“Energy is ALL there is”   – Albert Einstein

We often hear people telling us to ground ourselves, but we may not be sure what that means, and how we might do it. Grounding ourselves is a way to literally bring us back down to earth. So many of us spend our days with our heads in the clouds of just simply in our heads. Here is where, over time we start to loose our connection with our bodies and begin to slowly overlook its important signals.

I have found that one of the easiest ways to ground myself is to bring my attention to my breath as it enters and leaves my body. After about 10 breaths focusing on my inhale and exhale, in through my nose and out through my mouth, I often feel more firmly rooted in my body.

In my search for more ‘grounding’ exercises to help me remain focused within my body and to help me to stay present throughout my work with clients I came across two amazing books. I was first introduced to Donna Eden’s work through a colleague who suggested I read her books; “Energy Medicine” and “Energy Medicine for Woman“. So I did, cover to cover and have since shared them with many a family and friend and now want to share them with you.

Donna Eden's Energy Medicine

Since reading Donna’s books I have now incorporated her “Daily Energy Routine” into my daily morning routine and have seen a change in my focus and body awareness within my work with clients everyday. It is a simple series of exercises, taking a mere 5 minutes of your morning to complete. The routine consists of 7 easy exercises:

1. the Three Thumbs

2. the Cross Crawl

3. the Wayne Cook Posture

4. the Crown Pull

5. the Lymphatic Massage

6. the Zip Up

7. the Hook Up

Here is a quick video demonstrating each exercise.

Over the course of the last six months of incorporating the routine into my mornings before my first client, I have found it to have not only a calming effect on me, but  it also helps me to bring my awareness immediately into my body, and improves my focus.

I am not immune to the constant bombardment and sensory overload that we face in our environment today and can find myself at times stuck in my head, the wheels constantly turning, completely shut off from my connection to my surroundings. I have found that in its own small way, this series of moves, when done daily, allow me to at least actively start my day more connected and sensitive to my bodies signals and my ever important connection to my intuition. It helps me to provide more effective treatment for my clients by creating a more present environment within myself, inviting them to do the same.

Even if you are not really into the bodies “energies” or the idea of a life force within our bodies other then blood and oxygen, at can at the very least reap the benefits these exercises have on your joints and fascia. Try the routine every morning for 2 weeks and comment on this post what you found. I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how it affects your day, and ultimately your connection to your authentic self.

Empowering people to help heal themselves is my passion – Donna Eden

 -Heather

Happy Valentine’s to everyone! I celebrated Valentine’s Day this year with a Big Fat Decaf Soy Latte (foam-stach pictured below), and it was MAGNIFICENT! Big sigh!

first sip.......

ohhhhh yea!

With that folks, it’s all done….finito, fini, terminar! I can now say that I have made it through a 6 week intensive all veggie cleanse. Would I do it again you ask? NOPE! But I did learned a lot about myself, my body and its limitations.

So….what did I learn?

1. If you want to release a lot of pent up anger….starve yourself on an all-veggie diet.

2. When you take away all the sugar and preservative filled sauces in a normal North American diet (my former self included) you are left with the simple and delicious natural flavors inherent I our food when left on its own (can you imagine?). I learned how to no longer mask those flavours but enhance and enjoy them.

3. Protein is WAY more important then I thought, and I knew it was fundamental. Live without it for many weeks and your body slows right down and loses its ability to repair even the smallest everyday impairment. Example: Being a Massage Therapist.

4. Food is Fuel. YOU NEED IT!

5. You need a certain amount of fat, good-fat, in your diet to keep you satiated. Otherwise you are NEVER satisfied and ALWAYS hungry even after a HUGE plate of veggies.

6. Adding nuts and seeds was the only thing that carried me through to the end of the cleanse. I was at my wits end and that tiny bit of protein saved me!

There you have it. I can now say I did it and learned from it and respectfully put it behind me and can continue my quest for health and happiness in other ventures.

Oh and I must’n forget my first meal as a free woman. My celebratory meal probably wasn’t extremely exciting to the average Joe, but for me an egg white veggie omelet with wheat free toast was simply exquisite, and I savoured every last bite.

“Nothing is predestined. The obstacles of your past can become the gateways that lead to new beginnings”.

 Heather

Have any of you undergone a cleanse recently and have any lessons to share? Post your stories and experiences in the comments section of this post so that we may all learn a little more today.

Well folks, I made it a full two weeks (4 more to go, although we don’t say this in my household). I am still alive, my relationship is still intact and I continue to get out of bed, all good signs. Last week I think was the worst, I was combating lack of sleep, sore muscles, a pounding headache and very vivid McDonalds dreams (again, haven’t been there in YEARS, yet it haunts me, day and night). Once the weekend arrived, I had recovered from my headache, my body was healing and my head was no longer pounding. When the smoke cleared, I found myself in much better spirits.

What I did learn however was that I am starting to react to the lack of protein in my body. After very little exertion I am finding my muscles are quite sore and I am much more fatigued. This poses a slight problem for a Massage Therapist and as I turns out a Doula as well. That is why, as of week three I am going to add back in small amounts of nuts and seeds to see if that will give me a little protein/muscle recovery boost. A girl’s got to work! What’s funny about this is that I have had a whole 9 hours with this new addition available to me and I haven’t even gone out to buy any nuts or seeds yet. What is wrong with me? Is this what adjustment feels like?

This week, as I continued to research other cleanses and cleansing recipes and after talking with my good friend Stacie, I started to read up on the  increasingly higher estrogen levels found in our foods (or at least compounds that act like estrogen in the body) and frankly all around us.  According to the research there are different forms of estrogen that we come in contact with, naturally occuring estrogen found in many fruits and veggies called phytoestrogens (lignans) as well as those in soy products (Isoflavones). Xenoestrogens are the synthetic form of estrogen found in the air, water, cleaning products, creams, shampoos, pesticides and herbicides and plastics. Well, according to Ori Hofmekler, author of The Anti-Estrogenic Diet, when the two are combined in the human body, as they are in today’s modern society, they overwhelm the system. The idea behind the anti-estrogen diet, as the name suggests, is to eliminate foods high in estrogen, which create a condition called “estrogen dominance”.

http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/8/6/85704.shtml

“Estrogen dominance is believed to be responsible for age-related weight gain and metabolic disorders in both men and women,” Hofmekler says. In addition, he says estrogen dominance has put the human race in deadly danger. What really struck home for me was this: “We have never adapted to such a surplus of estrogen in our food, so we’re slowly eating ourselves into extinction. “That’s the bad news,” says Hofmekler. “The good news is that man has an amazing survival mechanisms that have helped him survive incredibly hard conditions such as famine, plague, and moving from one area of the world to another. “But our survival mechanisms are not being triggered today because we live in a world that is totally different from the rugged world our bodies are adapted to. Instead, they remain dormant.”

Hofmekler points out that obesity also raises estrogen levels. “I think the dramatic increase in benign breast disease (fibrocystic disease) as well as some breast cancers, is the result of too much estrogen. Studies have shown that genistein from soy increases the growth and invasion of breast cancer.”

So what does all this really mean? What should I be removing from my diet to help balance out my estrogen levels and what should I be having more of?

The Anti-Estrogenic Diet suggests:

• Eat down on the food chain. Eat foods that are more in tune with our genetic makeup such as fruits, vegetables, beans, roots, nuts, seeds, eggs, dairy and wild-caught fish.
• Minimize foods treated with chemicals. Eat as much organic food as possible, and avoid synthetic vitamins.
• Supplement your diet with nutrients that support your hormones. The flavones chrysin, apigenine, quercetin, and narigenin all inhibit estrogen, as well as the indoles: indole 3 carbinol, diindolymethane (DIM), and indole 3 acetate.

You do not need to follow Hofmeklers Anti- Estrogenic diet to reap the benefits of a more balanced horomonal system. Frankly, by the looks of his gimmicky website, you CAN’T do it without his book. Beneath all of the consumerist mumbo-jumbo I think there is lot to be learned here.

Check out this site that lists all the foods that have high amounts of natural estrogen and those that function to block estrogen. This is useful for those suffering from breast cancer, PMS, fibroids, ovarian cysts, and other situations that estrogen might exacerbate.

http://www.holisticonline.com/Remedies/hrt/hrt_food_and_estrogen.htm

What is interesting is that the main “trouble foods”- gluten grains (wheat, barley, rye), dairy, and soy- are all in the estrogen-rich list. As you read more about what researchers are finding concerning the difference between lignans and isoflavones, you will see the war that is going on in our bodies between good and bad estrogens.

The yin and yang of life also applies to food!

What do you think?

- Heather

Hello all,

Day 8, 9 and 10 have been quite busy, filled with meetings, an overnight labour and delivery, lots of massage,  and a day at home with a killer headache. Not a lot of time to be concerned with food, but I am quickly reminded that I’m on a cleanse, so I have no choice but to also add in a LOT of cooking to that mix. This week’s saviours were my favorite; sweet potatoes, eaten yesterday to give me some sugar in an attempt to ease my pounding head and the ever popular Rebar I ate after a night with my client in the hospital earlier in the week. Both saved me from losing it at different times this week.

This week, I wanted to mix things up a little and try something new. With that I tried a new recipe specially made for veggie cleansers, and now I know why. I made stuffed peppers filled with ground cauliflower, carrots, leeks, kale, onions, garlic and dill. I seasoned them with dill, salt and pepper and sprinkled a little nutritional yeast on top. Clearly, however, that was not enough, because they tasted HORRIBLE!

Don’t let this photo fool you, it really didn’t taste good at all. Upon further analysis, Nick and I determined that we think the dill was the culprit. I might try it again and use a less potent herb like parsley or basil and see how that goes. Not to worry though, during this diet I have learned to always be prepared and also made some very yummy curried cauliflower popcorn that saved my meal in the end.

The rest of this week involved some very quickly thrown together meals including a variety of salads, spinach, squash and veggie juices to keep me going, oh and a sweet potato, mustn’t forget that one.

My next entry will highlight the rest of this week’s events, including; 1. attending a food-filled Bebo Mia event tonight, and 2. going to the movies and NOT eating anything. Time will only tell how I will survive the weekend.

Bye Bye for now,

Heather

Good Morning!

I survived the first full week of my all veggie cleanse and lived to tell the tale. I must admit that I credit getting through to this point to one thing and  (well two things actually) one thing only, sweet potatoes. Vanessa and I decided in a moment of complete and utter insanity that we needed something a little more to stay sane for the next five weeks. We are allowing ourselves to have a few sweet potatoes a week to have something to look forward to and keep us going. The other thing keeping me going is my will. My will to succeed and get to the end and of course reap the positive benefits that I hope will ensue.

In re-reading the last week in blogs I recognized the amount of repetition in my meals and snacks and  have decided not to bore you for the next 5 weeks and only include any new recipes that Vanessa and I try.

On Friday, Vanessa made a vegetable curry served over sweet potato fries. It turned out to be more of a Korma, but was very tasty and flavorful. The sweet potato was amazing and improved my mood exponentially within seconds.

Saturday we decided to treat ourselves at Fresh on Bloor Street for dinner. The boys ate Black Bean Borritos and Vanessa and I each had a veggie smoothie and a veggie wrap without the wrap. It was so nice to be able to get out of my kitchen and enjoy a meal out.

Sunday I made a vegetable bake, where I layered sweet potatoes, red cabbage, zucchini, red onion and parsnip between blended tomatoes garlic and herbs. On top I sprinkled nutritional yeast (found at the health food store in the baking section) and garlic powder to add a little browned crumble and flavor. I baked it at 400 degrees  for 50 minutes and then let it sit for 10 minutes to cool and allow some of the liquid to evaporate. It worked out well, will definitely make this again. It was a great way to get rid of all the vegetables I knew I had to eat in the fridge, all in one meal.

In our weekly deliberation, Vanessa and I came to the conclusion, that this is very definitely the hardest thing we have ever done. One of the hardest parts is that this cleanse takes over your life. Every thought is wrapped up in food or the lack there of.  Aside from hunger, irritability and headaches I have not had an increase in my symptoms and any other new negative symptoms. Vanessa however has had no relief at all from her eczema, its hard to tell because she has stopped using her medicated creams but her symptoms may have even worsened. This for her, makes the whole process much more challenging. She is hoping that within the next week her symptoms will start to decrease and she will regain some motivation, because right now she is struggling. I hope as well that this week will bring some relief and our newly detoxed bodies will start to reap some of the benefits of being clean.

And so it begins again, bring it on Monday!

Keep you posted!

Heather

Greetings,

Today was my longest working day this week, and I have to say I was in better spirits, enjoyed my lunch and in general felt pretty good. Clients were quite curious, however, as to what was going on in my stomach, as it proceeded to make very loud, curious, gurgling noises throughout their treatments. I had enough energy to work and my brain was able to focus and stay present with my clients. A smooth workday.

This evening has been a different story, Nick, of no fault of his own, decided to eat some granola and yogurt…and then peanut butter on toast. All hell broke loose! I am really finding the evenings tough, resting at home where you all know you get your greatest evil cravings, with Nick beside be chowing down. Honey, its not your fault…… secretly I loathe you in these moments though. The best remedy I have found is to just go to bed, you cant possibly suffer while you are sleeping, right?

Funny aside: Nick says he rolls over at night and knows I am still grumpy and unhappy even when I’m sleeping. He says he can even tell by the way I roll over or the look on my deeply slumbering face. I got a chuckle out of that, won’t deny it!

My food journal for the day:

Woke up: Can’t remember, all a blur

BREAKFAST 8:00am

Yep, another smoothie. However, this mornings excitement was adding beets to my juice. Ooooooo red smoothie!! Plus 1 apple and a cup of ginger peach green tea.

SNACK: 11am

Roasted Brussel sprouts and a cup of Caf-lib

LUNCH: 12:00am

Left over salad from last night, just as tasty!

SNACK: 3:00pm

Ate my evening dessert when I got home from work, darn. Stewed apples and cinnamon and a cup of some kind of berry white tea at Vanessa’s.

DINNER:6:30pm

Spaghetti squash with homemade salsa and this weird broccoli sauce that I tried to make with blended brocolli, garlic and salt. Not horrible, but weird.

SNACK:

Torture….no stewed apples and Nick next to me thouroughly enjoying his snacks. Nick: “im sorry honey, I will sit over here”…..Me: ” yes you will”.

Bed Time.

Seriously considering a sweet potato tomorrow…. hmmm

-Heather