A SOLISTICE RITUAL AND RECIPE

 The temperature outside has fluctuated to a chilly low in Colorado this week.  I have often been bundled up with blankets by the fire, drinking hot tea and relaxing.  My brisk wintery walks have been invigorating, and my warm soothing baths have been the perfect anecdote for getting cozy.

The winter is definitely upon us.

Both the winter and summer solstice have been my favorite days since I was just a young child.  In northern Canada, where I grew up in my early years, the solstices (winter and summer) were pretty extreme.

The dark nights of winter were very dark, cold and long, and the light days of summer made the days seem to go on forever.  For me, there was an obvious magic to nature and her cycles, even back then.

So today, on one of my most favorite days of the year, I decided to OPEN registration a little early for THE YOGA OF EATING 2017 as well as bring to you my wintery gift – THE SOLSTICE SESSIONS.

For the next few weeks, I will be sharing with you the FREE rich and heartwarming Solstice Sessions.  These are my little whispers of winter’s wisdom, some guidance as we descend into the darkest nights of the year, and some appetizers from my most complete body of work, THE YOGA OF EATING 2017 that begins this January. (registration is open).  I hope you enjoy some of this free content, as much as I love creating it for you.

Because… what I used to consider a cold, stressful and tender time of year has now become a time I cherish.

When I say descend, what I mean is my descent into my inner world - through all her peaks and valleys – where the darkest nights of the year have become a great teacher and chaperon to my own insight and wisdom.

Some would say this descent has been known throughout time, myth, and story as a descent into the underworld.  Others see it as the most potent nights to pray or connect to our higher selves. Often we hone how to vision with clarity and precision for the upcoming New Year.

The dark nights expand to cultures worldwide with unique and diverse wintery wisdoms and rituals.

In today’s Solstice Session you will learn:

• Learn the biggest challenge women face over the holidays.
• Some short and sweet solstice rituals begin your own dark night descent – embracing winters wisdoms.
• How to restore your life force and your energy with my most favorite winter warming smoothie.

Have you been busy bustling and hustling to get ready for your holidays? Amidst all of the gift buying, holiday parties and decorating things can get pretty zany out there.

The most common complaints we all know during the holidays: tired, drained, doing too much, over extended, and trying to please everyone else.

This is the # 1 challenge women face each holiday season.

The energetics of winter remind us to hunker down, slow down, and restore our prana (life force). We benefit from cooking our food slow and long, finding coziness and warmth together in our families and communities, while warming our hearts with connection to ourselves and others we love. Follow these three R’s for some simple reminders and reflections.

RESTORE

This year, turn over a new “snow flake” and give to yourself first. You will have plenty more to give to those you love when you do.

How you might ask?

That is exactly what Solstice Sessions are for. Little winter wisdoms to inspire you and remind you that you can live as your own VIP.

Try these daily practices to stay centered and calm:

• Create some daily down time – just for you.
• Go bed a little earlier – winter is a time for rest and restoration.
• Reflect with your inner self – journal, meditate, listen inward
• Take warm soothing baths – these will relax you, boost your immune system and help you sleep
• Bundle up and get outside – the crisp winter days bring energy and vitality
• Order your gifts online – avoid those lines and the holiday bustle
• Say NO more often – save your YES's for the important stuff
• Keep things simple in your celebrations – simple is the new smart

RITUALIZE

The winter solstice is the perfect time to begin a reflection practice for the years end. The darkest night in many cultures has symbolized the new year and returning of the light.  Often winter solstice rituals include candle light, fires and warming foods.

Take some time to look back on your year and enjoy contemplating all the things you have been through (easy or tough), and the life lessons learned in the process, the intentions actualized, and finally bridge some ideas as to where you are heading for the new year to come. (more on the years beginning ritual to come soon)

• Release the old with reverence
• Celebrate the small successes and the little things that matter most
• Relish in the magic of synchronicities, the power of intentions and the opportunities that have come your way.
• Let go of judgement and self-criticism (pretty please)
• Most of all…Count your blessings – big and small

Here some ways create a winter solstice ritual moment:

• Light candles or lanterns and savor the darkness as you take some time in silence to hold your year in a magical embrace.
• Release the old with a fire ritual – burning a list of the aspects of your year you would like to release or let go of. Be gentle with yourself. Use a fireplace, a fire pit, or even hold the burning paper and flush it.
• Spend some time writing in your journal reflecting on the past year, who you were when the year began last January, and what you have learned about yourself and life since then.

REPLENISH

Winter eating entails preparing seasonal whole foods that can be stored, canned, or kept for the colder days of winter. Emphasize warming foods that stimulate digestion, circulation, and immunity.  Share food with loved ones, focus on the pleasure of eating and the coming together of love and light.

Here are some good winter foods to explore:

• Warming soups and stews
• Root vegetables
• Beans (especially adzuki and mung beans)
• Miso and seaweed
• Garlic and ginger
• Warming spices like cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg and cloves.

Try this wintery warming smoothie to nourish your body, mind and soul.

smoothie-gingerbread

Recipe by Chef Bailey Ruskus

This is my holiday treat for you this year.  A candlelit path into the darkest nights of the year and some tasters from the The Yoga of Eating 2017Online Course and Community that begins this January – check out all the details below.

The Yoga of Eating 2017: the most in depth and detailed body of work I offer, a way to work with me personally while feeling the support of others on a similar path … to transform your relationship to food and your body.

Many of you have daydreamed of life filled with positive thoughts and habits that support your health and your happiness. If that is the case, The Yoga of Eating is just right for you.

This 6 month online course and community is full of incredible resources, potent international guest teachers, deep and reflective monthly content, guided yoga and meditation practices to enhance your inner journey, a beautiful circle of women from many corners of the world, and age old practices that guide us to deep healing from the inside out.

Click Here to learn all about The Yoga of Eating 2017 … and how this year you can become your own VIP in all things health and happiness.

FROM MY KITCHEN TO YOURS

The fall wind has been stirring up the fallen leaves around my neighborhood this past week. I have been enjoying my brisk and invigorating late afternoon walks amidst the crimson and golden trees.

It is such a beautiful time of year here in Boulder.

Each year, as I say goodbye to my summer adventures and play, I find some solace with the inward pull that fall brings.  One of my favorite parts of this magical season is my natural urge to spend time in my kitchen cooking, creating, and reviving my crockpot.

With the cooler weather creeping in, my favorite fall harvest foods (pumpkins, root veggies, and roasted chillies) and the inspiration to increase my self-care and restoration, I turn to my daily practice of nourishment and self-care rituals.

Life is most often full, and amidst the fullness, the Fall transition is reminding us to slow down.  

This week, I thought I would share with you some of my favorite fall foods and tonics that I have been experimenting with in my kitchen. These are easy, quick, and soothing recipes that I hope you will have fun perusing and experimenting with.

The little things we do for ourselves each day add up.  Everything we do in the name of health, nourishment and self-care – no matter how small – is a win.

I invite you to take some time just for you this weekend. Nourish, rest, reflect and restore.

Keep Reading to (and download) some of my FALL FAVORITES from my kitchen to yours

Alkaline Broth

This is an age old traditional broth recipe rich with tons of antioxidants, trace minerals, and anti-inflammatory qualities.

Download FULL recipe HERE

Golden Milk

This is a super yummy and tasty warming tonic to help you sleep, boost your immune system and decrease any inflammation.

Download FULL recipe HERE

Warm Fall Beat Salad

Warming, soothing, and delicious.

View fullsize

Download FULL Recipe HERE

Pumpkin Spice Paleo Muffins

Hi protein, spicy and tasty little bites of Fall.

Download FULL recipe HERE

Slow Roasted Colorado Lamb

Nothing like slow cooked meals at this time of year.  This is one of my all-time favorites.

Download FULL recipe HERE

About Sue Van Raes...

I'm a Nutritional therapist, food psychology expert and Lifestyle Coach.

My mission is to help heal the feminine through food, mind-body connection and pleasure. Learn more here.

In our work together we will dive into deep healing for the body and soul while I offer you practical, potent teachings that will open your heart to trust, your mind to possibility and your body to its organic wisdom.

I am chock full of resources for you including INSPIRING content and a wide range of support to help you find your way in all things food and body.

Feel free to read more about me and how I can help you HERE

#FOODFOREPLAY

They were 2 and 5 years old. I kissed them each on their rosy cheeks.  As they hopped out of the car, I had a flood of excitement and anxiety wash over me. “I love you mama” they would say as they shut the car door.

The whole weekend was about to be all mine.  What could I possibly do with a whole weekend to myself?  This idea was so open, spacious, free – but somehow wrought with slight panic and fear all at the same time.

At times, this fear would feel slightly paralyzing.  After being solely focused on mothering these two adorable little rascals 24-7, I just wasn’t sure what to do with 'just me' for a whole weekend.

The transition was always tough.  I wanted and needed nothing more than a break and some time for myself, but it took a while for it to settle in and feel okay.

In the beginning, I would head back home, sit, stare, and wait for the uncomfortable to pass.  Sometimes, it would be slow, stagnant and I would wish for it to end.

My emotions felt strong, but my appetite – gone.  Honestly, I could barely muster a bowl of popcorn for dinner.  This post-divorce eating pattern was no bowl of cherries, but rather one that was keeping me tired, depleted, weak, and under-nourished – every other week.

After some serious PTSD, a few dizzy spells, one intense fainting episode, 20 pounds of unhealthy weight loss, and a lot of therapy, I knew something had to change.

I had been reading Bri Maya Twari's book called ThePath of Practice.  In her lineage, cooking and feeding oneself was considered one of the most effective paths to healing.

So... this one particular night instead of falling into an old pattern of barely eating while they were gone, I decided to do something different.

I walked through the Whole Foods store picking out “Sue” food.

This was a new thing, and one that seemed to help this awkward moment of transition.

I could do this!  Dinner for one.

After a few tries, this new ritual settled in a bit and I began to find myself looking forward to it.  A yummy dinner, some beautiful ambiance, soft candle light, a long bubble bath, and time just for me.

My new practice of sensual eating and self-care was working.  The transitions were getting easier, my time alone – more comfortable, and from time to time, I would even invite some friends over to join me.

Sensual eating was saving my soul.

The act of cooking for and feeding myself was soul nourishment – physical healing + self-love.

  Keep reading to learn about #FoodForeplay and find out exactly what I did that created a shift for my health and healing.

• The most essential ways to use sensual eating to heal your relationship to food
• How to begin your #FoodForeplay practice?
• Dinner for one to dinner for two...
• A bonus Aphrodite meditation

Sensual Eating

Bringing heightened senses to your mealtime is the perfect place to start.  Just like sipping a full-bodied glass of red wine, or nibbling a gourmet piece of dark chocolate, all of our senses become part of the experience.

When we fine dine, part of the experience is the beauty of the food and how it is presented, plated and served.  We can too brighten up our daily meals this way with simple attention to color, ambiance, and creative expression.

While we cook, we smell the scents of the spices and nuances of flavors merging with our olfactory sense – our oldest sense.  We also are witness to the sounds of the chopping, sizzling, roasting, and blending.

While we eat, we taste each bite, mindfully noticing the merging of all the flavors and textures.

#FoodForeplay is your own personal practice – your own personal recipe for foodie pleasure.  There is no right or wrong way – simply your way, your palate, your preference.

When we enjoy food this way – in a ritualized, mindful setting – a mind-body healing emerges.  When we tap into our pleasure practices at mealtime, the plated pleasures begin to diffuse into other areas of our lives.  When we nurture our whole beings – including all of the senses – we become more satiated. This satiation is not only about our bellies being full, but rather a holistic experience that involves our body, mind, and soul.

How To Start

I always say start small, one meal at a time.  Make a date with yourself to begin your #FoodForeplay adventures.  Take yourself to the grocery store without a rush or an agenda.  Meander through the aisles looking for food that intrigues you, food that calls to you, or food that looks like it would be fun for you to cook.

This could involve trying something new – like visiting an old family favorite, checking out a alluring sensual fruit, or gathering some prepared food that sparks your interest. This is ALL about you.

One of my favorite things to do is create a plate of delicacies that are similar to what you would find on a charcuterie plate.  Nothing cooked, no recipe to follow, just a delight for the palate – olives, prosciutto, Humboldt Fog (my favorite cheese), flax crackers, humus, and Spanish almonds.

When Dinner for One turns to Dinner for Two

Sensual eating is nothing new.  In fact, food has been a part of foreplay and love making rituals in cultures far and wide since the beginning of time.

Our pleasure starts with us through food, through nature, through laughter, through sensual touch, through scent, and beauty. When we activate our pleasure center, we feel uplifted and we are magnetic to others.

When we know how to receive pleasure, we can better give pleasure. 

There is much exploration for us here: When we invite another into our #FoodForeplay an array of things can happen…

• A sensual meal can simply involve sharing in the invigorating of the senses.
• A sensual meal can activate our inner pleasure palace and connection with our beloved.
• A sensual meal can be the co-creation of both partners – a creative and collaborative spark.
• A sensual meal experience can turn on our erotic, lustful, sensual passion.

Everything cooked for our lover is sensual.  Love and pleasure infused into our cooking are the strongest aphrodisiacs that exist.

As aromas billow from the skillet, and broth bubbles in the soup pot, we linger in the kitchen glancing sweetly into the eyes of each other, with heightened senses, savoring each tantalizing moment.

Women especially, are inclined towards rituals. Lighting candles, arranging beautiful flowers, setting up a sacred space for all of our meal pleasures to take place.  When we slow down and presence ourselves, this #FoodForeplay opportunity can be just the right ingredient to create the erotic and desirous atmosphere to enhance any relationship.

Dinner for 2 can also include cooking together as pieces of lingerie fall to the floor, feeding each other one savory bite at a time, or adding in an array of aphrodisiacs for his and her pleasure to your meal.

You can read my previous article all about the most delicious and delightful aphrodisiacs HERE.

Once your exquisite dinner has been prepared and served, the lingering plated poetry has been relished, the collective artistry can be revealed between two people with a slow, seductive, sensory sensation.

Listen to the Inner Aphrodite Meditation below:

A memoir of the senses

Her breath is like honey spiced with cloves

Her mouth delicious as a ripened mango

To press kisses on her skin is to taste the lotus

The deep cave of her navel hides a store of spices

What pleasure lies beyond, the tongue knows

But cannot speak of it

Kumaradadatta, 12th century

LET GO AND FEEL THE INCREDIBLE LIGHTNESS OF LESS

LET GO AND FEEL THE INCREDIBLE LIGHTNESS OF LESS

This past Saturday morning, I sat up in my adorable little yurt, just as the sun was rising over the Sangre De Cristo mountains.  I reached for my cozy slippers (I had brought them with me) and meandered over to the community kitchen to pour myself some hot tea.

As I walked back, the steam was rising off of my tea cup on this particularly chilly fall mountain morning. I quickly snuggled back into bed, still in full view of the sunrise, to contemplate the day, our retreat schedule and our group intentions.

HONESTLY, I DIDN'T WANT THAT MOMENT TO END.

Last weekend, I took an incredibly beautiful journey through the Colorado mountains, to our Fall Full Moon women’s retreat.

The early morning mountain sunrises were amazing, not to mention the warm soothing hot springs, a brilliant harvest full moon, and delicious fall-inspired food. With a deep inquiry into our personal limiting beliefs and old outdated ways around health and happiness, it was magical.

I feel lucky to have been immersed in feeling the beauty of the seasonal shift. (see photos below)

With the changing golden leaves and the fall afternoon light that seems to hit the aspen trees just right, nature displayed quite a presentation – hello Autumn.

EACH SEASON IS STEEPED WITH ITS OWN ENERGETIC IMPRINT AND GUIDANCE FOR LIVING WISELY FROM THE INSIDE OUT.

As the leaves were falling to the ground in their bright orange and reds, there was an innate sense of letting go that I was able to acknowledge.  The gravity of Autumn is a metaphor for both our relationship to self and our relationship to nature.

Aligning ourselves inside and out with what is occurring around us in nature is a beautiful way to begin the radiant transition into a new season – Autumn.

Autumn is the time of transformation between the growth of summer and the dormancy of winter. Things are winding down, and once the harvest is complete, there is an opportunity to follow the inward flow into self-inquiry and inner listening – ground into the wisdom of the body and mind, compost and let go of what is now longer serving us.

Preparing for a strong and vital experience during the change of seasons can come with many inspirations inner and outer. Often, in the fall we talk of letting go, descending into the underworld, and a pulsation of contraction that guides us to listen deeper.

WHAT CAN YOU LET GO OF THIS FALL?

Letting go can be a little awkward and uncomfortable.  Whether it is letting go of an outdated habit, a tired old negative thought, a bunch of old clothes that are cluttering up your closet, or a limiting belief about yourself, prepare yourself for some feelings.

Nothing supports this better than slowing down and savoring some extra sweet self-care, and the space to be in the peace of nature.

"IF YOU LET GO A LITTLE, YOU WILL HAVE A LITTLE PEACE.  IF YOU LET GO A LOT, YOU WILL HAVE A LOT OF PEACE."

~AJAHN CHAH

Since it is the time of year that the season tells us to let go so I wrote you a few nuggets to help you along.

1. Align with your WHY

What are you up to these days?

What are your priorities in your life?

What are you seeking?

These, and many other questions like these, will help you to reveal the truth of your WHY.

When you are clear with your WHY and the big picture of what you are seeking, you are then able to shed all of those things that do not align with your life.

This could be a habit that doesn't support you, an old pair of jeans that remind you of your past, or even an old pattern you have with eating that feels obsolete.

This could also be something internal, like a thought or an internal dialogue pattern that does not evoke momentum towards your priorities and your WHY.

Once you align with your WHY, and your true vision of heart, it is a lot easier to let go of the things that do not serve you.

You still might notice that letting go conjures up some emotional response for you, a little pulling on your heartstrings, or feeling as though you're not sure who you would be without your old ways.

Most would agree, it is worth a bit of feeling uncomfortable, awkward, or even a little bit vulnerable, so that you can clear away those old templates that no longer serve you.

Recently, for me personally, it seems to be that I am working with my internal thoughts that are keeping me small, as well as the clearing out old belongings that no longer feel energetically aligned – mostly from my closet. Clearing out my old thoughts (at least working on it) and old clutter creates a nice lightness in my body and mind.

Old traits and old treasures carry energy. How we think, how we eat, how we practice our daily self-care, how we dress, how we create a sacred space in our homes and lives, and those with whom we surround ourselves are some good places to start.

2. Release your Resistance

Here’s what I also know about letting go: The most terrifying part is just before you loosen your grip. Once you let go, momentum will take over and you will feel lighter and more free than ever before.

When we hang on, it is our resistance.  Resistance is tricky, sneaky, and loves to keep us stuck.

What we need is to build momentum, and the ease will come.  In the meantime, notice where you are procrastinating, covering up feelings, or numbing yourself.

So often we hang on to something or some of our ways because of fear.  We don’t know what is coming, so our minds choose something with which we are already familiar.

Old, outdated inner and outer qualities can weigh us down. They can make us feel heavy and stuck, lethargic and hopeless, and simply block the full expression of our hearts and our WHY.

Acknowledging the fear of unfamiliar ways, new beginnings, and the releasing of the old is medicine during a letting go process.  If you feel it, you can heal it. When you loosen your grip on these old ways, a comforting sense of freedom and lightness emerges.

3. Transfigure, Transform and Thrive

Just like the leaves falling to the ground composting and fertilizing the earth for next year's bounty and bloom when we let go of things that do not serve us, they too compost into a bigger and brighter space for the new to come in and bloom.

This process of downward decomposition into the earth that we witness both inside and out is one that is familiar to the nature of our bodies since the beginning of time.

So often, we think of ourselves as observers or witnesses to nature's beauty and energetics, when really, we feel the same energetic pulls as all of nature because truthfully, we are nature.

The gravity of fall is a specific type of energy that calls us to let go, release the old and reveal the new bigger and better parts of ourselves.  It is exciting.  A journey into the depths of your soul's intentions and purposeful life.

We are always growing and changing.  Nothing in life stays the same.  Enjoy the process this fall as you synch up with the beauty and sweetness of the season.

Here are some photos from our magical retreat weekend:

You Will Leave Feeling Better Than When You Came

  She arrived about 20 minutes after our first yoga session started on Friday evening.

Surrounded with a sacred circle of women, a beautiful goddess yoga room, majestic Colorado mountains, and the hint of fall in the air, she tiptoed in quietly to join the circle, moved into child’s pose and began to settle in.

I slowly walked over amidst teaching my class, sat down beside her and started to slowly rub her back.  Tears began to stream.  Big full exhales followed.

“Thank you,” she whispered.  “This is exactly what I have been needing.”

I had personally reached out to her quite a few times to remind her of our upcoming women’s retreat weekend.  I was so glad I did.

Apparently she needed a little nudge.

Even though we know what is best for ourselves, know what we love, how to treat ourselves and what feels good, we so often succumb to our resistance.

Our minds love to point out the reasons why we can’t, why we shouldn’t or why our resistance is logical.

Repeatedly, our resistance takes the form of fears and doubts that prevent us from taking the steps towards what we really want.  They are complicated, sneaky and tenacious.

We have our go-to excuses, stories, limitations, fears, and self-doubts that know exactly how to do their jobs – keep us stuck. 

I want you to live a life you love.

I want that for you, for me, and for all of us.

I want lives where our desires, our intentions, our diligence and our self-care are greater than our resistance to them.

When this is occurring, we manifest our dreams.  When it is not, we most often stay stuck.

So let’s chat ...

What is holding you back?

In just one week from today I will be heading out of town to explore the wild feminine, enjoy the harvest full moon and eclipse, and to rest and restore on our fall women's full moon retreat weekend.

With the time and space to reconnect with ourselves, tap into the transition of the season and create an eagle-eye view on life and things – we can reset.

There are endless gifts of being on retreat...

• time and space to listen inward and feel. 

•  time to be outside and connect the energetics of nature and the season. 

• the ability to gain clear and concise perspective on our lives. 

• But most importantly, we have a chance to remember who we are, what we want, and what we need to thrive.

Maybe this little nudge will help you overcome your resistance << Test First Name >>.

Maybe this little reminder will create an opening for you to imagine yourself fully embodying your health and happiness.

Are you feeling the call?

If so, come share in the journey with us next weekend.

Reconnect and restore in the majesty of the Colorado Rocky Mountains with a retreat designed for your health, nourishment, and body-mind-spirit connection.

Soak in the sacred waters of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, enjoy the delicious organic home cooked meals, and share in the sisterhood of connection and ritual.

Come and watch the LIVE Q and A that I did earlier this week with my special guest, Helen Knight, and just hit reply if you have any questions.

We have just 3 spots left.  Is one of them for you?

There is still time to join us. 

Claim your seat HERE …

Please join me in this intimate and restoring upcoming women's circle that will support you in creating a happy and healthy life you love.

Lean In

"Lean In"

A close friend of mine once said this to me as we were sitting by the pool having a heart-to-heart.

As the warm sun shone down on my face, I cocked my head.  Hmm.  ‘Very uncomfortable.’ I thought.  It was uncomfortable, but also an opportunity for me to dig deeper.

Why did I resist leaning in so much?

  The answer was straight up.  Leaning in was just plain hard for me. I had a lot of stories wrapped up in doing things on my own - the hard way. I used to choose independence, hard work, doing things on my own – a more masculine approach to life and business.

I am not exactly sure where this came from, but my hunch is a combination of my competitive gymnastics background, my resistance to fully embracing my feminine nature, and the need to prove I was strong, bold, fearless and fine doing things all on my own.

It used to work.  I found some personal power and strength living life this way…until I got really tired, pretty overwhelmed, and a little lonely.

It expired.

This ‘solo’ way of living also started to feel exhausting and I noticed so many of my friends and family were creating a supportive and team oriented focus at home and in business.

How did I miss this?

Slowly but surely, I began to practice leaning in.

What I mean by this is I began creating various kinds of support systems in many areas of my life, or leaning in to the ones that were already there.

A supportive partner. 

A business coach. 

A mastermind group. 

A strong circle of women I call my sisters (my biological sister included). 

Two amazing young men (my sons) who always have my back.

Supportive parents.

A couple's group. 

A therapist. 

A psychic. 

An assistant. 

A couple of kick-ass interns. 

My team (personal and professional) is growing fast and it feels amazing.

Summer Solace Series #5: Lean In

In Today’s Summer Solace Series #5 Lean In:

• Learn the most important facts about support, accountability, and love.
• Deepen into why we make more progress towards health and happiness with a sacred circle holding the space for us.
• Read the myth buster about your so-called 'biggest obstacle'

I have learned that for me to become my best self, I need some support, some reflection and some accountability.

I lead circles of women all over the world.  These international retreats, women’s programs, and online courses support dynamic and empowering results for the participants, myself included. (read about some of them HERE)

Women (and men) thrive with support.  If there is one thing I have learned, it is that with the support of a sacred circle of women, the rate of acceleration towards our intentions is more than tenfold.

Transformations happen quicker.  Breakthroughs occur more often.  Follow through is fierce and fabulous... and our resistance recedes (phew).

What if you too, realized that your obstacles in reaching your highest potential or your greatest happiness and even your best self were not caused by your own shortcomings or lack of personal work or vision, but rather that you just need to lean in more.

What if your best self could emerge more gracefully with a sacred circle of women holding the space for you, believing in you, and keeping you accountable?

We know the strongest healing power on the planet is the healing power of sisterhood – women tending to each other with love and attention.   What if you knew you could:

• Improve your relationship to your life and your health through customized practices that nourish you from the inside out.
• Overcome personal obstacles by developing an intimate partnership with your mind and body.
• Live empowered in the way you create your vision and find your personal freedom.

Welcome to your Journey to FREEDOM You can create a life steeped with inner listening, intuition, and living for your highest good.

You can replace those old ways of being that are totally outdated in your life, and no longer serve you in who you want to be today.

You can sculpt your life, your schedule, your eating and your self-care practices to match exactly what you are intending for yourself.

You can put yourself first in your life, restore your life force and have more to give back.

Come join our intimate sacred circles of women who are consciously supporting each other in crafting a life that is about coming back home to your best self.

Here are 2 opportunities for you.

• The Fall Full Moon Women’s retreat is September 16^th-18^th.  This live circle of women is set in a beautiful and restorative setting complete with a harvest moon, hot springs, delicious organic food, and a circle of women up to a similar mission.

• The Sisterhood Circles year long Health and Happiness (virtual) Focus group begins September 27^th + 4 great bonuses if you join us before September 18th, 2016

What is YOUR story about support, receiving and leaning in?

There is still time to join us. 

Claim your seat HERE …

The Summer Solace Series is my late summer offering for you to explore your own true nature with respect to health, happiness and inner peace.   My intention with the Summer Solace Series is to make our journey of the feminine feel a little smoother, a lot more whole, while staying deeply connected to ourselves, as women.

During the late summer weeks, I will be sharing some of the gems from my work with women in the groups I lead all over the world.  I will share with you some ways where we can begin to create a loving and female approach to our eating, and our bodies with tastes of some of the myths and archytypes I work with that provide a little extra support.

As we transition into the last part of summer, we energetically prepare for a transition into a new school year, another autumn season, and a time to begin a new pulse that works well for what we are intending for ourselves.

I have also created the Summer Solace Series to share with you some samples and nuggets from my upcoming women’s circles that are beginning in September (one live full moon weekend retreat, and one virtual women’s focus group) with tastes of some of the most potent themes and practices.

Just like the sweetness of a ripe August peach, The Summer Solace Series is my late summer treat for you.  A harvest filled path into the last weeks of summer, a taste of the Sisterhood Circles Focus Group and Full Moon Women’s Retreat weekend that begin this September as well as some summer savoring secrets that will keep you satiated.

Please join me in these intimate restoring and practical upcoming women's circles that will support you in creating a happy and healthy life you love.

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The Yoga of Eating ~ Full Moon Weekend Retreat Joyful Journey Hotsprings September 16th-18th Just A Few Spots Left

Explore the female relationship to food, body and soul through daily practice, ritual and a sacred circle of women.  Reconnect and restore your mind and heart in the majesty of the Colorado Rocky Mountains with a retreat designed for your health, nourishment, and body-mind-spirit connection.

Soak in the sacred waters of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, enjoy the delicious organic home cooked meals, and share in the sisterhood of connection and ritual.

(Yurts and Mountain Lodge Accommodations ) 

Your restoration and revelations await you.

Reserve Your Queendom 

---

The Health Wise Sisterhood Circle ~ 2016

The Health Wise SISTERHOOD CIRCLE is an intimate sacred circle of women who are consciously supporting each other in crafting a life to love.

4 great bonuses if you register by September 18th:

Claim you seat sister...your freedom awaits you.

---

About Sue Van Raes...

I'm a Nutritional therapist, food psychology expert and Lifestyle Coach.

My mission is to help heal the feminine through food, mind-body connection and pleasure. Learn more here.

In our work together we will dive into deep healing for the body and soul while I offer you practical, potent teachings that will open your heart to trust, your mind to possibility and your body to its organic wisdom.

I am chock full of resources for you including INSPIRING content and a wide range of support to help you find your way in all things food and body.

Feel free to read more about me and how I can help you HERE

We Don't Know What's Coming

  Early one morning, just a few years ago, I was busily getting my boys out the door to summer camp – cleaning up after breakfast and coercing them into the car (not an easy feat). 

Most mornings I would keep my phone turned off while trying to get out the door – less distraction = more harmony.

At the final drop off moment, I had a new voicemail pop up on my phone.  If it was any other day, I may not have made time to listen to this new message until much later, but this particular day was different.

As I swiped open my phone, typed in my password, and headed over to the voicemail icon where I heard something I was surely not expecting.

“Hello Sue, this is People Magazine calling.  We would like to set up a time to talk with you.  We are interested in featuring Boulder Nutrition in our next issue.” 

Pause.  Replay. Pause.  Replay.  Pause.  Replay.

Now, I will admit, People magazine had never been one of my personal picks as far as magazines go.  I was more of a Yoga Journal, Oprah Magazine or Natural Health kind of gal.

All of those thoughts swooshed away pretty quickly and I kept hitting replay over and over.

This particular opportunity came to me literally out of left field. 

It turns out, they featured my business and one of my client’s stories in an article about Boulder, Colorado.  It was so amazing to have the experience, the credibility and the opportunity.  Boulder Nutrition got a ton of exposure and Sandra Bullock was on the cover – for real.   I see how many of you are each day and I see my own habits and patterns as well. I see us all trying to live our dreams, craft our best health, change our tired old habits and live into our inherent happiness with a love, passion, and courage.

But something is often missing.

So often, I see us placing personal limits on what we think we are capable of doing.  We repeatedly create restrictions on our success.  We tell ourselves we are not good enough, smart enough, strong enough, determined enough, creative enough, pretty enough or skinny enough.

And most of all, we believe the stories we tell ourselves.

These stories, beliefs, and personal limitations are often very intertwined with our health, happiness and inner harmony.  

We see them reveal themselves in our eating, in how we think of and care for our bodies, and in the way we show up in our life each day.

Last year, when I was on my annual retreat, it was early one morning with my pen in one hand and my journal in the other that this came through:

We don’t know what’s coming.

It may seem obvious but our minds most often disagree.  We make a plan, a to-do list and have clear intentions.  We do manifestation rituals, pray, meditate, chant, mastermind, too and work harder and harder.

But we often forget the most important step of all…

Summer Solace Series #4:  We Don’t Know What’s Coming ~ Change Thoughts, Change Your Life

In Today’s Summer Solace Series #4:

• Learn the most important part of creating our success and happiness that we so often overlook.
• Master how to use this new approach as a way to live from the empowered feminine + design a life steeped in health and happiness.
• Illuminate how to open to possibility without living in a fantasy.

The lesson I learned the day People Magazine called me was impactful in many ways. I was happily reminded that opportunities and breakthoughs can show up anywhere and any time.

What I see myself doing in practice day-to-day is reminding myself that this, and many other things like this, is actually possible.

We All Do It

Change happens from the inside out. Our health is complex. We often think health is about what we eat, or how much we weigh, or what our exercise regiment is at the time.

In truth, our health also includes our beliefs about ourselves, our personal limitations and our internal dialogue – and which parts of each of these we decide to listen to and believe.

Our blood work, our daily eating habits and our supplement programs, are all very important. Don’t get me wrong, but what can really create the breakthrough we are seeking, is getting out of our own inner resistance, and rewiring the thoughts that we can’t do something different. Only then can we start re-writing our stories and seeing the possibility for change and transformation.

What Should We Do?

I am not going to tell you that changing our thoughts and our limiting beliefs is easy. In fact, it may be a complicated process for many of you. It has been for me.

Working with our internal dialogue, stories and personal limitations is a journey, not a finite process with a clear end point. We need to be patient, loving, and kind with ourselves as we practice this process.

Here are a few ways to get started:

Who wrote the script?

Name and identify both the recurring thought/story/belief in its true nature, along with where it originated. Family lineage, teachers, religion, or an old message that you picked up on. Each one has it’s own history. This practice increases our personal awareness and provides a deeper understanding of what is, with more opportunity for making a change.

When you hear your negative inner dialogue, do something to change it.

There are many well-known ways to do this. Recently a client told me she  would shout “STOP” when these old stories popped up.  Here are some recommendations that have worked for me, and many of my clients:

•  Create a positive affirmation to replace the thought. Keep in it simple and in the positive.

•  Get up and do something different – get a glass of water, put on some good music, take a break, take a walk.

•  Create a gratitude or appreciation practice. The energy of gratitude works very quickly. Gratitude is strong and powerful moving us in a positive direction.

• Make time for quiet, downtime, and inner listening. Sometimes we do not even realize that there is an internal dialogue happening, we just feel the effects of it in our physical and emotional body. We have listened for so long to this repetitive tape in our minds, that we hardly notice it repeating over and over. When we slow down, we have the chance to hear it for what it is.

• Practice Right Speech: The way we talk can either strengthen or weaken our limiting thoughts and beliefs. Carefully choose your words to amplify the direction you wish to go. Example: If the thought is “I hate my body.” Saying things such as “I am working on a positive relationship to my body” can help steer you in a positive direction.

DOn't Forget To Celebrate Your Successes (big or small).

Making progress in a positive direction with our inner world is important to acknowledge, even if you are still not all the way to where you want to be. We are often so hard on ourselves.  Be careful, kind, and celebrate the successes big and small along the way.

Acknowledge yourself for spending time and energy on YOU.

---

The Yoga of Eating ~ Full Moon Weekend Retreat Joyful Journey Hotsprings September 16th-18th

Explore the female relationship to food, body and soul through daily practice, ritual and a sacred circle of women.  Reconnect and restore your mind and heart in the majesty of the Colorado Rocky Mountains with a retreat designed for your health, nourishment, and body-mind-spirit connection.  

Soak in the sacred waters of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, enjoy the delicious organic home cooked meals, and share in the sisterhood of connection and ritual.

(Yurts and Mountain Lodge Accommodations ) 

Your restoration and revelations await you.

Reserve Your Queendom 

---

The Health Wise Sisterhood Circle ~ 2016

The Health Wise SISTERHOOD CIRCLE is an intimate sacred circle of women who are consciously supporting each other in crafting a life to love.

You can explore your YES to a commitment that will transform your life in extraordinary ways.

You can live your most empowered life around health and happiness through these POTENT strategies, living rituals and daily practices revealed in the intimacy of this circle of sisters.

You can create a life steeped with inner listening, intuition, and living for your highest good.

You can sculpt your life, your schedule, your eating and your self care practices to match exactly what you are intending for yourself.

You can put yourself first in your life, restore your life force and have more to give back.

Claim you seat sister...your freedom awaits you.

---

About Sue Van Raes...

I'm a Nutritional therapist, food psychology expert and Lifestyle Coach.

My mission is to help heal the feminine through food, mind-body connection and pleasure. Learn more here.

In our work together we will dive into deep healing for the body and soul while I offer you practical, potent teachings that will open your heart to trust, your mind to possibility and your body to its organic wisdom.

I am chock full of resources for you including INSPIRING content and a wide range of support to help you find your way in all things food and body.

Feel free to read more about me and how I can help you HERE

Fiercely Feminine

It happens,

It was a late summer evening just a couple of weeks ago when I was reflecting on my particularly emotional day.

It was one of those days when I had to take a good look at myself.  One of those days where I didn’t like what I was seeing.  I felt icky and emotionally exhausted by the residue of feelings left over as the day grew close to an end.

In an attempt to explain my inner strife to Jason, I found myself apologizing for my tears, for my pain and the instability that I had been feeling all day long.

He said something to me that no one has ever said to me before:

“You know Sue, you could allow yourself to get messier and I would still love you.”

It may sound simple to you, but I had lived most of my early life keeping my feminine messiness at bay.  The emotions, the inner angst, the feelings that would sometimes well up inside – I was good at attempting to pull it together to keep going.

While that has turned out to be virtually impossible and unsuccessful, I used to live by my own belief that there was very little room in my life for anything messy.  I raised two boys as a single parent, and I often felt that if I let myself get messy, things would fall apart for me and for them.

Now, in more recent years I have lifted this restrictive belief in my life somewhat, but not without a tentative, shy and unsure approach – especially in my relationship.

One of the obstacles I see in women all the time when we are struggling with food, body, self-love, and overall health are these very elaborate coping skills to keep the messiness and emotional chaos of the feminine at bay.

Most of us have received the message that these messy feminine aspects of ourselves are not welcome.

We stuff the unwelcome feelings with anything we can find that works.  These coping skills can often create their own cascade of health issues, imbalances, and challenges, including the relationship we have to food and our bodies.

The next day I shared this significant conversation with a close friend, someone who also is known to ‘keep it all together’ and she also sighed in relief.  “Wow Sue, that even makes me feel more at peace.”

I am now sharing this with you because your relationship to your feminine may be one of the reasons you get out of balance, self-medicate, overeat, under eat, deprive yourself of self-love and self-respect.

This may be the very root of some of the behaviors you have been trying to change for years.

Because this wild and fierce part of ourselves is also our greatest power.

This may be an opportunity for you to change your relationship to your authentic self with a more loving approach to who you truly are in each moment.

There may be a lot of questions about exactly what I mean and how this has shown up in your life.  To begin, let’s peal back the layers one little bit at a time.

Summer Solace Series #3:  Fiercely Feminine

In today’s Summer Solace Series #3:

• Explore the nature of the feminine in relationship to food and body including some insights on what is often called ‘our shadow side’.
• Learn the first steps to take to unleash your wild feminine in all her forms  – including the messiness (without a big mess to clean up later)
• Listen to an ancient myth that speaks directly to your feminine power, shadow, messiness, and unhinged wild wisdom so that you can live authentically and fearlessly from your female power – recorded live from my spring retreat in Bali.

Just to clarify, when I speak of the feminine, I am speaking of our feminine nature. We all have a balance of the feminine and masculine within ourselves. (men included) Our feminine sides are gentle, fluid, receptive, emotional, intuitive, and mysterious, where as our masculine sides are direct, focused, practical, diligent and protective.

We need both the feminine and masculine to survive. Unfortunately, our current cultural paradigms are steeped pretty heavily in the masculine giving us the messages that we should stuff our feminine side more and live predominantly from our masculine sides

This presents a big challenge for many of us, as we have had to develop elaborate coping skills to live in a masculine dominant world.

Food and the Feminine

As you can imagine, this inner conflict can present a difficult understanding of our relationship to eating and our bodies. As women, our cravings change with the moon cycle, our emotions dictate our appetites, and our inner rhythms are not static when it comes to nourishing our bodies with both food and self-care.

There are distinct times when we need more rest and introspection and other times when we feel social and active.

What are we to do?

Developing a deeper sense of our selves with our intuition and body’s wisdom is a good place to start. (Read last week’s Summer Solace Series #2 about Honing your Intuition HERE)

When we are wrought with beliefs that make our feminine rhythm ‘wrong’, it is hard to flow with our feminine. Many of the ways we have been taught may start to feel outdated and ineffective in this exploration. We may need to question our belief systems and expectations in ourselves carefully, so that first and foremost, we can give ourselves permission to flow with our feminine.

Our relationship to our feminine nature is directly reflected in our relationship to food and our bodies. If we tend to ignore our feminine rhythm in our lives, we are likely to avoid our feminine rhythm in our eating. If we have made a lot of static rules and restrictions for ourselves in our way of life, we likely will have made similar static rules and restrictions in our eating.

What I have learned is that I have to listen to my body, and drop the stories that say she is wrong. I have to drop my restrictions, my tight reigns, and begin to soften into acceptance and love for what is, and what is occurring in the moment. I have to honor the rhythms of my monthly cycle, the seasons, and my emotional experiences – eating with more love and acceptance of the fluid, always changing the nature of the feminine.

Unleash Your Wild-ish Side

When I was 25 years old, I was part of a personal transformation group in Prescott Arizona. Each week, as I was witnessed by my group, I would dig into my personal truths.

The very first group I ever attended was themed “Feel your Feelings”.

Don’t we all feel our feelings?

As it turns out, most of us mask our feelings. We stuff, repress, override, and doubt our feelings. We numb, we make ourselves busy, and we neglect creating the space we need to feel.

Hence, the wild feminine is endangered.

Unleashing the wild feminine comes when we give ourselves permission to feel, such as feeling the pain of life, the ecstasy of love, the anticipation of a new experience, and the fear of failing.

~ Rather than the shadow side of the feminine, let’s call her the underworld of the feminine.

~ Rather than imagining wild as an out of control and crazy woman, let’s imagine wild as living in tune with nature, a natural life, freedom, with healthy and integrous boundaries.

As Clarissa Pinkola Estes says: “A woman’s issues of the soul cannot be treated by carving her into a more acceptable form but instead the goal must be the retrieval of the woman’s beauteous and natural psychic form.”

When we gift ourselves with the permission to be living from our wildish nature, we are able to step into the intuitive, wise, expressive, clear, glowing, instinctive truth that each of us are.

Here are some great ways to start:

• Look at your beliefs about what it means to live in your wild feminine?
• Give yourself permission to feel your feelings as they arise, free from judgment.
• Examine where you are in resistance to your true feminine underworld. (aka those so called negative emotions)
• Take baby steps with a lot of appreciation, acknowledgement and gratitude for how far you have come and each successful moment.
• Celebrate all parts of yourself (even the perceived messy, chaotic, unpredictable nature of the feminine)
• Own it sister

Listen HERE to today's story time sit down and enjoy the LIVE recording all the way from this years Bali women's Health + Yoga Retreat.

All we have to work with here sisters is our own attitude towards ourselves, towards our bodies, our health and our happiness.

We do not achieve this by giving up our authentic expression, or by forsaking the joy of our beauteous bodies and minds.

We do this through a deep honoring of our own true nature, self-acceptance, self-love and inner wisdom.

We do this through living life with fervor, creativity and freedom.

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The Health Wise Sisterhood Circles  ~ Small Focus groups

Create a powerful vision, commit to your intentions, happiness, and freedom,  while surrounding yourself extraordinary women.

The Health Wise Sisterhood Circles are for women seeking vibrant and inspired living. Find your personal recipe for health and vitality.

Our next group is coming up this September, 2016.

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A Women’s Full Moon Weekend Retreat

With Sue Van Raes and Special Guests

September 16-18th

Reconnect and restore in the majesty of the Colorado Rocky Mountains with a retreat designed for your health, nourishment, and body-mind-spirit connection.  Soak in the sacred waters of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, enjoy the delicious organic home cooked meals, and share in the sisterhood of connection and ritual.

Your Body Never Lies

I would sit in her office week after week. We would talk about my current situation ­– AKA my divorce, my challenges with single parenting, and the habits and patterns that brought me to this point.

Some days it wasn’t much fun to see this reflection, but I kept going back. I knew I had to go through the fire (so to speak) so I could see how I could begin to do things differently moving forward.

My therapist was a wise and nurturing woman. She would speak many truths and point out many observations during our sessions. Some were harder to hear than others. Taking ownership and seeing my habits and patterns came with many daunting moments, feelings of wanting to crawl out of my skin, and big openings for which I am eternally grateful.

One thing I always appreciated was her ability to turn me back towards myself.

“Your body never lies Sue, your body never lies.” she would say.

This particular piece of wisdom stuck with me. I had become pretty good at overriding the wisdom of my body and intuition. I did it to cope, I did it to get through the day, and I did it as a personal survival skill.

Most of us have ignored, numbed, or turned away from our own wisdom at certain points in our lives. Our cultural paradigms are not structured in a way to promote the strengthening and listening to our female intuition. Sometimes, avoiding this part of our feminine can feel like our only choice. Feeling into our sensitivity is one of our greatest gifts and yet can feel like a big heavy cloak of burden.

Living from this wildish part of the feminine allows us to live in our body’s adjoining instinct, integrity, sensation, love and certainty of self.

Summer Solace Series: #2 
Your Body Never Lies + A Story Time Sit Down Audio Session

In today’s Summer Solace Series#2:

• Learn to recognize what you do or have done to numb your body’s wisdom (intuition)
• How to take the first steps in fine-tuning and honing your intuition as a positive tool in your life.
• Listen to this week’s story time sit down in a archytypical myth that addresses the feminine power of intuition and its lineage though time and feminine history.

Our intuition, our bodies, our inner voice is something all of us have. For many of us, we have tuned it out over time, because what it was saying was too much, or it would create too many ripples, or lead us to big life changes that we were scared of facing. It may have even been the wildness in us that was not welcome.

Although, female intuition is a gift, many of us have been encouraged to disregard her.

We are taught to think rather than feel.

Our intuition goes beyond our thinking and includes our body's, our heart's, and our soul's deep knowing.

We all have intuition but I refer to this as the female intuition because it is more heightened from the aspect of our feminine receptive nature (man or woman).

Where Do You Numb?

We tend to pile on the layers of numbing so we can simply keep going in our daily life. We numb with all the usual things – food, alcohol, TV, business, sex, drugs – you know the story.

If we did not numb ourselves, we would have to FEEL more. Feeling more can be uncomfortable.

When we don’t like our gut feelings, when they are not welcome, discouraged or shunned, we develop a multitude of patterns and habits to drive them underground. We keep them at bay, and our wild, true nature becomes meager, ghostly and desolate.

As Clarissa Pinkola Estes says: “When we engage and live from our true, wild and intuitive nature, we are like a starry night, gazing at the world through a thousand eyes. We carry stories, dreams, words, songs and symbols for both a vehicle and a destination.”

Where can you find her? Where can you feel her? Where does she live?

Seeing where and how we numb is a bit of an awakening that comes with the willingness to be a little uncomfortable, a bit messy, an opportunity and the courage to acknowledge a habit or a pattern that is outdated (read last weeks summer solace #1 series here about breaking old habits), and to find the power and grace in our body’s inherent knowing.

How Do You HONE Your Intuition?

Your intuition is like a muscle that gets a bit weaker without practice. Intuition and body wisdom are never gone. In fact, they are always there, even when we ignore them. When we acknowledge how and where we are numbing, we can begin to listen again.

Intuition becomes available to us when we listen to our hearts, when we pay attention to our body’s somatic expressions, and when we follow the prompts of our wisdom. We must first become receptive to our intuition to begin to strengthen her.

We must learn to respect our hunches, notions and impulses. With this practice, we witness our emotions and feelings flowing through us free from judgment and guilt.

The way our bodies (all in our own unique way) speak to us is a tool that we can use to navigate our lives, our decisions, our eating, and our happiness.

All to often, we look outward to the world around us for our cues and guidelines when the answers lie within.

When we stop questioning and trust, when we stop overriding and check in, and when we practice cultivating this inner gift, we can notice the grace of moving in life with an intuitive body knowing that it can become our biggest strength.

Here are some of my favorite ways to practice honing our intuition:

• Clear your mind – create some space each day to slow down and listen.
• Do a body check in – scan your body for information through your senses. Pay attention to tightness, nausea, shortness of breath, headaches and other recurring sensations.
• Pay attention to your dreams – they are the window into your subconscious mind and intuitive wisdom.
• Spend time in nature – it is rich with intuition and grounding for the heart and mind.
• Ask questions – Get specifics, be proactive, and simply ask your intuition (aka higher self) for information.
• Drop the judgment – Instead of criticizing or repressing, get curious.
• Take small steps and practice often.

Always remember that in the heart of the feminine nature lies a strong wise and powerful intuitive nature. If you listen she won’t steer you wrong.

Get comfy, settle in, be gentle with yourself, and listen to today’s story time sit down session below.

Listen to today's Story Time Sit Down HERE

The Summer Solace Series is here for you to lean into.

This is my late summer offering for you to explore your own true nature with respect to health, happiness and inner peace.   My intention with the Summer Solace Series is to make our journey of the feminine feel a little smoother, a lot more whole, while staying deeply connected to ourselves, as women.

During the late summer weeks, I will be sharing some of the gems from my work with women in the groups I lead all over the world.  I will share with you some ways where we can begin to create a loving and female approach to our eating, and our bodies, with tastes of some of the myths and archetypes I work with that provide a little extra support.

As we transition into the last part of summer, we energetically prepare for a transition into a new school year, another autumn season, and a time to begin a new pulse that works well for what we are intending for ourselves.

I have also created the Summer Solace Series to share with you some samples and nuggets from my upcoming women’s circles that are beginning in September (one live full moon weekend retreat, and one virtual women’s focus group) with tastes of some of the most potent themes and practices.

Just like the sweetness of a ripe August peach, The Summer Solace Series is my late summer treat for you.  A harvest filled path into the last weeks of summer, a taste of the Sisterhood Circles Focus Group and Full Moon Women’s Retreat weekend that begin this September as well as some summer savoring secrets that will keep you satiated.

Healthy Happy Habits

  I roll over a few times beneath my cotton sheets.  The morning sun is warming my bedroom through the airy bamboo shades.  I slumber downstairs, make my morning brew and saunter outside to wake up slowly under the willow tree with the sweet morning hummingbirds.

On warm summer mornings, I am savor my time to wake up slowly.  Each morning a little creatively different, but most ending with more clarity and peace in how I want to sculpt my day.

In one hand some warm bulletproof coffee or tea, in the other a pen and journal.  The waft of my Balinese insense drifting through the backyard air, and the sweet feeling of having the time to just BE.

I love to move my morning practice outside in the summer.  To sit in meditation with just peaks of sun shining on my shoulders, and the beauty of life all around me.

My summer mornings are savored.

Living from a place of intention is a habit I have been cultivating in myself for many years.  While it is surely not fool proof, as life has its way of sweeping though the day with its own set of agendas, these morning rituals help to set me up for success – whatever the day may bring.

Recently, when I was asked what I thought women (and men) struggle with the most when it comes to health, well-being, food and body – I had to sit and think for a while.

Hmmm...

Sometimes it is overwhelm and confusion, sometimes self-sabotage or negative beliefs about ourselves, sometimes a lack of understanding around how to feed our bodies or and souls, but I would have to say the number one challenge we all share is all wrapped up in changing old habits.

In fact, changing habits can be the very obstacle for many women that seem impossible to overcome. 

For the next 6 weeks, I will be sharing some of the gems from my work with women in the groups I lead all over the world.  I will share with you some ways we can begin to create a loving and female approach to our eating, and our bodies with tastes of some of the myths and archytypes I work with that provide a little extra support.

The Summer Solace Series is here for you to lean into.

This is my late summer offering for you to explore your own true nature with respect to health, happiness and inner peace.   My intention with the Summer Solace Series is to make our journey of the feminine feel a little smoother, a lot more whole, while staying deeply connected to ourselves as women.

As we transition into the last part of summer, we energetically prepare for a transition into a new school year, another autumn season, and a time to begin a new pulse that works well for what we are intending for ourselves.

I have also created the Summer Solace Series to share with you some samples and nuggets from my upcoming women’s circles that are beginning in September (one live full moon weekend retreat, and one virtual women’s focus group) with tastes of some of the most potent themes and practices.  

So, without further ado, welcome to the Summer Solace Series... Today, we are taking the first step in changing tired old habits.  These are the habits that keep you stuck.  These are the habits that you don’t like to talk about. These are the habits that move you in the opposite direction from where you want to be. These are the habits that often feel almost impossible to break.  We all have them, so get comfy.

Summer Solace Series: #1

Healthy Happy Habits + A Storytime Sit Down Audio Session with Me

Today we are exploring the first step to changing old habits, so that the new habits of the heart can become part of a supportive and conscious path to living.

Today you will learn:

• The first step to releasing your tired old habits
• The most common mistakes we make when trying to make a change.
• How to use myth and ritual to support you in honing your habits. (including an audio storytelling sit down that I crafted for you)

The first step to releasing your tired old habits + a Storytime Sit Down with Me:

Habits are hard to break. I have some I am diligently working on myself. From my eating, my sleeping and my stress management, to how I monitor my finances, my negative thoughts and my self-care. We create them by patterning ourselves in such a way that they become automatic.

In the beginning, all of our habits served a purpose. Often born from an early age, a challenging time, or a learned automatic behavior that we developed to cope or deal with a certain situation.

From the moment you get out of bed each day – your daily breakfast, morning rituals, workplace interactions, the texts you send to your loved ones, to the way you drive home – you are engaging in multitudes of habits and patterns.

Most of these habits are serving you well, allowing you to handle the challenging co-worker, the multitudes of stress before an exam, or the baby up crying all night – you are on automatic more than you realize.

Our minds don’t often discern between the good and the bad habits when operating on automatic. We just keep doing, keep going, and keep trying to manage our lives.

The thing is, a tired old habit is one that did its job back when it was first being created. It may have helped you cope with a broken family, a stressful childhood, or a bully at school. A tired old habit may also have saved you from feeling out of control, feeling unloved or feeling stressed out.

Tired old habits once served an important purpose. Now, can you discern when they have become outdated?

We spend a lot of time looking at where we went wrong, how we got stuck, why we can’t do something different. Self criticism, shame and fear are often the co-pilots of wanting to make a change

What if we looked that tired old habit right in the eyes and said “Thank You”?

“Thank you for serving me well dear friend. Thanks for protecting me, helping me cope, and giving me options for getting though the tough times. I appreciate you. I honor you. And now… I am completely done with you.   You serve me no longer and I send you on your way.”

When we can see these old habits in their true form, full history, and even a little bubble of appreciation for how they have sustained us, we can release them more gracefully.

• Mindless eating can be a way to comfort yourself when you’re feeling down.
• Retail shopping online for hours might be a way you avoid interacting with your expired relationship.
• Drinking too much may be the only way you know how to be social with a certain group of friends.

If you want to break the habit, you have to come to grips with whatever function the bad habit was serving.

What are your tired old habits?

Identifying the habit, and the history of the habit is the first step to making a change.

Try this:

1. Name the tired old habit you are looking to transform.
2. Unravel the history behind the habit, when it started, why it served you, and when it expired.
3. Be gentle with yourself as you appreciate the value the habit served and the acknowledgement of its time to be released.
4. Drop the guilt, shed the shame.

Join me and listen to today’s feature Summer Solace storytime sit down.   Explore the profound metaphors found in myths, storytelling and archetypes that gently guide us home to our strength and embodied feminine grace.

Listen to our first Storytime Sit Down HERE 

Just like the sweetness of ripe August peach, The Summer Solace Series is my late summer treat for you.  A harvest filled path into the last weeks of summer, a taste of the Sisterhood Circles Focus Group and Full Moon Women's Retreat weekend that begins this September and some summer savoring secrets that will keep you satiated.

Stay tuned...

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The Health Wise Sisterhood Circles  ~ Small Focus groups

Create a powerful vision, commit to your intentions, happiness, and freedom,  while surrounding yourself extraordinary women.

The Health Wise Sisterhood Circles are for women seeking vibrant and inspired living. Find your personal recipe for health and vitality.

Our next group is coming up this September, 2016.

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A Women's Full Moon Weekend Retreat

With Sue Van Raes and Special Guests

September 16-18th

Reconnect and restore in the majesty of the Colorado Rocky Mountains with a retreat designed for your health, nourishment, and body-mind-spirit connection.  Soak in the sacred waters of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, enjoy the delicious organic home cooked meals, and share in the sisterhood of connection and ritual.

The ULTIMATE Love Affair

It's a little messy.

You've had a rough day.

Your cup is nowhere near (even) 1/2 empty.

Your co-workers were talking $hit about you at the office, your pants feel too tight, and you've been too tired to exercise all week.

You did a good job holding back the tears all day, but when you finally get home and nestle into your cozy, womb-like couch – forget about keeping it together.

Before you even realize it, you pull out the leftover gluten free double chocolate brownie pan from last night's potluck, pour an oversized glass of red, and try to get a little relief.

Deep breath...

Many of us are taught to think of food solely as a means to sustain our bodies, our energy, and our health.

Most days, we overlook our primal love affair with pleasure and the complexity of how food plays into our emotional survival.

Although nourishing ourselves emotionally with food is basically unavoidable, we often find this delicate story of ours wrought with challenges, shame, guilt, suffering and self-sabotage.

Come with me on  a little journey back in time…

As Eve took the famous bite from the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, she not only 'sabotaged' paradise on earth for both her and Adam, she also, supposedly created her own suffering and was ejected forever from the pleasure of paradise – YIKES.

This is just the beginning of OUR story around eating.

The forbidden fruit complex is one that has taken over the mold of eaters (especially women) everywhere.

We restrict.  We binge.  We make up personal "rules".  We break them. We comply.  We rebel. We find ourselves stuck in an endless downward spiral that is not only destructive, but self-loathing and challenging.

Today's insights will help you navigate the ultimate love affair – the one we ALL have with food.  

3 Food Psychology Fortunes For YOU (hint: they are not what you think)

In today’s world, we often complain that are left with few tools to comfort ourselves, to deal with the day-to-day stress, to cope with loneliness, body image, and the common ways we over schedule, over extend and over do.

Food becomes one of the perfect outlets for our pleasure and our pain.

We can’t abstain completely because we need food to survive, and yet we are left completely lost in knowing how to have a healthy relationship with food in both our bodies and minds.

Today, I am going to remind you of the innate mechanisms and wisdom that you already within yourself.

This reminder is to guide you back to your own intuition where your body, sensation, and presence can help you live more authentically with your most primal relationship – You + Food.

Forgive yourself

As you reveal your past around your eating, you will likely find a few skeletons in your closet. Shame that has you stuck, guilt that you can’t shake and old ways of being you would rather sweep under the rug. Believe me, you are not alone.

Most of us have old behaviors from our past (some that still creep into the present) that are old, outdated, self destructive and even risky. It seems then when we hit a certain point of imbalance – intense emotionality, or transition – the old ways can pop out to say and unwelcome, yet familiar hello.

As the wise Brene Brown says: “Shame cannot survive when being spoken of and met with empathy”.

We cannot change our past. Our old ways of being were most likely the best ways of coping we knew of at the time. We know more now. We are wiser, more experienced, stronger, and more resourced now then we were then. There is no comparison.

Forgiving ourselves for our pasts allows us to focus on the present rather than waste our energy dwelling in something we cannot change.

No matter where you have been, how ugly things have gotten – all you have today is the present.

Breath. Feel. Forgive.

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better.” ~ Maya Angelou

Make Down Time Happen EVERY day.

When we give ourselves time to SLOW down, we also give ourselves time to listen, feel and honor our inner landscape each day.

Although our personal journeys with food are all unique, we can all benefit from these daily doses of self-love and attention.

Slowing down, resting and relaxing every day allows time to process what is occurring in our lives in a manageable way. The happy, the sad, the fearful, and the struggle.

When our emotions have space to move through us, we don’t have to use food to manage them.

Live BIG

We seek pleasure. Food is one of our most primal forms of pleasure – we use food to commune, celebrate, and share joy.

AAANNNDDD... food can become the only form of pleasure we know, often because we are lacking other forms of pleasure in our day-to-day lives.

We have un-learned how to treat ourselves, forgotten to take time to relax and let go, and relinquished filling up on pleasure in other areas of our lives – nature, love, laughter and connection.

We CAN savor and enjoy our eating in a mindful way. We can also fill up our lives with inspiration, joy, like-minded community, adventure, nature and play.  This will help us balance the source of our pleasure each day and redefine this pleasure burden that we have put solely on our relationship with food.

“Take your pleasure seriously” ~ Thomas Eames

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The Yoga of Eating ~ Full Moon Weekend Retreat Joyful Journey Hotsprings September 16th-18th

Reconnect and restore in the majesty of the Colorado Rocky Mountains with a retreat designed for your health, nourishment, and body-mind-spirit connection.

Soak in the sacred waters of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, enjoy the delicious organic home cooked meals, and share in the sisterhood of connection and ritual.

Reserve Your Queendom 

Meet your SABOTEUR...

You made your summertime plans – more exercise, more fun, and LESS junk food.

You started strong.  

The block parties kicked off, the travel plans kicked in and before you knew it, you were eating what felt like a lot of 7-layer dip.

Starting to feel the fatigue of staying up past your bed time too many nights in a row, guilt from what has now felt like an overindulgent vacation, and at a loss for the last time you made it to your women's hiking group - you wake up one morning wondering what happened.

Most of us can remember sabotaging our success, our health goals or our self-care plans.

It's a common problem.  

We ask ourselves why we are stuck, why we can't seem to follow through, and why we continue to live as a person we don't want to be.

Breaking old patterns, releasing our self-saboteur, and beginning anew is key in creating a life we love.

If you are struggling with consistency, follow through; much less a rocking summer plan then today’s 'skinny' is for you...

3 reasons why your Self Saboteur has all the power and how to make a change

(+ A guided meditation to boot)

We often find ourselves loosing sight of being the person we want to be, feeling stuck, and not sure what to do about it.

Our obstacles seem to grow into our demons, and our true potential succumbs to taking a back seat.

Old, ineffective thought patterns and beliefs – the very things that have blocked you up to this point – will stand out loud and clear as you start to befriend your inner success queen, and finally give her back the drivers seat.

Here are the 3 most common self-sabotaging patterns I see around food, body, and health and what to DO about it.

1. Are you afraid of Failure?

A fear of failure or inadequacy can often turn us away from moving forward. The challenge is too much. It’s as if, once we reveal what we really want for ourselves, we have a sacred contract with ourselves to fulfill it.

Wow, that’s a big commitment.

Maybe it is safer to stay stuck.

Naming our goals/intentions/personal commitments, but then not feeling able to follow through is hard to swallow. All of these fears are totally real.

Try this: Ask yourself who has the power – you or your fears? Try naming your fears. Once they are named, recognized and befriended, they become more powerless.  

2. Are YOU addicted to your suffering?

One common way we sabotage our own success is related to the addictions most of us have to our negative thoughts and beliefs, and to our own suffering.

For many of us, sitting in our own suffering is a pattern that has formed and become a habitual way we move through life. We are more comfortable with our suffering because it is all we know.

Where do you embellish your own suffering?

What do you get out of it?

In some twisted way, we all get something out of complaining, being depressed, or playing the victim.

Maybe we get more attention, maybe we get to be lazy, or maybe we are simply used to feeling this way, so this state has become the place we feel most comfortable.

Try this: Inquire into your own patterns with suffering, and take a closer look.  Answer the question honestly – what do you get from your suffering? These old patterns may have started in your childhood, in a relationship, or even in a hard phase of your life. There are many opportunities for these patterns to have become habits, but just as many opportunities to change them with love and awareness.

3. Do you CHECK OUT?

Self-soothing is a high priority in our self-care, but checking OUT is a different thing – it means shutting down, turning a blind eye, or avoiding feeling or experiencing the strong emotions that we may be afraid of (including happiness).

If the pattern of checking OUT is a big one for you, taking gradual steps to checking IN is important.

We need reflection, accountability, structure, and support to create a new pattern.

We need to practice.

We need an intuitive relationship with ourselves first.

Try this: Sit with the uncomfortable. Feel. Listen inward. Crack yourself open. Love ALL of you. The way OUT is always IN.

What this means for our relationship with food, health and body is that if we begin to see the discomfort as merely our brain breaking down old neural pathways and creating new ones and then we can welcome this uncomfortable new way as a sign of progress. We can release the inner voice of the self-saboteur if we know what we are listening for, and learning to recognize when SHE is running the show.

To practice, today’s guided meditation will take you deeper inward towards reclaiming your power and releasing your saboteur once and for all.

LISTEN TO THE MEDITATION HERE

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The Yoga of Eating ~ Full Moon Weekend Retreat Joyful Journey Hotsprings September 16th-18th

Reconnect and restore in the majesty of the Colorado Rocky Mountains with a retreat designed for your health, nourishment, and body-mind-spirit connection.

Soak in the sacred waters of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, enjoy the delicious organic home cooked meals, and share in the sisterhood of connection and ritual.

Reserve Your Queendom 

Self Care is the New Healthcare

  The early morning sun peeks through my purple curtains these days with a certain kind of spring morning hue.

With the sound of the dawn chorus chirping outside my window, I stir, sensing the break of a new day. The intoxicating fragrances of spring stoke my senses, and the lush green foothills of Boulder are beckoning me to come and play.

For me spring brings busy weeks of parenting teens through final exams, travel planning, family dinners, school performances, creek festivals, memorial day picnics, graduations, work and friends.

It’s full, it’s dynamic, and the weeks can fly by faster then ever.

Do you make time for everyone else, but you?

Self care – the art of listening to our body’s needs and wants from a deep soul knowledge of the self – is simple yet complex.

Self care is simple because it is applicable to humans across all times and necessary to our fundamental human needs.

Self care is complex because in today’s world, we are most often overwhelmed by getting everything done in our days, to then fall into our beds at the end of the day exhausted.

Spring brings fresh energy, possibility and the chance to begin anew. Now is your time to cultivate and create all that you need to THRIVE in your life.

You will know you’ve recognized what you need when you feel the flame of excitement, inspiration and passion growing in your heart and maybe you will even feel a sigh of relief.

Think of having an afternoon nap, taking a warm bath, having time to read your favorite book, a walk in nature, or sipping tea with a friend in the garden. Self care doesn’t have to take up much time, but even just 5-15 minutes a day will change everything for you.

5 things that happen when you practice self care DAILY

1. You start to prioritize yourself (halleluiah)

Just like any other habit, once you get your self care rolling you gain momentum.

For the next week, what would happen if you made it a point to prioritize yourself every day?

I know this can sound edgy, especially if you have small children, you do service work, or your friends and family really NEED you.

The thing to remember (and this has helped me a lot) is that we aren’t much good when our “CUP” is empty. Try filling up your own cup first, and watch how giving back to your circle of life becomes easier.

2. You feel more energized

When we take better care of ourselves, we nourish ourselves better, and this creates a surge of energy in our often tired, overwhelmed, and busy lives.

Exercise is energizing. Naps are energizing. Relaxation and down time are energizing. Gardening and nature are energizing. The sky is the limit on how YOUR self care looks.

I promise you that dedicating 5-15 minutes a day (or more) to self care will improve your quality of life and your energy throughout the day.

3. You get sick less

When we practice self care daily, our immune systems are less taxed, we are more rested, and we attune to what we need to stay healthier.  Your daily self care has a direct impact on your health today, and also  on the future of your health.

Simply Psychology states “When we’re stressed, the immune system’s ability to fight off antigens is reduced. That is why we are more susceptible to infections.”

Try thinking of self care as your essential “Vitamin S”

4. Your relationships improve

Not only will your relationship to yourself improve, but also, when you are feeling more connected and balanced in yourself, your relationship with others flows more smoothly.

We are better listeners, better mothers, better lovers and better friends when we are well resourced, rested, and harmonious with our day-to-day life.

If you have a hard time doing it for you, do it for the others in your life 

5. You fine tune your intuition

The art of listening to yourself gets easier and easier with practice.

Your body is always your ally.

When we move through life so fast, always trying to take care of everyone else, we loose the connection to our inner voice of intuition and wisdom.

Don’t worry –YOU are still there.

Tuning into what we need is an important practice for health and well-being – body, mind and spirit.

Eventually, this inner voice of wisdom will guide us gracefully to knowing exactly what we need to be in balance. We begin to trust. We take better care of our beautiful selves, and our quality of life escalates to new levels.

Self care is an act of SELF-LOVE

5 Home Brews for your Health

  One early morning last week as the sun came up, I was sitting drinking my morning brew, when I heard "the cough" from the bathroom shower, and instantly felt a shot of adrenaline rush through my body.

If you have known me for a while, you would know that I have made a few trips to the ER in an ambulance with my son who often would get croup as a young child.

He has mostly outgrown the "croup crisis" these days, but the sound of that barking cough coming from the shower last week reminded me that I surely haven't outgrown my stress response.

I instantly got up and began to grate up some ginger in my kitchen, filled up a pot of purified water and started brewing a soothing pot of ginger lemon tea. He decided to go back to bed with his warming tea by his bedside.

There is nothing like a warm cup of ginger lemon tea to console the lungs.

Using herbal teas for your health and well being is something I stand behind 100%.  They are inexpensive, easy to make, and most often super effective in soothing your symptoms.

Check out my 5  Favorite Home Brews for your Health 

1.  Ginger Lemon Tea

Ginger tea is an easy one to make at home and is phenomenal support for inflammation/irritability in the lungs. Simply grate about a ¼ cup of ginger and simmer in a pot of water for 10-15 minutes. Add raw honey and a squeeze of lemon for a warming lung and throat soother.

2. Wild Passion Flower Tea

I have tried tinctures and tea bags of passionflower before and they are a great start, but nothing beats the fresh flowers or roots and stems. If you check out your local herb shop (I use Rebecca’s Herbal Apothecary), you can find the most fresh and potent flowers. Passionflower is a remedy used to treat anxiety and sleep (or both).

Simply steep one flower in a boiling cup of water (or roots and stems) for about 15 minutes, drink, and then eat the flower.

3. Peaceful Peppermint Tea

Peppermint tea is a very popular herbal tea, but when used in a therapeutic dose (ie fresh or it’s oil form), it does wonders for the digestion due to its antiseptic and antibacterial properties. Finding fresh peppermint in the spring is pretty easy, or you can use 2 drops of food grade peppermint essential oil.   Simply steep in a pot of purified boiled water for 10-15 minutes and enjoy.

4. Dandelion Detox Tea

Those “pesky” dandelions must be good for something right? Other than the delicious dandelion pesto recipe that I shared a few weeks ago using dandelion greens, dandelion root makes for a powerful detoxifying tonic. Since spring is the season of the liver, dandelion tea is a welcome homebrew for a reliable cleansing effect.

Boil the roots in a pot of purified water for 20-30 minutes, strain and enjoy.

5. Nettles Tea

Oh yeah, Nettles sting, but only when raw. If you can find your way to some fresh nettles be sure to protect your fingers and wear some gloves. Once they hit the boiling water, the sting dissolves and the nettles tea is wonderful to boost the immune system, a helpful aid in clearing up seasonal allergies, and a big boost for your energy. It can also be sautéed, juiced, or pulverized into a pesto.

If you can’t find fresh nettles, check out the dried version to make your homebrew.

Nettles tea is one of my favorites to use for a cooling iced tea during the summer months.

Steep in a pot of boiled water for 5-10 minutes, strain and enjoy.

6 Sweet + Sensual Secrets of Spring

I've got a few spring secrets for you.

We picked an aromatically pleasing purple lilac and carried it with us along the creek path, taking turns inhaling its sweet spring scent all the way through our evening walk.

Walking on my neighborhood creek path is my favorite way to unwind at the end of the day. I find solace in listening to the creek ripple by, and witnessing nature’s articulation as everything comes to life for a long awaited spring.

Something as simple as the sweet scent of a lilac activates the senses, and connects us to the deeper currents of spring.

The 8 limbs of yoga are steeped with teachings and guidance to uplift the heart and mind.

Some of these 8 limbs are very well known amongst the most common yoga practices – for example, the physical practice of ASANA: the practice of the holding yoga postures – whilst others are less trendy and even thought of as the forgotten limbs of yoga.

Pratyahara is one of my favorite limbs of the yoga practice.

This particular limb is defined as the practice of refining of the senses.

Pratyahara includes both the discernment of gaining mastery over the senses in the face of distraction, as well as the refinement of the senses through a heightened awareness.

When we refine, heighten, and savor the sensory experience, we become more present – the senses can only be experienced in the present moment – and we heighten our experience of the world around us – more pleasure, more bliss and more embodiment in all the things we do.

I will tell you how this applies directly to our eating, our bodies, and the beauty all around us in

The 6 Sweet + Sensual secrets of SPRING  

You are a pleasure based being. You are designed to feel pleasure, enjoy pleasure, and embody pleasure through your senses. With just a little attention on this and some tips to cleanse your sensory palate, you too can refine your sensory experience and enjoy the ride just a little bit more.

1. Slow down

We all know today’s world is fast paced and full. We can’t really change that in the big picture. What we can do each day is gift ourselves the time to slow down. Slow down when we eat, slow down when we walk in nature or slow down when we do our self care practices.

Take a deep breath. It sounds simple but something as simple as a few deep breaths allows us to be in the moment, get centered, and relax our minds.

2. Cut back on overly sweet or salty foods

One major downside of eating highly refined and processed foods is that our palates become less sensitive to the subtle flavors of natural food.

Choose foods that are made from nature’s naturally sweet flavors or natural mineral rich salt.

When the flavors are varietal and pure, they not only heighten our sense of taste, but they also energetically attune us into more inner balance and harmony.

Sweet – Nourishment and love

Salty –   Courage and fearlessness

Bitter – Purification and detoxification

Spicy – Passion and excitement

Sour – Spiritual fire and passion for life

3. Engage all of the senses in your eating

Watch the chocolate meditation here

Bringing all of my senses into my eating is on of my favorite exercises. I filmed this video with the release of my book, Health Wise, in 2014. You can apply the concepts of the Chocolate Meditation to any eating you do.

Make your eating more sensual.

4. Do a little screen time cleanse

When we spend all of our time looking at our devices, our Facebook page, our Instagram account and the latest HBO series, it becomes less likely we are going to notice the sensory experience of a beautiful bouquet of flowers, a purring kitty, or the crackling of a warm fire.

Give yourself some screen free, device free, electronic free time each day.

5. Touch yourself (yes, you read that correctly)

As we know, there are many ways to touch ourselves. Some are more arousing and sexual then others. What I am talking about here is waking up our bodies to sensual touch.

You can practice this with gentle coconut oil self massage. You can practice this with self-pleasuring. You can practice this with warm comforting aromatherapy baths.

You choose.

6. Practice Scent Therapy

One therapeutic practice to try is to up your sensory experience in your sense of smell.

It is said that the olfactory sense, our sense of smell, is our oldest sense from the viewpoint of evolution.

Our sense of smell creates strong memories with its powerful, swift and precise presence.

Cool fact ** The sense of smell is even more developed in a woman than it is in a man.

Our sense of smell is deeply connected to our sensual relationship to food, to a woman's eroticism, and to our intuition.

Some doctors call this "scent therapy". This can engage new receptors in your nose, improving your sense of smell over time.

Scent therapy infuses your olfactory system with delightful, potent scents, refining your sense of smell while enjoying benefits of the aromas on your entire body, mind and spirit.

Some scents are more therapeutic than others, while others are more pleasure based as well.

Try essential oils, strong smelling flowers or raw foods that when lightly cooked emit a strong aroma – such as garlic, ginger, tumeric.

Spring is the most sensual and lush time of the year. We can open the spring nuances more fully as sensual sensory beings through all things food, body, sensuality, and self-love with the activation of our senses - pratyahara.

Mimosas, Marigolds, and Mothering yourself

  Do you MOTHER yourself ?

The ambrosial scents of spring have been rolling over me like ocean waves this week.

Instant BLISS.

With a little (or a lot) of spring fever lighting me up, I decided to park my entire mobile office outside on my back deck. Usually, when I notice any resistance to my usual day-to-day stuff – writing, finances, paperwork – I ask myself the question: "What would it take to inspire me?"

This week my answer was SPRING.

Not only did my move outside to work uplift my motivation, but it actually had me looking forward to the writing hours I had allotted for myself this week.

This is one way I MOTHER myself

To really take care of ourselves and tend to ourselves, we have to give ourselves the love we want and deserve first and foremost.

Self Love.

As we embark on Mothers's Day weekend, this year I invite you to practice MOTHERING yourself.

No matter where we are in your lives, what our relationship is like with our mothers, or whether we are a mother, mothering ourselves is the best way to love ourselves this Mothers Day.

Mothering ourselves reminds us we are our own best friends, our own fierce protectors, and our own wise teachers.

Do you have your own back?

Intuitively we know what we need.  It takes a little practice – like strengthening a muscle over time.  The practice is in the PAUSING, being curious, and self inquiry into what we really need and want.

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Here are 4 easy and quick 'MOTHER YOURSELF' questions:

What does your physical body need to be nourished?

What does your heart need to be fed with happiness and joy?

What does your mind need to be free, clear, and inspired?

How can you feed your spirit with peace and calm?

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If part of mothering yourself requires a little hand holding, don't be afraid to ask.

If mothering yourself involves aligning your health from the inside out with the energetics of SPRING, check out my Spring Fever Cleanse Programs below.

 You can read ALL about the Spring Fever programs HERE.

Here's to all the mothers that have come before us, mothering ourselves, and celebrating the beauty of spring...oh and Mother's day mimosas.

The TRUTH about Transitions

Some transitions are tough,  

I collected all the ingredients for a warming broth, chopped up a yellow onion, grated the aromatic ginger and lemongrass, and turned on the pan to melt the coconut oil.

The early morning chill was obvious, and the forecasted rain was daunting and reminding me to get cozy with a warm pot of soup on the stove.

(You can find the yummy soup recipe on my Facebook page HERE)

Honestly, I wasn't sure if I had yet another pot of soup in me as we are approaching May this week, and warm pots of soup and stew are very much associated with winter for me.

I am the type who likes to put my crock pot away for the summer, not to be seen until the first leaves begin to turn on the trees each fall.

Here in Colorado, spring comes in waves. Waves of warm spring - sit on your deck - sunshine, interspersed with yet another winter storm, usually all the way to Mother's day.

While I personally may be ready to retire this year's snowy winter and celebrate the warmer days and nights of spring, the transition into spring is a little bit less predictable here in Colorado.

I have realized I am not a huge fan of transition 

Whether it be saying goodbye to a loved one, moving houses, transitioning home from a big trip, or the change of seasons, transitions can be a bit daunting for many of us.

My awareness around my struggle with transitions is nothing new. When the transitions get tough, I have learned to take extra special care of myself, use my daily practices and self reflection, and simply bring the transition into my attention while being extra gentle with myself.

If you are craving a strong, healthy and vital spring, let me help you with the transition...

This year's Spring Fever Cleanse programs are designed to do just this. Align yourself with the season with food, exercise, daily practices and self care energetics and see how your spring transition can be extra smooth this year.

You can read ALL about the Spring Fever programs HERE.

Yup, that warm pot of soup last night was just what I needed to curl up with and get cozy as the chilly rain came down.

Coming Home to SPRING

As the plane touched down in LA after almost 14 hours in on my flight home Friday evening, we began stretching our legs and breathing a sigh of relief as we were preparing to disembark our plane after a long sleepy flight.

As soon as we turned our phones back on, it didn’t take more than a moment to receive notification that all flights to Denver were cancelled due to the pending snow storms looming intensity.

After leading this year's Bali Women’s retreat, and touring around Bali’s green lush rice fields for over a week afterwards, I was looking forward to a gentle reintegration and coming home to a green and warm spring.

Thankfully, Colorado’s typical spring snow storms are a sign that a lush and green spring is right around the corner.

 

Spring is known to bring us an inner itching for something new to emerge, for our creative energy to be attuned, and for the majesty of new beginnings and possibilities to come alive.

Spring is a time to expand, renew, and bloom into all that we want to manifest in our lives, in our health and especially in our experience of joy.

Spring is a time of cleansing, lightening up, purifying, cleaning, and shedding the old.

What do you seek to shed this spring to lighten up and access the inner freedom you deserve?

The LIVER is the most dominant organ of the spring. The liver's role is to oversee purifying, cleansing, and preparing the body and mind for clarity and lightness from the inside out.

When we tend to strengthen, and "feed" our livers wisely in the springtime, we awaken an inner life force inside that syncs us brilliantly with the season.

EXPLORE the upcoming Spring Fever Programs HERE

4 ways to BLOOM into BRILLIANCE this spring 

1. Body Bliss

Can you access the bliss your physical body is designed to feel? When you wake up each day are you ready to conquer your life with energy and vitality? If you feel like many people do these days, a little tired, a little sluggish try these health secrets to enhance your energy this spring.

• Eat with the season – As the leafy greens spring up, and the dandelions fill your yard, try finding some ways to cleanse your diet with some of natures spring gifts.

In the spring we are designed to eat lighter, darker and leafier greens, and oh those dandelions do wonders for cleansing the liver. (Be sure they are pesticide free before you eat, or buy at your local health food store.)

• Juice – Juicing blesses the body with a potent amount of nutrients that are easily absorbed. As you pulverize and strain those veggies in the juicer, you do a huge favor to your digestion. You pour liquid nutrients into your system for a fountain of amazing energy and purification. Don’t have a juicer?... don’t worry. Almost every town has a local health food store, juice bar or healthy restaurant. Make sure your juice is not full of too many sweet fruits, but instead, heavy on the veggies.

• Reset your energy with a Whole Food lifestyle – This spring try to eat only WHOLE FOODS for one whole week. Whole food eating means eating food found in its whole form. Avoid processed foods, refined carbohydrates and foods that have an elaborate mysterious ingredient list.  Check out the SPRING FEVER Whole food cleanse program HERE

2. Unconditional Self-Love

If you are someone who hears your own self-critic loud and clear all day long, full of shame, blame and self sabotage…it is time to “clean” up your self-talk.

Try flipping your script or practicing an internal dialogue overhaul.

What are the most common thoughts that bring you down?

Are they about your body, your past decisions, your bad habits?

What can you do to LOVE yourself a little more despite your imperfections?

Self-love does not need to diminish because we indulge here and there. Our brilliance is based in unconditional self-love.

Self-love becomes a practice even amongst our imperfections. In fact, self-love is directly proportional to the amount of personal transformation possible.

Noting that our imperfections MAY even be our greatest strengths, teachers, life lessons and compassion lending qualities.

“The wound is the place the light enters you” RUMI

Self-love has NO conditions. Can you love yourself no matter what?

Whenever you hear the negative thoughts try to take note, then flip them around in to a positive affirmation as often as you can to practice unconditional happiness and self-love.

3. Self Care

One of most effective ways to your energize your life is through daily self care practices aligned with the season. How is your MOJO this spring?

Practices such as YOGA, BODY CARE, HERBAL SUPPORT and time in NATURE can move energy in big ways. Get yourself out of inertia this spring and up your self care every day. Enliven your spirit and up your MOJO with some juicy sef love of your own.

If you can specifically wake up your hips, your pelvis, and your second chakra (located in the pelvic area) you will notice your mojo begin to soar.

Take walk in the beautiful spring air, inspire yourself with your favorite yoga teacher or make yourself a new playlist to inspire your meditation. Listen to an inspiring teacher or dharma talk online. Learn to feel good in your body through movement you love.

Loving and enjoying your body is one of the most important ways to show gratitude for your brilliance and vitality. Self care, and body care are the perfect medicine for a strong and healthy spring.

4. Clear out your Space

Spring-cleaning is not a made up phenomenon. We naturally cleanse during the spring season because it feels so therapeutic to climb out of the winter hibernation into a fresh, light and clear environment.

Getting rid of the old and making room for the new is an important energizer for your space and your experience this spring.

But in addition to aesthetics, there are proven health reasons for steam-cleaning carpets, airing out curtains and the like noting that the benefits include preventing the spread of germs and keeping allergy symptoms at bay.

Cleansing your space also helps make your environment a happier as well as a healthier place. Try rearranging or reorganize your sacred space.  Elizebeth Gilbert (author of BIG MAGIC) recommends purifying your space to stimulate your creativity.

You are off to a great start for some revitalization and renewal this year. Spring is always an exciting time to start anew, plant our seeds of intention and watch, tend, and nurture them as the season unfolds.

BLOOM into YOUR BRILLIANCE.

5 Ways to TUNE In

This past weekend, as I prepared to send my youngest son off on a plane to Mexico for a spring break vacation with his friend’s family, I noticed I had this anxiousness and tightness in my body.

I wasn’t thinking about it much, but when I finally got home after a busy Monday at the office, I had to sit for a minute and ask: What is this feeling about?

It is his first international trip without me, and even though I consciously felt so excited for him, somewhere inside I was having a hard time letting go.

If you find it a challenge to control your thoughts and feelings some days, you are not alone.

These types of feelings, thoughts, or body messages offer us a lot of information when we pay attention. The problem is, often we don’t. Our days are busy, bustling, and full of to-dos that can easily disconnect us from our true inner experience – body, mind and spirit.

When we ignore our inner selves, we learn behaviors to repress the more intense thoughts and feelings. This often leads us down the road to numbing, checking out, over eating, and often self-medicating in a variety of ways.

When we practice TUNING IN, we can actually give ourselves the space to feel what is occurring, give it time to make sense and tend to ourselves in the ways we need in order to free ourselves from the common pattern of repressing our truest nature.

Connecting with ourselves more deeply helps us to connect with others more deeply.

Understanding ourselves – our wisdom and our intuition – helps us to honor the same in another.

Thoughts have information

Feelings have information

Bodies have information

We need a language to understand the insights that come through our body, mind and spirit. This is the language that gives us permission to listen to our subtle bodies, and then take action based on our highest good.

Cultivating a relationship with our WHOLE self is the best relationship on which we could ever spend our energy.

Our true self is our path to happiness, harmony, peace and deep understanding of our fullest selves.

5 ways to TUNE IN

1. Find Stillness

As you know, our minds can get quite cluttered, full, and busy. We spend so much time exploring and experiencing our outer world, our work world, our family world, that we are rarely called to get to know the universe within us.

Can you sit with yourself without any distractions? If you’re like most people, it’s probably been quite some time. Find a quiet space to sit, pause, and breathe. What does it feel like to slow down, and find stillness? If you are uncomfortable, you are in the right place.

Practicing slowing down and finding stillness is often foreign to us, therefore we need some practice to feel more familiar and comfortable. Eventually stillness can become like an inner anchor that we can count on.

2. Become A Witness

Living in this super busy world creates stress and overwhelm for almost everyone. It is not our fault. The ways we have lived through struggle, hardship, heartbreak, loneliness, or overwhelm are part of who we are, and the ways we have gotten stronger are assets gained from the past, that are applicable in the present moment. It is just taking time to witness them. No judgment, no shame, no blame. Our inner dialogue can give us information about the current state of our being.

What stories, phrases, and negative thoughts do you repeat to yourself constantly?

Where do you feel it in your body?

How do you want to treat yourself ?

It is a rich practice to become the witness to which internal conversations come up often.

3. Name the Inner Experience

When we identify what we are experiencing, we give our inner landscape a voice and a space to move through us freely. Use a word that describes what you are experiencing. Do you feel afraid? Angry? Treated unfairly? Scared? Lonely? Bored? Give the feeling a name. Come up with a word that describes the current experience, positive or negative.

4. Create Spaciousness

For centuries, many traditions, many teachings, many cultures far and wide have referred to creating spaciousness regarding the mind-body connection. Allowing our inner experience to move through us freely gives us a feeling of lightness and freedom.

Breathing is powerful and an effective vehicle to create spaciousness. Even just one conscious breath brings some spaciousness to the inner body. Following the breath with your attention is a simple, effective and easy practice to fit into even the busiest of days. You can do it while driving, while at work, or while in the midst of just about anything.

Simply pause and breathe.

5. Ask a question

Once you identify what is occurring in your subtle inner bodies, you can then begin the process of self-care, spaciousness, and honoring what is.

Beginning with a question helps to initiate the process of taking care, tending to, and nurturing you.

Try these:

• What is my hearts desire?
• What do I really want?
• How can I love and accept myself today?
• What do I need to be nurtured?

3 Spring Detox Recipes For Body, Mind and Spirit

  Creeping out of winter’s slumber, I personally love this time to re-awaken my mojo for a high energy spring.

Majestic wonder. Expansion. Fervor. Inner freedom. Delight. Sunshine.

A time of renewal.

The season of purification. 

The rising sun.

A tenacious energy pushing up through the earth after the long winter’s rest.

The bright green beauty of life blooming before us.

As our bodies naturally cleanse and re-balance themselves during spring, life can be seen more clearly, including new ways of thinking and experiencing.

When it comes to fueling your beautiful self this spring, see what it feels like to detox and cleanse just as nature is beckoning us to do.

Follow her lead.  She is wise, energetic, and potent.

With you, spring, cleansing and renewal in mind, I put together a few special spring DETOX recipes for the body, mind, and spirit this week.  They are yummy, gentle, and full of what you need to kick-start your high energy spring VIBE.

3 DETOX Spring Recipes to Spring Clean your Body, Mind, and Spirit

1. Dandelion Pesto with Wild Salmon

Dandelion is one of the most potent cleansing greens during the spring, and how convenient that they are popping up all over the place. Be sure that you know the source and you don’t ingest any pesticides along with your greens. You can also find organic dandelion at the local health food store.

Dandelion Pesto

Ingredients:

3 cups washed and cleaned dandelion leaves

¾ cup olive oil

3 cloves garlic, peeled

½ cup walnuts, lightly toasted

1 tsp sea salt

⅓ cup raw Parmesan cheese

zest of a lemon

juice of half a lemon

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or Vitamix and blend until smooth and creamy.

Dandelion Pesto Salmon

Ingredients:

6 salmon steaks

1 cup dandelion pesto

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 TBS olive oil

2 TBS white wine vinegar

½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil.

In a small bowl, whisk together dandelion pesto, garlic, olive oil, white wine vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste.

Place salmon onto prepared baking sheet and fold up all 4 sides of the foil.

Spoon the Dandelion Pesto mixture over the salmon.

Next, sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on each one.

Fold the sides of the foil over the salmon, covering completely and sealing the packet closed.

Place into oven and bake until cooked through, about 5-20 minutes.*

Serve immediately.

*Note: Baking time may need to be adjusted depending on the thickness of the salmon.

2. Spring FEVER Green breakfast smoothie

2 large leaves of organic kale and/or dandelion greens

1 tsp coconut oil

½ cup fleshy fruit of choice – fresh or frozen ( ie mango, berries, peaches, apple)

⅛ cup chia seeds

Coconut water

optional: Protein powder, raw egg, raw yogurt

Blend until smooth

2. Spring Detox Ritual Bath

There are many benefits to baths at this time of year. I call them ritual baths because it is not only about washing and relaxing, but about what we are putting in the bath and what that brings forth for ourselves.

Aside from the warming and relaxing qualities, there are also deeper support from certain types of baths. You can always resort to the simple Epson salts bath if you like, but here I am going to provide you with some specific and unique baths to use to synch up with SPRING – mind, body and spirit.

Bath for Immunity and Allergy Relief:

Apple cider vinegar is a wonderful way to keep those seasonal transitional colds from messing with you. With just a slight shift in the PH, this warming and cleansing bath also helps with inflammation that can be caused by injury, trauma or allergies.

Add 1 quart of natural organic apple cider vinegar to your warm bath. Soak in the tub for approximately 30 minutes for best results.

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