Ever since I overhauled my health and my body went through a self-healing transformation, I feel like I have this secret knowledge that is being hidden from the general masses.  I want to exclaim to everyone I meet “DID YOU KNOW YOUR BODY HAS AN AMAZING ABILITY TO HEAL ITSELF?  ALL BY ITSELF?” 

I'm talking everything from life-threatening illnesses, to chronic conditions, to those pesky little symptoms that decrease your daily quality of life.  Trust me!  I went through it, and watched my body heal itself of some pretty rough conditions I had since a child (and was of course told by every doctor this was just ‘how I was born’ and all I could do was try to supplement with pills and go on living the best I could). 

It wasn’t until I weaned myself off of every single medication, altered my lifestyle (to one of balance) and started eating real whole foods that my body healed itself COMPLETELY of several chronic conditions, within a few months.

That being said – this morning I want to highlight something that is an extremely important part of this equation:  STRESS.

While cleaning up your diet is necessary in order to provide your body the fuel it needs (let food be thy medicine...), one of the BIGGEST blockades to your body's ability to self-heal is STRESS.  I used to live in a constant state of stress and anxiety.... and it was literally killing me.

Here's a simplistic break-down of why:

"What disables the body’s natural self-repair mechanisms? We all know that stress is bad for the body. But do you understand how this works? Loads of data proves that stress comes in different forms — the stress of feeling lonely, work stress, financial stress, marital stress, family stress, the stress of feeling creatively blocked or spiritually disconnected. Regardless of what triggers it, stress flips on a series of physiological cascades associated with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the “fight or flight” response of the sympathetic nervous system. In other words, whether you’re stressed about money, your marriage, or your job, your body can’t tell the difference between a perceived threat, such as impending bankruptcy, and a real threat, such as getting chased by a lion.

But here’s the kicker. The body can only repair itself when the body is in a state of physiological rest. Whenever the body thinks it’s time to run away from the lion (or whatever chronic, repetitive perceived threat it believes itself to be under), it shuts down self-repair. After all, who cares about long term maintenance like killing unwanted cancer cells if you’re about to be eaten by a lion?" -Lissa Rankin

SO, how do we get into this so called state of “physiological rest.”  We have so many things to do!  So many e-mails, so many calls, so many meetings, so much laundry, by the way did I mention HOW COLD IT IS?  THAT STRESSES ME OUT TOO!

Start slow – take 10 or 20 minutes each day, to simply slow down, be present, and allow yourself to unplug. 

I recently finished a book I would recommend to everyone titled “The Art of Stillness” by Pico Iyer.  Absolutely loved it.  It had some really great insights surrounding the concept of traveling nowhere other than within.  Such immense healing powers in a journey like this.

CHECK IT OUT HERE

Anyway – one of my favorite little anecdotes from the book was about the Dalai Lama:

A reporter asked “How are you able to fit in daily meditation with such a busy schedule?”

The Dalai Lama smiled and replied that on normal days, he meditates for 1 hour in the morning. He then smiled even bigger and said that on extremely busy days, he meditates for 2 hours in the morning.

Truly, the most important time to relax is when you don't have time for it at all.  I had to remind myself of this yesterday.

So give it a try today!  I’m not here to say you have to meditate and sit in lotus position to reap the full benefits.  For me, a lot of days my meditation comes in the form of closing my eyes and listening to music.  Even if it’s just for 10-20 minutes.  It is 10-20 minutes of absolutely un-interrupted ME time.  Put your phone away, close your computer, and just sit.  EVERYTHING can wait 20 minutes...  Regain your grounding, your connection with yourself... this is so powerful.  So healing. 

So with that – I’m going to get back to the hustle and bustle of life… but with the attitude that all is well, because I just had a kick ass morning of calm and I feel charged and energized to take on the day!

It is only those who take care of themselves first, that are able to contribute most to our world. 

Be your best self today!  It starts with self-care for self-healing.

Stress free and happy as can be,

k a i l e y   j o y

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

WHAT COULD BE BETTER THAN A DAY THAT ENCOURAGES THE MASSES TO SHARE IN WHAT THEY ARE THANKFUL FOR?

Today it seems most appropriate to highlight something that has changed the way I perceive and interact with the world:

grat·i·tude 
ˈɡradəˌt(y)o͞od/
noun: the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.

Have you ever noticed how contagious gratitude is?  How quickly it can bring joy into any situation?

About a year ago, I took the advice of one my lecturers at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, and I began a gratitude practice.  This came in the form of jotting down 3 things for which I was grateful each morning.   The result?  After only 1 week, I noticed a shift.  I was already feeling happier and more optimistic than I had in awhile.  After 2 weeks, I was hooked.

I think we've all heard about the power of positive thinking... but I believe what gratitude does is take this concept one step further.  By focusing on the positives in your life AND THEN truly being humbled by and grateful for them can really take your happiness to a new level.

One of my favorite quotes:
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.” ― Melody Beattie

So what would your life look like if you infused a little more gratitude into it?  Pretty cool I bet.  I would challenge you to adopt a gratitude practice.  Even if it's just for a week or two!  You'll be spreading the joy in no time.

Now for the FOOD!  Here are 3 healthy, whole-food recipes I'll be making for my extended family this Thanksgiving eve:

ALMOND PATE APPETIZER

KALE SALAD  

POMEGRANATE CHOCOLATE BARK

Gratefully yours,

kjd

Welp – here it goes:

This is my first blog post, ever.  The first time I’ve had the confidence to put myself out there, in writing.  I do it all day long in the flesh.  Put myself out there.  I love meeting new people, being vulnerable, sharing, and overall pride myself in my ability to thrive in new and unknown environments.  However – I’ve always been intimidated when it came to writing, er…blogging.  Whatever this is.

I think it’s because I know whatever I write here pretty much goes down in history.   Once I make it live… it lives on forever, right?  I'm articulate in person, but I'm not always the best at conveying myself through writing.  I also know how powerful words can be, how they can often be misconstrued, and so on…

But I’m here today because something pretty awesome happened the other day.  I read this article ...and on a Saturday morning whim – I shared the link on Facebook and wrote a little post about how deeply it resonated with me. 

I didn’t spell check, I didn’t dwell on the grammar, and I most certainly had a number of run-on sentences.  But what happened next warmed my heart.  The ‘likes,’ responses, and personal messages from friends, family, and people I’ve never met started pouring in. 

People were digging it, and I realized what really matters is WHAT I say, not so much HOW I say it.  It’s about the message.  And my message that day was authentic, genuine, vulnerable, and honest.  I spoke from the heart about my personal experiences and people connected with it.

So with that – I realized there is no room for insecurities when it comes to writing here.  I’m not going to apologize for my improper use of the oxford comma, idioms, or whatever else our language throws at me.  I was a Finance major after all… writing has never really been a thing in my life.

But starting today I’m going to begin sharing personal stories, experiences, articles, recipes, and whatever else speaks to me in the hopes of connecting with a larger audience. 

Everything I say here will be authentic, and with no other angle than wanting to share a little bit of my journey and hopefully inspiring others along theirs.

Transparently yours,

KJD