Step out of the Closet

Exercise: None! I let the rainy day pull me into taking a break from my daily runs. Mmmm, it felt good to listen to the calling of my body to rest
Breakfast:
2 slices Mestemacher Sunflower Seed Bread smeared with 1/2 avocado, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with Himalayan Sea Salt
Lunch:
A banana and a bowl of organic Flame raisins and raw almonds
32 ounces water
Dinner:
Salad with organic mescalin greens, radish, carrot, Sproutman Alfalfa sprouts, purple cabbage, grape tomatoes; with herbs, olive oil and sea salt
Morbier raw French cow cheese with vegetable ash and goat gouda
32 ounces water

A couple of weeks ago, I had dinner with my dear friends at their home. We frequently eat together, as they love the foods I do and it's always meaningful to share food and explore conversation.
I suggested: "Let's play a game," and they said ok.
I posed this question to each of them and myself as well: "If you didn't do what you do in life, what would you like to be doing?"
He, an art teacher at a private school and a very talented potter said: "I'd be a pilot."
She, a gifted healer, reflexologist and counselor said, "I'd be a lawyer."
I, the holistic health counselor said, "I'd be a modern dancer."
We each shared the original longings and desires we had, sometime in the past, that had us imagine these vastly different choices than those we had made.
It was an expansive conversation, tapping each of us into a part we pushed away. I observed my friends' expressions as they shared the reasons behind their answers. Their eyes lit up with desire and imagination; their mouths turned upward with joy.
Each of them is already present and powerfully connected to happiness in their lives, and the choices they did make, and the ones I made, have each of us loving what we do every day.
But the experiment of this conversation was valuable on a whole other level.
What parts of ourselves do we put away in the linen closet of our lives, all neatly folded and in piles?
What do we stick away that we stop longing for?
I am ecstatic to counsel people every day; the sheer gift of it permeates every cell of my body.
But what if I took the towel of modern dancer out of the closet every once in awhile and cloaked my body it it? What if I went through one day a month breathing in the energy of  modern dancer?
David Deida, in his brilliant book, "Dear Lover," speaks about walking, talking, sitting and standing as if we are making love with ourselves each day, regardless of whether we are in a relationship or not, and regardless of whether that relationship offers us that level of intimacy and sexual satisfaction.
It is from cultivating it inside of ourselves that it is born; not from waiting for others to fulfill it in us.
There is definitely a pilot inside of my friend; there truly is a lawyer inside of his wife, my dear friend. There is a dancer inside of me, who dances across the stage of Lincoln Center like Martha Graham, moving with complete freedom and abandon; my body soaring across the stage like an eagle.
I encourage you to tap into those parts of yourself; take a towel out of your life's "linen closet" and wrap yourself in it for a day.
Please write in and share how that feels.....
In Dance,
Hope & The Holistic Empire

It's OK to Increase Your Fats!

Yesterday:

Exercise:

Great 2.2 mile run in the Autumn weather

Breakfast:

Steel Cut Oats and chopped walnuts, soaked in water overnight, with a sliced banana and Forbes Wild Foods Pure Maple Syrup #3 Dark (Canadian)

32 moz. mason jar of water

Dinner:

salad of mixed mescalin greens, Sproutman Alfalfa sprouts, carrot, purple cabbage, grape tomatoes with olive oil and Himalayan sea salt

Morbier French raw cheese and goat gouda

Treat: Cocoa covered almonds

32 oz. mason jar of water

Today:

Exercise:

5:00 AM 2.2 mile run under the stars

Breakfast:

2 pieces Mestemacher German Sunflower Seed Bread with raw almond butter and sliced banana

32. oz. mason jar of water

It's that time of year again, where I talk about Eating with the Seasons. All Summer long I was happy to have big chunks of watermelon in the morning; now my body craves almond butter. In the warm weather, a fruit and greens' smoothie was filling; now I soak steel cut oats to ground and warm me as the temperature cools. Add to that a little maple syrup, some nuts and a banana and I'm filled.

My body is getting ready for hibernation; it's loading up on more fats and carbs to protect it from the cold elements.

Let yourself increase your fats. We are really quite similar to the animals. Every winter my body weight and body fat increase a little and every spring they naturally decrease; no diet necessary. Keep your exercise moving and you'll be fine.

Some great fats to add are: hemp or olive oil, 1/2 avocado, some raw goat cheese, soaked nuts or seeds, nut butters, tahini

Some complex carbs for fuel: Millet, quinoa, barley, steel cut oats, chia seeds (which are a protein and must be soaked in water to expand), brown rice pasta or soba noodles.

Before I went raw, this used to be my favorite breakfast:

1/2 cup cooked millet, drizzled with organic olive oil and Herbamare seasoning

Steamed Swiss chard, beets and carrots drizzled with Bragg's Amino Acids and tahini.

This breakfast offers both grounding (calming) and sprouting (revitalizing) energy; Yin and Yang. It also supports balanced blood sugar levels.

Embrace the change in seasons and let your food reflect it.

Write in and share what new food choices you've made this week....

In Health,

Hope