Free Online Meditation Conference

Meditation.....

It's very trendy these days.  Gaining popularity in mainstream media and medical circles - while being a mainstay in yoga and spiritual communities for as long as yoga and spirit have existed.  From the Mayo Clinic to MindBodyGreen to Russell Simmons to even the Harvard Business Review, everyone is touting the benefits of incorporating a meditation practice into your daily life.

...Relieve Stress

alleviate illness...

.....promote spiritual connection...

....improve relationships

enhance mental performance....

and more.

I came across this free online Meditation conference on Entheos.  Led by Yoga and Meditation teacher Ashley Turner, the conference is available to be streamed on your computer for free from April 21st through April 25th.  

Check out the Conference Overview from the En*Theos website:

Ashley interviewed 30+ world-class experts ranging on topics from the neuroscience of meditation, mindfulness based stress-reduction, Positive Psychology, Transcendental Meditation, the Mind-Body connection, Buddhism and Tantra. 

Demystify meditation, discover a wide-range of tools from many different traditions so you can choose which practice fits your personality and lifestyle and start meditating today. 

As yogis have known for centuries and scientists have more recently discovered, the benefits of meditation are profound! This conference breaks down meditation in an accessible and practical way - so even if you only have 5 minutes, you can begin a daily meditation practice.

Amazing yoga teachers, spiritual leaders, and pop culture icons are speaking during the online global conference.  Even if you can only listen to 1 or 2, it's worth it! And free!

Namaste :)

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Healthy Chicken Salad with Greek Yogurt, Honey, Apple, and Avocado

Coming up with different ways to get my fruits and veggies can be routine sometimes.  I loooooove Chicken Salad, but I don't always like to eat all that Mayo...as much as I love mayo:)

I decided to experiment with Greek Yogurt today for lunch...Here's what I came up with!!

Healthy Chicken Salad:

1 cup of shredded or chopped chicken breast

(I used Rotisserie today!)

1 small can water chestnuts, chopped

1/2 chopped Organic Fuji Apple

1/4 cup dried cranberries

2 TBSP chopped walnuts or almonds

1 avocado, chopped

3/4 cup Plain Greek Yogurt

2 TBSP fresh Honey

1 TBSP Red Wine Vinegar

1 TBSP Balsamic Vinegar

1 TBSP White Balsamic Vinegar

Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix it all together and voila!  It's delicious with a brown rice cake, stuff it in a Pita, or have a sandwich with some whole wheat bread and lettuce!

Mangia Mangia!

Kacey

Gwyneth+Conscious Uncoupling+Healthy Side Dish!

I have always had a little crush on Gwyneth Paltrow.  First came Shakespeare in Love, then she married Coldplay front man Chris Martin (!), and then I became a bit obsessed with her healthy lifestyle and her fabulous blog GOOP.  So imagine my surprise when I got my usual GOOP email on Tuesday, and I couldn't open it.....it said the server had crashed.  What?  I continued on making my other daily internet stops and I read that Gwyneth and Chris are "Consciously Uncoupling".......say what?? I guess announcing that news on your website would make it crash when you are Gwyneth Paltrow. 

Conscious Uncoupling......that's a new one......apparently they released the news while in the Caribbean......vacationing...... as a family. 

Huh......

So that must be what "consciously uncoupling" looks like. 

Ok then.  :)

So anyway.......in lieu of the news of their "uncoupling",  I thought it was the perfect time to share my absolute favorite recipe from her It's All Good cookbook.  :)

Roasted Cauliflower + Chickpeas with Mustard+Parsley

Ingredients

14oz can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained and dried with a kitchen towel

1 head of cauliflower cut into bite-sized pieces

extra virgin olive oil

sea salt

1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard

1 tablespoon seeded mustard

1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar (I used red wine vinegar-all I had on hand)

freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup chopped Italian Parsley (I didn't have this so I didn't add)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees with the rack in the middle.  Toss the Chickpeas and Cauliflower with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and a big pinch of salt. Roast veggies for about 45 minutes stirring around occasionally until veggies are a golden/dark brown and cauliflower is soft. 

While veggies are roasting mix together the mustards, vinegar and 1/4 cup of olive oil with another big pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper. While the veggies are still warm toss them with the mustard dressing and parsley. 

You can serve warm or at room temperature. 

This is seriously delicious, and even the husband loved it. 

If you are looking for a healthy side dish I absolutely recommend this. So yummy!

xo,

Kara

Sausage and Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers!

It's a NEW YEAR!!

Which means I make all sorts of resolutions, set intentions, dream bunches of new dreams...

One was to branch out and try new recipes of course!  I've decided to try and have a kitchen well stocked enough that I can spontaneously come up with some dinner ideas simply from what I have.  My trick is to see what ingredients are in the fridge, get inspired, and come up with my own recipe that night!  It's fun, it's challenging, and I love it!

This week's recipe was stuffed bell peppers.  I had 3 gorgeous peppers that needed to be eaten...so this is what I came up with:

2 cups cooked Quinoa
3 bell peppers
1/2-1 lb of spicy italian sausage
1/2 red onion
3 TBS cilantro
2 cups Tomato Sauce
1/2 cup shredded Mexican Cheese
Tony Chacharie, garlic salt, pepper to taste

STEP ONE:
Find cute hubby to cook up the Italian sausage:) Add in onion and saute with sausage until cooked through.

STEP TWO:
In a mixing bowl, combine cooked quinoa, cooked sausage and onion, cheese, tomato sauce, cilantro (and you could add some sweet corn, black beans, what ever you have in your pantry!)

Add in spices until desired taste

STEP THREE:
Cut off top of pepper, clean out inside, and stuff with the quinoa mixture!  Top with a little extra tomato sauce and sprinkle some cheese.

STEP FOUR:

Cook for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees until warmed all the way through. 

And....VOILA!!

Pure, healthy, TASTY Yumminess!!!

Enjoy friends!!

Love and laughter,
Kacey

Bye Bye Baby (Weight) Update!

So, what is the worst thing that can happen when you are on a diet that consists mainly of smoothies? If you guessed my blender breaking down, you would be correct.  Total Fail.  Thankfully I am a proud member of Amazon Prime and our new blender was delivered the very next day at like 50% off.  Who doesn't love a deal? :)

Thankful for Amazon Prime :)

If any of you are wanting to kick start a healthy diet, or begin an exercise routine I would highly recommend Harley Pasternak's The Body Reset Diet.  It has truly been easy (I was only delirious with hunger once or twice-kidding) and I have loved all of the smoothies. I feel better, have more energy and the best part.....I have lost 12 pounds in 15 days! I think at least of a third of that was water weight, but it makes me feel like I am on the right track and they say if you do anything for 21 days it becomes a habit.  I only have 6 days left and then hopefully, fingers crossed, I will have formed some new, healthy habits!

In the book there are a bunch of delicious smoothie recipes with just the right balance of fats, calories and protein and there wasn't one that I didn't like. Once I got the hang of it, I started creating some of my own.  Here is my favorite creation.......

-1 and 1/2 cups of Mixed frozen berries ( I have been using a mix of blueberries, raspberries and strawberries) You can also use fresh if you prefer

-3/4 cup non fat greek yogurt

-2 cups of spinach

-1 and 1/2 TBSP of coconut oil-there are so many amazing benefits to coconut oil there will be a post on that all it's own.

**Coconut oil comes in solid form, so you need to melt it before use.  They recommend that you do not microwave it, so I typically put it in a ziploc and run it under hot water and it instantly becomes a liquid-so cool!**

Blend all ingredients together and enjoy! I have been making smoothies the night before on the days I have to work and it has been great.  All ready to go bright and early the next day!

Colorful, healthy, delicious smoothies!

Hope you all have a fantastic day! The weather here in Denver today was rainy and cool-very fall like! I am going to do a little fall reading for inspiration. Game Day Snack Attack from Rachael Ray? Yes please! 

xo,

Kara

Mindfulness Monday with Kate

Just a few things I've been delving into lately, helping me be more mindful in my every day life...

Reading

The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself

by Michael Singer

“In the book The Untethered Soul, Michael A. Singer takes you step-by-step through the process of Gyana, the yoga of the Intellect, to the Source. Moreover, he does it with elegant simplicity. Read this book carefully, and you will get more than a glimpse of eternity.”

—Deepak Chopra

Moving

Yoga, yoga, and more yoga :>)

Local? Go to The Green Yogi in Manhattan Beach, CA

Home Practice? Run, don't walk to your computer and sign up for Yoga Glo!

Drinking

Cold Pressed and Detox Juices from Kreation Juicery

Some of my favorite flavors are Harmony, Master Cleanse, and Sassy.  I immediately feel lighter and healthier when I have a Kreation Juice.

Have a wonderful Monday, lovelies!

xo,

Kate

Bye Bye Baby (weight!)

Four months ago today my life was forever changed.  Our beautiful baby boy, James came into this world.  Four weeks early, but healthy as can be, his little face and hands and mouth and feet introduced me to a kind of love I had never felt before.  An unconditional, unwavering, deep in your soul kind of love.  Weighing in at 5 pounds 13 oz he was a little peanut, but wow was our baby strong.  He didn't have to spend a moment in the NICU, and he was trying to push his tiny little head right off of our chests the day his was born. 

less than an hour old

first day home

our little peanut

Our newborn shoot

Happy 4th of July!

Sweet baby James at almost 4 months

The past four months have been filled with so many firsts, and our little man is growing and changing every day.  It truly is the most amazing thing I have ever done.  However, now its time for me to make some changes.  I have been trying (not successfully) to get my workouts and diet back on track, and NOW at the four month mark I am going to actually commit to making the change. 

I have researched a lot of different programs and have decided to try Harley Pasternak's Body Reset Diet.  The cover of the book says "power your metabolism, blast fat and shed pounds in just 15 days"! All of that sounds great to me, and after researching the plan, it truly doesn't seem that tough to follow.  I don't need to be educated on the right kinds of foods to eat, or what's healthy-believe me I know ALL of that kind of stuff.  What I need is just a little jumpstart to get back on track.  

image via internet

Harley Pasternak has worked with Kim Kardashian, Amanda Seyfried, Megan Fox and Hilary Duff just to name a few.  All of these women have great figures, and both Megan Fox and Hilary Duff are post baby and look fantastic! Kim is post baby too, but clearly she is in hiding (I don't blame her!).  Those who know me, know that I do love a little celebrity in my life, so why not start "training" with a celebrity trainer! :) One of the things I love most about Harley's book is that he understands our need for instant gratification when it comes to losing weight and getting fit.  His plan starts with 5 days of smoothies-3 smoothies a day with two 150 calorie snacks mixed in a day.  All the exercise he asks for in the first 5 days is 10,000 steps a day.  Shouldn't be to tough, right?

Having a baby changes everything, and I mean everything when it comes to our bodies.  Of course I wouldn't trade any of these changes for the world, but enough is enough. :-) I have bought all of our groceries for the first 5 days of smoothies and snacks and can't wait to get started today. My hubby is on board which helps so much.  I will update next Monday with pounds lost, healthy living tips and how I am feeling so far.  Wish me luck! ;-)

Hope you all have a great Monday!

xo,

Kara

New Workout Gear - Get Motivated!

When our days get busy, it can become difficult to find time to hit the gym.  For me it is the first thing to be cut from my to do list on an overwhelming day, and really it should be the very last thing I consider skipping.  Obviously we all know it's good for our bodies, but for me I seem to gain the most benefit in my head.  It makes stress easier to handle when I get in a good run at the beginning of the day. Problems seem easier to solve when I have taken time for myself to get those endorphins going.  And frankly, I am a happier person when I workout.

So, if you are struggling to get up early to make it to the gym before work, or class, or life begins each day, I have a little piece of advice that always seems to motivate me.  What is it you ask? GO BUY NEW WORKOUT GEAR!!  I swear to you, a new tank, or some sweet new kicks are just what the doctor ordered when lacking a little motivation. 

  I won't lie to you, I am a Lululemon-aholic. But seriously, the quality of their brand is top notch, and I believe the clothes are worth the price.  

Here are a few of my favs.

Gather and Grow Crop - $78

Cool Racer Back xlong - $48

In Stride Jacket - $108

One of my favorite things about Lululemon is that basically everything thing they make comes in an option to cover my backside. So when I hop on the treadmill I am not as worried about my bum, because it's covered! What is better than a strategically placed, LONGER tank? Not much in my humble opinion.  If you are looking for a little pick me up head to Lululemon and pick out something new.  Oh and just so you know, I always try to purchase as much as I can on sale.  They always have a cute tank on sale, and then buying the crops to run in at full price doesn't seem quite as painful.  At least that is what I tell myself. 

Go friends, shop and then work your butt off.  Pretty soon you won't need those extra long tanks to cover your bum. :-)

xo,

Kara

all running inspirationals from here

clothes from lululemon.  - not a sponsored post, we just LOVE it!