5 Things Veganist Author Kathy Freston Knows for Sure

The below is an excerpt from Oprah.com on the lovely Kathy Freston----not that I am a vegan but she is pretty inspiring in that she not only changes her eating habits but is also changing the world.....not to mention she is stunning:-)

xoxo

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http://www.oprah.com/spirit/Wellness-Expert-Kathy-Freston-on-Veganism-and-Mindful-Eating

The wellness expert and best-selling author—her new book, Veganist, is out now—shares the secrets to compassionate, mindful eating.

1. To make a change, you have to lean into it. When I decided to become a vegan, I did it gradually: one thing at a time over the course of a few years. If I had pushed myself to stop eating all animal products at once, I might have given up.

2. There's fun in the hunt. Veganism is like a sport for me. I roam supermarket aisles searching for new foods—recently, I found a coconut-based ice cream that's unbelievable. And I love the challenge of "veganizing" recipes: mashed potatoes with soy milk, or pizza topped with tapioca-based cheese and veggie sausage.

3. Compassion is a muscle that gets stronger with use. Eating consciously is an exercise in kindness, and the more I work at it, the more empowered I feel. When I eat food that's grown in the ground or in trees, my mind is clear, my body thrives, and I'm more deeply connected with the world.

4. Seitan is a vegan's secret weapon. At a dinner party a few years ago, I served "veal piccata"—but with seitan, a meat substitute made from wheat gluten. One of my guests, a Midwestern guy who loves his meat, said to me, "That's the best veal I've ever tasted." I felt so proud for pulling off the switch.

5. I'll be forever grateful that alcohol is vegan. An occasional martini is good for the soul.

Adam Glassman!!!!!!

Check out my latest best discovery..... He's been around forever but this year he is making it easier for us to shop around the holidays stress free:-) Fabulous gift ideas from a fabulous source..... not to mention he's cute too:-)

http://www.oprah.com/contributor/adam-glassman

When it comes to style, the creative director of O, The Oprah Magazine tells you what your best friends won't. Adam fields questions from readers on everything from age-appropriate clothing to how to be comfortable and still look great during a long airplane flight. He's been flooded with questions, and while he can't answer every one, he knows that good questions are like fabulous shoes: the more, the better.

Cowboys & Aliens!

Great trailer!

Big names, Big movie!

Can't wait!!!! Check it out:-)

xo

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/universal/cowboysaliens/

You Take the good, You take the bad...

Many have said that life is what happens when yo are making plans... I always believed that to be true....but this summer has shown it profoundly. I started the summer off enjoying some relaxing time with friends by the pool, traveling visiting old friends and reuniting with lost relationships. Also during that period trying to find a new career along with a place to call home. During this period I also realized one thing that I had forgotten...... How much my friends of over 15+ years have taught me so much about myself and will always be there for me whether we take time apart or don't speak for some time....it always seems like no time has passed at all.

So today I realized that even though we all live our separate lives around the country, we will always be connected and things are as they should be. So as the summer comes to a bitter end it is only the start of a new season of adventures! I will always remember Summer of 2010 as one of reinvention, love & adventure. Thank you all who were part of it! xoxoxo

--Back to the real world now:-)

Radical Sabbatical day 64....

Loving the sabbatical thus far.... HOWEVER, craving to work in the next 4 weeks or so...yes decompressing now so it'll be fun! REconnecting with family next week then winetasting (chuggin) the week after... oye vey! soooo much fun with the girlies!

xoxo You know you love me:-) muah!

On Projection with Debbie Ford

How to Stop Projecting When You're Projecting

It's so easy in the midst of knowing so much information, so many psychological terms and so much spiritual wisdom to actually believe that you are saved from doing the very things that you don't want to do. Projection, which is the basis of all of our relationships, is the most difficult trance to break. For example, I hear all the time, "She's so demanding...", "It's all his mother issues...", "If she hadn't embarrassed me...", or "If he wasn't so stubborn..." or "They're so _______" You get to fill in the blank. When we're projecting on those we like and those we dislike, we're giving away our power and our ability to stand in our highest truth.

Since projection is a natural phenomenon, a defense mechanism of our ego state, it's so easy to point out other people's projections and so difficult to snap out of our own. Why is this? Because when we are projecting, we actually believe that what we are seeing is the truth about another person. We actually believe that we are different from them and incapable of their behavior. Now remember, like the philosopher and psychologist Ken Wilber tells us, if a person or thing in our environment informs us, if we receive what is happening as information, a point of interest, we probably aren't projecting. On the other hand, if it affects us, if we're pointing our fingers and judging, if we're "plugged in", chances are that we are a victim of our own projections.

When we fail to have compassion for somebody's behavior, it is because we are rejecting and disliking ourselves when we are doing something similar. We can't heal ourselves and heal our relationships until we really study, understand and own up to our projections. We can't keep working on ourselves thinking that we are the enlightened ones and they are the ones that are stuck and need fixing because in doing so, we have fallen prey to the very thing that we are projecting on to another.

I know that this can often seem mind-twisting. How can I be projecting? How can this be my stuff and not theirs? But whether you're projecting your angry self, your arrogant self, your know-it-all self, your judgmental self, your stupid self, your boring self, or your better-than self, these are all parts of you that need love too, parts that need you to own and embrace them and that need you to open your heart to them. And when you do, you will open your heart to all those that you've been projecting on. In that very sacred moment, you will break free from the trance of your unexamined life and breakthrough to the power of your authentic nature.

Your Weekly Shadow Work

(1) Who are you projecting on? Write down one person in your life you are judging harshly.

(2) What are the things that you tell yourself about them? What is the quality in them you most judge. Write it down.

(3) Identify how you display that quality, even if it is in a completely different way. If you can't see how you display that quality now, allow yourself to see how you could display it in the future, the circumstances that could bring rise to that quality.

(4) Once you realize that you are capable of displaying the quality that you see in the person you've been judging, notice if your heart softens and if the judgmental voice in your mind quiets as you wake up from the trance of projection.

With love and blessings,

What Are You Affirming Today?

In a time when we're hungry for role models and people we can trust, there are a few that stand apart from the rest.

When I think of Louise Hay, I think of someone who I'm inspired to be guided by. I want to do what she says because I've always been blown away by who she is and what she does. She is a legend of the new age, the woman who birthed most of the new thought movement. Before most were brave enough to speak their truth and confront old ways of thinking and believing, Louise Hay stood for the truth that we can heal our lives. I can hear her voice now as I am reminded of the times I sat in front of her more than 30 years ago

It was Louise chanting the words "You can do it!" to all of us that helped me know that indeed this was true. And now, with her latest book Experience Your Good Now, she is here once again to remind us that our thinking creates our realities and even the subtlest of dark thoughts can rob us of the futures that we desire. This is not just a read-and-put-it-down book. It's actually an engaging roadmap to guide each of us in doing the process along the way. It's a worthy journey that I would love to support you in taking.

From the woman who has sold over 35 million copies of her book You Can Heal Your Life and who founded Hay House Publishing andHayHouseRadio.com, we are guided to challenge ourselves and evolve our thinking once again. If you were ever to follow in somebody's footsteps, I would suggest that it be none other than the hot, sexy, warm, magnificent, wise and ageless Louise L. Hay.

With love and blessings,