What's Sexy About Health?

Let's face it, feeling happy and healthy is sexy!

Being in touch with that part of yourself that is sensual (which by very nature of being human we all have) is crucial to feeling balanced. Many people live in denial of what role their sensuality plays in their lives and it can lead to choices that don't always serve us. Getting to you know your sensual side and to nourish it can be truly revolutionary and healing!

I've been doing Zumba. I know... funny.... Here's the funniest part, my mother gave me the DVD and basically challenged me. She said "I know that you love to dance and you can do all these moves with your hips, and that's the exact area you need to work on!" Now I know that she meant well when she said that last part, hahaha. But the truth is, I LOVE to dance. I especially love Latin style dances; salsa, samba, merengue and even zouk!

I love it because it makes me feel energized and sexy. The fact that it also helps keep me in shape is a major bonus. I get a good cardiovascular workout and I get to connect to that rhythmic part of me that loves to step in time to the music. It stimulates a flow of energy that makes me feel amazing.


So what's your healthy sexy?

Do sensuality and sexuality have an impact on your overall balanced health? Absolutely! In fact, its just as important as good nutrition, exercise, a career that you love and a connection to your spirituality or creativity.

It's important to know the following things:

- how to care for and nurture your sensual side
- how to support reproductive systems and organs
- how to tap into and fuel your creative passions
- how to learn to love yourself as a sensual being
- what it means to YOU to be a sensual/sexual person (which is different for us all)
- how to communicate to the world about these things

As Cindy and I prepare for our upcoming class on health and sensuality (see details below), we continually ask ourselves and others what is so important about having a healthy relationship to our sexuality and sensuality. The answer is that it is at the core of everything that we do. It is our center of self-identity in so many ways. It fuels our passions and ignites our daily experiences with a spark.

Join us on a journey to better know ourselves, so we may be happier, healthier, and yes, sexier!!

Health & Sensuality, A Whole-body health workshop
the Meta Center

214 West 29th Street New York, NY

New York, NY

Thursday, July 29th, 2010
7:30 PM - 9:30 PM

http://www.facebook.com/pages/New-York-NY/Majestic-Living/126325763734?v=app_4949752878

Intention for the week

“The physical world, including our bodies, is a response of the observer. We create our bodies as we create the experience of our world.” - Deepak Chopra, author and spiritual philospher


Setting intentions is an opportunity for aligning ourselves with the universe.

When we create mental images of what our goals look like and create calm space to breathe and fuel this image, we are much more likely to reach this goal.

What's your personal intention for this week?

Have you been meaning to call that old friend that you love but its just been sooo long....?

What about picking up that instrument that you wish you played and just spending a half hour with it, or finally signing up for that dance class that's calling your feet to come hit the floor?

Are you in need of some exercise and would really love to make time for the long bike ride that you have been thinking about?

Whatever your personal goals are, take a moment this morning to set an intention. Try this:

1. Find a quiet place where you can sit for 10 minutes.

2. Clear your mind of other thoughts and distractions.
To do this try focusing only on your inhale and exhale for a few breaths.

3. Set your intention. Say to yourself " This week I am going to apply for a new job." Or, "This week I am going to try to exercise for 30 minutes every day." Or how about, "This week I am going to be kinder and gentler with myself."

4. Picture what it looks like.
Imagine yourself actually doing that thing that you intend. If you are intending to apply for a new job, maybe in your vision you are updating your resume and handing it to a potential employer who is smiling at you. If you are intending to be kinder and gentler, perhaps in your vision you would be taking a bubble bath or a gentle yoga class. Perhaps you are just taking a night to yourself to read.

5. Get clear! Whatever your intention or you vision, be really specific. See all the little details that go along with this vision. See the colors, the textures, even imagine the smells. Create the clarity of this intention within your own mind so that it can manifest in your life.

6. Breathe. Once you have a clear vision or symbol of your intention, just breathe into it. Take slow and deep breaths, and imagine that every breath is fueling that intention with power.

7. Smile. You've done it. Now its out there and you can go about having a beautiful week, knowing that the universe has been sent a powerful message about what you want.

I practice this method of creating intention for myself on a pretty regular basis and I have to say that it has changed my life. I refer you to Deepak Chopra's newest book "The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire" as a reference to the science behind meditation and intention. He does a wonderful job of explaining how the quantum physics of this type of communication works.

I wish you all the most abundant week and I hope you find time to manifest all of your intentions!

with blessings,
Deborah

Dear America.... the beet.

... so this is what a beet looks like.

They are a root vegetable, typically red or purplish in color, with long green stems and a tail like a rat. Not to be confused with a radish, which is much smaller in size.

The beet became highly commercially important in 19th century Europe following the development of the sugar beet in Germany and the discovery that sucrose could be extracted from them, providing an alternative to tropical sugar cane. It remains a widely cultivated commercial crop for producing table sugar.

The leaves and stems of young plants are steamed briefly and eaten as a vegetable. A large proportion of the commercial production is processed into boiled and sterilised beets or into pickles. In Eastern Europe beet soup, such as cold borsch, is a popular dish. Yellow-coloured garden beets are grown on a very small scale for home consumption.

Beetroot can be peeled, steamed, and then eaten warm with butter as a delicacy; cooked, pickled, and then eaten cold as a condiment; or peeled, shredded raw, and then eaten as a salad. Pickled beets are a traditional food of the American South.

One increasingly popular preparation involves tossing peeled and diced beets with a small amount of oil and seasoning, then roasting in the oven until tender.

A traditional Pennsylvania Dutch dish is Red Beet Eggs. Hard-boiled eggs are refrigerated in the liquid left over from pickling beets and allowed to marinate until the eggs turn a deep pink-red color.

Betanins, obtained from the roots, are used industrially as red food colourants, e.g. to intensify the colour of tomato paste, sauces, desserts, jams and jellies, ice cream, sweets and breakfast cereals.

Beetroot can also be used to make wine.^[4]

The consumption of beets causes pink urine in some people.

Why, you ask, am I blogging about a beet?

Well, I'll tell you. I am blogging about beets and the history and use of such a food, because last weekend while I was working on the Juice Truck at the Nike Cup Soccer Tournament at the Met Oval, I had one parent after the next approach me looking for smoothies. When they found out I didn't have smoothies, I had juice, the next questions were along the lines of...

"Well, what kind of juice ya got?".... "What's Kale?" (which I can understand)....

"What's a beet?".... which just makes me sad. "Really?", I thought. "You don't know what beets are? You don't recognize this red bulbous root? Really?"... but it was true. Many of these folks were totally unfamiliar with beets and they certainly weren't about to order our famous Hot Pink Limeade (which features The Beet). Granted I was in old-school Queens, but still...

So here it is. The beet. In all its Glory. I highly reccomend reading Tom Robbins' book Jitterbug Perfume for a more intellectual take on the historical role of the beet in time travel, chaos, and tantalizing smells...

Oh, and while I'm at it, here America.... is KALE!!!

and this is what a smoothie looks like.....

and here is a picture of just plain old, extracted JUICE. also smooth, but not made by blending with milk or ice cream or yogurt, just extracted from the fresh fruits and veggies, using a juice extractor. simple. delicious.

I have nothing more to say about it except that I am concerned for us all and I am grateful for Jamie Oliver.

Healing from Grief & Loss- Workshop Thursday 7 - 9

Healing From Grief & Loss by Deborah Smith

When we feel stressed out, we tend to fall back into some of our more comforting habits or patterns (such as reaching for that bowl of ice cream or grabbing fast foods) , and we might slack off a bit on the healthier behaviors that we have been trying to keep on track with (such as regular daily exercise and cooking at home). Those things that feel difficult to us (which may require a bit extra will-power) get pushed to the side and we justify the easier options based on the fact that we had a hard day, or we have no time.

I often wonder, why do we "reward" ourselves with things that are not good for us? Often those things we consider a reward, or that we "earned", are things that will leave us feeling worse after we have had them.

Everybody is busy, and we have our daily struggles just to keep our bodies, minds and spirits in balance. But what happens when you add a major life trauma to that experience? What happens to your life's balance when your spouse becomes ill? What happens when the woman or man that you have lived with for 10 years has an affair and you decide to split? What happens when suddenly your job downsizes and you get laid off?

This is a time when your body can go into shock and begin to function quite differently. Your priorities shift and typically healthy habits are the last thing on the list. Getting proper nutrition during times of grief, or extreme stress, is one of the most important things you can do.


On, November 15th, 2010, my father Bill Smith passed away. He had been struggling with lung cancer for almost 2 years and it was a very difficult and sad time for my family. He was only 68 and it felt like he was taken from us too soon. Before then, I had never known the grief of loss at this level. I had never experienced this depth of sadness or confusion and I can remember clearly that there were weeks that I felt simply lost, and did not want to get out of bed.

My family made all kinds of adjustments to incorporate this experience into our lives. We put our jobs on hold, we canceled all plans for months at a time, my sister and I traveled back and forth from Boston and New York to be at home, and my mother completely dedicated all of her time to helping him with whatever he might need. She spent a year with doctors and treatments and hospitals and therapies, trying to breathe hope back into everyone's life. In the meantime, she put her own needs completely on hold and selflessly cared for him.

When I look back now, there are so many things that we could have done differently. I would have made absolutely sure that my mother, my sister and I were getting solid nutrition. I could not see it at the time, but we were exhausted, drained and totally empty from stress and crying. Our adrenal glands were zapped. Instead of eating fresh greens and getting minerals and nutrients into our systems, we were drinking coffee in the morning and gin and tonics at night. We were seeking relief but we were further depleting ourselves.

I would have demanded that the entire family get out once a day and take a walk to calm our minds and move our bodies. We were full of pent up anxiety and our minds were bent trying to figure out how long my father would be with us and what else we could still do to make him feel better. We needed to relax a bit and work out some of our frustrations.

I would have made more time for laughter. While lung cancer is one of the uncurable cancers and even the thought of somebody having it feels like a death sentance, the fact remains that my father was still with us until the end. I think that the fear we all felt made it difficult in times to just enjoy each other's company and smile and laugh.

Yet, you cannot change the past and all I can do now is incorporate this information into my future. I can learn to support my body in times of extreme stress with healthy foods. I can maintain an exercise regimen that will always help me to keep a feeling of balance in my body and I can focus on the bright side of the day, seeking moments of lightness and laughter to replace the heaviness of the changes that are inevitable in life.

I'm co-teaching a class at the Meta Center on Thursday night with Cindy Neder-Highfield as part of our Women's Holistic Nourishment Series. The subject is Healing From Grief & Loss, and how nutrition can support us through the incomparable weight of depression. We will take a look at how stress works chemically in the body and what small everyday things we can do to keep our lives on track when dealing with the loss of a loved one, or a job, or perhaps just going through a rough break-up that is life-changing.

I hope you will join us for this 2 hour workshop, which will be fun and full of great content
and tools for you to take home to incorporate into your own life. This class can also be helpful for women who are dealing with highly stressful job scenarios or who have children and are not yet back on track with taking care of their own bodies and minds.

If you have any questions or want to learn more about the workshop, visit us at Majestic Living.

Until then, I wish you healthy and happy blessings. Remember there is a choice in every moment.

Deborah