Hello! How is your Personal Revolution going? If this is your first time doing the 40 days, you may have been excited to start, then wobbled a bit on incorporating the program in its entirety. Journaling, yoga, maybe a change in eating practices, meditation, all these things are probably new to your regular daily routine. Maybe you do some of them at times but all four at the same time for an extended period of time, it is a lot of change! I would say do not be hard on yourself if you falter. Get started again. I believe when we are trying to make a change, whether it is change a habit that is no longer desired (notice I did not say bad habit) or add a habit that is desired, you must attach the change to something that is already stable. And a reward system is not bad, either.
For example, I have a hard time incorporating daily journaling into my life right now. I will do the weekly excavation questions in a day or two and then “forget” to do my own daily journaling. Is it because I do not have anything specific to write about? No, it is because I keep thinking I will get to it later. This morning I have already spent time on yoga and meditation and eating a good breakfast. I want to get on with my day. I make excuses like, “Oh, it is partly sunny and not too windy, I have some outside work to do before the rain comes,” or “I am almost out of gluten-free bread, I really need to get that mixed up, I will journal while it is rising.” Lots of excuses but the truth is, I have the time. I spend it on other things. That is the truth. I have been feeling lonely so I check social media quite frequently as a way of feeling connected. I bet if I just sat down and journaled instead of checking FB that it would take the same amount of time. I want the quick fix, though. But that new lovely journaling book reminds me of my commitment to myself.
One of the funny things that happens when you make a decision to address an issue in yourself is the universe seems to come in and test your mettle and also maybe “help” you along. The first week is about Presence and coming into your body and boy, did I get some help in that! My herniated disk flared up and I have been in pain and restricted movement. I was definitely aware of my body! There was no way I could do the yoga practice as described. Instead of foregoing the practice, I adjusted and made a 5 minute practice that I could do several times a day as a way of enticing that disk to quiet down. I learned to adapt and meet the needs of this body at this time. That is perhaps the very essence of this lesson. The second week was a lesson about Vitality. I won’t go into the challenges I faced last week but I learned that my old stories can show up and sap my vitality. I learned how important Presence is in being authentic to my real self regardless of how the day’s events may go.
So this week the lesson is Equanimity. I will be honest, my first thought this morning when I read that was, “Oh shit.” I know that equanimity is a practice of not being over-taken by thoughts, that it is recognizing the ephemeral nature of thoughts and feelings and letting them come and go without fixating on them. I will be diligent in this practice of breathing in and letting go every moment. As Eckhart Tolle says, “Die to the past every moment.” And yes, I do not look forward to the lesson the universe will bring me to make sure I have learned about equanimity. It is okay to feel trepidation, to be tired of being tested and to still summon the courage to sally forth gaily into the experience. Or not so gaily, that is okay, too.
I’m thinking my reward for journaling each day will be a treat of gummy bears. I really like those chewy guys and only eat them on road trips. I have been known to eat a whole bag of gummy bears in one sitting so I will pick some up today and let you know how it goes. Maybe this time will be different.
Here are a few things I have been eating to incorporate more vitality into my week. Two brand new things that have made a huge change in my energy level are using blended cottage cheese in place of many creamy ingredients. My savvy daughter told me about this trick with cottage cheese and I was disbelieving but willing to try it. I placed a 16 oz container into my Vitamix and hit blend. The result is somewhere between sour cream, plain yogurt, and cottage cheese in flavor. I used it in many things this past week, healthy muffins (I will share the recipe once I get it perfected with measurements but as a teaser, it uses cottage cheese and chick peas!), deviled eggs, and a healthy alfredo sauce for steamed broccoli using cashews, cottage cheese, and about a teaspoon of parmesan per serving. Below you can see the evolved-alfredo, the eggs, a bean sprout salad, and quinoa-stuffed peppers.
I have also been using up those hibiscus flowers in several beverages, hot and cold. Below is a simple tea made from the hibiscus and lavender. It is important to use organic culinary lavender in your food and Kate’s Naturals (the link above) is a great source.
And the weirdest food I tried had to be this.
Yes, this was the absolute weirdest thing I have ever tried. It was brought to my attention by my friend through her Facebook share of a post at itdoesn’ttastelikechicken.com on banana peel bacon. What the hell? Well, why not? I spend the extra money for organic bananas, why throw that skin away? I am here to tell you, this crazy thing is yummy! I will play with it more in the near future while perfecting my crazy healthy muffin recipe and get back to ya.
Disclaimer: the Amazon links above will take you to the products I have purchased and recommend. If you follow my link and make a purchase, it will not cost you anything extra and I will get a small commission for pointing you in their direction.
What’s that you say?