by Caroline | May 1, 2016 | Recipes
I LOVE These! Oh my God!
This is quite possibly one of the most simple and basic recipes I could post, other than how to boil water. These banana chips are a great snack to add to granola, trail mix or just enjoy by itself. It’s chewy and sweet flavor is especially satisfying for when you’re having a sugar craving after dinner, like I do.
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
- Take a couple of bananas (I used 3 and it took up a whole cookie tray) and slice them very thin.
- Sprinkle on some lemon juice and toss to evenly coat. *I saw this on a website and I’m not sure the purpose of it. Next time I make it I’ll leave out this step and see how it turns out. I like to simplify things.*
- Place banana slices flat on a cookie sheet, lined with aluminum foil and sprayed with a cooking spray.
- Add some cinnamon to the bananas if you like.
- Put in the oven at 200 degrees for about 2-3 hours. (I didn’t time mine, I just watched untill they seemed ready.)
This recipe is so simple, yet you’ll feel like Martha freakin’ Stewart making your own banana chips.
There are endless ways to get creative in how you use banana chips!
Now I want to hear from you! Comment below and share how you would like to dress up these banana chips.
xo,
by Caroline | Apr 19, 2016 | Lifestyle
We are largely what we have thought ourselves into being. TRUTH!
Do you sometimes feel like your thoughts get the best of you and can take you on a downward spiral that’s hard to get out of? I certainly do. It’s amazing the power our thoughts have over how we live our lives, the attitudes we have and the results we get. I’m working on this myself, and wanted to share some of the things I do to get myself back in a high vibe mentality.
Starting with the basics, everything is energy and everything vibrates at some frequency.
When you vibrate at a higher frequency you will attract more positivity and happiness into your life, and when you are lower you’re going to attract more conflict and negative situations. This is a universal law.
Here’s how it works. When we have a thought, we’re sending out vibrations that are as real as the vibrations that are sent out by light, heat, and sound.These vibrations can actually reproduce waves, just as the sound vibrations from an opera singer’s voice can cause vibrations in the objects nearby (*cue sharttering wine glass*).
A strong thought will awaken similar vibrations in other minds attuned to receive it. If we are thingking high vibe thoughts, our minds will respond to other vibrations of the same level that are out there in our environment.
We all know somebody that makes us feel awesome when we’re around them. That’s because they’re puting off a higher energy and you’re picking up on it. And then there are those energy vampires, (we all know a few) where no matter what’s going on they’re going to find a way to bring down the energy in the room.
Thoughts that come to us are just reflections or answering vibrations to some strong thought set out by another, but the thought will only affect us if we are atuned to receive it. So tune in to receiving the good ones!
We receive thoughts that are in harmony with the general attitude we hold.
So how can we shift and continually raise our vibration so we can create a smoother life for ourselves so that things are more peaceful and our lessons are more easily learned?
1.Prioritize your energy hygiene: Notice the people and situations that lower your vibration. Maybe you have a coworker that is always gossiping or complaining and expects the worst in others. Though it may not be realistic to totally avoid those people and situations (unless you can, then definitely avoid them!), you can protect your energy by not engaging with that person on their level. Politely hear them out, but don’t go there yourself. Or if you feel totally drained after an encounter with them take a moment to realign yourself with your high vibing thoughts and repeat a mantra that brings you back.
2. Mantra Mantra Mantra: The most powerful way to train your mind is to repeat a positive mantra all day, especially when you encounter a difficult situation that might drain you of your high vibing thoughts. Some great ones to use are:
- I choose to see love.
- Everything is happening for my greater good.
- Think positive, be positive.
- When someone attacks me, I choose to love back.
- There are always possibilities of the highest good coming my way.
- I am being guided to learn and grow.
- I am a vessel for awsomeness.
- I can change my habits the moment I become willing.
- I am ready to rise up, go big and step into my power.
- My high vibe thoughts create health in my body, peace in my mind, and love in my heart.
3. Constantly be working towards a clear goal: I find that working toward a goal keeps the energy in my life moving forward with intention. I will never be able to just go to work, come home, eat, and go to bed. The repetitive hamster wheel can really stop the flow of positive energy and get us in a rut. Stagnant living will yield stagnant energy, plain and simple.
4. Clear out mind clutter: We can be very negative and judgemental about ourselves and how we handled something, or how we think we look. There are so many opportunities to acknowledge ourselves and love ourselves more. Having negative thoughts about yourself will breed more negative feelings about yourself. Start small and start with yourself.
5. Surround yourself with people who inspire you: They say you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with, so make them good! Even if you can’t control your coworkers or family members, you can choose your friends and community by doing things you love and meeting people who share the same interests and values. Even online networks can be a great place to connect with inspiring people. I’m in some amazing facebook groups where the community is so supportive and positive.
Now I’d love to hear from you!
Share in the comments below some ways you could raise your vibration to get more of what you want out of life. Thank you for being honest and brave!
XO,
by Caroline | Apr 3, 2016 | Lifestyle |
Guest blogger Kiley from One Healthy Hamptons is sharing her tips for spring cleansing!
Spring! Birds chirping, sun shining, snow melting, spring cleaning. Before you roll your eyes, this isn’t about weeding through your closet, although that may be a good idea. Spring cleaning is about so much more than old clothing, clean countertops, and fresh gardening. Life is reborn for trees, flowers, wildlife, and whoever wants to take advantage. Spring is the season of growth and renewal; the perfect time to cleanse the old and welcome the new, both inside and out.
Clean out the junk in all aspects of life and replace it with fresh, positive, healthy goodness. As the saying goes, if you keep good food in your fridge, you will eat good food!
1. Cleanse your eating. That does not mean you’ll have to live on juice – been there, done that. Good news: your body is designed to cleanse itself. That’s right, you can skip the starvation, straw sipping, and pill popping. Just get back to the basics and treat your body right by eating right. Go through your pantry, fridge, and freezer, and throw away anything (and everything) past its expiration date, labeled with ingredients you don’t even recognize, and those winter comfort foods you know aren’t doing you any favors. Then make a grocery list full of (almost) nothing but whole foods and fresh, in-season produce. Get shopping, aiming for organic, unprocessed, high-quality, and local as much as possible. Most importantly, practice mindful eating to break up your current patterns. Call on a friend or nutritionist for some moral support. Take a step back, listen to your body, turn to whole foods, and sit and slowly chew, taste, and savor each bite. Soon enough, you’ll find you’re eating what your body truly wants and needs, not what your sweet tooth or emotions crave. You’ll be more in-tune with yourself and ready to spring into spring!
2. Hydration. Drinking enough water is crucial to our health in so many ways. Since we’re made of mostly water, our body needs to stay hydrated in order to function properly, cleanse naturally, stay active, and maintain balance. Plus, drinking lots of water can boost metabolism, avert cravings, and energize your muscles. Since you’re cleaning out your fridge, you’re ditching the soda, fruit juice, sports drink, cocktail mixers, and whatever else you’re sippin’ on. Good ol’ H20 is where it’s at. Always carry a water bottle with you and spice up your water with fun additions and natural concoctions!
3. Get Happy: What’s progress without positivity?! As we clean out our closets, pantries, and bodies, this spring renewal won’t last without an attitude adjustment. It’s as simple as the three words above: think good thoughts. Clean out the old – the judgement, negativity, fear, guilt, etc. that we place upon ourselves and others. Replace all this wasted space with pure, uplifting thoughts. We put so much effort into taking care of others and showing our loved ones that we care, but we often overlook the same treatment for ourselves. Treat yourself with respect, kindness, and self-confidence. Catch yourself next time you have a negative thought and turn it around. Soon, these mindful changes will result in greater happiness and health like never before! Feel free to evaluate the people in your life as well. If someone does nothin’ but bring ya down and you can easily avoid them, cleanse them right out and don’t look back. Fill your mind with good thoughts, fill your life with good people, and fill your days with good things!
One Healthy Breakdown: This spring season, don’t just replace the snow boots with rain boots. Instead, think about the changes you’ll make to rid the same old and embrace the new you, from the inside out and the outside in!
Now I want to hear from you!
Leave a comment below. What are your favorite ways to ring in spring?
XO,
by Caroline | Mar 20, 2016 | Self Care
So you sit down, get situated, scratch your nose. Now what?
Meditation can be a tricky business. On one hand you feel like you should be putting in some effort in order to get something out of it in return, and on the other hand we expect to sit there and let the wisdom of the ages flood into our being and bring us to enlightenment. When in reality it’s not that simple.
Many of us enter into a meditation practice with expectations; “I’m gonna increase my happiness” or “I’m gonna reduce my anxiety” or “I’m gonna quiet my anger and jealousy.” While those are all great intentions, they’re more like happy bi-products from your meditation practice.
Without having a clear understanding of what you’re doing you may end up day dreaming, kicking yourself every time a thought pops into your head, or becoming disappointed when you don’t feel anything happening.
So, the most important thing is that you understand the ultimate goal of meditation.
The ultimate goal of meditation is to immerse yourself in, and fully experience your own consciousness and awareness, or your True Self.
Say what now?
I believe that your True Self, is who you are without the labels of time and space (gender, weight, occupation, race, social status). Ask yourself who you are at your core, without the stuff that can be written down on paper. Your unique you-ness. The part of you that doesn’t change or grow like age, intellect, and height.
That is your awareness.
It’s the same right now as it was when you were 3 years old, and the same as when you’re 90.
It’s the constant backdrop on which the moments of your life are experienced. Like beads on a string. So really, the Self is not some far deep down place we need to journey to, requiring hours of meditation. It’s always there, and all we need to do is recognize it.
As Sally Kempton says in her book Meditation for the Love of It, “The work of meditation is to coax the mind into letting go of the perceptions and ideas that keep it stuck, so it can expand and reveal itself as it really is.”
Here are some handy dandy tips to deepen your meditation practice without feeling confused or discouraged:
Don’t freak out when you have a thought, try to push away thoughts, judge yourself as a failure for having thoughts, or get fixed on the contents of a thought.
Do: Perceive with loving tenderness the energy that comes up for you during meditation. Notice each thought or feeling that comes up, say hi to it, and let it keep on going. When you find yourself getting too caught up in them, come back to noticing your breath, and start again. The practice is really starting again when you drift off, not staying fully centered.
Don’t challenge your “Self” or the universe to show up in a big way. “Ok, I’m meditating now, show me what ya got!”
Do: Bring forth an attitude of love, gentleness, and trust. The Self is love, and it will draw closer to an attitude of love.
Don’t force yourself into meditation with a feeling of strict inflexibility. “UGH, I don’t have time for this but I know I HAVE to meditate.” Nope. Not happening.
Do: Treat your practice as sacred. Create a beautiful space that invites you in. Set it up in a way that makes you yearn for the time you spend in meditation. Many people like to set up an altar, but I find that word can be a bit religious and scare people off. Use another word or phrase if it feels better, like “my happy corner” or “my pretty place” or “the place my anger goes to die…” You get the idea. See it as a gift from yourself, to yourself so you’ll wanna say “Thanks, me!” In time, the good energy you bring to this place will come to evoke feelings of relaxation, happiness, stillness and clarity, every time you go to it.
Don’t feel Isolated or alone. Cuz you’re not.
Do: Trust that there is a greater power beyond you that connects all things. I know, just go there with me. There is a grace, a spirit (Think of the Force if you’ve ever seen Star Wars) that you connect with during meditation, that will support you and guide you. If you prefer to connect to something tangible to this idea go right ahead. Some people like to envoke the energy of a religious figure like Jesus or Buddha, or maybe an ancient master, like Yoda (no, I’m totally serious). You may even want to call forth something more personal like your inner-guide or guardian angels if you so choose.
Don’t try to stifle your emotions that are going on for you in that moment.
Do: Ask for help. If you are feeling restless, anxious, skeptical, bored, worried or anything that is going to take you away from stillness, offer it up to the universe, or your chosen inner guide, and ask for it to be transformed. If you are struggling with a problem, offer it up at the beginning of your practice: “I offer these feelings up so they can be transformed, and I may see this situation differently.”
You may find that when learning to trust your inner experiences you may be guided by your intuition toward a clearer coarse of action in your outer life. When gaining a deeper understanding of the true self, the fears, negative thoughts and suffering (which are merely products of our own misunderstanding of our ego) may be released. Happy happy, joy joy!
Now I want to hear from you!
Share with me in the comments below your main frustration when it comes to meditating and how you work through it?
XO,
by Caroline | Mar 5, 2016 | Yoga
With so many different flavors of yoga out there it can be overwhelming to someone who doesn’t feel “in” with all of the yoga lingo and culture. From the outside yoga can appear exclusive; only for the super bendy and former gymnast/cheerleader types.
Or maybe it doesn’t seem hard core enough for the body-builders, spinners or cross fitters. Or maybe it just never occurred to some people as something that they would benefit from. And then there are those who think it’s too late for them to start.
But here’s the good news! Yoga is so versatile that there is a style for everybody, at any age, or ability level. And it can benefit everyone who begins a practice.
I’ve become more passionate about getting the word out about yoga’s accessibility and benefits since working toward my yoga teacher certification. So a good place to start is to lay out the different choices to see what feels right for you.
Kundalini Yoga- the name is just fun to say (I think), but in sanskrit kundalini is the energy that resides at the bottom of your spine, and when ignited rises up through the seven chakras to the crown of your head, creating spiritual transformation and enlightenment. Kindalini yoga is the blend of spiritual and movement practices for igniting that energy, such as breathing, chanting, meditation, and asana (poses). The goal is to increase your spiritual experience, consciousness and awareness, increase will power and intuition, quiet the mind and release stress.
Hatha- Hatha yoga is what most people think when they hear the word yoga. It’s the most generic form of yoga out there, and combines physical poses and stretching with breath and movement. It’s not the most physically demanding, but it will help increase flexibility and calm the mind. Hatha yoga is on the gentler side, with less focus on alignment, or rigorous movement. Hatha is a good place for beginners to start without feeling overwhelmed.
Ashtanga- Like hatha yoga it combines breath and movement into sequences of poses that are done briskly to build heat in the body, toning muscles and strengthen the core. The main difference is that ashtanga always uses the same sequences of poses in every class, and is more physically demanding. So you can take a class at a new studio and still know exactly what’s coming. Physical and athletic types will enjoy this one.
Vinyasa– Similar to hatha and ashtanga, Vinyasa combines poses in sequences that flow one into another to keep the body moving. These classes are lively and playful. Unlike ashtanga no two classes are the same, as each teacher creates his or her own sequences of postures. This is good for weightloss, toning muscles, increasing flexibility and balance.
Bikram– Like in Ashtanga, Bikram follows the same, specific set of poses for each class, but it’s done in an hot environment, to encourage flexibility and detoxification through sweating. *Note* you will sweat buckets.
Iyengar– Iyengar yoga focuses on strict alignment principles in each pose. A pose may be held for a longer amount of time than in other yoga classes because it teaches you where every muscle, ligament and bone should be and what it’s doing. Although it may not go through quick sequences that build up a sweat, you will be surprised how difficult it can be to hold some poses while engaging in the correct muscles in the proper alignment. This is a great option for people with injuries or chronic because your instructor will help you get into each posture safely. When yoga poses are done in proper alignment there is very little chance of injury. When you’re going from one pose to another without any awareness of your body in space is where you may run into trouble.
Restorative– In restorative yoga you will only do about 5 or six poses in the whole class, but each pose is designed to take you into a deep state of relaxation and is supported with props such as blocks, blankets, bolsters, straps and sandbags. It helps our minds let go of the thought-chatter, so we can connect with the truest aspect of ourselves without the layers of our “story” clouding our mind. Restorative is healing and transformative by providing a physically supportive environment so the parasympathetic nervous system can get all cozy, relieving the effects of stress, trauma, and anxiety. Restorative yoga is pretty much good for anything that ails you, be it mental or physical.
Now I want to hear from you!
Share with me in the comments below: What form of yoga are you most drawn to?
XO,
