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Balance Your Body Type (Inspired by a Deepak Chopra Program)

Balance your body type – Based on your score, you can find better health, balance, and passion work

A rainbow eucalyptus tree is a good metaphor symbol for our unique bodies where you can help to balance your body type for your best life today.

In 2008, I went through Deepak Chopra’s Perfect Health Program in Carlsbad, California that cost me more than any vacation I can remember. My reward has been a life changer, as I’ve used some of the life skills every day and still to this day, over a decade later (and you can use to help balance your body type).

I believe everyone can use this helpful information for their whole life in several ways, including better health to slow aging, whole balance, and finding passion work.

How I Discovered the Program

I was personally struggling with remaining angry emotions from a stressful, uninspiring management position I had just left.

Some roles aren’t the right fit, and there was one, in particular, I held after a line of unsatisfying work, that mildly put, was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

You could be good at your job and hate your job, which is how I felt, so I left that position (but my story had a good ending as a new role was created for me at the same company).

Hating the one position I held, led me to strong irritated feelings and heat throughout my body. I felt moody, out of sorts, and off (my usual) balance. I hadn’t started the position feeling that way.

I had small fleeting flare-ups with internal anger throughout my adulthood, but never this strong and for so long, that I could clearly isolate myself from one work situation and place.

This is how I came to delve deeper into learning about the mind-body connection (that has since grown in national awareness).

I had to do something pretty immediately, as my daily quality of life was affected. I knew I needed to find a permanent solution to help me deal with my stress-related and unhealthy burnt-out feelings.

I also knew I needed to attend something deep and experiential to have a change and lasting impact. I was looking for a hands-on solution that provided skills I could use throughout life, for preventative reasons.

I had already been following Deepak Chopra’s teachings through books and audio.

While researching, I discovered his Perfect Health Program that is based on Ayurveda (life science), an ancient 5,000-year-old scientific method of determining health and wellness through the mind, body, and spirit connection. In essence, the healing power of mind over body.

The concept of the mind-body connection is, if you have baggage (in your mind) that you’re holding onto from the past, that can translate to disease and disorder.

Cardiologist Dr. Dean Ornish in the Lifestyle Heart Trial proved that 48 advanced heart patients could reduce fatty plaque deposits blocking coronary arteries with their healthy lifestyle changes (exercise, yoga, meditation, and specific diet).

Ayurveda and The Perfect Health Program would take Ornish’s breakthrough study and apply principles to any disorder.

Deepak Chopra had been reporting Perfect Health approach successes for over a decade before his book Perfect Health (The Complete Mind Body Guide) was published. Many thousands of others had gone through the same Perfect Health Program I attended.

Perfect Health Teachings

For my situation, to help get me back to a calm equilibrium, I performed yoga and silent meditation for the first time through the Perfect Heath Program. But the most valuable information I learned was about the mind-body connection concept (and how my previous approach to balancing life, preventing disease, and other health issues, was more about external activities than internal wholeness).

To begin to learn about your current mind-body status and balance your body type, it’s critical to know there are three Ayurvedic body types (called Doshas). They are Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. Most people dominate with one Dosha (but we as humans all have traces of all three Doshas).

I’m a pure Vata determined by body frame, weight, eyes, complexion, hair, joints, sleep pattern, body temperature, feelings under stress, and temperament.

The human mind and body communicate and sends signals to each other that result in your (human) action, characteristics, emotions, and health problem tendencies related to the Doshas.

For mind-body, you can have a single, double, or triple (all 3) dosha(s).

Vata types typically act in indecision, bounce back and forth working on multiple activities, are extremely forgetful, feel anxious and worried, and have mood swings. Health issues can range from stomach, insomnia, and anxiety issues.

Pitta types can act hard-charging, or get easily stressed, angry or irritated. Health issues can range from severe heart attacks to mild heartburn.

Kapha types typically act easygoing, calm, and can be resistant to change. Health issues can range from depression to sinus or chest congestion.

Before attending the program I read Deepak Chopra’s Perfect Health (The Complete Mind Body Guide) that the Program was based on. I realized that I naturally have a Vata Body and Pitta-Vata Mind combination.

Enter The Deepak Chopra Perfect Health Program Solution

At the Chopra Center, I took a self-scored test and discovered my Pitta Mind/Body imbalance was off the charts, that needed correcting and counterbalancing (also called “pacifying a dosha”). That discovery came as no surprise based on my symptoms.

That explained why I could jump on the littlest thing, and why I could feel actual heat emanating from my body. These symptoms led me to desperately seek help.

There I also attended classes, health consultations, detox cleansing, and received Dosha-specific massages. I also tried group meditation and yoga for the first time. Yoga was just catching on the brink of mass appeal popularity.

A few participants in the same classes I attended had developed Fibromyalgia, a musculoskeletal pain disorder. This condition led them to seek help. I realized those with a disorder also could benefit from a mind-body connection solution.

These folks I met happened to also naturally have a Vata Dosha type and received warm blankets during their massage that sounded so nice to me, as it was chilly weather outside. Their imbalance was more Vata-focused.

I had a different imbalance (Pitta). To calm the fiery heat condition I had, the outside patio doors were opened for me in the middle of the cool winter, while I was laying down on the massage table.

That’s what my imbalanced Pitta body needed and felt good with, despite my brain saying I wanted warm comfy blankets like my new Vata friends had.

Similarly, a hot steam shower sounded good but would have made my imbalance worse.

From the program I learned, I could help restore balance again with some of the following healthy changes and additions to my life. I started these things right away:

Sounds: Turning off loud sounds, and deliberately listening to light and calming sounds like classical or relaxing music. Silent meditation (restful awareness) would have been good except I had lists running through my brain that I didn’t know how to silence as an inexperienced meditation beginner.

A typical balanced Pitta mind has a get things done attitude. I already learned I had a partial Pitta mind, so having a Pitta imbalance was adversely affecting my mind.

Smells and Foods: Adding foods to eat that were sweet, bitter, and astringent (and drinking relaxing chamomile tea which is not usually one I like). I gravitated to rose-scented candles. When they burned sandalwood incense in the Wellness Center’s bathroom, I was drawn to that scent that calmed me, while that same scent repelled others who needed other scents to pacify their other specific imbalances.

I could barely smell orange scents that a balanced Vata Dosha type, normally would gravitate towards. The same principle applies to and explains why certain perfumes and colognes smell better sometimes than other times.

I took a variety of natural herbs specific to the program and for my specific situation that helped with restoring balance and heat in my body (to lower my internal thermostat).

Exercise and Activities: Jumping in a pool in the middle of winter would have been great for me. As would ice skating and other wintery cooling sports. Hatha yoga became part of my weekly balance regimen (usually good for anyone, anytime).

I made these relatively easy, daily lifestyle adjustments after I came back from the program. I noticed my heated body and feelings of strong irritation started to disappear gradually.

Here’s a process you can take to learn more about how to live healthy for your mind-body:

Balance Your Body Type

Step 1: Take the Body Balance Quiz

You’ll learn (for free) what your primary Dosha body imbalance (Vata, Pitta, or Kapha) is in this snapshot moment based on your situations, stressors, or season that can be different than your natural body Dosha tendencies. You’ll also get suggestions you can print out on how you can begin to counteract and restore your imbalances back to balance.

The information is so revealing and can be life-changing (as it was for me). It’s also fun as you get to learn new lifestyle enhancements and tweaks that will benefit you and your health your entire life (and wish you knew sooner).

You commonly can have a different mind imbalance (than body imbalance). And you can be “tied” in the highest mind imbalance score, which means you have 1–2 mind imbalances (it’s rare to be tied in all 3). The same applies to body imbalances (e.g. balance your body type). Don’t let that intimidate you.

Just focus on the ones that are the highest scores. The idea is to lower those. For example, I had a score for Pitta Mind, so that was one I needed to work on.

Remember there’s a direct mind-body connection and correlation, so both are important.

Your imbalances will naturally differ at various times in your life. That’s why learning the skill of how to get balanced is helpful for various seasons in your life, and especially when you’re feeling something is “off.”

Getting back to balance allows you to:

- Let your authentic body-mind nature shine through.
- Live the positive aspects of your authentic body-mind nature.
- Downplay the (seasonal) aspects of your body-mind nature holding you back.

Step 2: How to Apply This For Your Life (Balance Your Body Type)

After you know the primary Dosha imbalances you have, then for starters, make the following lifestyle modifications. You should overall feel good about your taste, smell, sound, and activity modifications.

Many people have a Pitta imbalance (like I had) since many people have stressful jobs. These are a few changes you can make for each imbalance.

Pitta: If you’re irritated/angered, listen to classical and light music, smell scents like sandalwoods, and do yoga.

Perform cooling activities. If your Pitta imbalance is strong, being cool/cold in the winter will still appeal to you (defying logical tendencies).

Vata: If you’re anxious/worried, then listen to music without regular beats.

Have an orange-scented candle near you and perform a varied motion activity like Tai Chi.

Kapha: If you’re feeling tired/lazy, then listen to heavy music and loud sounds like classic rock-n-roll.

Smell scents that wake you up like evergreen firs. Perform heavy workouts or exercises.

Deep yoga breathing exercises can really help also especially if your stress is in your chest.

Hopefully, you understand the process and some starting ideas on how to begin to counteract (pacify) your imbalances.

By discovering your imbalances, you can help prevent undesired daily moods, negative emotions, and health issues later down the road. You can feel peace when you balance your body type.

The sickness you should seek to avoid is the one that you are most prone to, and that is indicated by your prakruti.

Step 3: How To Take Your Newfound Knowledge And Find Your Passion Work

You can also apply this information above to discover your passion and purpose work (and by default, the work that would drain you and not be a good fit).

Inspired by how else I could use this valuable information, I creatively discovered this on my own.

I got out of positions doing unenjoyable hum-drum work using my skills and experiences that I was not passionate about. At these unfulfilling work choices, I questioned the impact I was making.

So one day I started creative(ly) writing. I did an experiment with this specific season where I was doing fulfilling writing work.

While writing regularly naturally feels like passionate work and I feel relaxed, I had a high Kapha Mind with a slight Pitta Body imbalance.

Kapha is not usually a strong imbalance for me. Having a lesser imbalance (lower score) would have been the best result, but having a Kapha imbalance was better for me than the other Dosha imbalances.

My typical body disposition (Prakruti) is Vata, and my mind is usually Pitta-Vata. When I was most stressed and went to the Perfect Health Program, I had a Pitta Mind and Body imbalance.

Any type of work that could make me feel anxious/worried (Vata tendencies) or angered/irritated (Pitta tendencies), would be the most stressful and worst combination for me.

Hypothetically, if my score had indicated a Vata imbalance during this time that I pursued fulfilling writing work, then I would likely have been severely or doubly anxious, forgetful, indecisive, etc. It could have resulted in some kind of dysfunction or deepening health issues later down the road.

As in most cases, there were lifestyle factors not accounted for (like what I was doing during the hours I wasn’t working in the 168 hours per week). For the most part, I did not have high stressors in my life.

I also took this similar inspired body balance quiz in the winter season, which is typically a heightened imbalance for Kapha, as it’s commonly associated with cold season and resisting (hibernation) tendencies.

Taking those additional factors into account, writing was not hurting my overall balance. I further confirm it was helping my overall feelings (of satisfaction) when I write.

Similarly, you can find or come close to discovering your sweet spot passion work by figuring out if your imbalance is acceptable. If you’re stressed and have a high Pitta imbalance that could be a tell-tale sign that you may not be doing activities that are good for you.

Before this knowledge, I had been looking at finding a balanced life, completely differently. Previously I sought work-life balance, working flexible hours. That’s part of the balance, but that doesn’t include the type of work you do, and loving what you do during those 40+ hours.

Now I look at balance as doing passionate work that enhances life. Then having a fulfilled life outside of work, to have them blend together. That seems to be the trend as many companies are trying to make the workplace more like the home. For example, casual dress at the workplace.

To optimize what I’m doing, using the Kapha Mind imbalance I have as an example, I do the following to help myself out…

Exercise and Activities for Kapha Mind/Pitta Body:

Sounds: Listening to loud music can get me going (Kapha mind). The opposite, calmer sounds like classical music (piano or jazz) are good for Pitta. Sound vibrations are primarily first picked up by the brain, but then permeate into the body cells (mind-body connection).

Exercise: Cardio work out. Since my Pitta body imbalance is low, the Kapha mind is the pacifying remedy I need to seek most. So rather than cooling down exercises, I seek high activity.

I discovered an easier, non-scientific (intuitive) way to learn your imbalances after you know what to look for.

Scanning Your Body Method (For Your Best Health, Life, and Work) – Balance Your Body Type

Besides scoring, you confirm any Dosha imbalances with how do you feel? And what is your body telling you? Since I want to do cardio work (and I feel good performing) and I don’t want to jump in a pool, I confirm naturally (through thoughts and feelings) that my Kapha imbalance is higher.

After practice, you can become an experienced Dosha/imbalance detecting pro or Dosha Expert, knowing which imbalance you have as it becomes your natural way.

You learn what your body and mind need by being attuned and internally sensitive to your mind and body needs by your actions and reactions…

Are you anxious or worried over everything and anything (Vata)? Are you irritated or anger easily (Pitta)? Are you accumulating things or lazy (Kapha)?

These are giveaways and natural health signs. You can see signs throughout your day to day if you know what to look for.

Third Benefit For Seeking Balance

The information you’ll discover about yourself can be used to balance your body type, and find your healthiest and highest and best use purpose work. All of this can help you from aging.

There’s another third benefit I discovered in finding your balance.

You can get deeply creative. When you’re in your happiest pure joy, then you can get in the flow. And get in your mind to exceed capabilities beyond your ordinary.

Through the Perfect Health Program, I realized that balance and stress reduction includes meditation (to become aware of the present moment). Getting rest awareness during this time helps with clarity when you’re in the real world. This can also be achieved through intentions in yoga.

What I Learned To Balance Your Body Type:

#1. Overall Health and Balance Starts in Your Mind to Balance Your Body Type

Good health is preventative and not just from what I eat or intake (vitamins, herbs, etc.). Mindfulness is important for reducing stress which reduces aging. I’m able to find peaceful moments more often, where my mind is calm, and content on good and bad situations, recognizing that’s part of the journey.

I’m able to be in the moment in activities like creative writing and yoga.

Finding my best work can reduce the negative sides of my natural Dosha tendencies, where I could be anxious, worried, irritated, or moody.

I learned that my Fibromyalgia classmates had formed this disorder because of past emotional hurts that needed healing (starting out in the mind).

I was able to let go of childhood wounds that were holding me back. I had to be mindful and distance myself from myself as a child. I was able to imagine a younger me (from a photo image I had) and comfort her, telling her everything is okay now and forgiving my parents. That took the weight off my shoulders. I was able to heal and restore my mind and body.

That brought me back to internal balance (for authentic whole balance). This came from more than just participating in various external activities (that I previously thought was the solution).

# 2. Balancing My Natural (Vata) Dosha Restores Me:

I can take anxious and worried energy and exchange for peace in yoga and meditation intention.

I can make the right choices easier. Since Vata is my primary Dosha, it’s easy for me to be naturally indecisive. But I can refer to the knowledge I learned when I’m out food shopping, buying a candle, or music. Before I go to the store, I’m purposeful about what I’m looking for to help balance me. This saves time from making decisions and reduces trial-and-error.

I have fun confirming what I know about my current body imbalance, sniffing candles and spices. I don’t make too many mistakes of buying or trying the wrong thing and then having remorse. I can answer the question: What does my body need?

# 3. Finding Contentment and Peace As A Better Way of Living (Over Anger)

From learning about how to reduce my imbalances and centering (in yoga or mindfulness), I can better keep myself feeling peaceful and calm. That’s the ideal way to be. I’m not fluctuating, up-and-down, and dependent on my life circumstances to bring me happiness. I’m not making decisions based on moods.

I’ve learned to be content and never again feeling like I’m riding an emotional roller coaster despite life’s twists and turns. In my opinion, that’s the best part of what I learned from my experience.

I hope you can discover and get a glimpse in your mind or life, to anything that may be holding you back, so you can be emotionally free, present, and restore balance. Then, discover your passion work and creativity.

Want to learn more? Get your personalized mind-body calm recipe to balance your body type.

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Character Alignment Discovery + Mother’s Day Hibiscus Berry Mocktail

Character alignment reminds me of dogs and Cesar Milan’s Better Human, Better Dog National Geographic series that evolved from The Dog Whisperer series. This article is about how to get to your best self version with character development.

For starters, bringing in more joy like this fruity joy hibiscus mocktail can help us align with our day. 🌺

A Hibiscus Berry Mocktail is good for celebrating Mother’s Day and May’s calendar full of events such as the Met Gala where this year’s theme is flowers and the garden of time. This is an easy floral and balanced tea drink you can make at home and I think is a beauty in a classic martini glass. What do you think?🍸The recipe is below. 💕💜

And on that note… let’s begin with the dog analogy.

Dogs could be the first character that pops up in your daily mind especially if you have a Fido running around where you notice whether character intervention is needed 🐾

And in both Cesar Milan dog shows, we learn that each dog’s character comes with some breed born, individual learned, and universal dog traits. We also discover that bad behaviors and characters can be retrained and it’s usually the humans that need the training. 😅

It’s up to dog owners to follow through while exerting their calm assertive energy if they want a happy and peaceful life with their dogs. And that can be you or I, or any of us.

The opposite, undesired behaviors often stems from humans carrying around negative energy like fear as a dominant trait.

Dogs pick up on the human stress and misbehave. Essentially they feel chaos in them because they aren’t being led by a dog pack that is natural in the wild.

In domestic dogs at home, the same inborn traits are there but it’s our job to lead the pack if we want order and not chaos.

Training a dog to get into a calm surrender sit with wagging tail and lay down with tongue loosely hanging is the desired outcome state for a dog owner.

Then we can enjoy, pet, and play with dogs.

Dogs are naturally loving and loyal and ready to get in this submissive state.

They don’t hold grudges for long if at all to anything (even though we can project that on them).

Those points are a couple of the universal traits of why humans love dogs as pet family members.

And as a test, when they can get along with everyone in the family either two or four-legged, then it’s a match made in dog heaven.

…So now you have the gyst of how humans and dogs can better co-exist and blend together.

Finding compatibility among humans in human relationships is not as easy. Because of the disaccords when we want peace and harmony. It gets much more complicated because of our built-in human features and intellect.

We have complex minds and many more moods than probably there are English mood description words for.

We make daily micro decisions based on cognitive reasoning for understanding what’s on the screen in front of us.

Oh, and we have opposable thumbs so we can do more than our canine friends who can barely play with toys.

Dogs can bring us to a simpler lifestyle that’s healthy and healing for us from balancing our digital world vs. real life.

Our best calm surrender defense for ourselves and dogs is letting go of fear, negative, and non-peaceful thoughts.

That keeps us out of trouble. From miles away, dogs can pick up any excessive worrying “scent.”

Character Alignment Growth In Us

When we grow in our character alignment using our moral sensibilities, we can speed up growing out of old, past ways that don’t serve us.

Choosing and being able to live out a healthy, balanced lifestyle fosters an environment to live this good way that promotes longevity and a life well lived.

The sooner we can make healthy and balanced as a priority, the faster we can work on our character growth that’s aligned with who we are because we can pay attention better.

“Where attention goes, our energy (intention) flows.” – James Redfield

Living out two lives or multiple roles are examples of alignments that are not in order.

When you have to be somewhere because someone else relies on that, then you’re living out someone else’s need. That takes us away from our personal growth, but we can get back on the trail as easily as we hopped off.

When in character alignment, we also feel overall that we’re at peace with ourselves and that extends to what we’re doing. We’re not dissatisfied with what we do because we also get to show up as ourselves.

Consider those times when you were at ease and feeling like you were meant to be where you were, and not worrying.

In those moments, you’re calm and you produce more because you’re not second guessing your moves. You just naturally are attuned in your elements.

You’re also exuding the positive character traits of yourself, the one that others are attracted to.

When you’re in stressful environments, the opposite happens.

If you saw you coming, in truth you’d wanna probably run for the hills. 😉 Most of us have been there.

But that doesn’t have to happen often as we can always choose to rewrite our thoughts and our daily outcomes from our thoughts in our situations we find ourselves in.

In the tough moments, those are opportunities to grow and not fight with ourselves or lean into the old habits.

We can learn the lesson then and not repeat next week in a different situation.

A shortcut way is to challenge our own beliefs.

Are they helping us?

Do we believe we’re an underdog or not worthy? Do we believe we’re doomed or do we flip the script?

Because something is going to happen anyway, so why lose extra sleep over something you can’t do anything else about?

And when you find something positive that could come out of the situation no matter what, then you’re in an empowered position.

And that’s the healthy feeling you want.

An example: often we come across a problem that could start off as good or a challenge. But now confronted with an issue, finding an opportunity to address the problem-at-hand is a better way. And then after a while it goes away.

And then you can be glad that you were confronted with the potential problem because otherwise you would’ve not come up with this other better way.

Or it showed you something new you would not have seen about yourself or the situation.

Gradually we grow into our better, more wise character by these subtle and micro shifts in thinking and ways of doing things.

We become more patient, less selfish, and more content as side benefits.

Without trials or some stress in our lives, we wouldn’t have picked up these growth ways that all point to our character alignment that helps align our lives.

And like with any life skills, they can be more impactful than even a vocational skill you use as they are transferrable throughout life.

What We Can Do Today To Align Sooner

We can stop being so busy. When we cram everything into the waking hours we have available, we do the opposite.

We pretty much are leaving our lives up to our tasks and chosen activities that are not always aligned with our daily spiritual walk or purpose.

We can instead prioritize our lives as the only one we get. We can’t do over years but we can start over. And if we’re not doing what we know can be more impactful in our lives when we know or when we can, then we’re not aligning ourselves fully.

That doesn’t mean quit what you’re doing today, but the tea leaves are out.

And when they are, that means it’s just a matter of time before you can confront the truth set before you or choose to ignore.

Being brave and confronting is going to get you what you want if you take that risk that’s calculated because otherwise the deeper idea wouldn’t be planted inside you.

Ignoring our inner calling prevents us from getting closer to our aligned ways and purposes because of the four letter word… B-U-S-Y. When we’re too busy to get out of our busyness funk, we can’t think clearly. What could emerge stays hidden from our view.

And when we get to slower paced life seasons either by choice or have more time because of changes that happened to our lives, then we get an opportunity to see where we can improve our lives.

And maybe restart with a fresh start in certain areas.

We don’t have to continue what wasn’t working well or no longer serves where we’re aligned to now. That’s when we can feel lost, something missing, or misaligned.

That includes: relationships, work choices, training humans around us on how to treat us, our habits, attitudes, and outlook.

And one specific area that can help us grow this season is checking in on our pride that can often be a source of misalignment.

Character Alignment Grows Healthy Pride

If we have a dose of unhealthy pride in us that’s very common in modern culture, learning to strip those outward and deeper layers helps us in our relationship communication, motivations, and our healthy blood pressure.

We are healthier and happier as the cure to heavy pride is humility, that gives us the warm and fuzzy feelings inside us.

We feel good quietly in our soul, we’re building up our character, and people remember and respect us in a good way for that.

Compare that to the high pride that we air and we get claps and cheers, but those are short lived and forgotten in our digital era.

Pride is healthy when we’re proud of ourselves for making the finish line or achieving our accomplishments big or small. It’s a good thing we have goals! 🎉

And at the root of unhealthy pride are wrong motivations such as feeling superior over others that an unhealthy fed ego loves.

Pride can swallow us up when situations can tear us down. We want to build a stable environment inside us that’s content whether situations are good or not-so-great.

…What happens next doesn’t make or break you is the empowered feeling.

And then others recognize the humility energy and also give you the accomplishment credit.

You’ll enjoy your life the most that way and avoid the up and down roller coaster life that’s like Monday morning hangover dread after Friday afternoon joy and a weekend of eventful and relaxed bliss.

Dogs and Pride Analogy

…So back to our dogs that we can learn from. Dogs don’t act prideful as they don’t have that gene, but they can act dominant, as in trying to protect their owner and territory.

So in pride and dog analogies, if we build up humility in our dogs for their loving personality traits to come out then they show us their calm side that lets others get close and pet them.

And they respect us as the leader. That’s what we want in ourselves… to be a leader in our lives.

Even when we think we’re humble, there are still traces of unhealthy pride that can be lingering layers deep.

I discovered this in my life when I used to speed past a pedestrian crossway on a major road fare. No one in their right mind who didn’t have to, would cross walk at that dangerous intersection.

I had never seen anyone in my daily drive do so.

But one day, the flashing light beside the walkway suddenly came on without warning just before I drove up there. I had to slam my foot on the breaks. And while that wasn’t an unusual step to do and for the cars behind me, that was a wake up call for me.

In awareness, I realized I still had unhealthy pride in me that I thought I had worked hard to try to successfully rip out.

How was that incident related to character alignment?

Deeply rooted, I realized I hadn’t taken seriously enough the idea that you can’t be too thoughtful when it comes to signs and other people showing up suddenly out of the blue.

While I know that sounds a little silly and we can all act similarly in that way in our busy lives, when you are getting closer to character alignment in certain areas you’re introspective and observe small details in your life.

When I took that lesson to heart and how my initial reaction and outward layer disregarded other possibilities, I learned to humble myself more deeply in future situations by being more thoughtful and slowing down automatically before the intersection. That was a good alignment test.

And that gave me the peace, calm surrender, and self-control I needed for better humility growth and character alignment.

There are many other traits that similar lessons can apply to, but humility is one healthy trait can help your life out in so many ways.

As much as rescue dogs can be trained to become a new healthy dog, we have the ability too.

We can always make up for lost time in development areas we didn’t gain or need to re-learn.

Sometimes when we don’t have much or live simply, we see this better. And we turn inward and dig deep for help and answers.

This type of growth comes from the inside out that speeds up our progress. We’re each in our own marathon.

Starting with a desire to make specific changes marks the starting point.

After we’re aware, it’s in us and we have a high chance of succeeding as we aspire to make the change.

And then one day that’s usually after many tries, we are transformed into this new better way.

We can’t go back to the old way as it no longer fits us in character alignment.

Along those lines and in your journey, you can pick up good character alignment traits that help you in more ways than one and for the rest of your life.

That’s something to celebrate and look forward to in your bright future!

Shout out to the mom’s for Mother’s Day. This is a Hibiscus Berry Mocktail you can make that the moms and ladies can enjoy! 🌺

Mother's Day Hibiscus Berry Mocktail

This is a pink and lavender celebratory and festive mocktail with healthy notes that any mom would love! The drink checks the boxes for the service and quality time love language mom as she kicks up her feet to sip on this special mocktail that can be made into a cocktail.

Course beverage

Cuisine American

Equipment

martini strainer or other strainer

Ingredients

blueberry tea
hibiscus tea
can of coconut cream (or heavy cream)
blueberries and strawberries

Instructions

Reserve the thickest part of the coconut cream. Then mix the thinner part of the cream to make a milk consistency that will be used for blending.
Combine brewed blueberry tea and hibiscus tea and milk consistency cream. Shake up and strain to create the lavender purple color layer. Optional: add berries to this layer if you wish.
Freeze the first layer.
Repeat the second step but omit the blueberry tea to make the pink color layer as red and white make pink. Optional: add berries to this layer if you wish.
Freeze the second layer.
Add the thick coconut cream to the top. Add a little of the milk consistency cream to make the thickness of choice.
Decorate with dried hibiscus tea leaves, and/or fresh fruit.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Btw, my mom was a dressmaker for most of her working career, so this pink and purple color celebrates her life well and fits into the Met Gala’s Garden of Time dress theme she would’ve liked.

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Shadow Work To Find Love Over Ego

Shadow work helps dig out the deeper things holding you back that may be hidden from view and you may not be aware of today.

Light and shadow work in an Ellworth Kelly art sculpture piece. — Artwork is one metaphor for our lives. This spiral art piece brings out the light and shadows you’re seeing only a partial angle. This can be what’s it like when we look in the mirror at ourselves where we don’t see the light in our inner selves.

This is a full view of the same art piece by Ellsworth Kelly that shows many more lines and color dimensions that can shine like us in our discoverable selves.

It’s work and discovery you do on yourself that pays off as you learn more about your inner self so you can better shine in your authentic and best you you’re meant to be.

And you can find your loving self and steer away from your darker sides that cast shadows in your life.

I know this from my own journey. I was a late bloomer for many years and areas of life. And just when things were coming together nicely, then all of the sudden around 35, I went into a now what do I do? season.

I was hit with a spiritual intervention and no roadmap life manual to help me along that season.

Life springs things on you where you have no concrete guide to follow. No one teaches you that a spiritual intervention can happen at any time in your life journey on your life blueprint that you don’t have access to.

A spiritual intervention is not commonly heard of but it does happen in this miracle we call Life.

And yeah, that’s what happened to me.

Before I get into the details, the reality is we’re not in as much control of our planned future as we want to think. We get to choose to believe in faith over what we think is our future based on our past and what we’re currently working on.

And believe that a greater force above has our back and a better plan.

And in my spun out-of-my control season, I ended up relocating back to where I came from when I had no plans or thoughts to do so. It was more shocking to me than to my friends and family who were happy to hear I was moving closer back to the area.

It was a healthy move, even though it was unconventional as spiritual changes and growth often are.

The days leading up to my move, the healthy marriage I was in fell apart because of the intervention reveals that made the step-to-step moves easier. There was sadness leaving, but no drama.

I ended up in a hospital with no physical health diagnosis. There was nothing wrong with me. What appeared as a mental breakdown I knew as a spiritual awakening. Is that how you diagnose inner voices? Apparently.

The immediate trauma reality I felt when I was released was the sting of the hospital bill. Ouch and oh btw, I would have to pack my life up today and start all over with new work, step back, and build a new adult life while the world around me kept going.

I couldn’t even tell you the songs playing on the radio waves then or what the major news headlines were going on.

Those few final days and weeks before were a total blur. I must’ve thrown out many scrapbook album memories in the preparation for my move. Discarding my past was a metaphor representation of how I felt with this new life ahead of me.

It was nothing less than an invisible higher force that took over and moved me one step at a time.

And I knew this as God co-creating and ordering my footsteps, who got in the car with me and drove me back to the area I had left.

It was surreal. My hand was on the wheel but he was unmistakenly the GPS, so I felt safe even though I was confused.

So there I was back to the area where I grew up with a higher plan that I expected would unfold. An old church friend God-wink coincidentally had a room available as her last roommate had just moved out.

Even though I was in the same area I grew up in, it seemed miles away from my growing up familiarities. This time around I was closer to the city and further away from the towns where many of my first memories of childhood and early adulthood were formed.

Some memories were accumulated past trauma from childhood and early adulthood that I needed shadow work for to help me discover forgiveness.

And others were happy memories from friendships and past experiences made.

It was a bittersweet come back. I was then recently laid off from a career job I had been at for years, so I had to lean on trust that I would be provided for during those recession years that wiped out businesses and the corporate tech industry I had just come from.

But this life changing event wasn’t about just a move, a job change, or a season transition. This was a life transformation.

I was entering a new way of life on earth that was foreign to me and the cascade of events leading up were so bizarre. Even though I felt secure under the Universe’s wing, I didn’t know how to start this new shaken up chapter of life.

Now what? kept coming up in my thoughts.

One of my first set of tests was letting go. I didn’t know how to surrender my old thinking ways. And that’s when I got really deep into introspection and shadow work and trying to figure out what happened on my own.

Miraculously, planted in me was the awareness of harmful ego ways. With a little freed up headspace from not being so busy, I became aware that I had healing work to do on myself. I had never paused before from work to successfully get to know the real me.

I went to church healing rooms to see if I could gain a little insight and closure. And got some comfort and was able to purge some past trauma. This was as close to therapy as I would get.

Life Before The Spiritual Intervention

I was always choosing to be busy and that was ingrained in me in the DC metro area culture I grew up in and was now back in. But this time around, my surroundings were quiet as my friends were grown up too. They were busy with their family and lives. I had to figure mine out.

My life looked nothing like most those I went to college with where they moved up the corporate ladder, settled down, and had a family. They lived close by but our world’s were far apart.

I felt alone in navigating what next, but I also felt optimistic that my life would take off because of the spiritual intervention experience I had lived out in the hospital that showed me some prophecies about work and relationships in my distance-off future.

I knew there was a plan but I just didn’t know when, how, and what the real life specifics were. And when some life pieces came to life, I recognized them later on as shown to me in prophecies.

Those were miracles, and it all sounds bizarre on paper, but that’s how it also felt. Beautiful and bizarre.

And at the end of the day, none of us know the uncertain future so nothing looked that unusual about me or my life from an outside onlooker.

One area I knew I could focus on building was my deeper spiritual self and building traits I would need and may have missed developing along the way.

Ego work was just the tip of the iceberg. As mentioned, I was in and grew up around America’s capital. This is an area filled with smart, affluent people where pride and ego are waved as invisible badges of honor, but now I was ready to get rid of those non-serving ways.

People outside or living there in short transition or temporary assignments don’t realize how strong the political daily air is there outside the news. And so much so that nobody talks about it there as common practice to not create further divides. It’s a unique invisible bubble that rarely gets talked about as ego is not usually a subject matter of discussion.

So, now you know the situation better.

And a year before this new season’s reveal, I was made aware I was holding onto past trauma from childhood and an adult situation that created PTSD I had blindly been holding onto. That’s what a spiritual intervention and shadow work can help reveal.

I grew up under the house of an immigrant parent who had a dominant ego disorder that grew worse over time. And after I moved off to be on my own, I fell victim to a dangerous work situation in a brick and mortar business.

This all came to light in this revealing spiritual intervention season.

I realized my past situations grew my victim mentality. And that fed my ego that loves to hang onto woes me for my situations. It’s the same ego that thrives on protecting our pride and does so much damage in all of us, showing up in all kinds of daily, harmful non-serving ways.

If you’ve worked around people long enough, you will have seen this and not necessarily know that it was their ego that created their undesirable behaviors.

Our ego is our shadow until we become aware. Bringing out your shadow into the light is the shadow work that can align you to your whole self where your life begins to unfold more purpose and meaning.

I became ego conscious-aware that my ego played me in my subconscious insecurities as it does for most unaware.

Before then, I could be emotionally triggered and all of the sudden be stricken with an ugly cry with my then-husband. It was like a recurring sound bite scene from Love is Blind where the American dating participant, Chelsea, is crying “clingy?”

Clingy wasn’t my manifestation, but my ego reared its ugly head wanting me to be right and win in partner conflicts. And instead I lost the debate and all conscious streams of thinking that came from allowing the ego game to be played in me.

I didn’t know how to shake off or walk away from my turmoil feelings that started out as harmless thoughts.

That was work I needed to do. A real life mirror partner had reflected back to me what I needed to work on. I ignored those prompts until I became aware of the ego years later.

Today’s Lessons

Your old brain is still a part of you that you carry along wherever you go. When you’ve moved on, your past memories and old lessons learned never die. They travel with you and show up on your vacations.

If you’ve ever seen couples or friends fighting on vacation and you wonder, what’s there to fight about on this dreamy once-in-a-lifetime beautiful serene blue ocean or castle fantasy backdrop?… it’s the ego rearing its ugly head into the situation.

At any time, your ego can take old information and create fear and exacerbate worry in your situations today and in the future that are related to your past. Bring love to the situation is the cure.

That’s why I’m so passionate about the healthy mind-body connection today that I learned about before doing shadow work. If you bring out love from your past situations to your present, it shows up in your calm emotions today and also in your healthy body.

Ego situations and how they play out look different for everyone. If we could pinpoint one situation for everyone we would have figured this out collectively. But ego is a trickster.

Some even refer to their ego as an imposter that shows up.

The outward sign is that it’s not reality happening even though it feels like it is to you or the person. You’re not being chased by a tiger, but it can feel that way with modern digital message triggers.

Unknowingly, you undetect where the havoc source is coming from as it’s subconscious. You can’t see through those thick clouds and insecurities. And that can lead to knee-jerk reactions.

Another sign for everyone is an unhealthy ego acting up is rooted in negative thoughts about yourself or others like self-pity, self-loathing, or blaming others. It’s Edging God Out. The opposite is love and being conscious.

An unhealthy ego moment is a twisted form of overprotection for your best interest where you lose, lose control, and those around you lose if they get intertwined. Bottom line: it doesn’t come from love.

Everyone is best to walk away in peace rather than play the counterproductive ego games.

Becoming aware of ego’s ability to harm you and relationships today and healing your past with new rewritten loving narrative thought memories are two of the healthiest shadow work moves you can make.

On a larger scale, you can rid of victim mentality so you can live fully whole and healthy in the now. You can be happy for others and their progress as you are for your own.

The ego will try to make these darker sides invisible to you so you continue as is, but if your desire is to grow and be happy, you can outwit your ego and not play the games.

We all are damaged goods in some way because of this built-in ego feature that we have a choice to change. It’s no one’s fault.

And that’s why when you’ve been aware long enough you can forgive others for their unconsciousness and behaviors… and hope they will try to get informed, grow, become conscious, and be accountable for their behaviors.

The Healthy Shadow Work You Can Do Today

So many of us would benefit from shadow work.

For one, you could discover and change negative moods coming from inside you. You could learn more about what triggers you.

You can replace these non-serving moments with higher and loving words such as those found in the New Testament Scripture.

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

A daily reminder verse to call out your ego thoughts front and center daily helps.

You can build lasting character traits such as those in Galatians 5: patience, kindness, goodness, self-control, peace, joy, and love. These are the higher living ways. They can take deep inner work and the first step can be shadow work discovery.

Becoming self-aware is timeless and absolutely necessary for growth.

And knowing the ego never shuts off and can show up in many ways in our mind roles such as:

critic

judge

competitor

fighter

dictator

imposter

One role ego doesn’t play is peacemaker. When ego is behaving and healthy, it helps you to strive for healthy goals.

We need some healthy pride to push us along. Or if you’re in real danger, ego can help motivate you to protect you.

But the undealt with unhealthy daily ego critic sitting on one shoulder shouts loud thoughts that appear logical to you (or the person), while the whispering angel spirit in you is gentle and loving preferring humility over pride.

The more you practice the softer humility sides, the more you can see the harmful pride.

Ego is subtle to you…

If you have a balanced way or a sense of making good decisions usually, logic can appear as harmless as “everyone is doing that.”

In those thought moments, you have a choice to not be everyone and do what you know is best or loving when you know better. We all have a choice.

If your ego is fighting you, you can be prepared with spiritual weapons like the armor of God spelled out in Ephesians, and in renewing your mind.

The more preparation and practice you have, your discernment increases the next time and you grow.

Still wondering how the ego shows up?…

So, I used to let the ego run the show. The daily mind show that is where I accepted all thoughts to enter as mine.

Some days a whole day would go by with the same repeated past memories. That’s classic ego.

I didn’t know I could exercise changing my thoughts. That was revelation when I learned and how to replace the thoughts.

Even if you had a great childhood or life so far, your ego will at some point take something from your past and spin it to a negative thought even if others would see it as a healthy and happy moment. It’s in your control to change the narrative fed to you.

Being the observer of thoughts and not letting the thoughts play out after the thought movie reel has been played once is a good strategy, so you don’t lose a whole day of productivity and peace.

And then stay aware the next time. You can make a decision that there’s no room for the two of us as it’s cramping growth, and simply kick out your unhealthy ego. Don’t play the games.

Sometimes it take mental wresting strength to let the thoughts pass through without energizing them to replay. Be determined to do what you know will eventually work for you.

And as part of my light bulb moment discovery, I found that ego was not just once in a while playing havoc in our lives, it’s the source of most problems in our day.

Because the ego is a feature in all of us in this world. Behaviors are trickled down among other people involved and their operating egos.

Imagine if the leader of a group or business had ego issues that showed up. You could only imagine (or have experienced before) the tricked down dysfunctional effect in the management hierarchy.

This observation becomes more obvious when you know (or have been made aware like I may be stirring in you today).

You witness in your daily interactions with people… one minute they are agreeable and friendly and then one day the season ends and they turn out to be something else. They’re unaware they’re being played by their ego.

This happens in relationships all the time and is at the crux of partner power struggles.

Without the harmful ego aspects, our world would be a better place because we would be better acting humans, heal ourselves, and those around us.

But until my hospital incident, I didn’t know how destructive the subconscious and invisible ego is on our planet, in our lives, and in me.

Shadow work examples such as going to therapy or light journaling tools can help open the doors to discover more of your deeper and hidden self.

The answers are inside you so deeper spiritual self-help may help you like healing rooms did for me.

And in my spiritual intervention rebirth.

Leading up to that point, these shadow work resources helped and can help to open the awareness…

What Did Help and Can Help You in Shadow Work Discovery

Turning to some self-help books opened my eyes. One in particular, Eckart Tolle’s The Power of Now is one of those books that comes alive in your when you’re ready for the message because your spirit lights it up.

It’s a deep book that you’re either ready for or not. You’ll know if you are because your eyes won’t glaze over the sentences. And when it’s an easy flow read, the chains have been released and the pain-body is exposed. The book is an experience. It can be so powerful that you may only need to read it once to gain the knowledge, and it’s forever in you.

That opened the spirit inside me like a lotus flower to make more room for awareness when my spiritual intervention season entered years later. 🪷

The Bible was another spiritual book I had as a tool. I had let the contents and words of Scripture occupy space and spill over inside me. 📖

You can re-read Scripture over and over again and find new tidbits of wisdom and helpful Biblical truth. You don’t get the same experience each time.

New words can jump off the page with meaning to you when you’re ready. Like my eyes skipped over the mysterious “spirit” word on the pages until I was ready.

The Bible is an instructional self-help life manual and is the only book that’s still being translated in so many languages.

Letting the higher words permeate to brain wash out all the muck that occupies the day for things that won’t matter in the years to come, is life giving.

Those are good starters.

And then be open and let your life’s journey unfold.

There’s so much more to this world and it’s inside you. As Deepak Chopra says, “the world is in you.”

“I am not in the world. The world is in me.” – Deepak Chopra

Doing deeper shadow work is underrated and will produce so much more in you and out of you as you impact the world with your greatness you were born with. 🎉

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Plant Based Breakfast Ideas For Better Low Sugar Habits

Plant-based breakfast ideas encourage our better low sugar healthy habits that help our bodies protect us against inflammation and preventable lifestyle diseases like Type 2 Diabetes.

Plant-based can be delicious and filling like a Three Sisters dish where the trifecta effect is proteins, carbs, and fiber.

Three Sisters makes for great plant based breakfast ideas. — Net healthy plant-forward 3 Sisters dish with butternut squash, corn, and black beans. Imagine starting your day with this trifecta!

Eating more plant-based foods also help our warming planet and climate change causes.

And when we align all of those intentions with farm-to-table delicious eating and seasonal food preferences, we’re restoring our Ayurvedic body balance…

Some simple examples are: we want to eat and drink lighter, cool foods like cereals, smoothies, and cold brew beverages on warm days. And prefer comfort, warm porridge and potato food on cold days.

With rapid climate change these days, we often flip flop back and forth daily and seasonally. We use our internal body cues and external clues to keep us balanced.

It’s good to be aware how all this healthy information helps us.

And the good news is there’s a plant-based fix for all of us.

Below are some plant-based breakfast ideas that can get you excited about your health, energy, and planet with unusual climate changes… plus help you lower your sugar intake.

An evolving earth appreciation drink like this is full of surprises like blueberries showing up at certain times.

Like an Earth Day layered drink helps us appreciate all the constantly changing stratospheres in our planet. And this is a metaphor for our lives where nothing stays the same.

Lowering Your Sugar in Breakfasts

Firstly, if you started out like I did as a sweet tooth (or still are one 😋), you know there’s definitely hope if you want to change your tastes from sugary sweet to lower sugar, healthy plant-based breakfast ideas…

Many years ago, I had a guest coming over for the holidays that I learned was diabetic. I knew I had to come up with a sweet option for this special guest. That was the only option for this former party planner (where finding a way was the only way and “once a food planner, always a planner”).

I sympathized because I couldn’t imagine going through life without sweets! 🍭

So around town I drove and picked up a bag of diabetic cookies (substituting refined sugar with maltitol). If you’re not familiar, monk fruit sugar is commonly used today as the new maltitol ingredient. I use monk fruit sugar often out of healthy preference. You don’t have to be diabetic.

And anyway, I fell in love with those diabetic cookies. I figured the guest would be as excited as I would to have an after dinner dessert with the rest of us.

Those were the days when AllRecipes was one of the very few online sites you could find recipes besides OG Martha Stewart and offline cookbooks that never grow old.

There weren’t diabetic recipe sites.

…And so, when the holiday dinner rolled around, I mentioned the cookies to the diabetic guest, and I learned something very profound I’ll never forget when he declined the sweet offer…

💡The sweet taste was no longer even a category for this person who hadn’t had a sweet bite since his diagnosis.

That was an eye-opener. Because previously I thought people were born with a sweet tooth or they weren’t (and could do nothing about their sweet sentence). And I definitely was in the first category.

When I started upon my own journey to reduce daily sugar intake, I was reminded of those lessons.

I then knew I could gradually wean off of sugar as others had (like the diabetic guest) from changing habits.

And if I knew that sooner, I probably would’ve done so sooner.

And that’s like how most of us are with our areas we want to change: we don’t know what we don’t know. 🤔

When I gradually took in less sugar, I found I craved sugar less.

I didn’t have to do the heavy lifting all myself.

My body helped me and it helps all of us when we don’t keep overfeeding our sugar cravings.

…A light cookie with a sweet tea flavor without extra sugar will do the trick. It doesn’t have to be the portions served at restaurants.

And baking your own sweet goods can save you because you don’t have a large box sitting around tempting you.

You can simply make less and then you’ve taught yourself that working for a sweet is a reward.

You satiate your sweet craving with a tiny bite that’s also the most delicious bite.

💡In economic terms, that’s: the marginal utility wears off with each bite.

💡In nutrition terms, that’s: intuitive and mindful eating helps you appreciate your food as part of daily joy and helps build a healthy relationship with food.

And in my first tries, making it through those habit forming days where I reached for a low-sugar cereal over cookies was sobering but still doable. One step forward, two steps back.

But I knew deeper down I could go a day without sugar.

And the opportunity arose where I chose to fast from sugar with a church-wide fast event. This was for our spiritual growth. We could choose anything that was addictive to us.

I was in a Bible book club then studying the book of Isaiah and learned that the people in that day were addicted to idols that caused their problems.

And without a moment’s hesitation, I picked sweets as the first thought that came to mind.

From the sweet fast experience, I learned I didn’t even crave sweets when I had an intention and was determined for a desired outcome.

But I was still stunned at what happened.

Because that was a new concept to me: what… not desire sweets!?…that would’ve shocked all my closest friends as I always had a piece of candy or something sweet on me even when I wasn’t aware.

It’s no surprise that when I was younger, I was a sucker for mosquitoes that loved my sweet blood.

And then in 2021, I started baking weekly. I added less and less sugar into my bakes. And sometimes not using refined sugar or monk fruit sugar at all and only using whole fruits, spices, and other healthy natural powder ingredients.

It was hard for me to add spoonfuls of sugar when I knew how harmful sugar is for both the body and mind.

And that became my healthy way out of sugar when my skin became inflamed with eczema during the uncertain early days of the pandemic when I was also building up a pantry and starting to home cook more.

Eczema was my wake up call.

It was my body’s warning to me that I took seriously.

And the effect was a much lighter consequence than a destroying gut microbiome outcome, Diabetes or other chronic disease diagnosis.

I used healthy teeth as one of my motivators for a comeback to heathy eating.

…As a kid I loved eating spoonfuls of white sugar straight out of the glass sugar jar. I always had cavities, and that thought alone makes me run to celery or carrots.

And yeah that was many decades ago, but that’s pretty much what we’re doing when we buy processed sweets or sugary sodas. It’s not our fault because they’re in our face all the time.

And in America and the Western world cultures, that’s just a gimme.

Plus, Vata bodies love sweets! Others do too, but it’s a given with a Vata. We were born with this desire that we can turn into a healthy one.

And you and I can survive on fruit and natural powder only sweets that are loaded with polyphenol antioxidants. I haven’t met a fruit yet that didn’t have antioxidant vitamins. 😊

This works over fighting willpower that never works. Because what you tell yourself “no” to only builds energy more toward the thought.

If you’re jonesing for southern-style Devils Food Cake, you’re not going to head for white cloud Angel Cake without a higher intervention. ☁️

Distraction and replacement are sweet answers for sugary and processed snack food cravings.

You can turn to plant-based foods, like popcorn for potato chips… and get into an activity that takes your mind off food, like a fasting habit or gardening.

If someone tells me they have a sweet tooth craving they think they could never satiate or change, I know that’s not true. It’s all made up in the mind.

You can live with a lower, healthy amount of sugar every day. That starts with your first meal where you break the fast or breakfast.

Easy Low-Sugar Plant Based Breakfast Ideas For Starters

For starters, opt for a protein. You can start with a protein shake if that fits your preferences like a layered drink that has protein powder.

As you age, your body need to increase your intake of essential amino acids to compensate for muscle loss.

Add a healthy fat like avocado that’s great when you break a fast, first thing at breakfast, or if you’ve been fasting overnight or longer.

During my catering work days, we always had a Crudite platter available for vegetarians. Raw veggies are a great way to prime the stomach first and add some roughage fiber that the gut needs.

Raw carrots, bell peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, celery, and asparagus are great examples.

They’re easy to put together on a plate. And if you need a dipping sauce, you can always use a Greek yogurt with dill as a savory healthy beginning.

And if you take vitamins, you do better taking fat-soluble Vitamins A, D, E, and K with some fat in your body. So it’s better to take those after or with your meal where you’ve had some avocado, oil, nut, or seeds in your system.

Black bean quinoa cereal. Both ingredients have protein. Add cocoa powder if you want brownie bite tastes and top with chia, flax, hemp, sunflower, etc.

Greek yogurt sundae. Add your whole fruits like banana and berries.

Sprinkle with your favorite nuts like sliced almonds, walnuts, or pistachios. Don’t be shy with your seeds. Cantaloupe and melon seeds loaded with vitamins are a nice vitamin addition too.

Oatmeal with apples or applesauce. If you’re leaning toward a little sweet taste, add Ceylon cinnamon (our Ayurvedic Vata go-to spice). This will set you up for a sweet bite without tipping the scales.

Chocolate avocado mousse. This is a great one you can blend up in seconds with dark cocoa and a ripe avocado.

Tasty anti-inflammatory chocolate avocado mousse recipe below. 👇

Main Points

Be easy on yourself.

Be open to give the plant-based breakfast ideas a try. Pick a few more of your favorite healthy ingredients such as a banana or an avocado and let your creative breakfast imagination go wild!

Don’t give up. Not creating a deadline or rules can be the magic formula that eliminates the pressure.

Change your words and thoughts. Say, “Yum this tastes great even when it tastes odd to you.” That helps your mind to agree with you when you’re trying to be healthy.

Then next time, introduce a new healthy food or spice. Let the odd new tastes take over until they win you over.

And if you want to learn how to add fasting to your sustainable healthy habits to eliminate snacking, sweets, and extra pounds, check out the free IF guide.

If you still have a sweet hankering, you can enjoy your plant-based breakfast ideas with a decadent aroma tea like the chocolate mint black tea I’m sipping on. 🧉 And you can pair with a healthy start.

Anti-Inflammatory Chocolate Avocado Mousse

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5

Ingredients

1 ripe avocado
almond milk
unsweetened 70% cocoa (natural, not dutch processed)
raspberries
shredded coconut

Instructions

Blend milk, avocado, and cocoa.
Zhugh with raspberries. These are anti-inflammatory ingredient pairings.

Notes

To make this healthy version is 3 main ingredients: ripe avocado, almond milk, and unsweetened cocoa (garnished with raspberries and shredded coconut).

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Earth Day Layered Oreo Plant Based Cold Brew Coffee

This is an evolving refreshing drink good for mornings and afternoons. You can see it start with defined drink layers.

As the iceberg ice cube melts, it’s blending into the Earth Day drink that looks like the ocean.

It’s starting to get green. This is a lot like our icebergs melting, creating warming and climate change. Btw, this is an outdoor-allergy-free drink. 😊

This is the same Earth Day drink put back in the freezer and brought back out the next day with a little more water (less ice cube).

Earth Day Layered Oreo Plant Based Cold Brew Coffee

This planet-reminding changing drink is a fun and delicious beverage.

Course beverage

Cuisine American

Ingredients

black cocoa
cold brew coffee
plant-based milks (almond milk, cashew milk, etc.)
gluten-free flour (coconut or almond flour)
blueberry tea
blueberries
Pandan (gel works best)

Instructions

Layer and freeze each layer before adding another layer.
Layer 1: milk
Layer 2: oreo cookie layer with black cocoa, gluten-free flour, and milk (or cream) that's more creamy and good for beverages.
Layer 3: cold blueberry tea
Layer 4: cold brew coffee (or coffee of choice)
Layer 5: milk
Add a few blueberries if you like.
Make plant-based pandan ice cube. Add pandan mixed with water and freeze
Add the ice cube to the top frozen layer.
Bring drink out to regular room temperature about 10-15 minutes before you want to consume if semi-frozen and 30 minutes or longer if frozen solid. Watch your planet beverage change before your very eyes! For kids, you can swap cocoa or chocolate milk for the coffee layer.

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Slow Pace Life For Faster Growth

Slow pace life and living sounds like a snail boring description in this marathon journey we call Life. But actually the way to discover more of what you want in this life is found in those slower and often overemphasized silent sloooww moments where you can gather your thoughts in mindfulness.

baked alaska slice — This is enjoying a slow pace life where you can make your healthy-ish low-sugar cake and eat it too!… like this delightful Baked Alaska. Recipe below 🍰

On the flipside, if you get in the habit of being busy, you’ll find slow seasons as mundane in comparison. And that gives your ego the opportunity to make the difference a negative, when it’s actually a positive. For one, you lower stress that you can’t measure and that can add years to your life.

When you embrace slow seasons and dig deeper, you can find the joy of missing out of activities and discover more of you.

I know when I was younger I felt like all eyes were on me when the truth is people are concerned with their own lives. They’re not thinking of us as much as our naturally entering thoughts want us to think.

So focusing on ourselves gives us our healthy back. And at the end of the day and our lives, we’re the only ones we are guaranteed to be with.

Saying no to what’s not good for you is good. Only you as an evolved being know how to live your life wisely.

…Sometimes this can take seasons to embrace.

And when you go through the motions of enough busy seasons, you realize there’s an end to each season. The buildup can end up in letdown. And looking back, you gain wisdom and lessons learned that are invaluable for your future.

Summed of wisdom can follow with: it’s not about what you do in your day-to-day that matters most as today becomes a fast and fading memory tomorrow. You never re-live yesterday.

This type of discernment often comes later with years and experience so you don’t waste more time on things that don’t matter. Back in my earlier years like most my age, I measured achievements against the culture I grew up around that didn’t last.

An example: I started out going to public schools in the U.S. county where at the time I was growing up had the highest ranking standardized test scores in the nation… like the SATs taken in high school.

Living outside Washington DC that’s full of movers and shakers didn’t make slowing down a goal. The idea was to speed up and always be busy no matter what.

When you're younger, you can embrace the slow pace life where you don't get to impact the world with your gifts and talents until you're older and ready. Growing up in a DC area home is where it began for me.

Photo: This is the remodeled open skylit space in the house that I grew up in where my desk sat decades ago and I learned to type on an ancient typewriter in the 80s. And then picked up writing daily years later.

I gradually shook off the “busy” mentality to get to where I am today where being busy on purpose matters most.

And the Universe helped me by removing obstacles that at the time seemed like a mean joke. Because starting over seemed like a recurring theme. But being in those rough seasons and trying to gain traction, I grew. And I made other accomplishments that weren’t on my list.

Lessons Learned

I realized life well-lived isn’t meant to be a linear path, going up and up. It’s more like up and out, and sometimes back down. And navigating adversity and new starts help you with now what? situations.

Being a late bloomer can actually help you. If you didn’t peak too quickly (or having peaked yet!), you didn’t miss or haven’t missed out!

Your experiences in between build you up to what you need for your dreams to turn out to be a dream come true (and not a letdown).

In your time, you’ll appreciate when you are fully spiritually ready to embrace what is meant to be yours! 🎉 Remember the turtle in the slow pace life marathon wins the race. 🐢

A turtle cookie is a sweet slow pace life mascot.

When I entered my new start in college, it was eye-opening as that was the first time I realized students came from totally different background circumstances.

Before then, I took high school courses and learned things prior that other people who came from other places in the U.S. had never experienced and that was shocking to me at the time.

I needed those eye openers to embrace moving down south, a slow pace life more on my terms.

There, I was immediately struck with how politics didn’t suffocate the air. And I was able to appreciate a slower pace life.

With new environment and time, I realized that this life is more than what our resumes and awards say about us.

A calmer, slow pace life has other benefits too like you actually are mindful of what you’re doing or watching in the moment. That brings joy.

The moment is not a blur like outfit changes to the next activity that’ll come and go and you may not have fully enjoyed because your headspace was busy preoccupied.

These are a few ways to embrace the slow pace life and wisdom sooner when you’re in the busy seasons:

Slow cook your foods. I’ve had microwaves in and out of my life. And when I had one, I always used the equipment. But when I didn’t have one, I realized I would pause to think about things in life (mindfulness) when I was watching over food heating or cooking. It’s a habit that can be changed with or without a simple piece of equipment.

Take a moment to take deep breaths. We can never be over-reminded. We have nothing if we don’t have our breath. If you ever feel heart palpitations, this is a way to calm those down:

Listen to your inner voice and what’s it telling you. When we have nagging thoughts, they usually mean something needs to be addressed for our peace. In those times, it’s better to get out of our head voices and listen to the higher channels.

Take time for yourself away from people. We act differently when we’re around people and social environments than by ourselves. We take on their energy and want to naturally blend in with ours. But it’s hard to find your authentic self in those head spaces when trying to please others.

It’s good to take some solo time out that’ll speed up your personal growth. That’s when you can reflect on what matters in your life, so you don’t end up with regrets. And preparing today for tomorrow is the secret to getting the life you want.

Taste your tea when you first put your lips on your mug. Enjoy the aroma. Using Ayurveda methods, smelling a scent or spice first, is a good way to see if it’s pleasant. What’s pleasant to your eyes doesn’t mean it’s favorable to your body.

Then when you come back another time, you may feel something different for the same experience. Our bodies are constantly changing and sending us signals. When you’re aware and sensitized to your own senses, you can better influence how your day goes.

So next time, give your food a good acknowledging stir before you take a bite.

Do mindful eating or intuitive eating. In intuitive eating, it’s all about slowing down and mindfulness. And when you do that, you pick up different notes and palates. You become more open to different tastes.

Take a few bites and imagine the food source. Where does the food come from before the grocery store? Someone if not you from your garden sourced the food. For plant-based foods, those come from the land and were picked by someone. Many food travel shows teach us about regional food sources and how certain cultures prepare dishes that can make us slow down and appreciate.

Get rid of check list to-do items that never needed to be completed. Lists are great for groceries but for life direction, not so much. You end up zipping through the list.

The goal (of lists) is to get to the end. And in slow down, we want to experience and enjoy the middle.

With lists you can also end up working on things that were never important to begin with. Those slow down your progress. If you have a slow pace life, you remember what’s important in the moment as your miracle memory (or spirit) prompts you.

And finally, take time to look at old photos or read journals you wrote. Try to remember who you were back then. You want to see a new and improved you and not one that has aging appearance effects. You’re aging in wisdom beauty and a better life. That’s something to celebrate today. 🎉

I love looking at old photos and thinking what I didn’t know back then! And now I have so many more great experience memories.

We all wish we could go back in time for some nostalgic reasons, but we can also be glad we don’t have to go back to those testing seasons.

In today’s heated seasons, you can easily make your own soft serve ice cream. And can add to a celebrated cake to enjoy a slice of life today. 🎂

DBGB near restaurants where I event planned

Slow pace life waiting for Baked Alaska to freeze.

Print Recipe

Baked Alaska (Oven Toasting Method)

Baked Alaska is my favorite cake hands down and you can make your own cake, meringue and ice cream. I heard about the dessert working in catering and waited until I was ready to have the best cake slice of my life at DC's DBGB restaurant in 2015.

Course desserts

Cuisine American

Equipment

bowl to fit the ice cream shape
cake stand or plate

Ingredients

meringue shell
ice cream of choice
cake of choice

Instructions

You can make or prepare ice cream and meringue a day ahead or a few hours in advance.
Bake cake. Let cake cool and then add cold ice cream layer and then meringue layer.
Freeze at least 2 hours in the back of the freezer (but without icicles forming)
Lower top oven shelf low enough to cover the height of the Baked Alaska plus a minimum of 6 inches from top of oven to broil.
Pull Baked Alaska out of freezer and into oven. Broil for several minutes until there's a toasted top. Do not turn or move the cake (optional) in the hot oven without turning OFF the oven first and then wait for broil oven cool down before closing oven door and turning oven/broil setting back on (optional). Watch broiling carefully for safety reasons and so you don't over toast the cake. This method won't be as even as using a handheld baking-friendly torch, but the top will be toasted pretty!

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