How You Create Your Own Suffering... and what you can do to shift.
Jan 06, 2022
Happy 2022 my friends! I'm not sure about you, but in the past, I would always get disappointed around the holidays.
I have huge expectations and the season never ever lives up to them.
This year, I took a whole new approach and just reminded myself when I was attaching to some sort of outcome I could never control and to just breathe and be in the moment.
I really focused on accepting what was coming up and just living in that space.. in reality.
Instead of focusing on what I wish was different, I just appreciated the unfolding.
Truthfully, I found myself many times wishing myself out of the experience and wanting to change it... then I would remind myself that that's just a waste of energy and what was happening now is perfect and exactly the way it's meant to be.
How do I know this?
Because that's the reality of it.
Isn't it amazing that we do this in so many aspects of our...
Homemade Elderberry Tonic
Dec 07, 2021
Elderberry is one of the most powerful plants I keep in my medicinal “chest”, especially during the winter season.
Check this out, a new study, “has shown that the common elderberry has a potent direct antiviral effect against the flu virus. It inhibits the early stages of infection by blocking key viral proteins responsible for both the viral attachment and entry into the host cells.” (Source)
Australian scientists discovered how elderberry compounds inhibit the flu virus’s replication and entry into our cells, at the same time it strengthens the body’s immune response to the virus!
Elderberry, known as Sambucus, is a kind of flowering plant that contains antioxidants that can help relieve colds, fight the flu, and help balance the immune system. You can find many options at your local health-focused grocer OR you can make your own!
Some of the benefits of taking elderberry are:
- Immune Support
- Anti-inflammatory
- Shortens cold &...
My Favorite Thanksgiving Recipes
Nov 22, 2021
Thanksgiving It's my absolute favorite holiday.
I love that there are no gifts to buy and it's all about cultivating gratitude for family, food, and connection.
I love long loungey mornings, eating a light breakfast, and cooking in the kitchen with music and warm fire on.
My husband took overcooking the turkey, which we smoke in the Traeger and it's been one of the best investments we've made!
I also LOVE turkey leftovers and ALWAYS make turkey bone broth (see below for my recipe) with the turkey bones after the meat has been devoured, or we get sick of it and feed it to our pug.
Okay so, today I want to share some of my favorite healthy Thanksgiving recipes that I've loved for years or are just beginning to play with!!!
First I must begin with my favorite side dish ever, Green Bean Casserole!
It's definitely not as easy to make as the old-fashioned recipes ...
The Empty Boat
Nov 22, 2021
My dear friend, Kristin, shared in a group text a perfect story by Nhat Hanh.
It was so beautiful and reminded me of the infinite power we have within us, well I just had to share!
A monk decides to meditate alone. Away from his monastery, he takes a boat to the middle of the lake, closed his eyes, and begins to meditate.
After a few hours of undisturbed silence, he suddenly feels the blow of another boat hitting his own.
With his eyes still closed, he feels his anger build, and when he opens his eyes he is ready to yell at the boatman who dared to disrupt his meditation.
But when he opened his eyes, he saw that it was an empty boat, not anchored, floating in the middle of the lake...
At that moment, the monk reaches self-realization and understands that anger is within him, it simply needs the hit of an external object to trigger it.
After, that whenever he meets someone who irritates or provokes his...
The Story of My Awakening (Part 8) - Our marriage was suffering
Nov 22, 2021
In the last part of this series, I shared my awakening of vaccines...
Now I will be sharing with you my struggles in my marriage and the huge shift that propelled my family out of the destructive-divorce-is-imminent phase to I think we have a chance phase.
A whole year had gone by after the serendipitous dinner with my dear friend Kellie that led to the creation of the Hippie Moms Community on Facebook.
You can still join in if you aren’t already there!
I finally felt connected to a group of women where I could share my heart and ask for advice when I needed it.
I would post and engage daily.
Eventually, we changed the names to Hippie Moms as we agreed that the “aren’t crazy” was defensive! Haha!
We were going to own being Hippie Moms!
I was going to own this opportunity and somehow create a space where women like me could go and feel like they were not alone.
It became my...
The Story of My Awakening (Part 7) - When the book arrived
Nov 22, 2021
In the last part of my awakening I got to share with you the story about the inception of Hippie Moms!
It was so serendipitous and the timing could not have been more perfect for me on my lonely journey!
I took so much away from that evening and am so grateful that the experience gifted me the community we have today. It's just so beautiful.
I want to share with you the continuation of that story, so here we go...
[Audio Version of this email]
About a week later after our magical dinner, Kellie sent me a book.
It arrived when she said it would.
The book was titled, Make an Informed Vaccine Decision, ironically one of the authors of this book was an expert speaker at this years’ Holistic Mama Summit, Neil Z. Miller.
I opened up the package, read the title and I was skeptical.
I too was indoctrinated into the “vaccines are completely safe and effective” worldview.
It was our...
The Story of My Awakening (Part 6) - I was SO lonely
Nov 22, 2021
Hey! Thanks for continuing on this journey with me!
You see when I started on this journey, I was so lonely.
I was trying SO hard to make all these lifestyle changes and fullfilling all the roles in my life.
As I continued to research and spend countless hours learning how to make my home and life safer for my family, I began to uncover the depths of my own conditioning.
Even though I continued to bear the responsibility of my ignorance, it was hard to hide my anger and frustration.
I just felt duped.
When all I wanted was happy and healthy children and the world I lived in was constantly undermining my efforts to create this.
After the low moment I shared with you last week, I knew things had to shift.
I was not okay.
I couldn’t bear to live like this anymore.
I was afraid that I would hurt one of my kids or even hurt myself.
I was just so tired and I felt alone on this journey.
My husband was...
The Story of My Awakening (Part 5) - My Breaking Point
Nov 22, 2021
Now I share with you the last part of this series, my depth of motherhood.
It was a very shameful and vulnerable moment.
I had my second son, Ryder, in December of 2013.
Of course, it changed the dynamic of our family of 3 and it was a welcome change.
I had made some major shifts in the way we ate and lived and I felt that we were all getting healthier.
My pregnancy was much easier than my first and I was much more confident in early motherhood.
I didn’t frequent the google dark hole as often :)
Being a mom, having a new baby, working, and keeping everyone alive were a lot of stress. I was always overwhelmed.
At this time, I just assumed that this was how motherhood was supposed to be.
I trusted myself and my ability to be a mom and this my friends was a game-changer.
I felt as if I had this mom-thing down and was enjoying being at home with my kids… well at least in the...
The Story of My Awakening (Part 4) - It Was Only a Plastic Teething Ring
Nov 22, 2021
HI again :)
So the reason I am here with your right now, began when my eldest was 6 months old.
It was a beautiful March afternoon in AZ. I opened up all the windows in our home and a cool breeze swept through the house.
I had gotten into more of a rhythm in motherhood.
I was still sleepless and grumpy. Tired and overwhelmed, yet I still managed to find small moments that brought joy.
I loved being a mom and hated it.
I jokingly say often that if people actually talked about how parenthood is, many of us would never procreate.
Motherhood offers us the entire gamut of human emotions, sometimes all in just one minute!
As I shared yesterday, my firstborn, Ryland, had not been an easy baby.
I was full-on attachment parenting (my gut led me there).
I was a human pacifier, a bouncing chair with a boob, and I RARELY had even one moment to myself (I really like my alone time).
Do you?
I sat Ryland down on the...
The Story of My Awakening (Part 3) - You Should Stop Breastfeeding
Nov 22, 2021
Hey there :)
I gave birth to my son in September 2011.
I ended up having a C-section as he was breached and it was a traumatic birthing experience (more on that another time).
He was not a happy baby. He was a miserable baby.
He was constantly crying, gagging, spitting up, and seemed to always be in pain.
It was hell as a brand new mom.
This experience did not mirror the hypothetical early motherhood experience I dreamed up before he was born.
I went to the pediatrician to tell him all about the excruciating pain my son was having.
He examined him and said, “Well I don’t see anything wrong, it could just be acid reflux and I think he could be allergic to something in your milk.”
Then he continued to suggest that I stop breastfeeding and find a formula to try.
He wrote me a prescription for some acid reflux medicine and walked out of the room. That was the last time I ever saw...
