HOW TO CHOOSE PROTEIN POWDER

HOW TO CHOOSE PROTEIN POWDER

3 Nutritionist-Approved Tips

Increased trends (and pics) of morning smoothies (made with protein powder) have become like a trendy love affair for individuals seeking to build lean body muscle mass, increase the feel good health vibes and and get those extra greens into your day.

Not only is this convenient breakfast (or meal) trend working well for people on the go, but when given the best versions of protein powder, morning smoothies can also deliver a ton of nutrient density, energy and blood sugar balance to our bodies.

If you want to build muscle and burn fat to transform your body, there’s no getting around it, you need to eat enough protein and good fat. Not only is protein required to repair and rebuild your muscles, but when combined with good fats, it’ll also keep you feeling fuller for longer so you can curb your cravings and find your flow.

As with anything, there is a gigantic range of quality that not only presents confusion and overwhelm, but can also take something good, and turn it awry.

Check out these 3 Nutritionist-Approved Tips to choosing your protein powder wisely.

1. The Secret is in the Source

The most common question is about where the protein comes from. Before you get drawn into the whole whey, collagen, hemp, bone broth, rice, pea, soy debate – STOP.

There are many great protein sources.

When it comes to protein powder, whey and collagen are the most complete protein source and have the highest protein density.

Whey and collagen, when organic and un-denatured, are highly absorbable and are optimal for muscle protein synthesis.

But, many people have dairy allergies or dairy intolerances, and some of you are likely plant based. If this is the case for you, or you want a little variety, try some other great options such as hemp, pea or rice protein powder.

When exploring vegan protein powders, favor those that have been designed with a full amino acid profile – complete proteins – in mind. This helps to build muscle and strengthen your metabolism.

Beware of soy: Research suggests that soy can increase levels of the female hormone estrogen (which encourages fat storage), and the plant is often genetically modified to boost crop yields.

 2. Quality Matters

As I mentioned above, not only is the type of protein important, but the quality of that protein as well. When buying any kind of protein powder, be sure to get grass fed, organic, non-GMO, whole food based protein powders that have full amino acid profiles (found in the ingredient list) and are low in carbohydrates and sugars making them low glycemic.

Read the ingredient lists. Many of the available protein powders are chock full of additives, preservatives, sugars, and even artificial sweeteners –– such as sucralose.

Ensuring the sugars are low will ensure that you are satiated, and you remain in the fat burning zone free from the repercussions of extra toxins, additives and artificial ingredients.

3. Look at the Macro Nutrients

Macronutrients — carbs-protein-fat — are calorie-containing nutrients that fuel the many functions of the body. A good meal replacement protein powder will have a healthy balance of these.

Look for macro-nutrients somewhere in the range of protein 20 grams, fat 5-10 grams (and you can add extra such as coconut oil, MCT oil or nut butter on your own), and carbs less than 20 grams (low glycemic sweeteners such as monk fruit and stevia help with this a ton).

While there is no magic ratio that fits everyone, you will likely find that making these changes in your ratios will help you with long term body composition, cravings, energy, mental clarity, sleep and a more balanced mood.

A low-glycemic meal-replacement smoothie that allows for steady blood sugar control and staying fuller between meals is your ticket to both satiation and your super powers.

What I have found is that health seekers all over the planet love to drink morning smoothies because they can easily add a variety superfoods, proteins, good fats, greens, and adaptogens to create a powerful start to the day.

Above all, the key to a great breakfast smoothie really lies in a good balance of protein, along with other healthy and nutritious ingredients to create something yummy that you'll look forward to drinking.

Photo Credit:  Chef Bailey Jean Ruskus

HARVEST STYLE ZUCCHINI BOATS

HELLO LATE SUMMER HARVEST!

Now you have another yummy recipe to eat up all those garden zucchinis. This one is a fun compilation of spicy Mexican flavors meets vegan cheese sauce. Even if you are friendly with dairy, trust me this nutritional yeast based delight is worth checking out. (So good!)
 

A wonderful source of vitamin B12, Nutritional yeast is a deactivated yeast (often a strain of saccharomyces cerevisiae) that makes a great sprinkle on any meal, a topping on your bowl of popcorn or a delicious cheesy sauce.  

This recipe blends delicious roasted chilies, peppers, black beans and zucchini all tied together with a tasty sauce.

Recipe Credit :: Boulder Nutrition Team Member Alana Quatro
Photo Credit :: Boulder Team Member Kristine Mahan

ARE YOU PART OF THE EPIDEMIC?

"ONE WOMAN CAN CHANGE ANYTHING. MANY WOMEN CAN CHANGE EVERYTHING."
 

I have a Q for you to A...

 

Do you ever feel like you do it all yourself?


Whether it be running your household, taking care of your kids, managing your business or taking care of everybody else but yourself (or all of the above), you are likely part of a major epedemic..


I call it self sufficiency syndrome (SSS).


The reason I want to talk to you about this is simple: I too, am in full SSS recovery and oh boy, it's a doozy. 


For many, H E L P is a four letter word.

 

You know you have SSS if:

• You have a hard time asking for help
• You would rather do everything yourself so that it gets done "right"
• You are an inherent people pleaser to your core
• You chronically find yourself exhausted with too much on your plate

While you may be thinking "I can't always control my life circumstances," what I want to tell you today is that what you can control is how you respond to them.


You can do anything, if you stop trying to do everything.


Asking for help, delegating and leaning in to support and trust have been a challenging yet monumental practice for me in my personal and professional life. As with any of my deep internal work, I have learned so much about myself in the process. 


I have also felt uncomfortable, tentative and extremely vulnerable.


Don't get me wrong, self-sufficiency can be a blessing––but not when we are left burnt out, fried, overwhelmed and exhausted.


Gathering support, in whatever form we need, is an important ingredient for our health and our happiness.  


So today, I want to introduce you to some of the pinacle support in my life: the wonderful, innovative, smart and savvy women, who have joined forces with me, so that I can stop trying to do everything by myself


...because I have learned, it takes a tribe.


You may have seen them if you follow me on Instagram, as they have been doing some fun and informative #instatakeovers. You may have met them if you have joined (or will be joining) me on any of my local or international retreats. You may have even tried out one of their recipe creations from the Boulder Nutrition recipe page.


Either way, each of these three women have become an integral part of my business and I am incredibly grateful for the work we are creating together. 

MEET THE BOULDER NUTRITION TEAM:

Alana Quattro :: Retreat Assistant

Alana is a student at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, a yoga instructor and natural baker.  Alana's passion lies in the combination of yoga and nutrition to help women heal negative body image and disordered eating. She brings a bright light and loving heart to many of our retreats.  
(@alanarenewellness)

 

Kristine Mahan :: Assistant Program Coordinator

Kristine is in school for her Master Nutrition Therapist degree in Denver. She’s an advocate for functional health care and believes that your whole history is part of your health story. In practice, she wants to specialize in gut health while teaching others the importance of agricultural sustainability and how to properly prepare food for optimal nutrition.
(@kristinemahan)


 

Olivia Hagen :: Recipe Manager

Olivia is a science student at CU, with a passion for healthy food and movement, on the path to her masters degree in Holistic Nutrition. She comes from a huge family of foodies and loves to create and test the Boulder Nutrition recipes
(@mama_alis_cookin)

Back to you!

 

If you want to create a healthy and happy life, you need support too. 

Here are a few questions for you to ponder:
 

...Where do you feel supported in your life?

...Where are you overwhelmed, exhausted or feeling alone?

...What is one baby step you can take this week to build your tribe?

I would love to hear your responses. Scroll down to comment section and join the conversation.
 

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Photo :: Om Light Photography

LET'S MAKE IT SUN-SATIONAL

 

"EVERY SUMMER HAS IT'S OWN STORY"

 

Are you ready for 3 months of BBQ's, fresh garden salads, summery adventures and pool time?  


For me... a wholehearted YES!!! 🙋‍♀️


Memorial Day weekend is the kick-off to summer for many of us. One of the beauties I love about this time of year is the simplicity of the food we can eat. Summery meals are often lighter, fresher and more colorful as well as easier to prepare. Picking a fresh salad from the garden or exploring the local farmer’s market to find seasonal produce can inspire a simple and ‘localicious’ meal to share with loved ones.
 

If you want to stay ahead of the game this holiday weekend (and not feel lethargic and icky come Tuesday) check out some of our favorite tips and treats... 

1.  Prioritize Your Preparation:

Having what we need and want in our kitchens, to feel aligned with our eating, is what I consider the secret to success. When we are surrounded by food we are avoiding, we get into a battle with our will power and our cravings.  

Research now shows that creating healthy habits and positive automatic behaviors will lead us to much better results.  On any given day our will power can be anywhere from a 0-10 in strength –depending on our sleep, stress, hormones, and self-care. Our will power changes day-to-day – not the best thing to rely on. 

What works much better is being surrounded by what we want, and getting into regular routines and rhythms that support our choices.  This way, we can rely less on will power and more on our daily routines.

 

2.   Substitute Smart:  

Feeling deprived is not going to be sustainable for most of us. Enjoying our food and our lives is something that is born from deep within our human consciousness.  Rather than making unattainable goals for ourselves, why not try smart substituting?  

Guilt free comfort food is what we call it! Between Amazon.com, health food stores like Whole Foods, and Google, it is not hard to find substitutions for our cooking, baking, and summer time festivities that are still tasty and delicious (Pinterest is my favorite for this purpose).

Check out some of our favorite guilt free comfort food recipes HERE.

3. Watch Your Whites: 

White sugar, white flour, white rice and all those high-glycemic ingredients that sneak into so many foods will reek havoc on our blood sugar, our digestive tracts and send us into a moody madhouse. 

Rather, try eating a more whole food based diet, (including those smart substitutions), use more natural sweeteners, add lots of fresh seasonal fruits and veggies.

Enjoy the full flavors of natural food.

4. Get Outside: 

There is nothing like getting outside and moving our bodies in the sunshine to helps us get a clear perspective, increase our feel good neurotransmitters, and help us embody our health.  

I consider movement and nature one of our primary foods. When our primary foods (all the other ways we nourish ourselves, along with our eating) are happening, we are surely to make better food choices.  The good feeds the good.

Give yourself some fun in the sun this holiday weekend. Take a walk in the woods or get out and dance to your favorite summertime outdoor music at your local Memorial Day festivities. 

(I will be enjoying some great music down at The Boulder Creek Festival).

5. Make Pleasure Your Practice: 

Most of you know I have your and my pleasure in mind and I surely don't want you to miss out on any of the holiday goodies, so try finding your middle ground in the process. 

In my opinion, restriction is never the answer, but knowing your limit, how YOU best stay in balance, and what you want for yourself (crystal clear) should help to inform your choices.

Take things slow. Bring mindfulness and intention to your eating. Make peace with your plate.

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What are your tried and true tips?  Tell us in the comments below…

Happy Memorial Day!!

SPRING SUN-SATIONAL SALAD WITH CREAMY BEET DRESSING

This deliciously vibrant beet dressing is the ideal topping to any salad!

An exciting new dressing is the best way to spice up your basic everyday salad! With a perfectly creamy consistency that everyone can love, enjoy this a big beautiful salad with any meal! 

Fun fact: Eating more beets is a great way to boost your immune system, and antioxidant levels while maintaining healthy blood pressure, nerve and muscle function! 

Brighten up your salads with these colorful, healthful, and perfectly textured ingredients.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY HUMMUS

No matter what your Memorial Day weekend plans are, this hummus is bound to be a hit with any crowd! 

Memorial Day weekend is usually spent basking in the healing summer sunshine. Whoever you decide to spend this holiday with, there will surely be a need for plenty of snacks to enjoy outdoors. This perfectly creamy and filling hummus is the ideal snack to dig in with everyone! 

Chickpeas are a great source of plant based protein. Matched with healthy fats from the oil, nutritious garlic, and loads of vitamin C from lemon, this hummus is the perfectly nourishing and yummy spread that everyone can relish. 

Be sure to take note of our special secret ingredient: chickpea water! This liquid, also known as aquafaba, is the upcoming trend especially in the vegan community. It is commonly used as a binder substitute for eggs in baking. It is the perfect ingredient to make this hummus as creamy as desired. 

No need to stress over what food to bring to your weekend get together! Look no further than this delicious dip that is sure to be a hit! 

LAVENDER LEMONADE {MONKFRUIT} MOCKTAIL

Not all summer drinks have to be filled with processed sugary sweeteners! Mix up your basic refreshers with this low-glycemic and delicious lavender infused mocktail! 

This drink utilizes the natural sweetness of monk fruit rather than refined sugar!

Fun fact: Monk fruit is about 300 times sweeter than normal cane sugar, but ZERO glycemic index – no negative effects on blood sugar. Monk fruit is a tropical melon that was first used by the Buddhist monks in the 13th century, hence the name. It's easy to use, just start slow as it is much sweeter than sugar.

You can find Monk fruit at your local health food store in a granular form (or on Amazon).

The natural sweetness from the monk fruit mixed with the tart lemons and soothing lavender creates a refreshingly perfect drink to enjoy during any summer activity! 

Savor this fresh cooling drink in the warm summer sun, or even add your favorite alcoholic beverage if you are in the mood for a sunshine pick-me-up! No matter how you decide to make it, this drink will not disappoint! 

CRUNCHY BLUEBERRY CABBAGE SALAD

CRUNCHY BLUEBERRY CABBAGE SALAD

This salad is such a colorful, nourishing dish - filled with purple and green cabbage, red leaf lettuce, carrots, blueberries, and pepitas.  It's topped with a super simple red wine vinaigrette so you can easily whip up this healthy meal when you're short on time!

Cabbage is a really filling and crunchy way to get some high quality produce variation in your diet.  It's packed with fiber, Vitamin C, and compounds that support your body's cancer-fighting abilities and natural detoxification processes.

Some other benefits of cabbage are its price; even organic cabbage is very affordable plus it holds up really well in the fridge- so you can create one big bowl of this salad to snack off of all week long.

Blueberries are an ultimate superfood.  They are overflowing with antioxidants, helping to reduce the effects of toxins and inflammation on your body, while also providing a mild sweetness without any negative effects on your blood sugar.  I love the bright blue color they add to this dish. 

Eat the rainbow and make this beautiful salad tonight, get the recipe by hitting the button below!

Recipe and photo credit: Ailsa Cowell at Food to Feel Good.

THE MISSING LINK IN OUR HEALTH CONVERSATION

"THE MIND AND BODY ARE LIKE PARALLEL UNIVERSES"

DEEPAK CHOPRA

There is sure a lot of holiday hoopla in the air.  How are you holding up?


Honestly, for me the holiday season used to come with a hefty dose of stress and a whole lot of pressure in trying to make things picture perfect. I aspired to cook the perfect meals, host the ideal dinner parties, buy the right gifts all the while still providing a magical holiday for my kids – it was a tad overwhelming.  

The past few years I have been trying something different. For exampe, this past holiday weekend I chose to lay super low: to rest, to nourish, to hang with friends and family, to get outside, to avoid full contact shopping and to get plenty of downtime as the holiday season begins. {BTW it was heavenly}

As I am sure many of you have experienced, food can be a BIG challenge for many of us during the holiday season. The parties, the family dinners, the travel, and the celebratory feasts have become such a big part of the celebrations. While I love to share food and celebrate around the a festive table with loved ones, I also know it is something we can sculpt to match what it is we are wanting for ourselves on a larger scale. 

 

MY MOTTO THIS YEAR:  
SIMPLE IS THE NEW SMART

... Simple traditions
... Simple (and tasty) whole food meals
... Simple gatherings
... Simple purchases


Amidst it all, we can learn to listen to our bodies and our intuitions and see what feels right. Yes, it takes a little bit of time, gentleness, practice and patience, and is very worth the effort.


So, I wanted to share with you some pretty cool {cutting edge} science today. This research will really help you enhance knowing what your body needs and wants, how you can better listen to your body, heighten your inner awareness and make YOU the priority this holiday season.

 

WHAT IS INTEROCEPTION?

Interoceptive awareness means developing an attentiveness in relation to the sensations arising within our bodies. These bodily signals are worthy of our attention because it is the brain's interpretation of them that determines how we are feeling both mentally and physically. By becoming more aware of these inner sensations, we are able to influence how these signals are interpreted by the body and the actions that would follow.

In 1906, the Nobel laureate Charles Scott Sherrington, introduced three terms into medical parlance: “proprioception”, “exteroception”, and “interoception”. Of the three, perhaps proprioception, which is basically the awareness of one’s body in relation to external objects, is the most familiar. (Proprioception is why we don’t constantly walk into walls or get into car accidents.) Exteroception refers to awareness of any stimuli coming at us from the outside (sights, sounds, smells etc.). Interoception is our awareness of what is going on within the boundary of our own skin; it is intra-organismic awareness. (Emerson, 2015)

Interoception, defined here as the sense of the physiological condition of the body, is an information pathway used to interpret one’s body from within. Interoception is the process of receiving, accessing and appraising our internal bodily signals. The anatomical pathways for interoception are well-specified, detailing the connections between sensory receptors, spinal cord, brainstem, and brain (Craig, 2002).  

Interoception evokes the quality of the relationship between our mind and body.

Interoception remains poorly understood within modern science, but recent research is insightful, and provides the missing link to healing our relationship to food and our bodies.

How a lack of interception can manifest in multifaceted...

Maybe your hunger cues are shut down.  Maybe you don't experience accurate interpretations of hot or cold.  Maybe it is hard for you to read our body's satiation cues. Maybe you are not in touch with your deeper currents of emotion and sensation that could be providing valuable information about a situation or circumstance.

Poor interoceptive awareness is often cited as a key quality of eating disorders, yet the precise nature of the deficits and their relationship to eating pathology remains unclear.

Research suggests that our greatest moments of personal fulfillment and pleasure are times we spend fully involved and engaged in a situation with our whole selves: be it a physical activity, a sensory experience, or intimacy with another person. If we are disconnected, we are depriving ourselves of some of the greatest sources of happiness.

While the research on how to heal our interoceptive awareness is still new, there are many studies, and anecdotes that are leading us in a positive direction with what we can do to make these big shifts.

HOW CAN YOU HEAL YOUR INTEROCEPTIVE AWARENESS?

While Interoceptive awareness means developing a curiosity towards the sensations arising within the body, we can say YES to empowering yourself along the way.  Learning to trust your body, and heighten your inner awareness makes navigating life {and food} much more graceful.

Want to trailblaze your own inner path towards interoceptive awareness?  Try these body centered practices that have been part of the Boulder Nutrition methodology for years {and that really work}.

Bring a lot of love, healing, and patience to your relationship to your body:

If you are like most of us, you have probably had times in your journey of life where your body felt like the enemy.  I get it.  It have been there too.  Feeling disconnected, angry at, checked out, turned off, disgusted by and even in conflict with our bodies is a pretty common phenomenon.

You may have experienced this if you struggled with a big health issue, if you have suffered with an eating disorder, if you have chronic stomach aches, or body pain. The truth is, discovering how your body is your biggest ally is like discovering the holy grail.

While releasing the negative emotions and associations with your body is a windy road (with possibly a few bumps along the way), as you watch yourself heal, feel stronger, more intuitive, and more connected to yourself, it won't be long until you find the process inspiring and even enchanting.

My recommendation:  Slow and steady.  All things come in due time and when creating these new neuro and sensory pathways (literally) we are going to have to be patient.   Celebrate your little victories.  Track the positive changes.  Coddle the process in a gentle and loving bubble and you will start to fall in love with the journey.

Create an embodiment practice:

There are many simple mind-body practices that support body awareness, emotional wellbeing, and physical vitality – all leading to improved interception and body awareness.  

Embodiment, as it turns out, is vital to our health and well-being. It may also be a doorway into higher consciousness through a healthly  interoceptive experience.

According to a recent study (Biological Psychiatry, 2016) connecting to the sensations in your body during an embodiment practice such as yoga, offers a powerful gateway to connecting with the junction point between mind and body.  Dr David Creswell’s new study indicates, practicing mindfulness meditation may also increase functional connectivity, or communication, between this ruminating and negative part of the brain, and the part responsible for executive control. 

Embodiment practices increase interception, something many of us have experienced in our personal journeys, but that is now being scientifically validated, and encouraged.

Try the four part check in:

I love to teach the 4 part check in on my retreats and to my women's groups.  I use this almost every day as a platform to check in with myself and see what I can do to take care of myself each day. I learned this through some of the teachings of Deepak Chopra (quoted above) and they have proven to be priceless in my process.

To start, find a quiet place where there is some solace and serenity.  If this means a quiet place in your house, closing the door to your office or pulling over on the way to work at a near by park. You will have a deeper experience where there is some personal peace, and you only need a few minutes. {yes, I have hid in the bathroom from my kids when I needed a moment of peace}

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Part One:   How are you feeling in your body?  Describe only the physical sensations, the quality of what is arising on a physical level:  temperature, hunger, tightness, tingly, heavy, achy, the taste on your tongue, the growling in your belly, the tension in your shoulders.  Stay with the physical sensations.  

 

question:  what does your body need to be nourished

Part Two:  How are you feeling in your emotions? Describe emotions that are arising in the present moment.  More than one?  That's just fine. Emotions can often arise simultaneously.  Describe them (on paper or in your mind)  

 

Question:  What does your heart nEed to be fed with support and joy?

Part Three:  What is the quality of your thoughts?  Most of us have good days and tough days when it comes to our monkey-mind thoughts. Some days our thoughts are supportive and kind, and other days we are are own worst critic.  

 

 

question:  What does your mind need to be free, clear, supportive and kind?

Part Four:  We each have a connection to our higher self, our intuition, and our souls.  There are many names for this aspect of the self, so feel free to insert yours in this process.  Personally, I love this part, as it really challenges some of the more automatic, negative, destructive self talk.

 

question:  What does your soul need to be at peace?

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Consider Forest Bathing:

Have you heard of Forest Bathing?  This innovative nature based technique comes from Japan where the research on time in nature (especially for residents of large cities) has a measurable impact on stress levels, happiness, and quality of life.

Forest Bathing was developed in Japan during the 1980s (known as shin-rin yoku) and has become a cornerstone of preventive health care and healing in Japanese medicine.  

Forest bathing literally translates into "taking in the forest".  You don't have to hike, but rather you can literally bask in the natural environment and soak up the atmosphere.

The research on Forest Bathing is mind-blowing and this is a great way to enhance a mind-body connection while also diminishing stress, slowing down, and being in nature.

Go to a forest. Walk Slowly.  Breathe.  Open all of your senses.

• Boost immune  function
• Decrease blood pressure
• Lower stress
• Improve outlook on life
• Increase your ability to focus
• Increase your energy level
• Improve your sleep patterns
• Create a clearer intuition
• Increase your flow of energy
• Increased life force
• Increase overall sense of peace and happiness

Slow down and give yourself down time daily:

Our culture moves so fast.  It is so common to be going from the time we wake up in the morning to the time we fall into bed at the end of the day.

While I know it is hard to prioritize down time and time to move slower amidst our full to-do lists, parenting duties, job requirements and fast paced everything, I really highly recommend you do.

Just that little bit of down time each day (electronic free) will do wonders for you body, mind and soul while also creating the space to enhance your interoceptive awareness.  

When we are distracted by the endless busyness, it is terribly hard to create a heighten inner awareness, especially if this is a big area of struggle.

The best news with all of this is that we CAN heal our interoceptive awareness with implementing just a few of these small changes. I hope your health and healing journey is enhanced by knowing that you too can increase, improve and heal your mind-body connection no matter where you are starting from.  May your journey be insightful, graceful and rich honoring all the wise and dynamic parts of YOU.

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Spoiler Alert: The new Yoga of Eating SOULFOOD SESSIONS are just around the corner. BIte size nuggets of wisdom from this year's 2018 guest teachers from The Yoga Of Eating online course and community.  I can't tell you how excited I am to share some brilliant insights from some of the country's most innovative health and wellness experts.  

P.S.  The Yoga of Eating 2018 is opening for registration soon.  I am over the moon with excitement about our new content, our 2018 guest teachers, and I can hardly wait to shower you with  so much support coming. Stay Tuned...
 

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Hello. I am Sue Van Raes, a Nutritional Therapist, Food Psychology Specialist, Nature Lover, and Author.  My mission is to help heal the feminine through food, mind-body connection and pleasure.  You can find out more about me and my work in the world HERE

WE ARE HITTIN' THE ROAD...

"GO WHERE YOU FEEL THE MOST ALIVE" 


 

I grew up road tripping in a Country Squire Ford Station Wagon.



My father, still king of the road at almost 80 years old, loved going on family adventures on the open Canandian roads.  My parents would put down the back seats, fill the 'very back' of the wagon with pillows and blankets and off we would drive, with Willie Nelson playing on the 8-track. (I know, I just dated myself)



I used to love my turn in the front seat, with the best view of the Canadian Rocky Mountains and the freedom and adventure I felt as I stared (for hours) at the open road ahead.




When I look back now, especially at photos like the one I shared above (obviously I am the one on the left), I see where I still carry this early part of childhood in my DNA.  




Travelling, adventuring, and exploring many parts of the world (not limited to road trips) is still a big part of my life and my passion.  




So when the inspiration came to take Boulder Nutrition on the road, it felt like a resounding YES and perfect timing!!!  




A lot of things have changed in my life over the past few years:
 

• Elijah, my older son moved out on his own.
• My business has become almost 50% online and still growing.
• I have begun leading retreats SOLO most of the time, which was a new and scary endeavor.
• I have been able to, and loved to travel both with my amazing partner and often times, all of our kids.
• My Boulder Nutrition Retreat schedule is full of exciting upcoming trips to beautiful places.
• I feel ready and thrilled to spread Boulder Nutrition love to a further reach.

My life is always my teacher and the biggest inspiration for my writing and my work. 
 

Traveling and teaching on a larger scale has been a big dream of mine for many years.  So, I have been planning some travel and adventure while I share my work around the country (and world) and I am thrilled that Ari (my son) will be joining me most of the time. While I couldn't be more excited about the 'open road', I am also intent on savoring these last couple of years with him still at home–my high schooler who loves to road trip with me.



Soooooo, I wanted to let you know we will be heading out on the road (or occasionally by plane) to share my work and my message with as many folks as I can and to share some great adventures together. I will still be working in my beloved North Boulder office most weeks, but fitting in our travel schedule on weekends with the occasional longer stints.
 

Will I see you?  
 

Check out locations and dates below and let's talk about meeting up.  If your home town is not on the list, feel free to join me on one of the amazing Boulder Nutrition Retreats coming up – I would love to hang with you!!

Want to see what we are up to?  You can check us out on instagram for daily stories and updates (along with lots of free resources and recipes):

 

 

Click the icon below to follow our road trip on Instagram here:

Be sure to peruse all the details for this fall's exciting Boulder Nutrition Road Trip and Retreat schedule (local and international options available).  



PS. If you want to host me in your town, let me know!!

Take a well deserved break, share in the sisterhood, thrive through the practices of yoga, meditation, inspired living, experiential cooking, personal transformation, healing foods and self-care.

**Limited space in each workshop and retreat. Be sure to message me if you are interested. Spaces sold on a first come first serve basis.

 

" When going away is the first step towards coming home..."

 

3 WAYS TO CONNECT WITH YOUR FEMININE RHYTHM

"THE RHYTHM OF THE BODY, THE MELODY OF THE MIND & THE HARMONY OF THE SOUL CREATE THE SYMPHONY OF LIFE "
BKS Iyengar

My phone rang last Friday morning as I was sitting at my desk.  I saw it was one of my close girlfriends calling, so I quickly picked it up. 



She asked how I was doing and how my day was going, like any friend would but there was an obvious tentativeness in her voice.  “I am doing just fine today.” I said, “But how are you?” I asked.  “You sound a little off.” 



Before she could finish her exhale, I could hear her voice shimmer and tears begin to fall.  “What’s going on?” I asked.  Her gentle tears quickly turned into a deep cry.

She went on to explain to me that she was having her menstrual cycle.  She had entertained a few meals of popcorn and chocolate (I know that one).  She was emotional, exhausted, and finding it hard to keep on going at her normal pace. 

“Have you been busy?” I asked.  She responded with an exaggerated “YES!”

Now, I have known this particular friend for many, many years, and we have shared some similar patterns and healing processes.  We have been of great support for each other, reminding the other to slow down, take time for ourselves, and prioritize our self-care. 

 

Like many of us, she has a very full schedule, an active social life, a demanding career, and she has been trained to keep on going. 

“Have you taken any downtime for yourself?” I asked.  She predictably said “No”.  “Hmm” I said.  “Is there any way you could take a little time this weekend to rest, restore, reflect, and honor the quiet darkness of your menstrual cycle?” 



Within just a few moments, her sigh of relief told me maybe we were on the right track.  “Of course. How could I have forgotten?” she said. Within moments, she cleared some time in her schedule for an afternoon nap, some time to journal and rest and some time to just be.  As soon as she granted herself permission, she sounded relieved.

This week there was a brilliant full moon rising over the Boulder sky.  I have a monthly ritual of celebrating the full moon with a few of my close friends.  We have discovered that our favorite way to celebrate is to find magnificent spots amidst the Boulder foothills to watch her rise.  

 


This week the pink moon, the full moon of April, was stunning

The full moon reminds me to simply pause, and connect back in to the beauty of nature, the feminine, the ebb and flow of life, the moments of wonder around us and within us.

There are many ways to touch in with our feminine nature – creative, unique, personal, subtle and universal.  

I wanted share these reminders for you here, because they are setting the table for you to unveil your deepest feminine longings, the strongest parts of yourself and your artistry of living a soulful, pleasurable, sensual life with your feminine forging a new way.  

Our feminine rhythms and cycles are like the stepping-stones between the worldly aspects of ourselves, and the deep wisdom of the feminine that live in each of us – always.  Ironically, most of us have been taught to ignore, override, and push through these natural rhythms.

What is your female wisdom asking of you?

I put together just a few anchors for you this week – some soft and gentle reminders to let your feminine guide you home.  



When we gift ourselves this depth and connection, everything else in our lives begins to flow more smoothly.  We know when to rest, we know what to eat, we know what to do to care for our unique selves, and we know when to expand.  When we trust our intuition and female wisdom, we know how to nourish our bodies, minds, and souls.  

1.  Seasonal Synergy

The cycles of the season are a profound way to synch up with the rhythms of nature, remembering that we ARE nature. Each season has it’s own energetic flow, it’s own seasonal eating alignment, it’s own quality and its own vibration.

 

Nature goes through everything on the spectrum from full bloom, to death and decay.  

The more we feel into this innate cycle around us, present for all life form on the planet, the more we can ride the waves and rhythms in ourselves. This knowing is embedded in our cells, our DNA and our innate animal wisdom.

The seasonal synergy is intuitive when we listen.  Often, in our bustling culture and our busy day-to-day lives we tend to miss these intuitive cues in ourselves.  Synching up with the season is medicine for the body, mind and soul.

Each season comes with its own unique quality and energy.  

Winter: a time to pull inward, rebuild and restore.  We hibernate to rejuvenate our bodies and souls.

Spring: a time to cleanse, clear, and open and wake up our senses. 

Summer: the most expansive and heart centered celebration of life, play, and pleasure

Autumn: the season of letting go, composting the old and creating new rich and fertile ground to turn inward and tend to.

Each season reminds us of how to best take care of ourselves, feed ourselves, and nourish our hearts and minds.

2.  Full Moon Majesty

In many cultures from all around the world, the sun represents the masculine and the moon, the feminine. 

These two complimentary energies affect all of life on earth, including us humans. The masculine develops an outward expression of strength and power as the feminine reveals flexibility and grace in her natural physical display.  We are always dancing between the two.

Our feminine cycles are like the stepping-stones between the worldly aspects of ourselves, and the deep wisdom of the feminine that lives in each of us – always.  Ironically, most of us have been taught to ignore, override, and push through these cycles.

We have been taught that these feminine cycles might slow us down, make us more emotional, more chaotic, extremely tired and even a little crazy and chaotic if we surrender to them.  Most of us have had a shameful relationship to our feminine cycles passed down to us from many generations and the lineage of women that have come before us.  If not, we are considered a rarity in this day and age.

If you disconnect from your feminine cycles, you disconnect from your bodies wisdom.

Our female cycles are our road map to our own empowerment and the sacred feminine.  The cycles of feminine offer us the energetics to synchronize the larger forces at play around us and within us.  They illuminate our sensuality, our sexuality, and our pleasure potential – which are always shape shifting within the rhythms of our cycles. 

We rest and restore during our menstrual cycle to then energize and expand during ovulation.

Can you give yourself permission to slow down for a few days a month?  

*** If you don't have a cycle, or your cycle is a challenge (for various reasons) try slowing down on the new moon, going into the darkness within and expanding, opening and celebrating during the full moon.

Our moon (menstrual) cycle is our female compass, leading the way and forging the path for us to walk with grace.  Our moon cycle is the most basic and earthly cycle we have.  Our moon cycle is like a small microcosm for the changing seasons, the flowing tides, the waxing and waning moon, and the sacredness of the feminine in all her radiance.

3.  Practice Radical Self-Care

It may sound simple, but many of us find ourselves at the bottom of our own priority list.  Can you treat your inner GODDESS like a queen?  

Sip some passion flower tea, run a warm aroma therapy bath, loose yourself in your favorite novel, take long walks amidst the spring cherry blossoms, or take a long over due goddess nap!

Self-Care comes in many variations and forms – we each have our go-to's.  The common denominator is that we strive to deepen the nourishment for our whole selves – daily.

Just like the rhythms of nature and the feminine, the different aspects of how we incorporate self-care into our routine changes.  With a little practice, we listen, we flow and we learn to follow out intuition for our self-care regiments.

Self-care makes us better people.  

You know it, and I know it.  When we operate from a place of our 'cup runneth over,' we have so much more to give back.  

Think about those days when you can hardly muster making dinner, calling your friend back, or running that extra errand.  Most of us don't feel like our best selves in those moments.  


One important self-care secret is to implement simple and short and do-able self-care steps every day.  Give yourself a little bit of extra love and attention.  It's the little steps consistently that make all the difference.

7 REASONS TO DRINK BONE BROTH + MY FAVORITE RECIPE

The aroma from my crockpot fills the house each Sunday afternoon. Something about my house smelling like home cooked soup takes me back to my childhood. As I wipe down the counters and pour another cup of tea, I carefully lift the lid (again) to have yet another little taste. 


Like many of you, I am a creature of habit. 


I like my daily/weekly rhythm. I enjoy cooking my favorite meals regularly,  hikei my favorite trails in Boulder County often, Jason and I have our favorite restaurants around town, and I try to keep up with my most effective and nourishing self-care practices each week. 



While trying new things is also part of my adventurous personality, I do it in smaller increments these days so I don't throw myself too far off from what I know works and feels good. 



This past year, I have added a weekly broth making routine.  Each Sunday morning I get my trusty crockpot going with some delicious broth ingredients. Sometimes I make an alkalizing veggie broth (more to come on that one) and often times slow cooked bone broth.  I drink it regularly throughout the week and I have noticed some key benefits which I want to share with you today. 



Last week I posted the photo above on my Instagram page. I was pleasantly surprised to find more likes and comments than usual.  Many folks requested the recipe, many folks wanted to know more about bone broth, so as promised, here you are:
 

 

7 REASONS TO DRINK BONE BROTH + MY FAVORITE RECIPE

 

While you may have heard a lot about bone broth, tasted it at a local health food store, or from your grandmothers soup pot, you may not realize that not only is it super simple to make, but it is also a medicinal nourishing tonic that can make a really big impact on your health. 

Bone broth is becoming so popular amidst recent health and wellness trends for a few very important reasons.

1.  METABOLIC SUPPORT

Bone broth is chock full of gelatin.  There have been many studies on the health benefits of gelatin throughout history showing it's healing power for ailments from ulcers, to diabetes to tuberculosis. In the case of your metabolism, a regular dose of gelatin in your diet, especially from homemade bone broth, has been shown to be extremely satiating and metabolically stimulating, as well as decreasing the need for overall protein and fat in the rest of our diets by up to 50%.  Metabolically speaking, bone broth keeps your blood sugar stable and keeps you in the fat burning zone.  

2.  DIGESTION

One of the most effective and healing ingredients in bone broth are the amino acids – glutamine and proline. If you suffer from food allergies, leaky gut syndrome, autoimmune symptoms, or IBS, bone broth is for you.  Glutamine is one of my favorite supplements for healing digestion, digestive inflammation while rebuilding and strengthening the digestive wall (which gets thinned during digestive illness).  A regular dose of bone broth will do wonders for your digestion.

3. JOINT HEALTH

Bone broth is also full of glucosamine and chondroitin.  Both of these nutrients are specifically helpful for joint pain, inflammation, arthritis symptoms, and mobility.

4.  IMMUNITY

Bone broth is a mineral superfood!  Your immune system functions on minerals.  All of the bone broth minerals specifically feed your immune system for a stronger healthier you.  Who knew our grandmothers' chicken soup really was a cure all!

5.  SKIN REPAIR AND HEALTH

One of the main ingredients found in bone broth is collagen. The main nutrient we need for healthy skin, hair and nails is collagen. Collagen helps to maintain the skin's natural elasticity (good bye wrinkles) while promoting smooth and supple skin.

6.  PROTEIN AND FAT NUTRITION

Bone broth is full of assimilatable natural protein and fat.  Glycine, found in the protein of bone broth, stabilizes your blood sugar, boosts energy production, increases satiation and builds muscle mass.  

7.  DETOXIFICATION AND CLEANSING

While most of us could use a little liver love in the world today, bone broth is an easy tonic to include in your daily regiment to support your liver and kidneys in a gentle yet effective cleansing.  The high amounts of glycine in bone broth are incredibly effective in aiding the body in its natural ability to detoxify regularly.

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There are many, many ways to cook bone broth.  Some are plain and simple, while others get more creative and complex.  This favorite of mine is somewhere right in the middle. This one is simple, yet full of some of my favorite spices and flavors.  Try it as a soup, sauce for your favorite stir-fry, or a warming beverage right out of your favorite mug.

Questions, comments, requests, recipes?  Please tell me all about them in the comments below.  If you know someone who would benefit from this information please feel free to share it with them using the  button below.

MEET YOUR METABOLISM: 5 LAWS THAT WILL TRANSFORM YOUR SPRING

HOW'S YOUR MARCH MOJO?

Tired? Sluggish? Moody? Frumpy? Out of balance?

So often we are told that feeling exhausted, grumpy, sleep deprived, unsexy and stressed out is a normal condition for the modern woman. Even more often, we are told that the new normal can be found in coping with our symptoms via caffeine, anti-depressants, hormones, diets and sleep medications.

Spring is a time when many of us get excited.  After the long winter months, it is so inspiring to look forward to blooming flowers, warmer weather and longer days. 

We turn to light with zest and renewal.

Having the energy and vitality to enjoy all of these upcoming seasonal flavors is something most of us yearn for. 

The truth is, spring does come with a renewed vigor, but many of us find ourselves too out of balance to enjoy it.

Meet your metabolism:  The source of your energy, vitality and health.

So today, I want to talk to you a little about your metabolism. If you are still reading, this may sound like a BIG relief to you. The underlying causes we are speaking of here are are deeply embedded in your cellular systems, your autonomic nervous system and exactly how you are feeding your unique metabolism each day. 

There are some important metabolic laws I want to share with you, so you can get your MOJO back on track this spring + a special offering I have ready for you below...

5 METABOLIC LAWS THAT WILL TRANSFORM YOUR SPRING

 

1.  THE LAW OF INDIVIDUALITY

"One man's medicine is another man's poison" ~Wolcott

Over many thousands of years, the evolution of people in various parts of the world has developed very specific nutritional needs based on many important factors and variables: climate, genetic lineage, environmental stressors and daily life rhythms.  These tell tail pieces of information are needed to understand the differences across the human race between energy, vitality, and metabolic support.

What works for some of us may not work for others.  The one way approach to health and healing doesn't work.

Discovering your unique metabolic needs is the miracle of your MOJO.

2.  THE LAW OF BALANCE

"Life is a balance of letting go and holding on"   ~Rumi

Creating balance in our bodies, our blood sugar and our daily lives is a relief to our metabolic output.  In fact, with the right ratios of macro-nutrients on our plates we can see not only a deep biochemical balancing of our blood sugar, but also a fueling and even kick start to our metabolism.  This cannot happen if our blood sugar is on a roller coaster. 

There are many ways to balance our blood sugar (each of us with a little different formula) but a few worth mentioning here so you have something with which to start:

• Eat a balance of protein, fat, and whole carbohydrates at each meal.
• Avoid high glycemic foods, especially by themselves.
• Eat a significant amount of good fats each day:  such as coconut oil, organic dairy, nuts, seeds, olive oil, avocado and butter which will keep your blood sugar balanced, your body satiated longer, and your energy more even and consistent.

 

3.  THE LAW OF SATIATION

"Healthy is an outfit that looks different on everybody."

What do you crave? 

You will know you are on track when you are satiated, and your cravings no longer are getting the best of you.  Even if you are known to emotionally eat, stress eat, or boredom eat – you will notice a significant improvement with these habits when you are metabolically tuned into your unique needs around food.

Carbohydrate quality is a big culprit in how our cravings unfold. The more processed, usually the more of a blood sugar imbalance. If we can eat carbohydrates in their whole form (such as brown rice, sweet potato, steel cut oats, quinoa, or a tart apple) with fats and proteins, we will find these whole carbohydrates are much more gentle on our blood sugar and our cravings begin to melt away.

When we wait too long between meals, we are taking an insulin risk that usually ends up in us getting too hungry, and making a choice that is more impulsive.

Planning on little dense snack bites more regularly will keep you satiated and satisfied and free yourself of those crazy cravings. Eating regularly throughout the day creates a healthy metabolism, and happier hormones (AKA Insulin).

4.  THE LAW OF METABOLIC HEALING

"A healthy outside starts from the inside."

When we continue to focus on weight loss, rather than healing, we keep ourselves stuck.  Even if we fight it, the truth is that our bodies need a strong metabolism to loose weight, feel energized, and be strong. 

Getting healthy to loose weight works much more effectively than loosing weight to get healthy.

We need strong and healthy metabolisms to loose the weight we desire, to boost our energy, curb our cravings, feel strong and balanced, and to come back to our vitality and true health.

Each of us comes to the table with a different history.  How much healing do we need for our metabolisms to be strong?  What is our story around stress, sleep, eating, mood, cravings, and blood sugar? 

You may be in this transition for a period of time, while your metabolism is healing to then enable you to thrive. 

There are 4 main stages that metabolic healing goes through:

1. Where you are starting from:  your current metabolism
2. Your healing phase:  replenishing your body through food, restoration, hormone balancing and rebuilding your energy and vitality.
3. Fat-burning and the metabolic makeover phase:  You begin to notice changes in your mood, energy, cravings, body composition, and sleep.
4. A healed state:  You achieve balance in your hormones.  This may translate into weight loss, improved brain chemistry, more satiation, improved sex drive, better night's sleep, more focus and clarity, and of course, the feeling of balance.

5.  THE LAW OF SUSTAINABILITY

"Sustainability's goal is to create possibilities, not to limit options."
 

Many of us start on a health and healing journey relying on our will power to keep us on track.  What most of us do not realize is that our will power is inconsistent.  This variable of how we move through our day changes based on a few key ingredients:  stress, sleep quality, and blood sugar.

In their recent report What You Need To Know About Willpower: The Psychological Science of Self-control, the American Psychological Association states “A growing body of research shows that resisting repeated temptations takes a mental toll. Some experts liken willpower to a muscle that can get fatigued from overuse.”

To create a sustainable path to health and healing, we must turn towards something a bit more reliable.  Habit forming and automatic behaviors are what I am referring to.  While most of us can find time to take a shower or brush our teeth each day, this is because these acts of self-care have become automatic.

When a behavior becomes automatic we are not relying on the irregularity of our willpower.  This is true with eating, exercising, meditation, sleep routines, and even our internal dialogue.

Consider picking a few new behaviors to work with around habit forming and automatic behaviors.  Start slow and build your momentum strong and steady.

 

I would love to hear your comments and questions below. 
Here's to your health and vitality this spring.

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THE METABOLIC MASTERY IMMERSION

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Do you ever feel confused about what to eat?

The challenges happening in the world of food, body and health are overwhelming for many of us.  The endless search for the one right way to eat, and fuel our bodies makes sense amid the jungle of confusion. 

When I read the latest and greatest diet books or health trends it seems that each of these approaches also often comes with the need to feel like their way is the way.  

I disagree...there is a different way.

THERE IS YOUR WAY...

WE BEGIN MARCH 22ND, 2017
 

It is all virtual from your own home and all recorded for your convenience.  This course will revolutionize your eating and ignite your energy and vitality. 

 
I can't wait to have you join...
 

HERE'S TO YOU GETTING YOUR MOJO ON TRACK!

MAKE PEACE WITH YOUR PLATE

I love to indulge on special occasions like many of us do.

Last week was my birthday, and a friend brought me some chocolate cupcakes that sat around for a few days. They were AMAZING.

I was also treated to a few lovely meals at some of Boulder's best restaurants - it was delightful!

I am definitely a foodie at heart and I was upping my pleasure meter all week long - I feel great about it.

The problem most of us struggle with isn't the special occasions, but rather our daily habits often followed by the horrible self-sabotaging + icky thoughts that follow suit.

Anything from that bowl of jolly ranchers that we walk past all day at the office, to too many cookies after dinner, to those extras that we find ourselves munching on when we are a bit tired, overwhelmed, sad or stressed.

These OH so common moments can add up to a lot when we get real with ourselves, and even worse - they often fill our thoughts with guilt and shame for days to come.  Navigating our desires can drive many of us a little crazy at times.

Nothing can match the fiery energy in our bodies that is created by pure desire.  Desire is one of the strongest forces in the universe – food and beyond.  Desire is the pure creativity, drive, passion, and pure life force pulsing through each of us.

While desire can help us stay grounded and focused on where we put our attention, it can also create illusion, lead us astray, and create more emptiness than when we started. Though the promise of fulfilling a desire always promises some kind of delight, it can also complicate and produce other areas of conflict in our lives.

We reach into the cookie jar time and time again, knowing that this temporary gratification will later leave us feeling tired, guilty and off balance.  

We indulge in that shopping spree that is truly not in our budget, to then suffer later with buyer’s remorse and feelings of regret.

We order that extra drink at dinner, and wake up the next morning tired and lethargic.

Desire seems like a good idea, but it also can feel hard to navigate and trust.

There is a different way.

When we align our inner world with our outer world, our inner self with the ways we move through our days, and the feelings we are seeking with how we choose to spend our time and energy, we attune with what I call ouraligned desire.

Aligned desire is an artful expression of who we are, our wholeheartedness, and our unique body-mind connection and purpose with what we are manifesting in the world.  When the inner and outer expressions of ourselves are in balance, we move through life with more ease and satisfaction.

Aligned desire will serve the highest good (for ourselves and others). We have to be discerning and refine ourselves. We have to look closely at our automatic behaviors and habits. We have to develop the capacity and awareness to make conscious choices when a desire arises.

Does a particular desire serve the highest part of ourselves, or are we simply, mindlessly perpetuating some habit that actually shadows our being?

Aligned desire breathes vitality into our own fulfillment from the inside out.  Aligned desire acknowledges and honors the challenges past while energizing us and making us the master of our own destiny.

When used wisely, aligned desire is ‘superfood’ for our souls.

Solstice Session #5: Make Peace with Your Plate

(Join me LIVE)

In this LIVE Solstice Session you will learn the solutions to these common foodie fears:

• Foodie fear#1:  If you listen to your body, she will lead you down the wrong path, your desires are complicated and you cannot trust them.
• Foodie fear #2:  There is so much to do.  You don’t have time for self-care, feeding yourself well, making you your #1, feeding yourself well is impossible.
• Foodie fear #3:  You can’t even remember that last time you were able to love your body, especially around your eating, you feel hopeless.

What are the Solstice Sessions?

This is our last week where I have been sharing with you therich and heartwarming Solstice Sessions. (you can access the previous Solstice Sessions HERE)These are my little whispers of winter’s wisdom, some guidance as we embrace the darkest nights of the year together, and some appetizers from my most complete body of work,THE YOGA OF EATING 2017that begins January 30th.  (registration is open).

Check out the details below.THE YOGA OF EATING 6-month course and community to heal your relationship to food and your body.Webegin January 30th, 2017.

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The Yoga of Eating 2017

THE YOGA OF EATING 2017: the most in-depth and detailed body of work I offer, and a way to work with me personally, while feeling the support of others on a similar path to transform your relationship to food and your body.

Many of you have daydreamed of a life filled with positive thoughts and habits that support your health and your happiness.  If this is the case, THE YOGA OF EATING is just right for you.

This 6-month online course and community is full of incredible resources, potent international guest teachers, deep and reflective monthly content, guided yoga and meditation practices to enhance your inner journey, a beautiful circle of women from many corners of the world, and age-old practices that guide you to deep healing from the inside out.

Make this year the year you can become your own VIP in all things health and happiness.

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Lululemon + Boulder Nutrition 2017

For the whole month of January, Boulder Nutrition will be partnering withLululemon (we are both Canadian!) to bring you 5 FREE community classes.

Sunday mornings 9:30 am-10:30am Lululemon Store – 29th St Mall Boulder CO All the details HERE

This is a great opportunity to explore your practice in a new way, to check out little tasters from THE YOGA OF EATING 6-month program beginning January 30th, and to deepen into your 2017 dreams and intentions.

AND...

During January, in all 5 classes, we will be hosting a food drive for Harvest of Hope! Bring non perishable food items to class as a donation.

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About Sue Van Raes...

I'm a  Nutritional therapist, food psychology expert and Lifestyle Coach.

My mission is to help heal the feminine through food, mind-body connection and pleasure.Learn more here.

In our work together, we will dive into deep healing for the body and soul, while I offer you practical, potent teachings that will open your heart to trust, your mind to possibility and your body to its organic wisdom.

I am chock full of resources for you, including INSPIRING content and a wide range of support to help you find your way in all things food and body.

Feel free to read more about me and how I can help you HERE

GET COMFORTABLE WITH THE UNCOMFORTABLE

I have been in deep reflection for the past 3 weeks.  Today marks the end of my visioning process that happens yearly for me between the winter solstice and my birthday.  

It feels particularly auspicious to write to you today – a full moon, my 45th birthday, and a time when my gratitude for my readership and for my business is something I feel so deeply.

The past three weeks  for me have included:

• Acknowledging my successes and challenges of 2016
• Visioning and dreaming of what is to come
• Looking at some deeper, inner currents that I would love to explore
• Setting my new goals and intentions for 2017 from the inside out
• Getting very excited about my upcoming projects, retreats, travels, and creativity

It’s a dynamic process that has come with both the groovy feelings of inspiration and success, along with seeing where I still want to make certain changes, break though old patterns, and dig a little deeper to find what’s underneath it all.

We all have habits and patterns that we would like to change.  The New Year often brings these into the light, to shine some awareness on where we would like to make improvements, take better care of ourselves, work smarter not harder, and live healthy vibrant lives.

The problem is, change is incredibly hard.

So often we are fixed upon changing our ways – our eating, our exercise, our spending, our over extending, our people pleasing, and our lives in many ways, big and small.

As we see from the broken New Year's resolution phenomenon, people rarely change these patterns. 

It has been found that only 8% even make it past mid-January with attempting new ways before they give up completely.

This New Year's phenomenon is most often because we are simply looking at the behavior - the behavior that is a reaction or response to something deeper.  Our automatic behaviors are so often coping skills for our old, original, core wounding.

Feeling the pain, sadness, anger, disappointment, let down, abandonment, or inadequacy of our core wounding is often very uncomfortable.

• What is underneath your overeating?
• What is underneath your over spending?
• What is underneath your sugar addiction?
• What is underneath your reclusing?
• What is underneath your drinking too much?
• What is underneath your self-sabotaging?

The New Year comes, and we look at all of these behaviors, and think…something has to change.

The problem is, there is so much underneath  these behaviors that we are most often missing.

When we address the core issue (which takes a little bit of investigating), we are able to begin healing that wound.  These core wounds are usually pretty old, deep, and complex.

Core wounds are almost always a bit tender, raw and uncomfortable and most of us go to extremes to avoid feeling uncomfortable. 

Solstice Session #4: How to Get Comfortable with the Uncomfortable

In today’s Solstice Session you will learn:

• How to identify the core wound that is leading you to these unwanted behaviors
• What to do when you find it (for real)
• How to get really comfortable being uncomfortable
• + Some super specific ways to get support

When the wind was howling through Boulder Sunday night, I restlessly laid in bed, but just could not fall asleep.  I had spent a good part of the day journalling, asking, and inquiring into my own personal blocks.  Not only was I steeped in my own inner dialogue that was revealing some truths about where I get stuck, but my house was literally shaking in the wind.

The whole night felt pretty surreal.

While my sleep was not happening, and my mind was doing a bit of looping around one particular area where I often get stuck, there was something that was also occurring along side what felt was a hard night...

Something I did earlier that day – a question I asked myself, a reflection I had seen, some history of both my adult life and childhood – offered something back to me.

I touched the wound.  The real deep one.  This is often called our sacred wound, or our core wound.  We all have one.  This is the 'thing' we are desperately trying to cover up and cope with through some of our automatic behaviors and habits.  Covering it up may seem to work for a while, but it makes changing those old behaviors and habit almost impossible.

What I want to share with you today is both how I was able to uncover some of this wounding within myself, and then, how to manage it.

In this process, you may see your challenges and your hindrances. Ironically, they will become your portholes into your creating a harmonious and inclusive relationship with yourself. You will get stronger, more embodied, more connected to who you are – and all of this will lead you positively to your own unique breakthrough around what you are wanting to work on this year.

Step One: Identify the Behavior

What is the behavior you are wanting to change?  Have you ever tried to change it before?  Once we identify what we are working on, we can begin the excavation process.

Here are some common behaviors I have seen my clients (and myself) trying to change:

• Over eating
• Eating to fast
• Binging
• Eating too much sugar
• Drinking to much alcohol
• Smoking cigarettes
• Not being prepared
• Being overly busy
• Feeling lazy and unmotivated
• Feeling alone
• Extreme hibernating
• Retail therapy
• Over spending
• Continually being in unhealthy relationships
• Negative body self talk
• Overindulging in any behavior

Step Two:  Look Underneath

What is underneath this behavior?

Take a deep breath.  Give yourself some sacred space.  Feeling our feelings and exploring our inner landscape requires a little time and space.  Try not to rush this.

This is actually not meant to be a 'thinking' exercise, but rather an intuitive exercise in connecting with your deepest self.  Most often, the first thought around what is underneath your behavior (the one you want to change), is the best one to start with.

Feel into your sensory body.  Notice what happens when you explore your sacred wound.  Shortness of breath, tightness, panic, love, compassion, warmth, openness.

Some of us suffer big traumas early in life that change us forever. Some have happy childhoods but are wounded nonetheless. Core wounds tend to be things like a sense of not being enough, being unlovable, not having enough, feeling alone, or unworthy. No matter what your core wound may be, you can guarantee that your wound influences who you are and how you behave.

Step 3:  Allow Yourself to be Uncomfortable

It goes against our human nature – we almost always move away from the uncomfortableness of life.  Many of us have elaborate ways to ensure that we keep anything uncomfortable very far away (such as those annoying habits and behaviors we seem unable to stop)

What I really want you to know is that allowing yourself to feel the uncomfortableness of your sacred wound, is likely the most healing action you can do for yourself.

This is truly the most important of resolutions, intentions, or New Year's goals you could give yourself, while it is also the most effective way to change those old outdated behaviors that continue to haunt you year after year.

When you are safe and snug in your home, you have the space set aside for yourself, and you are ready to really make a shift in a big way this year, dig into your most courageous self, get fearless, stay strong and centered, and give yourself full permission for the next little while to feel into the uncomfortable.

Step 4:  Accept

While it may be hard to be fully free ourselves of our sacred wound forever, we can surely begin to understand how our behaviors can either hinder or support our healing.

Once we are able to recognize where our negative patterns and habits may be originating, we can begin to navigate around them more effectively.

Once we are willing to be uncomfortable and we become more familiar with our sacred wound, we won't need to cover it up so desperately.  Instead, we will be more willing to get to know it – all her peaks and valleys and all her history.  Your sacred wound contains a blueprint of some deepest parts of you.  Can you tend to yourself with gentleness and care?

This process of acceptance will allow you to be at peace with your inner world as you hone your behaviors and habits in your outer world.

Step 5:  Lean In

We thrive with support.  With the right type of support, the rate of acceleration towards our intentions is more than tenfold.

Transformations happen quicker.  Breakthroughs occur more often.  Follow through is fierce and fabulous… and our resistance recedes (phew).  We do well with accountability, conversation, depth with another, sharing, connection, and seeing the commonalities that we all have.

What kind of support do you have?  

If you are looking for support around changing some of your behaviors and habits (especially around your health), looking into your own sacred wound, and making this year a breakthrough year, I have a couple of ways to help.

Click HERE to find out.  Your support system awaits you.

The Yoga of Eating 2017

THE YOGA OF EATING 2017: the most in-depth and detailed body of work I offer, and a way to work with me personally, while feeling the support of others on a similar path to transform your relationship to food and your body.

Many of you have daydreamed of a life filled with positive thoughts and habits that support your health and your happiness.  If that is the case, THE YOGA OF EATING is just right for you.

This 6-month online course and community is full of incredible resources, potent international guest teachers, deep and reflective monthly content, guided yoga and meditation practices to enhance your inner journey, a beautiful circle of women from many corners of the world, and age-old practices that guide you to deep healing from the inside out.

Make this year the year you can become your own VIP in all things health and happiness.

Lululemon + Boulder Nutrition 2017

Want to join me LIVE?

For the whole month of January, Boulder Nutrition will be partnering with Lululemon (we are both Canadian!) to bring you 5 FREE community classes.

Sunday mornings 9:30 am-10:30am Lululemon Store – 29th St Mall Boulder CO All the details HERE

This is a great opportunity to explore your practice in a new way, to check out little tasters from THE YOGA OF EATING 6-month program beginning January 30th, and to deepen into your 2017 dreams and intentions.

AND...

During January, in all 5 classes, we will be hosting a food drive for Harvest of Hope! Bring non perishable food items to class as a donation.

---

About Sue Van Raes...

I'm a  Nutritional therapist, food psychology expert and Lifestyle Coach.

My mission is to help heal the feminine through food, mind-body connection and pleasure. Learn more here.

In our work together, we will dive into deep healing for the body and soul, while I offer you practical, potent teachings that will open your heart to trust, your mind to possibility and your body to its organic wisdom.

I am chock full of resources for you, including INSPIRING content and a wide range of support to help you find your way in all things food and body.

Feel free to read more about me and how I can help you HERE

FEELING FAT AND OTHER HEAVY THOUGHTS

She walked into my office one day (a little flustered I might add) with her bathroom scale in her hand.  "Take it!" she exclaimed.  "If I have to look at this scale one more time, I may literally go crazy."

Tears of sadness began to stream down her cheeks.  I noticed frustration competing for a close second, as she clenched her jaw.

"I have realized that my happiness is co-dependant on this stupid scale!"

...I kept that scale in my office for close to a year.

The New Year is still fresh – a clean slate, a fresh blanket of snow, a new leaf, a new beginning, a reset, a restart.

Hope, optimism, dreams, plans, and goal setting happen with new beginnings. 

Many of us are in the process of contemplating what we want our year to look and feel like.

Research shows that the most common aspects of ourselves that we choose for our New Year's resolutions, goals, and intentions are:

• Weight loss
• Healthier eating
• More exercise
• Stress management
• Better overall health

(i.e. It's my busiest month, and the gym was packed today).

If you have ever made your day dependent on the number on the scale ....

If you have ever walked by the shop window and glanced over to look at your reflection - mortified...

If you have ever pulled out your skinny jeans, tried them on knowing they were going to be too tight, changed into your baggy sweat pants, canceled your plans and binge watched Netflix...

If you have ever examined your naked body in the mirror – looking for love handles, muffin tops, or cellulite...

If you have ever turned down sex because of ANY or ALL of the above...

Then today's Solstice Session is especially for you.  Grab your warm cup of tea, get cozy (it's super snowy here in Colorado) and let's chat...

In Today's Solstice Session you will learn:

• The truth about feelings
• Why adding(+) is better that subtracting (-)
• AAANNDD... little winter FARE to pamper your palate

First of all, you are not alone. “Feeling FAT” is a common thing to say, experience, and hear.

Something I have noticed: It doesn’t matter how big or small a person is, they still may very well experience “Feeling FAT”.

How often does a phrase like this run through your mind?

This “feeling” can leave us overwhelmed and stuck with icky, unlovable, worthless, depressed, unmotivated, thoughts about ourselves.

One big breakthrough I have witnessed is when we realize that “FAT” is not a feeling. If you experience “feeling FAT” then see if you can dig deeper into what is really going on…

What are you really feeling?

• Scared
• Anxious
• Lonely
• Hopeless
• Angry
• Guilty
• Shameful
• Frustrated

When we “feel FAT” we are almost always covering up a true emotion that is more complicated, overwhelming, or uncomfortable.

What can you do?

1. What you are REALLY feeling? Name the feeling. Give yourself space to feel it.
2. Trace the feeling back to the original trigger, incident, or event that may have started the feeling.
3. Work with your thoughts and judgments around experiencing the feeling.
4. Be gentle with yourself. You are a “feeling” being. There is no escaping it. You will continue to experience a wide range of feelings in your life, no matter what. The more comfortable and aware you become with these feelings, the better.
5. Trust that you are stronger than you think, and that with a little practice, you can handle feeling feelings you have.

How does adding and subtracting relate to feeling FAT?

I know this may seem like a strange metaphor, but it is one that I have used for years for my own life as well as in my work.

Think about it for a minute…

Most often when we think of changing something, making an improvement, getting healthier, loving our bodies more, or creating transformation in our lives, we think of what we are doing wrong.

It is easy to bring our critical eye to the moment, compare ourselves to others, and wish we were just more perfect.

Most of us tell ourselves to STOP doing a certain behavior: to STOP eating so much candy, to STOP worrying about things so much, to STOP over eating, over spending, over giving, over extending, and even over judging.

Many years ago, I sat with one of my mentors on a cold and snowy winter day just like today.

She was in her mid-seventies, and steeped with a lifetime of self-study. I was thrilled to hear some of her wisdom.

She spoke this one particular message that has stuck with me for years – and has become integral in my personal and professional work:

“We don’t need to take things away, but rather add the right things and what we don’t need will naturally fall away.”

When we take things away, we naturally feel deprived. We need immense will power (which oscillates from one day to the next) to keep this up.

This could be food, money, a certain behavior, or even a person.

Have you ever tried this?

In my personal experience, and in what I have witnessed in my clients for the past 15 years is that our will power tends to run out, our old patterns creep back in, the pendulum swings from deprivation to indulgence, and we end up right back where we started.

When we add the right things into our lives consistently, they start to become automatic – we start to feel good – and our tired old patterns become more and more illuminated.

The good stuff begins to out weigh the rest, and we are less inclined to regress.

Take it up a notch. What if you added a lot of really good stuff?

Let’s say you are trying to quit eating so much white sugar this year – a very popular New Years resolution.

You start by adding in whole foods, adding in natural and yummy deserts full of the sweet flavor but also full of nutrients, self-love and balance, you add in some green juice here and there, you add in regularly moving your body daily, and also add in more adventures, more connection and more restoration…

Eventually that white sugar starts too taste waaaayyy to sweet.

Your palate becomes more sensitive and those sugary binges start to taste and feel bad to your body. You find yourself more satisfied with a natural sweet flavor, and the sweetness of life you have created all around you.

You may dabble in a bite of sugar here and there, but all the good stuff you are doing minimizes your old desire for so much sugar and YOU tap into a personal power that you thought was almost impossible to cultivate.

What are you going to ADD into 2017?

On that note here is one of my favorite naturally sweet recipes for you today. I hope you enjoy it!

Click Here to Get the Recipe

What are the Solstice Sessions?

For the next few weeks, I will be sharing with you therich and heartwarming Solstice Sessions.  These are my little whispers of winter’s wisdom, some guidance as we embrace the darkest nights of the year, and some appetizers from my most complete body of work, THE YOGA OF EATING 2017that begins this January. (registration is open).  I hope you enjoy some of this content, as much as I love creating it for you.

Check out the details below.  THE YOGA OF EATING 2017: 6-month course and community to heal your relationship to food and your body.  Webegin in January 30th, 2017.

THE YOGA OF EATING 2017

THE YOGA OF EATING 2017: the most in-depth and detailed body of work I offer and a way to work with me personally while feeling the support of others on a similar path to transform your relationship to food and your body.

Many of you have daydreamed of a life filled with positive thoughts and habits that support your health and your happiness.  If that is the case, THE YOGA OF EATING is just right for you.

This 6-month online course and community is full of incredible resources, potent international guest teachers, deep and reflective monthly content, guided yoga and meditation practices to enhance your inner journey, a beautiful circle of women from many corners of the world, and age-old practices that guide us to deep healing from the inside out.

Click here to learn all about The Yoga of Eating 2017

Make this year the year you can become your own VIP in all things health and happiness.

Lululemon + Boulder Nutrition 2017

Want to join me LIVE?

lulu-sue

For the whole month of January, Boulder Nutrition will be partnering with Lululemon (we are both Canadian!) to bring you 5 FREE community classes.

Sunday mornings 9:30 am-10:30am Lululemon Store 29th St. Mall

Boulder CO

This is a great opportunity to explore your practice in a new way, to check out little tasters from THE YOGA OF EATING

6- month program beginning January 30th, and to deepen into your 2017 dreams and intentions.

AND…

During January all 5 classes we will be hosting a food drive for Harvest of Hope! Bring non perishable food items to class as a donation.

About Sue Van Raes…

I’m a  Nutritional therapist, food psychology expert and Lifestyle Coach.

My mission is to help heal the feminine through food, mind-body connection and pleasure. Learn more here.

In our work together, we will dive into deep healing for the body and soul, while I offer you practical, potent teachings that will open your heart to trust, your mind to possibility and your body to its organic wisdom.

I am chock full of resources for you, including INSPIRING content and a wide range of support to help you find your way in all things food and body.

Feel free to read more about me and how I can help you HERE

RESOLUTION TO REVERENCE

“An Intention Sychronistically Organizes Its Own Fulfillment.”  ~  Deepak Chopra

I know this truth:  Our humanness naturally seeks transformation, healing and personal success, even amidst struggle or strife.

How we define these qualities is what makes us dynamic.

After the bustle of the holidays – the familiar over spending, over eating, and endless holiday to-do list – the new year is known to inspire hope, new beginnings, fresh starts, and a letting go of the past (with all its challenges).

To mark this transition, many of us are known to declare the changes we would like to make.

You start off on the right foot each year:  A new gym membership, a grocery cart full of organic produce to finally make those recipes you found on Pinterest, and a money plan that will knock your knee highs off,

but most often something is missing...

If you look back at your past resolutions you may see where they lost steam, where the realities of daily life made them tough to achieve, where your inner resistance took over, where you got stuck, where you self-sabotaged, or even gave up.

I have done this too.

This year, how about shedding your old ways (unless they worked like a charm for you) and try a "set yourself up for success" new beginning.

There is a different way. One that is filled with self respect, gratitude, intention, and potency. One that breathes vitality into your own fulfillment from the inside out, one that acknowledges and honors the challenges past, and one that makes you the master of your own divine destiny.

In Solstice Session #2 you will learn:

• The SCIENCE behind INTENTION (with a bonus podcast)
• How your RESISTANCE can be your biggest teacher.
• A NEW YEARS BONUS: A simple wintery recipe to kick of your 2017

Our culture today is very much dominated by the energy of the masculine. The masculine qualities that we see so prevalently in the world are qualities such as productivity, efficiency, technology, logic, focus and stability.

Most of these qualities dominate our thoughts, our work, and our home life.

We need ALL of them. The masculine qualities have a lot to teach us. And…they tend to work even more effectively in our lives when they are balanced with the feminine.

The feminine is intuitive, fluid, mysterious, receptive, sensual, nurturing, tender, patient, adaptable, and quietly strong.

Each of us has our own personal recipe for the marriage of these two energies – the masculine and feminine. When we find that inner recipe, we tap into a personal power that is ripe for leaning into our dreams, and manifesting our desires.

This year, when contemplating the beginning of a new year, the returning of the light, and the artistry of your vision, consider what it would be like to align your inner world with your outer world.

What if your intentions were infused with intuition, emotion, and wholeheartedness?

What if you took a look at what your really want versus what you think you should want?

What if you considered how you want to feel in your life with the qualities and stepping-stones that would lead you there?

What if you considered your internal goals along side of your external goals?

Could you be a little more gentle, kind, and accepting of who you are and where you are in your life with all your imperfections?

There is no end to the depth and devotion we can have with ourselves. I see it as a life long practice, inquiry, and love affair.

In the podcast below, you will hear about The Yogic Art of Setting Intention and how to embrace the inner and outer, the masculine and feminine, and the gifts from challenges past.

Make Resistance Your Teacher

I have learned a lot about my resistance in the past few years.  The times I would rather not follow through.  The tasks that make me uncomfortable, the ways in which I avoid that one to-do on my list, the automatic excuses I use to avoid pushing myself into something new, and most importantly: what happens when I push through to the other side.

In fact, resistance has become an important teacher for me.

It helps me find my edge.  It offers me a new way.  It shows me where I am limiting myself.

So I befriended resistance.  

So often we repeat our old behaviors because of fear.  We don’t know what is coming, so our minds choose something with which we are already familiar.

Looking our resistance in the eye can give us a chance to inquire into why it is arising.

• Fear of failure
• Vulnerability
• Shame
• Avoiding feelings we would rather not feel
• Engaging in a limiting belief
• Believing the stories that our minds tell us (not good enough, not pretty enough, not smart enough)
• Being uncomfortable with change or something new.

Acknowledging the fear of unfamiliar ways, new beginnings, and the releasing of the old is medicine when looking ahead at a new beginning – such as a new year.  When you loosen your grip on these old ways, a comforting sense of freedom and lightness emerges.  I have found when my resistance arises, simply recognizing her will make the following actions easier.

When you notice your resistance arise, pause, and ask yourself WHY?

On the other side of resistance are qualities such as freedom, expansion, breakthrough, trust, openness, potential, personal power, and love.

The stepping-stones to our dreams begin with slow and steady footholds, inner listening and balance, a strong vision, and daily practice.  Resistance will always show up to challenge our strength and refine our commitment, and when embraced, we will move mountains

BONUS

A WARMING WINTER RECIPE FOR YOU

Miso Ginger Veggie Stew

What are the Solstice Sessions?

For the next few weeks, I will be sharing with you therich and heartwarming Solstice Sessions.  These are my little whispers of winter’s wisdom, some guidance as we embrace the darkest nights of the year, and some appetizers from my most complete body of work, THE YOGA OF EATING 2017that begins this January. (registration is open).  I hope you enjoy some of this content, as much as I love creating it for you.

Check out the details below.  THE YOGA OF EATING 2017: 6-month course and community to heal your relationship to food and your body.  Webegin in January 30th, 2017.

The Yoga of Eating 2017

THE YOGA OF EATING 2017: the most in-depth and detailed body of work I offer and a way to work with me personally while feeling the support of others on a similar path to transform your relationship to food and your body.

Many of you have daydreamed of a life filled with positive thoughts and habits that support your health and your happiness.  If that is the case, THE YOGA OF EATING is just right for you.

This 6-month online course and community is full of incredible resources, potent international guest teachers, deep and reflective monthly content, guided yoga and meditation practices to enhance your inner journey, a beautiful circle of women from many corners of the world, and age-old practices that guide us to deep healing from the inside out.

Click here to learn all about The Yoga of Eating 2017

Make this year the year you can become your own VIP in all things health and happiness.

Lululemon + Boulder Nutrition 2017

Want to join me LIVE?

lulu-sue

For the whole month of January, Boulder Nutrition will be partnering with Lululemon (we are both Canadian!) to bring you 5 FREE community classes.

Sunday mornings 9:30 am-10:30am Lululemon Store 29th St. Mall

Boulder CO

This is a great opportunity to explore your practice in a new way, to check out little tasters from THE YOGA OF EATING

6- month program beginning January 30th, and to deepen into your 2017 dreams and intentions.

AND...

During January all 5 classes we will be hosting a food drive for Harvest of Hope! Bring non perishable food items to class as a donation.

About Sue Van Raes...

I'm a  Nutritional therapist, food psychology expert and Lifestyle Coach.

My mission is to help heal the feminine through food, mind-body connection and pleasure. Learn more here.

In our work together, we will dive into deep healing for the body and soul, while I offer you practical, potent teachings that will open your heart to trust, your mind to possibility and your body to its organic wisdom.

I am chock full of resources for you, including INSPIRING content and a wide range of support to help you find your way in all things food and body.

Feel free to read more about me and how I can help you HERE

A SOLISTICE RITUAL AND RECIPE

 The temperature outside has fluctuated to a chilly low in Colorado this week.  I have often been bundled up with blankets by the fire, drinking hot tea and relaxing.  My brisk wintery walks have been invigorating, and my warm soothing baths have been the perfect anecdote for getting cozy.

The winter is definitely upon us.

Both the winter and summer solstice have been my favorite days since I was just a young child.  In northern Canada, where I grew up in my early years, the solstices (winter and summer) were pretty extreme.

The dark nights of winter were very dark, cold and long, and the light days of summer made the days seem to go on forever.  For me, there was an obvious magic to nature and her cycles, even back then.

So today, on one of my most favorite days of the year, I decided to OPEN registration a little early for THE YOGA OF EATING 2017 as well as bring to you my wintery gift – THE SOLSTICE SESSIONS.

For the next few weeks, I will be sharing with you the FREE rich and heartwarming Solstice Sessions.  These are my little whispers of winter’s wisdom, some guidance as we descend into the darkest nights of the year, and some appetizers from my most complete body of work, THE YOGA OF EATING 2017 that begins this January. (registration is open).  I hope you enjoy some of this free content, as much as I love creating it for you.

Because… what I used to consider a cold, stressful and tender time of year has now become a time I cherish.

When I say descend, what I mean is my descent into my inner world - through all her peaks and valleys – where the darkest nights of the year have become a great teacher and chaperon to my own insight and wisdom.

Some would say this descent has been known throughout time, myth, and story as a descent into the underworld.  Others see it as the most potent nights to pray or connect to our higher selves. Often we hone how to vision with clarity and precision for the upcoming New Year.

The dark nights expand to cultures worldwide with unique and diverse wintery wisdoms and rituals.

In today’s Solstice Session you will learn:

• Learn the biggest challenge women face over the holidays.
• Some short and sweet solstice rituals begin your own dark night descent – embracing winters wisdoms.
• How to restore your life force and your energy with my most favorite winter warming smoothie.

Have you been busy bustling and hustling to get ready for your holidays? Amidst all of the gift buying, holiday parties and decorating things can get pretty zany out there.

The most common complaints we all know during the holidays: tired, drained, doing too much, over extended, and trying to please everyone else.

This is the # 1 challenge women face each holiday season.

The energetics of winter remind us to hunker down, slow down, and restore our prana (life force). We benefit from cooking our food slow and long, finding coziness and warmth together in our families and communities, while warming our hearts with connection to ourselves and others we love. Follow these three R’s for some simple reminders and reflections.

RESTORE

This year, turn over a new “snow flake” and give to yourself first. You will have plenty more to give to those you love when you do.

How you might ask?

That is exactly what Solstice Sessions are for. Little winter wisdoms to inspire you and remind you that you can live as your own VIP.

Try these daily practices to stay centered and calm:

• Create some daily down time – just for you.
• Go bed a little earlier – winter is a time for rest and restoration.
• Reflect with your inner self – journal, meditate, listen inward
• Take warm soothing baths – these will relax you, boost your immune system and help you sleep
• Bundle up and get outside – the crisp winter days bring energy and vitality
• Order your gifts online – avoid those lines and the holiday bustle
• Say NO more often – save your YES's for the important stuff
• Keep things simple in your celebrations – simple is the new smart

RITUALIZE

The winter solstice is the perfect time to begin a reflection practice for the years end. The darkest night in many cultures has symbolized the new year and returning of the light.  Often winter solstice rituals include candle light, fires and warming foods.

Take some time to look back on your year and enjoy contemplating all the things you have been through (easy or tough), and the life lessons learned in the process, the intentions actualized, and finally bridge some ideas as to where you are heading for the new year to come. (more on the years beginning ritual to come soon)

• Release the old with reverence
• Celebrate the small successes and the little things that matter most
• Relish in the magic of synchronicities, the power of intentions and the opportunities that have come your way.
• Let go of judgement and self-criticism (pretty please)
• Most of all…Count your blessings – big and small

Here some ways create a winter solstice ritual moment:

• Light candles or lanterns and savor the darkness as you take some time in silence to hold your year in a magical embrace.
• Release the old with a fire ritual – burning a list of the aspects of your year you would like to release or let go of. Be gentle with yourself. Use a fireplace, a fire pit, or even hold the burning paper and flush it.
• Spend some time writing in your journal reflecting on the past year, who you were when the year began last January, and what you have learned about yourself and life since then.

REPLENISH

Winter eating entails preparing seasonal whole foods that can be stored, canned, or kept for the colder days of winter. Emphasize warming foods that stimulate digestion, circulation, and immunity.  Share food with loved ones, focus on the pleasure of eating and the coming together of love and light.

Here are some good winter foods to explore:

• Warming soups and stews
• Root vegetables
• Beans (especially adzuki and mung beans)
• Miso and seaweed
• Garlic and ginger
• Warming spices like cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg and cloves.

Try this wintery warming smoothie to nourish your body, mind and soul.

smoothie-gingerbread

Recipe by Chef Bailey Ruskus

This is my holiday treat for you this year.  A candlelit path into the darkest nights of the year and some tasters from the The Yoga of Eating 2017Online Course and Community that begins this January – check out all the details below.

The Yoga of Eating 2017: the most in depth and detailed body of work I offer, a way to work with me personally while feeling the support of others on a similar path … to transform your relationship to food and your body.

Many of you have daydreamed of life filled with positive thoughts and habits that support your health and your happiness. If that is the case, The Yoga of Eating is just right for you.

This 6 month online course and community is full of incredible resources, potent international guest teachers, deep and reflective monthly content, guided yoga and meditation practices to enhance your inner journey, a beautiful circle of women from many corners of the world, and age old practices that guide us to deep healing from the inside out.

Click Here to learn all about The Yoga of Eating 2017 … and how this year you can become your own VIP in all things health and happiness.

FROM MY KITCHEN TO YOURS

The fall wind has been stirring up the fallen leaves around my neighborhood this past week. I have been enjoying my brisk and invigorating late afternoon walks amidst the crimson and golden trees.

It is such a beautiful time of year here in Boulder.

Each year, as I say goodbye to my summer adventures and play, I find some solace with the inward pull that fall brings.  One of my favorite parts of this magical season is my natural urge to spend time in my kitchen cooking, creating, and reviving my crockpot.

With the cooler weather creeping in, my favorite fall harvest foods (pumpkins, root veggies, and roasted chillies) and the inspiration to increase my self-care and restoration, I turn to my daily practice of nourishment and self-care rituals.

Life is most often full, and amidst the fullness, the Fall transition is reminding us to slow down.  

This week, I thought I would share with you some of my favorite fall foods and tonics that I have been experimenting with in my kitchen. These are easy, quick, and soothing recipes that I hope you will have fun perusing and experimenting with.

The little things we do for ourselves each day add up.  Everything we do in the name of health, nourishment and self-care – no matter how small – is a win.

I invite you to take some time just for you this weekend. Nourish, rest, reflect and restore.

Keep Reading to (and download) some of my FALL FAVORITES from my kitchen to yours

Alkaline Broth

This is an age old traditional broth recipe rich with tons of antioxidants, trace minerals, and anti-inflammatory qualities.

Download FULL recipe HERE

Golden Milk

This is a super yummy and tasty warming tonic to help you sleep, boost your immune system and decrease any inflammation.

Download FULL recipe HERE

Warm Fall Beat Salad

Warming, soothing, and delicious.

View fullsize

Download FULL Recipe HERE

Pumpkin Spice Paleo Muffins

Hi protein, spicy and tasty little bites of Fall.

Download FULL recipe HERE

Slow Roasted Colorado Lamb

Nothing like slow cooked meals at this time of year.  This is one of my all-time favorites.

Download FULL recipe HERE

About Sue Van Raes...

I'm a Nutritional therapist, food psychology expert and Lifestyle Coach.

My mission is to help heal the feminine through food, mind-body connection and pleasure. Learn more here.

In our work together we will dive into deep healing for the body and soul while I offer you practical, potent teachings that will open your heart to trust, your mind to possibility and your body to its organic wisdom.

I am chock full of resources for you including INSPIRING content and a wide range of support to help you find your way in all things food and body.

Feel free to read more about me and how I can help you HERE

#FOODFOREPLAY

They were 2 and 5 years old. I kissed them each on their rosy cheeks.  As they hopped out of the car, I had a flood of excitement and anxiety wash over me. “I love you mama” they would say as they shut the car door.

The whole weekend was about to be all mine.  What could I possibly do with a whole weekend to myself?  This idea was so open, spacious, free – but somehow wrought with slight panic and fear all at the same time.

At times, this fear would feel slightly paralyzing.  After being solely focused on mothering these two adorable little rascals 24-7, I just wasn’t sure what to do with 'just me' for a whole weekend.

The transition was always tough.  I wanted and needed nothing more than a break and some time for myself, but it took a while for it to settle in and feel okay.

In the beginning, I would head back home, sit, stare, and wait for the uncomfortable to pass.  Sometimes, it would be slow, stagnant and I would wish for it to end.

My emotions felt strong, but my appetite – gone.  Honestly, I could barely muster a bowl of popcorn for dinner.  This post-divorce eating pattern was no bowl of cherries, but rather one that was keeping me tired, depleted, weak, and under-nourished – every other week.

After some serious PTSD, a few dizzy spells, one intense fainting episode, 20 pounds of unhealthy weight loss, and a lot of therapy, I knew something had to change.

I had been reading Bri Maya Twari's book called ThePath of Practice.  In her lineage, cooking and feeding oneself was considered one of the most effective paths to healing.

So... this one particular night instead of falling into an old pattern of barely eating while they were gone, I decided to do something different.

I walked through the Whole Foods store picking out “Sue” food.

This was a new thing, and one that seemed to help this awkward moment of transition.

I could do this!  Dinner for one.

After a few tries, this new ritual settled in a bit and I began to find myself looking forward to it.  A yummy dinner, some beautiful ambiance, soft candle light, a long bubble bath, and time just for me.

My new practice of sensual eating and self-care was working.  The transitions were getting easier, my time alone – more comfortable, and from time to time, I would even invite some friends over to join me.

Sensual eating was saving my soul.

The act of cooking for and feeding myself was soul nourishment – physical healing + self-love.

  Keep reading to learn about #FoodForeplay and find out exactly what I did that created a shift for my health and healing.

• The most essential ways to use sensual eating to heal your relationship to food
• How to begin your #FoodForeplay practice?
• Dinner for one to dinner for two...
• A bonus Aphrodite meditation

Sensual Eating

Bringing heightened senses to your mealtime is the perfect place to start.  Just like sipping a full-bodied glass of red wine, or nibbling a gourmet piece of dark chocolate, all of our senses become part of the experience.

When we fine dine, part of the experience is the beauty of the food and how it is presented, plated and served.  We can too brighten up our daily meals this way with simple attention to color, ambiance, and creative expression.

While we cook, we smell the scents of the spices and nuances of flavors merging with our olfactory sense – our oldest sense.  We also are witness to the sounds of the chopping, sizzling, roasting, and blending.

While we eat, we taste each bite, mindfully noticing the merging of all the flavors and textures.

#FoodForeplay is your own personal practice – your own personal recipe for foodie pleasure.  There is no right or wrong way – simply your way, your palate, your preference.

When we enjoy food this way – in a ritualized, mindful setting – a mind-body healing emerges.  When we tap into our pleasure practices at mealtime, the plated pleasures begin to diffuse into other areas of our lives.  When we nurture our whole beings – including all of the senses – we become more satiated. This satiation is not only about our bellies being full, but rather a holistic experience that involves our body, mind, and soul.

How To Start

I always say start small, one meal at a time.  Make a date with yourself to begin your #FoodForeplay adventures.  Take yourself to the grocery store without a rush or an agenda.  Meander through the aisles looking for food that intrigues you, food that calls to you, or food that looks like it would be fun for you to cook.

This could involve trying something new – like visiting an old family favorite, checking out a alluring sensual fruit, or gathering some prepared food that sparks your interest. This is ALL about you.

One of my favorite things to do is create a plate of delicacies that are similar to what you would find on a charcuterie plate.  Nothing cooked, no recipe to follow, just a delight for the palate – olives, prosciutto, Humboldt Fog (my favorite cheese), flax crackers, humus, and Spanish almonds.

When Dinner for One turns to Dinner for Two

Sensual eating is nothing new.  In fact, food has been a part of foreplay and love making rituals in cultures far and wide since the beginning of time.

Our pleasure starts with us through food, through nature, through laughter, through sensual touch, through scent, and beauty. When we activate our pleasure center, we feel uplifted and we are magnetic to others.

When we know how to receive pleasure, we can better give pleasure. 

There is much exploration for us here: When we invite another into our #FoodForeplay an array of things can happen…

• A sensual meal can simply involve sharing in the invigorating of the senses.
• A sensual meal can activate our inner pleasure palace and connection with our beloved.
• A sensual meal can be the co-creation of both partners – a creative and collaborative spark.
• A sensual meal experience can turn on our erotic, lustful, sensual passion.

Everything cooked for our lover is sensual.  Love and pleasure infused into our cooking are the strongest aphrodisiacs that exist.

As aromas billow from the skillet, and broth bubbles in the soup pot, we linger in the kitchen glancing sweetly into the eyes of each other, with heightened senses, savoring each tantalizing moment.

Women especially, are inclined towards rituals. Lighting candles, arranging beautiful flowers, setting up a sacred space for all of our meal pleasures to take place.  When we slow down and presence ourselves, this #FoodForeplay opportunity can be just the right ingredient to create the erotic and desirous atmosphere to enhance any relationship.

Dinner for 2 can also include cooking together as pieces of lingerie fall to the floor, feeding each other one savory bite at a time, or adding in an array of aphrodisiacs for his and her pleasure to your meal.

You can read my previous article all about the most delicious and delightful aphrodisiacs HERE.

Once your exquisite dinner has been prepared and served, the lingering plated poetry has been relished, the collective artistry can be revealed between two people with a slow, seductive, sensory sensation.

Listen to the Inner Aphrodite Meditation below:

A memoir of the senses

Her breath is like honey spiced with cloves

Her mouth delicious as a ripened mango

To press kisses on her skin is to taste the lotus

The deep cave of her navel hides a store of spices

What pleasure lies beyond, the tongue knows

But cannot speak of it

Kumaradadatta, 12th century