Which body would you rather live in?  One that is being punished, deprived and hated?  Or one that is honored, respected and loved?

I have spent much of my life feeling as though my body isn’t good enough.  Always wishing it was stronger, leaner, thinner, and taller.  I had a very sad relationship with my body, I was always disappointed in it and felt like I had to control it somehow. 

When I was ready for my body to do me the ultimate favor and carry a baby, it couldn’t even seem to do that for me.  This only made my relationship with my body even worse.  After years of heartache and lots of crazy treatments, my body finally came through and I had my first miracle baby.  I think I appreciated my body a little more because of it, but honestly I’m not really sure it changed the hateful relationship I was so accustomed to.  

Then breast cancer happened.  My body once again was letting me down.  I felt so betrayed, heartbroken, disconnected, and completely scared.  This was over 6 years ago, and I think it was my rock bottom.  I began searching for a better way.

I went to a Hay House event about a year after my bilateral mastectomy, and I was listening to Dr. Wayne Dyer give a talk.  He was so magnetic, and I was soaking up all his words… and then he said it… ‘Are you living your life based on fear or love?’  

This simple yet profound question just about knocked me off my seat.  I began to tear up.  I wrote down ‘Fear or Love’.  I realized that EVERYTHING I had done to ‘take care of myself’ was based on FEAR!  

I was exercising because I was afraid.  Afraid if I didn’t I would be fat, my cancer would come back, I wouldn’t be able to keep up with my life, I wouldn’t be good enough, I would be too stressed… and the list goes on and on.  Never once did it occur to me to exercise because I wanted to give my body some love and take care of myself better... out of love… nope, not once. I was drinking green juice, eating a vegan based diet, nothing processed, only because I was so scared the cancer would come back if I didn’t.  Never did it occur to me to feed my body nutritious food that nourished my body because I loved my body and I wanted to take care of it out of love and respect.  

Then I realized this went well beyond how I took care of my body, but my motive for almost all things in my life were based on fear.  This shocked me to my core. The toxicity level was huge. 

I needed to make the shift to love.

And sure enough, that's when I was introduced to EFT, Tapping.  

It's through EFT that I was able to heal my old patterns of hate, disappointment, disgust, resentment, fear, etc towards my body and step into choosing love.  

I now choose love.  

Am I perfect at it?  Absolutely not.  It’s a practice.  

There's no such thing as being perfect at anything. 

If I find myself wishing my thighs are smaller, or my arms are more muscular.  I stop… and decide to thank my body instead… after all, my body has been through a lot, and it never gave up on me. Even through all the abuse that I have put it through, it never gave up on me... for that, I'm eternally grateful.  

I know this life goes by too fast.  I don’t know if I'll be here tomorrow.  

So I have decided to thank my body for showing up and doing it’s thing.

I now choose to eat a healthy diet and exercise because I want to support my body and help it do it’s thing.  I choose to do it for love.  Love for my body and love for my life.

Switching from fear to love has been one of the most radical things I have ever done.

Are you ready to be radical?  

There are so many self-care rituals to embrace, it can be completely overwhelming.  How do you know which one is really going to make a significant impact on your life?  When I started my journey into conscious eating and living, which was more than a decade ago, I was completely overwhelmed with all the beneficial things I could and should be doing in my day.  

If I adopted all of them I would have a full time job!  

So over the years I have slowly tried them on, experimented with them, and kept the ones that work for me.  It's important to recognize that there isn’t one right way for everybody, we’re all different.  And it's crucial that you find what works for you and it's okay if that changes over time.

I've tried a lot and I’ve sustained the self-care rituals that work for me and make me feel better.   Check out some of the self-care rituals I’ve tried...

When I decide to try out something I usually commit to it for at least a few weeks and see how it makes me feel.  If I feel better and enjoy it then I’ll keep it around. A lot of these things I still do on most days, but I only have one thing that I have to do everyday and it’s my non-negotiable.  

It’s warm lemon water when I first wake up in the morning.    

Drinking warm lemon water first thing in the morning hydrates you, helps your liver detoxify, brings your body to a more alkalized state, reduces water retention, aids digestion, improves your skin and more.  Check out this article for more info on the benefits.

But the reason why I have kept it as a daily ritual, and now it has become my non-negotiable, is because I feel better when I start my day with it.  I feel less bloated, my digestion feels better and my body feels clean and healthy.   

I do it because I feel better... it's that simple.  

If you are interested in experimenting with what warm lemon water can do for you, then give it a go for a few weeks.  It’ll take about a week before you feel a physical difference in your body. Try it and see how you feel.

Here's what to do: Take half a lemon and squeeze it into a mug of warm water (about 10oz) and drink it first thing when you get up in the morning.  This might taste sour at first, but you will get used to it… do NOT add a sweetener.  Then you can go about your normal morning coffee or tea drinking and breakfast.  

Whenever I try a new ritual I’m always shocked at how my regular habits are so ingrained.  

When I first decided to try the lemon water I found myself drinking my coffee before I would remember and then it was too late.  After a few mornings like that I decided to set myself up for success by placing a lemon in front of our espresso machine at night.  That way in my morning haze I didn’t have to remember.  The lemon was right there to stop me in my tracks.  

I would love to hear from you.

What's your non-negotiable self-care ritual?  

Are you interested in finding out more about some of the items on my list?  

Let me know in the comments below.

Hope you have found this helpful.

-love and gratitude

Hello!  Hope you all enjoyed your extra day yesterday!  I read that if we didn’t have leap year it would be July 15th of 2017!  Kinda crazy to think about, it leaves me feeling grateful that we are slowing the clock a bit;)

Today I’m going to share something a little different with you.  It’s my favorite granola recipe.  I’ve tried lots of different recipes and I came up with this one a few years ago.  It’s very basic and you can easily play around with it.  I usually use raw almonds, raw walnuts and raw pecans for the nuts.. but any of your favorites will work great!  The bulk bins at your local grocery is the best place to find raw nuts.

I also have two variations to share with you.

Chocolate/Hazelnut Granola

• 3 Cups Rolled Oats
• 2 Cups Raw Chopped Nuts
• ¾ tsp Salt
• ¾ tsp Cinnamon
• 3 TBSP Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• ½ Cup Maple Syrup
• ⅓ Cup Melted Coconut Oil
• 1 Cup Raw Chopped Hazelnuts
• 1 Cup Raw Chopped Almonds
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• ½ tsp Almond Extract

*Combine dry ingredients then stir in wet ingredients.  Bake at 300’ for 45 minutes on a rimmed cookie sheet.  Allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Pumpkin Granola

• 3 Cups Rolled Oats
• 1/2 Cup Raw Pumpkin Seeds
• 1 Cup Raw Chopped Pecans
• 1 Cup Raw Chopped Almonds
• ¾ tsp Salt
• 1 TBSP Ground Cinnamon
• ½ tsp Ground Nutmeg
• ½ tsp Ground Ginger
• ¼ tsp Ground Cloves
• ¼ tsp Ground Cardamom
• ⅓ Cup Unsweetened Plain Pumpkin Puree
• ⅓ Cup Melted Coconut Oil
• ½ Cup Maple Syrup
• 1 TBSP Vanilla Extract

*Combine dry ingredients then stir in wet ingredients.  Bake at 300’ for 45 minutes on a rimmed cookie sheet.  Allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Hope you enjoy!

-love and gratitude