It's all over!

It's hard to believe that the end of fashion design school has finally arrived. I'm not sure if it has quite hit me yet that it is indeed over. Right after finals, I was so busy preparing for the holidays and family coming over that I didn't get a chance to really relax. Family has left and I have had a few days now to myself, but it has been filled with errands, cleaning up, and finishing things on my to do list. There are many projects that have been waiting for me to have time to start. I wonder when it will finally really feel like I've graduated?

Part of what is making it a bit surreal for me right now is the fact that on top of all the side projects I have going on we are preparing for a new addition to our family! There's still so much to do to prepare for the baby's arrival that it is a big project in itself. I know things will get done, so I'm just taking it all one day at a time. I will be working part-time too, so that will keep me occupied too until the big day arrives for me to deliver the baby! There's only a few weeks left until my due date.

Maybe it will hit me that it's all over when I actually go through and clean out my supplies, work, class notes, and everything else that has accumulated around my home from all my coursework. Until then, I'm getting my life in order to prepare for this next phase of my life! When you're too busy working, there's no time to organize and tie up all loose ends, so that's what I'm hoping to accomplish now.

Hope all of you had a great holiday season and are having a very happy new year!

Time for Recovery & Completing Unfinished To Do's

I've taken this week to really slow down and catch up on sleep and cleaning in preparation for our move to our new home. I've been getting plenty of rest and taking vitamins to give my body a little boost. There's only a few more days until I start summer classes and only another week before our big move!

It really is amazing how much time you can spend on cleaning and organizing, especially if you've allowed things to pile up over months. I've been going through an incredible stack of magazines, tearing out images and articles that I like. After a while, though, even this gets pretty exhausting and I just want to take and dump the rest into the recycle bin. I honestly may do just that. I don't think I can spend yet another day pouring over magazines to collect inspiration. The right resources will come to me when I need it and I just need to let it all go.

As much as I feel like I'm not doing that much (compared to my normal schedule with classes), I realize how much has been accomplished in this short time. I think it's because when the pressure of deadlines is lifted, things get done with much more ease. I've managed to clean the home, including vacuuming, scrubbing the bathroom, wiping counters, doing laundry, and organizing my clothes. There's still more to go, but I've made some good progress.

I've also completed several initial health consultations with others for my health coaching program, and made progress on my own as well. I've started cooking some more and have resolved to really clean out all the remaining things in my life that are just weighing me down. Into the recycle bins they go!

The preparations for the move have been set, and we've even taken measurements of the new home to make sure our current furniture will fit. Some will have to be sold and left behind, but that was expected.

I even managed to run all my errands, finish knitting some baby mittens, write in my journal, organize all of my finances and pay bills, watch a movie, play with my dog, have dinner with my mother-in-law, and even meet up or catch up with friends over the phone (or skype).

It's really interesting what happens when you take some time and give yourself permission to do whatever you feel like doing. All of the things that have been pushed to the back burner all of a sudden start getting done. These things are important things too, but jut not as urgent as our usual pressing matters at work or school. What surprised me was that given a choice, instead of frolicking in the sun, I decided to clean and organize away. I guess the satisfaction from this cleaning process is much more liberating for me right now than going outside to play. I know I'll have plenty of time for that after the move.

We all need down time every now and then. Time to catch up on things that might be pushed off for another year if we don't give ourselves time to address them. I still have a long list of things to complete, but at least I know that I have a chance of completing them once and for all.

Do you have a list of unfinished items? Take some time to make a list and check them off as you go. You will feel so much better knowing that you took care of all the little things that have been nagging for your attention. And make sure to add in some fun with friends or family in there. It's easy to let life pass on by if we don't know how we want to spend our time.

Detoxing My Life, April 2010

I have decided that April is the month to detox my life. I have three primary areas of focus for the month: body, home, and my new business. I started on April 1st and am keeping a daily log of what I accomplished that day in these three areas to keep myself accountable on the CCOR site. You can visit that link to see my daily progress. I'll keep all my mundane activities recorded there. :)

So far, even though it's only day 2, I've been very productive and am confident that I am on the right track. I have decided that once and for all that I am putting my health first, and it starts with getting plenty of rest (no excuses!), limiting what's on my schedule, and cleaning up anything that's bringing my energy down in my home, which means I need to simplify and really edit down to live a more fulfilling life! My goal is to live a really focus on the 20% that really matter rather than on the 80% that don't.

These are the different areas I plan on working on during this month:

Body:
1. Detoxing my diet by going vegan (I'm doing a one month trial) and eating lots of healthy organic vegetables
2. Exercising and practicing yoga
3. Getting more sleep and creating a regular sleep schedule

Home:
1. Getting rid of 10 items per day to simplify, simplify, simplify my life!
2. Finishing up all the little unfinished little to-do's around the home (ex. altering my clothes, returning library books, taking donations to goodwill, finishing unfinished projects, etc.)
3. Organizing things, files, and other items to make my life more efficient

Business
1. Do one thing to start building my new business every day, even if I only have 5 minutes. This could be sending an e-mail, listening to a webinar, researching online, competing an exercise in a business workbook, working on my website, etc.

These are the main three areas I am going to focus on this month. Of course I will tend to all of my other matters, such as my classes, errands, etc., but since these are not the areas I have a problem focusing on (and I always get to them every day anyway), I'm going to put the health of my home and body as priority, and take small steps to build my new health coaching business. This means that I cannot sacrifice my health for the sake of my school work!

Yesterday I was able to:
- get extra sleep
- start my vegan diet (I ate vegan starting from lunch) :) Had to ease into this one.
- attend a webinar for my business
- get rid of 10 items (I started with easy things like mail, disposable empty plastic bottles, old makeup, small miscellaneous items)

It looks like I'm going to focus on at least 1 thing for my body, home, and business, every day, no matter how small. I think writing it down here will keep me on target so that I know that by the end of the day I have to complete the tasks.

I'm off to a great start and am about to record the results of day 2. It's amazing how much cleaner my home is already on day 2!

Going Vegetarian and Giving Up Sweets

I have had a semi-committed relationship with vegetarianism during the past year and half. It's been a semi-committed relationship because I have not done the proper research to really figure out if I am getting enough protein and nutrition in my diet. And to be really honest, one of the main reasons I have not gone all the way is that I have a weakness for sushi. It is (or maybe was) my favorite food.

As I am going through this journey of trying to live more consciously, I am finding that foods I used to enjoy are no longer things I crave anymore. I used to eat ice cream every single day. It was my source of sugar and my body's way of cooling itself when I was overheated inside. Most people think it's funny because I'm so small, and probably thought I was lucky since I didn't get huge even though I ate ice cream so frequently. I think it's because I ate healthy throughout the rest of the day just so that I could make room for ice cream.

Ice cream is no longer part of my life. One day, the craving was gone. I didn't even think about it. I just didn't need it anymore. People would offer it to me thinking that my addition for ice cream was still alive and kicking, but as I kindly accepted their offer for ice cream, I realized that my body had changed. Ice cream was no longer needed. That was easy.

I know lots of people struggle with massive sugar cravings and addiction to sweets. My recommendation for anyone trying to give up the sugar is to load your body up with nutritious foods. By nutritious I mean dark leafy greens, organic vegetables of all sorts, superfoods, fruits, etc. The more my body received the proper nutrition it needed, the less it relied on the quick sugar fix to give it sustained energy. The second thing I did that I probably did but forgot about was that I ask the angels and my guides to help me take away cravings. I ask, forget about it, and then one day I realize that it's gone. Just ask. It's worth a shot, and it gives them permission to help you.

Going Vegetarian

I decided one day about a year and a half ago that I would try and go vegetarian. It started because I was thinking about pursuing a career as an energy healer and was taught that the cleaner the foods you eat, the more easily energy can move through you, and the more powerful of a healer you can become. In other words, the higher the vibration of the food that you consume, the more your own vibration rises. It also helps with your own spiritual development and developing psychic or clairvoyance abilities, along with a meditation practice, of course. So, one day I thought, maybe it's time for me to try it, and I began a semi-committed journey to test it out.


What I discovered is that when I took meat out of my diet, I really did not know what I could eat other than salads, vegetable soups, pasta, pizza, and Korean food. And in my opinion, pasta, pizza, and Korean food are not the healthiest choices. Carbs, cheese, and lots of sodium... that's NOT the the direction I wanted to head. I was left with salad and vegetable soups. Not very filling options... at least for me. For those that know me, I have been known to have a pretty big appetite for someone my frame, so a salad might last me a couple of hours, but I'd be very hungry not long afterwards.

For now, I have been supplementing my diet once in a while with small amounts of fish and eggs for protein until I learn to make recipes with other healthy protein sources. The thing about going vegetarian is that I have noticed that I have replaced most of my protein with carbs. There are definitely great whole grains that I now consume (quinoa, millet, amaranth, buckwheat, barley, etc.), but when I'm out and about eating on the go, the choices are much more limited and I am stuck with "whole wheat" or "multi-grain." Somehow these fast food places that use these labels make me feel like only a small percentage of the food is actually whole grain or multi-grain. You can say I'm a bit skeptical about most fast food prepared for breakfasts and lunches out there.

Weight Gain on a Vegetarian Diet

There are definitely healthy ways to be vegetarian and unhealthy ways to be vegetarian. The obvious healthy ways are to eat a lot more fresh vegetables, and the unhealthy way is to always eat simple carbohydrates, including pastas, pizzas, and anything else of that variety. Initially I indulged on the pizzas, pastas, and paninis since I was making a huge sacrifice, or so it seemed at the time, to go vegetarian. What I did notice after a while was that my body seemed a bit flabbier and my jeans were starting to get uncomfortable as my body started to get more soft and fluffy like marshmellows -- not the direction I wanted to continue down. So, I started to incorporate a lot more salads into my life and reduce or eliminate the simple carbs. Instead, I replaced it with whole grains like quinoa that I'm still experimenting with to create yummy dishes. Right now my flavoring for these dishes are a bit bland and the meals are not quite dense enough for me, but I'm sure I'll come up with some recipe that I enjoy that also fills me up.

I no longer crave meat. Not chicken or fish. Even my once voracious appetite for sushi is starting to wane. But, I am still looking for heartier vegetarian meals that are truly healthy and chock full of nutrients. I am finding myself hungry for nutritionally dense foods, and now I crave super healthy vegetables more than anything else. My weight if probably roughly the same, but my body composition (mostly due to lack of weight training) has changed and I feel like I have less muscle than before. Sometimes I wonder if I can get the really toned yoga body on a vegetarian diet? I guess the only way for me to find out is to try it out and be committed to trying it out.

Why is it that so many vegetarians look like they have a soft body? Is it because they do not work out? Or is it really the change in protein source? Or maybe they are eating simple carbohydrates (that act more like sugar) instead of complex carbohydrates? Maybe they eat a lot of sweets still? I don't know the answer because I do not have any vegetarian friends to ask. I have met a lot of vegetarians, vegans, and raw foodists in my health coaching program and online through social networks, but it's not the kind of thing you ask someone you just met. :) Do you know the answer? Have you been able to get a lean and toned body being vegetarian, vegan, or raw? If you have, I'd like to know your secret.

In the meantime, maybe I'll try to be dedicated to a vegetarian/vegan/raw diet (meaning lots of raw, mostly vegan, and an occasional egg if I really feel like I need it) for a month and start a regular yoga and weight training practice to see if my body changes and becomes more toned. The month of April sounds like a good time to start. I'll try it out for the month of April and let you know how it goes. And if you or someone you know has had success with this, I'd like to hear from you!

Becoming a Certified Health Coach

My Health Goal for 2010
It was a strange coincidence or synchronicity that happened to bring me to the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. I had decided that 2010 was the year for me to transform my health and my life. 2010 is the year for me to finally create true work/life balance and live a healthy life without overworking myself. It is the year to take care of me to become my healthiest and happiest self. No excuses.

Healthy Cooking Classes
On this mission, I started looking into cooking classes so that I can create healthy meal plans for myself. What started off as just an idea to cook healthy meals evolved into enrolling in a professional program to become a healthy chef. I had no plans to work as a chef, but the professional program at the Natural Gourmet Institute could be completed in four months. It seemed so doable, so why not? Why not actually get trained to become a gourmet natural chef? I was trying to decide when I wanted to do this program. Possibly in the summer during my summer break, or possibly in the fall when my course load would be much lighter for fashion design. I explored the idea and started really liking the idea that I could not only cook but cook healthy gourmet meals for my family and friends. It's the kind of thing people dream about but don't have time to actually accomplish. It had been in my list of things to do sometime in my life... so why not now?

Institute for Integrative Nutrition
I was pleasantly surprised to see an email come into my inbox that advertised a webinar to learn more about the program. I attended this call and quickly realized that the program I was listening to was not about cooking, but rather a program about holistic nutrition and how to become a holistic health counselor. It was intriguing, but not what I was expecting. It was then that I realized that I am listening to a webinar about a different program. This was not the Natural Gourmet Institute, but instead the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN).

As I listened to the webinar, I heard the story of a former student who had come to this school after working as a IT consultant. I was fascinated since this is precisely the same background that I had. She now has her own health coaching business and is happy with what she is doing and can create a flexible schedule around her kids. It sounded eerily similar to what I was looking for.

I went to their website and was greeted by the smiling face of Dr. Weil and Deepak Chopra, two of my favorite teachers. It was as if I was guided here through some unusual circumstances to listen to this webinar. I then realized that this was the nutrition program that I had almost signed up for a few years ago when I was living in Chicago. I decided to postpone it at that time because I was too busy and would have to fly back and forth to attend. There would be time later to attend, I thought. Well, I guess that time is now. I was pretty busy with fashion design school, but I had this strange premonition during my winter break that guided me to make time in my schedule. Make time for what? I didn't know, but I had a strong sense that I needed to make space and time for myself. So, I did, well, kind of. Enough so that I could sleep every night and try to stick to my plan of leading a balanced life.

When something feels right, you just know. And after that webinar and listening to what the program was all about, it felt right. It was in line with all of my values. The program not only talked about nutrition, but took a very holistic approach to health, including relationships, career, and spirituality. Isn't this what everyone wants in life? And maybe this was the way that I can pursue both of my loves...design and health. How would I pay? I wasn't sure, but there's always a way to find a way if you want something. The good news was that many students make back their tuition by the time they graduate since a lot of the homework assignments are to go out and find clients! How exciting. A program that also teaches you how to build a business along with teaching you all the skills you need to know in this field. As you can imagine by now, I did register.

My First Weekend at IIN
After weeks of preparing for the course by doing online and audio warm-up classes and even meeting some people before the first class, I attended my first live all weekend session last weekend. It exceeded my expectations at all levels. Not only was the program informative, inspirational, and innovative, but there was also a palpable energy in the room that I had never experienced before. There is nothing like being in a room full of passionate people whose mission is to make the world a better place. It was like being in a room full of lightworkers or earth angels...inspired people from all walks of life that are passionate about health and wellness. Wow, what energy.

And to make it even more amazing, the speakers were absolutely wonderful and inspiring. I had never been to a talk so inspiring in my life. There was also the most innovative and user friendly cooking demonstration that I had ever seen. I along with all the others and an overwhelming sense that we were in the right place at the right time. And I sure was. I found out later that this was the last live class for the school, and after this year everything was going to be online. You can imagine how happy I was that I followed my intuition to register now and not wait until next year.

I met so many amazing people over this weekend that I am excited about all the possibilities that lie ahead. I knew there was a reason for me meeting the people that I did, and I know I will meet many more people as time goes on.

Health Coaching
I have officially begun my training to become a health coach and am offering free initial consultations where I sit down with you live or over the phone or skype to conduct a health history. A health history looks at your health and lifestyle and will give you insight into the overall picture of your health and highlight areas you might like to focus on improving. I am not taking any clients at this time, but if you are interested in getting a free health history session with me, you can email me. Or, if you are interested in becoming a health coach yourself, you can also contact me with any questions about the program. I am so happy that I found this program and I have met so many people whose lives have been transformed from it.

Event with the USDA
One more synchronicity that I'd like to mention. I am slowly finding that food and fashion are both related in the area of sustainability. Both food and fiber (for clothes) are grown as crops. The way we farm these crops have significant environmental impacts as well as impacts to our health. The textile industry and has many processes such as dyeing and finishing that often creates contaminated waste water that pollutes our waterways. Creating sustainable practices is a passion of mine. I studied sustainable enterprises as part of my MBA, and am now finding that all of my interests are coming together.

To confirm that I am heading in the right direction, the universe provided me with an opportunity to see others that are working towards the same goals. I found a flyer at my fashion design school about a presentation from the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, USDA, about our food systems. I was interested, but was not sure if this presentation was going to be real, healthy and fresh food, or if it was going to be about our conventional and traditional approaches to food systems. I went anyways because I always want to see what all sides are thinking.

I was so pleasantly surprised to find a packed room of people working in the food industry and the topic of discussion was about improving the nutrition of school lunches. Wow. This is something I am also very passionate about and it was great to see people who in the government who had access to big budgets doing something about this. They were promoting fresh local foods and talking about the Know Your Farmer initiative. There were so many innovative ideas and plans in place that I really felt like this was a huge movement with people from all aspects of the food industries, even outside of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, participating to create a better future for everyone. It was refreshing to see, very eye-opening to hear about all the wonderful programs in place, and truly inspiring to see motivated people that are taking action to do something to participate.

If you're interested in learning more about it, you can visit www.usda.gov/knowyourfarmer.

Snow Day! And Living a Life of Synchronicities.

During these past couple of weeks I have experienced more synchronicities than I had ever imagined. This word was so foreign to me only a few years ago. I had experienced synchronicities back then too, but doubted them and usually dismissed them as pure chance or "luck," unless the event was really blatantly obvious. This year, these synchronicities have increased and I find that every person I meet, every event that I attend, every flyer and opportunity I see around me are all perfectly orchestrated for my personal development and to support me on my life's mission.

Snow Day
Case in point - This week I had been struggling with a bit of a nagging sore throat that wasn't going away. I knew it was because I had been a bit sleep deprived from trying to finish assignments, work, and make it to extra classes I had signed up for over the weekend. Last night I really, REALLY needed extra rest to recover from lack of sleep and fell asleep at 9pm. I still had a lot of work ahead of me and decided to wake up early to do the work. I woke up at 3am but realized I still needed some sleep. I woke up again at 4am and moved myself from the couch to the bed. Still, I was so groggy that I knew my body was crying out for more rest. One more hour and then I would do some work. Usually my body can handle this type of schedule, but today it was not cooperating. I did some work from 5 - 6:30am and finally succumbed to my body's cry for more rest. At this point, I knew I needed a day of rest and was really hoping for a snow day. It was the only way that I could really recover.

Just in case, at 7:30 I decided to make a pot of coffee to help me push through the day. I would have considered taking a sick day, but the classes I had for today had special field trips scheduled and an exam. It was not a day to miss. The only way I could really get the rest my body needed if classes were canceled altogether. After drinking my cup of coffee (and still feeling groggy) I checked my email to see if the school was closed. Yes it was! I was hoping, but not really thinking that this would actually happen. I have the rest day that I desperately need, thanks to the snow day! I tried to go back to bed, but the coffee kicked in so I am going to use this day to catch up on all my work and nourish my body with healthy food. Oh, and I learned my lesson about sleep. My body can no longer sustain the sleep deprivation that I used to make it undergo. It's time to nurture, nourish, and take care of my health.

Following Our Own Inner Guidance
There are so many synchronicities I have experienced lately that there are too many to mention here, but I would suggest being open and listening to the gentle tug from your heart as you go through life. There is a reason for events, books, places, courses, cravings peaking your interest. Listen to your body and observe the things that get you most excited. The things you discover may not initially make sense, but you are being led step by step to your best life by following that subtle guidance.

For me I waited until the signs became completely obvious before I took my first big step, but I am so glad that I did. Knitting, sewing, and healthy living are the things that constantly call my name. I've taken big steps towards all three even though the combination does not necessarily make sense. I taught myself how to knit after walking into a gorgeous knitting store while living in San Francisco a few years ago, which was the first step. Now I am enrolled in fashion design school, hand knitting classes, and a nutrition school called the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. These were never planned. In fact, I had vowed that my days in school were over, but there were other things in store for my future.

All I knew was that my dream was to one day open up a wellness spa. Once I took steps towards becoming a fashion designer, I thought that dream was gone and I had to follow the traditional fashion design route. Now that I am in the field, I am realizing that it is a tough field to make money, and starting at the bottom and working my way up will not be the path for me. I've done that before and I was not happy. There is an alternative and more creative route for me to go that still has not been clearly charted yet, but is becoming clearer every day. Really, this is a path of faith and trust. Trusting that our guidance will take us to where we want to go in the most direct way possible while picking up all the skills, advice, and relationships to get us to where we need to go. This has been my experience.

Dream Big and Take Tiny Steps Every Day
I live by my motto of always dreaming big, and taking tiny steps every single day to move towards my goal(s). The commitment in taking steps towards your goal, no matter how small, builds energy and momentum in the right direction that brings opportunities and synchronicities that could not even be imagined by your conscious mind. Trust that the universe and your own connection to that infinite intelligence knows what you need. Take steps into the unknown while clarifying your vision of what you want in as much detail as possible. Then watch as the opportunities come your way. Your job is to seize them.

These opportunities are very subtle, so you need to be very aware as they come across your path. You may get an email, see a flyer, talk to someone, overhear a conversation, read something in the newspaper, magazine, or a book...you never know the opportunities will come to you, but what you do know is that they will. As you step forward into these opportunities, even more opportunities come your way to help you get where you want to go. You'll look back one day and realize how far you have come and how easy it was just by taking little steps all along the way. And just a reminder -- be grateful for every opportunity that comes your way. The state of gratitude raises your vibration and helps you align with all the goodies of the universe. :)

A Year of Healthy Living

This year, my most important focus (other than my career) will be my health. Just eating a salad here and there just won't do anymore. I have decided that it's not enough to create the healthy life I have been wanting for so many years.

What's my 2010 health action plan?

1. Nutrition
I am going to feed my body all the nutrition it wants and needs from whole organic foods. Food-based vitamins are great, but it is time to invest in learning some yummy organic recipes to satiate my taste buds along with my body's need for vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and all other healthy goodness. Salads are great, but it's time to add variety by creating quick and easy meals that are nutritionally dense.

2. Fitness
We all talk about fitness every year as part of our New Year's Resolutions, but how many of us have started a fitness program that we plan on sticking to this year? Our bodies are calling and we must commit. A new year, a new body, a new you! Who will join me? My plan this year will include regular exercise at least 3x per week of jogging, strength training, and yoga.

3. Rest
Our bodies need ample rest and relaxation to heal our bodies. This year I am committing to a sleep schedule to give my body the rest it needs!

4. Environment
Have you noticed how your living and work environment affects your mood, energy level, and stress? Time to clean up and clear out. Let go of all those unnecessary things we have accumulated in our lives and clean up the space around us. This includes our electronic environment too! Clean those hard drives, desktops, financial files, etc. Once the dust has settled, you'll experience a renewed surge of energy. This year I am cleaning up every inch of my space. It is time to live a clean and organized life.

There are plenty more things that I intend for 2010, but these are the few simple steps that I must master before overloading my plate. Let's get these pieces in place by the end of this month to build good habits for the rest of the year.

To the best year yet! Yey 2010!

Here are some videos I just posted for CCOR (cocreatingourreality.com) talking about my last season from Aug-Nov 2009 and what I plan on focusing on for the next 100 days Jan-April 2010.

Dr Bruce Lipton and Dr Wayne Dyer talk about Beliefs, Healing, Placebo Effect and more...

Focus on what you want, not what you don't want.

What you put your attention on becomes reality. Here is a great talk between Bruce Lipton and Dr. Wayne Dyer about our cells, health, healing, environment, placebo effect, neurolinguistic programming, conscious/subconscious mind, feeling better, etc. Many of us have heard this message many times, but this is a great reminder and

A surprising insight - The primary programs in your subsconscious mind you acquired from other people...

We can master our health with our beliefs by focusing on what we want and not what we don't want.

Albert Einstein said that the most important decision you'll ever make is whether you live in a universe that is supportive and friendly or one that is hostile and not friendly.

What's your choice?

Part 1:


Part 2:

Catching Up on Sleep

I've heard many people say that catching up on sleep is impossible, and that the best way to move on after sleep deprivation is to start sleeping your usual 7-8 hours per night again. For me, this simply does not work! After days, weeks, or even months of exhaustion after working tirelessly for extended periods of time, I need a lot of time to recover, and this weekend was no exception.

I had been burning the midnight oil for 6-7 weeks now. My body was screaming for sleep, yet I had work that needed to be done with strict timelines. Sacrificing my health, I slaved away to meet my deadlines, only to see how useless I had become. Everything was taking longer, which only prolonged the amount of time I had to stay awake to finish projects. This past weekend, I decided I was not going to use my alarm clock and sleep and sleep until my body felt recovered.

The first night, I slept 14 hours! Yep. That's what it needed. I thought that would be it and I'd be caught up. Nope. The second night, I slept 10 hours. Wow... I had no idea my body needed this much sleep. Onto the last and final night of the weekend... 9 hours! Hmmm, still not at the 7-8 hours yet. My conclusion is this... our bodies NEED ample sleep to stay healthy, and making up sleep takes days or weeks, not just one night! Today, after 3 days of making up sleep, my skin glowed like I hadn't seen in months. I had no idea sleep could make such a difference! The dark circles underneath my eyes were gone and my skin which looked pretty pale over the past few weeks now has a pinkish undertone to it. Who knew that sleep could make such a difference!

So, my advice to you, for all of you who are sleep deprived out there! Make sleep a non-negotiable part of your life. That's my mission I plan on sticking to from here on out. It's just not worth it. And you'll work much more effectively and efficiently by getting ample rest.

The Importance of Taking Time Off

Are you one of those people that are constantly working, working, working? You can be found working on your to-do list, doing chores, working, running errands, taking care of family matters. And maybe you can fit in some exercise on a good day, but maybe most of the time you find that you don't have the time to do the things that you always wanted to make time for. These are the things that always seem to take a back seat, like your hobbies, reading a book, learning a foreign language, taking a class, or traveling around the world. These peripheral desires seem to be less important compared to the more urgent and more pressing matters that seem to occupy your days, but are these hobbies really less important?

Do not underestimate the power of these "other" activities. It is through these activities that we play, create, learn, use our imagination, and expand our minds. These activities are essential to our evolution as spiritual beings. Taking time off and giving ourselves time to nurture the other things we long to do can have a profound impact in all aspects of our lives.

In this video Stefan Sagmeister gives a presentation at a TED conference to illustrate the importance of taking time off. It's a truly remarkable journey that he goes through and shares in a very compelling way. Take some time to watch this one. It's very, very good. I think I'm going to consider restructuring my future to build in "time off" just like he did. Maybe not every seven years, but possibly a portion of every year dedicated to "me time."

Enjoy!



What do you long to do that you have not given yourself permission to do? Maybe it's time to consider re-prioritizing your list and putting some of those things you've always wanted to do at the top of your list.

Book Review: Harmonic Wealth

Harmonic Wealth: The Secret of Attracting the Life You Want

This book is absolutely amazing. I really liked how the author, James Ray, uses 5 pillars to divide up different aspects of your life to determine how "harmonic" our life is. When you hear the word "wealth," most people think of financial abundance, but true wealth is more than just having a lot of money in the bank. What good is a lot of money if the other aspects of your life are suffering? James Ray talks about how to achieve wealth in 5 different pillars:

1. Financial
2. Relational (Your Relationships)
3. Physical
4. Mental
5. Spiritual

By going through exercises and a series of questions in each of these pillars, I was able to look at my life from this perspective. It made me realize that I have been focusing on three of the pillars: Relational, Mental, and Spiritual, but my Financial and Physical had been quite lacking. And it's not that I'm not working on those, but because I had neglected them for so long and paid more attention to other areas of my life, I have a deeper mess to dig out of, which is fine, because now I'm clearly aware of it and am doing something about it.

This book takes a very holistic and spiritual perspective in taking a look at your life, a perspective I believe will sustain true wealth for people who are seeking a wealthy life. As you work on yourself and do the internal work necessary to become better, your external life will mirror what's on the inside. That's the true message of this book. It's a fabulous book that takes a look at life from a deeper level, one that will help you become a better person, and wealthy, not just on the financial front, but on all levels. I highly recommend it!

If you're interested in reading this book, you can find it here.

If you're interested in seeing what other books I recommend, you can see the list here.

Preventative Medicine is the Best Medicine

Diet and exercise is the key to health. You've heard this all your life, so why are so many people suffering from so many diseases around the world? Sure, there are some people that have come here with a higher purpose--to balance out their energy in this life through a pre-determined disease, something that was charted out in their soul's plan--but many of us are suffering from illness needlessly just by eating unhealthy foods, not exercising, and submerging ourselves in negative emotion.

The cure is not in pills! Start with your diet, exercise, and treat yourself with kindness. Start by loving yourself for who you are, not for who you wish to become. You are already beautiful and lovable in every way. As you work on your inner self, your physical body will follow. For now, start by opting for healthier options. Incorporate salads and maybe cut out the soda and deep fried foods. Start with what you can, and little by little incorporate more nutrition and exercise that you enjoy! And remember to have fun! Fun is important food for your soul. :)

Here's a video of Bill Maher talking about pharma.

It's Time to Get Healthy

After a lot of time thinking about how important it is to get healthy, it seems that I've been having all signs pointing to how important it is to become healthy. Many signs and people are all pointing the way. I've gradually started incorporating healthy eating into my life and have been making sure I get plenty of sleep, but what I haven't fully committed to yet is the exercise. I finally did commit by joining the 100 Day Fitness Challenge on youTube, and now it's time to do the work!

As soon as I return from a trip over 4th of July weekend, I plan to start the following health plan:

1. Order organic produce from Urban Organics
2. Learn to make organic vegetarian recipes
3. Start taking yoga classes once a week at a yoga studio
4. Exercise every morning during the week (even a 10 min workout counts!)
5. Go to bed early and get 8 hours of sleep every night

It's not a grand plan, but it's something to get me started. I've cut my food portions, so I haven't felt like I've gained weight, but whenever I eat salt (from restaurant foods), sugar (from desserts), dairy, gluten, white bread, white rice, caffeine or anything else that is not nutritionally rich, my body reacts by making me sluggish, unfocused, and spacey. And that's not what I want! So, within the next month, I'm going to infuse my body with nutritionally dense foods, plenty of water, exercise, and sleep! I've done this before, and after the detox, the results are clearer skin, toned muscles, and more energy!

I finished taking my herbs from Brazil yesterday! After 6 months, I'm finally finished! It's amazing how much has changed in my life in 6 months. A new career direction, a new city, a new life. Now I'm going to supplement all of that with a new health plan.

One more thing I plan on doing during the month of July. I'm going to carve out 10 days to do the Master Cleanse. It's amazing how others can do it... I think it's time I tried it too. I'll let you know how it goes!

Seeds, GMOs, and Monsanto

Back in grad school, when I was taking some courses in environmental management, I watched a documentary about Monsanto that really changed my understanding of genetically modified foods, our seed supply, and the pesticides and herbicides used on crops. It was eye-opening to say the least. That was when I began to change my diet to as much organic foods as I could afford and find, and stayed away from genetically modified foods. The more natural the food was, the less harmful chemicals I would be ingesting in my body. It also meant that I would be supporting organic farming versus farming that put pollutants into our environment, which eventually affect our water.

You can learn a little bit more about the Monsanto controversy here:



Over the years, item by item, I switched almost all of my products to organic products. Not only food, but also bath products, makeup, bed linens, etc. It is expensive, but I've found the long-term benefits will far outweigh the costs. Obviously not everything is organic yet, but wherever I find an opportunity, I make the switch.

Later, I discovered that there is a disturbing side to the "organic" label. Although there is a certification process to label foods organic, the same certification process does not exist for cosmetics and bath products. This means, that although products are labeled "organic" or "98% organic," what the consumer doesn't realize is that the 2% of the non-organic chemicals that go into the products was what made the products harmful to begin with! So, we need to learn more about the actual chemicals that go into our products, what they are, and if they are harmful to us or not. There's a lot to learn on this topic, so I will do that in a future post.