An exercise for Love.

This comes courtesy of Positive Psychologist, Dr. Larkin, give it a try and see how it makes you, and those around you feel.  I encourage you to practice it and share it with those around you.

"Isn’t it amazing that we have so much familiarity with negative emotions and that it has not occurred to us that positive emotions are things we can grow and cultivate by using them? Here is an exercise I(Dr. Larkin) teach groups all over the world. In any language and in any culture, you can find the word for “love,” and once discovered, you can find the feeling of love. Without waiting for something to happen “to us,” we just find the feeling of love, if it’s only just a tiny bit of it, however much of a struggle it may seem for many of us. Find a tiny bit of the feeling of love and like the tiniest seed, if you nurture it, it will grow. If you can feel “love,” then “think” love, it will “become” love after a while. Trust me.

Now just pulse that feeling of love to someone you know and care about, make them a kind of target, aiming your love at them, over and over and over again. Send them your love. love, love, love, love, love, love—keep it going to a hundred times of sending a little bit of love. Then send yourself that same love, send it inside of you, send it all over you and do it all day long. Send this love to yourself every time you have a spare minute. No conditions, no thoughts, no judgments about yourself… just send the love, love, love, love.

Every time you engage in negative self-talk, every time you think about the oil spill (maybe now the earthquake in Japan), every time you’re afraid and fear that the world is not a safe place, send yourself love, love, love, love, love. Now try doing this every day for 7 days and tell me what happens to you. "

What have you got to lose?  It's easier thank you think to love yourself, give it a try!

If this topic peaks your interest, check out my wellness group, Your Healthiest Life!, we will be reading Dr. Larkin's book, Growing the Positive Mind, maybe you should join us?!

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Raw Food Recipes

Here are a few of the recipes from the raw food potluck we had tonight:

Avocado Lemon Pudding

1 ½ cups smashed avocados (about 4 avocados)

½ cup raw honey

2 teaspoons lemon zest (divided into teaspoons)

Juice of 2-4 lemons (to taste depending on how tart the lemons are)

Pinch of Stevia (or a few drops if you have liquid)

Place the avocado, honey, 1tsp of lemon zest, lemon juice and stevia in a blender or food processor and blend until creamy!  Pour into a serving bowl and top with blueberries, sliced strawberries and remaining lemon zest.

This can last 2-3 days in the fridge but is best eaten within 24 hours!

Sarah's Super Sweet Summer Salad with a Strawberry Squeeze

A few apples
Some dried cranberries
Same amout of raisans as cranberries
A good amount of walnuts
A little bit of olive oil
A fresh lemon squeeze...or five
A pinch or two of cinnamon
Some fresh mint, chopped

Pureed straberries for the dressing...a lot

Optional: servie over a bed of fresh Spinach

Avocado Carrot Soup

1 avocado
1 medium carrot
1/4 cup Almond or Sesame Milk
1 tablespoon Ginger (finely chopped)
1/2 lemon
2-4 drops Stevia or 1 tablespoon Agave Syru
ppinch of cayenne pepper
Pure Water (until you get desired consistency)

Put all ingredients in a high speed blender and mix well.

Walnut Miso Dressing

Lemon Juice
Walnuts (soaked in water at least 3 hours)
raw miso
flax oil
water

Blend all ingredients and serve over salad.

Raw Food - Are you curious?

Chocolate chip cookies, pudding, soup, apple pie, salad, pizza pate, zucchini fettucine, gazpacho, smoothies, what do all these things have in common?...they are all options on a raw food diet! Are you curious and want to know more about eating raw?  Well then, check this out, starting tonight, March 4th, and continuing on the 1st Friday of each month, WE Move (2020 E 4th Street, Long Beach) will hold a free community event to meet our neighbors and build a community. We are kicking off this series with a raw food potluck and recipe and exchange. We all know we need to eat our fruits and veggies and they are great in their raw form, full of vitamins and enzymes and I figured if we all learned more creative ways to prepare our raw foods that we might ea...t them more often, so... I'll be hosting this event and preparing a raw food treat to share and invite you to attend as well. You don't have to bring a dish to attend but I encourage you to try something new and see what you can come up with (or go ahead and google raw food and choose from one of the many delicious recipes that comes up). If you do bring a dish (or drink) be sure to also bring copies of the recipe so that we can all share in the goodness. We will also have some drums, xylophones and singing bowls around for you to play with (feel free to bring your own instrument if you have one) so come out to enjoy some good food, good company and a little creativity and playfullness. No need to RSVP - just show up with your raw food dish and the recipe to share.  Not sure what to bring, just google raw food recipes and you'll have plenty of options to choose from. I hope to see you there!