Empowering you to say f*ck yes to a vivacious, high-vibe life!
Day 3:
So today is Day 3 of my participation in the fitfluential 30-Day Eat Clean Challenge. I am happy to announce that FitFluential recently selected me as a brand ambassador for the next year. Since this is my first time working with the brand, I’ll be sharing some of my small victories here and on social media over the course of the challenge. I have a goal of drinking at least one green drink, whether that be a juice, a smoothie, or my chlorophyll water everyday. Additionally, I will make an effort to cut back on seafood and make more plant-based food choices. And… I’m definitely planning to venture outside my comfort zone with my vegetables this month. So when I saw red spinach at my local Trader Joes I said, let me give it a try since I love me some greens!
I’ll admit the red spinach was a little different and more rustic than I’m used to. I love my green spinach raw or barely wilted. I didn’t really enjoy the red spinach raw, but in a spicy pepper jack grilled cheese– ahh-mazing! And here’s one happy surprise that happened to my lunch… the red spinach turned my pasta into a really pretty pink! How cool is that? I’m a nerd, don’t judge me. It get my kicks where I can.
Anyhoo, follow me on social to for real time updates on the 30-Day Challenge. See you around!
Why #meditation? While I’ve always enjoyed yoga, probably for many of the same reasons why I love meditation, I only recently started practicing regularly. It never occurred to me that I should until after a particularly tumultuous 2014, I made the a decision that this year was going to be the year that I proactively do something and take an active role to make sh!t happen for myself. I thought, well yoga has always served me well, why not toss in some meditation for good measure. I decided to create an environment that was conducive to tuning out the noise of the exterior world and to spend all of my spare time aligning myself with my internal guide. I ate more nutritiously, I read, I listened, I breathed, I got quiet.
After the first 30 days of doing all of my new things every day I was pretty impressed. The second month into the year I decreased my yoga and meditation practice significantly and I could really tell the difference in what I felt internally and how I moved through the day, externally. By the third month, I’d resumed my daily habit and ritual of meditating (at the very least) and doing yoga every day that I could. And now I’m totally convinced that the benefits of dedicating time to my practice and rituals are no fluke.
What’s funny is that before I even had a loose meditation practice, I started to look around at my life and the evidence that something was off was clear to me. But for the longest time I couldn’t quite put my finger on what to do about it. At the end of last year I’d been reading about the power of gratitude and the laws of attraction, just feeling like I needed to learn and absorb more if I was going to get out of what felt like a rut. A couple of days before New Years Eve, I had an epiphany that I needed to look within myself to figure out why it seemed things in my life— relationships, finances, progress towards my goals— were in a disarray. Note that I say that it only SEEMED that way. The confusion was purely an illusion that I’d projected into the universe. So, I also knew that if I was going to “fix” what was going on, the answers were also within.
While I don’t think meditation benefits are one size fits all in terms of “results,” I do believe that whatever it is that you personally need to connect with in your #spirit is what you will find. There’s a saying, “What you seek is seeking you.” Based on the effect that meditation has had on my life within a short, short span of time, I have definitely found that to be true. Everytime I get still and tune in to the quiet, which is always there, I feel renewed from the inside out. It’s like mentally hitting reset everyday— it cuts through the BS of life and helps me focus on what’s important in the moment.
Here’s my top 10 benefits describing what meditation has done for me:
1. Increased focus & clarity of thought
2. Increased productivity
3. Increased sense of connectivity with others
4. Increased compassion for others
5. Increased self-awareness
6. Better sleep
7. Heightened intuition and discernment
8. Better ability to balance emotions and re-center self as needed
9. Increased capacity to use my will and direct the current of the law of attraction favorably
10. Increased sense of positivity from day to day
This is a non exhaustive list, by far. I’m sure if you hook up my brain or body to some fancy medical devices there’s sure to be something amazing going on in there. But I think you kinda get the point, right? Meditation is awesome in more ways than one.
Talk back, what has meditation done for you? Or do you find yourself having problems with the process? Let’s talk about it. Leave a comment.
Drop that bag of powdery what ever that is that you were thinking of stirring up and get ready to heat up your winter nights with the most epic SPICY hot chocolate ever.
It’s freezing out, and obviously no one wants to go out into the streets where it’s frightful. Instead, have a cuppa this yum to warm up your days and nights.
Did you or someone you know go to Curls & Cocktails ATL, this past weekend? If so, check out our Facebook page to see pics of all the flyy ladies from the event. Be sure to tag a friend! Our hostess, Kenya ( halfietruths ) was so gracious and warm.
Can’t wait until her next STRUT dance class. Space usually sells out fast, so if she comes to your city be sure to snatch up your tix immediately!
Tough as Nails: How to Winter Proof And Grow Your Nails Long When Its Cold Outside
Is winter being a basic bish? Give it the finger. Albeit, a perfectly manicured one using my tried and true tips to grow longer, stronger nails. As many of you already know, I’m a fan of Julep nail polish. It is undeniable that my nails tend to grow longer, harder and faster when I use their polish in combination with my go-to gel nail polish, Gelous (which I’ve raved about at length here).
So, when the opportunity came to try Julep’s Oxygen Nail Treatment I was all over it. I used my extra Julep points I’d accumulated over the past several months to do two add-ons to my regular monthly order. The oxygen treatments are available are the original light pinkish hue and ivory, so of course I had to get both. There was a time when I almost always solely used very pale nudes, whites and translucent pinks, so these options for a barely there look were right up my ally.
{My February Julep Maven Box}
The first go-round was pre-Valentine’s day week when I’d carelessly broken several nails in one week. I decided to follow the directions which stated that the polish was best used alone. As far as staying power went, the polish lasted, but I didn’t notice any significant difference in the strength of my nails, which was disappointing. I went back to polishing and designing my nails as usual for two weeks, then decided to give the Oxygen Treatment another try, this time using my gel method. And hot damn, my nails were winning once again.
Some of the reviews I’d read previously complained that the Oxygen Treatment never seemed to dry, but that was not an issue in either case for me. With and without my gel polish and fast-drying top coat my nails set and dried just fine. The difference the gel polish made was that my nails were as hard as ever and growing rapidly.
I was so happy with the results that I decided to do a basic design using the negative space concept of white-lined half-moons with my barely-there pink Oxygen Treatment polish on my tips. This nude look gives the feel of having bare nails with just a subtle hint of a design aesthetic.
So if you’re trying to grow out your nails like I am, here are my top 4 tips:
Tip #1
Find a shape that works best with your lifestyle. For me that shape is oval– especially in the grow out stage. Once they get to a desirable length, I file them to a nice almond shape. (refer to the chart below).
Tip #2
Gently push back and moisturize your cuticles regularly– at least once a day. I’m not a huge fan of clipping my cuticles. I will if I have to just to keep them from growing too long. But for the most part, cuticle clipping is only done out of necessity for me. Hang nails, on the other hand are another story. I search, clip and destroy hang nails on the regular without hesitation.
Tip #3
Buff nails before polishing. This not only ensures a smooth surface for polish application, but ideally keeps nail polish from lifting and flaking off.
Tip #4
Invest in a good nail hardener to use as a base and top coat. Sally Hansen’s Diamond Strength Nails was my number one until I caught onto the proper way to use gel polish (the kind without the harmful UV light, of course.)
So, that’s it. Let me know if you’ve tried Oxygenating your nails (that’s what I like to call it– I’m fancy, I know. ;)) and how you grow out your nails.