It’s Time For Our Annual Attitude Adjustment

Gooooood morning, Sparkle Puff. (Okay, well, it was morning when I started this. But then the doorbell rang, and one of our kids needed help with her entrpreneurial plan and another had a fashion question and the drier finished and lunch needed to be prepared and…

…7 hours later I have finally managed to free myself enough to finish this blog post. I don’t know about the kids, but I can’t wait for school to start on Monday. )

I admit I was feeling just kinda ordinary this morning (a bit of indigestion after this week’s festivities) until I sat down to do my own reflections of 2009. I looked back through the calendar and went through, month by month, taking mental note of all that had happened. It didn’t take long, but WHAT A TRIP! If you haven’t done it yet, DO IT! At first all I noticed were the dramatic things–January was a bit rough. With the hope that it might inspire you to fit in the time to do your own reflections in detail before settling into the goal setting exercises we’ll be doing throughout the weeks to come, here are a few of my observations about the successes of 2009:

Personally:

I fell in love and worked through the bumpy parts of a new relationship where you look for every exit door you can find before deciding to make love work with a person.

I became a better mom and actually went through some A M A Z I N G marriage counseling with my ex-husband. After 6 years of having been divorced!!, we actually ironed out the wrinkles in our relationship and became amazing co-parents and good friends to each other! Then we put the kids on a much better schedule and just got them feeling and behaving SO confident and SO darn cool. Yes, we are still divorced.

I started getting a lot more sleep and had a whole hot yoga binge in March that I looooved. I swam, skated and cross-country skied. I strapped on my shoes and adventured over the big bridge near my house a few times. I did a juice fast and started green juicing for the first time after almost 7 years of being a raw foodist.

Professionally:

I created WISH: Women’s International Summit for Health and in preparation for it interviewed some of the most incredible people I have ever known. In 2010 I’ll be bringing it to life on March 8 (International Women’s Day) and I cannot begin to express how escited I am about it. I did the Raw Mom Summit with Shannon and we had such a powerful and positive impact on the Raw Food Community, that we decided to spread the circle of influence a bit wider.

I developed the 6 Week Deep Tissue Detox with Ritamarie and spent huge amounts of time revising, improving and finally launching it. 2010 will be the year I actually do it myself!

I became partners with Crudessence and was assigned as the “Director” of their workshops and community programming.

The other thing that stands out in 2009 are a few moments I took to make some smart decisions about how to manage my business–a moment of clarity and confidence. I was simply deciding NOT to do something, but knowing that I would put my energy in the right place felt fantastic. I got excited about  the fact that something as simple as a decision could get me feeling so enthusiastic and hopeful so quickly. It propelled me to pick up my e-pen and start writing to you. Not about productivity, performance or promises that were kept. I wanted to write to you about the power of decision making. When I look back the things that excited and inspired me the most about 2009, it was the DECISIONS that I made to take charge of my life or business in a positive way and improve things.

That’s why it is SO important that you take the time NOW to chart your course for the year ahead. NOW you are setting your goals and making objectives and DECISIONS about how you want your life to be this year.

Today (January 2nd) we’re supposed to be looking at Attitude. (I wanted to wait a bit before hitting the obvious food, fitness, etc. Many people are still on vacation and getting back into gear with things, too.)

How do you look at your life? When you consider the things that happen in a day, a week, a year, how do you view your role in it all?
Do you view yourself as the passive participant in the soap opera of life, or are you the clever creator of all that happens to you?
When you wake up in the morning, are you ready and rarin’ to take on the day, or dreading the never-ending to do list?

When you walk in the street and look out at other people, what kind of thoughts are you thinking?
What about when you look at yourself in the mirror? Are you critical and judgmental, or compassionate and kind? What about in your relationships and professional life? When things aren’t going well, do you point the finger, or ask yourself what more you can take responsibility for?
Do you hear yourself making a lot of excuses or apologies?
Do you validate the things that go right or feel focused on where things are troubled and difficult?

We talk a lot about food, diet and exercise. We talk a lot about enemas and superfoods and drinking enough water. We talk a lot about the things we have to get done in a day, but criticism is bad for your liver and anger makes your armpits stink! Grumpiness puts ugly wrinkles all over your forehead and face, too! There is nothing beautiful, attractive or remotely empowering about being a GRUMP or a complainer. So let’s make this the year of good vibrations, baby!! Out with the crust, lift up your bust and show the world how beautiful life is!!

Understand that crabby people don’t feel good about themselves or they wouldn’t be crabby in the first place. Rather than bitch and complain about what other people do wrong, do it right. Rather than tell other people they’ve pissed you off, tell them how much you appreciate something they did.

When you feel like everything is wrong, find the one thing that is right about it all, and things will all turn around. Life is as positive and as pleasurable as you are able to wrap your attitude around your experiences. I could talk about this one for hours, and in fact, if at least 10 people ask for it, I’ll give you a special spiritual butt-kicking teleseminar all about it.

At the end of your days, it won’t be the car, the house, or the clutter in your cupboards that fills your soul and lets you leave this world in peace. It will be the choices you made to love in the face of opposition, to persist in the face of adversity and to believe when everyone else has given up. It will be the moments you lived and loved at your very best that will stand out and lift your soul to a higher place, or (if you’re not a soul-subscrber) it will simply give you the satisfaction of having lived a meaningful, empowered life.

Reach out, stretch your heart wide open and make enough room to love one more person. Then make enough room to love them all and watch how doing so makes loving yourself a whole lot easier. You can do it, Sunshine. You can make this your best year EVER. I know you can and I’m rooting for you until my pom-poms fall apart!

Go, Girl, Go!

2010: May it Be Your Best Year Yet

I’ve settled myself into coziest chair in the house and it’s about one hour until the clock strikes midnight.

I wanted to connect here–with you and with myself in preparation for the new year. I’m going to find a quiet place in the house and within myself to focus on a few things as the clock strikes midnight.

I mentioned yesterday the importance of reviewing your successes for 2009. Hopefully you managed to find the time to do that. If not, do that now. It’s important to validate the good stuff before you move forward with the new. Celebrate your success.

In the same way that I had you scan the months of the year in our last exercise, I’d like to ask you now to scan the different areas of your life and aspects of who you are as a person and as a woman. The never ending to do lists and multitasking miracles we pull off still somehow don’t manage to leave us time to address our own personal details. When was the last time you had a pedicure? Never had one? What needs to happen in your life to reach closer to your ideal?

Have you ever set yourself some New Year’s Resolutions only to break them on Day 3, then give up on yourself?

Remember from yesterday’s message, this program is our slow and steady path to success. Put your discipline in place. Get serious and straight up with yourself.

How committed are you when other people ask you to help them, show up for something, or be there in some way? Make a commitment to yourself over the next 21 days. I don’t know where you’re at, how you’ve been or what you want to achieve for yourself, but you can do whatever you want, you can achieve all kinds of amazing things if you’re willing to take the time to paint the picture first.

This is YOUR day.

This is YOUR chance to start fresh and make something happen.

It’s a new moon, a new year, a new beginning.

For the next 21 days, treat every day as if it was the first day of the New Year. Be committed consistently throughout this program. This isn’t going to be a quick fix. Let’s get serious, roll up our sleeves and make this the best year ever! If you slip up on Day 3, keep going!

Tonight’s New Year’s Eve. Take some time to visualize and paint the picture of your year to come. Just images, colors, textures, spaces and sounds. Make this easy, natural and playful for yourself. If you find you are forcing yourself, step back. Think of something you love and just hold that space. Recall a moment you felt proud of what you had achieved and hold that space for a while.

Here are the 10 different areas of our lives we’re going to be addressing throughout the 21-Day Challenge:

1. Attitude
2. Fitness/Activity
3. Spirituality/Creative Expression
4. Sensuality
5. Health
6. Family
7. Relationships
8. Beauty
9. Home
10. Money/Abundance.

I don’t want you rushing ahead of yourself, so I won’t put too many details about each category, but at least you have them and can start putting your attention on the different areas.

January 1st is your day to dream, play, imagine, hope and COMMIT to the next 21 days.

Then starting on January 2, we’ll spend 2 days on each section. The first day, you’ll brainstorm your ideal scenario for each of these topics. Just let yourself go, pull out colored pens and dream, play, explore the possibilities of what you can create for yourself in each of these areas. Write your notes on a paper or in a notebook. You’re going to need to sleep with them under your pillow.

Why?

Because my mom always told me to do that with my study notes before my exams. It all works by osmosis. On the second day, after you’ve slept on your ideal scene, dreamed about it, and let the pictures paint themselves, then it’s time to circle the ones that stand out most and feel the best when you read them. Then you identify which ones are achievable in the short term and which ones should be considered more long term.

Then you need to create some action steps that you can take over the coming weeks.

We’re going to repeat that little pattern for each of the 21 days of the challenge. For now, my Sweetcake, it’s time to PARTY and countdown to the New Year. But before I let you go and sip champagne or hug your loved ones, I want to tell you how grateful I am for your support and kind words. If I counted my wealth by adding up success stories, letters of appreciation, celebration and good news, I would be one of the wealthiest women on the planet.

And since I do, so I am.

Thank you for the gift of your courage, support and kindness as part of this community. May 2010 bring more green to your plate, more awe in your raw and all the love and abundance you can possibly create for yourself.

My very best wishes for your new beginnings,

Tera

p.s.

If you’re just coming across this for the first time, all you need to do is be signed up to our 7-day detox or Health in High Heels newsletter and you’ll receive daily notification about our 21-Day Challenge! Happy to have you join us for this adventure.

Get Back on Track After the Holidays

I arrived home last night after a wonderful trip out West to see my family. We played in the snow, sang songs and made memories with loved ones. I’ll have a lot more pictures uploaded to my Facebook page soon, but will sprinkle a sampling here for fun. While I could ramble on about the festivities and gifts, I’d much rather get to talking immediately about the food, cuz that’s just what I do best.

I was most certainly well-intentioned at the outset. I packed my enema bag, my juicer and my green jugs all the way to Alberta. My vision had been a juice fast lasting 10 days. I thought I’d be able to hold up against the cauliflower casseroles and butter tarts. I hoped I’d be able to muster up the discipline to make 6 liters of juice a day and just sip my way to bliss over Christmas and into the new year…

…but, I had an arm-wrestling match with mashed potatoes and the mashed potatoes won. Once the mashed potato ban had been lifted, it was open-season finger dipping for this diva. Though I did manage to steer clear of the butter tarts in the end, I’m home now and nursing a running nose.

Action. Reaction. Guess I had it coming to me.;-)

I’m grateful that my body informs me, in no uncertain terms, that there are new limits to what I can do. I simply can’t pack back potato chips without expecting consequences. I watch in awe as my family ploughs through piles of steamy veggies, gobbles up all manner of cooked critters and creamy sauces. They appear to bounce right back up from the table looking perky. They appear to be just fine with their food choices. I have genuine respect and admiration for people like MAC who could probably eat a tin can and eliminate it perfectly and painlessly the next morning.

I don’t think it’s every woman’s lot in life to be food obsessed, but it most certainly has been mine. The only thing that released me from the clutches of constant food chatter in my mind was transitioning to a diet of simple, fresh, raw foods. Now it’s in my best interests to be somewhat food obsessed, since I make my living helping others get on the healthy bandwagon, too.

It’s been nearly 7 years that I’ve been on a “raw food diet.” I’ve tried low fat, high fat, dehydrated, sprouted and purréed foods. I’ve met some incredibly fascinating people and encountered powerful ideas about what makes the body well. I’ve seen some pretty healthy looking meat-eaters and some awfully overweight raw vegans, too. I know there’s a powerful and inspiring message about compassionate and responsible living out there, but I’ve often seen vegans display little compassion for their fellow humans.  I admit that some animals I’ve observed were rather careless and unkind about their interaction with humans, too. I don’t believe in ultimatums or that there is a “right way” to eat. I think truth is relative to one’s point of view.

It’s easy to be seduced by the slim figures and clear complexions of raw vegans who make it all look so blissful and natural and easy, but I’ve borne witness to enough teary-eyed emails by now to know that there are a lot of people who struggle to implement healthier habits. Some are trapped in unhealthy bodies and they want out, but lack the support, the stamina, the mojo, the self-confidence and motivation to make it happen. There are others who simply choose to live with a bit of balance and appreciate the steamier side of eating.

Maybe for some people it is easy, but I’ve devoted what I do to supporting the passionate health-seekers who, in spite of good intention and determination, still stumble, fall and binge on baguette instead of making themselves another green juice.

The potato-wrestling women like myself out there are everywhere. I was surprised and delighted to discover that even in small town Southern Alberta, (population 3,000) someone recognized me in a grocery store from my site. (Love to you, Heather!)  Even while cross-country skiing in the middle of a practically isolated National Park, with about 10 other people in the whole place, another diva recognized me from my website as I was whipping by on cross-country skis. (Smoooches to you, Kathryn!)

What I understand the more I encounter inspiring people like Heather and Kathryn, is that I don’t want to teach women how to eat more raw food, and I most certainly don’t want to teach them how to be a “raw foodist”. I want to teach women to love themselves enough to listen to their bodies, choose the foods that support them, and the foods that make sense ethically, economically, and anatomically. I’d love to create an army of women who are equipped with the confidence and support they need to embrace an attitude of acceptance and gratitude the next time mashed potatoes win another arm-wrestling match.

There are only three days left until 2010. THIS is the time to take inventory on your success and review all that’s happened in the last year. It’s time for you to create targets, new objectives, rhythms and goals for the coming year. It’s been a tradition the last couple years to offer a special gift to our community on New Year’s Day. It’s a beautiful little Dream workbook that helps you map your targets for the coming year in different areas of your life. This year, you’re not getting your present.

I decided that rather than just pass along another download you may or may not take the time to read, I’ll be walking you through the process here over the next few days. Let’s do it together. The spirit of community will inspire us to make it happen. We’ll take baby steps over a few weeks, instead of feel overwhelmed by an ebook we’ll never get around to printing off.

Since many of us are gearing up for the 6-Week Detox that starts in early January, the timing is PERFECT. If you’d like to join me in this adventure, all you have to do for now, is check back HERE on the blog again tomorrow. If you’re signed up to Health in High Heels or our 7-Day Diva Detox, you’ll automatically receive a little love note when I post something new.

As far as food and eating goes, I’ll be setting out some proposed guidelines and suggestions tomorrow. For now, focus on the GREEN stuff and getting lots of it. They say it takes 21 days to form a new habit, so starting officially on January 1st until January 21st, I’ll be keeping things hopping around here and certainly do appreciate your love, support and participation.

2010 is going to be an incredible year. I can feel it. Let’s spend some time together painting beautiful pictures we can all walk into…

Yours against the mighty mashed potato and beyond,

Tera

P.S.

Oooh. I almost forgot. Our boxing day sale ends at midnight on December 31st. Coupon code: RAWMOM30 at the checkout and save 30% on most of our e-books at www.rawmom.com. Looking to get back on track for the long haul, you can still get a 20% discount if you sign up for the 6-Week Detox before 2010 strikes! Coupon Code: 6WDMOONSALE at the checkout.

P.P.S.

Our Clutter Free Diva program will remain at 50% off until the end of our 21-day challenge! You’ve got 23 days to save up and clear out your clutter!!

Health in High Heels: Protein, Passion & Parlez-Vous Français?

What do you think of that smoochy snapshot, Sunshine?

I almost didn’t put it, but when you see what this week’s special guest is talking about, you’ll understand why I did.

Health In High Heels

Another week, another issue of Health in High Heels is hot off the presses. (And this week, I do mean *HOT!*)
Click the pretty blue link and you’ll be whisked away to see the new Raw Mom site, our French Diva unveiling, learn about contests, give-aways, recipes aaaaand updates on some live events with yours truly.

Whew!

Health In High Heels

What a whipper snapper of a week!

Lovin’ the September Sun,
Tera

P.S.

If you’re not getting messages like this one in your inbox, my dear, you might want to sign up HERE, so you don’t miss out on the goodies!

It’s My Birthday!

Well, almost! It’s been quite a while since I’ve done any significant celebrating in honor of my birthday, but Mr. Right has got something up his sleeve and I have NO idea what to expect. Oh, sure, a woman can guess at these kinds of things, but Ive stumbled upon a die-hard romantic, so it’s best not to make any predictions and just embrace the adventure.

Just a few hours ago, I got this email in my inbox from the Prince of party preparations himself:

For tomorrow…

Free yourself up by 10:25am.

Make yourself, and your house, presentable (with my help of course ; – )

Wear running shoes, socks, shorts or running skirt, sweat-friendly top and sweater in case you get cold.

Bring:

• Your back pack
• Water bottle
• A fruit or Larabar or two for snacking
• A change of clothes (casual)
• Your bathing suit
• Water sandals
• Nice shoes
• A pretty dress
• “Jewelery” optional
• Warm sweater or shell for an after-dinner stroll
• “Jammies”
• Tooth brush, floss
• Hairbrush
• Curler
• Anything else you usually bring when sleeping away from home

That’s it for now.

À plus tard mon amour!!

Soooo, as you can see, there are some surprises in  store for me! I actually think I need to do some laundry just to get everything on the list packed! Before I disappear for some birthday celebrations I wanted to let you know that…

…after 4 weeks of trying and hoping and wanting to make it happen, but just not managing to get it together, I have finally whipped up another issue of Health in High Heels. It’s ready! My birthday edition! Check it out!

Giddy and glowing,

Tera

Wild Eats and Armpit Treats and more…

Just in case you missed it, another issue of Health in High Heels just popped off the presses. Super excited about this issue! Not only do we have 2 amazing articles, but there are also a whole lot of other exciting treats and surprises in there for you! Cool stuff, if I do say so myself.

I’ve decided that we should make Mondays our days for renewing our commitments on the blog. When we were going through the 90-Day Deep Tissue Detox, many of us would come here once a week to declare our commitments for the week. That extra accountability can really help!

Now that we have our Cozy Coaching calls on Sunday evenings, we have a great opportunity to get on the blog and lay down a few targets and objectives for the week. I love kicking off the beginning of the week with a solid list of my targets and objectives, or a good ol’ fashion “to do list”. It helps keep me focused.

Anyway, this week is off to a great start! Health in High Heels is ready for reading and the Green Smoothie Queen willing, we’ll be making a very special announcement this Thursday about something we’ve been working on for TWO YEARS! Finally, finally, finally it’s going to see the light of day!

Okay, Sunshine, I’m outta here! Enjoy this week’s issues of Health in High Heels and don’t hesitate to send us your suggestions for improvement and thoughts for things you’d like to see happening around here!

Love and hugs,

Tera

P.S.

I almost forgot to mention! I’m adding a bunch of pictures from the Raw Food Potluck we held at my house this weekend! If you add me as your Facebook friend, you’ll be able to check out a few new pics of my pad, my friends and some scrumptious foods!

P.P.S.

If you’re up for it, go ahead and leave your commitments for this week in the comment section below! I will, too!

Health In High Heels: Eenie Meenie Miny Moe…

…catch a diva by the toe.

If she giggles, let her go.

Eenie, meenie, miny MOE!

My mother told me to pick the very best one and YOU, dear diva, are definitely IT!

Ready for your dose of Health In High Heels?

Click the pretty link and whisk yourself away to a world where divas play…

Niblet love and giggles,

Tera

P.S.
Don’t worry! I don’t know what niblet love is, either. But it sounds good.

P.P.S.

Check out how many different languages “Eeny Meeny” comes in!