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While snipping and stashing away my lemongrass cuttings before the cold evenings of Autumn begin to set in, my mind travels back to when I first began to enjoy lemongrass in my tea. It was a couple of years ago while in a lovely little dining room at the historic and romantic El Albergue hotel in Ollantaytambo, Peru. I was there for our annual Travel to Transform retreat and each morning we would meander down to the dining room to start our day with a fresh cooked meal and a cup of coca tea to help adjust to the change in altitude. They had a table in the dining room where they set out bowls of freshly cut lemongrass, fresh mint leaves and dried coca leaves (for assisting with the change in altitude), as well as fresh fruit, yogurt, granola and other breakfast goodies.

When life throws you a roadblock, it is time to look for the detours. There is almost always more than one way to get from point A to Point B. The problem is we usually have our blinders on and are so accustomed to our typical road home that we never see the myriad of other options. And even if we ultimately decide our familiar road is the best choice, it is wise to make a conscious effort to be open to and looking for opportunities, options and alternatives. This blog post talks about a few reasons why this is a good idea and reflects on a few personal stories that support this prerogative.

It was a bad day turned good day by intentionally choosing good vibes over bad when things were headed downhill. Expecting good things are going to happen is so freaking powerful! I use this power of positivity time and again in life, but sometimes I catch myself getting in the habit of whining and complaining too often and then I’m amazed all over again at what happens when I strongly shift my attitude. In today’s blog post I’ll share just a little example of how that worked for me on Friday.

As nature begins to slow down and prepare for the end of another growth season, so too can we begin to prepare and look for ways to mimic her rhythms and slow down as well. We can celebrate this season of harvest by fully appreciating the last of the fresh local summer bounties from your garden or the farmers markets and if you are blessed with an abundance, by taking the time to store away some of this bounty for the winter ahead. I’ve been more than a little preoccupied with my pots of herbs on the deck lately, so it seems only right to devote this post to how to extend the enjoyment of these beauties into the cold winter months ahead. If you too have an abundance of herbs and enjoy cooking with them, read on.

Since chia seed puddings are quick and easy to make in advance and store well for about five days, I am now hooked and have started to experiment with recipes for them on my own. I’ll share my favorite one with you at the bottom of today’s post, but first let’s talk about why would you want to eat these seeds anyway and what makes them so unique compared to other seeds you may already include in your diet? I’d often heard them referred to as a superfood, but after reading a bit more about them I now fully understand why.

I fell madly in love with rosemary years ago. It wasn’t love at first sight and I don’t even remember how she started capturing my heart, but there are so many simple ways of using rosemary that bring me such joy today. This fragrant fair maiden is native to the Mediterranean and is a member of the mint family. In this post I’ll share how to reciprocate love for this herb so you can cultivate a year long relationship and I’ll suggest some of my favorite ways to enjoy both inside and outside the home.

It is this difference in language of dreams compared to that of goals that leads me to assert that it is time to ditch goals and replace them with dreams instead. Many people will tell you to dream big dreams, but set realistic goals to help you achieve them. This thought has some merit, but it is my belief that the difference in the language used when working with achieving what you want for the future is very very important. When it comes to creating and altering your current reality, the mode of feeling is infinitely more powerful than the mode of thinking. When we envision how we would look and feel if we were to realize our dreams, our subconscious begins to activate movement in a direction to create the vision.

Wild. Bold. Beautiful. This summer thunderstorm. As I watch the trees bending under heavy gusts of wind, I am amazed at their resilience. It reminds me of how I too have managed to weather storms in life. How in the chaos, the hurt and the unknown of how to overcome, a sense of knowing resides deep down within that this too shall pass and that I’ll still be standing when it does. Perhaps a little ragged around the edges, but a little wiser too, a little stronger and with roots digging down a bit deeper to anchor me as I stand back up tall.

Just as you know that beautiful flower gardens don’t appear overnight, neither are intentions immediately set never to be broken. Let’s take a look at some of the steps that bring a gorgeous flower garden into being and how we can use this as a metaphor for creating our own beautiful intentions in our minds and for our lives.

So when you need to use up excess veggies, in my house, it’s time to make soup. This yellow squash and tomato soup is one of my all time favorites, especially for summer. It’s light and has a unique blend of vegetables that make it a little different, healthy and sooo delicious.

Tea has become a morning ritual for me and is something that can bring me back to the present moment multiple times throughout the day. While I don’t practice the full ritual I suggest below every time I take joy in a cup of tea, I’ve noticed that small segments of this practice have become a habit - a ritual of sorts, with almost every cup I brew. In this post, I’ll talk about a few of the benefits of different types of tea, when to drink each type and why, how to practice the art of mindfully drinking tea and suggest a few of my favorite teas that may be new to you. I hope you’ll join me on this little diversion into the joy and mindful practice of drinking tea.

How many times have you set an intention, whether in a yoga class or just life in general, then immediately allowed your brain to shift to the next fleeting thought? …How can we make sure we follow through on our intentions? This post explores thoughts and ideas on this very question.