PALEO PUMPKIN FIG MUFFINS

PALEO PUMPKIN FIG MUFFINS

Pumpkin season is here! And there are so many ways to incorporate this delicious orange vegetable, and its healthy, crunchy seeds, into your diet.

Green pumpkin seeds, or pepitas, are excellent for supporting a happy mood thanks to the tryptophan they contain, plus they're also great for prostate health thanks to their zinc content - so all you men out there should especially eat them up!

These muffins are really low in added sugar.  Bananas, Turkish figs, and a little coconut sugar lend a great balance of natural sweetness, along with lots of minerals.  The almond flour and eggs provide lots of protein to keep you full and energized throughout the day. 

Cinnamon, ginger, clove, nutmeg, and allspice lend these muffins a warming, nourishing flavor and scent that will have you loving every bit of Autumn. Click the button below to find the recipe from our team member, Ailsa's, food blog – .Food to Feel Good – Happy eating!

TRUTH TALKS ~ SESSION 1

TRUTH TALKS ~ SESSION 1

" THREE THINGS CANNOT BE LONG HIDDEN:
THE SUN, THE MOON AND THE TRUTH "

BUDDHA

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of sitting in a beautiful circle of women dedicated to improving their relationship to food and their bodies.



As with most circles of women I have sat in, there was a lot to talk about. Each woman had a chance to share some of her struggles, tell her personal truths, and shed some of her unwanted beliefs about food, health, and body image.



As I listened, shared, and witnessed this circle, I realized that wrapped up in our conversation is a whole lot of talking about what we think we 'should be doing'. Ironically, many of these 'shoulds' contradict each other.



I noticed that many of us had gotten so far from what feels good in our bodies, and replaced our innate intuitive wisdom with many of the most common health myths or 'shoulds'.



We (as a culture) frequently hand over our power to what online health trends and media are telling us to do rather than trusting ourselves and our own unique needs.




We are all looking for answers ...




... Answers about how to feel good in our bodies.
... Answers on what is the best thing to have for lunch.
... Answers on how to overcome our cravings.
... Answers on how to be our best selves.  



It can feel complicated.  It can be confusing.  But most of all...it is completely unique and individual.  




I wanted to share with you today a new summer series I created to help with some of this confusion...



 

*WELCOME TO THE TRUTH TALK SESSIONS*

For the next few weeks, join me in a little immersion into some of the ways we can reframe our health and reclaim our power. Together, we will take a deeper look at some of our personal beliefs and some automatic ways we tend to orient around our health.  Truth talks are little nuggets of truth for you tochew on. We will debunk some common health myths and find our way back home to ourselves.


 

TRUTH TALKS ~ SESSION 1:

1.  DON'T GET TO BOXY:  Out there in the world of health, there are quite a few boxes in which you could try to fit. While many of them contain some wisdom, many oppose the others and are just simply too boxy for most of us. One observation I have made about human consciousness is that we like defining ourselves by our boxes. We like being part of something. We like declaring these personal flavors on social media. We like to be known for our chosen box. This seems especially true with the type of EATER we are: Vegetarian, paleo, low carb, gluten free, vegan, ... and even purist, cleanser, or perfectionist.  

TRUTH:  You don't have to pick a box. You don't have to stay in only one box. YOU are not your box (P.S. I know how funny that sounds, but decided to keep it to make you all smile a bit)





2.  YOU ARE NOT DIRTY:  While there are so many great reasons for cleansing, resetting, turning over a new leaf, and giving your body some serious food love, you are not dirty.  Our bodies naturally cleanse themselves regularly and there are some nice little treats we can give ourselves to up the anti a little here and there, if we care to.  While the incredibly trendy cleansing practices can be helpful, be careful not to go overboard.

TRUTH:  Cleanse for the love of it, not because you are dirty.  Cleanse for self-care not for punishment or because you hate your body.  
Cleanse for health, not because your feel icky or disgusted with yourself. Most of all, if you decide to cleanse, cleanse with care.





3.  GLUTEN IS NOT THE ENEMY:  While it is very true that many folks have a hard time digesting gliadin (the gluten protein) and gluten in large amounts is surely inflammatory, a little bit of gluten here and there is not worth hating yourself over. While celiac is totally real (I once met a man who projectile vomited within moments of gluten hitting his tongue) most of us are NOT celiac. Food allergies are a big issue in today's world, but gluten is not the only allergen to consider. I see blood test results every week that show many other foods as the culprits of digestive issues, skin issues, fatigue, brain fog, depression and many other symptoms.

TRUTH:  If you are not celiac or do not notice negative symptoms directly related to eating gluten, a little dose of gluten once in a while won't hurt. 





4.  THERE IS MORE TO HEALTH THAN GREEN JUICE: The green juice trend is rampant here in Boulder. While I am a big fan of a little green juice, green juice is NOT the key to our health or our happiness. Some people find it too bitter. Others, find it too expensive. For many of us, it's just not on our radar.  As you have probably noticed, our culture tends to take things to the extreme. Too much green juice can be hard on our digestion because it is missing all the fiber. In large quantities, green juice can also interact negatively with thyroid issues. While I love me some green juice, it is not the cure all for our health.

TRUTH:   Our health has many, many more important components than green juice:  How we think about ourselves, how we move our body each day, how we sit down and eat our meals, the intention we put into our food and our health, as well as how we sleep each night, and how we relate to others, are much more important aspects on which to focus.  Have a little green juice...or not.  





5.  SELF-LOVE IS NOT A SWITCH:  We hear about self-love everywhere.  We are often simply told to love ourselves more as if it were an on-off switch. While I believe in the practice of self-love immensely, it is a spectrum, a practice, and a life-long journey that is often incredibly complex and messy. Finding acceptance and compassion for ourselves is easy on some days, and almost impossible on others.

TRUTH: Self-love is not a constant, but rather a practice and a fluid expression of ourselves. True self-love is the practice of loving ourselves when we are not doing well, when we trash our clean eating program, or when we binge on potato chips. True self-love is the practice of loving ourselves through a broken heart, exhaustion, or when we miss our daily workout. True self-love is the practice of loving compassion through a hard transition, a change, or even a total failure.  So...be gentle with yourself.  Somedays will be easier than others to LOVE yourself. It's human, it's real.  

Have some thoughts or insights about these truths?  Have some requests for next week? Please comment below.  I love hearing from you!!


With love and peace...

7 REASONS TO DRINK BONE BROTH + MY FAVORITE RECIPE

The aroma from my crockpot fills the house each Sunday afternoon. Something about my house smelling like home cooked soup takes me back to my childhood. As I wipe down the counters and pour another cup of tea, I carefully lift the lid (again) to have yet another little taste. 


Like many of you, I am a creature of habit. 


I like my daily/weekly rhythm. I enjoy cooking my favorite meals regularly,  hikei my favorite trails in Boulder County often, Jason and I have our favorite restaurants around town, and I try to keep up with my most effective and nourishing self-care practices each week. 



While trying new things is also part of my adventurous personality, I do it in smaller increments these days so I don't throw myself too far off from what I know works and feels good. 



This past year, I have added a weekly broth making routine.  Each Sunday morning I get my trusty crockpot going with some delicious broth ingredients. Sometimes I make an alkalizing veggie broth (more to come on that one) and often times slow cooked bone broth.  I drink it regularly throughout the week and I have noticed some key benefits which I want to share with you today. 



Last week I posted the photo above on my Instagram page. I was pleasantly surprised to find more likes and comments than usual.  Many folks requested the recipe, many folks wanted to know more about bone broth, so as promised, here you are:
 

 

7 REASONS TO DRINK BONE BROTH + MY FAVORITE RECIPE

 

While you may have heard a lot about bone broth, tasted it at a local health food store, or from your grandmothers soup pot, you may not realize that not only is it super simple to make, but it is also a medicinal nourishing tonic that can make a really big impact on your health. 

Bone broth is becoming so popular amidst recent health and wellness trends for a few very important reasons.

1.  METABOLIC SUPPORT

Bone broth is chock full of gelatin.  There have been many studies on the health benefits of gelatin throughout history showing it's healing power for ailments from ulcers, to diabetes to tuberculosis. In the case of your metabolism, a regular dose of gelatin in your diet, especially from homemade bone broth, has been shown to be extremely satiating and metabolically stimulating, as well as decreasing the need for overall protein and fat in the rest of our diets by up to 50%.  Metabolically speaking, bone broth keeps your blood sugar stable and keeps you in the fat burning zone.  

2.  DIGESTION

One of the most effective and healing ingredients in bone broth are the amino acids – glutamine and proline. If you suffer from food allergies, leaky gut syndrome, autoimmune symptoms, or IBS, bone broth is for you.  Glutamine is one of my favorite supplements for healing digestion, digestive inflammation while rebuilding and strengthening the digestive wall (which gets thinned during digestive illness).  A regular dose of bone broth will do wonders for your digestion.

3. JOINT HEALTH

Bone broth is also full of glucosamine and chondroitin.  Both of these nutrients are specifically helpful for joint pain, inflammation, arthritis symptoms, and mobility.

4.  IMMUNITY

Bone broth is a mineral superfood!  Your immune system functions on minerals.  All of the bone broth minerals specifically feed your immune system for a stronger healthier you.  Who knew our grandmothers' chicken soup really was a cure all!

5.  SKIN REPAIR AND HEALTH

One of the main ingredients found in bone broth is collagen. The main nutrient we need for healthy skin, hair and nails is collagen. Collagen helps to maintain the skin's natural elasticity (good bye wrinkles) while promoting smooth and supple skin.

6.  PROTEIN AND FAT NUTRITION

Bone broth is full of assimilatable natural protein and fat.  Glycine, found in the protein of bone broth, stabilizes your blood sugar, boosts energy production, increases satiation and builds muscle mass.  

7.  DETOXIFICATION AND CLEANSING

While most of us could use a little liver love in the world today, bone broth is an easy tonic to include in your daily regiment to support your liver and kidneys in a gentle yet effective cleansing.  The high amounts of glycine in bone broth are incredibly effective in aiding the body in its natural ability to detoxify regularly.

---

 

There are many, many ways to cook bone broth.  Some are plain and simple, while others get more creative and complex.  This favorite of mine is somewhere right in the middle. This one is simple, yet full of some of my favorite spices and flavors.  Try it as a soup, sauce for your favorite stir-fry, or a warming beverage right out of your favorite mug.

Questions, comments, requests, recipes?  Please tell me all about them in the comments below.  If you know someone who would benefit from this information please feel free to share it with them using the  button below.

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: