Happy Healthy and Whole~Nourish your Mind Body and Soul

Encinitas Retreat 2012

We are busy in the kitchen preparing for our fall retreat in Encinitas. Our menu is looking scrumptious and were excited to explore cooking, meditation, yoga and gardening with our participants. 

The weather is perfect today, 75 degrees and sunny. I came all the way from Hawaii for the opportunity to collaborate with Veg-Appeal partners Tracy Childs and Ami Chaitala on a 2 day retreat where we will explore all aspects of healthy living. 

Tracy Childs has been teaching the Food for Life classes for the last seven years all around San Diego County. Her passion for cooking and health is an inspiration and motivation for the local community here. Ami Chaitala, originally from India, is a health educator and amazing cook, with style, soul and grace. 

I am thrilled to share the weekend with these talented ladies and combine our creativity in the kitchen. In addition to cooking demonstrations we will be leading the group in light exercise, yoga and meditation. 

Yoga and meditation are two wonderful tools that everyone can use throughout their lives to connect with their innermost authentic selves. The word 'yoga' means to join, to connect, to become one. We often view the mind and body as two separate entities. This is where a yoga practice can bring the mind and body into harmony. 

Exploring meditation points us to our natural state. The natural state is always available, always present and not separate from any aspect of life.  This approach to meditation is from a place of awareness, rather than from the mind. 

We all are on a search of making our life more complete, more balanced, more whole. We do this in various ways whether its through a better job, the perfect partner, travel, a nicer home, or even a spiritual practice. Through our human conditioning we tend to forget that our true nature is already whole and complete; the fullness of our selves is perfect in this present moment. 

Health implies a state of wholeness; illness shows up in ways we believe we are not whole. As we become aware of that, and turn our energy toward the discovery of our true role and purpose on this planet, illness will naturally dissolve and we will recognize our authentic self, already whole and complete.