Nourishing Newsletter February: Follow Your Bliss

Up Coming Events

Tour of a Health Food Store
Tuesday, March 4
6:30-8pm
at Whole Foods
10th and South

Free for LifeShine clients and a guest, $12 general public
Join us to discover new delicious healthy options!
Please email me at Kelly@LifeShine.net to register.
Let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull
of what you really love.
-Rumi

2008 is in full swing! I'd like to invite you now to take a moment and check in with yourself. Did you make any New Years resolutions? How's it going? If your personal goals have started to take a back seat to the everyday hectic pace, how could you realign with them? Maybe chose one that's most important to you and think about how to break it down into small steps. Schedule a time to do that small step once a day, or once a week. Give yourself credit everytime you do it. Most importantly, chose a goal that brings you joy....

Wishing you health and happiness,
Kelly

Article: "Soul Food"

Think for a moment of a food from your past, one that makes you feel great after you eat it, for no specific reason. Maybe it is macaroni and cheese, slow-simmered tomato sauce, ice cream cones or potato pancakes. Eating food like this (every now and then) can be incredibly healing, even though your rational brain might not consider it highly nutritious.

Food has the power to impact us on a level deeper than just our physical well-being. What we eat can reconnect us to precious memories, like childhood playtimes, first dates, holidays, our grandmother's cooking or our country of ancestry. Our bodies remember foods from the past on an emotional and cellular level. Eating this food connects us to our roots and has youthening and nurturing effects that go far beyond the food's biochemical make-up.

Acknowledging what different foods mean to us is an important part of cultivating a good relationship with food. This month when we celebrate lovers and relationships, it's important to notice that we each have a relationship with food-and that this relationship is often far from loving. Many of us restrict food, attempting to control our weight. We often abuse food, substituting it for emotional well-being. Others ignore food, swallowing it whole before we've even tasted it.

What would your life be like if you treated food and your body like you would treat your beloved? With gentleness, playfulness, communication, honesty, respect and love? The next time you eat your soul food, do so with awareness and without guilt, and enjoy all the healing and nourishment it brings you.

Recipe of the Month

Food Focus: Beans
Beans, or legumes, including peas and lentils, are an excellent source of plant-based protein. Beans are found in most traditional cultures as a staple food, offering grounding and strengthening properties that enhance endurance. They offer a highly usable, highly absorbable source of calcium for the body. A very inexpensive source of high nutrition, beans can be rich, delicious and satisfying,

Lack of sexual energy is often due to overtaxed adrenal glands and kidneys. Beans are notorious for strengthening these organs (ever noticed the shape of a bean?) and can help restore vital energy as well as sexual energy.

Beans have a reputation for causing digestive distress, but this is usually because they have been undercooked or improperly prepared. To help reduce gas-forming properties, soak beans overnight prior to cooking, increase cooking time, add spices like bay leaf, oregano or cumin, or add kombu (a sea vegetable) when cooking.

Recipe of the Month: Easy Beans and Greens
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Yield: 2-3 servings

Ingredients:
1 can of black beans (or pinto, red, kidney-your choice)
1 bunch collard greens (or kale, spinach-your choice)
your favorite toppings, such as salsa, avocado or guacamole, and sour cream

Directions:
1. In a medium saucepan, heat drained beans. Add your favorite seasonings, if desired.
2. Fill a separate medium saucepan with 1-2 inches of water and bring to a boil.
3. Wash and chop greens (you can use the stems, too) and add to boiling water.
4. Cook for 2-3 minutes until greens are bright green and tender. Drain off water.
5. On a plate, arrange a portion of the greens, top with a portion of the beans, and finish with toppings of your choice.

Testimonials
"The first class was very inspirational, and I am doing a lot more cooking for myself. I am actually eating 'real' dinners now, about 5-7 days a week, which is a huge feat for me! If I was so inspired after one class, I know I'll be eating much healthier after two!"
- Alane B.

"Kelly suggested herbs that help me sleep and that virtually eliminate monthly cramps, as well as a vegetable juice fast that helps regulate my digestion and my blood sugar. Kelly is not just a health counselor, she is an 'artist of being alive.' "
- S. Miria Jo, Singer/Songwriter

"Thanks to Kelly, I have satisfied both my appetite and my incessant need for energy! She taught me how to cook nutritious and delicious food, and gave me very helpful tips to sustain energy in order to cope with my busy lifestyle."
- Eynat, Fashion Designer

What LifeShine Holistic Health Counseling can do for You!
- Reclaim your health and happiness.
- Learn to understand cravings and how to disarm them without will-power.
- Lose weight normally and naturally.
- Increase your energy.
- Disease-proof your body.
- Discover delicious health-promoting foods.
- Plan simple, quick, delicious, power-packed meals, even if your time seems limited
- Create a joyful, successful lifestyle with step-by-step goal setting and support
- Become part of a fabulous community of people dedicated to living well
- Let your life shine!