Tags
acne aging anti-aging beauty detox diet exercise fasting healing health healthy lifestyle healthy living healthy recipes inspiration juicing Living la Vida Raw meditation mindfulness Move Your Body Natural Beauty natural cures Natural Cures natural remedies nutrition nutritionist parasites raw raw food Raw Food for Thought raw foods raw girl Raw News raw recipes Raw Spirit Recipes skin spirulina stress vegan vegan lifestyle vegan recipes vegetarian Veggie Love wellness yogaNewsletter Sign-up
Tag Archives: Living la Vida Raw
How to Create a Self-Care Plan
Self-care is completely essential to thriving and feeling at your best. Some people think of self-care as selfish, but it really is not. In order for you to be out in the world at your best, and also give to others, you must do that from a full place. Self-care helps us to fill “our well” so that we are not showing up for others from a depleted place, which can lead to resentment and anger. Before we take care of our kids, jobs, work, we must take care of ourselves.
Self-care involves areas such as the need to connect with our tribe or closest friends and family; taking care of our physical and psychological health; managing and reducing stress; intuitively listening for and honoring our emotional and spiritual needs; sustaining healthy relationships; and achieving balance across personal, school, and work commitments.
Each and every one of us is different, so it’s important that our self-care be tailored to our unique needs, wants, and preferences! Below is a template with some sample answers that you can use to create your own self-care plan with a few minutes of reflection. Once you go through this process, schedule into your calendar a few of the tasks you would like to try that will feed your mind, body, or spirit. If you don’t already have a plan I encourage you to sit down and create one today. So much ends up on our to-do list from day-to-day so if you fail to plan, you will fail at taking care of the most important person in your life, YOU. –Xo Raw Girl
SECTION ONE:
| Self-Care Dimension
|
Current Practices
(List all that you currently do) |
Frequency |
| Physical | · Gym/ Exercise with Trainer
|
· At least three times per week |
| Intellectual | · Reading a new book
· Social media fast
|
· Weekly
· Once a week I shut down all social media |
| Emotional |
· Meditation |
· Daily meditation |
| Spiritual |
· Meditation · Prayer · Church
|
· Daily meditation & prayer, Church once sometimes twice per week
|
| Social | · Church Group
|
· Once every two weeks and ongoing |
SECTION TWO:
| Self-Care Dimension
|
New Practices
(List all practice you are COMMITTING to doing on a regular basis) |
Frequency
(How often do you commit to doing these) |
| Physical | · Try Capoeira as a new form of movement
|
· Once a week |
| Intellectual | · Write in my journal
· Listen to my favorite music · Schedule regular thinking time
|
· 2-3 times per week
· at least twice a week · at least once per week |
| Emotional | · go for reflective walk
· Connect with a good friend |
· once a week
· at least once a week |
| Spiritual | · go for reflective walk
|
· once a week |
| Social | · Call one friend and schedule something fun
|
· Once per week |
| SECTION THREE: | |
| What can you let go of? What is no longer serving you?
|
|
| What do you do now for self-care or to manage your stress that no longer serves you? Answer in the space to the right.
|
|
|
SECTION FOUR: |
|
| How will you eliminate obstacles to your self-care plan? Answer in the space below.
|
|
|
|
|
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Have you checked out my new online classes yet? In my new course, Staying Ageless 30+ you will learn about Diet Basics, Lifestyle Factors, and elements of Longevity that promote an ageless way of life. Over the course of three modules you learn what to eliminate from your diet to stay ageless, how to ensure your body is receiving adequate nutrition, powerful detox rituals you can incorporate to increase your longevity, beauty remedies that will leave you glowing, and how to exercise effectively and get results. In addition you will learn health lessons directly from renowned longevity and health experts that will equip you to transform your lifestyle. You can still enroll! Check out the class HERE to preview the curriculum our save your seat! -Xo
Make an Epic Comeback! 4 Ways to Boost Your Resilience & Health
When life gives you lemons…Bounce Back!
Have you noticed some people can endure breakups, deaths in the family, unexpected mayhem at work, and somehow come out of the storm looking like Olivia Pope, strutting in a room, glowing and repeating her classic mantra: “It’s handled.” There’s a part of all of us that wants to be Olivia Pope in those crazy crisis situations in our lives, but the reality is that when the veggie hits the fan, it can feel like the world is coming to an end!
Resilience is the key to our epic come-back, and is also in my opinion one of the greatest markers of health. We know bad things happen in life, it’s more a matter of whether or not you can weather the storm and how quickly you recover and get back in the game. The textbook definition of resilience is successful adaptation and swift recovery after experiencing life adversities. In shrink language: secure attachment (especially in childhood), experiencing positive emotions and having a purpose in life are three important psychological building blocks of resilience. Resilience can help protect you from various mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety. Resilience can also help offset factors that increase the risk of mental health conditions, such as being bullied or previous trauma. If you have an existing mental health condition, being resilient can improve your ability to cope. Below are a few ways you can boost your resilience and make an epic comeback from life’s challenges that will cause your friends and fam’s jaws to drop. If you are going to go through hell, may as well look like a goddess emerging from the flames! Xo Raw Girl
- Heal Your Inner Child. For those of us (raises hand) who may have had crazy childhoods that left deep emotional wounds, part of creating resilience is to deal with our past trauma and rebuild our self-worth and self-esteem. For years I thought my traumas were resolved only to find out there were patterns repeating in my life that were a result of some past wounds that were still affecting me subconsciously. How do you work through this? Journaling is great, seeing a therapist can help to. If you can’t afford a therapist check out the book Self-Therapy by Dr. Jay Earley which can help you work through the same process on your own at a fraction of the cost.
- Keep Your Immunity Up! When crisis hits, we immediately become more susceptible to disease or illness. That’s why its imperative we do not wait before the veggie hits the fan to take care of our daily vitamins and immune boosters. Vitamin C is essential, and taking a daily multivitamin can go a long way. Want more on the importance of vitamins? Check out this PAST POST.
- Practice a Daily Mindfulness Ritual. Mindfulness has been show to decrease stress, reduce the likelihood of contracting a host of diseases, and can also assist with keeping the mind positive in times of crisis. When things get rough it’s easy to slip into that downward spiral of thinking, and what mindfulness can do is help us to pay less attention to that negative chatter that keeps us in negative Nancy mode. Some practices that can work wonders: daily meditation, yoga, Qi gong, walking meditations in nature.
- Connect to a Higher Power. The Practice of organized religion is slowly becoming scarce in our modern world, as people seem to feel they don’t have time. The amazing thing about faith however, is that it can provide some assurance during times of crisis. Church communities or spiritual organizations with like minded believers can provide essential support when weathering life’s storms. In addition to this, many people fid that when they can give their problems over to God, stress reduces, and a deeper sense of peace and positive expectation emerges.
FREE Webinar: 7 Tips That Will Boost Your Beauty in 30 Days or Less!
Don’t you have it when you try beauty remedies that give you ZERO results, or take forever to see progress? I do too! THIS WEEK! On June 29th at 11 AM PST or 1 PM EST I will be hosting a free webinar with my Ageless partner in crime Khaleeqa of Paparoxi called : 7 Tips to Boost Your Beauty in 30 Days or Less; where you can get some tips about staying ageless and learn what the E-Course is all about. We are excited about giving you some of the best tips in our beauty arsenals that will give you tangible results! Sign up HERE to reserve your seat! XO Raw Girl
____________________________
In Staying Ageless 30+ @paparoxi and I have teamed up to give you the information and techniques you need to preserve your health, look flawless, and drop it like its hot for decades to come. 😉 Preview the curriculum or sign up for the course today on www.rawbeautyinabox.com.
Coffee Enemas to Clear Skin, Get Rid of Parasites, & Heal Disease!
***Disclaimer: This post is not designed to offer medical advice, I am not a medical doctor. Although I am soon to be a Holistic Nutritionist, you should check with your doctor before heeding any advice or tips in this post. This is not an attempt to market any product.*** Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, let me tell you about my most recent health obsession: coffee enemas. I have heard about people doing them, and always felt it was a bit extreme. Like really? Inserting a Starbucks latte up my rear end is going to make my skin glow or get rid of parasites? Recently my colon hydrotherapist asked if I would like to take one. Since then, I’ve been hooked and fascinated by the number of people who have joined #teamcoffeeenema and are experiencing astounding results. Now before you get all in your feelings about how gross that sounds, let me break down a bit of the history around them.
Coffee enemas have been practiced as far back as Ancient Egypt, where Pharaoh’s had special “colon doctors” who would ensure their colons were clean as they were aware of how important colon cleansing was for health. Fast forward to 1924 when Dr. Gerson, a German born American physician and health pioneer was able to cure migraines, cancer, skin tuberculosis, and literally a laundry list of conditions using his program which included detox of the body using the coffee enema. He discovered that coffee when taken into the body rectally and held for up to 15 minutes, forced the liver to release pent up toxins in the body. Combining the coffee enema with fresh organic vegetable juices and a primarily vegetarian diet, he was able to heal cancer patients. In fact, the US Government was very close to passing a bill that would provide full support for his cure for cancer, when pharmaceutical companies sabotaged it. There was even a reporter who did a lengthy segment on Dr. Gerson’s claim on ABC, who was fired, after pharma companies withdrew millions of dollars of support from ABC. So as you can see, greed and the bottom line prevailed, leaving us in these modern times to resort to prescriptions and chemo, when there is a viable alternative that has proven results to completely heal the body. Just a note, coffee enemas are just one aspect of Gerson’s therapy that offer health benefits. If you are interested in following the full protocol, there are many resources online and elsewhere.
To take a coffee enema you use organic coffee in purified water with no additives at room or body temperature. You need 2-3 Tablespoons of ground, organic light roast cofeee boiled for 15 minutes and strained of any grinds. You add water and ensure that the temperature is cool enough for the body to take in. No scalding your booty with hot coffee! It’s a good idea to take them first thing in the morning and flush your system out first with a water enema. Word of warning: don’t go HAM. Pace yourself, and try one or two enemas a week max to see how you feel. Some people get gung ho and and one a day, but you don’t want to overdo it unless your body is super toxic. Experiment and listen to your body. If you still think I’ve lost my mind and prefer to stick to good old water enemas only I understand. As many people say they have had incredible healing experiences, there are always natural healing naysayers who believe that they are dangerous to your health. And of course propaganda planted from companies’ who would rather see you spend your hard earned money on medication. Check out the videos below and do some research for yourself about the countless people who have lost weight, gotten rid of parasites, cleared hormonal acne, cured their cancer, dissolved tumors, healed eczema and more, and you might think twice about making a coffee run. XO Raw Girl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25IMzDJidxo
This next video is really long, but really great and goes in depth on the history and results achieved by coffee enemas. If you don’t have time to watch the whole thing, skip ahead to 1:19 and watch for 5-10 minutes to see some of the results achieved by people who have taken coffee enemas regularly.
The Many Reasons to Love Avocado
If I had to profess my undying love to any particular fruit or veggie, it would be a hard call between avocados and coconuts. What is not to love about this amazing creamy fruit that can be combined with both sweet and more bitter meals. Plus I can make yogurt or pudding with it, smoothies, and add it to salads. Since I have long been rescued from the hell that is processed food addiction, I would say avocados do for me what ice cream or yogurt does for die hard dairy lovers. The creamy texture, literally makes my heart sing, and ears perk up when I hear someone say the lovely name avocado. Oh, and the joy of cutting one open and it being completely perfect! I could go on and on. I know I’m tripping, but I really love them that much. They are also on my list of aphrodisiacs, so perhaps (***clears throat and bats eyelashes***), avocados are exciting for me in more ways than one. For grown folks only: the name avocado comes from the Aztec word ‘ahuacatl’ which, um, literally, um, means testicle (I don’t like that word, hence the hesitation). I assume you can guess that avocados got the name from the way they look. So beyond just eating avocados, you also have the option to make some dirty jokes about them. LOL.
So what groovy benefits do you get from eating avocado, which is also known as ‘alligator pear’? Well, they happen to be one of the healthiest foods on the planet! Avocados contain 25 essential nutrients including vitamin A, B, C, E, K, copper, iron, phosphorous, magnesium, potassium, protein, phytochemicals, and fiber. You would actually need to eat at least two bananas to get the amount of potassium in one avocado. Avocados have a large fat content, almost twenty times the amount of fat in other fruits but they are extremely good-for-you monounsaturated fats. People often worry that because of this avocados will make you gain weight. Not the case, I’ll get to that in another post soon. If you eat avocados from Florida which are huge, note that they have 50% LESS fat than the Haas kind, so they are sort of the “low-fat” brand of avocados.
Onto the long list of fabulous things the wonderful fruit named avocado can do for you. Some key benefits include: maintains a healthy heart and reduce risk of heart disease, efficiently lowers bad cholesterol and can boost good cholesterol, helps to regulate blood pressure levels, has anti-inflammatory properties that help ward off inflammation related diseases, promotes eye health and prevents macular degeneration, regulates blood sugar levels, reduces the risk of stroke because of high levels of folate, protects against breast cancer and has been shown to inhibit prostate cancer, contains glutathione which fights free radicals in the body, boosts immune system, slows aging, and encourages a healthy nervous system. If all of those benefits alone were not a mouthful add to that the fact that avocados are known the world over for boosting the health and natural glow of your skin.
My challenge this week is: How many ways can you eat an avocado? While I go off to work on that, I hope you have now been convinced that avocados are an awesome food to add to your diet. As much as I would love to keep my love for them all to myself, I know there’s more than enough love to go around so you can count on me to continue spreading the gospel. -XoXo Raw Girl
AYIBA Magazine Feature!
Thank you so much to @ayibamag for including me in their print issue to chat health and my creative projects Check it out here: http://bit.ly/AyibaPrint
-XO Raw Girl
Dope Homemade Trail Mix That Will Save You $
Please raise your hand in solidarity if you are over buying seven dollar bags of kale chips from health food stores. If your hand is in the air like mine, this trail mix will change your life. If you have a dehydrator it’s always more efficient and cost effective to make your own raw snacks to carry with you on-the-go. I know it seems like it could be time consuming but it really is not. Why? Because you prep, stick it in the dehydrator, let’s say in the evening, and by the time you wake up abra cadabra! You got snacks! Warning: these don’t last long in kitchens so you may need to make more than one batch. Enjoy & Your Welcome! – XO
Ingredients:
1 bunch green kale, 1/2 cup hemp seeds, 3/4 cup walnuts, 6 raw nori sheets, 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, 1 tablespoon agave, 2 teaspoons sesame oil, 2 tablespoons of Braggs liquid Aminos, 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon or dash of ginger powder.
Massage everything together into a bowl and dehydrate until crispy at least 3-5 hours or overnight.
Effective Natural Sleep Aid: Valerian Poppy
Even the hustlers who claim they “grind” 24-7 and survive on three hours of sleep, can’t debate that eventually the human body will crash if you do not get enough rest. Not sure if you all heard about Ariana Huffington’s come to Jesus moment where her lack of sleep let to a serious injury an stitches in her face, chronicled in her book Thrive. Even a CEO needs rest, and she discovered that she actually performs better and makes better decisions when fully rested rather than trying to run the rat race on empty. It’s clear that this AHA! moment was the catalyst that eventually caused her to leave the Huffington Post and move onto found Thrive Global where she promoting health, wellness, and good old sleep.
Recently, a friend reached out to me who was having sleeping problems about whether or not she should take medication. It has become all too commonplace for those with sleeping issues to resort to taking sleeping pills which can have a myriad of side effects known and unknown. She unfortunately lives in Los Angeles, where popping sleeping pills is like eating candy. Everyone seems to do it. The better solution is to look at your lifestyle, caffeine intake, stress, or racing thoughts and get to the bottom of what you can change to get some real long term sustainable rest.
After giving this advice to my friend, I then told her as she is working on it to give Valerian Poppy a try as a natural remedy to help her sleep on the interim. I used Valerian Poppy as a sleeping aid when recovering from a bad car accident that left me in so much pain it was hard to get to sleep. I would put a few drops in water and I was usually out in 10-15 minutes. Again, I believe dealing with the source of the issue is always best, but this herbal remedy may be something you want to give a try if you are really struggling. Like any herb, can have interactions with other medications so I recommend you take it alone or speak to your doctor about any potential adverse effects of mixing with your current medication. The exact effective dosage isn’t exactly clear either, so the safest bet is to experiment without overdoing it. I usually put one dropper full into a glass of water.
Want additional information about sleep that could help you revolutionize your rest? Check out the book Power Sleep by Dr. James Maas, a world renowned sleep expert. That book changed my life and made me a bit of a sleep natzi in college. I’m sure you will find once you have experienced true, good quality rest, you’ll start getting a little gangsta about your sleep too. -XO
The Amazing Power of MSM for Beauty & Healing
MSM, also know by science geeks the world over as methylsulfonylmethane, is an organic sulfur compound made during the earth’s rain cycle. This miracle supplement when taken in the powder form really should be called “Botox in a bottle,” as it does wonders for anti-aging by boosting collagen production especially when paired with vitamin C. MSM is great for acceleration of healing of skin, joints, or connective tissues. Taking it as a supplement can be useful to those suffering from arthritis, leaky gut (helps heal lining of colon) and those looking to speed recovery from injury. Here’s an additional perk that comes with adding MSM to your life: it lays a coat over intestinal areas making it virtually impossible for parasites to attach themselves. When the parasites are unable to make their home in your body, they are flushed out of your system through the process of elimination.
Time and time again I have come back to MSM whenever dealing with an injury I want to heal. Most recently when my face was burned, I made sure to include MSM twice a day into my healing protocol along with my Heal & Glow Face Mask to accelerate the process. If you find your hair is breaking or nails are brittle, this is great supplement that will solve those issues and have you whipping your hair back and forth.
How to take it:
For best results using the MSM powder, added it to your water along with a source of vitamin C like lemon juice. Start with one teaspoon of MSM powder in 16 ounces of water, and gradually work your way up to 2 to 3 tablespoons per day to see some really impressive results.
-XO Raw Girl