Work in progress

Wow, today was filled with gifts and gratitude.  Giving and receiving at its finest. An affirmation from Louise Hay, “I joyously give to life, and life lovingly gives to me.

I am doing a mosaic project for an art studio, it’s a barn and I am designing the entry on either side.  In need of more tile and different and unique tile, I called my friend Julie who just happens to own a Carpet and Flooring business to see if they had extra tile/clearance tile.  Since I am going to smash it makes sense to use remnants. She said, “sure, come on in and take a look”.  I found some wonderful tile, stacked it all up, counted it and then asked, “how much?”, Julie, “nothing, I am not charging you”, me, “seriously?” Julie, “Just come to us when you need a flooring job”, me, “will do”. Big hugs and I leave, oh she also calls the tile distributor around the corner to hook me up with mortar and grout.  I drive from Clovis back to Fresno in the early morning mist feeling so full of gratitude.  My lovely friend Melinda also gave me left over tile from her projects, (she is my mosaic inspiration guru). Who knew I would have so many friends with tile!  Abundance is funny, you have a need and all of a sudden everyone is there with what you need.  Thank you Melinda and Julie!!!

I am off to teach my yoga class at Mental Health Systems/Fresno First later in the morning.  These women have all been in trouble and in and out of the system.  They are a joy to work with and LOVE yoga.  It is truly one of the highlights of my week, they make me smile and giggle and in my heart I know that the yoga and the philosophy and the affirmations I share with them are changing their lives for the better.  I am grateful I have the opportunity to give back.  As I was leaving I was introduced to a therapist for MHS.  He is also a new faculty member at University of Phoenix.  He is getting ready to teach his first class and I invited him to come and sit in my current class I am teaching and get some tips and ideas.  I was able to give back again.

Fast forward to the afternoon and my mosaic project.  I got to the barn excited with my news of free tile and way under budget on materials.  Lynn (the client) said she had just given her cousin the go ahead to come and do some work knowing it would be okay, her cousin is out of work at the moment and she is helping him out whenever she can.  Since we saved money on materials she is able to have him do more work.  So she gave a gift.  Then she said she would use Julie’s company for her hardwood floors.  Wow, talk about full circle giving and receiving.  My heart continued to overflow with joy and gratitude. I happily smashed tile and worked on the new design, feeling joyful.

Okay, the best part of the day was meeting Peanut Butter!  The folks from the new Aquarium were coming to have Lynn do a painting of Peanut Butter, the Starfish.  They wheeled in the tank, filled it up and put Peanut Butter and some of his friends in there.  So cool.  Do a like on Fresno Aquarium on Facebook and find out more about what they are planning. They are working really hard to make this local Aquarium a reality.

In a nutshell, I received gifts from a friend, in turn shared my gift with others and helped a new colleague along the way.  Inspired a client to use the friend who gave the gifts and got to touch a starfish.  All in all a wonderful Thursday.

To quote Louise Hay again, “Today is a sacred gift from Life, I open my arms wide to receive the full measure of prosperity that the Universe offers this day”  That sums it up!

Hey, Day 2, and still blogging.

Hugs

Good luck and keep moving in a positive joyful journey.

As you set your purpose for this coming year, be mindful, try not to fill your plate with so much that nothing gets done.  And do it with a sense of connection to your Source, go inward and feel how that intention will change you and your environment.

“The power of intention is the power of love and receptivity.  It asks nothing of anyone, it judges no one, and it encourages other to be free to be themselves”  Wayne Dyer

Gratitude is love it’s caring, it’s appreciation for you.  Taking a moment each and everyday to focus on one thing to be grateful for.  Maybe you want to sit in meditation and come up with 10 things that you are grateful for, see how it changes your perception, your outlook.  And since I am quoting Wayne Dyer, my favorite quote of his is “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change” that is such a powerful statement and so true.

Look at your intentions daily, be grateful you have the power and ability to make them, to work on them, to change them, but most importantly to achieve them.

Namaste

Day 2 started out with juicing carrots, apples, oranges and frozen blueberries.  It is now afternoon on day two and I am seriously considering supplementing my juicing with cooked veggies.  I don’t feel like I failed I feel like I listened to my body and more important my brain.  I don’t want to be a cranky yogi or a cranky person, I need to honor my body and give it what it needs at the moment and that is warming foods.  I will wait until spring or summer for the next juice feasting and until then will continue to make juice daily because it is so good for me.

I am encouraging and being very supportive to those who have taken on this challenge and being honest about my situation.

Featured Ingredient: AVOCADO

Avocados feature anti-inflammatory phytosterols and carotenoid antioxidants as well and vitamins B6, C, K, folate; the mineral potassium; Avocados are a rich source of oleic acid, a monounsaturated fatty acid that may lower cholesterol levels.

1 avocado, peeled and pitted
2 cups of mango chunks
½ cucumber, cut into chunks
juice from ¼ lime
2 leaves of mint
3 leaves of kale, stems removed
2 cups filtered water
10 ice cubes (optional)

Place ingredients into blender and blend until smooth.
Makes 3-4 servings

Also coming this week, Sunday afternoon Yoga, starting this Sunday, October 30th.  4:00-5:15 pm, Community Class which means it’s an $8 drop in.  Instructors will rotate each week, so join them as they take you on a different journey each week into your yoga practice.

I have an app on my phone called, The Power of Intention by Wayne Dyer (who happens to be one of my favorite people).  Each day I read the quote and see how I can incorporate it into my life.  Today’s quote is making me reflect on my actions and behaviors.

“There’s no actual stress or anxiety in the world; it’s your thoughts that create these false beliefs”

If we live by the law of attraction that thoughts become things then this makes total sense. On the other hand how can we go through an entire day unless we are living in a monastery or at a Vipassana 10 day meditation where we don’t hear, see, feel stress in the world?  I have turned off the news and started listening to music more in my car.  Can we shift our thoughts to peace?  The third agreement in Don Miguel Ruiz‘s The Four Agreements states, “Don’t make assumptions” probably the hardest one for me to follow.  So if the intention today is to have peaceful thoughts in order to not create false beliefs and not make assumptions, where do we start?

I would love to hear your thoughts on this.  Please reply to this post. I look forward to hearing from you and exploring this together.   As for today, I am getting ready to teach a yoga class and will breathe deep, relax any stressful thoughts and fill them with loving peaceful thoughts and see how that goes.

You can come to the movie even if you are not able to do the juice feast starting on November 1st.  Come and be inspired by Joe’s message and see what happens.

We will have recipes, support systems, what to do when you want to chew.  We will also have follow up classes with great topics to keep you motivated and healthy!

So during the juice feast I was in the middle of teaching a Psychology class and the last night of class we were having a potluck.  My students knew a little of what I was doing and one asked if I could make a raw, vegan pizza.  My first response was, “Sure I can do that” then as I was driving home I wondered how I was going to make that happen since I had never made veggie pizza bread before. Luckily I had Cafe Gratitude’s cookbook.  Took out the dehydrator, got the ingredients, and made a batch.  To my surprise it tasted amazingly yummy.  Giovanni and Mom like it.  So I made a second batch for my students.  I needed the pizza toppings so I put together a chopped tomato with herbs and onions, sliced avocados with mango and pepper and some raw hummus.

Two things could happen when I got to school, either everyone would hate it or they would love it.  Now the rest of the potluck was mostly meats and an amazing cheesecake, which of course I had some of, it was so yummy I could not resist even if I tried.  Much to my surprise everyone loved the pizza and they all wanted the recipe.  Having people try new culinary discoveries that are healthy and not hard to make is so rewarding.  I love it when people like my food.  Eating involves all of our senses and so texture, smell, taste and what it looks like all play such an important part.

My next venture into the healthy culinary arena is at Fig Garden Swim and Racquet Club where I teach yoga and swim.  The cafe is wonderful and used to have some veggie options but not so much anymore.  I asked Deb, the cafe manager if I could bring her some healthy options to put on the menu.  The first one I brought was vegan tacos with tons of veggies, salsa, cabbage on an organic corn tortilla.  Yea, they loved them!!  The next item was a veggie wrap, not vegan because I used cream cheese, you can substitute hummus or vegan cream cheese.  Using the lavash wraps makes it simple.  Another big hit!  This is something you can make in the morning and put in your lunch bag and take to work and have a  nourishing and healthy.  You can use the big tortilla wraps also.  Use the veggies you have in the fridge, carrots, cucumbers, zucchinis, tomatoes, avocados, lettuce, tofu, sprouts, add in an apple for a little sweetness or throw in some grapes.  Get creative, it’s fun!!!

This week I’ll be making some gluton free dishes and some raw dishes.

Stay tuned for more easy recipes and adventures in the kitchen!

We did eat food today on the 10th day, we weighed in and Giovanni had lost weight (something he doesn’t need to do) so we took ourselves to Revive Cafe for our first meal.  The specials were a raw lasagna made with zucchini and sweet sushi with a side of rice, all vegan all raw and all wonderful.  It was the perfect first meal.  I have to say the whole chewing thing was a bit foreign to us.  We took our time, focused on the food and enjoyed each and every bite.

Please join us this Saturday night, August 13th at 7:00 pm for movie night at PB Yoga!  The movie is “A Beautiful Truth”, This documentary follows the journey of Garrett Kroschel, an animal-loving teenager raised in Alaska who, after reading a book by Dr. Max Gerson, is inspired to investigate its premise that diet can cure cancer and other diseases. Garrett travels across the country, visiting with physicians, scientists and cancer survivors to discuss Gerson Therapy — and Gerson’s claim that the medical industry has suppressed natural cancer cures for years. The movie talks about the importance of juicing, so we thought it was the perfect movie to kick off our movie nights with.