Progress

I am at a point where I am holding on for dear life. In may ways. From music to everyday living.

Change is present now and as I watch  it transform into progress I think about the

eb and flow of progress . Enjoy this poem and as always Shine ON

Progress

To take to spool to change to mold

into a new form and smash again

rebirth

renew

transform

to new

to expand, sponge up

seep out and retain

as confusing as it sounds

progress is to gain

and then give

is the push and pull between

gaining and giving until

a beacon of hope slashes through

the clouds. Offering the slightest seed

a chance to push up through the darkness

and grow towards the light.

Progress.

Artists Eyes: Inspiration was Touring Europe

Below you will find a poem I wrote about seeing the world as an artist and how our recent tour called the “Shine ON Tour”

through Europe inspired me to be a better person and artist all around. Enjoy.

 

To see the world though artists eyes

is something more than a surprise

doors shut and open just like that

to trains, cars, and houses to boot

these things we see are complex in

beauty and so fragil too,  I wish I

was standing back in Paris where the

Seine flows fast and the wine is this full in

my glass or the painters glide there brush

so smooth, to be in Rome again and feel

the pulse to sing to crowds so hip you

would have sworn they walked out of

Urban Outfitters, tasting tradition lingers

in my mouth, hands press the dough and

fires roar to make passion come to life

Smiles, waves, eyes, days there is a romantic

candle lit in that small room to shine and shine

for me and you. Songs float about and bring up

the mood comparable to the feeling you get when you

jump off the peer into a salty wave down and up

like fish dip until they reach the surface Scratching

on this idea so big and vast now I understand why

I need a compass. Yet to see the world through

artists eyes is something so wonderful. Humble

seeking, adventure, speaking, round and round

we float to find what is beyond the next tree or sign.

Beyond that bridge over, that hill, the flowers I see

red poppies, green grass, and buildings dripping with

beauty to fill you up and overflow upon the ground. To

be an artist is to spill out onto the ground like the beauty

around. We are to be light, beauty, bright, just like what

fills us up we are to spill over into the abyss and give and

give to offer something many people might miss.

 

 

5 STEPS TO TRANSFORMING FEAR INTO ATTAINING YOUR DESIRES

Fear: An unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.

First lets focus on identifying what you want? What do you love? What do you enjoy doing with your life? Maybe you do not know yet what your passion is and that is OK your on the right path to finding it if you are reading this right now. 

Fears hold us back since they are there to protect us from the unknown or from pain. Yet  when you begin to carve out a unknown path in following your heart doubt and limiting beliefs crop up to protect you and to keep you safe from the unknown. What I am saying is that it is normal to feel fear when pursuing your dream and hearts desires. I have been pursuing my dream for three years now and I still have fear but I have grown so much and facing my fears has been the best thing I ever did for myself because now I am more myself. 

These five steps will help you overcome fear and reach your hearts innermost desire. 

STEP ONE: RECOGNIZE YOUR AFRAID 

Realize your stuck. You have anxiety. Write your fears down and then write down what would happen if they came true. Face them, read them out loud, scream them into your pillow if that will help you. Do something. You will feel better as you face them and move into the action phases of following your hearts desires which will lead you to joy and a life of happiness. 

STEP TWO: SEEK TO UNDERSTAND THIS FEAR.

Now that you have identified your fears. It is time to understand what your fear is rooted in. Was there a time when you were 15 and your Dad told you that you would never amount to anything or a sister said that your passion was stupid? Is it a limiting belief that the fear is rooted in. Why do you feel this way? Try to understand the root of this fear. Contemplate, write, identify what it is that your afraid of.  

STEP THREE: CONNECT WITH YOUR TRUE HEARTS DESIRE

When you find yourself alone in the silent that is when you can tap into your hearts yearnings. How does it feel to dream what is your dream? Listen to your body be the consciousness behind the thoughts. Breath, be still, take a half hour to de stress and tap into your hearts desires. What do you long for? To dance, to sing, to be a baker, a designer, a nurse, a teacher… what ever it is dream and listen to your heart. 

STEP FOUR: SHIFT YOUR LEADERSHIP TO YOUR HEARTS TRUE DESIRE 

Hold your consiousness towards giving and your hearts desire. Shift leadership in your daily life by changing your breathing, poster, and presence. Feel lighter, be grateful  focus on the postitives in your life everyday, work out, feel confident  smile more. Instead of asking how others can serve you ask how you can be of service to others. That one small shift in perspective will change everything. 

STEP FIVE: VIEW YOUR LIFE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF YOUR HEARTS DESIRE. 

As you put your hearts desire in a leadership position you can transform your fears by 

carving out time for your desires. Put your desires first with a humble servant heart and the life force within you will begin to bring about abundance and it will nurture your desires. 

By facing your fears you will be stretching yourself and self identity into unknown and sometimes painful ways this is normal and you will feel more liberated with each step you take towards reaching your hearts desire. This will set you free to be, breath, and love the way you desire and only you know what that is. 

Shine ON,

Jillian 

SPREAD THE LOVE GET REAL, GET LIVING

“Spread love wherever you go, let no one ever come to you without leaving happier”- Mother Teresa

Well howdy folks, do I have a treat for you. It is a new bright and brilliant new year 2012 has come and gone and now we are all gratefully welcoming with open arms and minds 2013! With the changing of the year many are talking about health and shedding some extra junk in the trunk if you know what I mean. Who better to learn from then the beautiful health and wellness guru Melissa Schollaert. I met Meilissa in a Whole Foods out on tour and we hit it off when she was giving a nutritious food demonstration and offered me a muffin it was love at first bite. We hit it off and talked and shared ideas and well then sooner than you know it we were trading emails and a friendship was born.

Later I found out how she got spun up into this holistic lifestyle a lifestyle so dear to my heart. You see, when Melissa was twenty-nine she had the misfortune of having some health issues related to sinus infections, depression, thyroid issues, and more which left her feeling awful. After numerous doctors appointments and bills piling up she was fed up and turned to a holistic way of healing and thus living. Since then she has healed her body and is now transforming lives and sharing the good word with everyone she knows. Melissa has trained under the brightest doctors in the world. She studied at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition located in New York, NY. She uses her knowledge in her own company “Real Nutritious Living” to instill upon her clients/students holistic nutrition practices and preventative health to show them a path to optimal wellness. Today I had the privilege of picking her brain and finding out how you can receive life more fully by loving your self through what you are consuming on a daily basis, plus you will shed a few pounds while your at it too and that’s always a good thing if that is what your looking for.

INTERVIEW

1. Why did you get involved with Food and the concept of Nutritious Living?

I was always a “healthy” person who exercised and ate right, meaning whatever fad the magazines and internet were promoting at the time. Well a few years ago, I got pretty sick. By sick I mean I couldn’t get out of bed 3 weeks a month. I was exhausted, in and out of doctors and specialists. They were trying everything and could not come up with any explanation. I was honestly waiting to hear the worst, that I had some rare condition or cancer. This just wasn’t normal for someone my age. I ended up having a pretty serious surgery on my right ear. As a last resort, I hired a Holistic Health and Nutrition Counselor. At the time I still thought holistic wellness was a little (or a lot) weird. Well, low and behold the holistic approach is what started to get me well. I’m still on my wellness journey, but honestly feel better than I ever have in my entire life.  I knew I went through all of this to serve others on their wellness journeys and have dedicated my life to helping others with a holistic approach.

2. Has your hometown/living environment inspired your passion for eating real foods?

Sadly, my hometown is not a very healthy place. But it is inspirational because there is so much that can be done to help people get more healthy! Sometimes we need to go where we’re needed the most, not the place where we’re most easily received. I’m on a mission to make a difference in my community.

3. Why is eating real foods important and what can it offer Americans?

Real food is amazing. Real food is food in its most natural state, which is unrefined and unprocessed. Sadly, most Americans are eating food like substances which are chemical and preservative laden and negatively affecting their health (think Doritos, soda, candy’s, and fast food.)

Real food offers true health, community, economic and environmental sustainability. Real food gathers the family in the kitchen, which I consider the heart of the home, as well as around the table together. Real food truly is medicine, as food has been more powerful in my life than any drug (and believe me, they prescribed plenty when I was sick!!) Real food can truly change the world for the better. Just think about the way you feel when you eat a healthy home cooked meal versus something from the drive through. We feel better, are more productive, happy, and positive. Real food has the ability to create a ripple effect bringing unimaginable change.

4. What is the most inventive dish you have ever made?

I have turned some of the most gooey and creamy casseroles into healthy, gluten-free, dairy-free, soy free wonders! I am known for taking a typical recipe and making it healthy, infusing flavor, and nourishment, with just cutting board and a knife.

One of my favorite seasonal (and quick) recent recipe inventions is my Pumpkin Spiced Green Smoothie:

1. Choose your base:
Almond, rice, or coconut milk, full fat yogurt or kefir, even coconut water

2. Add 2 T full fat coconut milk (canned- found in international section of store)

3. 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp of ginger, 1/8 tsp nutmeg, 1/8 tsp all spice or 1-2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

4. 1-2 tsp vanilla extract or ¼ vanilla bean

5. 1/2-1 cup pumpkin puree

6. 1 BIG handful of greens of your choice

Directions:

Mix and blend all ingredients and enjoy!

Notes:

1-2 Dates make this perfect. Raw honey or stevia can also be used.
Sometimes I like to add some raw cacao or cocoa powder and cacao nibs for a chocolaty delight!
Have fun with this. Switch up the base and even try seasonal butternut or acorn squash, as well as sweet potato puree!!!

5. What are the top ten things everyone should cut out of their life right now (from food to -tv) in your opinion?

Real Nutritious Living is all about living in abundance so I’d like to approach this with the top ten things to add more of in your life to live more fully.

1. Greens- these work wonders for our bodies providing vitamins, minerals and pulling out impurities.

2. Sleep- get more. We need 8 hours for full physical (first four hours) and mental (last four hours) repair.

3. Water- carry an aluminum refillable water bottle at all time. This is your number one energy and weight loss tool!

4. Music- it’s healing. Crank it up, play it softly before bed, or have a solo in the shower!

5. Try naturally sweet foods, such as my sweet potato fries recipe. These will cut sugar cravings and stabilize blood sugar.

6. Vegetables- try new recipes, pick one that looks fun and go for it. There full of necessary vitamins and cancer fighting antioxidants that you must have.

7. Speak kindly to yourself- you’d never speak so negatively to another, so don’t do it to yourself.

8. Hang out with like-minded people who support and love you. Ditch the negative one’s!

9. Local, seasonal food- go visit a local farmer, keep your dollars in our local economy,  reap the health benefits, and enjoy the superior taste.

10. Cooking- try to commit to eating more at home, preferably with family and friends.  This will change your life.

6. If you could meet anyone in the world dead or alive who would it be, and what would say to them?

It would be so easy to say some fantastic celebrity like Adele, Etta James, or Hayley Williams. They all have amazing voices and I’d love to sing just one duet. But I’d like to go back and meet Mother Teresa. She was an amazing woman who brought so much good into this crazy world. I’d just like to be around her, watch her, work with her, be like a sponge, and absorb her goodness.

“If you can’t feed one hundred, feed just one” (Mother Teresa.) “We ourselves feel like what we’re doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop” (Mother Teresa.) This is exactly the ripple effect I’d like to be a part of, changing just one life at a time, starting with a smile and love.

“Spread love wherever you go, let no one ever come to you without leaving happier”- Mother Teresa

To find more information about the fabulous Melissa please feel free to visit

http://www.realnutritiousliving.com/

http://www.facebook.com/Realnutritiousliving

READ MELISSA’S ARTICLE IN MIND.BODY.GREEN

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-7207/why-you-shouldnt-diet-in-the-new-year.html

Email: Melissa Schollaert at  realnutritiousliving@yahoo.com

We hope you enjoyed this post if you did please LIKE  and SHARE this useful information with your loved ones.

STRESS MELT AWAY : A BERGAMOT KIND OF DAY

If you’re itching to feel your stress melt away but can’t swing a trip to the spa with your tight holiday budget, no worries! Here’s how to incorporate the soothing aroma of bergamot in your own home.

Create a calming bath
Add six to 10 drops of bergamot oil to the bathtub and soak away your stress. The bergamot is absorbed through the skin and also inhaled.

Clear your skin
Put 5 drops of bergamot oil in a bowl of steaming water. Place a towel over your head and the bowl to trap the steam. Inhale for a few minutes. The odors of bergamot will reduce outbreaks and help clear those already in progress, which will give you one less thing to worry about.

Enhance your lotions
Add a couple drops of bergamot oil to unscented vitamin E cream for a soothing dry skin lotion. Feel free to also use this mixture as a massage oil when you’re feeling frisky!

The Above excerpts came from WOMENS HEALTH MAGAZINE

To easily try in your own home  view our very own Bergamot Body Line

Starting with our very own Bergamot inspired  Aroma Splash Body Roll On (Pure Bergamot Essential Oil) - I use this obsessively it smells that good!

Sending you love & Shine ON,

J