Heal Yourself...With Your Mouth

Gluten Free Veggie Pasta and Kale Chips!!

Food, food, food!!!! Food is one of the biggest parts of our daily lives and also plays one of the biggest impacts when it comes to the health of our life. Food can not only impact our physical health but it also plays a huge impact on our mental health, spiritual connect, and emotional well-being. A lot of us do not take the time to think about what we are putting into our bodies and how it is affecting us. We tend to make decisions of what to eat out of convince rather than deciding to eat for optimal health and well being, and I was once one of these people. For those of you that know me my diet has changed many times over the years from eating crap take out all the time, to salads every day, to having a protein shake or two a day, to gluten free, and then finally to being gluten free, meat free, dairy free and consuming mostly organic foods. It took me many years to figure out what worked for me and what did not work for me in my diet and in some ways I am still figuring this out. I read tons of books and articles on food educating myself and learning why eating certain ways and items can make us feel better and others can make us feel not so great. Here are some tid-bits that I have picked up over the years from educating myself that have lead to my decisions and lead to me feeling better than I ever have felt before.

All aboard the gluten free train! Gluten is a protein that is located in most grains that include but are not limited to; wheat (this one is the biggest candidate), barely, some oats, and buckwheat. This protein was not actually located in grains 50 years ago but is actually an additive due to grains being genetically modified to keep up with the rate that the human race is consuming them, this protein also helps increase their storage life. Anyway, gluten can affect the human body in many many ways; bloating, foggy mind, fatigue, depression, chicken skin (or the little tiny red bumps that you get on your biceps and thighs), gas, IBS, vitamin deficiencies, swelling of joints/muscles and much much more. Gluten can also make certain diseases and illnesses worse; fibromyalgia, MS, IBS, Crohn's, anxiety disorders, chronic depression, and arthritis. For me, my first indicators of why I should go gluten free were; looking like I was 6 months prego every time I ate gluten, constant low energy, chicken skin, and I hate to say it but gas. Not everyone's body has a gluten intolerance but everyone can benefit from limiting the amount of gluten you ingest. I suggest trying to eliminate gluten from your diet for a week and see how you feel, some differences you might notice are; feeling lighter, more energetic and happier!! Plus lets face it there are some truly yummy g-free foods out there these days...cupcakes anyone?!

Organic vs GMO foods....this I know is sometimes a touchy subject for people because of cost and the old saying what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I understand cost is hard for some people to wrap their minds around, however, how does ingesting wax, formaldehyde and food colouring every time you bite into an apple that cost you maybe 20 cents cheaper than an organic one sound? GMO foods were created for a few reasons but the biggest one is so that the food can have a longer shelf life and grow in conditions that it was not meant to grow in. One of the best examples I can think of are blueberries; GMO blueberries have had salamander cells added to them so they can resist frost and also have blue food colouring added to them as after they have been picked they lose their colour with in the first few days. Now I do not know about you but having salamander cells crossed with my blueberries does not sound like something I want to put into my body. GMO foods contribute to many many health issues but I will only list the most common here; weight gain (yes even though you are eating your fruits and veggies you will still gain weight!), acne, seasonal allergies, vitamin deficiencies, Autism, ADHD, and many more. Now I know buying organic can be costly, and I will be honest I buy as much as I can organic but I do cheat with a few things, here is a list and link to the foods you should be buying organic as they contain the most harmful chemicals and additives: http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/eat-safe/dirty-dozen-foods#slide-1.

Meat Free and Dairy Free Cabbage Rolls!!

Last but definitely not least the two touchiest subjects; meat and dairy!!! These are very very touchy subjects and once again not everyone needs to go meat free and dairy free but everyone can benefit from having less of the two in their diets. Meat is one of the biggest contributors to; hormone imbalances, infertility, immune system deficiencies, obesity, heart disease, MS, crohn's, cancer (as meat is acidic and a cancer free body needs an alkaline diet) chronic fatigue syndrome and high/low blood pressure. The Canadian Food guide recommends having 2-3 servings of lean meat/proteins a day and the average Canadian usually ingests about 3 servings of meat and about 2-3 servings of protein making that an average of 5-6 servings a day, and to top it off a serving size is about 3 ounces or the size of the palm of your hand not a 10 ounce t-bone. Unlike meat which has been included in our diets for many years, dairy was never meant to be included in our diets, it was added because humans were not getting enough vitamins from other sources and because of the creamy delicious taste. Human's had to develop a make shift enzyme in their body to even digest dairy! Ingesting dairy takes a huge toll on the body it takes about ten times longer to digest something that contains dairy than it does to ingest dairy free items. Indicators of being lactose intolerant are; acne, hormone imbalances, gas, bowel issues, phlegm in the lungs/throat area upon waking, asthma, vitamin deficiencies, etc. I know what you are thinking; but we need protein and the vitamins from meat and dairy to live, yes it is true you do need protein and vitamins, like vitamin D, to live but there are so many other ways to get these besides meat and dairy. Some excellent sources of protein that do amazing things for your body are; lentils and beans, spinach (yes I know it is true!!), nuts/seeds, broccoli, cabbage, hemp, brown rice, and my favourite quinoa. I would like to note that I did not include soya, or  edamame in the protein sources because 90% of the worlds soya and edamame is highly processed and genetically modified.  As for the vitamins that your missing from dairy try adding more greens to your diet, almonds, hemp hearts, cacao (raw chocolate!), and the easiest, spending a minimum of 30 minutes outside a day. Now like I said before I am not saying everyone needs to go meat and dairy free it is a choice you need to make for yourself, but even simply cutting back on meat and dairy and using other sources to get your nutritional requirements does wonders!! Try having two meatless days a week and switch to organic, free range meat sources and you will see a difference with just that.


Listen to your body, and not society, on what your body needs to function to its best ability.  Your body will tell you what food it can and cannot tolerate you just need to listen to it carefully. When I first started trying to figure out what kind of a diet worked for me I would take a few minutes right after each meal to do a mental scan of my body and see what was going on, then about an hour later I would do the same thing again once the digestion process had started, this helped me to really figure out what my body wanted in my diet and what it did not. Often we eat certain foods because we think we have to, its convenient or because it is socially acceptable but this leads to so many health issues that could be avoided. Not everyone needs to live a vegan gluten free life but making simple changes to how you consume food and why, could save your from a lot of physical, emotional, and mental pain down the road. Plus I must say there really are delish things you can make that are healthy, gluten free, dairy free, meat free and amazing in taste. I encourage everyone to take what you have learned here, do a little research and then figure out what it right for you, after all its all about loving your body because it is the only one that you have!

Crap-tacular or Spectacular...Which do you choose

Everyone has crappy days, and I mean everyone, I am not exempt from this rule and neither are you! The secret is not letting it get the point of, pardon my French, shit hitting the fan. Everyone has those moments that they wish they could take back; that freak out on your significant other or friends, the random meltdown at work or while driving, and so much more, but let me tell you that if you go through a little self discovery you can have these moments less and less and the likeliness of the shit hitting the fan majorly, are less.  Now before we go on I am going to be straight up with you...what I am about to say and the things I am giving you does not mean you will never have a crap-tacular day ever again, all I am doing is trying to get you to look deep within yourself and learn more about what is truly going on and getting you to look at the situation differently. I still have some days that are not so great and I will be completely honest up about that.

First thing is first most of the time when we are having a crappy day it is because we are focusing on all the negative things that are happening throughout the day instead of seeing the positive things, and trust me no matter how crappy of a day you are having there are always some positives. Focusing on the negatives does one of two things; one it manifests more crappiness in your day (law of attraction people), and two by only thinking about the negative things it keeps your brain on the crap train instead of switching railways. So first thing to do when you are having a crap-tacular day is start thinking about the positive things that have happened in your day, whether it’s something as simple as someone held the door open for you, your pen didn't run out of ink, or that person that let you merge in traffic. Focusing on the positive things that are happening in your day not only lets you attract more positive things into your life but also expresses gratitude, changes your focus and can make you feel more calm and happy. When I am trying to focus on positive's in my day I personally like to write them down and I suggest that maybe you do this as well as it makes it tangible, it’s a creative out let, writing moves energy from the body, and it really triggers the mind to change the way it is thinking as writing is external.

Get moving now!!!! I am serious; if you are having any bit of a less than perfect day, move your body! Feelings and emotions are just another form of energy and moving your body releases that energy which if built up for too long can cause manifest into major health issues such as depression, weight gain, headaches, etc. So get your body up and move, go for a walk, run, dance to your favorite song, do some sun salutations (from yoga), or jump rope! I am not telling you to go out and have a marathon workout, but to get your body moving and heart rate up. Not only does moving your body releases energy but it also releases serotonin, which we all know is one of the chemicals in our body that leads to happiness!!!! :D

Ohm it out and focus on your breathing. This is a huge one for me; ask anyone around me, they can tell when I am meditating and when I am not. And if meditation is not for you, which it is for everyone trust me, just focus on your deep breathing and remember it could be 5 minutes or 30 its whatever you need!! Meditation has so many benefits to it and one of the things that it does is it trains the mind to focus, thus making you more able to control your thoughts, i.e. pick a positive though over a negative!!! Meditation and deep breathing also reduce high blood pressure, which when things are not going your way blood pressure increases, and they also help to release feel good, relaxing endorphins into your body. When we mediate we more or less are taking time to ourselves which is always needed, as it shows our soul and heart some self love.<3
These are only a few of hundreds of things mediation does for you when you’re in a crappy mood, so many you should hit that mediation pillow!

Last but not least is the most important, or at least in my opinion, thing to remember....feel, forgive and release. When you are having a crappy day you probably have numerous feelings that come up, DO NOT ignore them or burry them this will make things worse in the long run (illness, snap show/freak outs, depression, weight gain, etc). Allow yourself to feel the emotion by breathing into it and seeing where it is coming from within your body, I know this might sound a little odd but trust me. Close your eyes and just take a few deep breaths, then breathe into the emotion that you are feeling, as you breathe into the emotion and let your body experience the it, you will find that your breath just kind of sits or stops somewhere in your body (this is the part of your body the emotion is coming from) after identifying this mentally ask your body to release this emotion from your body, you can also do this out loud it is up to you really. When you breathe into an emotion and then ask it to be released you are allowing yourself not only to experience it but also asking the universe and yourself to help release it as you are now done with this emotion. Then there is forgiveness which I know a lot of people find hard but when you master it, it is truly the most amazing thing ever. Forgive the person that cut you off, forgive your spouse for not doing the dishes; forgive your boss for making you redo your project. By forgiving people, places, things and especially yourself you are cutting that tie that binds you to the emotion, and in your mind, the thing that made the emotion. Right after my deep breathing I usually mentally and aloud say whom I am forgiving before I open my eyes.

There really are tons and tons of other things I could tell you to do when you have had an off day, crap-tacular day, or whatever you want to call it but these are the main ones that help so many people and really truly do make a difference when practiced. Sometimes you may need to do all of them a million times and other days you might only need to to one and only for 2 minutes, regardless of all that they really do help. Now go out work this magic and spread the spectacularness of your day with everyone!!!

Meditation Mantra for Days When the Sun Shines Less

"I surrender my discomforts and fears to the universe. 

No matter what comes my way I will be mentally,

physically, emotionally, financially and spiritually safe.

I know that the angels, goddesses, gods, and universe have my back,

and that nothing will come into my life, that is from

any other source other than love and light.

I am love and light and I receive only love and light."

You Say Laziness, I Say Love

For me taking time away from yoga is unthinkable, most of the time. Yoga is what makes me feel most centred, grateful, grounded, and all those really amazing feelings. However, from time to time when life gets crazy I have been know to take a bit of a break from my yoga practice, I always end up going back and I usually end up going back with a little regret from taking that time away. Last week was one of those times where I choose, consiously and subconciously, to take a little breather from my practice.

Last week I had experinced some crazy news coming back from Banff that made me highly anxious, irritated, and just over all odd feeling; this is usually when my running and yoga practice would be at it's all time high, but for me this time I was exhausted to think about anything let alone yoga and running. It all started out with sleeping in an extra hour and skipping my usual morning yoga and mediation practice, this was day one and continued through out the week, then the next thing I knew I had skipped three yoga classes that I would normally turn over boulders to attend. I knew that my body and mind just needed the extra time to itself and quite that I can only get by being locked in my house with my furrbuddies, but there was a bit of me that felt guilty for missing my practices. So what did I do? I did a little grounding mediatation and released my ego which was telling me I should feel bad for braking my practice. It was not until I had released my ego and all my judgements about myself and not practicing, or all the "should's", that I was fully able to hear my higher self and inner guides.

For those of you who are unfarmilar with inner guides and higher self I will explain a little bit. Your higher self and inner guides are the ones that give you guidance through out your life and help to keep you true to your greatest good and achieve your life's purpose. Your higher self and inner guides are the ones that deliever messages to you in every aspect of your day, they are the ones that when you are in traffic and you get that sense, voice or gut feeling to go left but you go right instead and then end up stuck in traffic, they were that gut feeling, voice, or sense that told you to go left. Anyway more on that later on.

This is the message I got from my guides and higher self once I was fully able to let go of my ego's words and I choose to relay this message to all of you as I think it is important for us all to know:

"Not doing something does not make one bad, it does not make them lazy, and it certianly does not make them any less of what they are. Everyone needs time away from things, people and places to regroup and ground. When we take time away from something and take time to ourselves we can come back stronger and more dedicated. When we choose to let go of all the should's and expectations of ourselves and express self love and care by taking time to ourselves to do what is best, we become more aware and more fulfilled by things, places, and people when we come back to them. It is okay to take a break."

These words resignated deep with in me and made me realize that just because I was taking care of myself in a different way, by taking time away, it did not make my practice anyless meaningful or important when I choose to return to it. This is the feeling and lesson that I hope you all will learn instead of feeling guilty; it is okay to take a time out and a break from anything in your life, anything at all!

AND let me tell you, when I returned to my practice with all that I learned and realized while I was away I recieved a true gift...After 5 years of doing yoga I did a full crow pose! This is a pose I have never been able to do, I would get maybe one toe off the ground for a moment or two but never both and never in a full pose; BUT, this morning I finally achieved a full crow! While practicing I heard my inner guide say "try doing a full crow today", so I listened and went for it and BAM, I achieved it!

In closing taking time away from things can be a good thing when you learn to just let go of your ego and just be. Taking care of yourself and listening to what you need is the biggest and best thing you can do and learn in life as long as you learn to not feel guilty about whatever it is and do it with love and intention. Who knows you might even receive a little gift like I did!  :)

In Love With the Greatest Force in the World

Sunset a top the mountain.

This past weekend my wonderful boyfriend and I took a small road trip to Banff National Park to get out of the city for a little bit and just be on our own. This trip not only gave both of us the much needed lover time together, but also gave me some more insight to who I have become over the last year. Strange how sometimes it takes something just as simple as traveling three and a half hours to show you things that you normally do not realize.

It all started as I was sitting in the car about 30 minutes to our finally destination, my lovely boyfriend looked over at me just staring out the window and asked what I was thinking about, I just respond with,  the lines on the mountains and how beautiful they are. I just continued to sit there staring thinking about how beautiful these gigantic formations where and how amazing it would be to see them up close like this everyday. I was so at peace with myself, my life, everything in that moment, nothing could disturb this amazing feeling I was experiencing. 

Through out the entire trip I just had this over whelming feeling of calm, peace, love, and like I was home like I had never experienced before. Then we took a gondola ride up the side of a mountain to the top, as there was too much snow to hike up, and watched as the sunset over the tops of the mountain range. Sparks went off in my entire body, not only was witnessing one of the most amazing sights ever but I was in a place that I loved with the person that I loved. As I watched the sun beginning to set over the mountain tops I realized how my new found love and respect for myself and others around me had turned into this amazing love and respect for the greatest force out there, mother nature, and all its beauty. It was then that I looked over and saw a girl eating a granola bar and as she finished I watched her toss her wrapper over the railing onto the ground when there was a garbage close by. I turned to look away the opposite way and I saw a man finishing his smoke toss his smoke butt into the snow when there was an ashtray beside him. The calm, the sparks suddenly changed into this sickening feeling, I literally felt like throwing up everywhere. Looking at something so beautiful and being in such a beautiful place how could people treat the environment like this, I was out raged. I have always tried my hardest to minimize my impact on the environment and the world we live in.

The rest of the trip was filled with amazing experiences of eating amazing food, walking through the town sight, having time alone, napping, and just enjoying the experience of being in this amazing place. I mostly felt this great inner peace and love for this beautiful place but then there would be times I would see someone littering, or being cruel to the environment and those feelings of inner peace and love would be replaced by disgust. 

Sunday morning I woke up sad as I knew we were going to be leaving at some point in the day. I reflected upon the trip as it was amazing, me and my lover got to spend some much needed time with no responsibilities with each other, and I got to have some much needed nature and mountain time (huge part of my self love and care). The trip was amazing and showed me something that I often forget about being in the city all the time, my passion and love for the environment. I have always loved and done my best to leave the least amount of damage to the environment but it was nice to be reminded of the passion that is behind it. Over all was an amazing much needed trip on many levels; personal, relationship, and spiritual aspects of my life all got some love.

The town site from way up.

Me and my lover at the top of the mountain.

A Little Insight to Ohm

A green smoothie a day keeps the doctor away!

Welcome to Love, Silence, & Ohm! This is my baby in progress and a special little side project I am working on after getting tons of guidance and numerous people asking me to start blogging about my knowledge and experience's.

 I am currently on a whirlwind of a journey in both my spirituality and in how I view health. This journey started about three years ago when I got hit with some major events and news that changed how I saw the world, my health (others health too), and how I saw myself. In the past year I have learned more about myself, living a healthy lifestyle, and spirituality than I could have ever imagined learning. I have learned and abled myself to connect with my higher self through mediation. I have educated myself on which foods my body, and most peoples bodies, function the best off of. I have educated myself and others on the importance of choosing organically and more natural food sources, body products, household cleaners, etc. The most important thing that I have learned over the past year is who I am and how to develop a loving relationship with myself.

I am a crazy yogi runner that loves fairies and nature. I know more about goddesses, gods, and crystals than most people will ever learn in their lives, and this is just the information I know off the top of my head. I love the taste and energy of a good green smoothie in the morning when I wake up. I would live in the mountains way up high off of the land with a thousand animals if given a chance. I am passionate about living more naturally and choosing a life that exposes us to less chemicals. I meditate almost daily, and feel that meditation is key to getting to know yourself. Also I am a peanut butter freak! So that is me in a nut shell.

This blog will be all sorts of things. I will be writing about things that I find important for others to know, recipes occasionally, what I am up to, and how I have reached this journey I am on. I hope that you find my posts helpful and full of information. Remember the thing that sits most with you after you read something is your higher self and guides letting you know that you need to work on these things or learn more about them. I have come far in my journey and I am hoping to help you on yours no matter where it takes you.