The Healing Power of Mushrooms
In the realm of natural remedies, the world of medicinal mushrooms has emerged and has some powerful benefits. Did you know that mushrooms can supercharge your brain health? Medicinal mushrooms are more than just a culinary delight; they’re nature’s brain boosters! Their positive effects on our brain health are nothing short of extraordinary! Scientific studies have shown us the remarkable effects of certain mushrooms (particularly Lion’s Mane, Reishi, and Chaga) on cognitive function, enhanced memory and mental clarity as well as improving neurological well-being.
To unlock the potential of your brain, let’s dive into the world of medicinal mushrooms!
Lion’s Mane: The “Smart Mushroom”
Lion’s Mane is known for its resemblance to a lion’s mane and its impact on cognitive function. This natural wonder has garnered its nickname as the “smart mushroom” due to its ability to stimulate the growth of nerve cells in the brain. This unique feature not only supports brain plasticity but also has the potential to slow down age-related cognitive decline. Research suggests that Lion’s Mane may play a pivotal role in promoting cognitive resilience and protecting the brain from neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Reishi: The Calming Mushroom
Reishi mushrooms have been revered for centuries in traditional medicine systems for their calming properties. With stress being a significant factor in cognitive health, Reishi’s adaptogenic qualities can make a substantial difference. By reducing stress and promoting relaxation, Reishi supports brain function and emotional well-being.
Chaga: The Brain’s Shield
Chaga has earned its reputation as a potent protector of brain health. Rich in antioxidants and immune-boosting compounds, Chaga supports overall wellness, which in turn benefits brain function.
Benefits of Mushrooms:
Many medicinal mushrooms contain compounds that support the brain’s cognitive abilities, enhancing memory, focus, and overall mental clarity.
- Mood Regulation: Certain mushrooms, like Reishi, have adaptogenic properties that can help alleviate stress and promote emotional balance, indirectly benefiting brain health.
- Brain Plasticity: Compounds found in medicinal mushrooms, such as Lion’s Mane, can stimulate the growth of nerve cells, fostering neuroplasticity and cognitive resilience.
- Potential Support for Neurological Disorders: Ongoing research suggests that medicinal mushrooms might have a role in supporting conditions like Alzheimer’s and dementia by slowing down cognitive decline.
From Lion’s Mane’s intelligence-boosting qualities to Reishi’s calming influence and Chaga’s protective shield, these fungi hold the key to nurturing our brain health in profound ways. As scientific studies continue to shed light on their capabilities, integrating these mushrooms into our routines might just be the magic touch our brains need to thrive.
Unleashing the Power of Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) Tapping
August is International EFT Tapping Month! 🌟🌍 This month, we celebrate the incredible benefits of Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), a revolutionary healing modality based on acupuncture concepts. If you’re seeking relief from stress and anxiety, better emotional regulation, improved sleep, and enhanced self-awareness, then EFT might just be the perfect tool for you!
What is EFT? (makes sure this is H3 or H2 – consistent with all the headers in bold below)
EFT, also commonly known as “tapping,” is a therapeutic technique that combines the principles of ancient Chinese acupuncture and modern psychology. It involves tapping specific acupressure points on the body while focusing on emotional experiences or physical sensations. This process helps to release energy blockages and restore the body’s natural balance, thereby alleviating a variety of emotional and physical issues.
Benefits of EFT
- Stress Reduction: One of the primary reasons people turn to tapping is to manage stress effectively. By tapping on acupressure points, EFT calms the nervous system, reduces cortisol levels, and promotes a sense of relaxation and peace.
- Emotional Regulation: Tapping empowers individuals to acknowledge and process their emotions in a healthy way. It aids in releasing negative emotions, such as anger, sadness, or fear, and promotes emotional well-being and resilience.
- Better Sleep: For those struggling with insomnia or disrupted sleep patterns, tapping can offer much-needed relief. By addressing underlying emotional issues, tapping can create a more peaceful and restful sleep experience.
- Pain Management: Tapping has been shown to be effective in managing physical pain. While it may not be a replacement for medical treatment, tapping can complement pain management strategies and provide relief.
- Calming and Grounding: When faced with overwhelming emotions or anxiety, tapping can help individuals feel more centered and grounded. It provides a tangible tool to navigate through difficult emotions and regain composure.
- Improved Self-awareness: Through the process of tapping and introspection, individuals can gain deeper insights into their emotional states and thought patterns. This heightened self-awareness can be transformative for personal growth.
- Enhanced Performance and Confidence: Tapping is not only beneficial for emotional challenges but can also boost performance in various areas of life, including sports, academics, public speaking, and creative pursuits. It can bolster confidence and help individuals reach their full potential.
Scientific Support for EFT
Research on tapping has grown significantly and numerous studies have demonstrated its effectiveness in treating various emotional and psychological issues. Notably, EFT has been found to be valuable in reducing symptoms related to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety disorders, phobias, and even addictive behaviors!
Embrace EFT Today!
The best part about tapping is its accessibility. Not only is it free, you can practice it anytime, anywhere, without any special tools or equipment. Whether you’re feeling stressed at work, overwhelmed by personal challenges, or simply seeking emotional balance, tapping can be your faithful companion on your journey to well-being.
As we celebrate International EFT Tapping Month, let’s recognize the immense power of this acupuncture-based technique in transforming lives and promoting emotional freedom. If you haven’t already, consider giving tapping a try and unlock its benefits!
Want to get started with tapping? Check out this video!
Disclaimer: While EFT has shown promising results, tapping is not intended to treat, diagnose or cure any diseases. Therefore it is essential to consult with a qualified healthcare professional for any medical or psychological concerns.
Are you your own best friend?
Take a moment to reflect on the relationship you have with yourself. Are you kind, supportive, and loving? It’s shocking how many of us say things to ourselves that we would never say to another person.
How we talk to ourselves matters.
Whether you notice it or not, we’re constantly talking to ourselves in our head. Are you aware of your internal dialogue? Since it’s happening all the time it is easy to not notice what we’re saying to ourselves. Being aware of your internal dialogue is the first step to improving your self-talk, which is one of the best ways to maximize your mindset for success. So take a minute to assess by asking yourself the following questions:
When I think or talk about myself, am I positive or critical of myself?
Do I focus on my successes and the things I’m doing right or do I tend to focus on my mistakes and shortcomings?
When I look in the mirror do I compliment myself and say nice things or do I focus on my flaws and say negative things to myself?
Your thoughts about yourself filter out information
The things we think about ourselves matter a lot. Our perception of ourselves and our thoughts about who we are creates a filter. This filter allows in information that proves us right and filters out information that proves us wrong. This is very helpful because we have millions of pieces of information coming into our brains every single second. If this information wasn’t filtered out, we’d be too overwhelmed to function at all.
So this filter is great except that we all have limiting beliefs about ourselves, so we will constantly receive information that proves those limiting beliefs are correct. For example, if you feel like you’re not good enough you basically only see things that reinforce the belief that you’re not good enough because you’re filtering out and can’t receive information that proves that you are good enough. A more simple example of this is if you get a new car, you start to see that car everywhere you go. It’s not that the specific type of car you’re driving is actually on the road more, it’s that you simply were filtering out before.
So when you are thinking and saying negative things about yourself, you’re actually unconsciously blocking any information that would make you feel better and focusing on things that make you feel bad. In this way it becomes a snowball because the information you’re receiving reinforces the belief and the belief gets stronger so you get more information to prove it right and so on. A way to recognize how much you’re blocking positive information to yourself is thinking about when people give you compliments and gifts. Do you deflect and minimize compliments or do you simply let them sink in and say thank you? When receiving gifts do you feel unworthy or uncomfortable or do you feel honored that someone thought of you?
The external world is a mirror of your internal thoughts
Your thoughts you have about yourself (and everything really) are reflected into the external world. All thoughts have an energy to them and that energy is projected into the world and things of a similar vibration (people, situations, events) will be attracted to you based on what you’re thinking. If you’re afraid of being rejected by people, you’re more likely to attract people that are likely to reject you. When you feel unworthy, you’re more likely to attract a partner that doesn’t value you. When you’re worried about how much your services cost in your business, you’re more likely to attract people that think your services are too expensive. Your external reality is always reflecting to you your beliefs, thoughts and feelings. If you want to know about your internal reality – look around you and observe the things in your life.
So when it comes to how you think about yourself, are you your biggest cheerleader or your biggest critic? When you become aware of your internal dialogue about yourself and shift it to be more positive in your head, this will lead to more positive experiences in your life.
How to have a more positive internal self-talk:
1. Show yourself some love: every time you look in the mirror, say nice things about yourself. Do at least one nice thing for yourself each day. When we have more love for ourselves in our head, the amount of love we have in our life grows too!
2. Be your own cheerleader: Consider writing down 5 things everyday that you did well. This conscious attention focusing on the positive aspects of yourself will shift your unconscious thoughts about yourself.
Choose self-compassion: Forgiving yourself is a key to self-compassion. Cut yourself some slack and give yourself some grace. Instead of beating yourself up for mistakes you’ve made, work on forgiving yourself and loving yourself anyways
How are you relating to time?
Is it just me or is time going by REALLY fast these days?!?! I’ve been noticing in the past few years that it seems like time is going by faster and faster. And for the past few months I’ve been doing an interesting experiment in how I relate to time!
If you’re constantly seeing the world as going by too fast and you’re saying “I don’t have enough time” you probably have fast-moving thoughts and a focus time scarcity. This makes it easy to go through your day saying to yourself that you don’t have enough time. And whatever you believe becomes true, so those thoughts actually do speed up time for you!
When I was writing my book I kept telling myself that I didn’t have enough time. I was frantically always trying to get everything done and balancing my coaching business, the book, and the clinic. This reminded me of the first time that I noticed time scarcity in my life.
Time is actually a made-up construct. I had been exposed to the concept a couple of times that you can bend time. YES THAT’S RIGHT, YOU HAVE THE POWER TO ACTUALLY SPEED UP AND SLOW DOWN TIME!!! When you focus on presence in the moment, you slow down time (think about the last time you were waiting for food in the microwave or holding a 1 minute plank – it seems like time has never gone so slow!). When you’re focused on the future, your to-do list, the clock ticking, and anything else besides being present in the moment, you actually speed up time.
So I started to play with time. I noticed that time was going by quickly and I was always saying to myself “I don’t have enough time.” I was living in a place of time scarcity and I noticed that I had been watching a lot of cooking shows like “Chopped” where the contestants were constantly racing against the clock. I reflected a bit and decided that I was going to cut these shows out for a while and see how things went. Unsurprisingly, I immediately noticed that I had a much better relationship with time. It is crazy how what you consume can affect your life so much because all of the tv, ads, music, etc we let into our minds is actually programming us on an unconscious level.
So my recent experiment was back to playing my with experience of time. I practiced being present in the moment. Putting less things on my to do list. Spending even more time in meditation, visualizing, breathwork, and just being (yes sitting and literally doing absolutely nothing – it’s surprisingly difficult). Low and behold my days have felt a lot longer, I feel more accomplished, relaxed, centered in my energy, grounded in my body, business and life! It’s been amazing! Magically I’m working less and getting more done!
It comes down to being intentional! Living your life intentionally is the most amazing gift to improve your overall life quality and satisfaction however it takes multiple little steps to get there.
If you want to release your time scarcity and start intentionally living the life you love, join the Empowered Living Membership Now!
I was honored to speak at Celebration, the Polka Dot Powerhouse National Conference!
Being chosen as a speaker at the Celebration, the Polka Dot Powerhouse National Conference, was an incredible honor that left me humbled and grateful. As I stood before a room filled with inspiring women, I couldn’t help but reflect on my five-year journey as a Dot and the profound impact that being a dot has had on my life. Polka Dot Powerhouse, with its unique approach to connection and empowerment, has been a guiding light for me, and I am excited to share my experience with you.
I want to express my deepest gratitude to the Polka Dot Powerhouse for selecting me as a speaker at this event. The opportunity to speak to a room of like-minded women, who strive for positivity and action, was truly a privilege. Throughout my journey, I have witnessed the transformative power of this incredible community, and I am grateful to have been a part of it for the past five years.
For those unfamiliar with Polka Dot Powerhouse, it is far more than just a networking group or a professional organization. It is a Connection Company that strives to bring together the world’s most remarkable women, fostering lifelong friendships and business relationships. As a Dot, I have experienced firsthand the incredible support, encouragement, and empowerment that this community offers.
Good Eyesight is Key for Performance!
It’s National Eye Exam Month, which is the perfect time to get your yearly eye exam! Seeing clearly is essential for performance. In sports 80% of you sensory input comes from your eyes, so it’s important to have regular eye exams to make sure that you have good eyesight!
Being able to see things clearly is called visual acuity, which affects our:
- Eye hand coordination (ability to connect visual info to direct hand movement)
- Depth perception (ability accurately assess the speed and distance of objects)
- Eye focusing (ability to change focus from one object to another)
- Eye tracking (ability to keep your eye on objects as they move)
- Peripheral awareness (ability to see out of the corner of your eyes to see surroundings)
- Dynamic visual acuity (ability to see clearly see objects as they move)
As you can see from this list, it’s essential to get yearly eye exams to ensure we have the best visual acuity possible! This is especially important as we age because our eyes slowly lose the ability to focus clearly, which decreases our performance.
However the benefits of having good eyesight go beyond athletic performance because visual acuity improves your reaction times and ability to process visual information. This leads to safer driving, better reflexes, less strain on the eyes when working at a computer and many more benefits in everyday life! So if you have not had your eyes tested in the last 12 months, it’s time to call and make an appointment today!
How to pick the best sunscreen!
Summer is here, which means it’s time to get outside and enjoy some sunshine! Since the sun is out in full force, it’s really important to wear sunscreen to prevent sunburns that can lead to skin cancer. June is Skin Cancer Awareness month. Unfortunately skin cancer affects 1 in 5 Americans by the time they are 70, which is why it is so important to protect yourself! Thankfully sunscreen can reduce the risk by more than 40%! Not all sunscreens are created equal, some are much better than others. This article is designed to teach you tips on how to pick the best sunscreen!
Sunscreen Recommendations:
- Choose a broad spectrum sunscreen as this protects against ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB) rays.
- Get SPF 30 or higher. Many people don’t know that the SPF number is the number of minutes of protection (i.e. the time duration you should reapply). The higher the SPF number the longer you can go between reapplication! Be sure to apply at least once every 2 hours at the maximum.
- Water resistant does not mean waterproof. Even water resistant sunscreens are only water resistant for 40 to 80 minutes. Sunscreens should be reapplied after you’ve sweat or been in the water.
- Apply liberally! Maybe people will put on a light layer, which does not fully protect your skin. Be sure to add enough to get a thick layer on your skin.
- Mineral based has less potentially toxic ingredients. Try to find a sunscreen that uses zinc oxide or titanium oxide as a
- Check the expiration date before using. Sunscreens that are expired have lower effectiveness.
- Read the ingredients carefully! Choose sunscreens that have Avobenzone instead of Oxybenzone (an ingredient found in some chemical based sunscreens but it has been found to be a hormone disruptor and potentially lead to skin sensitization, so it’s best to avoid).
- Here’s a list of things you want to make sure are not in your sunscreen:
- Aminobenzoic acid
- Trolamine salicylate
- Cinoxate
- Dioxybenzone
- Ensulizole
- Oxybenzone
- Meradimate
- Sulisobenzone
- Padimate O
- Here’s a list of things you want to make sure are not in your sunscreen:
My Favorite Brands:
- Whole body = Alba Botanica – Hawaiian Sunscreen Fragrance Free Sunscreen Spray SPF 70
- Face = Sun Bum – Original SPF 50 Sunscreen Face Lotion
Other Considerations:
Sunscreen cannot prevent 100% of sun damage. If you’re going to spend an entire day outside, consider getting SPF shirts and SPF hats!
Heart Health Benefits of Salmon & Garlic
In honor of February, let’s talk about HEART HEALTH!
Salmon and garlic are both delicious and great for your health!!
Salmon is filled with tons of omega-3 fatty acids! Studies have shown that eating salmon 2-3 times per week can reduce risk of heart disease by reducing cholesterol, fasting blood sugar, and blood pressure.
Garlic is awesome and has multiple therapeutic effects including reducing LDL cholesterol (the bad kind) and reducing blood pressure.
Try the delicious, heart healthy, garlic lemon salmon recipe!
Rosemary, Chicken, Bacon, Avocado Salad
Bacon makes everything taste better, especially salad!
(Serves 2)
Ingredients:
- 4 slices thick-cut bacon
- 1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 6 cups spring greens or power greens
- 1 package bean sprouts
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 large avocado, thinly sliced
rosemary vinaigrette:
- 1-2 tablespoons dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
- salt and pepper
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper (ensuring that there is a lip of parchment paper so that it can contain all the bacon grease). Put the bacon on the parchment paper. Bake in the oven for 13 – 17 minutes.
- After bacon is done, chop into bite sized pieces.
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees, remove cooking racks and transfer bacon to a plate. Put chicken breasts on parchment paper in bacon grease and sprinkle with salt & pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and rosemary. Bake for 15-30 minutes until 165 degrees.
- Whisk together the rosemary vinaigrette ingredients.
- Let the chicken rest for a few minutes while you assemble the salad. Add bacon.
- Slice chicken and avocado, place on top of salad.
- Drizzle rosemary vinaigrette and enjoy!
