Food Balance Your Body Type Archives - Page 13 of 33

Intermittent Fasting Guide (And My Journey)

Today, I wanted to let you in on my intermittent fasting journey (and provide an Intermittent Fasting Guide) as that may help yours if you’ve begun, or maybe you’re curious what it’s ALL ABOUT.

If either sounds like YOU, I created a FREE Intermittent Fasting Guide with you in mind that you can download. It’s called The Start and Sustain Intermittent Fasting Lifestyle Guide… and it also comes in handy when you start IF and then take a short break.

That’s exactly what I did in 2023 during the holiday season, and then realized what I was missing from the benefits I saw on and in my body earlier in the year. I took a quick selfie for comparison…

…Um, that’s a bit of skin showing there! 👙 Oh and believe me, I’m not someone who bares all skin in case you’re wondering why this photo doesn’t fit along with my food and other healthy lifestyle inspo ones.

But the photo really does hone in on my gut ab area (as deep as I can show) and is the healthy reason why I started intermittent fasting in the first place.

I was feeling discomfort in my gut in the upper stomach area where the esophagus meets the stomach (aka the lower esophageal sphincter).

Despite doing all the healthy tips regularly like sourdough, veggie fiber, and ACV, I could feel a dull feeling in the stomach gut area when the optimal feeling is no nagging ache (or even better, feel nothing in those areas). An uneventful inside body feeling day is a good day.

You’ve probably felt similar if you ever experienced heartburn, GERD or acid reflux. Last summer’s heat didn’t help either (hottest recorded in history). That kicks up the Pitta. And, not the kind of fire-in-the-belly you want! 🔥

Even though my stomach case was mild, it’s probably what most people feel who experience heartburn in daily busy and stressful work lives. 🙋🏻‍♀️

And as someone who once-upon-a-time lived a stressful corporate work life (and works on feeling good and better all the time), I don’t believe you should suffer more than a minute necessary. So, I had to figure it out!… I couldn’t just let it slide. And maybe that’s how you are too in your health areas…

But, lemme backup just a minute so you have some background info…

I started cooking and baking virtually all my meals after the pandemic. So, I knew which ingredients were put into each healthy dish or snack (that I ate 90% of the time). I often show some of the celebrational weekly meal tables, healthy bakes, and dishes weekly here in my blog articles.

…That comes from the side of me that worked a decade in catering party planning, where food is love.

And soft serve ice cream is love.

soft serve ice cream chocolate recipe. — You can make chocolate soft serve as self-serve at home. Recipe below. 🍫

But most my eating ways were healthy (…with a lot less sugar for this former refined sugar addict!). And I was intentionally feeding healthy foods to help a happy gut as that’s where most of the happy hormones (serotonin) are produced.

But I could still feel the gut discomforts even though everything else was running smoothly. And after researching, listening to health interviews, and putting it all together… I came to the conclusion that it’s not the type of food that’s the problem, it’s the food itself.

Every food ingredient on the planet seems to be in question in some way these days. The only purer ones are the whole ones. And where there are edible food skin nutrients, that’s where the invisible poisons are too.

Even with good intentions to eat more healthy, our daily healthy foods are tainted.

The year prior, I was writing articles for wellness national publications on health and the Blue Zones, the oldest groups of people alive on the planet to date. So I was researching daily and comparing their food and healthy lifestyle ways with my own.

And I realized their B.Z. cheese is not our cheese process, and their bread is not our bread. Starting at the flour.

What we source and bring back home from grocery stores is processed, stripping out the gut valuable nutrients.

…So even with healthy and anti-inflammatory eating intentions, disappointingly we’re still off-setting so much food damage that’s out of our control.

From garden to grocery store, the good nutrients contain some harmful pesticide sprays and/or preservatives to make food shelf life last longer.

…And that means all of us have imperfect guts. And then we add plastic packaged food products, antibiotics, and daily stress into our lives… and that all compounds to the gut issues…

Or in some cases, leaky guts, bloating, IBS, etc. The list is long. And the gut stretches taller than you and me both. With over 15 feet, there’s all kinds of growing bug opportunities where we want to tip the scales to the good ones daily. Doing this impacts so much of our health and daily energy.

And long story short, all this is to say that’s why I started intermittent fasting regularly in 2023 for healthy preventative gut reasons and to help let the body naturally repair the gut.

It’s a great way to lose bad habits like snacking, sugar, overeating, drinking too late, drinking too much, etc. And a great opportunity to let your body detox reset, sleep more efficiently, and lose weight. If you want to discover more about the benefits and strategies, get the free guide.

Chocolate Soft Serve Ice Cream (Egg Yolk Method)

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

6 egg yolks
3 cups milk
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup fine sugar (monk fruit sugar alternative)

Instructions

Add milk and cocoa powder to a pot, and heat until you see a light boil (a few small boil bubbles). Then turn the heat off.
Take the pot off the heat and let cool for a few minutes.
Add your egg yolks to a separate mixing bowl and beat with sugar to emulsify until pale or lighter yellow color.
Add slightly cooled mixture to egg yolks and constantly stir with quick motions (prevent curdling).
When combined, set in refrigerator to cool down for about 15 minutes or longer.
Prepare ice cream maker machine and bowl if you will be using one to set the soft serve ice cream. Take bowl out of freezer for about 30 minutes if it has been in the back of the freezer. Freezer temps vary but you want the bowl cold enough but e.g. not with frozen icicles on the sides but not water condensation. Tip: for the balance, have the bowl a little less cold because you can always freeze the ice cream back up in the freezer. And soft serve is more creamy, watery, and soft than ice cream.
Alternatively, if you are not using an ice cream maker/bowl, be sure to stir the ice cream every half hour or so to remove any forming icicles.

7 Stress Eating Habits + Easy Fatayer Appetizer Recipe

Stress eating habits are made better by celebrating occasionally, practicing moderation, and developing the habit of eating healthy foods daily.

Party planning is fun, and good to come up with a sweet and savory spread to enjoy in moderation and share the table joy!

Last time I shared some healthy de-stress tips… so it’s fitting to add the healthy relationship we have with food as a way to stay healthy.

I know that sounds like “easier said than done” advice considering all the tempting stuffing and holiday sweets that deck the holidays. 🎄

Plus, winter season is a natural time to bring out our Kapha body and mind tendencies that welcome in accumulating and comfort foods (stored in our comfort pants 😉). That’s what we don’t want or wish for, but happens unless we make alternative healthy, daily plans.

I thought I’d never get to a savory breakfast as sweet was my go-to all my life. But with healthy desires, one breakfast led to another and these days, it’s almost always savory. So don’t sell yourself short. Your tastes will change with your habits. And you never have to go back to old habits.

This article is meant to inspire your delicious healthy, anti-inflammatory eating habits to kick the holiday stress eating habits to the curb and inspire a healthy eating new year.

Ready?

…Here we go!

1.Lean into the seasonal produce foods that interest you. Like squashes, citrus, apples, and winter berries. You can find so many new fruit varieties like jackfruit and dragon fruit on the grocery shelves (and so many others haven’t even made it from our tropical climate lands to our markets).

2.Reinvent sides. The stuffing sides can be what gets some of us in trouble, and if the carbs is what you’re worried about, you can reinvent the starchier side carbs to work for your body.

Stick with veggies carbs that are the opposite and with very few calories, and some have great flavors such as mushrooms, asparagus, and onions that you can turn into a Provencal herby-forward experience with a little tarragon, white pepper, vinegar or sherry.

Carrots (raw and cooked) are so versatile for sweet and savory dishes where you can substitute the fun marshmallows with a divine anti-inflammatory diet pairing like ginger and textures like nuts or seeds. You can also learn to appreciate food textures as a no-calorie add.

3.Make healthy desserts. This is my specialty area and weakness turned into a positive. It’s no baking secret that butter and refined sugar add to weight gain. And ingredients like white flour and white sugar are inflammatory foods. Moderation is still the modern way. Plus incorporating healthy foods.

Keeping a balance between tasty and healthy is the dynamic pairing duo. And the sweet spot is they are usually easy bakes in minutes like a healthy pear or apple pie with cinnamon sweetness.

You can make a pumpkin pie from pumpkin puree that’s loaded with antioxidant Vitamin A and beta carotene. Mix in some plant-based almond milk. And add allspice that’s all anti-inflammatory goodness as the sweet five-spice version! Think creative sweet potato and green veggie dishes.

For holiday stress eating prep dish habits, you can start with those whole food ingredients, a ‘lil milk, and holiday spices… and then zhugh up with the celebrational peppermint sticks and marshmallows… you don’t have to give up the party sides 😉 (I personally wouldn’t want to because I breathed hospitality party planning for years. Some of the sweet celebratory joy sides are worth a few calories).

Still, it’s all about balance and moderation.

Easy Fatayer Appetizer Recipe. — These hot water pastry fatayer appetizers were inspired by my party planning days. 🥟

Easy Fatayer Holiday Appetizers

Course Appetizer

Cuisine lebanese, Mediterranean, middle eastern

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Equipment

Knife or pizza roller for classic pyramid empanada shapes
Drinking glass for empanada half moon pie shapes
Rolling Pin

Ingredients

Flour
Olive oil or butter
Water

Instructions

Slice and dice up your fillings. spinach and feta or ground meat is traditional for fatayer. Or use what you have in your freezer likeI brussels sprouts (good bitter ingredient like spinach) and fresh red onions. And soft green beans from a can that worked great for blending textures!
Make your hot water pastry. No planning or prep time! Just add warm-hot water to flour and a ‘lil butter or olive oil to form a soft ball that holds together. Flatten and roll out with a rolling pin. Fold in half moons like empanadas. and for 3-D triangle shapes you’ll want to cut out squares (at least two inch squares so you can hold enough filling).
For classic 3-D pyramid triangles, it’s like origami. You just fold so the corners meet. and then the third side closes it all up into a pyramid-type shape that doesn’t have to look perfect. You don’t need egg water to close like wontons, but you may want to brush with egg for a glossy look.
Bake on 350°F for about 25-35 minutes

…Compared to sugar, cream, and butter that was used for daily Grandma southern cooking that didn’t prioritize healthy or wearing our best sized clothing.

And maybe a few pats of butter instead of a stick will do?

Those less healthy daily cooking styles grow on us Vatas, Pittas, and Kaphas alike.

And, sometimes we’re not the ones in charge of doin’ the cookin’, so the better way would be to be choosy and show some love to the host cook by adding a dollop on your plate to try. That doesn’t have to be your main meal leaving leftover regrets.

4.Get inspired by longevity as a goal. We can all learn a thing or two from the Blue Zones that have the largest pocket of Centenarians in the world. They’ve changed our concepts of health. As an example, instead of growing their waist sizes, they’re lowering Earth waste and preparing fresh meals from their natural land.

They’re daily climbing hills while we’re sitting in front of our devices. They’re gathering naturally grown ingredients while we’re foraging in the weekly store. Even though our modern lifestyles are so different, we can still do our healthy bit…

We can be healthy selective.

We can use a list like this rainbow variety 200 Anti-Inflammatory food list to be our angel side guide into the store. And we use our healthy awareness as our cart checkout guide instead of robotically picking up the boxed processed versions.

We can also select the fresh, healthy ingredients that are usually 2-step dish easy.

Such as, abundant whole potatoes can be our purple imo like in Okinawa Blue Zones where they have a high number of living 100 year olds.

Like them, you can peel and boil simple potatoes. Compare that to a processed spud packet loaded with preservatives and sodium. The open packet instead of peel effort is a minimal difference. The extra minutes in cooking is worth it for your body… don’t ya think?

Sometimes what’s needed most for better stress eating habits is a ‘lil freshened up education between our daily eyes. Then when you have a healthy way or recipe in mind, you beeline to those healthy ingredients in the stores… 🐝

You can usually find the unsexy whole potato bags along the sides of the grocery stores in bins.

5.Eat fiber. When I professionally planned parties, I almost always recommended a starter platter called Crudite which is the fancy French word for a raw veggie platter. When you start with celery or carrots every day, you add fiber roughage that helps move along the heavier foods. It’s a good way to prep and rev up your stomach engines.

6.Eat spicy foods. If you can’t do cayenne pepper or hot peppers because of the spice, try red hot chili pepper flakes that are mild and still have capsaicin that’s anti-inflammatory and known to burn calories (and not tongues).

Fresh wasabi and horseradish are other hot sauces you can use if you can tolerate. They not only help clear out sinuses and toxins, but if you’re eating those foods, then you lose your hankering for the sweet and buttery.

7.Skip the high beverage calories. You can skip the loaded coffee beverages and eggnog calories and go for the plant-based milk latte drink that will be even better with a strong flavor pairing.

If you like licorice, you can lean on anise and fennel spices. And if you like peppermint, go for the mint leaves. And for a brighter drink, zhugh with some citrus zest. These are all calorie saving ideas that are pleasing to the gut, mind, and body.

Add some warming spice with your daily beverage habit when you want something comforting to drink or taste. Now that’s a great stress eating habit you can toast to! And you can make it fun and easy if you keep the spices by your beverage making station. You’ll always have a decked out drink.

Cheers! Cin cin! Salut! ☕️

Holiday peppermint tea is actually good for your aches and the zhughing with candy cane is a sweet way to deck the holidays! ❤️

This site is all about happy and healthy living and eating ways and inspiration. If this is your first time here, I encourage you to find out more about me and this healthy lifestyle blog.

Christmas Songs Therapy – List of 30

Christmas songs therapy is real. See a balancing list below good for your Ayurvedic moods. Plus a healthy Christmas tree cardamom recipe to balance out the holiday eating celebration. 🌲

christmas songs therapy can come with warm lights and festive concert colors.

You can get in holiday merry cheer with music that brings you back to the warm-and-fuzzy under-the-mistletoe feelings. 🎶 Ed Sheeran & Elton John have a “Merry Christmas” special duet and happy video to watch along to give you just that…

Peppy Christmas music can wake you up and help restore your mind and body’s anxious moods. If you have anxiety, brain fog, or need some joy, you can year-round get instant healing through the power of sounds, to calm and balance.

Below are 30 selected soothing Christmas songs therapy savers to help you relax your worried Vata, soothe Pitta, and wake up your Kapha sides. 🧘🏻‍♀️👯‍♂️

So often we think listening to music is nice entertainment, but it’s so much more as it’s used to heal the mind, body, and soul.

Music will do that faster through the ears to the mind, than food that can take the long route from the digestive body to mind.

And if you have setbacks, looming worry, or stress, know that it starts in your mind and shows up on your body in the mind-body connections.

If you have stress, the first warning signs can be a stress pimple, wrinkles, early gray hair, or other visible signs. And if you’re feeling depressed or the blues, you could hold onto extra pounds.

This is common around the holidays and winter months when seasonal affective disorder (SAD) can kick in.

You hear many stories of heart-related diseases around the holidays. The body usually gives earlier warning signs, but the holidays present a stressful time to many hearts.

So, using Christmas songs therapy and instrumental sounds is one totally healthy and often overlooked preventative way to keep your holidays happy and bright (from the start of the Advent to the end of the year).

Just a few minutes listening can be all you need to restoratively calm an anxious mind or soothe an irritated soul that needs rest and peaceful healing. And on then on the mend you can restore all your anxious, irritated and tired symptoms this season. Take the quick body balance quiz to see what you can do about these sour moods.

Christmas Songs Therapy For Calming Relaxation

Christmas songs therapy includes soothing songs, instrumental, classical music, and calm sounds.

1. Choral Classics (ethereal music) has a way of bringing peace-filled feelings, like the deep sound of a bell ringing that resonates.

When you hear classic Christmas songs in general, like “Noel,” sung by a melodic chorus in synchrony, they provide harmony to your mind. Even in a world of chaos, they can bring a feeling of peace and order, especially when feelings of uncertainty permeate.

2. “Noel” – Lauren Daigle has a modern twist to this classic Christmas song

3. “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” – Sarah Mclachlan (Wintersong Album)

Soothing Pitta From Irritation/Angry Feelings

4. Christmas Canon – Trans-Siberian Orchestra

5. Christmas Jazz – Kenny G Winter Wonderland

6. Dr. SaxLove – Snazzy instrumental saxophone

7. Kenny G saxophone – if you’re irritated, his instrumental music is known to hold the high notes longer that reach and impact your mind in a healing/soothing way

8. Ocean sounds – in real life, ocean waves are moving year-round (something for us to be grateful for as they affect the world climate). I have fond memories of going to the local beach in the winter when it’s off-season (and maybe you do also where you are). The waves are calm, and the beach uninhabited when everyone is indoors in hibernation

9. Tibetan Singing Bowls – these are used to start and end meditation sessions. Yoga instructors use these bowls for intentional yoga sessions. You can feel like you’re in a place of solitude (like monks).

Christmas Songs Therapy For Anxiety

Find indie music and off-beat music and chants.

Get out of the common everyday music and go into worldly music… in America, it’s easy to stick with the popular music bands that are advertised and played over and over again on television, radio, and half-time shows. You’ll get better mind-body satisfaction if you step out and explore other music. For a Vata especially, discovering fresh variety is going to be a breath of fresh air that awakens the mind if there’s a little Kapha going on.

10. “One Toy Solider” song And Winter Came Album – Enya

11. Amaratine Album (Special Christmas Edition)- Enya

12. The Reindeer Room – A Christmas Chillout Album – Most of the artists you won’t recognize but the instrument twists are not your usual beats. They have a futuristic vibe that you may detect. They are remakes of classic songs such as Sleigh Ride, White Christmas, and Little Drummer Boy

13. Gregorian chants that can make you feel like you’ve been whisked back in time

14. Chamber music (Saint-Saens Chamber music) – You feel like you’re listening from inside a music chamber

15. Crystal singing bowls. These sounds are so light and airy and can make you feel enlightened. They’re good to use while meditating or journaling and can be restorative for panic attacks

16. Waterfall or rain instrumental sounds that have varying tempos. Those light background sounds (including fire crackling) can restore stubborn moods

17. Christmas blues songs – unlike jazz, there are greater varied ranges and moods

18. Dee Yan Key – snazzy, upbeat instrumental that you can find in Music Archives to help you create or compose your own music

Waking Up the Tired Kapha or Depressed Mind

Find inspiration and music with heavier beats.

19. “Little Drummer Boy” – Pentatonix

20. “Do They Know It’s Christmas” (1984) – this is an oldie but goodie with a couple of George’s… Boy George, George Michael, Duran Duran, and a bunch of the famous rock singers of the past. So nostalgic (when the Brat Pack on film were popular…I digress), but you just can’t recreate the same 80’s happy music and the time period it represented

…if you start singing along to your favorite songs, you’re doing double good. You can’t be depressed and joyful at the same time. Singing no matter what you sound like, off-key or not, will make you feel better and open up your throat.

Another one…

21. “So This Is Christmas” – John Lennon (if you’re a Beatles fan)

22. Andrea Bocelli – “The Prayer” duet will wake up your heart and soul with the opera-esque components. Andrea’s amazing singing quality holds onto long high notes. Return to Love is a beautiful video where Andrea Bocelli serenades with a chorus, to his wife, that can remind you of fleeting moments. As a blind musician, Bocelli started his young career as an attorney. But he could sense the happiness and smiles that his singing brought to crowds and that’s what tipped his decision to become a professional musician

23. Vivaldi’s Four Seasons is a classical classic, that’s good for balance. The violin in the spring concerto is going to be light and help wake up your senses. Summer is going to be fast and dramatic. Fall is light. Winter is best for Kapha imbalances, as it’s a faster tempo.

24. Another classic is listening to the music from The Nutcracker. You’ve probably seen the dreamy fairy tale performance before and can watch it online. The varying instruments piped into the drama is good for getting your mind out of routine.

25. Bret Eldridge – a cross between a big band, country, and Harry Connick, Jr.-esque. His fresh, modern take on class Christmas songs can awaken your senses

26. “Amazing Grace” – The Il Divo tenors are captivating to watch as they sing their parts of the same song

27. “Hallelujah” – Pentatonix has a chorus that’s refreshing to listen to especially if you’re in a mood funk. It’s like throwing a splash of warm water on your face as the singers echo melodies and imitate sounds

28. “Christmas Tree Farm” – Taylor Swift jingles can be a reminder of a jolly and hopeful time that Christmas is.

29. “Christmas Valentine” – Ingrid Michaelson and Jason Mraz (maybe he can add a Dancing with the Stars dance to his video?)

30. “Please Come Home For Christmas” – The John Mayer modern version with high guitar riffs, Jon Bon Jovi sultry version, or original Charles Brown oldie blues version can bring different moods. See if you can find the version that makes your day a couple minutes happier.

Just remember if you’re fatigued in any way, Christmas-y songs lift up your spirit. They will stay classic, as long as you want to remember them that way. We all grew up hearing the classic songs sung by different artists and repurposing an old song to a new version. Or are sung in collaboration with other artists. New re-made versions and meditative healing music are good for restoring different imbalances that your body is quietly thanking you for.

May your Advent season be happy and bright! 🌲

Print Recipe

Healthy Christmas Tree Cardamom Cookies

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

1 cup flour (coconut flour or almond flour and AP blend recommended for healthy)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup cardamom
1/2 cup softened butter or coconut oil
cinnamon and orange zest (optional for sweetness)

Instructions

Mix ingredients together to prepare cookie dough.
Form a disc and wrap in plastic. Let rest in refrigerator.
Roll out to about 1/4 inch thick.
Cut out tree shape or desired cookie shape.
Bake on cookie sheet on 350°F for about 12 minutes.

3 Thanksgiving Sayings To Adopt No Matter What Age

Thanksgiving sayings are appropriate for this time of year where the holiday can sneak up on us. And I have a cardamom Christmas tree cookie recipe below to get you ready. 🌲

…And then you’ll be prep ready for your Thanksgiving with a ‘lil family and social gathering prep.

Have you heard of the “Three Sisters” dish that’s popular in many cultures. This one is made in dip fashion with: acorn squash, corn, and white beans. Plus rice. This is a good hearty meal to appreciate harvest season and Thanksgiving. Keep the seeds of acorn squash that are loaded with anti-inflammatory goodness. Roast those up for an exceptionally healthy snack when you run out of salty ideas!

Thanksgiving sayings are appropriate for this time of year where the holiday can sneak up on us.

During the harvest season is a chance to be extra thankful, and especially on Thanksgiving. Maybe you’ve been planning a trip for months that you’re grateful for. And thankful or excited that travel or gas prices have come down for once. And you get to take time or a day off. Relative to our lives, there’s always something we can be grateful for.

And wherever you are on Thanksgiving, it’s a great time to take moments to reflect on what’s working (like a healthy body) and what you appreciate in your life. Plus, self-audit how far you’ve come since last year. Each Thanksgiving is a new season of growth.

And one way to grow is to change or tweak up your vocabulary. Often we pick up sayings in culture. Some that are trendy. Like the Gen Alpha kids of today use sayings like “sigma” as the leader of a pack. As the alpha, they may even have a lot of “rizz” or charisma.

Using sayings like these are TikTok culture-based that spreads like wildfire news, but one day those sayings will be replaced.

For those of us growing up in the Gen X generation, we also had come-and-go sayings. Some of them are old-fashioned, but timeless.

They are phrases that are appropriate for Thanksgiving occasions and in everyday life. They will take you far in life if you use them more often…

And when you practice these Thanksgiving sayings in your life, you’re developing valuable communication skills that are well-received across many generations. Especially if you want to be an Alpha. 🧡

The good Thanksgiving sayings have gotten lost over the recent years. This article is a good reminder for developing our healthy personal growth practices (and is timely heading toward a new year).

Good Thanksgiving Sayings

Say thank you. The greatest tip I got early on in one of my corporate work settings is, if you don’t know what to say just say “thank you.” This was in reference to sales work where my job was to talk. And sometimes too much. So using a simple phrase like “thank you” was a good piece of advice.

And that has stuck with me all these years. Because you can’t go wrong with those two words. You won’t regret those words as they are general, but for a specific situation.

And “thank you” can never be said enough. It is timelessly welcomed and always a kind gesture whether you’re passing food around the table or someone does something favorable that you’re involved with. And all the languages I know have an equivalent. It sets you apart as an adult.

Daily, it’s also good to have a thankful gratitude practice. Gratitude opens doors in the morning when looking out the window, in the shower to open yourself up to ideas, or in your yoga pose openers as a few examples.

In yoga, it’s easy to be thankful for what your body can do for you. We can easily take for granted our healthy bodies, but in yoga we’re prompted to think about our every body part including individual fingers and from head to toe.

Say “excuse me.” These days it’s not as usual for people under middle age to say “excuse me” unless they’re an old soul or have learned to say this growing up.

It’s part of the old fashioned etiquette we had when I was growing up that never grows old. When you say those two polite words, they open doors… literally, you walk past others and through open doors with kind gestures.

“Excuse me” is a way to acknowledge someone’s presence in close proximity. And it’s a good self-awareness opener to say when you have a question for a stranger.

It gets attention because it’s polite. Instead of nobody turning their head around, you get the receptive somebody to turn around.

That someone isn’t always in their headset world and recognizes “excuse me” as words in the same language. And they realize that their requested attention is not required.

People who kindly say “excuse me” rarely are annoyances to your day as self-aware.

And those who say “please” are trying to recognize they are making a request. So…

Please say “please.” This word works for all ages. You can use this word on adults… and older children where that reminds them that consideration is not dead in this world. And so, they learn to say please.

I learned this at work when I was still learning the ropes to working with others and delegating. I saw how a simple word like “please” when not overused went over well.

Instead of ordering requests that nobody wants to succumb to, it’s received as a request. And the gift is you get your request.

When you have those 3 Thanksgiving sayings down pat and use in your regular vocabulary, you’ll see your life change.

By demonstrating that you’re a respectful human, there’s a certain level of karma respect you’ll get back from the right people around you.

But the greatest change is that you’ll become calmer and have more peace. No one angry says those Thanksgiving sayings without a sarcastic tone. It takes self-control and when you’re calm, you develop more self-awareness.

And that’s something we have abundant room for in this world, and as you become your best self.

Happy Thanksgiving and abundant Harvest Season! 🦃

These healthy Pandan ricotta iced cookie trees are ever-green abundant as are the pinecones this evergreen time of year. 🌲

Print Recipe

Healthy Christmas Tree Cardamom Cookies

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

1 cup flour (coconut flour or almond flour and AP blend recommended for healthy)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup cardamom
1/2 cup softened butter or coconut oil
cinnamon and orange zest (optional for sweetness)

Instructions

Mix ingredients together to prepare cookie dough.
Form a disc and wrap in plastic. Let rest in refrigerator.
Roll out to about 1/4 inch thick.
Cut out tree shape or desired cookie shape.
Bake on cookie sheet on 350°F for about 12 minutes.

Mountain Pose Yoga Journey For Kapha Stimulation

Mountain pose yoga is a great way to get you into your daily groove in more ways than one.

Mountain steps are often uneven like these where you can practice your mountain pose yoga at the mountain top. — This is a 340 natural mountain step challenge 🎉

Mountain Pose for starters can be a morning pose to wake up your body. You can do wherever you have a floor or ground to stand on.

Standing tall with hands in the air helps additional blood circulation and Ayurvedic Kapha stimulation especially when you’re in a tired season (that can rob any imbalanced Kapha mind-body of excited feelings).

This article is about how to use Mountain Pose yoga this season, both in yoga and climbing your mountain top or hill.

Yoga Mountain Pose

To get the most out of your yoga Mountain Pose, swoop swan dive arms gracefully down like your arms are eagle spanning wings. And then forward fold your hands to your yoga mat or your ankles grounded on the floor. 🦅

And then weightlessly reverse swan dive your arms back up into the air. That’s a good way to be purposeful in your daily moves.

Mountain Pose yoga can be part of your Vinyasa flow.

It’s a way to finesse your ways as you grow, and is a good metaphor for personal growth moves with intentional motion today.

Repeat your Mountain Pose, but next time, coordinate your deep breaths, with inhales up and exhales down in going up and down your pose. This keeps you purposefully engaged from head to toe.

Remember this Mountain Pose and your breath practice when you’re outdoors on a walk, hike, or journey up a mountain.

This outdoor practice is a great way to get energy flowing when you’re lacking energy, need new calm headspace, or just a ‘lil motivational push. It’s great exercise for your entire body.

And when you challenge yourself to get up a mountain if you’re nearby to one, you’ll get all the mind-body benefits.

If you’re feeling tired, stop and take a sip of water to refuel. Look around at your surroundings in awareness and mindfulness. Maybe do your stretching Tree Pose.

“They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” – Isaiah 40:31

Mountain climbing is a great way to accompany a mini-sabbatical journey. What’s interesting about each hike, is that there are different trails to choose from.

And every day, each trail is slightly different because the nature elements change… everything from the trees, sky, and ground you walk and rely on with each step.

Changing foliage reminds us that this moment is just a blink.

When you come back around, leaves and twigs have fallen and flowers and fruit change up the scenery.

Selecting a path or trail that suits you is fun. Take the hike that inspires you or sounds inspiring. The first time will always be a surprise. 🎉

Usually people who’ve never been on a trail, listen to what others have told them who have walked the trail. Sometimes it’s better to listen to your heart and nature as guides instead of other’s opinions.

Because we all interpret differently…

One time, I kept hearing the message about how much more difficult a specific trail would be. That reminds me of younger years when we didn’t have info. at our fingertips.

And so I avoided that one as a first-timer, so I could build up.

And then when I actually did the hike, I found it was the easier one than the long winded one. The “strenuous” reputation trail had hundreds of steps at the end, and that’s what was meant by “harder.”

But, steps to me actually shortcut the climb process because it provides interest and variety that keeps present awareness. So fully engaged, that feels like the process is sped up.

Mindful about your uneven steps, you’re already at the top before you know it.

The alternative is to take a longer trail path without a steep incline and as many steps. And that’s where natural Kapha tendencies differ from Vatas.

Know Your Individual Strengths

There’s a general fork in the road in body types.

Kaphas naturally prefer the endurance exercise which means longer courses and duration over steps that is perceived as work.

Vatas prefer the shorter, variety trail with different interest points that doesn’t seem like work.

And Pittas just want the challenge, so either trail is fine as long as there’s a little sprinting up and down the hill that wouldn’t hurt either. 😉

Each of us have our body strengths.

Climbing trails is an individual journey.

And in each season, we’re holding onto an imbalance even if just a smidge that we can course correct on our individual journey.

The first steps are the ones that can be mentally the hardest to get going on. And a part of you might be wondering: is it too late to turn around?

But when you focus on the baby steps of each step, it’s easier. You remove the blocks. And actually that’s what little kids on the trails do on their steps. They enjoy the climbing challenge and play with the immovable Lego blocks.

We need more of that in our everyday, where we look forward to trying a healthy challenge as part of our play.

It’s great natural exercise in the process.

With every step and turn, you can find your balance and appreciate how your body assets work for you.

Having a nudge motivation like seeing the mountain top view helps us get to the goal. The cherry on the top of the mountain doesn’t disappoint. And that’s a general consensus for all…

The ending is predictable. But the getting-there journey is not. The middle changes as you get different perspectives. And the next time, you’ve grown some. So you see life from a different lens and that can help you maneuver this season.

Balancing Kapha On Your Trail

If you’re needing a little push out of a tired mind that can make a tired body, on your trail, look for pops of color like fiery red leaves in autumn. Or berries on trees.

Wear a pop of color on your arm or shoes… (if you’re drawn to the bright or neon colors, that could be why as your body is intuitive). Just a pop of color though because bees are attracted to bright clothing and mountain air. 🐝 We can share the calm space.

Find a pine cone or forest fresh scent. Some natural bug spray scents have lemongrass and rosemary that help to wake up the senses. They’ll keep the certain bugs away and keep you awake.

Take energy food and water. Great snacks are nuts and energy bites. So, ready to get your Mountain pose on? ⛰️

Print Recipe

Gluten-Free Carrot Bread Squares

Course Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine American

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

1/2 cup gluten-free almond flour or coconut flour
1/2 cup oats
2 eggs
1 tbsp coconut oil
2 tsp honey
1/2 cup raisins and chopped walnuts (optional)
1 cup finely grated carrots
1/2 tsp of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg each (optional)
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Mix ingredients and bake on 350°F for about 40 minutes.