What’s Good March
Contains:
Life Update - Growth into Spring, Boundaries as stems - plant walls.
Good for the Body: Feeding the Good Bugs
Good for the Mind: Take action towards growth with a tool.
Good for the Spirit: Assigning a Love Symbol
Nutrition Corner: Purple Potatoes, the better Potato
LifeUpdate: We just entered a very energetic portal. Pluto moved into Aquarius (something that is a 20 year cycle) which prompts a massive shift in consciousness towards Revolution & Rebirth, Spring solstice happened one day later followed by a New Moon! Suffice to say, lots of shifts are happening whether you are aware of them or not. What we can do though is allow the flow to move, like spring. Like the rushing waters that are in every water way, washing out what is old, stagnant and no longer service our channels of life, renewing and repaving pathways for better, happier, more connected and spiritually grounded life.
To share some personal insight that has been illuminated to me is how I do not hold a boundary for my time for fear of upsetting those I am closest to (which I have no control over how they will react so its more to avoid my own feelings of guilt).
Backstory: My sister is a Yogi and has various offerings for personal development including Yoga Retreats, Virtual Workshops, Journal Exercises to name a few and this past weekend I saw a promo for a 2 hour virtual monthly reset workshop and found myself wanting to do it. But a part of me was unsure. A big part of me knows that we are in Aries, a fire sign and I want to take advantage of this Ram energy to get my business and professional career pumping. And I’m the sorta person who, when I commit to something, I show up! But could I make the commitment? The issue was the time, 6pm-8pm and I’m not sure if my partner would be home. I messaged her “I’m wondering if this might be good for me to do.”
See, I have this need to be available for my children at all times and have a hard time creating the time boundary for myself for when I can get free and or not. Arbonne was a good practice for me in this because I would have presentations to do and weekly meetings to attend that I could prep my family for ahead of time ….”mom has a meeting until x-time, I don’t want to be disturbed.” But I stopped Arbonne months ago and I’m out of practice. I am out of that “excuse.” Now it is all on me and my ability to stand up for my wants.
This is where my work is. Making time for my self. Taking my time for my development.
Believing I am worthy of this time.
Making me the priority for my time.
My sister writes back, “Why wouldn’t it be good? What would cause you to not want to join? If you ask that i feel it gives the answer!
And Boom! Exactly what I needed. Her asking me that question allowed me to answer. Even thought I knew the answer bouncing around my head, sharing it with her allowed me to process and fully realize my limitation. It allowed me to see what I was trying not to see. I am so thankful for this opportunity to explore this deeper.
I responded “Of course it would. My family and the need to be available for them which is still a challenge I am working though… more my need to be available for Steve for fear of I’m not there he will feel bad. Oh boy. How do I stop being responsible for his feelings? How do I make a boundary without guilt.
-> glad for this exchange so I can see myself.”
All this week boundaries have been on my mind. Rachel hollis had a 2-part podcast on them, my friend group was discussing them, I was seeing reminders on social media. Boundaries are one of those emotional skills that were never taught to me and they are something I am slowly learning. I see how I don’t have clear ones with my children and my oldest is a huge boundary pusher… more like boundary wreaking ball.
I am sharing this because EVERYTHING we encounter in life can be an illumination for us to learn how to love our selfs more, to grow fuller and more beautifully with. I can use this exchange as an opportunity to lean into growth or I can forget it an go on my merry way continuing with the same ole same ole…. not expressing my needs, not creating healthy boundaries and remain the same. And I learned this Universe is always growing, changing and expanding. If you try to stay the same, if you do not allow yourself to grow and change with it….you’ll be lost behind.
so now… I’ll google, how to make boundaries on my time without feeling guilty ….😆
GFT Body: Feed your bugs some love
As our technology advances and we are able to explore the depths in our digestive system to really discover the magic makers of our body. We have over 400 species of microbes that function synergistically with our bodies to create this amazing living, breathing, jumping and digesting human!
So when we think about wanting health and vitality for our bodies, and yes a lot of it us how we can move them with exercise, getting out in nature, having tools for stress reduction, but the biggest factor is, on a small scale what we eat. On a larger scale, what the bugs inside of your body eat. How are you treating these inner inhabitants?
This concept is one that brings a lot of misunderstanding. People think we just need to get more bugs, probiotics. Yes that is true, having bugs matter. Also have the right combination of bugs (cuz there are times when bad bugs overtake the good ones) and what you you giving to the bugs to work with? Think of them like mini chefs, they're not magicians, they can’t make something out of nothing. In a good restaurant, you’ve got a variety of ingredients and you’ve got the right chefs, they'll make you a fantastic meal! Vitality à la mode! If you give them junk ingredients and the chefs are out sick or and you’ll left with an irresponsible bus boy that doesn't want to be there and is trying to sneak out any chance he gets…. well, you’re not going to produce something that's high quality for your body. What we want is the proper balance, not only by getting the right gut bugs, but we also want to empower those gut bugs by giving them high quality ingredients to work with.
So what are good ingredients for those gut bugs? I hope you know the answer but before I tell you, let me share what it defiantly is not… Sugar and sugar Variants.
Oh we, actually , our brains love sugar! It stimulates lots of feelings, energy and happiness but what happens in the body is another story. I’m not going to dive into the insulin sensitivity and blood sugar spiking effects on our adrenal cortex causing burn-out and chronic fatigue… But our world today is consumed with variations of what sugar is, its not just cane sugar. Its sucralose, aspertame, Acesulfame potassium (Ace-K), Neotame, Saccharin…. And when our gut bugs try to eat this stuff (since it was made in a lab and not from nature w/o any DNA) our bugs try to eat them and It turns them into a sorta Frankenstein situation And I don’t know about you but I don’t think Frank can cook a good meal. The same goes for ultrarefined sugars. Things like fructose that exist in fruits is very different than the fructose that exists in high fructose corn syrup. These distilled and refined ingredients, that are predominant in ultra-processed foods.
And its unfortunate that ultra-processed foods make up about 60% of the calories in the American diet. And that these foods are devoid of nutrition, devoid of fiber, they're jacked up with toxins, and not just with sugar (that’s a rank for another time). The average American adult is consuming around 77 grams of sugar per day, which adds up to around 60 pounds of added sugar annually. Thats about as much a 10yr old kid! Just in added sugar!
As I’ve shared before, if something comes into your body that your body doesn’t recognize or know what to do with (like refined sugars) it triggers a cascade of inflammatory effect especially for the bugs, in the microbiome.
So I wanna empower you to know that every dietary choice that we make, from moment to moment is either leading to the rise or fall of specific families of microbes. Some of them get fed and some of them don't, soley based upon our choices. When we choose simple refined sugars, we are choosing to feed the inflammatory microbes. I know it tastes great, for you know like 3 bites but think of the aftermath? Sugar crash then and you feel horrible, and you realize this was probably a mistake yet we go back and we do it again, because there's that addictive potential.
To read more about what the good bugs do like to eat, check out this post 👉 hint: its fiber.
GFT Mind: 5,4,3,2,1 Do it!
Our minds are such thinkers. Always deciding, considering, wondering, worrying, planning, thinking this or that…. so much! Often we have a hard time making decisions and motivating ourselves to do something (something we know we should do) because of this overthinking, and more likely than not what we end up doing is nothing. #decisionparalysis Which I don’t think i have to tell you that this state can lead to many unwanted negative feelings of regret for missed opportunities, discouragement, failure, low self esteem or self worth. With over 30,000 decisions a day, how can we give ourself a tool that allows us to make the decision that really matter to us more attainable. How do we face something new? How do we overcome the fear of the challenge?
Cue Mel Robbins and her 5-Second Rule. If you have never herd of her, you’re missing out, she is incredible in the self-development, motivation and success space. A NY Times bestselling and self-publishing phenom, with The High 5 Habit, The 5 Second Rule, and #1 ranking Podcast. She is down to earth, science backed, telling it like it is! She transformed her life with these tools and is on a mission to help people get out of their own way. (Which leads me back to the topic at hand, getting our own minds out of the way to make the decisions our spirits are calling us to make).
Okay, so 5-Second rule works like this. You have a moment of inspiration, an idea to do something…instead of turning on your brain-bias to consider this and that, you 💪 take action by counting down from 5 and do the thing! Just 5-4-3-2-1 Blast Off!
Anytime you know what you should do, but then feel the feelings coming up, you know which ones, hesitation, anxiety, fear, heaviness, trauma, whatever it may be that cause a moment of hesitation, you stop yourself and move. If you don’t physically move within five seconds of that momentary hesitation, the subconscious part of your brain will takes over and continue the regularly scheduled and safe programing.
I find this tool so helpful for when we are trying to learn new things, instilling new behavior patterns or beliefs, and just trying to change something about ourselves. Life can be gummy sometimes and change is a big point of resistance not just for the mind but also for a body which likes to be locked into safe patterns. Safe patterns work because hey you’ve stayed alive this long by doing them, right, cant be all that bad. Wrong, safe patterns do not serve your best interests. Safe patterns are not where growth happens. And if I know anything, its if you’re not growing, you’r not aligned with the universal energy of all things… which, especially for spring we are in the season of exponential growth so take this tool and running with it!!!
ps - i listened to this on audible and its simply fantastic, she narrates all her books and does such an amazing job explaining the science behind all her research. #worthit read!
GFT Spirit: Assigning a Love Symbol 🌈
So that whenever you see this symbol it become a reminder of the love in your heart for your self. A reminder that you are never alone. A reminder that you are worthy and deserving of everything your heart loves and desires. It’s like a little kiss from you to you.
I had gotten the idea of this love symbol on the advice from Rhonda Burn in the secret about two years ago. My chosen symbol being a rainbow. Every-time I see one, its the reminder of this promise that i will think that I love myself. And often when I see this symbol, it arrives exactly when i need it. When I am feeling low or unsure of myself. There are times that I can make it appear because, well, rainbows are awesomely colorful and bring joy every time I see them so I have acquired a good many things with rainbows on them. Mugs, cards, tee’s and of course Alice’s wardrobe… lots of rainbows there. My kids know about my love symbol and I see how their faces light up when they see it too. They excitedly point them out to me. Not just the ones that are in the sky, but when there is refraction off glass, hiding in a corner or the room. Sometimes love is like that. It can hide in the corner just waiting for you to notice it. So conjuring more opportunities to notice love, to give your self a loving hello, “I love you.” Yeah, let’s have more of those.
For more information and to read some nice symbol suggestions, read my blog post 👉👉👉
Nutrition Corner: Purple Potatos are the Better Potato
Oh I love potatoes! Especially the crispy bits after roasting or chips… that’s my downfall. The saltiness, the crunch, the flavor explosions at times my favorites are (the Honey Dijion ones by Kettle, Barnana - Organic Plantain Chips in Acapulco Lime 🤤, or my new favorite Jacksons Avocado Oil Sweet Potato Chips. The oil chips are prepared in makes a huge difference in the “healthiness” of a chip. Many conventional ones are made with toxic PUFA’s which I’m not going to go into today, that’s for another time.
Anyway…. I wonder sometimes which potato is really the best and why. So I devoted some time to research it and I found (unsurprisingly) Purple to be the best.
For two main reasons. 1. They have a higher content of Polyphenols > Flavonoids > Anthocyanins. and 2. Because they have a lower Glycemic Index.
To learn more about potato colors and the glycemic index then I suggest you read my recent blog post (click the image to access).