Shopping Time

Not being a “shopper” when a friend asked me to go with her recently when she wanted to get a bathing suit I was intrigued. You see, it was during the first week of August and we were in Manhattan.

Even without the shopping gene I knew from years of living in the Big Apple that when you go for retail therapy in August it is not bathing suits that you find gracing the clothing racks, it is sweaters, in autumn hues.

However, I am a huge believer in possibility. So, I happily followed along excited to see what we might find. As we stepped into the retail outlet my eyes immediately went to the large round table with the orange, taupe and brown sweaters on it, stacked in all their “Fall-will-be-here-in-a-heartbeat-glory.”

My friend, unmoved by the cool-weather fare surrounding us, sweetly asked the shop clerk if there were any bathing suits she could look at. He said no. They were gone now. Never mind that it was mid-way between Fourth of July and Labor Day, 80 some-odd degrees and sun blazing outside. If she wanted to look at bathing suits they could be viewed on line. Ah, on line where you can literally, virtually find anything at any time.

Now my bone to pick with real time and how it relates to retail time is not news. It’s something I’ve written on, well, time and time again. While I love that it’s easy enough to go on line and purchase a bathing suit it is still a wonder to me why they can’t hang around the stores until Labor Day. Really, they don’t take up half the space of the sweaters.

In a true practice of mindfulness we stay in each moment because, really, that is all that is. To think toward the rust-colored turtleneck then has my mind move to the fall wellness programs I haven’t yet chosen dates to run; the time when my flip flops will need to be placed in the back of the closet, and, well, soup, among other things that begin to swim through my head. Not the kind of swimming I want to be doing during the first week of August.

Do I really believe that the decision makers who wheel away the bikinis, tankinis, halter and strapless one-pieces will suddenly do an about face and keep the beach attire around with the outdoor furniture, citronella candles and grill utensils? Well, maybe. Hey, I said I believe in possibility back in the beginning. So, I’m putting it out there into the cosmos for some others to ponder too. I’m also making the commitment to keep present within myself noting the pleasure of walking barefoot in the grass, floating in a pool and reading outside among the sounds of the cicadas—all because it is August. Being in the moment during the moment will make summer last just a little bit longer. THAT I’ll buy.

Everything Yoga

When I took my first yoga class—over 20 years ago!-there were no tag names to the classes. No Vinyasa Flow, Restorative, Beginner, Open, etc. It was just called: Yoga. And you walked in, no matter what “level” you were and you just got on the mat and began practicing. There wasn’t any fanfare. Heck, there weren’t even any props except for the infamous sticky mat.

The beauty of yoga back then is that you quickly came to understand that it was all about your own practice, not the person on the next mat. It was easy to not compete! The person next to me was inverted faster than I was able to move out of my last pose and see what everyone was doing as a follow-up. Compete? It was all I could do to not sit and gawk, mouth ajar. There was no way to feel this because I was too busy feeling other things as I learned to maneuver the language. Oh, and I’m not even talking Sanskrit. Following the English took a few classes. Downward Dog? Cat/Cow? Baby Cobra? Hmmm……what is the deal with all the animal poses?

Yes, yoga brings up many questions. It also provides answers, sets up shop as a sanctuary, offers an ability to better know and be true to thy self. Yoga offers challenge. It creates space. It shares community. It is heart-opening. It is breath-taking and breath-providing. Yoga is joy. Yoga is healing. Yoga stretches, flexes, holds and releases. Through its’ eight limbs it offers an opportunity to shed, gain, understand, accept and radiate--among many other things that are both simple and not, yet always divine.

Now if anyone had provided me with the soliloquy of that last paragraph as I debated stepping into the studio for that very first class…..well, I may not have ever gotten there! However you are always where you are supposed to be. And since that maiden voyage I’ve had the opportunity to practice in many places.

While practicing in India was, I suppose, predictable, taking a yoga class in Lisbon was an adventure and a delight. Not able to speak Portuguese I copied down the address of the studio and had the hotel concierge arranged a reservation for the class. Upon my arrival I was escorted into the owners’ private back office, offered a seat on a beautiful sofa and provided with a cup of tea. When a co-owner came to greet me, we were both confused. She couldn’t understand why I—an American on holiday-wanted to take a class at her humble, neighborhood studio. I couldn’t understand why I was getting VIP treatment for a lunch time, weekday yoga class. It was a highlight of my trip. So, yes, yoga can take you to new places!

The road to yoga is long and winding—if I may borrow from John Lennon. Two years ago that wondrous little voice inside me (that I sometimes don’t hear/listen to as well as I’d like ) spoke loud and clear that I was going to be teaching this practice that I had come to revere. I am now clear that my journey both teaching and learning yoga will be life-long. Hmmmm….perhaps longer.

For the person ready to take those first steps on to the mat I would easily provide the same directive that I now give to my students when setting the foundation of any pose. Ground yourself evenly, check your alignment and remember to breathe. Good words on and off the mat.

Meditation

The alarm goes off at 5 AM, but I’m actually awake a few minutes before it. I paddle around the house in the dark in my pajamas trying, hard, to not do too many things first. The goal is to sit in meditation sooner rather than later. Some days though, the call of e mail and the checking of text messages on my phone finds me walking past my sitting area, candles on my altar unlit.

Maybe I’ll make some tea first and read….no hot chocolate. Hot chocolate! What is the weather? The computer knows. And from there it is a click on Facebook and People.com only to find that 30 minutes or more have already elapsed.

Meditation. Yes...…meditation. I walk back into my room and light two candles Then…my seat? No, I make the bed, pet the dog, brush my teeth, put my contact lenses in, brush my hair and change into gym/walking the dog clothes. More time has passed. How is it that I’ve been awake and up for more than an hour already? How is it that I’ve been so “busy” and it is barely 6 AM? Why is my mind so very equally quick and inquisitive, thoughts running at the speed of a car fast moving on a parkway?

Sit. All you have to do is sit. I oblige, setting the timer for 30 minutes. My back straight, legs crossed in a half lotus pose, fingers in a grounding mudra I begin to breathe, watching my breath go in and out in a long, deep fluid motion . Then I notice it. My head is itchy. My head is so very itchy that it is all I can do to not reach up and smack the top side with high force and great speed. Wait, I’m no longer focused upon my breath…now it is all about the prickly feeling that I simply want to scratch…s-c-r-a-t-c-h…..SCRATCH. I don’t.

I breathe and begin to add mantra to the breath to take my mind off….everything. All else that is rivaling me to lunatic proportions of distraction. Ah, wait….it’s working. Is it working? Am I one with my breath? Has my mind subsided? No, there it is again. What does the day look like? It will be a good one. I look forward to walking the dog. We can go more than two miles today. Troy will like that. What was the temperature? I forget. If it is below 30 degrees I’ll put his lighter coat on him.

Wait…..follow my breath…inhale through my nose. Exhale through my nose. Deep, long, fluid breaths. Ah, there is that itch again. Wait the dog is up. He is standing in front of my face breathing on me. Can I follow his breath? We didn’t brush his teeth last night. We need to do that today. Inhale, two, three, four, five….exhale two, three, four, five….inhale two, three, wait…the timer’s going off? Already? How did 30 minutes go by so very quickly?

I stand. The end. Or, really... the beginning.

It's beginning to look alot like.....

On the morning of Election Day I was taking my Rhodesian Ridgeback mix, Troy, on our daily two-or-so mile walk. I took a different road as a change of pace. As we passed one home I did a double take in a combination of disbelief and confusion. There, in a window, I saw a brightly lit Christmas tree. A CHRISTMAS TREE. At the time it was November 2. As if to color in the point further, later that night I was driving past a property that had a huge pine tree covered with multi-colored holiday twinkle lights. It was STILL November 2. Then in a few days, as a seal to the deal, I was flipping through radio stations and there it was. Bruce Springsteen singing, "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town." Really? Much as I love to hear the Boss sing anything we had not yet left the first week in November, folks. What was the rush?!?!

I admit that my reaction was and continues to be a bit Grinch-like. It's a combination of things. First, as someone who tries to live free and in the moment, tangible reminders that the mainstream flow averages a few weeks ahead makes me frustrated. When I attempt to let go some, and not have a relationship to it, I find I'm still holding on and a wave of sadness washes over me. Sigh.

How about a focus on the time at hand? Thanksgiving=a national celebration around gratitude. Collectively, if everyone centered in on this element I can only imagine the co-created effect. I believe that reverberation to be extraordinary.

So here is my Thanksgiving wish upon a star. Take a few moments to stop and actually smell the evergreen tree. Stand in the appreciation of all in this very nano-second. THAT becomes the gift.....not those things purchased and wrapped and delivered and generally stressed over for one reason or another. Showing up in each moment is the present. Literally!

Fruitful Farming

I’m not much of a fruit eater….save for my beloved bananas--until summertime. This is a pretty on target statement if you are eating with the seasons because here in the northeast no fruit grows in the wintertime. Yet even as a nutrition counselor who believes in whole, clean foods and who loves to eat locally I admit that I don’t know a lot about the fruit growing process. In other words, I’ll tell you why to eat a blueberry and where to buy a blueberry. However I can’t tell you how to grow a blueberry….or asparagus, Swiss chard, pea shoots or a beet, for that matter.

Though, I know a farmer who can tell you. About the fruit and a couple of vegetables, anyway. He tells me and has taken me through the process more than one time. However I haven’t had my notebook and while it makes sense in the moment…..I have not retained enough information except to say that you can begin to pick blueberries in July and finish in early August. I do remember that they are best eaten in the field. However that information, along with a Metro Card, gets you on the subway and not really any other place!

I do want to focus on the food growing process though. Most people don’t think about it enough. They get into their cars, head toward the supermarket, walk through the parking lot and in through the automatic door, get hit with a blast of air conditioning and pull boxes off shelves and out of frozen cases. They then drive home and place the boxes on their pantry shelves and in their refrigerators and say they have bought food.

The farm stands and farmer’s markets are beginning soon….some as early as this weekend. The food buying process through this venue is a bit more colorful and dimensional. An added plus is that you actually get to speak with the farmers. Really. Most of the time those selling you that bunch of arugula, the dandelion greens, the celery root and/or the free range chickens really are part of the entire process.

The farmers get up at, or before, dawn. The logistics of creating and sustaining a viable crop would make the average event producer shudder. The “to do” list of things includes turning the soil and irrigating the plants. Then there are a range of “fires” that may need to put out at any time, having to do with weather and wind patterns, among other things. The number of scenarios that can come up during a typical “day at the office”, a.ka. in the field, would make the average corporate executive quake from anxiety.

While our government places cash subsidy in crops such as corn and wheat, where is the help for the fruit and vegetable growers? Why does a large company, such as Monsanto get to affect farmers and long.-standing techniques? And when the average family sees that purchasing a head of broccoli in a supermarket is more expensive then a hamburger, fries and drink at a fast-food restaurant something is wrong.

Sigh. It’s food for thought for today. And while the blueberries won’t be ripe for the picking for a few more months, remember that they are high in antioxidants and are great in a muffin.

Here’s a recipe for some blueberry muffins. If it’s too hot to use it soon, remember those blueberries can be frozen so that you can have a taste of summer in the dead of next winter.

Happy Blueberry Muffins

2 cups blueberries

1 ½ teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1/3 cup brown rice syrup

1 ¼ cup of spelt/almond or brown rice flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup of olive oil

Pinch of Celtic Sea Salt

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees

-Use olive oil or butter inside your muffin tins.

-Add wet ingredients to a medium side bowl with blueberries

-Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl

-Pour wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients

-Fill muffin tins.

-Bake for 30 or so minutes/until toothpick comes out dry.

Healthy recipes, and nutritional values of foods that are healthy and taste great are just some of what is covered when clients work with me. If you’d like to learn more or schedule a nutrition consultation with me please refer to my website www.wholebodyworks.net

A dog owner grows in Rhinebeck

It's growing season. The true signs don't revolve around the inordinate warm weather that showed up in the first weeks of March in upstate New York this year. Or even the notices from the CSA's (Community Supported Agriculture) announcing the selling of farm shares for the upcoming season. I know growing season is officially off and running when my dog Troy begins eating newly grown spring grass as we take our precious morning walk together.

Most dogs eat grass when their stomachs are upset. Mine just simply loves the taste of the fresh leafy greens. When I first adopted him a few years ago I just thought that he was trying to gain points as he listened to me telling clients about the benefits of eating leafy greens. I would ask them to liken the greens to a feather duster going through their bodies (sweeping out all those toxins and moving the digestive process along well...) While I sometimes wonder if he ever got the meaning behind the visualization, and impressed as I am to have a dog that eats leafy greens daily, I mostly marvel at the overall adventure each morning walk brings.....greens both included and aside.

Troy notices every new scent, every flower that has come up out of the earth and all baby critters that scatter by. We make our way up a country road that is in a constant state of bountiful transformation. Trees, bushes, barns, horses and even mailboxes are illuminated in a show-stopping way because of the light, an element that makes the Hudson Valley so special. I notice the growth through Troy's eyes that are gently yet intently training my own to simply notice and appreciate. Breathing in the progression each day brings.

The phrase "take time to smell the flowers" is one that Troy takes very seriously. Once his sniffer is placed on something making its' way out of the earth he's like...well, a dog with a bone. However Troy actually cares more about the smell of the spring earth after a rainstorm, the aroma of a patch of grass after a baby bunny hops off of it and the fragrance of a flowering tree then that of a bone, ball or treat. He would be a great naturalist as he loves to spend time in nature exploring and sharing his finds with you, from a deep place of admiration and knowledge. He is never calmer or more at peace then after time outdoors, curiosity satisfied after recognizing the value and beauty of growth.

So as the days get longer and the leafy greens grow, I note my cravings for kale . (By the way it has the most calcium of all the leafy greens.) For my canine it's the roadside grass glistening with morning dew. Soon the farmer's markets will open their "doors" and we can stand in positive reception of the harvest magic that is made. I will.

If you want to know more about which (leafy) greens will best support your own body and/or if you choose to focus more on your health via your stress management aids, and would like some support, you can contact me via my website: www.wholebodyworks.net.

(organic) Popcorn and Tequila

Sometimes you just need to crunch.
Usually I’m a sweet, creamy person when it comes to food and texture. When I’m looking for comfort or company or entertainment or fun it’s about the sugar. However every once in a blue moon I need to crunch. My crunch doesn’t have to be salty but it has to be plentiful (aka: LARGE bowl). I needed to crunch tonight. Oftentimes crunch is something we do to quell anger, abate anxiety….relieve tension. But it’s not often recognized as such. I recognized it though. It's that state of awareness I'm always talking about. Me attempting to walk my talk.

I wrote all of the above a week ago. At the time I stopped writing I hadn’t mentioned the tequila. You see I had made myself a large bowl of organic popcorn, popped in my favorite pot with some beautiful extra virgin olive oil because I just needed to crunch. Back in nutrition school they taught us what the crunch “craving” is representative of. I mentioned it above. Since I’m usually aware of the reason I turn to food, I understood that on that evening last week I was pretty darn frustrated about a plethora of things. Stomping around the house was doing me no good. And, I didn’t want to take my own wellness advice to go off and journal, run a bath, manicure my nails, watch a movie or call a friend. All of these activities oftentimes do make me feel better , give me the same sated feeling as the food would provide , and give me a chance to separate the forest from the trees, so to speak, in understanding where I was at.

So while I was waiting for the pop to occur to my corn I put a little tequila on ice and began to drink it. Yep, I was pretty frustrated. And I did think…hey I should at least try and blog on this while I’m in the moment. But by the time I got through the large bowl of popcorn and the (tiny, really) bowl of tequila—well, needless to say the blog post didn’t get completed.

So what makes us turn to food (and drink) when things get intolerable? Usually it’s a combination of not wanting to feel the feelings that are coming up inside of us and being uncomfortable, in general, with those feelings. So, we stuff them with food. We wash them away with drink. We numb and we veil.

What we really need to do is twist and shout. Yes, literally moving our bodies will help relieve emotional stress and strain. This can be done as The Beatles intended in their song…..by dancing an (aggravating) evening away. Or, it can be done by literally twisting/tightening our bodies and then releasing them, which will alleviate strain and strife.

And, really, nothing beats actually shouting. It took me a long time to use this one myself. I withdrew from anger for years and years because I witnessed the negative consequences of it growing up. But expressing anger in a pure and honest way really moves it right out of your body. What I will sometimes do is take my car to a quiet spot, turn it off, close all the windows and scream at the top of my lungs. I scared myself the first few times I did this. I’m generally not one to yell. Then once I got the hang of how GOOD it made me feel I started recommending it to clients. Try it next time you’re hopping mad. You’ll see.

Now the night of the popcorn and tequila I wasn’t mad. It was pure nuisance because I had a problem I had been attempting to solve for awhile and nothing I tried was working. The popcorn really was for my irritation. While the crunching moved me through the exasperation I really didn’t like the way I was feeling. In the moment I felt in the state of failure, malfunction and pure stoppage. I felt ashamed and shame is definitely a feeling that I haven’t learned to embrace. It’s a shadow. You know that saying about being afraid of your own shadow? Well, there it was. We all have ALL feelings. Those we are not in touch with and/or reject don’t go away. They lurk in the shadows, sometimes just waiting to pounce. So, I had some tequila which made the shadow evaporate for awhile. And I ended up having a relaxing night and a solid wellness blog post too. In the light of the morning things appeared much more encouraging. I felt optimistic and more assured.

Now before you stop reading this and go off to make your own bowl of (organic) popcorn and tequila and start telling people that the nutrition and wellness counselor recommended the combination as a sure cure for wiling away the worries please let me finish with two key elements: awareness and choice.

I was really clear about what I was feeling (like it or not) and choices that I had to deal with the feelings the situation brought about. In this instance, I chose the popcorn and the tequila. And I’m self-satisfied enough to write about it. More than a decade ago I may have made that choice but without the understanding and full comprehension of other options to connect and how food/drink can be used to fill a void. I also know that I do not have an addictive personality (a bit obsessive, yes, addictive...no.) And with a number of friends and clients in 12-step programs, I have a deep respect for the choice to not drink (or drug) they make each day. If a similar situation were to occur for me next week, I may make that same choice with the same knowledge again. Or, I might choose the warm bath and conversation with a friend instead.

Staying in the moment—even when the moment sucks—affords options regarding next maneuvers. It also provides a more direct road of wellness in knowing yourself. I find that’s delicious.

If you'd like some support around cravings...be it sweet, salty, one that is texture driven, etc., I offer telephone sessions and can be reached via my website: www.wholebodyworks.net