What is in your dreams....

Ever since I went to see the movie Inception I have been so much more aware of my dreams. So I thought I would post a few interesting facts about what is going on when the lights go out and the mind shuts down and the subconscious kicks in and the dreams begin.

We dream about 5 to 7 times a night. According to research you dream every night whether you remember your dreams or not. If you have had a stressful worrisome day or you have been involved in an intense  learning situation or something traumatic has happened you will dream more.

If you are like me it is hard to remember most of the time what you dreamed. So if I wake up in the middle of the night, or when I wake up first thing in the morning, I now lay in bed for an extra few minutes trying to make myself remember what I dreamed before I jump out of bed, because once I am up and going I can't seem to remember them.

Here are a few hints for dream interpretation....
Our dreams use vocabulary of symbols and allegory to convey their message.
Your dreams are messages sent from your subconscious to you, trying to show you something about yourself.
If you pay attention you will see that dreams are always about you and your circumstances-where you are stuck, or what you are missing, or what you are avoiding, ignoring or where you are needing to go.
Through dream study they have found out that 95% of the time the characters,  creatures, monsters, or strangers are representing you. Dream interpreters say that you should assume that all the people in your dreams are representative of you unless you recognize them as your spouse, children, parents, co-workers, etc.
Also, don't try to translate your dreams too literally. If you dream you are driving fast in a sports car along dangerous curves and lose control and die, don't presume that that is literal. It's far more probable that your dream is telling you something much less literal about yourself. Possibly, you need to get control of a certain part of your life, or the path you are taking is putting you in danger. Or you need to slow down the fast pace that your life is on. Death usually means the end of one part of your life and the beginning of another, or transition and change, or that change is coming very quickly-Intuitively you will know, because you are the dreamer and it is coming from your subconscious.

Nightmares are usually your subconscious trying to shock you into taking a look at some aspect of your life.
Dreams that repeat themselves are usually messages from your subconscious trying to get through to you.

I am definitely making more of an effort to remember my dreams. I believe that dream interpretation is a dialogue between me and my subconscious, which lets me know that I am connected to something powerful and infinite.

Just a little food for thought before you lay your head down on the pillow again!

Until next time,


Jan

Mind Power

Okay, so I went to see the movie Inception yesterday starring Leonardo DiCaprio!!  All I can say is WOW!

A must see...

It takes about 30-40 minutes to figure out what is going on, but after you do, you are sitting on the edge of your seat wondering what is going to happen next, and by the end of the movie you realize that you have been sucked into the whole plot of the movie and the dream sequence and you didn't even see it coming!! It's all about the power of the subconscious and our dream state!! My daughter in law Megan will love it!!

This movie has prompted me to talk about a book that I am reading called,

"Mind Power Into The 21st Century" by John Kehoe

Techniques to harness the powers of thought

The book presents a remarkable and specific guide to harness the powers of your Subconscious mind

Tap into your creativity

Improve your self image

Develop a prosperity consciousness

Interpret your dreams along with so many other things.

The book aligns itself with a quote  that I live by,

"Your thoughts are a preview of your life's coming attractions"

Getting down to the nitty gritty of life we can truly see that our outer world is just a reflection of our inner world, which is our thoughts.

Everything that happens in our life begins with a thought.  

Our thoughts are the power behind what is being created in our lives, which then becomes our reality. Nothing in our lives happens without the power of thought!

I think that it is probably fair to say that we could all use a dose of more positive thoughts in our lives.

I have personally discovered that if I don't like the way things are going in my life, the first place that I check is my thought process that has been going on in my head for the past 24 to 48 hrs. I call it " the stories I tell myself." Sure enough I realize that I have been thinking thoughts that have put me in that state of mind or bad mood. So what do I do, I begin to shift the way I think, and that changes the way I act and feel. Negative thoughts produce negative feelings and emotions.  Positive thoughts produce positive happy feelings and emotions.

Changing our lives through the power of thought is a process and it doesn't happen overnight. But if you want to learn more about how your thoughts and your subconscious can be the tools to create the life that you want for yourself, pick up this book and give it a read.

A verse from the Bible says"Whatever things ye pray for and ask for believing that ye have received, ye shall receive them. Notice that it says that you must believe you have received them-not that you will receive them, but that you have received them. This is more than just hoping or wishing, this is claiming what you want in the inner world, the world of thought and creative energy, a very powerful process."

Until next time,

Jan

Eating for Beauty!

In August I will doing another weekend workshop in Memphis on Eating for Beauty. So I thought I would use my blog to give everyone a little preview of what's to come.

An amazing fruit that I just personally discovered today was the "papaya"!!

I sent my husband to the grocery store to buy me my first papaya! Yes my first!  I was stunned at the beauty of this gorgeous fruit!

I cut into the papaya and was smitten at the site of this succulent, sexy velvet looking, orange juicy, yummy fruit full of seeds that are actually unbelieveably healthy for you!

So, why am I so sprung on this papaya?

For soooo many reasons, but here are just a few.

To start off with I decided to use the fruit for a facial!! 

Papaya is known for it's extensive skin care therapy. When applied it feeds and nourishes the skin and reduces wrinkles.The vitamin A accelerates the formation of new skin cells and exfoliates the old skin cells. It is also loaded with vitamin C, an antioxidant, and with the beta-carotene which protects the skin and promotes skin elasticity. Try out this recipe for an amazing facial that loosens dead skin cells, which improves the elasticity and also helps stimulate collagen production.

1 cup of fresh pineapple

Half a cup of fresh papaya

1 tbl of honey

Puree fruit together. Add honey and mix into a paste. Leave on as a mask for 15-20 min. Then rinse completely.

So I tried out this facial today and walked around with fruit all over my face for 20 min! I felt and smelled pretty delicious!! When I rinsed my face I was so happy with what I saw. My skin was tighter and firmer and my husband kept going on about how radiant and glowing I was!! The proof is in the pudding!!

So after my facial I cut up the other side of the papaya into cubes and set and ate it up. It has somewhat of a honeydew melon taste ( which I am not really fond of) but I could see how I could aquire a taste for this, especially because of all the wonderful things that it does for you.

When you eat the wonderful fruit it cleanses and soothes your digestive tract. It is very good for indigestion.

David Wolfe says "After eating 2 medium sized papayas each day for a week, one will feel remarkably cleansed from the inside out. Papaya greatly enhances skin beauty, nail strength and hair luster."

If your insides are clear and clean it will show in your skin.

Papayas also have anti cancer properties. The enzymes eat the protein-laden material surrounding certain cancerous tumors. They have been know to be perscribed to women with breast cancer.

So treat yourself to an at home facial, and then eat the remains to protect your skin against wrinkles and eliviate skin damage!!

Until next time,

Jan

 

Pesto with sundried tomatoes and artichoke hearts

 I have had a lot of requests for the recipe of the pesto spaghetti that was served at the workshop my daughter and I hosted last weekend in Memphis. This would have to be one of my favorite raw dishes, and can be made in less than 10 minutes. In order for you to make the raw zucchini pasta you will need to purchase a spaghetti spiraler.

I purchased mine through Amazon for around $29.00. (Also kids love to watch and help spiral fruits and vegetables)
I spiral one zucchini for every person.
Pesto
2 cups of fresh organic basil (stems removed tightly packed)
1/4 cup of  olive oil
2-3 cloves of garlic
1/3 cup of organic pine nuts

Place all ingredients in food processor except nuts and pulse till completely processed.
Soak pine nuts for about 10-15 min and rinse before adding to food processor.
Add soaked and rinsed nuts to basil mix and pulse till done.

Mix pesto with 2 large zucchini spiraled and add sun dried tomatoes and cut up artichoke hearts and toss. (the amount of sun dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts is totally up to the individual.)

Top with cracked pepper /Serves 2-4 people

For those who want Parmesan, grate raw cheese on top.

If you are not a big pesto fan, you can could make a marinara sauce instead.

In a blender or food processor with an S blade add:

1 organic red pepper

1 organic tomato

1/4 cup of sun dried tomatoes(soak for 15-20 min before adding)

1-2 cloves of garlic chopped up

1/3 cup of dry basil (or to taste, more or less)

oregano to taste

salt

pepper

I throw all of this into my blender and blend into a liquid. Then put over spiraled pasta.

Raw zucchini is a rich source of antioxidants, fiber, calcium and beta carotene.

The pine nuts are an excellent source of  iron and vitamin D.

If you don't have a spiraler or you aren't ready to buy one, try grating your zucchini with a cheese grater. You won't get the true spaghetti noodle but you can will get the same taste.

Let me know what you think.

Until next time,

Jan

A weekend of Raw Food and Yoga

This past weekend my daughter Hannah and I hosted our first Raw Food and Yoga workshop at her studio in Memphis TN. It was such a fun filled weekend full of off the chart yoga and out of this world raw food and superfood smoothies. We served raw zuchinni pasta with pesto, sundried tomatoes and artichoke hearts on Friday night. Hannah taught yoga and I spoke on introduction to raw food eating. We ended the night with dark chocolate and a lot of happy people.
On Saturday after our yoga session I demonstrated how to make superfood smoothies with my recipe of superfoods!! I talked about each different superfood, then I made them for everyone. ( I learned a valuable lesson...don't pass out the smoothies until the very end-the energy level and the talking level went up 100%!)
It turned out to be an amazing weekend. Here are some pictures of how it all came together.

What a great way to spend a weekend, learning how to eat healthier, feel better and improve the quality of your life!!!

Until next time,

Jan

PS: A special thanks to Olivia Lomax for all her help and support!

The little pink pill

I have been hearing and reading about this little pink pill for weeks. I haven't really heard a lot of good things about it , actually more negative than positive. Some of the information coming from the associated press states:

"A pink pill designed to boost sex drive in women-the latest attempt by the drug industry to find a female equivalent to viagra-fell short in two studies, federal health regulators said Wednesday.

The FDA also noted increased side effects like depression, fainting, and dizziness among the women taking the pill.

According to the report there is no other treatment currently on the market to help women suffering from a low sex drive."
The pink pill (flibanserin) came up for approval from the FDA last Friday June 18 and did not pass, so they were sent back to the drawing board...

The Female Viagra, flibanserin, disappoints FDA

June 21, 2010 at 11:11 am by Shawn Alff


The FDA advisory panel agreed that flibanserin wasn’t significantly better than a placebo and that its slight benefits don’t justify its side effects: dizziness, nausea, fatigue, and depression.

As reported by CBS news, the FDA needed to be convinced that the drug increased sexual desire regardless of the occurrence of sex. However, an independent study revealed that the women taking the drug only reported a slight rise in sexual satisfaction.

So what are women to do that actually suffer from a low sex drive?????

Well there may not be a pharmacutical drug to boost a low sex drive in women, but there is a plant called maca root that that has helped women  for centuries.

I have written about maca before, but I felt like is was worthy of a repeat in light of all the attention on womens low sex drive and this little pink pill.

The results of clinical research has proven that maca helps in sexual performance and helps boost libido. Clinical case studies have shown that Maca can help relieve the discomforts of PMS and menopausal symptoms.

New York-based Dr. Viana Muller introduced Maca to other medical doctors at the 1997 Anti-Aging Medical conference and noted that Maca Root had been used successfully by Peruvians to regulate hormonal imbalances, menstral irregularities, fertility, and menopausal symptoms, including loss of energy and libido and temporary depression.

I have been taking Maca for 3 yrs, and there is no low libido in my house!!!

Maca is also considered an adaptagen, which means it has the ability to balance out your hormones, and free yourself from PMS and menopausal symtoms. Some people who take maca see immediate results, others may take up to 30 days.

So if you suffer from low libido or have problems with PMS or menopausal symptoms-run get yourself some maca root. I believe every woman needs this in their daily diet even if they aren't experiencing these symptoms. By the way it works great for men also.

I buy organic raw powder and put 2 heaping tsps in my smoothies everyday.

Get some balance and fun in your life-get some maca!!

Until next time,

Jan

A few smoothie recipes

Okay, so I have been bombarded with requests for smoothie recipes. So here are a few great recipes to beautify, energize and radiate your life.

These are simple recipes and you can use a regular kitchen blender. Put all ingredients in the blender and mix on high until fully blended. Add as much or as little coconut water as you want for thickness.

Banana Coconut Goji
8-10 cubes of ice
2 organic bananas
5-7 organic strawberries
2 heaping tsp raw organic maca
15-20 organic dried goji berries
1/2 dropper of marine phytoplankton (liquid form)
1-2 cups of coconut water

I squirt the marine phytoplankton in the bottom of my glass then pour the smoothie on top and stir.

Banana Strawberry Bee Pollen
8-10 cubes of ice
2 organic bananas
5-7 organic strawberries
1 large organic peach peeled and quartered
handfull of organic blueberries
2 heaping tsp of raw organic maca
2 tsp of organic bee pollen
1/2 dropper of marine phytoplankton
1-2 cups of coconut water or if I want a milk base I substitute coconut water for organic almond milk.

The marine phytoplankton is clear and almost tasteless and is a very good protein source along with many other benefits. It has been so amazing for my skin. You can check out a lot of these ingredients and their benefits in my archives.

If you are not picky about taste and the color green doesn't bother you, add a 2 tsp of organic spirulina powder to the smoothie.
Some children will not drink the smoothies if they are the color green-not sure why, but I know quite a few that won't-so by using the liquid marine phytoplankton they will be getting protein and it doesn't turn the smoothie green.
You can add and subtract any of the friut, if there are some that you
like more than others. Also if you have a sweet tooth you might want them sweeter so you can add some type of organic raw sweetener like agave.


If you have a vita mix or blendtech blender you can make the same smoothies and add a handful of fresh organic kale or organic spinach or both.

Try these out and see what you think-
Also sometimes it is easier to drink these with a straw.

If you are pregnant, do not add the maca root to your smoothies.

Until next time,

Jan