These bars have no gluten, dairy, or processed sugar! Just make sure to get gluten free oats.
Gluten Free Bars
Juice Cleansing
Juice cleansing is an effective way to induce dynamic healing within the body. Over time the body fills with toxins and begins to work less efficiently. This is due to eating cooked and processed foods, bad food combining, high protein diets, eating late at night, stress, pollution and overeating. This leads to fermentation and harmful intercellular gases in the digestive tract. Juice cleansing is effective because the food is already broken down and essentially predigested. By cleansing the digestive system is able to rest and return to a homeostatic state because not as much energy is being consumed to break down foods.
A dirty digestive system is the root of degenerative and acute illness. By starting with the gut, we can start at the source. Juice cleansing allows a break from the exertion of digestion and thus increases vital force throughout the body. This vital force enables an immunological response by the body to cleanse and heal.
How It Works
Juice cleansing in particular can help boost immunity throughout the body because all of the foods that are in the juices are alkalizing. If done properly, all of the body’s needs are me through an ideal combination of protein, carbohydrates, fats, salts, vitamins, and minerals. The juice pulls endogenous acids (toxins) from body cells and restore them into the blood stream where they are expelled and processed through normal waste function.
Juicing is not for everyone. No two bodies are the same and it is important to honor your body and what it needs. Some individuals do better on a cleanse where they eat simple raw vegan whole foods. It is also important not to over cleanse or stay in the cleanse for too long. The body needs to be nourished in order to build and repair itself. By cleansing once a year and building strength through healing nutrition you can help your body thrive!
Written by Leanna Defere
Stress and how our bodies respond
By: Marcia Keilen
Our bodies have been hard-wired for survival and self-preservation through a reflex known as the fight-or-flight response. This reflex kicks in when we perceive a threat to our physical body and our body responds in one of two ways: to fight or to run. Basically, our body responds to this threat physiologically by pumping out stress hormones, specifically, adrenaline and cortisol, which in turn causes our blood pressure to rise, our heart rate and blood sugar to increase, the blood circulation to our digestion to decrease, suppresses our immune system, and increases the stickiness of our platelets. After the threat passes our bodies should return to their normal state of homeostasis. This is certainly important if we are indeed faced with bodily harm, but unfortunately, this stress response can become chronic in our everyday life when we are faced with the many stresses we encounter everyday. Dr. David Simon, M.D., one of the co-founders of the Chopra Center for Well Being, gave this definition of stress, “how we respond when our needs are not met.” How many times do we deal with unmet needs? For example, someone cuts you off on the roadway, your workload becomes overwhelming, you’re running late for an appointment and there is a traffic jam that makes you even later. There are many, many examples of these unmet needs that we face everyday. The important question is, how are we going to respond to these situations? That is what determines our emotional and physical health. Over time chronic stress can lead to a myriad of health problems such as cardiovascular disease, anxiety, insomnia, poor digestion, infections, strokes and heart attacks, to name a few.
One of the best antidotes to stress is meditation. When we meditate, our body’s chemistry actually changes as we move into a state of restful awareness. Meditation helps us to respond in a more mindful way to the world around us, we can’t control what goes on around us, BUT we can choose how we respond to what is happening around us and meditation helps us to be less reactive and more reflective, we are less impulsive and more intuitive, and we make more conscious choices. As meditation reverses the negative effects of chronic stress, we find more peace of mind and a healthier state of being as well as many other benefits. Learn about these benefits of meditation as well as how to meditate by taking a meditation class or booking a private session to learn how easy it is to meditate and how you can fit a meditation practice into your everyday schedule.
Living Foods Workshop: Fermented Foods
Fermented Foods:
Our guts serve as our second brain. A healthy gut means a healthy mood.Most physical and mental disease begins in our digestive system. Learning how to promote a gut with healthy intestinal flora you will help you to achieve and maintain wellness.
Learn to ferment your own foods. In this workshop we will cover fermented vegetables, cultured coconut water and rejuvelac. Materials included. This is the second workshop of a series of Living Foods Workshops.
The class will run January 8, 2014
Cost: $40.00
Schedule online or call 970.472.0995 to register. We will be taking 8 students.
Flax Cracker Recipe
Gluten and Grain Free Flax Crackers…
2 1/2 Cups golden flax seeds (soaked in filtered water for 8 hours)
1 cup carrot juice
1 cup carrot pulp
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, and 2 teaspoons of your favorite herbs
1 teaspoon sea salt
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well. Prepare 3 large dehydrator trays with Teflex sheets. Divide mixture into 3 pieces, and spread each 1/4 inch think on trays. Dehydrate at 115 degrees, and flip crackers when the tops are feeling dry. Dehydrate for a few more hours.
Learn more about the Living Foods Lifestyle.
Meditation Workshop at Living Arts Wellness
Learn to Meditate with Marcia Keilen at Living Arts Wellness
October 22nd, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
The Fall Autumnal Equinox was September 22, taking us from the busy summer into a slower paced time of year. This is a time for introspection, for taking a look at what we have accomplished and planting the seeds for future endeavors, to move from outer journeys to inner journeys, to connect to our inner wisdom and to the deepest aspect of our being. In other words, an optimal time to learn to meditate. In this two hour class, you will learn about different types of meditation, how to fit meditation into your daily routine, the benefits of meditation, and experience guided meditations. The cost is $50 for a two hour class with a FREE followup class to answer all your questions and talk about what you are experiencing both during your meditations and in your daily lives. Plus ongoing support as you begin this amazing inward journey.
Marcia Keilen is a certified meditation teacher through the Chopra Center for Well Being in Carlsbad, CA.
Sesame Milk High in Calcium
Want to fortify your bones?
Sesame seeds are full of calcium, magnesium, copper, Vitamin B1, zinc and fiber! Just one quarter cup of sesame milk provides more calcium than a whole cup of cow’s milk.
Sesame Milk Recipe
4 – 5 cups water
1 cup sesame seeds
2 medjool dates
a touch of vanilla
a pinch of salt
Put all ingredients in blender. Blend on high for a minute, then strain mixture through a fine sieve or nut milk bag… enjoy! Add frozen strawberries and blend again for a great strawberry shake.
The right combination of gut microbes could be crucial for a healthy mind
Recent research shows that early development of microbiome development plays a significant role in your adult mental health. The brain – gut connection has been known by researchers for decades. It has become obvious that probiotics are important in treating stress and anxiety! Learn how to make probiotic, cultured and fermented foods at our upcoming Living Foods workshop.
For more information, take a look at this article by Carrie Arnold.
Sesame Milk Loaded With Calcium
4 foods with more calcium than milk from a cow…
almonds, rhubarb, spinach, and sesame seeds (try sesame milk)
Sesame Milk Recipe
4 to 5 cups of filtered water
1 cup sesame seeds
3 or 4 soaked dates
vanilla to taste
a pinch of sea salt
Place all in blender, blend on high for a minute or so, and pour through a fine sieve or nut milk bag.
Add frozen strawberries and blend again for a great strawberry milkshake!
Hemp Milk Recipe
Are you going non-dairy? Hemp milk and cream are easy to make and are soooo good for you…
Recipe: Homemade Hemp Milk… great alternative to dairy!
This tastes way better and is much fresher than the store-bought version… and doesn’t contain any preservatives or funky additives.
1/2 – 3/4 cup hemp seeds (hulled, can be found at Whole Foods or any natural food store)
2 cups filtered water
optional: ground vanilla bean or cinnamon
Throw all in the blender and blend for a minute or two. Keeps for 5 days or so in the refrigerator. Shake when ready to use. Add frozen strawberries and a little coconut sugar, raw honey, or stevia… makes a great strawberry milkshake!
Hemp seeds are actually a fruit. They have a mild, nutty taste. The seeds are a vegan source of biologically available and easily digested protein and contain all 10 essential amino acids. Three tablespoons of hemp seeds contains 11 grams of protein! Hemp seeks contain a good ratio of omega fatty acids, which are anti-inflammatory… and the list of benefits goes on!