…Maybe that’s how you approach life? Or if it’s a newer concept for you to consider to adopt, keep reading as I share more of my insight on this…
Because every situation is an experience, and is also a learning experience.
The experience is either sweet or bittersweet. But not totally bitter if you have a habit of better perspectives.
…Even in the sour situations where it feels like life is pitted against you from several angles.
Those times are simply tests that if you pass (or get past them as time will do), you become a better person on the other side.
Because life is rigged in your favor.
You come out better on the other side of the storms.
Sometimes getting through takes weeks, months, year, or even decades.
But in the process, for one, you learn how to navigate the stings and difficult situations better for the next time around… whether they are the same or similar situations.
Or you get to help others through their situation, that’s healing for you as well.
Because similar (test) situations often do boomerang back around.
And you get a chance to pass again with flying colors or go through just a ‘lil better than the first or last time when you were possibly blindsided (or in shock).
You become more experienced (and wise if you choose).
And if you look at it that way, no situations are wasted. They help you advance in life… and grow wiser toward your finish line.
And that’s a great goal. 🎯
Stressful or sad situations help you chill out and not sweat the small stuff as much.
You get to learn to let go that can be a long lesson to learn in life, like it was for me.
And to surrender to life, that’s an even longer lesson.
Lessons learned come from being tested.
And if you are, afterwards you get tobecome happier and less concerned with outcomes.
It all works out eventually. Or you work out your perspective.
And that’s your choice whether you want to experience that type of happiness. And sometimes peace.
You decide what perspective you take.
Like in this picture window… you have a choice to focus more on the ornate artful sides or the green landscape?
I first see the ornate artwork in this season of mine.
And you see what’s drawing you in now.
The greenery is real and part of this summer season we’re in.
…And it was during this time that I experienced family loss.
I was provided a bittersweet and sometimes sour situation, and was able to see how to appreciate each day even more from a different lens…
And that season I took to my now-happier season and surroundings.
And you can too.
…Starting with the things in your home.
You and I get to make changes, decorate, or minimize decor.
And that helps you to not let things get stale in how they are viewed.
Because the alternative is getting used to the sights and sounds around you… and that is not living appreciatively when you don’t see or hear attunely anymore to those gotten-used-to things.
That naturally happens over time, and is how this life is… and also the way we’re wired to see and feel unless we do something to snap out of those stale default ways.
The opposite way that you can activate is by appreciation. This allows you to fill up with gratitude, and that can easily carry over into other areas of your life with positive impact.
It’s a sensitized feeling that comes from humble meaning you put to your thoughts that affect your feelings.
Being sensitized and also changing up your unwanted or negative thoughts (about our situations), can 100% change your life today.
And that can start from finding passion in aspects of your life, like taking care of what you have.
Stewarding is managing what you have (and not taking for granted).
That way, one day you will pass what you’re still stewarding onto someone else or other people who will be the beneficiary.
As the benefactor, you can decide what you pass on. It’s a gift.
By finding things and assigning to people who would appreciate, you get to appreciate in the journey and in the meanwhile. That’s a complete winning score. It has a lasting effect. And you grow and get more.
Plus, the experiences you amass in the process, help to make you a better person. You can heal in breathing fresh air, or the feeling of closure and moving on.
Those moments can be peaceful and centering, like sitting in a waterfall centering room like this.
Where moments are experiences. And taking on living each day not wasted has new meaning. And that is a cleansing cathartic experience in itself.
Wherever you are, give it a go today! 🎉 You’ll be glad you did.
Guilt is not a good feeling. But subtle, it’s often missed and takes away from happiness. So recognizing it exists in your life is helpful so you can then replace the lesser feelings with higher ones.
Guilt shows up in so many different ways in each of our unique lives.
But in common, so often guilt arises from the upbringing ingrained in you from childhood.
It’s not easy to shake off.
Early on, you were limited in the changes you could make. But today you can and should make the necessary changes for a happy life that free you and make you unstoppable.
Because guilt can have a dark cloud grip on your life.
I realized this in my own life…
When I was younger, I enjoyed reading. And I felt guilty being cooped up inside under a reading light instead of playing outside.
I felt disciplined but I also felt the pressure to be a more social kid.
So I was at odds about enjoying learning when it wasn’t cloudy outside.
Then all grown up, I looked back and realized I love learning and growth that I had set myself up to do from a young age.
And today I’m still all about personal development that to me is living life to the fullest potential.
And I’m sure when you look back in your life, you can see some of the sacrifices you made that help you today!
Even though while going through those times, it probably didn’t feel that way.
It felt like pressure.
That’s where you and I learned and felt the concept of guilt from an early age.
And in Brene Brown’s Daring Greatly, she teaches that guilt is behavior-based and feeling like “I did something bad” while shame is identity-related and “I am bad”.
Both live in the mind but are changeable in our thoughts.
But guilt subtly creeps up in today’s thoughts. And the dots are not connected to the root.
…And that robs daily joy.
It’s not easy to let go of those guilt feelings from the past that apply to your situations today.
And if you were able to le-go of the ego then that would be easy.
But none of us can do that as part of our makeup and built-in equipment.
The ego (or my new made up French word l’ego) can play any of us all day in our thoughts if we allow.
Like in the example I gave of…
When it’s nice weather outside, I still feel those initial guilty feelings that I should be outside.
That developed in my inner child.
I initially almost wish that it were rainy or cloudy out so I didn’t have to worry I’ll regret or miss a beautiful day.
And something as simple as that is how the brain can get stuck if allowed.
But wiser and more evolved, I take those feelings and replace them with better ways and thoughts, so I feel accomplished no matter where I am… indoor or out.
I change my perspective with my thoughts.
I find something positive about my choice.
It’s a fight with the split mind (that we all have), but replacing those lesser thought-feelings with something better and higher is how to change those ways without looking back.
…And make decisions quicker without second guessing.
You learn that your mind is not always your friend.
There’s you.
…And then there’s your mind.
That’s in your body.
So aware on that (as observer to my thoughts), today when I’m inside on a full blue sky day, I crack open my back door so that I can feel the inside-outside living.
Problem solved.
And I give those guilty feelings an ‘ol heave-ho back seat.
They no longer exist until they pop back up another time. And then I’ll rinse and repeat the same or find an even better way.
It keeps getting better until the guilt no longer has you.
That’s aspiring, yes? 😊
And well, I know since you and I have the same human mind instrument, you can do the same for your guilt areas!
…Where you already have all the answers inside you to change them to positive or loving thoughts.
So, now to make yourself aware, all you’ve got to do is figure out: what areas in your life do you hold guilt for?
Because they’re there.
And when you bring them to view when you’re not impacted, you are prepared to address them when they show up again. You’ve got this!
It probably takes a ‘lil intentional thinking initially, but if you can capture what you are still holding onto as guilt, you’re well on your way to replacing them and putting them to rest.
And how I concretely know that for you (as well as me) is that our ego is where these fuzzy areas are lost and stored.
That’s clear so you and I can be on guard.
And when the triggers and thoughts are brought back in the same fuzzy manner, you can de-fuzz them at the gate!
We all have an ego (just like we all have a brain) and it never goes away. And we can protect ourselves from the daily damage.
Keeping our thoughts healthy is the way to empowered happiness.
And awareness is always the first step.
So on that best self-aware intention, if your lingering guilt is from not doing something where you had been asked to, another good step is to ask yourself: why don’t I want to do that?
Because doing what others want you to do isn’t always your best.
Usually there’s a good reason foryou choosing or wanting to choose another route. Because you and your inner self know better what you need in your life.
And sometimes at odds, you don’t know why you made some choices until you look back.
Trust yourself and signs you get in this life as life tries to route and re-route you. For Your Best.
That’s the better way than doing everything you plan out of fear or a roadmap someone else laid out for you.
Getting over the guilt of letting others down is sometimes all that is needed from you to get past feeling bad… that can easily cross into the boundaries of shame.
…Or lead to a pity party.
Clearly and intentionally justifying your reasons turn the love back to you and makes whatever you end up doing even more compelling-worthwhile.
Because you and your ideas are worthy and should never be discounted because of others.
And you should always be able to look at yourself in the mirror and say, “I am worthy” no matter what’s going on around you.
That could be a good place to start.
And you can make what you choose (sometimes against what others say) to be your greatest weapon advantage.
Replacing your guilt feelings becomes your new-next growth level.
You teach yourself to evolve into better and higher ways that helps your life. And helps you not miss a daily happy beat.
That’s the next level challenge to beat.
And if I can do it, I know you can also rise to the occasion.
Living happy and with no regrets in mind is worth the effort.
And always remember, you and your life are worth it! 🎉
Fika is a concept in Sweden for a coffee break. And that in America has gotten smaller as coffee is all-day brewing.
This was a cappuccino Fika moment ☕️ I enjoyed in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Fika has grown to mean so much more about life.
Especially post-2020.
Those humbling, bittersweet years wherever you were on the planet grew you no matter what age you were.
We can now all look back…
To then when you got more you-experiences discovering more about yourself with change of routines… and as you interrupted your usual patterns.
And in more recent years, you found your groove back and learned tips for healthy balanced living.
You and I can appreciate what we have better, today.
You can now live the 80/20 real life vs. digital world that we dreamed of and no longer in Zoom fatigue settlement.
But those growing years gave us new insight. You don’t wanna lose all the good you developed from 2020.
And you can lean into a couple Fika points reminders:
-still slow down and make time to take a daily break (you can use you won’t get this day back as a self-reminder). Slowing down allows for new ideas to break through from the space break opportunity you carve out.
-appreciate daily simple joys and small happy pleasures (…maybe sweets 🍥?), healthy snacks and beverages.
Ok, one more…
– maintain some quiet time that can include reading, journaling, yoga, meditation, or enjoying sitting still with a cup of coffee and your soul. And if you dare, listen to your spirit.
This gets us away from love and into the noisy gong and clanging cymbal of the world that’s full of fear.
Silence is where you can hear the love whispers that’s inside each of us.
And then breaking out of silence or Fika moments, you want to immerse yourself in life to appreciate life.
You may have remembered not too long ago when an employee usually older than you said they were going on a coffee break and then disappeared.
That idea disappeared…
And so did the idea of driving out of your way to find a pot of coffee in America. It was helpful not to be a coffee drinker as you’d be in a diner or a 7-11. Coffee was more a morning ritual only.
These days coffee counters are everywhere in any metro suburban area, so people have re-appeared and coffee culture is running all day.
…Sometimes we even spend all day at a coffee shop balancing real life and our devices that we’re on. The digital nomad is not a new concept and finding fika is a way of living.
Years before I took on this lifestyle, I was getting inspired sitting and people watching where some of the famous writers like Ernest Hemingway and Jean-Paul Satre sat in a famous cafe.
That was doing fika compared to people hovering over a coffee machine that has replaced the office water cooler.
These days in America, everyone is armed with their own water-filled water bottles.
And then back at home…
Making coffee is a Fika opportunity to slow down and feel joy breaks.
Coffee caffeine is especially a healthy energy alternative to caffeinated sodas that have too much unhealthy sugar.
But I think it’s good to get the sugar hype out of the system when you’re younger when your body isn’t so critical about what you consume…
Sodas was my breakfast starting out journey… that was later replaced with morning coffee and writing that aligned hand-in-hand with blogging. 📝
…And I’m sure you have your own beverage journey that aligned with your growing ways.
My daily routine is cold brew as less harsh/lower acidity and less bitter if that matters to you and your body. Cold brew vs. iced coffee are not the same thing.
It takes about as much effort to make a. cup of cold brew (as using a coffee machine), so maybe that’s something to consider. 💭
…Or maybe that could have been a similar story line in your green tea journey where you didn’t start off liking the bitter leaves.
…and now can tolerate (or prefer with your 180 degree changes as you change… or since your tea was better prepared in the lower 180 degree water temp 😀).
Which btw if tea is your jam, a tea break or afternoon tea is another Fika way to slow down. It’s not all about coffee anymore.
You can add Swedish-inspired savory Fika smorgas (open faced sandwiches).
You can make a healthy microgreen einkorn sandwich bread platter version mixing the growing microgreen culture (that I barely remember grew outta the alfalfa sprouts craze 🌱).
In catering, we called these finger sandwiches on a platter that always were a hit. The crusts were cut off.
And for similar effects, you can also leave the sandwiches open (smorgas) for less bread ratio.
Smorgas is different than a smorgasboard. That means sandwich table.
…Which wich is not just one sandwich!
Smorgasbord today as we know is a buffet (table) in American culture.
That’s the more-is-more approach.
With Fika, you can master the art of enjoyment that leads to contentment, and appreciate less-is-more with a light and balanced table.
Blend this with coffee culture and tea blends, and you have a daily reason to celebrate… and be grateful for the simple things that happened (and the bad ones that didn’t).
How to soul search is something I know a lot about as I’ve been doing it all my adult life with the core question in the back of my mind: what is this life really about?
Because on a deeper level, it’s not about our jobs, relationships or families.
They may consume parts and most of the time in our lives.
But we (you and me) are the most important part of our lives.
Because we’re the only ones we’re responsible for in the end.
And our best life is about our growth journey… and who we become.
A decade from now you won’t care as much about what you did this year compared to who you’ve become 10 years later.
As we grow older, we’ve acquired more earthly proof in our experiences that nothing stays the same and experience impact fades… and we have chances to make big differences with change today and in the years we have left.
For our sake and our planet’s sake.
It’s individually up to us to crack the code of how to optimize this life and find meaning.
And I believe it’s through how to soul search in our lives.
…Because the deeper life answers are here and the mysteries of life are discovered there.
We don’t have to travel anywhere to discover what we need, so each of us has the same opportunity (that has no cost).
The universal core truths of why we’re here have stayed the same, while everything on earth changes.
Today, you’ve figured that out or like every person in every generation that gets to sooner, later, or not if you so choose.
Ultimately it matters because it’s not all up to you or me on how things turn out.
….It’s also not up to our bosses, parents, or anyone else that makes influence in your life even if they’re the loudest in our thoughts.
Then who is it up to?
Figuring out this life’s meaning I argue is the best way… choosing to agree with this life’s terms vs. fighting against it is the happier path of aligned purposed living without regrets along the way.
I was lucky to have discovered these life secrets on my journey and happy to share my how to soul search discoveries with you.
…That mind you, came after making many re-routes I took that helped me form my thoughts.
Because I had none of the answers taught to me growing up or in my 20s getting my feet off the ground, so I had to follow my blind instincts.
And that led me to unchartered wilderness places that would eventually land me into bigger and better places.
All those experiences helped me out and I know the Universe guided me along. I found my spirit before I found how to soul search.
My gut instincts came from an invisible hand giving me the blessed upper-hand in my situations where I was meant to go.
And that’s what’s daily playing out for most of us if we’re paying attention and open to the idea of miracle possibilities and forces greater than ourselves.
But when I was younger, I didn’t know all this.
…I just knew I couldn’t wait to grow up and be on my own.
I relied on the hopes of a better future and if it’s meant to be, it’s up to me.
I didn’t have role models other than distant ones in magazines.
I lived on the surface. I never delved deep in my soul.
Then living as a young adult, I discovered everything in my life was wrong…
I had problems in every wheel of balance area of life… from my difficult work struggles, unhealthy and rocky relationships, and financial woes looming over my life that eventually caught up with me.
Those were the buckets that mattered most at that age in my life that I was juggling.
My life was completely off from the happy life I wanted. I was far from knowing how to soul search.
It wasn’t what I would have hoped for life would turn out to be dreaming of freedom as an adult.
…And if any of this hits a chord with you or problems are what you’re going through now, believe that your struggles will make you better and stronger on the other side.
You’ll be better off in your future because of your problems, (after you’ve processed what you went through). You’ll learn about deeper parts of you and how to search the soul.
And if you lean into your wiser soul better-half guide inside you (also guiding your heart), you’ll get your higher calling answers in your life… the better and deeper answers that are not the same ones you started off with or initially fear about daily from the “rational” brain.
Or irrational mind… that not going to help with how to soul search.
Wise soul plans are subtle in thought and can take years in the making to manifest.
When older people tell you that life gets better it’s because they’ve found the better ways of life through life.
And leaning on their confidence, you can gain wisdom and get there sooner rather than later.
I’m grateful my life has turned out that way.
…I felt like I was once a crawling caterpillar that grew into a butterfly. 🦋
But before I got to the life gets better part, my idea of a happy life had to go awry so that I could struggle, survive, and get out of the chrysalis to thrive.
Looking back, I had to go through the process of those messy and tough seasons for my own good and growth to come out another way.
But those early years, I was crushed.
And every year I was sad and hit with the winter blues.
Nothing changed quick enough.
I had no idea what I wanted to do after I graduated college with a business degree (because I liked businesses).
…Even though I was so sure of my marketing major I chose.
But there was a disconnect of real life from the college life bubble of learning theories of economics and how to market goods and run a business.
So like most people, I did the next best thing: I got a job.
And starting with my first career, I had problems at work that I had never heard of before from my friends and peers.
I was isolated because I didn’t know others who worked in the hospitality world (other than the ones that were in the same workplace I was).
In my bubble, a few months after starting I knew there was something wrong when I learned women in my office were harassed.
Made sense why they were all attractive with a Barbie dress code to match.
Then I realized that was me too.
This was decades before #metoo.
It wasn’t too long before I moved on into greener pastures.
I felt like I had made it as a catering manager with a better title and my own office… but it wasn’t long before my dream job landed turned into another work nightmare.
Your work life is only as happy as your relationship with direct bosses. That’s where I ran into troubles.
Those couple of years sitting next to the hotel brand’s bag of signature chocolate chip cookies only made me tougher.
I became a tough cookie even though I stayed soft and chewy outside. 🍪
Shaken by a sudden panic attack one day in my office taught me valuable lessons.
For one, I am not in control of this life.
…And I didn’t have it all together despite what my ego told me.
It took many more years of work experiences to make impressions on my soul, one traumatic event after another…
…from anger management bosses to micromanager and bullying managers.
Working in different toxic corporate management situations, I now know the root cause.
…and it’s the same one at the root of all human problems.
The ego is at the core of all relationship issues, arguments, misperceptions, and people acting out.
Same problem.
Different responses.
Humans aren’t looking eye-to-eye in their mind. It’s like the Tower of Babel where people are suddenly speaking different languages.
But back when I was in the work situations, I didn’t know any better.
I took what came at me at face value to survive and hold the job.
And for decades working in corporate office places, I wore rosy glasses thinking and hoping there were better places out there.
But job after job, I was disappointed.
Good people are there, but the egos show up and dominate.
Some places were downright miserable and the best ones didn’t last.
Everything changed eventually…
And I realized a forever dream job is a myth.
You can stay to retirement and be miserable and luckily I never got that opportunity. I got pivots instead.
Gaining this clarity from many work experiences helped shape my soul and I learned how to soul search from that standpoint.
And leaving the corporate world was my launching pad.
First off, I learned what the soul is…
The soul as witness to life is the part of you and me that is not on the surface.
But it’s not that deep below the surface either.
When you bare your soul, you’re sharing your authentic feelings and thoughts based on our opinions, personality, and interpretations.
Our soul are our deeper thoughts from our mind, will, and emotions that often gets confused with our spirit.
…Or our Spirit.
Our Spirit is a separate ethereal being inside us (and around us inside other people).
Spirit-thoughts are not our generated thoughts, but become our thoughts.
If you’re Christian, you’re familiar with hearing about the Spirit or Holy Spirit… even if you don’t know how that plays a part in your daily life today.
And that’s how it was for me before my spiritual intervention.
…I have enough to say about it now that I could write a book on the topic as someone living a faith-filled life. 😊
But I didn’t start out that way.
I was not born a Christian.
And I didn’t grow up in church.
How To Soul Search From Situations In Your Life
I became God seeking when opportunity arose and problems grew.
That started in those hotel working days in my 20s when I looked down at my body and everything was there.
But inside I knew something was missing…
Years later, I discovered the spirit first that was one way into finding my deeper soul.
Another way that supporting this was never feeling permanently satisfied in life.
So many moves and moons later, I gradually found my soul…
Along with my purpose and daily happiness that came as side gifts. 🎁
They were daily motivational keys 🔑 that unlocked deeper understanding of my soul.
Living a more emotionally and healthy balanced daily life created the growth foundation.
For me, that included lots of healthy sweet food inspiration (like the healthy baking recipes I share on this blog 🍥).
That was around the time my purpose started to shape up.
One day, I dedicated myself to the craft of writing: something I never dreamed of or sought to do before.
And I never stopped.
Balance and purpose were the keys that gave the most satisfaction and clarity to my life.
And those could be for you too…
Trying different things will help you to discover your purpose(s) and maybe some hidden talents along the way.
If you use your today gifts and talents to develop a craft that becomes your practice and purpose, you also develop more useful skills.
All that helps you to align to find your deeper purposes and eventual destiny.
I’m still in the deeper purposes part of life and I look forward to destiny when it’s time. I know it’s there.
And if you don’t know where to start, start with a passion and look at where you spent time in the past you enjoyed or were curious about.
Example: I worked with food as a passion that never died, so it’s no shock that I create and share daily healthy recipes today even though I had no idea I would. That came years later.
Because I didn’t know I would do anything with food outside of the hotels and restaurant life I worked in for a decade.
Purpose and Soul Searching
That’s how purpose works…
You remove the outer self wrapped in pride (a form of ego) and you’re left with purpose.
Purpose is deep and daily happiness allows you to keep productively going and growing.
Then you’re left with a deep satisfied feeling that you often don’t get with life living on other people’s terms.
You’re emotionally freed up and have the headspace to be creative and innovative. Not the busy and anxious go-go-go ego environments of Corporate America.
Then being calm, creative, and satisfied-minded, you can minimize yourself and your needs and wonder more about possibilities.
You get and naturally want to explore more of who you are as a creator and spiritual being.
Feeling more inspired, you can more easily grow your deeper soul and parts inside you that you never knew existed (where there are beyond and abundant possibilities).
…That’s where dreams can manifest into real life.
Plus, more cool stuff in your life.
And remember, that can all start from life problems turned into blessings.
Gut health is something that rules our happy life. This article is about reminders and what you can do about keeping the gut happy.
…And fermented foods is one way that makes for your healthier and happier life! 😊
Easy steps to make sourdough for gut health. 👣
Like, baking sourdough is one way to take healthy measures to get a happy gut. And a great new year initiative. 🎉
For one, making sourdough is an immersive experience to learn about what fermented foods are.
In the process, you see how easily bacteria in the air (that we often avoid) is created and grows, and these become baked-in prebiotic foods to support our healthy gut bacteria.
I learned about these sides researching and writing articles for health and wellness publications… and going through the baking experience myself like so many during the pandemic.
Sourdough was a trend and maybe still is with you. 🥖
…If you’ve never tried making sourdough, it’s much easier to make (and regular bread too) than it sounds.
Actually… it’s sooo easy in steps, that it fits on the small square infographic image above that I created. ⬆️
…And that’s just one way to promote gut health.
A healthy gut is a happy life connection.
…Where remember, over 90% of the happy hormones (serotonin) is made in the gut.
So if you have a less-than-balanced gut, then the happy moods can subtly run off… but often can be mood restored with TLC (self-care) and Ayurvedic restoration if it’s not caused by a health issue.
…If you don’t know why you have a sudden chip on your shoulder or are more emotionally lately, gut health could be one reason.
So it’s good to ask yourself:what have I been eating lately? And what in my life and lifestyle could have brought this temporary mood on?
The mind-body connection is as real as the happy gut health connection.
And if it’s lifestyle or mood-related, you can get your healthy and happy gut back on with some tweaks…
Eating more fiber from mostly veggies and fruits for morning starters is a good move! 🥕🥦
The fiber ones that are non-digestible are prebiotic. There’s a subset of plant-based foods or produce out there that qualify. 🍏 🍌
Prebiotic foods such as asparagus are abundant in spring. And garlic and onions peak… (see these ones peeking out here 🧅).
Along with probiotic healthy bacteria (like that found in Greek yogurt), prebiotic foods will encourage more good bacteria.
And so, mixing your banana (prebiotic) and Greek yogurt (probiotic) is a good idea. And when you add nuts or seeds and whole fruits, that makes a gut smile even more.
Starting your morning habits after a tall glass of water or ginger water sets you and your body on the right foot.
You can prevent leaky gut, dysbiosis, SIBO, and IBS caused by food habits.
Encouraging good gut bacteria growth in the body is similar to supporting positive, loving thoughts in the mind where you want to crowd out the negative, bad ones.
✋ Avoid Reminders:
Antibiotics destroy the gut microbiome and changing gut health flora. Take antibiotics when absolutely necessary.
Such as, most people wouldn’t take antibiotics for a common cold virus (as it wouldn’t help and is not necessary).
But it’s common to take antibiotics prescribed by a doctor as precaution for a growing bacterial infection. And supplementing with probiotics (including yogurt) help to support the gut damage.
If you think of a healthy gut like a well-run garden (vs. an unbalanced jungle that can turn into weeds ), then you have a good mental picture of healthy balance vs. dysbiosis (gut imbalance).
…And you’re the gardener. 🧑🌾
Avoid the skin on foods that are non-organic.
Skin has nutrients but a lot of the modern healthy foods we eat today are sprayed with toxins in the process that negate the benefits and damage the gut.
So eating skin on certified organic foods or ones you personally plant and care for is the only real way to be safer in protecting your gut microbiome.
Stress is a killer. Our bodies naturally clean and detox during sleep, but stress puts wear and tear on our body’s natural defenses and adds a strain on its healthy housekeeping.
Avoiding stress at all costs is the best way.
With stressful seasons and situations that you experience, take daily deep breaths.
It’s amazing how the world looks different after a few deep breathing exercises like: Ujjayi, Lion’s Breath, or 4-7-8.
My favorite way is getting on my yoga mat to let the world and stress melt away. 🧘🏻♀️
The story of your stress is displayed in your gut, starting from cravings and what you eat… down to how food is digested and how it determines your bathroom life relative to other days and seasons.
The moods you think you’re feeling may not be the one your body is actually experiencing.
Remember, you are not your body or mind, but they are part of you.
You can tell signs by what you’re drawn or repelled to in foods, scents, and activities. That’s one way Ayurveda is useful to daily, modern life so you can make changes.
And that’s why I was hooked after I learned about the science …as we’re not prisoners to our situations and moods that are served up… we’re empowered to restore to our healthy and happy, best life and season.
…And we’re better off for it in daily joyful living and living healthy longer.
You can restore your moods and gut in one-fell swoop effort with your healthy moves when you know what to do (and then do it).
Mood foods are a good way to start and most fall in the anti-inflammatory food diet categories that’s catching on.
Anti-inflammatory foods are the ones I focus on, as I found on my healthy living journey that they matter most.
They help to restore gut balance and bigger picture… they’re known to prevent certain common chronic diseases like heart diseases, Diabetes, cognitive decline, and certain cancers.
You can find anti-inflammatory profiles in many beverages, spices, and colorful polyphenol-filled rainbow foods when you look around. 🌈
…Like this butterfly blue tea drink filled with quercetin and other antioxidants that I made from bags of tea I purchased.
Keeping a daily happy gut with anti-inflammatory plant-based foods and creative healthy beverages, you live comfortably, have more energy, and get to fulfill more each day.
…Now that’s something to look forward to! ✨
One gut health pairing idea: a pear granola crumble (substitutable with apple) that’s tasty happy pair-enhanced with cinnamon. Use Ceylon cinnamon for additional anti-inflammatory benefits. 🧡 😋
