Do you ever feel like your life is just moving way too fast for you? Sometimes it feels like I’m on a train and the scenery (my life) is speeding by outside the window. Lately I feel like I could even be on the wrong train going in the wrong direction. That did happen to me in Europe one time. I had to jump off and find the right train. It wasn’t easy in a foreign land with a foreign language I did not speak, but I eventually found it. That is exactly how I’m feeling lately. I need to jump off and find the right train.

I also want this train to be moving a lot slower so I can enjoy the scenery (my life). I’m not sure how long it will take to find it. I am taking at least this month off to be still and listen to my creative spirit inside, who knows all. I have been pushing through so many responsibilities to my business and other people that I feel so worn out.

Sometimes I think we are the ones making unreasonable demands on ourselves. We expect to be able to function without giving ourselves what we need to do so, but we all require creative solitude, the healing of time alone. Without this period of recharging, we become depleted. Over time it becomes worse than out of sorts.

It is not all that easy to check out of our lives as we know them. There are many details to handle before you take the leap. There are many barriers also: People that tell you that it’s not a good idea… will my business be okay without me? Am I letting my employees and customers down? What about my husband and children? If we don’t take care of ourselves, nobody else will. And when we do… EVERYBODY & EVERYTHING around us benefits, not just us. It becomes clear what we truly want, and we now have the energy and the creative free spirit to go after it.

This is what I’m looking to get out of this month off. By stepping out of my life activities I will be able to see clearly where I should step back in and where I shouldn’t.

There is a part of me that is so strongly being called to more. I’m still not exactly sure what that is. I’m confident through this month of exploration something will be revealed to me… even if it’s just the next micro-movement in that direction. I am fully open to where this free spirit of mine wants to take me next. It hasn’t ever taken me where I didn’t want to be.

Spirits are made to be free. We are all free spirits. Sometimes we may lose ours for awhile, but we must choose to practice freedom. The world is craving more creative spirits!

Martha Graham has said it best…

“There is a vitality, a life-force, and energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action. And because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open… whether you choose to take an art class, keep a journal, record your dreams, dance your story or live each day from your own creative source. Above all else, keep the channel open!”

I AM TRYING TO KEEP THE CHANNEL OPEN!!!

“Look and you will find it…what is unsought will go undetected.” – Sophocles

I will be back in June!

Warm Hugs to you all,

Terry

It’s that time of the month again!

Yes, it’s that time of the month again… for JUICING. I am still part of the juice club at Cafe Gratitude in California. I truly believe that juicing one week out of the month could be the key to optimal health. Giving our body a break from digesting so much is a huge gift. Plus, during this time we are just filling it with high nutrient whole foods.

This month one of my friends wanted to join as well. She enlisted my help, so I laid out a plan and some recipes for her. It included green smoothies, juices and soups. We met at the grocery store and shopped together. I had our grocery list all ready for us and our carts were brimming with fresh produce.

It was a BEAUTIFUL sight!!

Now we go our separate ways to get started. First day, we both caved. She had a peanut butter sandwich (she said it never tasted so good) and I had some popcorn! Does it count that I made it with olive oil and sprinkled nutritional yeast & spirulina on it? – I don’t think so! Then she got a migraine and was in bed for a day and a half. I think this was due to her previous heavy consumption of coffee.

Last month seemed very easy for me. This month it has taken me a couple days of easing into it. I’m almost glad it went that way though so I was able to be so supportive of my friend. I could totally relate to where she was at because I was there too.

Isn’t that so true with anything we are all going through. It is so easy to support others if we have or are experiencing something similar. To me that is what we are all here for. To be there for one another on this journey called life. Helping each other reach their highest good. I know I have many people who do that for me on a daily basis. I am so grateful for them. I only hope I tell them ENOUGH what they mean to me.

I also think while we are trying to reach our highest good, it is important to be kind to ourselves. To be forgiving along the way.
If you are anything like me, you probably expect a lot of yourself. My past-self would take it so hard if I couldn’t live up to my high expectations My new-self just keeps going forward anyway, loving myself through the process.

So I make many mistakes when playing the piano. Play anyway. My Nia dance routines have really been a challenge for me to learn. If I don’t have it perfect I teach it anyway. I’m noticing that each time I do it I am able to embody it and really make it my own. It gives me the confidence to just go out there and rock it!

If I am trying to cleanse my body and I have a few slip ups, I just keep going with it. If I keep trying I will get the same results. It just might take a little longer.

There are so many ways each day that we can be kinder to ourselves. Wouldn’t it be great if we could all be our own best friend? Lets just give ourselves a big hug right now. Why not start each day like that? Doesn’t that feel good?!

Warm Hugs to you all,

Terry

Last week Oprah had a repeat showing of Michael Pollan talking about FOOD, INC.  This started me thinking of all the great ‘food’ movies I’ve watched in the past two years:  Along with FOOD, INC. there was FRESH the Movie, and KING CORN. 

Have you seen the movie KING CORN?  Last fall The Urban Frog hosted a showing of the movie with its sequel BIG RIVER.  I really hope we show the movies again… together, they do a great job of peeling away at the source of our cheap food system: CORN. 

 Here’s a sample of my takeaways:

 You are what you eat as the saying goes, and for many of us that means that we are made up of ‘corn’.  Don’t believe me?  Have a strand of your hair tested (King Corn). 

Since the 1970s we have been fed a steady stream of corn-based foods.  Yet, lately, some consumers have started to question the health impact of this diet especially given the high profile of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) sweetener in our foods. 

“While it’s certainly not the only factor, the abundance, convenience, affordability and omnipresence of HFCS in the American diet contributes mightily to increased calorie consumption” (King Corn). 

As a way to ‘sweet’-talk us all back to the HFCS fold, marketing experts would have us believe that corn syrup is actually good for us!  Yup, even the USDA has come out to say that HFCS is no different that other sweeteners such as honey. 

“The Corn Refiners Association plans a $20,000-$30,000 campaign to rehabilitate the reputation of the long-time sweetener” (Philpott).  As alleged in a TV ad, HFCS should be seen as a viable ‘natural’ sweetener when consumed in moderation. 

And there lies the problem… with HFCS hidden in just about every processed food, moderation is no longer a viable option.  Many of us unknowingly consume around 50 pounds of the stuff annually (King Corn).

But shaking the sugar habit is no easy feat. Having tried to reduce my own intake of sugar this past month, I know from personal experience how hard it is to find food without HFCS.

Did you know that 1 Cup of canned baked beans has 3.6 teaspoons of sugar?  One quarter cup of French Dressing has 3.5 teaspoons!  Best stick with real food to eliminate the likely overdosing of sugar.

Of course this means re-training one’s palette to recognize the unique flavors of REAL FOOD.

 Other Sources:

The Bitter with the Sweet by Tom Philpott

http://www.grist.org/comments/food/2008/10/17/

The trailer for King Corn is available for viewing at www.hulu.com.

Karen Kohlbeck is Community Outreach Coordinator for The Urban Frog; the former Chairperson of Sustainable Green Bay – Local Foods Committee. She is also a recognized local food champion and advocates for sustainable living, organic and authentic farming, and social responsibility.

This month The Urban Frog linked with Cafe Gratitude (located in California) offering a juice club. The idea of the juice club is that the first week of each month you do a juice fast. Now that may sound daunting, but I am doing it, and here is what I’ve discovered so far.

It really hasn’t been that difficult. Yes it takes some discipline, but who doesn’t need to reinforce that in their life every now and then. I notice this self-discipline carries over into other areas of my life. Yea…what a bonus.

I not only have been juicing, but making lots of green smoothies (I have a book called “Green Smoothie Revolution”). This book mixes many different fruits and greens to make an awesome meal in a glass. I’ve also made some raw soups. I even made a couple hot soups in the blender. One of my favorites is boiling broccoli just until it’s fork tender, but still bright green. Then I put the broccoli in the blender. While blending I filter in enough cooking water to make it the consistency I’m looking for. After that I just season with Himalayan sea salt.

Yum, Yum. It truly is a treat.

I’ve also made some nut milks, and coconut milks that were incredible. So as you can see I haven’t really been food deprived.

If you go to Cafe Gratitude’s website and sign up for the juice club, Terces e-mails you every day of the juice fast. She has wonderful quotes and recipes. You can also tap into her blog and hear how everyone is doing. It’s an awesome support group to optimal health. (Thank you Terces!)

I think this is a great idea to help maintain a healthy weight. It gives you a solid week of just eating whole foods which naturally cleanses your body, and regulates everything. I really feel fit from within. I would imagine if you do this every month you would want less and less unhealthy carbs and sugars. Your body would naturally gravitate to fruits and veggies. I will let you know what it does for me.

Fit from within not only is about what you put in your body, it’s also about mind and spirit. Keeping all three of these healthy simultaneously is the challenge of a lifetime for me. It seems I’m always working on one or the other. Those times where all three are grooving are euphoria! Those are the times when your inside just radiates to your outside. People take notice and ask what you are doing. They want in on it!

After all, in the end, that outside appearance fades away. The inside is where it’s at! If we continue to work on that for our lifetime, our inside will shine so brightly nobody will even notice the outside. True beauty from within! I’m sure you all know people like that already. I know I do.

Happy juicing if you choose to join us. I will continue to share my journey. I hope you will share yours.

Warm Hugs to you all.

On this journey called life, I think it is so important to have sources of inspiration. Whether it be books, people or quotes, there is so much to be inspired by if we look.

Lately, I have gone to the Internet in search for inspiration. Here are some incredibly inspiring women I have found. It would be my pleasure to link YOU to their websites… tracyporter.com, planetsark.com and cafegratitude.com. I hope you have as much fun with them as I have. Sark also has an inspiration hot line (415) 546-3742.

Anyone following their dreams is so inspiring to me. The thing that inspires me most is that they don’t settle for ordinary. They follow their passions, and don’t let any roadblocks stop them.

We ALL have it in us to live an extraordinary life. Each of us has that little voice inside us that tries to nudge us in the direction of our dreams. But it always feels risky. It is definitely fear of the unknown, and we will usually feel under-qualified. If that voice is persistent…it just keeps showing up… it is certainly without a doubt what we are called to do.

This is where the leap of faith comes in. I am getting ready to take a leap of faith right now with a lot of different areas of my life. It brings me anxiety, but I am also very excited. I know in the past whenever I have taken the leap it has been an incredible ride.

I’ve always been one to follow my dreams. I don’t ever want to look back and wonder what would have happened if I had. So though I’m living this current dream, lately I’m feeling that there is so much more. I don’t know exactly what it all is yet, but its starting to reveal itself to me bit by bit. I’m going to follow!

Along my journey of trying to follow my dreams…and live with no regrets…these words of wisdom have helped me time and time again.

SEEK… Take heart and know that every answer you seek lives inside of you.

DREAM… Dreams take time, patience, sustained effort, a willingness to fail if they are ever to be anything more than dreams.

SOAR… With courage greater than your fear, jump into the unknown and you will fly.

The sky is the limit. I am going to continue to push through the boundaries and barriers to my dreams. Lets see where it leads me. I will be sharing my journey with you. I hope you will share yours with me.

Dreams really do come true!

Warm hugs to you all.

…It’s who you think your not.

Last weekend my husband and I went to Sheboygan and Kohler. One of the things we did while we were there (besides eat lots of awesome food at my favorite restaurants) was go to the Kohler Art Museum. They always have wonderful exhibits that change often.

This time it was incredible art created with the written word. They used books, pages in books, paintings, and video with someone creating letters with their hands that were painted brown by doing a karate chop to form each line in the letter. Can you get the drift?

It was pretty intense to figure out what they were trying to say!

Needless to say it got a little too intense for me to stick it out to see what that final message was! Anyone who knows me, knows I have the patience of a gnat!

They also had a glass house with words printed on it about a feminist’s views from childhood to adulthood.

We stumbled on a group of people creating human art. Music was playing and they would run around and create different poses either alone or add onto others to form art.

All of it was thinking WAY outside the box… not putting any limits on what one could do or thought they couldn’t do… always keeping in mind that all things are possible. I loved it!

Now I am certainly an outside the box kind of gal. I usually don’t put any limit to what I’m able to accomplish. I think we can all surprise ourselves with what we are actually capable of when we don’t hold back; when we don’t put any limits on our possibilities.

This is not always easy for me. There are times when I do hold back and stifle myself. I have been doing a lot of that lately. Sometimes things happen in my business that make me think…What am I doing here?… I’m not a business women.

Or when I’m writing these blogs I’m thinking…I don’t know what I’m doing!…I’m not a blogger…I’ve never even read one before I started blogging!

I remember times when I was raising the boys thinking… I’m not a good mother…I don’t know what I’m doing.

Lately it seems like one day I will feel confident that I can conquer anything, and the next day I feel like I want to crawl into my favorite quilt for the day. It is quite a ride. What is it all about????

I think the mental mind talk takes over and convinces me that I don’t have the ability. I get fearful of the unknown. And just thinking about everything makes me tired!

These are times when I really have to remind myself to just take that first step. And then the next. All of a sudden people start to come into your life to help you along the way.

Ask, Believe, and Receive. I think the most important of these is to BELIEVE. When we believe…miracles happen!

Its all about living full out! Living beyond our conditional thinking, limiting beliefs or mental mind talk. Not being afraid to jump into something before you know so much that you never start!

It truly is a journey to the center. Our center. Knowing who you are and who you might become!

Have you ever felt like this? I look forward to hearing from you.

Dear Jane,

I hope this letter finds you winning the battle against sugar… last time we spoke you’d just successfully completed a day with only a single soda. 

Way to go! 

From our conversation, I know hearing Dr. Oz say that drinking soda accelerates your chances for pancreatic cancer made a huge impact on you.  Here’s a little more information that might strengthen your resolve to lower your daily sugar intake:

• Since 1983 sugar consumption in the U.S. has increased by 28%.
• Out of a daily 2,000 calorie diet, we should only be consuming around 10 tsp. of sugar; however most U.S. citizens consume 20 teaspoons or more.
• The average U.S. citizens consumes approximately 156 lbs of sugar annually.
• One 12 ounce Pepsi contains 103% of the daily sugar recommended.
• By eating high sugar foods with little nutritional value you are robbing your body of healthier choices like fruits and vegetables.

FYI…while reading nutritional labels you will certainly come across several different types of sugar:

• Fructose
• Maltose
• Sorbitol
• Evaporated Cane Juice
• Syrups…watch out for High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)
• Xylotol

According to Dr. Oz, try incorporating AGAVE and STEVIA as sweeteners.  Your body reacts better to them without the spikes.

Remember, sugar is like any other addiction so give yourself at least a month to re-train your brain.  Doctor Oz has a sugar detox program available online at

http://www.doctoroz.com/challenge/sugar-detox .

And, Jane… ever wonder why your soda has so much sugar?  It’s there to mask the high volume of sodium in the drink. 

Your friend,

Karen

Karen Kohlbeck is Community Outreach Coordinator for The Urban Frog; the former Chairperson of Sustainable  Green Bay - Local Foods Committee. She is also a recognized local food champion and advocates for sustainable living, organic and authentic farming, and social responsibility.

Photo Credit:

smercury98

Its Valentines Day! It is absolutely my favorite holiday. Not that you shouldn’t shower your love all year ’round on those around you. But it is a marked day on the calendar that just signifies LOVE.

Memories of this holiday bring me back to grade school making our valentines box to hold all of the valentines from our classmates. I remember trying to put as many different kinds of decorated hearts on that I could (actually my lack of artistic talents showed up quite early). But I thought it looked FABULOUS!

After receiving the valentines I recall sorting through them to try and find the one from that cute boy I liked to see what it said on the front – if what the valentine said would give any hint of him liking me back. Did it say BE MINE, or I’M YOURS, or YOU’RE COOL? Or did it say BEST BUDDIES, or FRIENDS FOREVER, or FRIENDS ARE THE BEST?

When I got to high school…that was when I found a REAL boyfriend. Not to say there weren’t others along the way that caught my eye for awhile. But this was the real thing – when your heart flutters every time you see him or talk to him. Those feelings should be able to be bottled up to be opened up and experienced again and again (I guess we would call that an aphrodisiac). Fortunately I married that high school sweetheart of mine and after 35 years I still feel those heart flutters in his presence. Okay, not every time, but they are definitely still there!

When our kids lived at home we would all make lots of valentines for each other and hide them all around the house. We would get out the good china and white table cloth and make an awesome meal. More cards for each other and little gifts to all from mom would be the centerpiece on the table… Love was in the air.

Now that the kids are gone, I continue to send valentines and little treats their way. It is ALWAYS wonderful to remind people and BE reminded that you are loved.

We’ve all had grandmas who sent us valentines with $5 in it for a little something. This always makes your day, even as an adult.

Now our favorite thing to do is go away somewhere overnight. Yes… I know we have the house to ourselves everyday, but there is something about getting out of town that is so freeing. Even if its only an hour away. We are away from all of the demands on us and our time is our own. It actually does feel like we’re dating again. Of course we go to a place that has all of the things we love to do, not to mention the awesome restaurants. Anyone who knows me knows its all about the food!

I love to buy us enough candles to last a year for candle light dinners. Everything tastes better and feels better with a candle light dinner.

There are many kinds of love. So lets go out there and spread the love. If everything we did came from a place of love in our hearts wouldn’t our world be a beautiful place. It starts with us and the love we share is ALWAYS mirrored back to us.

i carry your heart with me

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear

no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you.

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and
the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which
grows
higher than soul can Hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars
apart
i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

E.E. Cummings

Just when you think things are getting better on the food front (FOOD, INC. received an Oscar nomination for best documentary) an email arrives today in my inbox sent by Ana Sofia Joanes, producer of FRESH the movie, announcing that “the USDA is well on its way to approving Monsanto’s genetically modified alfalfa.”

Given the chances of cross-pollination in the field, this could mean the beginning of the end of Organic farmers feeding untainted alfalfa to their animals.  Alfalfa, a popular livestock feed, can be planted in spring or fall, and is grown on about 22 million acres in the U.S.

80% of all corn seed and 95% of soybeans are already tainted with Monsanto’s Roundup Ready gene.  Allowing the planting of genetically modified Alfalfa seed could risk future availability of non GE-alfalfa seed.

Up until now lower U.S. Courts have kept Monsanto from selling its Alfalfa seed thus barring the planting of it until environmental impacts have been assessed.

However, the Supreme Court says it will consider overturning the court order that stopped Monsanto Co. from selling their alfalfa seeds.  With an USDA approval, the Supreme Court could pave the way for immediate planting of GE-alfalfa.

In its own report, the USDA says that not enough consumers care enough about organic foods for the USDA to block Monsanto’s modified alfalfa seeds. 

NOT CARE!?!  Like Ana Sofia Joanes says in her email, “Monsanto’s domination of our food must stop. For the USDA to shrug it off like nobody cares is to add insult to injury.”

Interested in learning more? Ready to sign the petition to let the USDA know how you feel about Genetically Modified Foods? Information is available at Center for Food Safety at truefoodnow.org, or sign the petition at freshthemovie.com/2010/02/03/usda_alfalfa/.

Supplemental Resources:  Ten Things to Know about Genetically Modified Alfalfa.

UPDATE 2/24/2010:  FRESH the movie staff just sent off 9,000 signatures to the USDA to protest GE-Alfalfa.

Karen Kohlbeck is Community Outreach Coordinator for The Urban Frog; the former Chairperson of the Sustainable Green Bay - Local Foods Committee. She is also a recognized local food champion and advocate for sustainable living, organic and authentic farming, and social responsibility.

Just the word CHANGE can bring about a myriad of emotions in all of us. Fear, anxiety, excitement, and nauseous are just a few that come to mind. Okay, nauseous isn’t an emotion, but it is certainly something you feel.

Change can also paralyze us at times. We either don’t know what we should be doing, or there is too much to do and we are overwhelmed and so we do nothing. It never makes sense to me why this happens, but it has happened to me time and time again – especially when going through a time of change.

Last night I attended a lecture at St. Mary’s A Women Place called The Spirituality of Change. It really helped me understand the different stages of change.

Here are the three stages that I’m talking about.

ENDINGS…change starts because something has ended. Either a job, a loss of a loved one, kids move away… sometimes what we call the beginning is often the end. The end is where we start from.

FALLOW TIME…this is certainly a dead time. A time where we sit with the unknown. At this time the most important thing to remember is to be patient. This is the most difficult thing to do. First of all our society doesn’t honor fallow time. Everyone seems to be in a contest to see who can be the busiest. Because of that we tend to feel guilty for being fallow. But this time is crucial for our new beginning. We are able to really listen. Live the questions in our heart. And then without even noticing it, you will live into your answer some distant day. Don’t try to force the answer – as though you could be today, what time (that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will) will make you tomorrow.

BEGINNINGS…all beginnings are untidy. Because to me it’s a transition time from the old into the new. We are usually learning new skills, which put us out of our comfort zone. It can be a time of insecurity until we master these new skills. We need to trust that in our own natural time, not anybody else’s, we will be able to grow into all we were created to be. We will also be given all of the skills and resources to be able to succeed.

It gives me goosebumps talking about new beginnings, because I am actually going through these three stages right now. You may have guessed what stage I am in by the amount of information I shared in this stage. Yes, I am in the fallow time. It seems like I have been here too long. But there is no “too long”. How long does it take? As long as it takes. I cannot be today what time and circumstances will help me be tomorrow. That is very comforting to me.

Last night I gathered more patience and strength to wait. And when the time feels right I will lean into it and see where it flows.

All month I have had a quote on my inspiration board at home. I’m not sure who’s quote it is , but I think it is awesome.

“I see my path, but I don’t know where it leads.” Not knowing where I’m going is what inspires me to travel it.

So lets try to embrace change as something good and necessary to living.

“To live is to change. To be perfect is to have changed often.” – Cardinal John Newman