When we give grace to something or someone or to ourselves, we grant permission for it to ‘be,’ just as it is. This is a form of radical acceptance*. We are meeting ourselves and anything around us exactly where we are, for how we are, without judgment and without expectation. Practicing grace can be a new way of living for some of us. Quite often, we are ingrained with a mindset of ‘being the best’ or striving to be ‘perfect or nothing at all.’ These are extremely limi

Summer breathes in new life and lightness for the spirit and appetite! With the delicious blend of blueberries, almonds and fresh tarragon, this meal is a quick lunch or dinner to satiate your appetite and your senses! I first made this recipe when a friend was following Whole 30 and wanted a simple lunch option for her bachelorette crew - everyone LOVED it! This recipe calls for Ras el Hanout, a traditional North African spice blend which includes cardamom, cinnamon, clov

“We can learn nothing except by going from the known to the unknown.” ~ Claude Bernard When we think about learning something new, it’s easy to forget we first started in a place of unknowing. Perhaps there was something that sparked interest, leading to discovery, or perhaps learning came through overcoming challenge. Regardless of the reason for learning something new, there is a deep beauty and wisdom gleaned from recognizing we must first accept there is something we d

There are many diet and health advice tips out there. It’s hard to keep track of what’s a fad or fading… If there’s ONE thing that you decide to focus on, make it about reducing your sugar intake! Added sugars are a silent killer, surreptitiously hiding in many foods and likely contributing to many areas of inflammation, distress and weight gain for you. Consuming naturally occurring sugars is essential to a well-balanced diet and the body relies on these energy sources

I always love staying at a hotel and placing the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the door. There’s something liberating about politely telling guests and staff ‘leave me alone.’ We don’t take enough time in our lives to make this same request. It can feel like we are perpetually asked to engage, respond, answer, check email, listen to messages, react. In this digital age, we literally have our world at our fingertips, in the palm of our hands, always at the ready. The cell pho

When you visit your doctor, are you owning your role in your own health care ? Many people don’t speak up with their doctor. There’s a general belief (and rightly so) that doctors are the experts and so we unquestioningly follow their direction. We entrust our care to doctors because they have studied extensively, and they know things we don’t. Yet there is only one person who truly, intimately knows your body – YOU! The body shares information in many nuanced ways which

In our modern lives, sometimes it's not practical to cook, because let’s be honest, who always has time for that? When time is a constraint, we can often be drawn to prepared foods, yet feel concerned about what we’re eating . There’s a lot of buzz in the health world about not eating packaged foods - and for good reason! So many of the processed and packaged foods in the stores are laden with chemicals disguised as food (and some are not-so-disguised…). Thankfully, there

From my article "All the buzz about 'whole foods'," I shared a few meal suggestions to explore eating whole foods. When we eat foods from the earth, we are giving our bodies natural nourishment, full of macro- and micro-nutrients, all of which contribute to the complex functions of life within us. At the end of the article, you will find the breakdown of all the health benefits for each food featured here. I hope you’ll play with whole food cooking on your own! Your body and

Ritual: ceremonial, customary, rite This is an interesting concept. Practicing something (or several things) in a rhythmic fashion, which is repeated, held with honor, and incorporated into regular life, carries power. Civilizations have practiced ritual for thousands of years, with the intent to come closer to their god, or to understand life around them, or to hold sanctity for sacred objects. Ritual was a means of living in closer connection with the elements and space a

Need to lose some weight? As an answer, most people will consider starting a new diet. There are many different options out there – Whole 30, Atkins, Keto, Paleo, Vegan – a large variety of popular diets which will all tout rapid weight loss. Perhaps there are celebrities endorsing these diets. These diets work, they certainly do. They are also generally restrictive, leaving many people feeling like they can’t wait for their ‘cheat day,’ which inevitably derails all the