some short clips from Gracious Living Nutrition Workshops in Florida!
Breast Cancer Event at MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Orlando, Florida:
Raw Food, Raw Truths at White Orchid Yoga Studio in Clearwater, Florida:
Tag Archives: chocolate
Gracious Living Nutrition Workshops
Gracious Living Raw, Vegan Vanilla Chia Seed Pudding
Chia Seeds, nature’s little powerhouse, are an amazing superfood providing calcium, alkalinizing, absorbable protein, and anti-aging antioxidants. (yes, this is where the famous chia pet came from!) They are also high in omega-3 fatty acids much needed for optimal energy levels, heart health, brain health, and burning fat. Their high fibre content helps to stabilize blood sugar and suppress hunger. Ch-ch-ch-chia!
Mmmmmm…a healthy, nutrient dense breakfast, snack, or dessert that will provide you with sustainable energy. An excellent source of protein and essential fatty acids.
2 tbsp chia seeds
1 cup unsweetened almond, or cashew milk
1-2 Tbsp maple syrup
1⁄2 tsp real vanilla extract
1⁄4 ground cinnamon
1/4 ground nutmeg
1/4 ground ginger
**topping: fresh fruit, and/or fresh coconut, and/or fresh mint.
**variation: instead of adding cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, add 1 tsp of raw, organic cocoa powder or carob powder for a chocolate chia pudding.
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and set aside for 15 minutes so the chia seeds can do their chia magic. Abra-ca-dabra…..they will soak up the moisture and turn into a pudding consistency. Chill (if you can wait!) then serve.
Top with fresh berries of choice , and/or fresh mint leaves, and/or sprinkle fresh grated coconut on top. I like to serve it in a martini glass!
click my face right below to watch my Gracious Living TV video on the health benefits of chia seeds!
upcoming Gracious Living Vegan Nutrition & Yoga Retreat in the Bahamas Jan 2013
little gurus everywhere!
When we approach children with the awareness that they can teach us, we automatically become more present ourselves. www.dailyom.com
As grown-ups, we often approach children with ideas about what we can teach them about this life to which they have so recently arrived. It’s true that we have important information to convey, but children are here to teach us just as much as we are here to teach them. They are so new to the world and far less burdened with preconceived notions about the people, situations, and objects they encounter. 
They do not avoid people on the basis of appearance, nor do they regard shoes as having only one function. They can be fascinated for half an hour with a pot and a lid, and they are utterly unself-conscious in their emotional expressions. They live their lives fully immersed in the present moment, seeing everything with the open-mindedness born of unknowing. 
This enables them to inhabit a state of spontaneity, curiosity, and pure excitement about the world that we, as adults, have a hard time accessing. Yet almost every spiritual path calls us to rediscover this way of seeing. In this sense, children are truly our gurus.
When we approach children with the awareness that they are our teachers, we 
automatically become more present ourselves. We have to be more present when we follow, looking and listening, responding to their lead. We don’t lapse so easily into the role of the director of activities, surrendering instead to having no agenda at all. As we allow our children to determine the flow of play, they pull us deeper into the mystery of the present moment. In this magical place, we become innocent again, not knowing what will happen next and remembering how to let go and flow.
Since we must also embody the role of loving guide to our children, they teach us how to transition gracefully from following to leading and back again. In doing so, we learn to dance with our children in the present moment, shifting and adjusting as we direct the flow from pretending to be kittens wearing shoes on our heads to making sure everyone is fed and bathed.
*photos taken from Gracious Living kids yoga/meditation classes and chocolate making classes in Nicaragua.
raw chocolate and yoga
We are really enjoying our time here in Matagalpa, Nicaragua. We have met some of the most wonderful people and seen some beautiful places. We have been invited to live on a coffee farm and also inside the fun and crazy city.
In the end we have decided to move on. We still have 3 more days here to enjoy the people and the interesting town.
