"Fame or integrity: which is more important?
Money or happiness: which is more valuable?
Success of failure: which is more destructive?

If you look to others for fulfillment,
you will never truly be fulfilled.
If your happiness depends on money,
you will never be happy with yourself.

Be content with what you have;
rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking,
the whole world belongs to you."

From chapter 44 of The Tao Te Ching written by Lao-Tau and translated by S. Mitchell

As any parent of a picky eater knows, getting children to eat for health can be a challenge. Check out Sharon McRae's tips for transitioning your little ones to a plant-based diet. 

1. I explained to my three children why we were making the transition to a plant-strong diet. We watched the fabulous movie “Forks Over Knives” together.
  
2. We explored recipes from some amazing recipe books including “Engine 2 Diet” by Rip Esselstyn, “Unprocessed” by Chef AJ, and “Super Immunity” by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, among others, and I began experimenting with new foods with family input.

3. I found delicious substitutes for the kids’ favorite foods. We used Daiya “cheese” initially and later transitioned away from it. See our recipe for pizzas made with pizza-hummus. The kids say it’s the best pizza they’ve ever eaten! And see the recipes for raw brownies from Chef AJ and black bean brownies from Dr. Fuhrman which are all huge hits with the kids.

4. I encouraged my family to help with choosing recipes and with food preparation.

5. Our new kitchen tools include a huge salad bowl, a rice cooker to make big batches of grains for the week, a pressure cooker to quickly cook beans (some of which otherwise take 45 minutes to boil), and for a big batch of some type of bean vegetable soup. A blender makes quick, delicious salad dressings, sauces & smoothies, and a food processor makes bean spreads and nut butters for sandwiches and snacks. 

6. Our motto: Be prepared and plan ahead. Having grains, beans and veggies on hand allows me to throw together a meal in minutes. We always have hummus or another bean dip, nut butters, and plenty of fruits and vegetables in the fridge. We never travel without snacks like fresh or dried fruits, kale chips, hummus and sprouted grain bread, carrot and celery sticks, so we are never caught hungry without plant-strong, unprocessed options. 

7. I shared plant-strong recipes with the kids’ friends when they were here for play dates, everything from kale to black beans, and shared the recipes with their parents. It was good for my kids to be able to share healthy foods with their friends, and that they taste great for everyone! When extended family is over, exclusively plant-strong meals are popular with everyone.   

8. I began sending the kids to parties with a plant-strong dish to share for everyone. I call or email the host/hostess in advance and explain that we do not eat animal-based products, including dairy, and I offer to send the kids with a dish. Almost every time, the dish is a huge hit and the host/hostess asks for the recipe!

​A whole-food, plant-based diet is centered on whole, unrefined, or minimally refined plants. It’s a diet based on fruits, vegetables, tubers, whole grains, and legumes; and it excludes or minimizes meat (including chicken and fish), dairy products, and eggs, as well as highly refined foods like bleached flour, refined sugar, and oil.

(Note: By diet we mean long-term lifestyle eating pattern, and do not promote restrictive short-term diets of any kind.) Learn more about trainsitioning to a whole-foods plant-based lifestyle here. 

Mindfulness helps us put some space between ourselves and our reactions, breaking down our conditioned responses. Follow the steps below to begin your own mindfulness practice: 

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1. Set aside some time. You don’t need a meditation cushion or bench, or any sort of special equipment to access your mindfulness skills—but you do need to set aside some time and space.

2. Observe the present moment as it is. The aim of mindfulness is not quieting the mind, or attempting to achieve a state of eternal calm. The goal is simple: we’re aiming to pay attention to the present moment, without judgement. Easier said than done, we know.

3. Let your judgments roll by. When we notice judgements arise during our practice, we can make a mental note of them, and let them pass.

4. Return to observing the present moment as it is. Our minds often get carried away in thought. That’s why mindfulness is the practice of returning, again and again, to the present moment.

5. Be kind to your wandering mind. Don’t judge yourself for whatever thoughts crop up, just practice recognizing when your mind has wandered off, and gently bring it back.

That’s the practice. It’s often been said that it’s very simple, but it’s not necessarily easy. The work is to just keep doing it, slowing impacting the way you think to attain greater peace. 

How long does it take to make a friend?

According to Cari Romm, "If you've ever gone on a mission to make friends as an adult and found it frustrating, there's a reason why. According to new research out of the University of Kansas, making new friends is actually pretty time-consuming: The study found that it takes 50 hours of time together to consider someone a casual friend, 90 hours to consider them a "friend," and a whopping 200 hours before you consider them a close friend. As they say, good things take time."

Read Romm's full article here. 

Thank you to everyone that joined us for yoga today. Below are the class readings shared related to pursuing wholeness and authenticity to improve quality of life. 

"There is a little voice in all of us that is just a whisper. A tiny whisper. When you go into nature, into the wilds, especially alone, the whisper can come out and talk more. When you are in the city, you always have a list of things to do and think about. You can’t listen to the whisper. But when you are outside, you have much less to distract you. Inside each of us is the spirit that whispers. This little voice is our true self. If we can listen, it will start to get louder. Eventually, that whisper will be our normal voice. That’s when I really live. That is when dreams become reality. When I live from that deep intuitive place."

From Walden by Henry David Thoreau


The Spirit of Wholism

"Just as we need to claim our wholeness and right relationship with ourselves a physical, mental, and spiritual beings, we also need to claim our rightful place in the world as a unique part of a greater whole. This awareness is all but lost in modern technological life. Once our ancestors lived in tune with Nature. They knew who they were because they recognized their intimate relationship to the big, consistent cycles that brought seed in Spring, growth in Summer, bounty in Fall. We Westerners, however, live as though we can conquer and dominate Nature with no detrimental effects. Our technological prowess has led us to believe that we are in no way dependent upon or connected with the great cycles of birth and growth by which our ancestors lived and died. But we are part of Nature, and Nature lives within us. We cannot prosper and remain separate from the natural world, for to do so is to remain severed from our own true natures. If we are to claim our power to heal, we must reclaim our awareness of ‘whole-ism.’ As these fundamental changes in awareness filter down through our lives, we begin to change the way we think. As we become whole, we will begin to question many of our previous assumptions. 

Just as we must acknowledge our need to be good stewards of our physical life-force, we cannot ignore the effect of our emotional life on our health. We can’t expect to be healthy in body, mind, and spirit if we don’t pay attention to each of them. We must give our bodies good fuel and regular exercise. We maintain our mental health by exercising (in other words, acknowledging and releasing) our emotions, and stimulating our minds. We nurture our spirits with music, meditation, or spiritual practice. However we choose to live our lives, we cannot remind ourselves often enough that these three elements - body, mind, and spirit - are inseparable elements of the whole human being."

From Maximum Healing: Your East-West Guide to Natural Health by Mark Dana Mincolla, Ph.D.

Most people overestimate what they can accomplish in a day, yet underestimate what they can accomplish in a month or year. If we apply this reality to change efforts one begins to understand the importance of patience, and building habits in support of incremental progress. 

Especially when you are working towards personal transformation - allowing yourself time, and forgiving the occasional backslide, can be the determining factors for success. Acknowledge that change requires tremedous effort and when frustrations arise all one must do is to keep going, no matter the pace. 

If you feel like you have hit a brick wall with your change project, Thrive Wellness Coaching can help! Request a FREE COACHING SESSION to learn more.