All posts filed under: Life Lessons

When Dairy-Free Milk Wreaks Havoc on Your Gut

Published by

Many people switch to nut milk in pursuit of healthier options, completely unaware of some companies using ingredients that are highly inflammatory for your intestinal tract and harmful to your gut microbes. It seems like everyday, more people are ditching cow’s milk and switching to healthier options, like nut milk. With increased demand comes increased supply, so many mainstream food brands are now marketing nut milk of every variety. Many people switch to nut milk in pursuit of healthier options, completely unaware of some companies using ingredients that are highly inflammatory for your intestinal tract and harmful to your gut microbes.This should be a good thing…but it’s not. While you’d might think consumers should be able to waltz into any grocery store and not have to worry about what the hell is in our food, that world just doesn’t exist anymore. The food industry is a massive business and, like many other businesses, it’s more concerned with product sale than people’s health.  The simple truth is not all dairy-free milks are created equal, but there’s …

Ditch the Sugar, Lose the Weight

Published by

  Pour some sugar on me… But not on my food. No way, no ma’am, no thank you. I not-so-secretly adore sugary things. Actually, I love salty foods. Fatty foods. Fried foods. If it is dyed an obnoxious color, I’ll probably like that too. (Those chewy Swedish fish make my day. Some part of my brain knows it’s not a real food, that fish are neither chewy nor bright red nor sweet, but I become 100% committed to devouring the entire box the second they’re in my hands.) I use so much salt on my food, it looks like a literal snow blizzard has descended upon my plate. But out of all my vices, I think my sweet tooth is the worst. Scratch that, it’s not a sweet tooth, but teeth. Like, a mouth full of ’em. I’m pretty sure my body is out to get me. When science is finally confessing sugar is silently killing us and likens it to a hyper addictive drug, what’s a girl to do? Find ways to cut sugar out …

Use This, Not That: Deodorant Swaps

Published by

The many of the ingredients that go into our every day, run-of-the-mill products are a little bit terrifying.  Worst of all, when it comes finding out just how unhealthy a product really is, the burden of proof falls on the consumer. It shouldn’t be that way, but unfortunately, if we want to stay healthy, we can’t completely trust the FDA or consumer reports. There’s a huge chance you’re using a hazardous product right now. Aluminum is directly linked to Alzheimers and a slew of other health problems, but guess what we put directly into our lymph nodes every day? Yup. Aluminum, brought to you by way of your trusty deodorant. I don’t know about you, but this makes me mad AF. All I want in life is to smell fresh as a goddamn daisy, without risking putting my husband through a Notebook type of scenario. My memory is pretty sketchy as it is, so I need all the help I can get. Since it’s approximately a million degrees outside right now (depending on the sun’s …

How to Have a Dynamic Yoga Practice

Published by

Yoga is an investment. Like money, we don’t want our practice to be a proverbial credit card, where we’re charging skills and tricks that our body actually can’t afford for us to do. We also don’t want to needlessly hoard our energy, so we must learn to invest ourselves and our energy wisely. As with most things in life, you’ll get out of yoga whatever you invest in it. This makes me oh so happy! Hooray! A predicted outcome: work hard, enjoy the results! On the other hand, this makes me feel RIDICULOUSLY GRUMPY: wait, what? Sooo…no coasting? Not even a little cheating?! DAMNIT! I guess I’ll have to rely on good old fashioned hard work when it comes to my practice. Oh, joy. But all good things are worth the effort, and yoga is at the top of that list. Because yoga allows for many modifications and no one is shouting at you to run harder, climb higher, pump heavier, the degree of intensity is a highly personal and regulated primarily by the individual. Pros: you …

Beating the Yoga Blues

Published by

Yoga is a journey that has it’s peaks and valleys, to be sure. Sometimes, we leave a practice feeling on top of the world. In fact, yoga is famous for the euphoric high that comes after a ridiculously grueling session. Maybe science hasn’t nailed down exactly why yoga is so magically healing and emotionally satisfying, but any regular to yoga will swear by its powers. Speaking of science, we do know that yoga, which incorporates tons of back bends and twists, causes the body to release a high level of neurotransmitters like serotonin (which is directly responsible for happy feelings). The spine of course is connected to the brain, and both are big control centers for neuro activity and hormonal releases. While yoga usually leaves us feeling oh so blissful, sometimes it also stirs up deep emotions and can leave us feeling like we’ve been hit by a Mack truck. It’s not uncommon to feel emotionally drained after a big influx of neurotransmitters, hormones, twists and bends…but it seems hard to shake at times. From a …

New Leaves & Trees (and Other Thoughts)

Published by

New Years in the time when we set lovely intentions (we mean to live by), resolutions (we often break) and lofty goals (we can’t always achieve). Change can come. Sometimes, all we have to do is turn over a new leaf, but other times we must plant a whole new tree. Prana yoga honors the seasons as a powerful influence on our lives, and I actually was in a Prana class on New Year’s Day and found it truly inspiring. My teacher said the New Year is a time of cold and dark, and it’s easy to hybernate both physically and mentally. But, she added, this is an amazing time to start planting seeds of potential. We will reap the harvest later. We must set our goals and intentions now, and if we’re faithful to tend them, we’ll see incredible results. It’s not impossible to teach an old dog new tricks, and I am learning one of the most empowering ways to truly reach and keep our goals is to frequently ask ourselves: how, what, …

Alis volat propriis: She Flies with Her Own Wings

Published by

Alis volat propriis is a gorgeous and inspiring Latin phrase that translates “she flies with her own wings.” I truly believe we as individuals are meant to see, be, and do great things…but we are often prevented from realizing our potential because there are people who devote endless amounts of time and energy to breaking the wings of others or stifling their flight. I don’t understand this. I truly can’t comprehend why people would want to hurt others or even wish ill will on them. The simple truth is, there are people out there who either simply don’t know how to be happy for others, perhaps because they themselves have experienced great hurt in their own lives and merely continue the cycle. Some lovely, beautiful spirits get completely crushed and broken under the weight of hurtful words and actions of these kinds of people. What a true tragedy, because the body heals faster then the heart ever will. On the flip side, sometimes we rely far too greatly on others, and we never reach a …

Just Be Present: Part 2

Published by

What happens when we pursue our goals, when we dedicate ourselves to them every day? We stretch, we grow, we even begin to fly. And one day, we start soaring. “Your wings already exist. All you have to do is fly.”  We have the power to do that which inspires us, we must simply devote the time, energy, and effort to make it happen. Remember the scene at the end of the Wizard of Oz when Dorthy asks Glenda how to get home? She said, “You always had the power, my dear. You just had to learn it for yourself.” Stand firm. Don’t let life shake you, break you, or remake you into something that is untrue to yourself. The stronger a tree’s roots are, the more it flourishes. How do we grow stronger? By walking on a good path, following principles of truth and what is right. “Blessed is the man [who walks in goodness]. He will be like a tree, planted by rivers of life giving waters.” Psalms 1:3 Set goals and stay …

Thankfulness & Other Thoughts

Published by

We often talk of gratitude and contentment, but it’s sometimes harder to live out. Out of all the holidays, Thanksgiving is one of my favorites, because it’s dedicated entirely to being thankful for what we have, while realizing contentment despite what we do not have. Thankfulness has nothing to do with the contents of our lives and everything to do with the condition of our hearts. Would you take this challenge with me? Let us practice deep contentment for what we have, keeping our focus off of materialism and turning it towards things much less tangible but more valuable. I also set the intention on and off the mat to nurture my sense of joyful gratitude. Thankfulness is not playing a Pollyanna “Glad Game” and merely finding things to be happy about each day, or ignoring the bad. It is a state of the heart, in which we acknowledge the pain, disappointments, and hard situations we face and say, “Even so, I choose joy. I choose to recognize that nothing is permanent, including this hard time, …