on our body and supply our body with essential enzymes, phytochemicals, antioxidants, and vitamins. Once they enter our bodies, they go to work to clear out, restore, and replenish. This is not always a fun process as we detoxify sometimes years worth of abuse to our bodies. However, the end result is increased energy, vigor, stamina, clarity, health, and passion for life.

Hippocrates said, "Let food be thy medicine". However, it is amazing how far from this we have deviated. Rather than correct the imbalance that lies at the root of the problem, we have resorted to taking medicines which further imbalance our bodies, masking the symptoms of many "dis"-eases and contributing to further degeneration of our precious cells and vital life energy.

In the documentary film "Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in Thirty Days", it is evident the amazing ability our bodies have to restore themselves to health and balance when nourished with the proper living foods. In the film, six insulin-dependent diabetics are fed a completely organic, raw, living-foods diet for thirty days. The film explores the physical and emotional detoxifications that occur when transitioning to this way of eating and lifestyle. In the end, all have gained more joy and clarity in their lives. The most real and tangible benefit to them, however, is that they all were insulin-free and their blood sugars had returned to normal by the end of the thirty days! Imagine all of the pain and suffering we could alleviate if the public was educated about this way of life and knew the health, freedom, and joy that it could bring!

What step can you take today to introducing more raw foods into your diet? Going raw is a process and raw foods can be introduced slowly to intiate this cleansing process. Perhaps you replace you replace your morning coffee with a green smoothie. Then you replace one meal per day with raw. As you slowly replace cooked foods with fresh, raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and sprouted grains your body will clean out  many of the toxins and rebuild itself day by day.

Check out the trailer to this amazing documentary:

Cinnamon Banana Shake

This smoothie is completely raw, almost like ice cream, and absolutely delicious!

I got the recipe from the book Raw Food, Real Word: 100 Recipes to Get the Glow.

3 cups frozen diced banana
2 c. almond milk
2 tablespoonds agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of sea salt

Combine the ingredients in a blender and you have a delicious, frozen treat!

What Are You Doing To Move Closer To Your Goal?

Albert Einstein is famously quoted as saying that "insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." What he is essentially saying is that we can't expect our life to change if we don't change. What goes on inside of you affects your outer circumstances.


Let's take the example of weight loss, as this is a goal that many people have. If you are overweight and eating the same foods and engaging in the same behaviors, yet hoping to lose a few pounds, you will drive yourself crazy! In order for change to happen, you have to change. And it is amazing how fast change actually does occur when you take even a tiny step in the direction you want to go.


What does a tiny step look like? Perhaps you talk to someone who has lost a lot of weight and ask  how she did it. Maybe you buy a magazine that is health or fitness oriented. After you have done this, maybe you experiment with making a healthy meal or research 5K training plans on the internet. After you do this, you begin following the training plan, increasing your distance each week until you feel confident enough to actually sign up for the 5K! Within a year, you have completed a half marathon. It can seem absurd, but baby steps lead to more baby steps, and eventually you will have reached whatever goal you have set for yourself if you are persistent and create a plan.


Sometimes you may have no plan, and that is okay. Maybe you know that you want a change in your life, but you are unsure what it is. My suggestion is to do something, anything. You could research free seminars in your community- you never know when you attend something and meet just the right person that can catapult you into a new hobby or career. Maybe you try a yoga class and discover a new passion that you didn't know you had, which has a ripple effect on your life, creating greater peace in every situation you encounter.


Shake up your life! Get clear on what you desire and choose one small step you can take to move you closer to this desire.

Did You Get Your Greens Today?

So often, life gets busy, busy, busy and nutrition is the first thing to go! It is so easy to forfeit nutritious foods in favor of fast food when we feel like we can't even catch our breath, let alone take the time to prepare fresh, living meals!

Green smoothie to the rescue! Green smoothies are pretty fail-proof. Pack a banana or two into a blender with a bunch of greens of your choice, add a small amount of water, blend for a minute or so.....and voila! There are your greens for the day, packed into a drink you can take with you on the go. You can experiment with this to make it more palatable or according to your tastes- Spinach and Romaine are pretty mild. If you are feeling bold, go for kale or another more bitter green. Add some green apple or other fruit. If you want more of a frozen treat, use frozen bananas. The possibilities are endless. If you search for green smoothies on the internet, you could come up with a years' worth of recipes!

 Drink this in place of your morning coffee on the way to work for a month and see what happens. I guarantee that you will derive more energy and greater health benefits from the smoothie!

If you are further interested in the health benefits and the research behind green smoothies, a fascinating book to read is "Green For Life" by Victoria Boutenko.

Welcome to Wellness

“The concept of total wellness recognizes that our every thought, word, and behavior affects our greater health and well-being. And we, in turn, are affected not only emotionally but also physically and spiritually.” - George Anderson

Welcome to my blog! I am hoping that in it, you will find inspiration and tips for living a life of total wellness on all levels.

Our overall wellness is influenced by so many factors in our lives on a physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual level. When we examine our health, finances, relationships, home life, recreation, and spirituality we may compartmentalize these things. But as we begin to delve more deeply into wellness and choose actions that support this, we realize how much each area affects the others, that having one area off-kilter affects the whole. Think of each of these areas as a spoke on a wheel. If one of the spokes were shorter than the rest or broken, the wheel would not turn very well and you would be hobbling along, struggling to get to your destination.

So wellness is about having a clear vision of what you want for your life, choosing thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors which support this vision, and watching as life unfolds into miracles before you, carrying you along to your destiny- being authentically you and fulfilling your purpose in your corner of the world, joyfully and peacefully. 

It is my hope that through this blog, you learn what it means to be well on all levels and find encouragement, inspiration, and support on your journey.

As a wellness coach, one of the first tasks that I approach with a client is defining what wellness means to her. This is often something that she has never thought about before- most people know that they want to be happy, and happiness is most certainly a by-product of wellness.

Merriam Webster defines wellness as "the quality or state of being in good health, especially as an actively sought goal." Sounds simple enough. But what is "health"? As I dig deeper and deeper with a client, challenging her to consider these questions and what they mean for her particular life path, it becomes evident how daunting of a task this can be, but one that leads to clarity, awareness, and clear, well-defined goals that guide our coaching journey.

Ask yourself where you feel out of balance. By identifying these imbalances, you can identify ways to restore equilibrium to your life, contributing to wellness. For example, maybe you feel exhausted all of the time. Try saying that to yourself. "I am experiencing exhaustion right now." Don't attach the feeling to yourself, just identify it and identify your experience of it. Use "I am experiencing" rather than "I am". This allows you to choose a different experience.

Create a list of things that may be contributing to your exhaustion. At first, maybe nothing comes. That is okay. Continue to sit with the feeling and allow ideas to come to you. As you consider why you may be having this experience, you start to contemplate how you fuel your body. You oftentimes