Fasting serves to give the body a rest from the constant cycle of digestion. It also invites you to turn inward – initially to conserve energy. But this, in turn, gives rise to self-reflection and inner awareness.

What? No Food?!?

I’ve done several fasts. And yes, getting used to NO FOOD can be a challenge – especially the first time. But the rewards? Well, let’s just say they well outweigh the temporary discomfort of not chewing for several days. Usually I drink more than water though. Sometimes I’ll do vegetable juices a couple of times a day. Other times I’ll have one plain, raw salad (plus juices). And still other times I’ve gone for a big, 7-day detox at a retreat center, complete with twice-daily colemas, fresh coconut water, herbs, massages and saunas. A more stringent fast, to be sure. But the benefits of being in a supportive environment where everyone is fasting makes a huge difference in sticking with the program and then, the all important breaking of the fast.

Check out this short interview with Sheldrake on the effects of fasting …

Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s been a few years now since I’ve actually done a detox retreat and my body is definitely saying “it’s time!” So I aim to head out to my favorite Spa Island in the tropics this spring to do just that – yay! Now, my question for you is: Have you ever done a fast and detox? Would you?

Many blessings,
Dawn

But if you’re seriously committed to make change – at the New Year or any ole time – then these 6 tips from The Daily Muse’s Lisa Eisenstadt will help. I found this in the Huffington Post, and am reprinting the whole thing here for you

New Year’s Resolutions: How To Actually Keep Them

It’s almost the New Year — the time to reflect on your aspirations and set meaningful goals to improve your health and happiness. Which sounds great, right? But how many of us actually keep our New Year’s resolutions past January?

Not many, according to a study by author and psychologist Richard Wiseman. His research found that 52 percent of resolution-makers were confident that they’d achieve their goals, yet only 12 percent succeeded. What was the secret? Those who took meaningful steps to achieve their resolutions — setting step-by-step goals or telling their friends and family, for example — were far more likely to achieve their desires than those who made no specific commitments.

So if you really want to see results this year, it’s critical that you set your goals with sincerity, and set yourself up for success. Read on for six practical tools for making realistic, attainable resolutions — and actually sticking with them.

1. Get Specific

A common mistake people make is setting big, nebulous goals like, “I’ll be healthier.” Instead, make your resolution specific, with a tangible, achievable outcome. Rather than saying, “I want to save money,” determine how much, exactly, you want to save. What are you saving it for, and what will you do once you hit your goal?

Then, visualize what good will come when your goals and desires are met. What does it feel like? What does it look like? It also helps to have something simple, tangible, and positive to repeat to yourself over and over again. “I will be able to run a 5K because I’m healthy and strong,” is not only positive reinforcement, but it’s a quantifiable goal that you can check in on and make your reality.

2. Write it Down

Write down your goals and outline the small, manageable steps you’ll need to take in order to achieve them. If you set a big goal — say, learning a language — without a step-by-step plan, it can be overwhelming and trigger frustration or negative thoughts that get in the way of your success. But by planning and accomplishing one small thing at a time, you’ll stay on track, focused, and positive.

3. Make Time

Be sure to set aside ample time for yourself to achieve your goals. If you really want to write that book chapter, you might set aside three regular four-hour blocks during the week, and plan one day every month to track your progress. If you want to exercise more, plot out time in your weekly schedule for runs and time at the gym.

4. Move Past Doubt

Keep tabs on how often you “unset” your goals with your thoughts. Pay attention to self-sabotaging mind chatter, like: “I’m not good enough” or “I can’t do it.” Every thought you have is an intention. It’s normal to feel fear, doubt, or worry — but to make progress, it’s important to move past those negative feelings.

If you find negative thoughts surfacing, don’t criticize yourself, but stay in control. If your thoughts don’t support you or your goals, let them go — they’re not doing you any good. Replace them with your positive mantra, instead.

5. Get a Partner

Having a group, partner, friend, or professional to encourage you can be a great way to keep you going. Try finding a friend who has a similar resolution, and check in with each other every week to talk about your progress and challenges. Or, ask a family member or significant other to keep you accountable — just make sure they’re supportive and positive.

You can also seek professional help, whether that’s a personal trainer to help you meet your fitness goals or a counselor who can help you tackle larger, looming issues such as low self-confidence or a lack of direction. If you are dealing with issues of self-doubt, these can seriously get in the way of you meeting your other goals — so do yourself a favor, and address such issues head on.

6. Be Still

You’re more likely to slip on your goals when you’re stressed or overwhelmed, so spend time every day to getting out of your thoughts and reconnecting with yourself. Try a breathing exercise, meditation, yoga, or just going for a walk. The more practice you have being still and calm, the more present you’ll be for each step of acheving your goals.

Setting and reaching goals isn’t about willpower, it’s about the power of your intention. Once you’ve mastered these few steps, you’ll be well-equipped to follow through on your resolutions — this time, for good.

Which of these six is going to help you stick with that resolution? Let me know in the comments below! (and happy New Year – again!)

Many blessings,
Dawn

Gretchen Rubin knows something about health, healthy eating and happiness. In fact, she’s got 14 great tips on how to control your eating this holiday season. These were originally published in the Huffington Post, and I’m reprinting them here for you

14 Tips for Controlling Holiday Eating

by Gretchen Rubin

I’ve been thinking a lot about my eating habits lately — probably because the holiday season is so full of temptation. Here are some guidelines that I’ve been trying to follow, whether eating in or eating out, with various degrees of fidelity.

1. Wear snug-fitting clothes.

2. Buy food in small containers. Studies show that people give themselves larger portions out of larger boxes, so I don’t buy that economy box of whatever.

3. Make tempting food inconvenient. — Put cookies in a hard-to-reach spot, set the freezer to a very cold temperature so it’s hard to spoon out ice cream, store goodies in hard-to-open containers.

4. Order the appetizer size.

5. Use smaller plates, bowls and cutlery. I often use the plastic plates we have left over from when my daughters were young.

6. Dish food up in the kitchen, and don’t bring serving platters onto the table (except vegetables).

7. Pile my plate with everything I intend to eat, and don’t get seconds once that food is gone. (I can do this with everything except my favorite Thanksgiving food, served every year in my family: sweet potatoes with marshmallows.)

8. Keep serving sizes small: get a small frozen yogurt instead of a large (OK, I would get a medium, not a small, but still); get a single hamburger instead of a double.

9. Skip the add-ons: tell the waiter that I don’t want the side of fries, don’t add croutons or bacon to my salad. I feel like Sally from “When Harry Met Sally” as I quibble about how my food should be served, but oh well.

10. After dinner, signal myself that “Eating’s over:” brush my teeth, clean up the kitchen, turn out the lights.

11. Don’t allow myself to get too hungry or too full.

12. Realize that, with some things, I can’t have just a little bit. In the abstainer/moderator split, I’m a hard-core abstainer. It’s far easier for me to skip cookies, bagels and chocolate than it is to have a sensible portion.

13. Never eat hors d’oeuvres.

14. Don’t eat food I don’t like, just because it’s there. No one cares if I have a serving of asparagus or cranberry sauce.

I’ve realized that although it seems festive and carefree to indulge in lots of treats, in the end, I feel guilty and overstuffed. Which doesn’t make the holiday happier. It’s a secret of adulthood: By giving myself limits, I give myself freedom.

Well, Gretchen makes a lot of sense and this year, I’ll be following these 14 tips. How about you? Do these suggestions sound ‘do-able’? Which ones are you sure you can do? Which ones look far too challenging? Let me know in the comments below.

Many blessings,
Dawn

There’s a film called “Forks over Knives” which I have not yet seen – but I want to! It’s about the connection between our meat & chemical-laden, Standard American (aka: SAD) diets, and the exponential rise of degenerative dis-ease. Now, if you’re a real meat lover, you won’t like the film’s trailer below. But I encourage you to have a look anyway, and I’d love to hear what you think

Click here to view the embedded video.

I love hearing stories of people beating the supposed ‘odds’ and going from dying-of-degenerative-disease to health and vitality – simply by changing their diet, attitude and lifestyle. I’ve heard more of these stories than I could shake a stick at, but still am eager for more! Do you have a story about someone saying “To hell with the doc’s diagnosis, I’m gonna thrive!” How much did a change in diet have to do with the healing? Tell me more in the comments below.

Many blessings,
Dawn

What is Celiac

According to celiaccentral.org, Celiac is an auto-immune digestive disease which “damages the villa of the small intestine and interferes with the absorprion of nutrients.” In short – a celiac person’s body attacks itself every time they eat something with gluten – yikes!

The Culprits

Foods that contain gluten and trigger celiac are generally grain products or products processed in factories that also process these gluten-laden grains. Specifically, the ‘culprit’ irritants to a celiac’s villi are:

• Wheat
• Barley
• Rye
• (sometimes) Oats

Why

Statistically speaking, the number of celiac cases diagnosed has risen xx amount in the last xx years. Why this is isn’t clear. My speculation is that: 1). we have more info now for docs to diagnose accurately; 2). the massive increase in toxic ‘fertilizers’, poisons in the air and GMO grains has stressed the human immune system to a breaking point; and 3). too darn much stress!

I was just reading through the Health section of the Huffington Post when I came across this article. it’s kind of a ‘downer’, and it’s not about energy healing per se but I thought it would prove a powerful springboard into some conversation about wellness, healing and the blocked energy that accompanies obesity.

A couple of thing I want to say though, before you read on: 1). I know that the mass media is prone to exaggeration (understatement, at best), so there’s a sensationalism about the headline below which I don’t necessarily buy into, BUT … 2). it’s pretty darn obvious, nonetheless, that peeps are expanding to morbid proportions in the USA and elsewhere. 3). The question is: why? Okay yes, we know that the shear amount of low quality food now available for cheap is a big part of this, but aren’t we living in the post-1980s, when health food, organics, aerobics and “Buns of Steel” consciousness flooded the collective psyche? What’s going on here and what does it have to do with a deep degree of DISCONNECT from Spirit and from Mother Earth? These are the questions I’m asking myself as I watch the expanding American waistline. I’d love to know your thoughts.

Half Of Americans To Be Obese By 2030: Report

by Amanda Chan

Half of Americans will be obese by 2030 if things continue the way they are now, according to four new papers in the Lancet. And as a result, there will also be an additional 6.8 million cases of stroke and heart disease, 7.8 million cases of diabetes and 539,000 cases of cancer, which could place an extra $66 billion burden on the nation’s healthcare bill, according to the research.

“At the rate we’re looking at right now, it’s a dire prediction,” study researcher Claire Wang, of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, told ABC News. “Something has to be done.”

Numbers & Sizes Rising

Right now in the United States, about 32 percent of men and 35 percent of women are obese, researchers said. Obesity is defined as having a body mass index (BMI, a measure of height and weight) above 30. A BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight, while a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered normal weight.

Researchers pinned a lot of the blame on the food industry, which more and more is producing cheap and processed foods that have led to “passive overconsumption.” Therefore, they said, more measures will be needed to curb the influencing factors that contribute to obesity.

The UK is Doing it, Too

Obesity rates in the U.K. are also expected to balloon, with 41 to 48 percent of men and 35 to 43 percent of women expected to be obese by 2030, compared with 26 percent of the population who is obese today.

Previous studies have made similar forecasts: A 2007 British study predicted half the U.K. population would be obese by 2032.

Elsewhere in the world, the obesity rates are lower, Reuters reported. In Japan and China, for example, 1 in 20 women is obese, while 1 in 10 women are obese in the Netherlands and 1 in 4 women are obese in Australia. On the other hand, obesity rates are extremely high in Tonga, with 7 in 10 obese there.

Earlier this summer, a report came out detailing the most and least obese states in the United States. The fittest is Colorado, with an obesity rate of barely less than 20 percent, while Mississippi is the fattest state, as more than 30 percent of its residents are obese.

What’s it all About?

Have you wondered why Americans and UK peeps in particular seem to keep getting larger – even in a context of greater spiritual awakening? Do you think there’s a kind of polarization of consciousness that’s going on – one that manifests (of course) in the physical body? What are the overall energetic properties of obesity? Is this about blocked energy? Is it about insulating oneself from pain? Is it about fear? Or really, is it just about crappy diet and unconscious lifestyle? Share your thoughts with me on this subject. I’d love your insights.

Many blessings,Dawn

Click here to view the embedded video.

I have a very dear friend who, when she loves the taste of something, will cry out, “YUMMY-Licious!” Which is basically what this looks like to me. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Many blessings,
Dawn

Here’s a few things I’ve discovered about chocolate in its natural, unrefined state:

• It’s the best way to get the top 3 minerals many Americans are deficient in – chromium, iron & magnesium.
• It’s especially high in Vitamin C
• It’s a great source of natural fibre
• It’s high in Omega-6
• It’s 30 times higher than red wine as an anti-oxidant
• It’s loaded with luv chemicals called phenylethylamines (PEAs)

Why Not Candy Bars?

There’s a big difference between even high-quality, dark chocolate bars and raw chocolate. The sugar content of most commercial brands is one thing, but the big difference is in the cooking of the cacao. You see, once you cook the cacao, you loose most of the nutrients and health-friendly properties – including the PEAs.

Now what I’m wondering is this: does it taste a lot different than ‘regular’ dark chocolate? I’m going to have to see if I can find some and let you know. In the mean time, if you’ve ever tried raw chocolate, please let us know what your tastebuds ‘think’ of it in the comments below.

Many blessings,
Dawn

Here’s a short vid from raw food author and chef Jennifer Cornbleet. She’ll teach you how to turn Italian culinary tradition on its head in a good way with her Zucchini Pasta with Marinara Sauce. Mmmm … mouth-watering

Click here to view the embedded video.

Willing to try this once the squash are ripe? I will if you will – let me know!

Many blessings,
Dawn

The good news is that no matter how persnickety your taste buds may be, there are lots of T-Riffic sources of calcium available to you, and you don’t have to go off to some obscure exotic food store or even a pricey ‘health food’ store to get these great foods.

Here’s a list of 13 of the simplest and tastiest, calcium-rich foods to start welcoming into your diet.

• The grain amaranth
• Cooked dandelion greens
• Dried parsley
• Sesame seeds
• Mustard spinach
• Chia seeds
• Balsam pear
• Boiled lamb’s quarters
• Sesame butter (tahini)
• Carob flour
• Roselle
• Sunflower seed flour
• Watercress

A Warning:

Some veggies and herbs, if eaten too much, can cause bone loss over an extended period of time. Plants including dock leaves, sorrel, spinach, and orach contain oxalic acid. This actually binds up the calcium and interferes with its uptake. Eating these plants occasionally is fine, so no need to get into a spinach panic . It’s just when they’re consumed daily that they’ll cause you problems.

Are any of these plants already in your diet? How do you prepare them? Please leave me a comment and let me know.

Many blessings,
Dawn