In the process of restoring optimal elimination and resolving chronic symptoms I often see that clients tend to develop acute inflammation in areas traditionally held tight, particularly the hips. Diet and a daily Gemmotherapy protocol certainly help move this inflammation along, but there is more that can be done. In a perfect world I would recommend all my clients have acupuncture and massage, however, I know that doesn’t necessarily fit in everyone’s schedule and/or budget. So what’s an alternative? This is where I suggest a foam roller and creating a short routine to do 1-2 times daily that will assist your body’s moving of that inflammation along.

Foam rolling became popular a few years back among runners and athletes looking for a way to work with the tightness experienced from over exercise. While that is one use case, foam rollers are even more important for those who spend hours at a desk or who lead a more sedentary lifestyle. This video takes you through a series of exercises for each major body area that could benefit from foam rolling and gives you a good overview of the method needed. I suggest watching it, deciding what areas you specifically need to address, and creating a program for yourself.

Thanks to a recommendation from my daughter, I happen to own this one from Trigger Point of Austin and love it. It is a great size, light weight yet durable, and is compact enough you can take along when traveling. The only other piece of equipment that might be useful is a yoga mat but it certainly is not required. So, how about it? Foam rolling may just be what you need to integrate into your daily self care.

Writing this on my flight back home to Austin from an annual get-together with my high school girlfriends and I just can’t stop smiling. First and foremost, my smile is because I am literally filled to the brim with love for those amazing women. The other reason is for the outright healthy fun we had cooking and eating together. I realize girl’s weekend doesn’t naturally scream “plant based eating” in most circles but it does when you have friends like mine, who desired a change for themselves in 2017. And just to be clear- it wasn’t me who made the suggestion of a plant based weekend, but rather my dear friend Dianne who was hoping for some firsthand experience and ideas to implement at home. While Dianne takes phenomenal care of herself in countless ways, cooking plant based felt like a big leap to her skill set. My job was simply to demystify the process because she was already sold on the concept. If helping one buddy along wasn’t satisfying enough on its own, we were joined by Sandra, cook and hostess extraordinaire, who was not only a willing participant but offered her skills as sous chef. Completely at home with veggie prep and plant based eating, Sandra’s request was to get over her cheese addiction. Sound familiar?

Who could ask for more, right? Well, luckily for me, our gathering was planned for Santa Cruz, CA where finding gorgeous produce in January is not a problem. In fact, if there was any problem at all this past weekend, it was controlling my urge to buy up the entire Saturday morning market held just across from Twin Bridges State Park! When we hit our first Farmer’s Market and I quickly realized January in Santa Cruz is Veggie Heaven. Or at least that is how it felt to me. Outside of a spring market in France, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much bounty in one place AND it was all organic. What a treat! The challenge, of course, was controlling my desire to buy everything in sight.

Seriously, just check out our finds! I couldn’t resist those baby romanesco and loved getting a lesson in choosing artichokes from this expert at Rodoni Farms. As a native Californian and lifelong consumer of artichokes, even I honestly had no idea that a larger stem indicates a larger heart and that a squeaky choke is the sign for freshness! I honestly can’t tell you how tempted I was to fill my suitcase with those organic beauties at 3 for $5.

Along the way, our bags were soon brimming with handfuls of mixed baby lettuce, red potatoes, radicchio, clementines, plenty of fuyu persimmons, and more! With both Sandra and Dianne to keep me in check I was able to exert some constraint and we put together the following menus for the weekend:

Friday
Dinner: Pumpkin Thai Curry with Basmati Rice

Saturday
Breakfast: Citrus-Berry Smoothies
Lunch: Baby Greens Salad with Toasted Hazelnuts and leftover curry
Dinner: Steamed Artichokes followed by Romanesco and Potato Bake with Cashew Cheese Sauce

Sunday
Breakfast: Fresh, Local Persimmons, Tangerines and Grapefruit
Dinner: Baby Greens Salad with Almond Butter Dressing and a Feast of Roasted Veggies with two sauces to try- Lemon Tahini and Cilantro Lime Cashew.

I’ll be filling this section with the recipes as the week goes on, but here are a few of the sauces to get you started.

Cilantro Cashew Sauce
1 cup of soaked cashews (3 hours in cold water or ½ hour in hot water; drain before use)
1cup cleaned packed cilantro leaves
1 clove garlic, 1 small shallot, or 2 scallions (optional)
½ medium heat pepper (jalapeno is a good choice)
Juice from one lime
Sea salt to taste
2-3 tbsp olive oil
Unsweetened almond milk (use to thin to desired consistency
Add all above ingredients to your food processor or Vitamix and blend til smooth. (We actually used an immersion blender because that’s what we had and while the sauce was delicious, it was not as smooth as I would have liked.)

Lemon Tahini Sauce
½ cup raw organic tahini
Juice from 2 medium lemons
½-1 cup water
Blend juice and tahini, then add water to achieve desired consistency.
Sea Salt to taste
This could not be easier to make! (These ingredients can be blended by hand, but an immersion blender does make for a beautiful consistency.)

Cashew Cheese Sauce
2 cups soaked and drained cashews
1 cube of veggie bouillon (Rapunzel)
3 cups of water
1 cup of organic unsweetened almond milk
Juice from one lemon
Salt to taste
Blend until smooth in high powered blender or with an immersion blender. (While I play with a several versions of this recipe when I cook at home, we needed a quick and easy version for our dinner prep so this is what we used.)

Stay tuned for more to come!

So this story is certainly a personal one but I am so proud I really can’t keep from sharing!

At 82, and soon to be 83, my mother-in-law, Marianne, continues to make changes to improve her health. This is a woman who exercises daily and has been vegetarian for over 30 years. Three and a half years ago, our own household’s new dairy free lifestyle certainly got her attention and together we discussed the hows and whys over the course of each international visit. While not ever a milk drinker, she was known to enjoy a daily serving of fresh yogurt, a wedge or two of good cheese, and certainly wouldn’t pass up whipped cream on a slice of kuchen when out with her girlfriends. But this past November, having spent a month at our house dairy free and seeing a notable difference in her rosacea, she made a commitment to herself to maintain this when she returned to Germany. Now, a month and a half later, she is going strong AND even made it through all of the holiday season going against the flow in her social circle, which is no small task in her generation.

Much more important than how you plan to begin this New Year of 2017 is how you plan to begin each and every day.

Broad sweeping commitments for the year can be easily crushed by the end of the month while a daily intention is not only more manageable, but also more meaningful.

I’d like to share with you a valuable and quite simple intention you can start tomorrow that will not only change your life, but the lives of all those you touch. Pretty powerful stuff right? Sounds like just the recipe we need for 2017 so let’s get started!

I suggest you make the first words you think (or better yet say out loud) to yourself upon waking each morning an affirmation. Upon first consciousness, place your hand on your heart and say, “I am loved and I am love.” Modify the words as you like but the intention must remain. This simple and effortless task is so meaningful because of the power it produces within. Before long you will see that you are in control of your own emotions and thoughts and feelings.

You are loved. Love is powerful and unleashes incredible potential. When you feel powerful you empower those around you. All the talk about being love can only occur when each of us takes on the responsibility of self-love beginning each and every morning. It’s a ripple effect so make your ripple tomorrow and watch the love grow and spread.

Want to learn more about affirmations? There’s no better teacher than Louise Hay. She created a movement in the 80’s that we need to revive. Here’s a short blog post to get you started but you’re going to want her book You can Heal Your Life, it’s an oldie but such a goodie! Remember, tomorrow morning, I am counting on you. We’ve got a lot of good work to do