"Having a great time. Wish I were here". I saw this quote on a postcard a long time ago and it always stuck with me. How often are you at a party, going about your daily life, or even on vacation (!), but you are not really there? Perhaps you are still in yesterday thinking about the fight you had with your best friend or maybe you are in tomorrow worrying about your big presentation. I know I should be mindful and live in the present, but it is actually more difficult than it sounds, isn't it? We have so many demands on our time, it is hard not to be thinking about the future and all that needs to be done. And we're human, so ruminating about what happened in the past seems to come naturally to us too. How can we get it to feel more natural to just be in this moment?

Try it now. As you are reading this blog, recognize that you are taking the time and reading a blog. Notice where you are sitting, how your body is feeling, what sounds you hear. Read the words on the page and just be in the moment of reading. You have decided to take time out to read this blog (thank you), so fully be with this blog for the next few minutes. Mindfulness is about being conscious of the present moment in all that you do, to fill your body's senses with what you are experiencing at the present moment. Test it out a few times a day. You can do it anytime. For example, when you are washing the dishes, just be washing the dishes. Feel the water on your hands, appreciate the view from your kitchen window, and enjoy the sounds of the children playing in the background. The beauty of mindfulness is that it can be done anywhere and anytime. It is at our disposal whenever we want to try it out. And, the more we do it, the more we encourage our health and wellness.

There are times when I am doing an activity like running a marathon or driving fast at a race school where I have no choice but to be in the present. If I'm not present, I won't finish the marathon and I will likely crash the car. Can you think of a time when this happens for you? Is it skiing or riding a roller coaster? I love moments like this because I realize that I am completely, unabashedly in the moment. Doing this while I'm going about my daily life is definitely more challenging because my mind gets in the way.

Living mindfully helps us live healthier in all four quadrants of our lives. It leads to a healthier Mind because you are not spending mental energy rehashing things in the past or worrying about things in the future (that may or may not happen). You have no control over these events, so why not enjoy the now? It reminds me of a part of the Serenity Prayer which says, "Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference". You cannot change the past or the future so we might as well live in the present which we do have control of.

Living in the present certainly helps nourish the Body because it means you will be mindful of what you eat which likely leads to healthier choices and portion control. When you eat mindfully, you are paying attention to the texture, smell, and taste of your food. You will also be paying more attention to how your body feels. Your body sends you signals all the time, but with all of the other noise that is not in the present competing for attention, we often don't hear the signals. If your body feels tired, try to get some rest. If a certain part of your body feels strained, spend time stretching.

Living in the present can help in your Relationships too because you will be fully present with your friends and family. You will be truly listening to what they are saying because your mind is not elsewhere. This will help to form deeper connections. And living mindfully helps in the Environment realm as well because when you are in nature, you will fully appreciate its beauty by paying attention to your engaged senses. You might also pay more attention to the products you use in your home and on your body, thus becoming more aware of the potential toxins in your environment. Mindfulness encourages health in all four quadrants. It puts you on the path to an integral life of health and wellness.

Eckhart Tolle in The Power of Now says that the present moment is where we find our joy and are able to embrace our true selves. He says it is here that we discover we are already complete and perfect. The beauty is that this is fully in our reach. We just have to simply be. Here. Now.

Next time I'm having a great time, I plan to be there. How about you?


At the finish line of my first marathon, Oct 2005. I love this photo because
it truly captures one occasion where I was having a great time and I was there.

Recently, a friend asked me why I thought my cereal was preferable to her cereal. She compared the stats of fat, fiber, protein, and carbs of each and found them to be comparable. Unfortunately, reading the nutritional information is not enough when it comes to making healthy food choices. It is also important to read the ingredients. My friend's cereal is what Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food and Food Rules, would call an "edible foodlike substance." These foods are highly processed and are designed by food scientists. They consist mostly of ingredients derived from corn and soy along with some chemical additives. There are 17,000 new products that show up in our supermarkets each year that are faux foods.

The general rule of thumb when looking at ingredients is that less is more. A healthier choice for breakfast instead of cereal would be steel-cut oatmeal or eggs. The ingredient list for eggs is “egg” and the ingredient list for oatmeal is “oats.” When the ingredient list is long and complicated, it’s best to leave the product on the shelf or consider it a treat. Ingredients that you cannot pronounce are likely manufactured. If the package has ingredients like diglycerides, cellulose, xanthan gum, or ammonium sulfate, leave it behind. Most of these food science ingredients are put in the product to extend shelf life and to encourage you to eat more (via our propensity for sweet, fat, and salt).

Opt for real foods for healthy eating. Great real food choices include all fruits and vegetables (reach for colorful produce such as broccoli, broccoli sprouts, berries, kale, spinach, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes), nuts, beans, eggs, whole grains (such as quinoa and brown rice) and lean meats or meats with omega-3 fatty acids (like chicken, turkey, salmon, and sardines). See Eat This Way for the basics of healthy eating.

For me, reading the ingredient list is even more important than looking at the nutritional statistics. Supermarket shelves are lined with low-fat and no-fat foods. No-fat foods can look great on the stats, but when you look at the ingredients, you realize that all of the nutrients and wholeness of the food has been stripped out to make the nutrition facts look good. In my opinion, this is not healthy eating.

There is a perception that fat can cause fat, but we have actually gotten fatter as a nation living on no-fat and low-fat foods. These no-fat foods typically contain more sugar and are not as satisfying as their full fat counterparts (which means we eat more of it). Eating fat does not cause fat. In fact, recent studies confirm that healthy fat consumption actually promotes sustainable weight loss and keeps the cells in our body healthy. Not enough fat can lead to low energy and hypoglycemic issues. You just need to be eating the right fat. Healthy fats include avocados, nuts, seeds, almond butter, olive oil, coconut oil, and eggs.

Just to give a concrete example, let’s compare Better‘n Peanut Butter to Trader Joe’s Almond Butter. I have a friend who at first resisted buying real nut butter because of the high fat content. Better 'n Peanut Butter has 2 grams of fat per serving size, whereas almond butter has approximately 17 grams of fat for the same serving size. However, if you look beyond the nutrition statistics to the ingredient list, below is what you find:

Ingredients for Better'n Peanut Butter: peanuts (as defatted peanut flour and natural peanut butter), tapioca syrup, pure water, dehydrated cane juice, rice syrup, vegetable glycerin, soy flour, salt, tapioca starch, natural food flavors, paprika & annato, calcium carbonate, lecithin, vitamin E & C (antioxidants)

Ingredients for Trader Joe's Almond Butter: dry roasted almonds

When looking at the two foods this way, the choice is clear. Trader Joe’s Almond Butter is a better choice because it is made of real food and the ingredient list is short. Better'n Peanut Butter is an edible foodlike substance. Not only is Better’n Peanut Butter not a real food, but also it’s a dessert. Several of the first few ingredients of Better ‘n Peanut Butter are sugar substitutes (tapioca syrup, dehydrated cane juice, rice syrup). A good rule of thumb is that if sugar is in the first three ingredients of a product, it should be considered a dessert. So if you opt for Better'n Peanut Butter, just think of it as eating a dessert, and an edible foodlike one, at that.

Next time you are at the grocery store, reach for the real food. It's healthier and will fill you up so that you don't continue to reach for other sugary foods later. Just remember that when it comes to making healthy food choices, less is more. Keep it simple and stick to whole foods. With this strategy, you can’t go wrong. As Pollan says, "If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don't." It doesn't get much clearer than that.

What edible foodlike substances posing as real food are lurking in your cupboards?

Edible foodlike substances found in a standard grocery store, 2010

Okay, so I'm writing this blog from Hawaii where it is pretty easy to find peace by nature. But still, peace by nature can be found anywhere. You just have to realize the power of it and make the time to do it (even just a few minutes can bring you instant serenity). There is so much talk about the environment these days. We hear about our carbon footprints and living green. We talk about reducing, reusing, and recycling. We learn about global warming and environmental toxins. We are told that how we are living is poisoning the environment which in turn is making us sick. When I am in nature, all of this fades into the background and I can simply be. I feel one with the environment and am in awe of it.

When I think of times where I have felt connected to something larger than myself, nature is somehow always involved. What are the times in your life when you saw the bigger picture and felt wonder with the world? One time that comes to mind for me is watching sea turtles in Costa Rica travel a hundred yards up the shore to lay their softball size eggs. Or sitting on the mountaintop in the Canadian Rockies having climbed to the top, looking out at the open expanse. Or, as I did today, seeing the sun set, hearing the waves crash on the shore, watching the resident seal bask in the sun, and enjoying the dogs as they frolic in exuberant glee in the ocean. While I am here, I can sit for hours enjoying this play of nature.

Nature can give us solace and serenity. I know I am not alone in this feeling. During my week in Hawaii, I have watched people with their nature rituals. One man comes at sunset to the beach every night and enjoys the view with a bottle of wine. Another man travels by bike at this time to watch the sun go down. Another runs along the shore with his trusty black lab by his side, turning around at the same spot daily after a quick dip in the ocean.

Granted—on vacation, it is much easier to have the time to find peace by nature. In our normal daily lives, we have so many demands on our time. And let's be honest, is our neighborhood as peace-conducing as say, the beach in Hawaii? I am a Southern California girl at heart, so finding peace in nature comes much easier in hot sun-filled environments than it does in colder climates. However, there is certainly beauty in the snowfall of winter, the colorful leaves of fall, and the awakening of spring.

For your health, turn to nature. It's free and it can be found in your own backyard. If it's too cold outside, it can also be found inside next to a window with a hot cup of tea in your hand admiring the beauty from inside. For example, from my office window, I (along with my cat, Hollywood) enjoy watching the birds feast on the bird feeder hanging from a nearby tree branch. The more we appreciate nature in all its splendid glory, the more living green will just become a natural part of our lives. Nature gives us a lot. It gives us beautiful places to hike, clean air to breathe, solace in its beauty, and more. Once we learn to see that nature can give us health, we will do what we can to protect it.

Step outside today and take it all in. What do you hear and see? Where is there beauty? Take a few deep breaths and feel the peace that is nature.


Although I was tempted to post a beautiful sunset photo on the beach of Hawaii, this photo was taken on a road near my house. Beauty in nature can be found anywhere.

A good diet, a healthy exercise program, and stress management tools are absolutely, positively, without-a-doubt critical to your health. I believe this to be true to the core of my being. Many people still believe that these are "nice to have", but not essential. My cousin is one of these people. For years, she has had high blood pressure. She is on blood pressure medication. I have encouraged her many times to make changes to her diet, exercise more, and manage her stress better to help to reduce her blood pressure naturally—with the hope of eliminating or reducing the medication over time. Because the blood pressure medication is helping to reduce her blood pressure (though it causes other issues), she has opted not to work on her diet and lifestyle. My cousin feels that changing her diet, exercising more, and reducing her stress take too much effort and cramp her style (sound like anyone you know?).

Recently my cousin has not been feeling well, having symptoms of light-headedness, irritability, anxiety, and hunger. I suggested she might be hypoglycemic and pre-diabetic. Tests confirmed this to be true. If my cousin had focused on more natural ways to reduce her blood pressure years ago, I believe that she would not be pre-diabetic right now. After all, pre-disposing factors to Type II diabetes include blood sugar instability, being overweight, stress, and exposure to environmental toxins. Healthy eating, exercise, and stress management are not a luxury, they are a must.

My cousin feels a lot of anxiety around her health problems. She is a dynamic woman who is always on the go. The downside is that she does not have a lot of tools to manage her stress. She asked if she should take medication to help her anxiety. It is all too common for people's first reaction to be to reach for medication. As mentioned, this was her desired choice to handle her high blood pressure too. Would it be the same for her diabetes diagnosis? Drugs can have (serious) side effects and are often not as effective as more natural remedies (See Just Say No (to Prescription Drugs) for more on this). For example, according to the National Institute of Health, exercise in combination with weight loss can reduce the odds of developing diabetes by 58%, nearly double the rate of risk reduction by use of diabetes medication (31%). When I asked my cousin why she would want to take the medicine rather than trying to learn stress management techniques, she said because it's fast and easy.

At the end of every issue of Oprah magazine, Oprah writes "What I Know For Sure". I am not saying that all disease can be miraculously cured by healthy eating, exercise, and stress management. However, I do know for sure that these three elements are intimately connected to our health and wellness. We are not the victims of our health problems. We have control. Take back the power and spring into action. Educate yourself on how to eat well. Commit to an exercise program, finding movement that is fun for you. Take your stress management seriously, carving out time for yourself. Seek help in any or all of these areas when needed. For information on healthy eating, read Eat This Way and Snack Well in the "Body" section of the Four Quadrant Living website. For some ideas on stress management, visit the "Mind" section. And for some tips on exercise, read Walk 10,000 Steps and Find Your Gypsy.

I write this blog out of frustration, concern, and love for my cousin and many others like her. I have realized over the years after repeated efforts to encourage her to change her diet and lifestyle that I cannot make the choice for my cousin to take charge of her own health. It has to come from her. My concern of not helping her is that a few years down the road I could be blogging about how the diabetes led to more serious health issues. Diabetes, left untreated, can lead to heart, kidney, and eye disease. All I can do right now is give her the tools she needs and be there to help when she is ready. I do think maybe this might be a wake up call for her. She called me today to tell me she had walked on the treadmill at the gym. This is a great first step. Let my cousin's story encourage and inspire you. Don't wait for your wake up call—be proactive now.

I have never been more serious or felt so strongly about anything in my life. Your health is in your hands.

Sitting by the fire in your pajamas at noon reading a book may seem like a luxury, but actually can be essential for your health. You know that feeling when you just aren't engaging in life like you normally do, when even the simplest things seem to be overwhelming, and when you are extra sensitive to people's comments and behavior? That’s when it’s time for some productive unproductiveness.

If there is a time when you feel this way, honor it. Don't try to justify or rationalize it. Allow it to just be and take the steps that work for you to get some rest. You not only deserve it, you need it. You cannot function fully without it. Can you take a day off from work? If not a full day, how about a morning or afternoon? Even just an hour can do wonders. Time for yourself is essential for your health.

What will you do with your free time to recharge yourself? Perhaps it’s taking a walk, reading a good book, snuggling with your pet, getting a massage, or staying in bed an extra hour. It may feel like a luxury (the unproductiveness of it all), but what is more important and productive than making the time for your own health and wellness?

As Scarlett O'Hara says in Gone with the Wind, "Tomorrow is another day". Yes, it is. So when you are feeling tired and overwhelmed by the simplest tasks, let tomorrow be the day for the tasks and today be the day for you.

Can you think of anything more important and productive than making time for your own health and wellness?