Day 18- Embrace your inner “freak” to incite positive change in the world.

“As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same.”
-Nelson Mandela

One thing that I love about a vegan lifestyle is that it's non-conforming.  It’s a personal revolution and utter rebellion to say, “I will not buy into an industry that is cruel, does not care about my health, and is followed as a matter of convenience for most.”  When you order your meal without meat and without cheese, you’ve probably already noticed some of the reactions.  It’s confusion, raised eyebrows, sometimes even hostility – especially if you don’t live on the West Coast, USA.

Freston agrees, “Our challenge as humans is always to love the part of ourselves that is rejected and disowned.  When we come to terms with the part of us that is vulnerable, we arrive at a deeper inner peace, and thus are able to act in the world a bit more peacefully.”

A couple of weeks ago, I was sitting in a restaurant and overheard a young woman saying, “I felt so emotional.  I know, I told him.  I’m so crazy!”  This struck a chord with me as I remembered saying the same thing more times than I would like to admit.  My heart moved for this girl.  Why should we be labeled as "crazy" for letting ourselves emotionally react?  For being ourselves? 

Why do we tuck these emotions, these eccentricities away?  We are all unique, with differing needs, interests, bodies.  Yet, society has groomed us to want to be competitive versions of the same prototype.  It makes us more apt to buy things, to stay in line by striving for sameness, constantly asking ourselves, “Is this okay?  What will they think?”

“The system does not want us to know our own best selves, because if we do we then have no need to buy things that ‘they’ say are worthy and desirable.  Satisfied people don’t buy as much stuff.” – The Minimalist Women’s Guide to Having it All

Let’s stop judging ourselves based on society’s imposed standards.  How about judging based on our own heart’s standards?  Or best yet, don’t judge yourself at all!

I am curvy.  My hair is purple.  I don't have cable.  I don’t eat animals.  I love yoga and find that “church” is on my mat.  Totally weird?  Not fitting into society?  So?  I’ve been exceedingly happier since realizing: It’s my choice how I live; what I wear, how to nourish my body, what’s important to me!   

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” - Dr. Seuss

Today’s yummy recipe is a little bit different, too.  I made it up the other day when I had an abundance of peaches and corn.

Laura’s Fabulous Peach Salsa
3 green onions, chopped small (or 1/2 sweet onion, diced)
½ green pepper, diced small
2 jalapenos, diced small
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
7 peaches, peeled, pitted, and diced
4 cobs of corn, grilled and sliced off cob
Squirt of lime juice
salt to taste (just to bring out the flavors)

Mix and enjoy!

Hint:  You will need more cilantro, green onions, green pepper, jalapenos, and lime for tomorrow’s recipe.

Kathy Freston’s Wellness Cleanse Meditation for Today:
“I open my eyes so that I may heal.
I am ready to confront the darkness within (the parts that care only about immediate or personal satisfaction) and the darkness in our world.  By nudging myself to open my eyes, I will begin to see what needs to shift on a fundamental level.  By healing myself and becoming more aware and thoughtful about my choices, I am also offering that light and healing outward into the world.”

Day 12- Food for your Spirit

“There is a sacrosanct quality to taking something into your body to nourish it.  Treat the foods you eat with the respect they deserve.”- Eat Yourself Super, Dr. Todd Pesek

You’ve made it through eleven days!  We are more than halfway there, and I’m sure you’re starting to feel amazing.  Have you started noticing a more kind, spiritual connection yet?  I know that I was surprised by it the first time I did the cleanse.  I felt, and still feel, more gentle in the world and proud of myself.

“By giving up meat and dairy, you withdraw your support from industries that take a toxic toll on the environment and on the well-being of your fellow humans…By not eating animals, you are reducing the needless suffering that occurs in the world, on many levels.  Whether or not that’s a priority for you, isn’t it nice to know that being good to yourself benefits others?  You’ve arrived at the place where kindness to yourself meets kindness to the earth meets kindness to other creatures, and that’s pretty cool.  Abstaining from animal products is a profound act, with physical, emotional, and even spiritual benefits.” – The Kind Diet, Alicia Silverstone

Kathy writes that by changing a few eating habits, we also align our behaviors with our spirituality, our sense of values.  She encourages us to keep our eyes – and our hearts- open and to think deeply about everything that goes into feeding ourselves the diet that we’ve grown accustomed to.  In this way, we become more conscious eaters.  She writes: “Just slow down enough to ponder the big picture, and soon enough, it will begin to come into focus.”

The reason that I have posted a new recipe every day is to share with you how abundantly delightful vegan, and even gluten-free eating can be.  You have traded in brown and gray colored foods for the colors of the rainbow, for vegetables so delicious they make you crave more, grains that are nourishing and make your body sing, like quinoa and brown rice, new sources of protein like black beans, black-eyed peas, chickpeas, seeds, and nuts.  An avocado can taste like butter and is wonderful on top of spicy, Mexican dishes in place of cheese.  I never used to like green beans until I found the recipes I’ve shared with you.  This has been a great opportunity to reach outside of my comfort zone and to try new vegetables and recipes. 

In Eat Yourself Super, Dr. Todd Pesek writes:
“There is no substitute for home-prepared, close-to-nature whole foods…plant based, nutrient-dense, calorie sparse.”   He also says, “When you love people, feed them.  But only yummy, healthful food.”

Kathy urges us, before sitting down to eat, ask yourself:
How can I eat in a way that is kind, responsible, and attuned to the needs of my body?
What can I do to bring my life to the highest vibration possible?

Kathy’s Meditation:

“I open my eyes so that I might heal.  What a powerful statement.  It means I am ready to confront the darkness within (the parts of myself that care only about immediate or personal satisfaction) and darkness in our world.  By nudging myself to open my eyes, I will begin to see what needs to shift on a fundamental level.  By healing myself and becoming more aware and thoughtful about my choices, I am also offering that light and healing outward into the world.”

It was really hot today, so I was in the mood for a nice, light veggie salad.  This is one of my go-to recipes.

Light Summer Tomato Salad
3 tomatoes, diced large
1 avocado, diced large
½ medium onion, diced or sliced
1 large cucumber, diced large
1 TB Apple Cider Vinegar
2 TB Good Olive Oil
2 TB Fresh Italian Parsley
1 TB dried oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp onion salt
Salt & pepper to taste
plus a couple handfuls of walnuts

Mix together, let marinate for 10-15 minutes, serve and enjoy!



We had the tomato salad with grilled corn on the cob and grilled bell peppers.  Tastes like summer!

Sometimes being Kind is as important as being Present

Because I was trying so hard to focus on being present while my Type A family members were trying to rush from point A to point B while discussing point C, I found myself growing utterly impatient.  I wanted my companions to EXPERIENCE New York City since it was their first time there.  I wanted to “stop and smell the…” ok, in NYC maybe I didn’t want to use the sense of smell as much.

But definitely to linger, to soak it in.  I found myself getting rushed along and growing bitter.

However, I now realize that just because being present was important to me, it was still something that I was struggling with just a month ago.  How could I expect my travel companions to be open to it or even consciously trying to employ it when it was still so new to me and not at all a focus for them? 

What’s ironic and a little bit awful is that I was so critical of how we were losing our experiences in the present moment, that I spent a great deal of time in my head being angry, also losing my own experience.  What I missed was kindness and compassion.  And now I can never get that time back to experience travel with 3 of my truly favorite people who I love dearly.

I’d like to illustrate an experience to give you an idea of what I was facing - If only I had been able to giggle then instead of turn grumpy (another excuse: it was 95 degrees and humid…)

Ahead of time, my mom emailed: “I was told by the hotel that we must be sure we travel only in the YELLOW NYC TAXI CABS.  Not the black gypsy cabs.”  I acknowledged the email, saying, “yes, this is good advice.”

As we were exiting the airport, there was a sign: Ground Transportation.  As we were walking in that direction, my mom said to my aunt, “We must make sure it’s a yellow taxi cab.”  My aunt said to me, “make sure it’s a yellow taxi cab.”  While looking at the sign, my mom asked, “But does Ground Transportation mean they will have the YELLOW taxi cabs?” 

My aunt promptly found someone working at the airport to ask if “Ground Transportation was the way towards the YELLOW taxi cabs.”  We were told yes, go outside the door and you will find many yellow taxi cabs waiting.  As we walked outside, they were still reiterating to each other that we must find a yellow taxi cab.

The line was very long and I saw a sign for another taxi stand around the way.  I decided to go ahead and check it out.  There were yellow cabs lined up all around the corner and very few people waiting, so I ran back and told my mom and aunt to follow me.  The questions:

“Did you find taxi cabs?”  “Are you quite sure they are YELLOW taxi cabs?” 

Exasperated, I walked forward, wordlessly leading the way.  As they looked at the yellow cabs lined up around the block, my mom asked, “But are they New York City yellow taxi cabs?”  I pointed out that they said “New York City” on the side and that they were indeed very yellow.

As I looked around the city, my mom and aunt discussed among themselves how they had to be sure that all of our taxi cabs were yellow…

Looking back now with love, I can see that they were just nervous to be in a new city and they wanted to try to control the few things that they saw themselves able to control for their comfort level. 

The Experience is just as much about not judging everything that happens as it is about stopping to notice and appreciate the moments.