As a yoga teacher and lover of all things yogi, I attempt to bring this mentality to everything. I'm also a certified raw food chef and create amazing cleanse experiences for my clients and host raw uncooking classes, continuing this mindful practice in all areas of my life.

Mindfulness

• *Eat your main meal before 2p and don't eat anything after 7p. this will allow your body to digest the food more fully. Try to eat at the same time every day.

• *Chew your food slowly and with reverence.

• *Eat organic, fresh foods as often as possible.

• *Prepare your own food, using your hands as much as possible instead of spoons, mixers, or processors. Think of cooking as a meditation practice. then eat with your hands as well, making the connection between your hands and you belly. (Ethiopian Cuisine is a great idea for group get together's!)

• *Don't cook or eat when you feel agitated or distracted. You infuse the foods you prepare with your energy and emotions. Cooking with loving attention brings joy to those who eat your food.

• *Always say a prayer of gratitude before you eat. (or just acknowledge the foods beauty and how luck you are to eat it!)

• *Stop eating before you're full. Yogis fill their bellies only two-thirds full: one-third with food and one-third with liquid. The remaining third should stay empty to help the stomach digest properly.

• *Take a walk after eating; don't go to bed right after a meal.

A sadhana is a type of mindfulness practice, a way of fully participating in something. Yogis believe everything has its own sadhana, including eating and cooking (or 'uncooking'!). Here are some suggestions to get the most out of the food you eat and to promote optimal digestion.

"there are some people who eat an orage but don't really eat it. They eat their sorrow, fear, anger, past, and future. They are not really present, with body and mind united." -Thich Nhat Hanh

Now that I'm a mommy and wifey, I don't just have to think of my own nutrition and health. I have to consider my children and husbands well-being as well.

My son, Kai, is a little over 2 years old. His first solid food was butternut squash pureed, followed by a puree of green vegetables. He didn't have any sugar until a few months ago when he went to a birthday party, and to be honest, he didn't even care for it much. I was terrified once he had the processed kind of sugar he'd never want to go back to his clean ways of eating. Au Contraire.

His palate is so sophisticated now. He can eat anything no matter where we go. He loves spicy foods- he's happy and at home in any Indian restaurant and equally safe at sushi or any other ethnic cuisine. We've traveled to Paris, Costa Rica, Tel Aviv & South America and he's happy no matter where we go and what we feed him. This takes a little more effort on my part, to pave the way to healthy foods being part of his normal routine.

Phases and Bumps along the way

Sometimes he's not in the mood for a certain type of food. He'll push things he's loved for months away or throw it on the floor for our dog to eat. My trick is to lay out ONLY fruits and vegetables to start with-- a huge variety-- some cooked, some raw. Some warm, some cold. All different colors and flavors to entice his little appetite. He LOVES organic frozen veggies, which makes it super easy for me. He especially likes peas & lima beans, eating them one by one. I don't usually add any butter or salt to the veggies because he eats them without. So what's the point? He takes "butter" (Smart Balance) on his gluten-free waffles in the morning as a treat and loves it, but doesn't expect it yet. He's never touched syrup and there's really no reason to introduce it.

The best time to give him the foods he's not in the mood for is when he's super hungry after playing outside. Sometimes I just need to give him a "gateway" food to get him started. When he was super little just a few little Organic Puffs would do the trick. Now I'll give him half a piece of an organic cookie or the green flavored Pirate's Booty (our version of junk food) and after a few of these snack items he moves right into veggie land. Works pretty much every time.

Other days he just doesn't feel like sitting in his high chair and eating. On those days I let him run around and snack as he pleases. He'll graze on the veggies and fruit I put on a plate on the coffee table and run around and grab what he wants when he chooses to.  Many parents are really militant about kids sitting in their chairs and eating, and I understand their feelings. I get that sentiment, that it's more "proper" to eat meals sitting in their high chair. With my lifestyle (always on the go) and my manner (I'm not a very "proper" person myself) I allow him to guide the way, as the most important thing to me is Kai getting the nutrients he needs to GROW "properly", while being a formal "correct" child falls a bit lower on the priority list. Every child is different. Some kids really need that type of structure to stay well behaved. Kai is (luckily) really flexible and adaptable with my crazy on the go lifestyle.

Green Dream and Philosophie superfood blends save the day

When all else fails, I can make a Green Dream smoothie and at least feel good about Kai getting all the nutrients and greens he needs for the day. In one smoothie I can be sure he's getting good fats, vegan sources of protein, no weird fillers and nothing processed. This makes things a lot easier and makes me feel secure in what he eats for the rest of the day. Lately one of the only ways I can consistently get green veggies into his body is through smoothies. And that's fine with me! Sometimes in the morning I'll add Cacao Magic powder to his oatmeal or even a dash of Green Dream. Other times I'll sneak it into an "ice cream" where I blend frozen bananas, spinach and green dream or cacao blend. These tricks ensure the love of my life is getting everything he needs nutritionally. Not to mention the hubby benefits from these tricks as well! If you're interested in buying Green Dream, Cacao Magic or Berry Bliss blends, email me: sophie@thephilosophie.com and mention this post for a mommy discount!

I'm not sure where the "green" phobia in kids begin, but I can't help but think it's from parents trying to drive the foods down their kids throats. Kai loves Green foods and actually gravitates towards these foods vs running away from them. I think this practice starts early, but that you can retrain your kids brains by sneaking greens into a smoothie or into an ice cream... so they don't feel they are missing anything. I mean let's revisit Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Suess! In the end, he lovessss the Green Eggs... it just took TRYING them!

In Gratitude and Elmo obsessions,

Sophie

PS. SPEAKING of Green Eggs... an easy way to make your own Green Eggs is to blend the eggs and fresh spinach in the blender until smooth. Then cook as you normally would! Kai loves them, your kids will too!

As a yoga teacher and lover of all things yogi, I attempt to bring this mentality to everything. I'm also a certified raw food chef and create amazing cleanse experiences for my clients and host raw uncooking classes, continuing this mindful practice in all areas of my life.

Mindfulness

• *Eat your main meal before 2p and don't eat anything after 7p. this will allow your body to digest the food more fully. Try to eat at the same time every day.

• *Chew your food slowly and with reverence.

• *Eat organic, fresh foods as often as possible.

• *Prepare your own food, using your hands as much as possible instead of spoons, mixers, or processors. Think of cooking as a meditation practice. then eat with your hands as well, making the connection between your hands and you belly. (Ethiopian Cuisine is a great idea for group get together's!)

• *Don't cook or eat when you feel agitated or distracted. You infuse the foods you prepare with your energy and emotions. Cooking with loving attention brings joy to those who eat your food.

• *Always say a prayer of gratitude before you eat. (or just acknowledge the foods beauty and how luck you are to eat it!)

• *Stop eating before you're full. Yogis fill their bellies only two-thirds full: one-third with food and one-third with liquid. The remaining third should stay empty to help the stomach digest properly.

• *Take a walk after eating; don't go to bed right after a meal.

A sadhana is a type of mindfulness practice, a way of fully participating in something. Yogis believe everything has its own sadhana, including eating and cooking (or 'uncooking'!). Here are some suggestions to get the most out of the food you eat and to promote optimal digestion.

"there are some people who eat an orage but don't really eat it. They eat their sorrow, fear, anger, past, and future. They are not really present, with body and mind united." -Thich Nhat Hanh

This is an awesome video about this athletes story- huge healthy shift: eating a plant based diet.

Plant based diet is when a person gets the majority of their nutrients from plants (fruit, vegetables, seeds, nuts, crops)

Look at how great he looks, feels and how energetic he is! This is how I feel every day (when I eat mindfully). When I eat too many meat/dairy products, I feel weighed down and lethargic. It's so important to notice how you feel and react to different foods! Every person is unique and there's a perfect balance for each of us. It's your job to start to tune in and really listen to what your body needs and DOESN'T need!

Here's the video:

video

let me know your thoughts! :)

My Bible: Don Miguel Ruiz's Four Agreements

I've had this book, The Four Agreements, for over 10 years now. I've given it to every person I love to read- either the physical copy or suggesting them to go buy it for themselves. If everyone had a copy in their bedside table (like I do, my bible!) I think the world would be a prettier, nicer, more mindful, kind place to exist. I have a small mini copy I keep in my car for quick reminders when I get discouraged. It's a beautiful, simple read and I highly suggest it for anyone and everyone.

Here they are! The Four Agreements:

1. Be Impeccable With Your Word: Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

2. Don't Take Anything Personally: Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

3. Don't Make Assumptions: Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness, and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

4. Always Do Your Best: Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret."

-- Don Miguel Ruiz in The Four Agreements

Read More....

Here's a list of things I want to always remember to do, continue to do... as often as possible! Create your own list, too!

*Love. Love. Love. Love.

*Love and appreciate my body, even when it's changing or different than what I wish it were.

*Get outdoors, in nature, even for just 10 minutes.

*Continue to inspire myself while inspiring others.

*Pamper myself in some way: a bath, a massage from my hubby, paint my nails, mini facial

*Get exercise, get the blood flowing, sweat.

*Make love, with my partner or with myself!

*Have quiet time where I shut down from the world, for even 10 minutes. Meditation, or just a time when I put my phone on silent and take deep breaths and appreciate.

*Read something that brings me pleasure.

*Eat something that brings me pleasure.

*WRITE IN MY JOURNAL! OR DRAW! express myself.

*Be forgiving: with myself and others.

*Snuggle with my dog. Let him lick my face. Life's too short to care.

*Speak up for myself.

*Ride my bike.

*Be playful. Laugh. Giggle. 

*YOGA. live it. LOVE IT. do it. on and off the mat!

*Eat beautiful, organic, natural foods. As many colors as possible!

*Take too many pictures.

*Keep learning and growing. Evolving is what life is about!

*remember it's OKAY to be WRONG.

*Share with EVERYBODY.

*Express gratitude, send thank you cards. Remember Birthdays.

This is an awesome video about this athletes story- huge healthy shift: eating a plant based diet.

Plant based diet is when a person gets the majority of their nutrients from plants (fruit, vegetables, seeds, nuts, crops)

Look at how great he looks, feels and how energetic he is! This is how I feel every day (when I eat mindfully). When I eat too many meat/dairy products, I feel weighed down and lethargic. It's so important to notice how you feel and react to different foods! Every person is unique and there's a perfect balance for each of us. It's your job to start to tune in and really listen to what your body needs and DOESN'T need!

Here's the video:

video

let me know your thoughts! :)

Generally this is the way my conversations pan out:

Person:"So what do you eat? are you a vegan?"

ME: "well, I am mostly vegan but I eat fish."

Person: "Wait, whaaattt??"

ME: "I avoid dairy and don't eat any food that walks around on land. I eat anything that comes from the sea, including fish."

Person: "But, aren't you raw?"

ME: "I mostly eat raw. I gravitate mostly towards raw, fresh, organic foods. But if I'm at restaurant with family or friends or on vacation, I'll eat cooked foods like a piece of baked fish or steamed veggies."

Person: "I've figured it out. You're a vegetarian, then."

ME: "No. I don't eat dairy, and vegetarians do. Plus I eat fish, and vegetarians tend not to eat fish."

Person: "OHHHH I Get it. You're a flexitarian!"

ME: "Sure. I'm whatever makes it easiest for you."

Are you 100% raw?

No, I am not completely raw. I consume a high percentage of raw food, probably somewhere between 75-85%. I will eat steamed veggies, quinoa, brown rice or a piece of sprouted toast with almond butter. If I go out to eat with friends I will have a piece of broiled or steamed fish with veggies and I have quite the sweet tooth. I’ve been known to polish off a fair amount of dessert, but I’ve learned to limit this over time because it just doesn’t make me feel good. Within an hour of eating the sugary dessert I remember why I don’t eat that way every day. I usually share a dessert and then I feel fine, I’m all for moderation of things we enjoy, not restricting.

Are you a vegan?

I probably eat fish once a week, so I’m not a vegan. I’m careful to research the latest eco-friendly and safe options for fish so that I don’t support any sort of negative treatment. It isn't necessarily an ethical decision, overall I don't like the taste of meat or the health negatives associated, like high cholesterol and high saturated fats. 

When I moved to Los Angeles 7 years ago, I became much more aware of my likes and dislikes, and much more educated about the environmental impact created by eating meat. There is ample evidence in peer-reviewed scientific journals that mammals experience "not just pain, but also mental suffering including fear, anticipation, foreboding, anxiety, stress, terror and trauma," says Prof Andrew Linzey, director of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics and author of Why Animal Suffering Matters. I would go to the farmers Market in Hollywood every Sunday and talk to people in the community and learn. I decided that within myself, I prefer not to potentially bring that emotional poison into my own being, but I absolutely don't judge others that do. I've known since I was a child that I have an extreme sensitivity towards others and energies, and I may just be hyper sensitive to these feelings about animals as well.

I wear leather boots and have a beautiful leather bag, both from a trip to Argentina. My husband's cousins own a leather company there. I consume raw honey and bee pollen. I make sure all the honey and bee pollen is from a good source where the bees are treated carefully, from local bee farmers. They never transport the bees to pollinate commercial corps, and they embrace traditional, local in-season-only, low stress beekeeping methods that help keep the bees healthy.

Vegan/Vegetarian/Pescatarian/Raw-Pick one!!!!

People enjoy categorizing.  In fact, many a psychological study indicate our brain naturally desires to put things into categories, to organize things and find relationships between new objects and those already stored in our brain.

Unfortunately, I don't have an easy answer for you. This hasn't been a quick and easy process for me. It takes intuition and learning about your own body and how it reacts to different things. My journey has 100% been about how things make me feel. Dairy makes my stomach hurt, no more of that. Meat doesn't taste good, and has repercussions if we eat too much; no bueno.  Raw food makes me feel AH-MAZING... so I tend to eat as much of it as I can. Too much processed or cooked food makes me want to take a nap and not feel alive: NAH, I'll drop that from my eating regime. We must learn to listen to our internal mechanisms. Just as women "know" when they are pregnant before seeing a physician, no doctor, health coach or expert can lead you 100%. You are your own expert!

The only advice I will give is to listen to your own body, figure out what works for you and to attempt to reduce the amount of red meat you consume (for health and environmental reasons). The red meat you eat today, will absolutely affect your children's generation, either directly or indirectly. My dad's health (his cholesterol) affected me by making me scared and more aware of the health implications.  This statistic makes me happy:

"More than a quarter of people say they eat less meat than they did five years ago. There is a shifting change in the diet," says Ms Gellatley.

For more info on the benefits to eating organic, local food and more details on eating red meat, read the follow two posts:

Natural organic food explained

Eating meat, global warming and the environment

Generally this is the way my conversations pan out:

Person:"So what do you eat? are you a vegan?"

ME: "well, I am mostly vegan but I eat fish."

Person: "Wait, whaaattt??"

ME: "I avoid dairy and don't eat any food that walks around on land. I eat anything that comes from the sea, including fish."

Person: "But, aren't you raw?"

ME: "I mostly eat raw. I gravitate mostly towards raw, fresh, organic foods. But if I'm at restaurant with family or friends or on vacation, I'll eat cooked foods like a piece of baked fish or steamed veggies."

Person: "I've figured it out. You're a vegetarian, then."

ME: "No. I don't eat dairy, and vegetarians do. Plus I eat fish, and vegetarians tend not to eat fish."

Person: "OHHHH I Get it. You're a flexitarian!"

ME: "Sure. I'm whatever makes it easiest for you."

Are you 100% raw?

No, I am not completely raw. I consume a high percentage of raw food, probably somewhere between 75-85%. I will eat steamed veggies, quinoa, brown rice or a piece of sprouted toast with almond butter. If I go out to eat with friends I will have a piece of broiled or steamed fish with veggies and I have quite the sweet tooth. I’ve been known to polish off a fair amount of dessert, but I’ve learned to limit this over time because it just doesn’t make me feel good. Within an hour of eating the sugary dessert I remember why I don’t eat that way every day. I usually share a dessert and then I feel fine, I’m all for moderation of things we enjoy, not restricting.

Are you a vegan?

I probably eat fish once a week, so I’m not a vegan. I’m careful to research the latest eco-friendly and safe options for fish so that I don’t support any sort of negative treatment. It isn't necessarily an ethical decision, overall I don't like the taste of meat or the health negatives associated, like high cholesterol and high saturated fats. 

When I moved to Los Angeles 7 years ago, I became much more aware of my likes and dislikes, and much more educated about the environmental impact created by eating meat. There is ample evidence in peer-reviewed scientific journals that mammals experience "not just pain, but also mental suffering including fear, anticipation, foreboding, anxiety, stress, terror and trauma," says Prof Andrew Linzey, director of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics and author of Why Animal Suffering Matters. I would go to the farmers Market in Hollywood every Sunday and talk to people in the community and learn. I decided that within myself, I prefer not to potentially bring that emotional poison into my own being, but I absolutely don't judge others that do. I've known since I was a child that I have an extreme sensitivity towards others and energies, and I may just be hyper sensitive to these feelings about animals as well.

I wear leather boots and have a beautiful leather bag, both from a trip to Argentina. My husband's cousins own a leather company there. I consume raw honey and bee pollen. I make sure all the honey and bee pollen is from a good source where the bees are treated carefully, from local bee farmers. They never transport the bees to pollinate commercial corps, and they embrace traditional, local in-season-only, low stress beekeeping methods that help keep the bees healthy.

Vegan/Vegetarian/Pescatarian/Raw-Pick one!!!!

People enjoy categorizing.  In fact, many a psychological study indicate our brain naturally desires to put things into categories, to organize things and find relationships between new objects and those already stored in our brain.

Unfortunately, I don't have an easy answer for you. This hasn't been a quick and easy process for me. It takes intuition and learning about your own body and how it reacts to different things. My journey has 100% been about how things make me feel. Dairy makes my stomach hurt, no more of that. Meat doesn't taste good, and has repercussions if we eat too much; no bueno.  Raw food makes me feel AH-MAZING... so I tend to eat as much of it as I can. Too much processed or cooked food makes me want to take a nap and not feel alive: NAH, I'll drop that from my eating regime. We must learn to listen to our internal mechanisms. Just as women "know" when they are pregnant before seeing a physician, no doctor, health coach or expert can lead you 100%. You are your own expert!

The only advice I will give is to listen to your own body, figure out what works for you and to attempt to reduce the amount of red meat you consume (for health and environmental reasons). The red meat you eat today, will absolutely affect your children's generation, either directly or indirectly. My dad's health (his cholesterol) affected me by making me scared and more aware of the health implications.  This statistic makes me happy:

"More than a quarter of people say they eat less meat than they did five years ago. There is a shifting change in the diet," says Ms Gellatley.

For more info on the benefits to eating organic, local food and more details on eating red meat, read the follow two posts:

Natural organic food explained

Eating meat, global warming and the environment