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Dear Friends,
I've been having technical difficulties with this site and have moved my blog to wordpress
please come visit me there...
Thanks for your continued reading...lots of new stuff to come, classes, laughter yoga, recommended readings, rerememberings to come to presence...

Warm Cabbage Salad

This salad is beautiful, delicious and easy! Serves four as an entrée six as a side dish

Ingredients:

1 medium head of red cabbage- thinly sliced. Place in a bowl and toss with balsamic vinegar.
1/2 pound crimini mushrooms sliced
1 onion- finely sliced
2-3 cloves garlic finely diced
1/2 to 3/4 cup toasted pecans
1/2 cup currants or raisins
Balsamic vinegar- enough to coat the cabbage
Extra virgin olive oil, one tablespoon or more. Adjust as needed after sautéing
Soft goat cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Putting it together:

Pour olive oil into large sauté pan and add onions, cook until translucent and then add garlic and mushrooms, sauté on medium heat until mushrooms soften. Add cabbage and currants and sauté for a couple of minutes, you want the cabbage to remain firm. Add pecans and salt to taste. After you plate up the salad add slices of the soft goat cheese to the top and fresh cracked pepper.
Enjoy!
We often eat this as an entrée with some good bread.

This salad is beautiful, delicious and easy! Serves four as an entrée six as a side dish
Ingredients:
1 medium head of red cabbage- thinly sliced. Place in a bowl and toss with balsamic vinegar.
½ pound crimini mushrooms sliced
1 onion- finely sliced
4 cloves garlic finely diced
½-3/4 cup toasted pecans
½ cup currants or raisins
Balsamic vinegar- enough to coat the cabbage
Extra virgin olive oil, one tablespoon or more adjust as needed after sautéing
Soft goat cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Putting it together:

Pour olive oil into large sauté pan and add onions, cook until translucent and then add garlic and mushrooms, sauté on medium heat until mushrooms soften. Add cabbage and currants and sauté for a couple of minutes, you want the cabbage to remain firm. Add pecans and salt to taste. After you plate up the salad add slices of the soft goat cheese to the top and fresh cracked pepper.

Enjoy!

The Story of Stuff

This link is a 20 minute video clip on the "Story of Stuff" This is the story of how we became consumers instead of citizens and how it affects the whole world. I highly encourage you to take time to view it. Most of it you have heard much of this before and the way this is done brought some new awareness for me and it's a great way to engage kids in this topic.

Here are the ten tips for little and big things you can do. How many times do we need to hear something before we begin to change...many times!!

People created the culture of stuff and people, just like you and me, can shift our culture to a sustainable one. One choice at a time!

Lifecoaching for connection, balance and health!

If you haven't seen this video clip yet consider clicking on it.

The Miniature Earth.

Q tip

I recently took a class and the facilitator used Q tip as a reminder to "quit taking it personally".

As we move into the holiday season and we are interacting with anyone we find challenging, particularly those nearest and dearest, remembering Q tip can support us to check in with ourselves, pause, take a breath, and connect inward. Doing this gives us time to choose our response, meet our needs as well as potentially being able to support the other person. By not taking it personally and pausing we may create more peace and ease this season.

For me, if I can remember that I want connection more than being right it diffuses the energy I hold when I am triggered by something someone says or does. If I take some time I can come up with a strategy that shifts how I feel about myself and the other person and it is a huge relief. In that moment I have chosen to focus on myself rather than reacting to someone else.

The more I do this the more empowered I feel and yes it's a work in progress!

Choice abounds when we Q tip and pause!


Lifecoaching for connection, balance and health!

As December Approaches...

As the holiday season begins to amp up what can you do to adjust your inner world so that you can have peace, ease, gratitude and joy and minimize stress, overwhelm and dis-ease?

Here are a few steps I take to stave off undue stress.

Step one: Stop right now and take a couple of breaths.

Step two: Get your calendar out and schedule in your exercise, healthy meal planning and cooking, special time with family members and friends, rituals you love...prioritize what is most important and don't schedule over it. These are the things that keep you in peace and joy.

Step three: Stay connected to yourself through your exercise, spiritual rituals, pausing, breathing, walking, dancing, singing...remember the reason for the season.

Step four: Give as much as you recieve. Notice what feels great to give and what doesn't. Give more of what does!

Step five: Remember you are doing the best you can in every moment. Forgive yourself.

Thats it for now!


Lifecoaching for connection, balance and health.

Pause, Connect, Reflect and Redirect!

"If there is a pervasive criticism of global capitalism that is shared by all actors in the movement, it is this observation: goods seem to be more important, and are treated better, than people. What would a world look like if that emphasis was reversed" -exerpt from Paul Hawkins "Blessed Unrest"

What might you do to create that kind of change in your life?

LifeCoaching for connection, balance and health.

Discover the Power of Choice!

The Eating Season

As we move into the holiday season also fondly titled "The Eating Season" I like to keep some things in mind that support me to stay connected to my health as well as enjoy celebrating with food.(the 80/20 rule

The first is when I eat a balanced and healthy breakfast and lunch I can go to a party or event and indulge with more ease especially if I include some fueling foods on my plate.

The second is keeping up my exercise routine throughout the season. Consistency does work.

The third is to enjoy indulging in small amounts and really savor whatever it is. I don't necessarily need the biggest piece of chocolate cake, I might share a piece with my daughter and a smaller portion, well savored, can be enough.

The forth is to be mindful of the reasons I am eating. During the season I tend to eat for comfort, connection and celebration. While those are all wonderful needs I want to recognize that eating is only one strategy to get those needs met. I want to think ahead and develop other options so that I can meet those needs as well as the need for health and harmony within.

Think celebration, nourishment and health throughout the season.

Lifecoaching for balance, connection and health.

It's a blustery, damp, wet day and the fall colors have almost disappeared. The mountains are snow covered and yesterday while on a run a red tail hawk flew a few feet in front of me with prey in his claws...

Winter moves in slowly and I feel it seeping into the nooks and crannies of my life. It offers me the delights of skiing, solitude, white beauty and the opportunity for more time to reflect. Its natures way of reminding us we can pause if we dare, dream if we want and choose our way.

Choice...is a beautiful thing.

Coaching for connection, balance and health

Butternut Squash Soup

This is an easy quick to make soup...although it does take 45 minutes to cook the squash.
Ingredients:
1 butternut squash baked in a 450 degree oven until soft usually 45 minutes
1 large onion diced or 3-4 leeks chopped
3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
3 tablespoons of fresh chopped ginger
2-3 tablespoons of natural peanut butter or almond butter
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
5-6 or more cups of vegetable stock, broth or water
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut up squash into cubes. Pour olive oil into a soup pot add the onions/leeks and garlic. Saute on med-high heat for 5-10 minutes onions should be translucent. Add ginger and squash to pot and stir it together.
Pour in liquid to cover vegetables bring to a boil then reduce and allow soup to simmer for 15 minutes.

Puree in batches, add more liquid as needed, and add salt and pepper to taste.

I'm curious as to how we stay engaged in the world and not get shut down by fear.

I've notice if I hear too much about how awful things are going in the world I move into fear and then slide down the slippery slope toward hopelessness and confusion. I can lose site of the big and small actions I can take that do make a difference.

Eating differently is one way we can support change. Eating local, less processed, organic, growing your own...these are all ways you can effect change.

Drive less, carpool, bicyle, combine trips, hybrids...these are all ways you can affect change.

Take care of yourself, breathe deeply, pause, step off the train, refuse to conform, laugh more, give empathy...these are all the ways you can effect change.

Giving to others, being in service, smiling warmly, letting someone in front of you, being present, random acts of kindness...these are all the ways you can effect change.

You are just like everyone else. You can make decisions, create change, love, hate, make war, be compassionate, connect, disconnect...

You get to choose...I encourage you to choose with your heart and recognize that big or small you make a difference.

The Trance

“How important that we recognize the strong pull into our collective trance: the unconscious beliefs, unquestioned repetitive stories and habitual behavior patterns. Almost the entire culture around us lives in this trance. Simultaneously, the eternal calling of our True Nature, Original Self, Buddha Mind also has a relentless, powerful pull yet it is more subtle- inviting us yet not demanding that we heed its call. How do we listen well enough to hear the whispers of this timeless call when the shouting of the trance is so loud around us and within us? A noble path, this intention toward awakening!” – Russell Delman

and so you have it...what does it mean to be awake...how evocative is the pull of the trance...

Exploring the trance and inviting presence into your life...its a new dance...interested in learning the steps?


Coaching for balance, connection and health

"Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses...We cannot change anything until we accept it" -Carl Jung

What do you want to change?

How often do you find yourself beating yourself up because you haven't done it...

What would it take for you to accept and give yourself empathy for where you are and to move forward from that place again and again...

Coaching engages you to tap into your own wisdom, to accept yourself where you are and to move forward from there. Connecting you to balance, harmony joy...whatever it is you want.

Find your best friend in yourself!

Carrot Salad

This is an old favorite that I like to have for lunch or for dinner with soup.

1 Cup purple cabbage chopped finely, blanched and shocked
2 cups grated carrots
3/4 cup almonds-chopped
3/4 cup raisins
3/4 to 1 cup plain yogurt
1-2 tsp of cinnamon
Agave syrup or honey to taste

In bowl place cabbage, carrots, almonds and raisins. Pour yogurt on top, sprinkle the cinnamon on and toss it all together. Taste and adjust sweetness with agave or honey if desired

computer crash

My computer hardware crashed on Friday and I found myself a bit panicked as I hadn't backed up all of my writing for upcoming work I am doing and haven't backed up my contact list either. Hopefully it is all retrievable and the lesson I learned is if I am using a computer I need to remember all the steps to take to reduce the risk of loss.

That said I had an incredible weekend full of music, a film festival and most important for me some wonderful deep connections with myself and others.
I viewed some amazing documentaries that were so inspiring my need for service rose another notch. If you get the opportunity to see "Beyond the Call" or "Mekong" go and support these films that are sending an important message.

Life is as rich and alive as you want. The work for me is being willing to explore options, be out of my comfort zone and taking the time to reflect, be in gratitude and give back! I want to learn to hold onto nothing and embrace everything.
How about you??

Coaching for connection, balance and health.

P.S. due to my computer crash I may not be posting too much in the next couple of weeks. I will have a new recipe soon.

Peace,
Carol

Wonder

"When I go in to teach Nonviolent Communication to students I like to start with this question: What do you wonder about? When I asked students that question I'm bombarded with all kinds of things, and you will hear theri answers in this song. And after school when I ask the teachers the same question. What do you wonder about? And do you know the most typical response I get from teachers? Silence. And I say, I wonder what happened to us between age six and now. You saw how the children responded. What happened to us? And the teachers say, "Well, I was afraid I would sound stupid." I was afraid that what I was wondering about was abnormal." That's what happens to us. We lose our ability to wonder. We're educated in ways that make us worry about what we are, rather than what is alive in us.Most of the lines in this song came from the children.

Green Jell-O Song
I wonder why my dog won't eat green Jell-o
I like the wiggly was it melts inside
I wonder when a turtle pulls its head in
Is it so dark it's scared to be inside
I wonder if a rock likes being hard
I wonder if the sky likes being blue
I wonder if butterflies like butter
I wonder if you like being you

I wonder why I don't feel myself stretching
When people say I'm growing every day
I wonder why I always have to listen
to more words than I ever get to say
I wonder if the grass cries when it's cut
I wonder if the rain hurts when it falls
I wonder if the earth gets dizzy turning
I wonder if little worms feel small

I wonder why I see so many people
Do things that thye don't really wnat to do
I wonder if the music goes away somewhere
After I sing my song to you
I wonder if it feels sad to be old
I wonder if the moon likes company
I wonder why it's fun to feel a little scared
I wonder if you wonder like me 2"
-Marshall Rosenberg and friends


What do you wonder?

I wonder about how the color of leaves outside my window can make me so happy and
I wonder about how I can support others to find peace, happiness and more joy in each moment.
I wonder whether we can repair the damage to our earth as well as our spirits and
I wonder if making chocolate would be fun,
I wonder what each of you wonder about and
I wonder if this note will inspire you to wonder and if so
I really wonder if that can change the world.
virtual hugs!
Carol

Returning

I returned from a weeklong class, the beginning of a three year program focusing on PRESENCE. It was a full week and I am integrating back into my world as I write this.

When we checked in at the beginning of the week one man shared he had a lot of knowledge but not much understanding and I wonder about that. So much of our cultural training is about gaining knowledge and yet understanding feels like a different level.
What is your feeling about that?

Do you want more understanding, knowledge or both...

One of our homework assignments is to stop five times a day and take three deep breaths following each one from beginning to end. Being present with breath, returning to life. Small shifts can make a big difference.

If you're interested give it a try for a while and simply notice...

Life Coaching for connection, balance and health!

Fall days are often my very favorite of the year and we are in the midst of some beautiful days here in Bend.
The sunlight, the breeze, colors, scents, sweaters, hats, brisk, quiet, peaceful...

If you feel the way I do take the time to get out and enjoy it even if you simply walk around the block or step outside and feel the sun and breeze on your face for a minute.

Be here with Fall, now, while it is present!

Enjoy...I'm going to step outside as soon as I click publish!

I'm facilitating a workshop right now called the "Write Balance" tomorrow we'll talk and write about societal beliefs and norms. As I ready myself for this topic I found myself feeling sad that so many of the norms and beliefs I see in our culture cause so much stress and overwhelm. Not just for adults even the smallest of children are impacted by our willingness to go along with a culture, that in my opinion, is way off track.

What keeps us following along in the direction of the tide...As I watched Michael Moores "Sicko" a month or so ago I was struck by what one European said. He said that Americans are afraid of their government while in France the government is afraid of the people...does that filter into how we go along because we are afraid to be different, to say no, not to keep up, to lose the American dream...

I certainly don't have the answers and I will continue to do my best to raise my awareness of the norms and beliefs and choose, as much as possible, to live only the ones that feel most aligned with my heart.

How about you?


Life Coaching for connection, balance and health/

The cereal box

I was reading the back of the cereal box as I was pouring it into a bowl for Jack and noticed they shared the marketing strategy that has such an impact on our culture "Though it is difficult to maintain a healthy diet with todays hectic schedules..."

The hectic pace that pervades our world from breakfast cereal to Politicians is so ingrained many people believe they can't choose anything different. Rushing from one place to the next, feeling overwhelmed, confused, tired...it's just part of everyday life.

What do you do if you don't want to buy into the hectic lifestyle?

Is it possible to have more peace and ease in your life?

Maybe you could consider letting something go, saying no to something you don't really want to do, slowing down your pace just a little, choose to have less in order to give yourself more space...

There are lots of choices really it may be as simple as choosing to be different...

"The hardest battle is to be nobody but yourself in a world that is doing its best, night and day, to make you like everybody else." -e.e. cummings

Into Balance Life Coaching

"As mentioned earlier, we have an inheritied a language that served kings and powerful elites on domination societies. The masses, discouraged from developing awareness of their own needs, have instead been educated to be docile and subservient to authority. Our culture implies that needs are negative and destructive; the work "needy" applied to a person suggestes inadequacy or immaturity. When people express their needs, they are often labeled "selfish" and the use of the personal pronoun "I" is at times equated with selfishness or neediness.
By encouraging us to separate observation and evaluation, to acknowledge the thought or needs shaping our feelings, and to express our requests in clear action language, NVC heightens our awareness of the cultural conditioning influencing us at any given moment. And drawing this conditioning into the light of consciousness is a key step in breaking its hold on us." -Excerpt from Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg

Interested in learning a new language...Life Coaching for connection, balance and health.

As I sit
gazing out my window
a blue bird flies
the tree sways
the leaves quake
the once still air vibrates around me
and I am enveloped in life
nature
connection to earth
I breathe and feel my feet
firmly planted
and know if I continue
to practice
this noticing
this connection
to earth
I will feel
present
more
often
and all I work with
and towards in this life
will grow
as the tree
that sways outside
my window

Spinach

I've slowed down on the recipe writing as of late...summer seems to be a time of less cooking and more playing in my family.

I did want to share one of my favorite foods and some twists on serving it.

Spinach when not overcooked is one of my favorite foods. I will often saute a clove or two of garlic in extra virgin olive oil add a bunch of spinach, stir it around for less than a minute, take it off the stove toss it with some lemon or lime juice, salt and pepper and eat. If available I top it with leftover lentils, rice, quinoa, goat cheese, beans, pecans, avocado, walnuts, tempeh...it is a great base for toppings or a simple meal if eaten alone. I often cook this up for a savory breakfast.

So if you enjoy spinach add some of these toppings and see what you think!


Life Coaching for connection, balance and health.

Another article from my favorite magazine Ode.

It's hard to know sometimes what truly are the best foods for your body. I have found over the years the closer I can stay to unprocessed or slightly processed the better. A friend once shared she never bought anything with more than seven ingredients in it.

When you walk into a regular supermarket you can be overwhelmed by the choices and the marketing of processed food. You may have heard this tip already but it can be great for your health and your pocketbook if you shop the outside aisles and swing only into the aisle with rice, beans and other whole grains.
That way you are getting the fruits, vegetables, proteins and fiber you need and saving yourself time, money and your health while at the market.

"With strong evidence piling up to show that diet affects behaviour, it is surprising that so little has been done to change the daily diet of millions on the planet." -Jurriaan Kamp

Change your diet, change your life.

Life coaching for connection, balance and health.

Discover the Power of Choice!

Autumn is in the air, in the flavor, in the scents, in the wind and the light. In the morning cool and the midday heat, in the anticipation of change as school begins and in the presence of the moment as I breath in the subtle shifts that are palpable but often indescribable.

I love this time of year and it feels a bit early...I relish being out in nature this time of year above all. In the ebb time as nature prepares for winter sleep I find a beauty and a reminder of the rhythms of life that I, in the busyness of our society, can lose track of.

I want to be still more in nature and in life. I want to observe often and live more fully in the moments I am given this gift.

Alive in a human body that has the capacity to explore the deep connections of our inner and outer landscapes.

Want to explore with me? Into Balance Coaching