Many years ago I attended my first Vipassana (‘mindful meditation’) retreat where I was instructed to eat my meal very slowly and thoughtfully, chewing each bite at least 20 times before swallowing. We were also forbidden to...
The post I wrote earlier in the week about avoiding food ruts on a gluten free, dairy free raw foods diet really generated lots of interest. One of the strategies I offered for avoiding food ruts was "Make friends with herbs and spices". This spawned a lot of...
When you decide to start eating a gluten free, allergy avoidance or raw foods diet for healthy weight, strength and stamina, and to help your body heal from chronic health challenges, it can seem overwhelming. There are new foods to experiment with, comfort foods...
A friend of mine recently said, “You are the sky. Everything else – it’s just the weather.” This philosophy, inspired by Pema Chodron and other Buddhist masters, reminds us to remain vigilant to who we are in the busy-ness of...
I received an email recently reminding me of a poem that was on my website years ago when I first put up the site. With all the restructure over the years, somehow the page became unlinked and unformatted! This poem was described as "a help to those in pain and...
How do you envision your best life? Have you written out your vision, and developed a plan of action for making that dream come true? By clearly identifying what you most desire in life, and holding that story uppermost in your...
I guess it’s a good thing our juiciest fruits are harvested in the summer months. We can have fun eating them outdoors and then just hose ourselves off! I recently wrote about the pleasure of pluots, but is there better icon...
I don’t know about you, but about this time every year I’ve just about had it with mosquitoes! But I’m sure not willing to resort to a product with DEET, a chemical which can cause headaches, weakness/fatigue, breathing...
Balanced calm is as simple as breathing – alternate nostril breathing, that is. This specific pranayama (a yogic breathing technique called Nadi Sodhana) is a simple way to ease agitation and balance your thinking. It is also a...
A copy of Rodney White’s art piece, ‘Sometimes the heart should do things …’ hangs in my kitchen, a ready reminder to remain engaged with my life’s passions. It is the heart, after all, that fills us with imagination and...