Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Breathing In New Are Life Opportunities

You can start a new season with just your breathing. When you breathe in fresh oxygen, you reset. Your thoughts change with new O2 energy permeating inside you. And thoughts change feelings that bring new life.

That’s empowering… and all creatures are empowered to do what they were created to do. Like butterflies with the purpose to pollinate flowers. 💐

So it’s only natural for you and me to find out what we’re made for.

Taking a breathing reset and pause is where you can take in a moment of reflection. And that brings in new ideas.

Changing of the leaves fall season is such a great time to do this… if you’re a dominant Vata especially because this is YOUR season! 🍂

In an instant, you can change your mindset old ways with fresh ways…

You don’t need new circumstances to change on you for something new.

You create the change that naturally creates a change in you (of what you see, think, and feel).

And this snack-bite blog post is a quick reminder of how you can support and encourage your positive changes through your breathing habits.

…Especially if the season you’re in is tired (stale) or you’re transitioning and feeling uncertain.

Just 5 minutes a day of focused breathing can create positive changes for you.

(But more minutes is better).

And there’s no reason to say no as you only reap benefits. It’s like when you’re taking care of your teeth… is spending extra minutes ever a bad thing?… no. You never regret that.

And as you relax knowing you’re doing yourself a world of good, getting away from your busy schedule to breathe… you gain more benefits.

And less stress that means more ideas coming to and flowing through you.

On your yoga mat or wherever you’re seated, you can decide to let go of what isn’t working well this season with a few breaths.

Exhale out old ideas.

And breathe in new ideas and ways.

You can also do this laying down, standing, or a pose that’s comfortable to you. It’s function over form.

And you can choose from a variety of breathing techniques.

4-7-8, Ujjayi, and Lion’s Breath are 3 effective breathing resets.

4-7-8 is a balanced breathing way that you can do well while you’re standing or walking. It’s a good practice when you’re out enjoying nature and soaking in awareness.

Ujjayi is good for relaxing, clarity, and energy like a matcha drink.

And lion’s breath is good for forcefully expelling out anxiety or a bad mood. It’s an adult way of sticking out your tongue and telling the day and world who’s boss. 😊

Any of these breathing techniques can also carry you through your day so you can stop worrying.

…Because most everything will change around you anyway. It’s better to stay calm and not let situations get the better of you… as those too will pass.

Breathing in new oxygen and energy brings new flowing opportunities from the change of your perspectives. It’s even better than a warming cup of tea.

With energy, you get the oomph to sit optimally and taller. You stretch further and higher, and that spills over into your life where you do and try a few more things that can make all the difference in your life.

You end up giving yourself more space. And love. You go into places you didn’t go or imagine before. It’s like when you get new ideas or feedback from others, except you don’t have to rely on circumstances to fall in your favor. It’s a given.

And best of all, you can breathe intentionally and deeply in your body just where you are. Your body is the only equipment you don’t have to pay for. That you can never forget at home.

Oh, the places you’ll go… remember Dr. Seuss?

Those were the inspiring days when you had dreams and visions of how the future plans could go.

…And they still can go. All is possible.

As long as you’re breathing, anything and everything is possible.

And you have your life as proof.

Breathing deeply into your breathing space today, dreams come alive tomorrow when you enthusiastically believe again.

Today, all you need is to carve out that time. 5 minutes if that’s all you’ve got. And find a ritual that will help you get in your breathing mood. It can be as simple as music, a candle, or opening your front door.

And then let nature do the rest.

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Ragweed Allergies – 8 Ways to Calm

Ragweed allergies and dry symptoms are becoming more relevant with climate change. It’s not just autumn or fall anymore. And while it’s dry out in my neck of the woods, it’s also humid daily. I find dew on my window in the AM. And I’m seeing how this affects my new plant.

We are all part of one living ecosystem. And ragweed season affects our local environment, home, plants, and bodies.

While high humidity is breeding ground for mold toxins. And a dehumidifier would be helpful to smolder prevent.

Because being inattentive can create more chaos in the body than just ragweed allergens.

Fall season ragweed in the air causes watery, itchy and sinus-related symptoms. Ragweed allergies can be often confused for colds and flu, especially with COVID-19 that has similar and often strange symptoms.

They build up to exacerbate Vata, Pitta, and Kapha imbalances.

We’re all made of some amount of wind, fire, and earth in us that need tuning up restoring. If restoration is something you’re needing, you can take the body balance quiz for more awareness.

8 Healthy Ways to Calm Your Ragweed Allergies

1. Steam. Steam over stove with peppermint oil in a pot. Also, releasing a few drops of eucalyptus oil in the shower is good for clearing sinuses.

2. Neti pot. This is by far the best allergy invention yet! By cleaning out nasal passages with natural sea salt and (boiled or purified) water, you can prevent sinus infections. Do this every week at a minimum, but I like twice a week during allergy season (or year-round).

And a natural saline spray can help to clear out the sinuses. This is good for convenience, if you’re super stuffed up, and the neti pot scares you because you think it’ll reach your brain somehow.

Even though in truth, the nasal passage is on a different track, so the likelihood is slim.

But a natural saline spray is still a healthier way than taking daily medicine that accumulates.

And if you want to give the neti pot a try, this is what I do:

I take about 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of natural sea salt and add ½ cup of boiled water. If you’re a beginner, you may want to start with 1/4 tsp salt and you can always add a little more based on the severity of your congestion. You can also buy pre-measured saline packets.

Let the hot water cool to warm or lukewarm. I usually set the timer for 20 minutes after boiling the water for 10 to 15 minutes.

Then you take your neti pot solution and pour it into one nostril, and then the other. Streams of water will come out the opposite nostril.

And you can instantly feel better like I have felt when allergies were getting the best of my energy.

If you’re taking a shower, it’s practical to perform the neti pot regimen there. But over a sink is fine too. Just be sure to have a towel nearby, as water can still run from your nose after you’re finished.

I usually look face down to the floor into a regular or paper towel (afterward), for several seconds just to get rid of any excess water that can be delayed in dripping.

Tip: I don’t do the neti pot regimen if I’m going to a yoga class that day because Downward Dog likes to be downward dripping nose dog if ya know what I mean! 🧘🏻‍♀️ And that’s awkward dawg! 🐶

For cleaning the neti pot: use a small amount of soap as you may not remove every soap trace. There’s also probably still traces of salt sitting at the bottom of your vessel if you use a clay one like I do. Plastic is easier but not as pretty.

Salt is a natural cleaner, so you can rinse with water thoroughly and using soap cleaned fingers or a clean toothpick to remove any lingering residue (as sponges can harbor bacteria).

The time and effort you spend on your entire neti pot regimen is worth it and a TOTAL life game changer especially if you are prone to sinus infections.

You also can rid of uncomfortable tension in the face from ragweed allergy congestion.

3.Apple cider vinegar. When I take ACV, I use an eyedropper in a vial/bottle and add mixed up water with apple cider vinegar that has the “the mother” (milky substance). This is the good stuff that you should invest in for your medicine is food cabinet.

When you apply, put it to the back of my throat to protect the teeth. ACV is acidic but (counterintuitively) good for a high acidic stomach, as it stops the stomach from producing more acid.

And sometimes in the mix of allergy season, there’s chest congestion. That’s when I will boil apple cider vinegar over the stove, and inhale the steam into my chest. This is a last resort as I don’t know about you, but I think the ACV fumes doesn’t agree for my Vata body.

But ya do what you gotta do!

I use the cheap (not organic) ACV for boiling, otherwise the good stuff is wasted.

Apple cider vinegar also helps heart burn feelings (that’s associated with acidity and often eating too much in the acidic foods categories). It’s one of Mother Nature’s gift. Maybe that’s why the super kind has the “mother.”

4.Drink green and peppermint tea. Ragweed often brings on symptoms and headaches that warm tea is good for.

Add raw honey for congestion.

Peppermint tea is good for headaches. Herbal teas are caffeine-free so they are good any time and at bedtime. They also calm stomach aches.

AND for the home, it’s a common bug deterrent.

5.Air purifier. A machine like this in your bedroom where you spend many hours, helps to clear the air some. When you’re laying down, chest congestion build ups easily.

Tip: make sure to get the HEPA level filter for allergens, molds, and spores (much smaller particles to capture than a filter for dust only) that are common during ragweed season.

6.Nettle or turmeric tea. Nettle tea doesn’t have a culinary use flavor, so you can add other tea that will add flavor. With turmeric tea, you can add black pepper that has a synergy effect with the curcumin compound that’s in turmeric.

Black pepper can help you sneeze. And that is our body’s natural mechanism to clear out some dust and pollen.

7.Menthol vitamin drops. If you have sinus pressure, menthol drops are good for the Kapha congestion symptoms and tiredness. Keeping them by your eye drops is a good reminder to take them.

Dry or irritated eyes are a common ragweed symptom.

8.Raw honey. If you find the right raw honey from local beehives, this can help a little or a lot to break up sinus and chest congestion.

It’s also an amazing moisturizer and does wonders for inflammations like itchiness. It’s an anti-bacterial.

…Maybe that helps to look at the sticky goodness and your local bees in a different way? 🐝🍯

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Rocky Road Energy Snack Bar (No-Bake)

Rocky road is a good name for a lumpy and bumpy chocolate, marshmallow, and nut blend. This one has crystallized ginger and a few hidden bears that can make a challenging road over-bearing (!) and even more slippery.

Imagine driving over this rocky road.

And gratefully this is the edible kind… so the rockier and more challenging the better! 😊 One that you can make today.

An easy way to make your rocky road snack is with a setup where you have an easy Silpat (silicone sheet) set in a deeper baking pan that you can easily pull out. You don’t need baking paper or baking spray. This way ensures no sticking and no messy oils. It’s the easy road (if that pleases you).

In mine, I added some of my favorite plain salty satiating snacks like almonds and pretzels. And this one can be more healthy than a nutritional bar because there’s less sugar.

And you can sub or add in popcorn that’s fiber-rich as a whole grain. And that helps offset the happy food like marshmallows or anything with sugar.

But you can keep it low-sugar like I did… where most the sugar added is the healthy kind… dark chocolate and coconut. Sure, there are a few hidden gummy bears, but those surprises are worth the add!

And trail mix blending this all up in a tasty rocky road bar may just be the energy that’s needed to get you through to your next meal or dinner… and especially good for growing people with lotsa burning energy. 😊

In any event, a rocky road bar is a fun afternoon snack. And can be a colorful one that mimics colors and styles that can be found in nature.

Like rarely do you see straight lines in nature. Not even trees. Everything has some bends and swerves because they weren’t created with a straight edge.

A seemingly messy look is natural, as are beautiful curves.

And even man-made roads and steps aren’t straight as they’re built over nature’s bumps and curves.

And that’s okay!… nature is comfort and provides us with the natural (healthy) foods we can use to make a mimicking rocky road or tiffin bar.

They both are “kitchen sink” snacks as you can throw everything in the kitchen in them.

The one here is oozing with ingredients from nature:

Chocolate melted is like pitter patter rain in the mud tracks.

Cacao tree that produces the bean that cocoa is from. And then cocoa (paste) butter is used to make chocolate that looks a lot like the color of tree trunk and logs.

Almond trees provide almonds and almond flour.

Flowers like dried rose flowers after their season has ended.

Palm trees that produce (shredded) coconut and coconut oil that was used to easily melt the chocolate.

Pretzels, oh well are not natural but you can turn into a natural pretzel in your home yoga. And you can keep your rocky road all-natural if you sub in nuts and seeds.

Peanut butter is one you may have to think about… because we see it creamy in a jar, but nature provides peanuts from the ground up. Unlike tree nuts like almonds that grow from drupe seeds, peanuts come from pods that make them legumes. 🥜

Beans and peas are other different types of legumes. They share healthy in common. Plus, a garbanzo bean and a chick pea are one in the same.

I also added some bears to shake things up. This is a happy snack. 🎉 The happy bears at least fit in the nature theme. They add color, fun and texture when you bite into your rocky road bar.

…’Da bears add to daily comfort too (like stuffed bears 🧸).

And after you’re happy with your trail bar, you can take your rocky road bar and make a trail mix by breaking up the bar into smaller, uneven pieces.

They’ll fit right into your natural activities.

You can take them on your hikes in cooler months when chocolate won’t melt.

That helps remind us of season changes and autumn cooler temp relief is near.

Fall btw is Vata season, so it’s common that you crave sweet and salty more. This is when squirrel are gathering nuts. 🐿️ And us peeps are making trails.

With opposable thumbs you can take it a step further and make many one-of-a-kind rocky road bars. The kind that Rocky and Bullwinkle would love.

Look at these oozing delights read to dive into.

Oh, and if you want to amp up your healthy snacks with all-healthy ingredients, then try this chocolate chip coconut bar made with dates, oats, applesauce, and honey.

No-Bake Rocky Road Energy Snack Bar

A snack that's sweet and salty, with texture and the perfect afternoon snack for some energy

Course Snack

Prep Time 20

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

2 oz cocoa powder (or healthy cacao powder)
2 oz natural peanut butter, creamy
1 oz shredded coconut
1 oz pretzels, broken small
2 oz nuts (almonds, peanuts, pine nuts) and/or seeds
4 oz melted chocolate
1 oz gummy bears (optional), marshmallow or healthier dried fruits
2 oz almond flour

Instructions

Add a baking sheet where the sides will come over the deeper baking pan so you can easily pull out. Use a pan at least 2 inches deep (e.g. a bread loaf pan).
Add a layer of almond flour for the base (or a dry powder like cocoa to absorb the more wet ingredients to come).
Pile a layer of the salty ingredients (nuts, seeds, pretzels, etc.). Drop spoonfuls of peanut butter randomly. You can leave looking rustic (like mud in nature) or smear in as another layer with a knife/offset spatula.
Pour melted chocolate.
Add some of the sweet ingredients (shredded coconut, gummy bears, dried fruits etc.) before the chocolate melts. Reserve some of the colorful sweets for the visible top later.
Add more salty and zhugh ingredients you want to see popping out of the bar.
When you're happy with your bar, refrigerate until set at least 20 minutes.
Pull out of the fridge, break or cut into rectangles or pieces. Enjoy! Store in fridge so the chocolate remains solid.

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Awareness Is a Happiness Solution

Awareness is the tool that helps you everywhere in life. No matter where you are. Even looking out at a serene landscape that you appreciate…

Being aware is not just knowing and feeling your surroundings. It’s being present in the moment.

Sometimes the moment is not where you want to be… like the thoughts are sad or you’re not in the mood to do what you’re doing.

There are those times when your present moment is not a good feeling. If you’re hiking, maybe you’re hungry, hot/cold, tired, etc.

And those are all real feelings you have.

That’s very different than the mindfulness you’ve heard where there’s no pain in the present moment current thoughts… only in the past thoughts and in the uncertain future.

And what you do with your initial feelings or thoughs in the present moment, like distracting or focusing on a rare bird that flew by, replacing sour thoughts with better thoughts, or greeting others can change things for you.

The micro step you take to turn your thoughts into positive ones and loving thoughts change the direction of your day.

Like, you think if you finish this task, then you reward yourself… or by doing this, you’re one step closer to a goal. Or letting go of a bad situation you were just in.

Thought and mindset resetting is how you can use your mindfulness and awareness as a successful weapon. It’s simple but not always easy.

Running in the opposite direction is the easiest maneuver as it takes little extra thought, and as a clear better direction.

That could be as easy as switching tasks.

Since we were young, we learned that if we ever saw danger, naturally run in the other direction.

And after you practice with negative thoughts, this too can become an automatic prompting.

Where you snap out of your thought… and that makes you more aware.

That also trains you to observe your thoughts and let go of the ones that don’t help you.

Even though they seem to be nourishing as your thoughts.

Focus on other dominant thoughts.

Look in another direction.

And in your thoughts, think in another direction.

Thoughts are to the mind as visuals are to the eyes.

You observe your surroundings with your eyes and you can observe your thoughts with your mind with practice.

Some people have a photographic memory or they see in numbers or words that scan across their minds.

But most of us can’t see our thoughts.

But imagine you could.

And observe your thoughts in a pause.

Gather how you feel about them for another brief moment.

And decide what you want to do with them… keep or run in the opposite direction.

Either way, self-awareness lets you decide.

Self-awareness is like seeing yourself in the mirror.

And without a mirror, if you imagine yourself and what you look like to your surroundings, then that’s also self-awareness.

That’s the type of awareness that is most useful in this life, so you can better react and respond to situations where others are involved.

And present awareness can help you survive. Like knowing you’re here and something is out there. Or you’re both here at this same place.

And present awareness can help you thrive…

When you focus on, are intentional, and spend more time mindful on an area, you get a deeper awareness.

And that can develop into new ideas and your next step in life.

That’s why it’s smart to spend time in silence with your thoughts so you can become deeper aware about your life.

This is known as a form of meditating.

There is a meditation form where people usually have their eyes closed with the goal to rest from thoughts.

And then there’s the kind to gain insights. That’s the type I do with my eyes open.

Either way, life is in meditation when you pause from the usual thinking daily activities.

I meditate when I’m doing something in the kitchen with my hands or when I’m looking out and up into the sky or a room (like in Tree yoga pose).

For me, meditation is gathering new ideas and thoughts. It’s about downloading insight from the outside realm.

It’s not a ritual escape or a way to de-stress, although it usually happens when my mind is relaxed.

Because it’s hard to focus or meditate if your ego is involved, or you’re feeling anxious or angry about something.

Rarely do new insights come in that way.

As I believe there is a plan for each of us that we can choose to follow and find the optimal meaningful life designed for us, or choose our own path that’s usually more aligned with our culture.

And I found that this life is a choice of finding deeper purpose or discovering without deeper meaning.

And you know which camp you’ve been living.

Deep awareness seekers are usually seeking purpose.

We want to connect-all-the-dots in our lives.

Because we don’t want to misstep and go down unnecessary rabbit trails unless we know they’re for us to go through for a good reason.

At some point, we connect good reason with more meaning to this life than meets the eye.

…What we thought life would be when we were first getting off the ground is not what where we end up.

And then tuned into this awareness, we can get back to finding our core purpose and our destiny.

This takes time. But as we grow, we realize that some things in life like a first or second job is not as serious as we once thought…

Back there.

And now we’re here..

Back there got us to here.

But it was temporary.

And if we’re not happy at our current job or life season that we’re living out, we can remind ourselves (during those tough situations), to hang in there.

This too shall pass.

As we’ve seen in our past.

And if we’re golden happy where we are, we can relish and enjoy the moments to the fullest.

Because soon enough things will change in the future.

So enjoy the present.

In our happiness, we’re making happy memories as we speak.

And if you can find a way to look at and embrace getting up in the morning as your happiest moment… and then finishing the hard parts of your day as a reason to then celebrate, then I think you will know what living full is.

And you can carry that to your next life assignments.

How I like to celebrate in my world is appreciating framed colorful confetti cards that say “Happy Birthday” or similar in various languages.

In awareness, those colorful cards are everywhere when you look around in grocery and convenience stores.

That’s how I can happily change my day.

It’s a momentary reminder that every day is a celebration. 🥳

And maybe that’s an idea for you or someone in your life…

That everyday is another celebration day to add to your birth day.

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Matcha Cookie (No-Bake) – Low-Sugar

Matcha cookie is hard to match-ah. This one you don’t have to bake, tastes great and is low sugar. And sweet tooths, you don’t have to love green tea.

low-sugar matcha cookie - no bake.

And the healthy benefits are BIG and green:

Matcha green powder comes from the chlorophyll pigment that’s anti-inflammatory (along with EGCG catechin found in green tea, some other teas, fruit, wine, cocoa, and most coffee, to name a few sources).

And matcha powder has L-theanine that’s also found in black, green, oolong and white teas that come from the same Camellis sinensis tea plant shown to be good for calming, sleep, and productive mental focus.

The downfall is matcha green powder is not naturally a sweet ingredient, so if you’re not a fan of the bitter and earthy taste… you’ll love this matcha cookie that turns out sweet as honey!

But is low-sugar.

There’s actually healthy honey in the cookie (but less than 2 tsp per cookie).

And you can make this without butter that most cookies are made with.

Coconut oil is a good healthy fat to use instead and is used in the recipe below.

It’s a recipe that fits the easy and fun mold.

And in the mold, you can simply refrigerate and enjoy.

These matcha cookie shaped-as-donuts are delicious on their own (and dare I say more satisfying than a donut! 🍩). But you can try for yourself.

And you can add a strawberry glaze with jam if you like (but is not needed especially if you’re counting low-sugar grams).

…Now we’re jammin’! 🍓

Oh, and if you want to pop these cookies (…yes, they’re cookies!) in the low temp oven and bake these for a little crunch, you can.

But I like ‘em (taste and texture) just as they are as a low-sugar sweet bite with healthy ingredients.

You can also make this matcha cookie gluten-free with buckwheat, coconut, tapioca, or all almond flour as substitution choices.

Since gluten-free flours usually make a more crumbly dough, if you find that happens, simply add a little more coconut oil and/or honey and you’ll see the crumbly bits come together when you press into the dough.

This is as easy as playing with dough and as fun as edible Play-doh!

Low-Sugar Matcha Cookie - No Bake

These are cute healthy cookies that you don't have to bake... matcha that!

Course Dessert

Prep Time 10

Servings 2 cookies

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

1/4 cup all-purpose flour (or gluten-free flour substitute)
1 tsp almond flour
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp coconut oil, melted
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp green matcha powder
1/4 tsp green matcha powder (for dusting/zhughing)

Instructions

Add flour to a bowl. Make a well/hole in the middle.
Add and combine honey, extract, and matcha to make the dough mixture. Tip; Combine with a spoon starting in the middle and moving out so the liquids are incorporated. Make another well.
Heat or microwave coconut oil (for 20-30 seconds) into liquid (if not already). Add coconut oil to the dough mixture warm.
Use spoon and fingers to make a dough. The dough should be a little wet and like Play-doh. The small pieces should stick together easily.
Press into silicone mold (if using).
Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.
Dust with additional matcha powder. Add a a glaze if desired and/or enjoy!

Notes

Tip: If the dough is too dry and pieces aren't combining fully, then add a little more liquid (coconut oil, honey, or extract).

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