Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Happy Thankful Season


I love this time of year! Pumpkin pie, pumpkin beer, cranberry sauce, open windows and crisp air, Neil Young, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Creedence Clearwater Revival (I dunno why but they just sound better in November) but mainly, 

PEOPLE BEING SO SWEET & GRATEFUL & HAPPY TOGETHER! 

No matter what, around the holidays, people just love on each other and it's so cute. It's a time where we all remember,

We're in this together! 

It's the perfect time to forgive someone, or reach out to someone that you left on bad terms. Holding on to a grudge hurts you and everyone else, because we're all connected. It's a waste of energy, energy you could be using to spread love and light! 

Love is the way to happiness, and you can never, ever give enough of it! 

Happy Thankful Season!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Monday, November 21, 2011

Peppermint Patty Sugar Face Exfoliator

Exfoliating is great for your skin and can make you feel like a billion gold pieces on a winter's day. 

When it comes to cleansing products, I tend to be as cheap and natural as possible. 

Enter, the ever so simple Peppermint Patty Sugar Face Exfoliator.  

I've been using Dr. Bronner's Magic Peppermint Soap mixed with a little sugar. You can use salt if you don't have any sugar. 

Store in a pretty glass jar, and apply whenever you're feeling a bit dull. 

It works wonders, and smells like a snowy peppermint patty!

Dr. Bronner's is all natural, under 5 bucks for a 4 oz bottle, promotes a cheery message of universal love and comes in many different scents. My other favorite is lavender! 

Oh My Gosh, Spaghetti Squash!

At the grocery store last week, I delightedly stumbled upon an organic spaghetti squash. Spaghetti squash is a bright yellow oval shaped winter squash. When cut open and cooked, the inside of this fun vegetable can be eaten just like spaghetti (has the same texture as angel hair!) I love it because it's delicious, full of vitamins, great for sharing, and perfect for this time of year!



How to prepare:

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees

- Cut spaghetti squash in half, length wise.

- Scoop all the seeds out (Save them to bake for a festive snack, or plant in your garden.)

- Fill a pan with a bit of water

- Place the two halves face down in the pan of water

- Cover with aluminum foil

- Place in oven for 35-45 minutes

When finished cooking, scrape the sides so as to get all the "spaghetti" scooped up. Then add some olive oil, fresh garlic, salt & pepper, herbs, tomato sauce... whatever you'd like! 


Enjoy!

“Exercise is king. Nutrition is queen. Put them together and you've got a kingdom.” 
-Jack Lalanne


Saturday, November 19, 2011

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Monday, November 7, 2011

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Free Your Mind

“Bliss is possible only when the mind is put aside, when the mind is no more interfering, when the mind is no more playing its games, when you have seen the strategies of the mind, its tricks, through and through, when you have become aware of how the mind has been deceiving you for so long. And don’t fight with the mind, because if you fight with the mind… That is its last strategy; if you fight with the mind you have to remain entangled with it. If you have to fight with the mind you have to use the same tactics as the mind.

So the whole art is seeing through and through, and then without any fight simply putting it aside; just slipping out of it as a snake slips out of its old skin, without any fight. And the moment it happens, for the first time you feel that you are infinite. It was the mind that was giving you a definition, a limitation. It was the mind that was framing you, otherwise you are the unframed sky.

And the moment limitations disappear bliss arises. Bliss is freedom, freedom from all limitations. The body is a limitation, but it is easy to know that ‘I am not the body.’ You can feel it very easily, that you are not the body. When you are feeling hungry you know that hunger is in the body and you are a watcher. When you feel thirsty you know that the thirst is in the body and you are the watcher. When you drink water and the thirst is quenched you know that the body is satisfied and you are the watcher.

It is more difficult with the mind because it is very close. Somebody insults you and you become angry; to watch in that moment seems very difficult. You are so enraged that you forget all about watchfulness. And those are the moments in which to be aware. When anger possesses you, greed possesses you, lust possesses you, be watchful. Go on reminding yourself ‘I am not this.’ Keep your coolness. And you will be surprised that if you can keep your coolness even for a few seconds, the anger disappears like a cloud that has come and gone. And a great peace arises, the peace that is always there when the storm goes, the silence that follows the storm.

When lust takes possession of you watch and see, soon it will be gone. Nothing remains forever, in the mind everything is continuously changing. Just wait and watch, and when it is gone you will feel so strengthened, so full of vigour, so full of energy that you will be surprised. And this is the energy that could have been lost in lust, in anger, in greed.
And when you go on becoming more and more full of energy. When you start overflowing with energy great delight arises. Energy, overflowing energy, is a delight. It is bliss. And when you have come to know the inexhaustible source of energy within you that is no-mind, you have discovered god. It is not somewhere in the skies, it is within you. It is your very being.”

— Osho, Fingers Pointing to the Moon