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I break a dry fast with water and a water fast with fruit juice.

The best type of bone broth is the one that you'll actually eat!

It's important for all of us to maintain balance in our pursuit of healthcare. Perfection is not the answer, but holistic balance is.

Whether it's beef, chicken, pork, turkey, bison, or fish- all of these bone broths have their own valuable nutritional aspects.

I personally prefer the taste of chicken bone broth, but everyone has their own opinion!

Happy eating!

It also helps to drink a lot of water and have some healthy fats in your daily diet- things like nut butters, olives/olive oil, avocado, etc.

Think about fruits and veggies that are low on the glycemic index... Berries are great! I like crunchy veggies like fennel, celery with peanut or cashew butter. Experiment with some veggies that you don't typically eat!

Hmmm, what is "healthy food" or "unhealthy food"? I have begun to ask my body what it would like to eat (when shopping and before preparing a meal) and am listening to it. The result: without diet or fasting I have lost enough weight to drop at least 2 dress sizes (sorry, I don't do scales :-) )

Here are a few tips for a better nights sleep:
-Create an aesthetic environment in your bedroom that encourages sleep by using serene and restful colors. Eliminate clutter and distraction.
-Avoid caffeine or reduce it after noon.
-Avoid alcohol - it helps you get to sleep but makes your sleep interrupted and of poor quality.
-Get regular exposure to daylight for at least 20 minutes daily. The light from the sun enters your eyes and triggers your brain to release specific chemicals and hormones like melatonin that are vital to healthy sleep, mood, and aging.
-Eat no later than two hours before bed - eating a heavy meal prior to bed will lead to a bad night's sleep and will impede the body’s overnight detoxification process.
**Create a Power down hour before bed which can include:
-Writing down the things that are causing you anxiety and make plans for what you might have to do the next day to reduce your worry. It will free up your mind and energy to move into deep and restful sleep.
-Take a hot salt or aromatherapy bath. Raising your body temperature before bed helps to induce sleep. A hot bath also relaxes your muscles and reduces tension physically and psychically.
-Warm your middle with a hot water bottle - this raises your core temperature and helps trigger the proper chemistry for sleep.
-Listen to relaxing music to help you fall asleep.

Great question! Just like having a training coach for your physical workouts, a meditation teacher is your coach for mindfulness practice. Many times it is hard for us to observe what is going on in our mind, emotions or body, especially when beginning a meditation practice. Guidance from a meditation teacher helps us discover our habitual processes of dealing with our life and they can offer specific tools to work with your particular issues.

It is important to note that although liver function and adrenal function can cause darker or puffier under eye area... a lot of under eye darkness is actually genetic. Skincare companies often “invent” flaws to fix, one of those being the under eye area. If your parents have them, or you’ve had them for a long time, I recommend working with your relationship to them.

Our goal is to provide emotional support while encouraging relaxation & reducing stress & muscle tension, so I like a blend of whatever oils make THEM feel good. My recommendation would include Lavender (calming/soothing), Vetiver (grounding/strengthening), Tangerine (uplifting/comforting) and Rose Geranium (balancing).

Feeding your body the nutrients that support eye health and ensuring your digestion is optimal to breakdown and assimilate those nutrients. Beta-Carotene (from fresh vegetables ), Anti-Oxidants (from Berries and fruits) and Essential Fatty Acids - specially MCT oil are all known and well researched for their role in promoting eye health

It's good you know yourself so well! Jonathan Fields did a fast and podcasted about it: http://www.goodlifeproject.com/podcast/fasting/. It's worth a listen and will give you some encouragement. I would highly recommend doing a fast with the help of a healthcare provider and/or coach—not something to be undertaken lightly!

I sleep on a grounding mattress cover. I bought it over a year ago and it has benefited myself, my husband, and our two small dogs who sleep with us. My husband used to suffer from an elbow injury that he sustained 20 years ago and nothing ever seemed to help reduce the pain he felt. Then after only a month of sleeping on the mat, the pain in his elbow went away and he's has no problems since! I have also noticed that I do not wake-up with swollen hands anymore. Plus, my 16 year old dog who used to suffer from constant dental infections has not has the same problems since sleeping on the mat! Grounding nightly really does a fantastic job reducing chronic inflammation!

If properly cared for, cast iron becomes nonstick. You apparently can increase your iron intake as well. Season the pan well (some come pre-seasoned now) and wash in scalding hot water with a stiff brush, heat on the stove to dry, oil occasionally, and DON'T use soap. If food is stuck on, soak with scalding hot water until it loosens.

Be supportive but not an enabler. Supportive as in helping them make a positive change in their lives, this could include making changes in the helper's life. Enabling is anything that makes it easier for the person to continue with their addiction, like loaning them money.

It is true that no two Reiki sessions are alike. I have been learning, practicing and teaching Reiki since 2012 and am still continually surprised. What will happen cannot be predetermined. The short-term single session benefit can be relaxation, calming, there maybe reduction of pain in some area, or the client may receive an insight. The sensations in the body can be relaxing, heat, cold, tingling, floating, sleeping or zoning out. I had received a single-session handson reiki in 2013, and that stopped my dizziness for a couple of years. Still surprises me, when I think about it!
In emergency states - it can be helpful - my personal experiences is a night-time loose-motions upset for my companion on a train, reiki stopped and calmed it down, enough to reach a doctor at the destination. Another emergency situation was a visit to the hospital, and finding a needle spot for collapsed veins with the support of distance reiki.
However the best and most cherished by me are the multiple-reiki sessions. This is a true and underestimated power house. It can enhance your spiritual journey, support reduction of unwanted habits, and reduction and relief from chronic ailments. This is a true story: my friend's mother has a chronic bladder issue. After about 4-5 months of daily, distance reiki, her condition improved so much, that she stopped wearing diapers. I still cannot get over this one!!

I love doing SRI in "recipes" - Stage 5 into Stage 6 and into Stage 12

One of my favorites
+ 3 leaves of KALE
+ 1 handful of SPINACH
+ 1/4C CILANTRO
+ 1 CELERY stalk
+ 1 KIWI
+ 1 ORANGE
+ 1/2t of SPIRULINA
+ 1 handful of WALNUTS
+ 1 handful of ALMONDS
+ 2T flaxseed, hemp hearts, or chia seeds
+ 1T MCT oil
+ 2T Collagen (organic, grass fed)
+ ~1C of kombucha, macadamia nut milk, or other liquid :)

*T=Tablespoon, t=teaspoon, C=Cup

Yes, gluten intolerance can definitely show up later in life. Just like other food intolerances like lactose and histamine, the gut microbiome can affect your ability to digest and breakdown foods. Gluten intolerance or gluten sensitivity usually results from poor gut health and poor immune response (I see it a lot on my auto-immune clients) - always check out the gut especially with skin conditions.

I typically drink Alkaline water in the morning when I wake up. Before a workout I drink coconut water it has electrolytes without the added sugars.

One holistic modality that is often overlooked when it comes to digestive issues is sleep!

Poor sleep is correlated with gut damage, including an imbalance of gut bacteria. The opposite is also true: poor gut health can lead to inadequate quality sleep. Like asking which came first, the chicken or the egg, it may be next to impossible to know which came first, poor sleep or poor gut health. The bottom line is taking care of your gut may improve your sleep and improving your sleep may help alleviate your gut symptoms.

Here are some tips to optimize sleep:
1. Eat a snack before bed that combines fat and carbs. This can be helpful for those who struggle to stay asleep at night, as this can sometimes be due to a drop in blood sugar during the night. A snack that combines fat and carbs can help to stabilize blood sugar through the night. For example: nut butter + berries + banana or apple + tahini or hard-boiled egg + avocado.

2. Don’t eat a snack before bed. I know, I’m completely contradicting the first point. But everybody is different. For those who struggle falling asleep, try skipping a bedtime snack, as digesting too close to bedtime might be what’s keep you awake.

3. Drink less or avoid coffee. Caffeine has a half-life of five to seven hours. So if you drink a cup of coffee at 10am, half the caffeine will still be in your system at 5pm and the caffeine will remain in your system until you go to bed and throughout the night. That morning cup of coffee is sticking with you well into the night. If you don’t want to give up caffeine, try less caffeinated options such as black, chai or green tea or kombucha. Non-caffeinated, whole-food, alternatives include herbal teas (e.g., peppermint, lavender, lemon balm), lemon water, golden milk, a smoothie, coconut water, or bone broth.

4. Drink less or avoid alcohol. Alcohol interferes with the REM cycle of sleep and make it harder to stay asleep throughout the night. Take note of how you feel the morning after having had a drink, to find the balance that works for you. Mezcal, vodka, gin, and tequila are lower in sugar than other options, such as wine or beer, and thus are considered a “healthier” option if you choose to drink alcohol.

5. Move your body. Moving your body throughout the day burns off energy and can really help your sleep. And I don’t mean going to the gym for a formal workout, just make sure you aren’t sitting all day. This could look like a standing break every 30 minutes (set a timer!), working from a stand-up or treadmill desk, going on several mini-walks a day (even if it’s just a quick 10 minute walk around the block), taking the stairs, choosing the furthest parking spot, or taking a dancing break.