Eco-Friendly Tip Of The Day

This tip is from my sister-in-law, Lisa, who is very environmentally conscious!

"When your plastic shower liner gets soap scum or mold on it, instead of throwing it away, wash it in the washer with a large bath towel and hot water. The towel acts as a scrub brush to get all the icky stuff off.  If the liner needs softening up after the wash, throw it in the dryer for 3 minutes-but don't forget about it or it will melt!"

Thanks for sharing, Lisa!!!  If you have any tips you would like to share, please email them to theinnerpeaceproject@gmail.com!

Thirsty?

In the January issue of Glamour (SJP is on the cover looking a-m-a-z-i-n-g!) I came across a story covering WaterAid America-an organization committed to improving access to safe water for the poorest of communities across the globe.  It's easy to take that clean running water in my kitchen for granted, or leave my faucet on while brushing my teeth in the morning.  If I were a 12 year old girl living in Ethiopia, chances are I would have to walk several miles every morning just to gather the dirty water for sterilization-even then they are not guaranteed that the water is parasite-free.

Clean drinking water saves lives, for more information on how you can help visit:  Water.org or World Vision.

Water Bottles, sippy cups, perfume, OH MY!

photo courtesy of Jill

This is a guest post from health advocate, Christen Black.  Christen has been promoting and using safe products for herself and family for years.  Below she talks about the hidden dangers of the everyday products we use.
Why should we be concerned about BPA and Phthalates? 
I don’t know about you but I never used to care about what I put ON my body as much as what I put IN my body.  Even when it came to what I put IN my body, I was naïve to think that eating “healthy” was enough.  I was so carefree about what I drank out of or what I heated my food in.  I spent so much time and money on cute clothes and my hair but not enough on the really important things that could affect my health and wellness and that of my family’s.

This changed a couple of years ago, after I had my daughter and after my family was touched by 2 cancer diagnoses within a week apart.  I became very interested in learning about “toxic” chemicals and other “things” that were known to cause cancer.  This interest eventually turned into my starting a business that helps people stay healthy.

First of all,  I want to state that I am by no means an expert on BPA or phthalates, but I am hoping that what I do know will help even a few people out there.  Unfortunately, BPA and Phthalates are everywhere and it would be almost impossible to avoid them completely (yet).  Bisphenol-A (BPA) is an estrogen-like chemical used in many polycarbonate plastics, canned-goods, and recycled paper products.  Phthalates are chemicals used to soften plastics, such as toys, and are also widely used in personal care products such as nail polish, shampoo, body wash and lotion. 

Even though our government still contends that these chemicals are safe for us, both of these chemicals are hormone disruptors and there’s enough research showing their link to cancer, diabetes, and early term pregnancies, to name a few.  We have started to avoid certain products with BPA, like baby bottles and water bottles, but we are very behind with phthalates.  Phthalates are becoming more controversial as more scientific research associates them with hormonal disturbances such as reduced testosterone in babies and adults.  If you have a boy you should be even more wary of these chemicals.  I would highly recommend Boys Adrift by Leonard Sax, who talks about the severity of phthalates.  Dr. Mehmet Oz says, “Boys Adrift is a must-read for any parent of boys. This is real science, and Dr. Sax thoroughly uncovers the important health issues that parents of boys need to be tuned into.”

Phthalates are present in so many things we apply on our body and yet it’s so hard to know because they are often hidden under another ingredient like fragrance or perfume.   The good news is that there are companies now that produce products that are phthalate-free.

The bottom line is that we need to be more educated and take matters into our own hands when it comes to taking care of our health.  Don’t assume that things are safe if they are on the market.  We also must put more pressure on our government to take action and ban the use of these harmful chemicals.  

Christen Black

Check out a list of items that are BPA and phthalate free (particularly for babies and children).

If you are interested in finding out what's in your personal care products or interested in making steps towards toxic and chemical free personal care products, check out this site.

Holiday Wish List

courtesy newlightindia.org

We only have 22 days left to seek out that perfect gift for every one of your loved ones on that long, long list. Instead of ANOTHER cute J. Crew sweater (no offense, love them!) for your sister or adding to your sweet grandmother's already bulging snow globe collection why don't we actually make something happen for someone else?  Perhaps feed a family in Somalia or send a Pakistani girl to school.  It's online shopping gone global, but we are actually investing in the welfare of humanity-just a few clicks away...

Top Ten Ways to Make a Difference this Holiday Season 

1.  Life-Giving Trees  ($10-$50)  Purchase fruit and forest trees for people in developing countries

2.  Central Asia Institute (Open donations) CAI's mission:  To promote and support community-based education, especially for girls, in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.  (Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea is Executive Director)

3.  Heal Africa ($10) Help rape victims by providing them with a variety of services from vocational training to safe house refuge.

4.  Hunger Project (Open donations) Hunger Project's mission:  Empowering women and men to end their own hunger.

5.  New Light ($35-$500)  Shelter in Kolkata, India offering  protection and education to prostitutes and their children.  $35 buys food for an elderly woman for one month, $50 ensures a woman on the street a safe shelter, $100 sponsors treatment for HIV positive woman for one month, $500 sponsors one child's healthcare, education, and nutrition for one year.

6.  Pro Mujer ($10 and beyond) Provides Latin America's poorest women with means to build livelihoods for themselves and futures for their families through microfinance, business training, and health care support.  

7.  Shared Hope  (Open donations) Fights sex trafficking around the world.  "*She was a 12 year old, living in poverty in rural Nepal...her stepbrother drugged her and sold her to a trafficker…she woke up a 1000 miles later to a nightmare…she was now someone’s property, a sex slave in the worst brothel districts in the world—Mumbai, India…"

8.  The Worldwide Fistula Fund  (Open donations) Works to improve maternal health and is building a fistula hospital in Niger.

9.  International Medical Corps ($10) Deliver health services to one mother and her baby, including prenatal and postnatal care, routine checkups, immunizations and safe delivery services.

10.  UNICEF ($9.04) Purchase adult hygiene kit for those in need in developing countries. The kit contains soap, a washcloth, sanitary napkins, nail clippers, toothpaste and a toothbrush. The contents are intended for two individuals for one month.

What?! A six pack without doing a single crunch? Sign me up!!!

During a Pilates session a few weeks back, my instructor, Angela, mentioned that it was possible to get a six pack without doing a single sit-up.  I thought that was crazy and too good to be true.  Angela kindly offered this circuit to help YOU get that strong core you have always wanted.  This is how you do it:


6 Abdominal Exercises for a Shredded Core
by Angela M. Carini, Certified Pilates Instructor

Here are 6 effective exercises you can do at home without equipment and without ever doing a single crunch! They will shred your core, strengthen your upper and lower body and burn body fat. For maximum results do the circuit listed below at least 3 times a week.

Do each exercise for 30 seconds without any rest between exercises. If this is too challenging for you allow yourself to rest in increments of 15 seconds and then challenge yourself by gradually lessening the time in between exercises. Repeat this circuit 3 times, resting for 30 seconds to a minute in between circuits. To make the circuit more difficult do not rest at all in between the circuits!

1. Plank
Get into push up position on hands and toes, or on elbows and toes. Contract your abdominal muscles (and core). Keep your back straight (don't collapse in the middle) and hold this position for as long as you can.

2. Mountain Climbers
Start on your hands and knees and get into in a sprinter’s start position. Keep your hands on the ground and push off with your feet so you alternate foor placement (run in place) as long as you can. Be sure to keep your back straight, not arched.

3. Squat Thrusts
Stand with feet together. Squat down and place your hands on the floor next to your feet. In an explosive movement, jump feet backwards into a push-up position, jump feet back between hands and stand up.

We took a video of this move but I wasn't able to upload it.  If you need a visual, think Burpee from high school gym class-haha...sounds funny, but it's a tough one!

4. Side Plank
Lie on your left side. Place your forearm in front of you onto the mat. Position yourself so that only the forearm of your left hand plus the left side of your hips and legs are in contact with the floor. Position your other hand either palm down onto the mat in front of you or behind your head. Maintain good core body posture and balance by first using your right hand as leverage on the mat. Set your left leg directly atop the other. Brace the abdominals.

5. Push-ups
Begin in push up position, on knees or toes. Perform 4 push ups, abs in and back straight. On the 5th push up, lower halfway down and hold for 4 counts. Push back up and repeat the series.

6. Cross Body Mountain Climbers
Start on your hands and knees and get into in a sprinter’s start position. Brace your abdominals as you bring your right knee forwards and across the body towards the left elbow or armpit, keeping the foot close to the ground, but don't allow it to touch the floor. Extend the leg back to the start position and repeat on the opposite side.

Angela has a unique gift of helping people transform their bodies into lean muscle machines (I'm still working on mine!)  She's tough but she truly cares about her clients.  I have been impressed and inspired by her since I took up Pilates a couple years ago.  She's the real deal!  If you live in the Chicagoland area and would like to have a session with her, check out her website to get her contact info.  If you are interested in taking a class, she instructs a Cardio Pilates class on Tuesday evenings at 7pm and Saturday mornings at 10am at Essence Pilates.  They are hard but SO WORTH IT!  If you can't make it, copy and paste this circuit onto a word document, print it, and DO IT!  After you start seeing results you will be happy you did!


Angela M. Carini, B.S., AOBTA CP, PMA-CPT has over 10 years of experience in the fields of dance, bodywork, and mind-body fitness. She holds a Bachelors in Dance from Northwestern University and is a Certified Pilates Instructor through the Pilates Method Alliance. Angela is also an AOBTA Certified Shiatsu Practitioner and Instructor and has taught Shiatsu at the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine and Zen Shiatsu Chicago. She has authored a popular beginning level Shiatsu video entitled The Art of Shiatsu.

Visit Angela online at http://www.angelacarini.com

Even in Utero?

These days there are many products out there that make claims that they can produce small miracles to our bodies such as: keep us from aging, make us smell our best, keep us from looking pasty, make our hair shiny as ice, whiten our teeth, etc.  But do we know what they are putting in these products to make these miracles happen?  I think it's about time we start demanding the right to know what these products contain because the chemicals they use can have some long-lasting, very serious impacts on our health.  It makes me wonder if the need to be beautiful is actually causing us more harm than beauty...

A recent study of 9 pregnant woman show that chemicals that may disrupt hormonal and development systems were present in their bodies.  These chemicals pass from mother to fetus in the womb.  Our unborn babies are affected by these chemicals that are supposed to make us feel our best?!  Our wombs are supposed to be pure and safe for our little ones, but something such as spraying perfume can cause some serious damage. This makes me irate.  This is irresponsible of the beauty industry and we must demand that we know what is being put in these products.


From now on InnerPeace Project will do our best to provide recommendations on safe products for ALL.

If you have any safe recommendations, please share!

Ask Congress to protect pregnant women from cosmetic chemicals

The Power of Thank You

"If the only prayer you say in your life is "thank you," it would be enough."

-Meister Eckhart

These poignant words started me thinking about the unharnessed power of a thank you (and a please for that matter). If we say thank you for the "small" things like this breath, this step, or this glass of water, the world's abundance is immediately revealed. Try it out! Please, and thank you.

Smash Cake!!!!

Today Harry and I met a friend at a supercute bakery in Chicago - Smash Cake (related to Bleeding Heart Bakery). They offer a variety of organic and vegan tasty treats that are ridiculously good. The space is filled with a ton of neat things from toys for the kiddos to play with, safe kitchen gadgets on sale, couches for some chillaxin, little furniture for the tots and adorable handmade aprons.

I have to admit, their coffee is to die for and the vegan cupcake (which I was a bit nervous to try) is like no other - a chocolate cupcake with chocolate chips and chunky peanut butter frosting - YUM! Seriously, does it get any better than this? Their cupcakes rock!


The place is adorable with an area for the little ones to play and explore. They have an art table with a big roll of paper and enough crayons and markers to capture the attention of budding artists, and even a mini theater for the young thespians in the making.


After a disappointing experience at another "healthy" cafe due to the salty staff, it was refreshing to be greeted with such friendliness and accommodation at Smash Cake. The manager was even super cool with my curious one year old exploring the joint. I will definitely be heading back there to enjoy delicious treats with my mom friends, my single gals, and my hubby (they have family night on Friday night with live music!) I am in love....with their cupcakes. Thank you for bringing such delicious little treats to my world!

Drink Like You Give a Damn

On our quest to finding inner peace and balance in our often chaotic lives, enjoying a wine pitstop is a great way to reconnect with the earth, ourselves, and one another. But you can't help but wonder where does this grape juice come from? And what about the people who are picking the grapes, are they properly compensated? Etica Fair Trade Wine leaves nothing to chance, believing that Fair Trade is the best practice to creating sustainable livlihoods for all people equally, while working diligently to protect the environment. Chin Chin to these trendsetters, bottoms up!

Breathe

"You can live two months without food and two weeks without water, but you can only live a few minutes without air." Hung Yi-Hsiang, Taoist Master

Without thinking we are always breathing in and out. We breathe in oxygen-rich air and breathe out carbon dioxide (those pesky toxins). We usually do not even think of this basic instinct we have which is necessary for our survival.

In the book, "The Natural Health Bible" by Lisha Simester, it says most people in the West do not breathe deeply enough, which doesn't allow us to have optimum health. If we do not breathe correctly, our energy levels may be lower, we may have chronic fatigue, allergies, colds and many other problems. All because we may not be breathing properly (breathing too shallowly, too long or fast).

Breathing exercises can help us get through our most stressful situations. It provides support and mental clarity (think of those women who use deep slow breaths when giving birth).

Deep breathing is a practice that is a long-accepted fundamental technique in other countries, especially China and India. With more people including exercises such as yoga into their daily lives, the awareness of breathing is much more prevalent. However, because teaching breathing techniques is not a very common practice for most people, we have become bad at breathing. I know you're thinking - come on, another thing that we need to work on?! Yes! According to Simester, "Because we are not taught breathing techniques as part of our health education in the West, many people develop bad habits out of ignorance, combined with laziness."

The Chinese believe that correct breathing is vital for our important functions such as, blood pressure, stress reduction, and hormone secretions. Breathing correctly is the key to well being and longevity.

The book offers a couple of breathing exercises. I will include the simplest one:

Slowly inhale and exhale through the nose. With each breath, bring the air down to the diaphragm, allowing the stomach to expand with each inhalation, gently pulling in the abdomen.

Simple, right? Now try it. I really tried hard to focus on my breathing and noticed how my mood was lifted almost immediately. Yoga and Pilates are also great ways to practice breathing in a controlled environment. Try it out. Let me know how it works for you!

Finding a Way to Heal and Learning How to Deal With It

This is a guest post from a colleague, Shannon Galton, who is in public relations and an amazing and insightful yoga instructor. She is on the path of enlightenment and is working towards healing wounds from the past. Here are her words on why we should deal with issues head on and the affects of what can happen if we take an avoidance approach. May her words inspire you as they have me.

It took me all of 29 years to realize that we as human beings make ourselves suffer. Don’t get me wrong, it is obvious we do not enjoy suffering. Whether it is from a death, divorce or financial crisis, we generally do not enjoy being put through the ringer. But some of us do not face our problems the healthy way, which leads to more and more unhappiness.

Here’s the thing: so often is the case, that instead of facing our problem and working our way through it, we throw it back into our mind. We bury it. We trap it. We cover it up, continue on with life, and it gets stuck down there in our soul or our subconscious or wherever you want to believe it goes. And it stays there.

It would be one thing if the problem just stayed put (wow, would all of our problems be solved). But, that’s not the way it works. This problem soon becomes exacerbated. It thrives on not being dealt with, and it forces us to unconsciously make decisions for the rest of our lives in a different way. Whereas, if we would have dealt with the problem head first, we could potentially have avoided years of subconscious torment. Face it, whether you want to admit it or not, once you bury your problems and do not deal with them, they come out in other ways. They are not happy buried in your soul or your mind. They find a way to resurface. Six months or six years later, eventually, they resurface. And more often than not, they have resurfaced in a completely different shape and taken on a life of their own.

So now is the time to deal with your past, starting with the problems you have buried. We need to untrap the negative thoughts that have stemmed from a major area of trauma in our past lives. We all have them! Because whether we like it or not, the problems that delve under the surface become traumas. Once buried into our subconscious long enough, they change who we are, how we think and our decision-making process. Simply put, they make us unhappy. It might take a few years, but it happens.

Learn to be honest with yourself about the problems you have not dealt with. Meditation, counseling, yoga, journaling….unlock the potential of who you can be, simply by confronting your past and beginning the journey to heal. Your mind, body and soul will thank you.

"Bigger Picture"

We use our brain every day. We go to work or school, do our daily routines, tackle small obstacles, operate heavy machinery (our car), and we observe and make judgements.

What if we didn't just go through the motions everyday and simply used our MIND to understand the bigger picture of life? What if we didn't think of the (sometimes negative) little thoughts that occupy our minds that affect our relationships, our daily activity, our bodies and our outlook on life?

What if we thought "bigger picture". What is the "bigger picture"? I don't know, but I don't think it consists of us obsessing about our credit, what a person thought of us, that last 10, 20, 30 lbs we need to lose, whether or not the neighbor raked their leaves this weekend, etc.

These are my thoughts on bigger picture and our life's purpose:

-We are here to learn particular life lessons (more on how I feel about this in later posts)
-To help one another though our journeys (we are all going through life together, let's help one another out by encouraging and supporting one another)
-To treat people with kindness and respect
-To let others know they are loved by you
-To raise small minds to be as creative and expressive as possible
-To teach small children to love well (by loving them well and unconditionally)
-To inspire greatness in others
-To know that when we are doing something with our BEST INTENTIONS, our hearts will be bursting at the seams with love, pride and absolute joy.

This is possible. I know it is. We just need to trust ourselves and use our minds to look at the bigger picture. Let's stop thinking of the petty stuff and start thinking about the important stuff.

How do we do this? This is the journey that we are on. We will figure this out together, but I do know it's out there.

Feel free to share your thoughts on what the "bigger picture" means to you.

Hold on Tight, Girls!

Not me and my boyfriend!
Courtesy of Women's Health Magazine

Leafing through my November issue of Women's Health magazine "Have Amazing Sex All Month Long" stood before me on the glossy page. Of course I had to read further, a woman has needs after all! I was surprised to see a very thorough outline of a women's cycle, with all of the hormonal ebbs and flows. Are all women riding this roller coaster of hormones? After two years of taking, gulp, "The Pill" I couldn't help but feel a bit nostalgic for the creativity surge during ovulation and that reflective time before menstruation. My hormones have been at a steady baseline - sometimes I feel jealous when Ashley claims to be suffering from PMS. Looks like a classic case of the grass is always greener.

My mom is a pusher (in the most loving way) when it comes to books with a spiritual well-being premise, I often have a hard time keeping up with the stack on my nightstand, but was changed forever when I came across Dr. Christiane Northrup's Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom. After reading this book, I felt like I really understood my own body for the first time. I had an overwhelming sense of respect for myself as a woman, I feel proud.

Dr. Northrup goes to great lengths explaining what our bodies experience while on the pill - none of it being natural in any sense of the word. How do we balance the struggle of honoring our bodies while maintaining our needs? I guess we each need to answer that for ourselves.

The Important Stuff

It is easy (especially for me) to get caught up in our daily busyness. Sometimes my mounting list of to-do’s can overwhelm my list of done’s. Do those lists really serve us anyway? I was a little miffed when Zen Habits actually suggested that we ditch our lists. But then I decided to ditch mine after I realized that the important stuff wasn’t even on my list anyway. Breathe, call my mom, hug someone I love, smile. Here’s to the important stuff…

How could you not love that face? Not my dog, but I will definitely have an

English Bulldog (s) one day!

I adore my Louis XVI repro chair that I found at auction, my boyfriend,

and my horrifically large collection of fashion magazines...

I live in a studio and adore my bright blue walk-in closet!

Ashley and I took this pic while we were on a walk with the kids, it says so much.

My life has changed rather dramatically as of late and I am so grateful

that I am doing something that I love and able to do this with the people that I love.

I Want Candy!

I Want CandyHalloween is approaching and everyone is excited about their costumes, the parties, trick or treating, how they are going to decorate their homes, and of course what type of candy to pass out (oh, how we love Halloween!).

We came across a website that has "green" party decorations, favors, and goodies! YAY! Green Planet Parties is a one-stop site when it comes to planning an eco-friendly bash. So if you are having a Monster Mash of your own this year, you might want to think about heading to this site first to check out the latest in reusable decorations and cool party gear.

OUR HOUSE

Our House

Stress is a bad bad thing...
but we all have it. Every person is different on what they stress about and how it manifests in our mind and body. Stress happens to everyone - it doesn't matter what race you are, the financial situation you are in, your body type, the job you have, what your love life is like or whether or not your family is in turmoil. Stress causes some dangerous side effects such as bloating (gasp!), headaches (no thanks), body aches, irritability, constipation (eeeek!), lack of concentration, inability to have healthy relationships with others, high blood pressure (my dad), lack of sleep (have enough of that with two small kiddos), amongst many others. Stress can also lead to depression and anxiety, which can worsen the effects of illness and/or disease.

Studies show that we should not only find ways to reduce stress, but we need to figure out what brings us joy to feel our best. What makes you happy? In high school I made a list of what made me happy and I truly enjoyed the process. Try it one day if you find yourself worrying about something you just can't shake. The worst is when people worry about something that hasn't happened - something that could happen. Come on, don't we have enough on our plate? A serving of what could happen could only have a bad side affect. Some people find comfort in stressing out. I personally know someone who does that, my dad, which is the reason why finding ways to reduce stress and creating happiness in my life are things I feel very strongly about. Anyway, realizing ways that bring happiness to our lives will allow us to be grateful for what we have. Being grateful might be the KEY to leading a happier life with less stress.

One "being-grateful" exercise I did recently was I took pictures of everything around my house that made me happy. Our homes are an expression of ourselves. There must be something around your home that evokes pleasure, brings back a happy memory or reminds you of something that once made you happy; like that sky diving picture, or your wedding photo, your comfy bed, a piece of jewelry from your mom, your pet, your high definition flat screen, that beautiful rare piece of furniture that you found at an antique store, your record player (that's my hubby's, Neil), your organization, pictures of family and friends, etc. It's an easy exercise and it truly makes you appreciate where you put your head down every night.

Here are some of my pics:

This was the very first pic I took. I love the color and it reminds me of when Neil and I drove to NYC on NYE for a Wilco concert. We bought it in Chinatown. It's hanging in our kitchen.

This picture is hanging above my stove. It reminds me of the time I went to Barcelona and saw the Joan Miro museum. That experience was surreal, no pun intended.

My yellow pantry doors!!! I'm currently obsessed with yellow. Somehow I convinced my hubby to let me paint them this color.

This is one of my paintings. I love to paint - it brings me so much joy, but I haven't found much time to do it lately.

Images of trees. I just love trees. I love to look out my window and see our tree-lined street and all the foliage, the branches, the animals that run up and down and fly through them. Trees are symbolic of life to me.

My globe. I love to run my fingers through it and imagine myself traveling the world with my family. Traveling is a true passion of mine and I can sense it will be one for my two year old daughter, Stella, as well. She's already having daily talks about how we are going to Africa and going on a safari. Nothing pleases me more.

The vintage"Stella" guitar we bought for my daughter's first birthday. She picks it up and tries to play it almost every day. I love when our six year old neighbor, Livi, comes over and they pretend they are in a band.

Finding my kids' toys in obscure places after they went to bed. It shows me they had a great day playing.

This one's for Neil! I don't know how he convinced me to hang up pictures of the Beatles next to our kids' pics. We like to fondly refer to them as Uncle John, Uncle Paul, Uncle George, and Uncle Ringo.


ahhh...the espresso machine! A couple of these every morning makes chasing around two small kids a whole lot easier!


A souvenir from my honeymoon in St. Lucia. What a beautiful island. It makes me think about laying on the beach, drinking Scorpions, and giggling a lot. Fun times.

Another souvenir, but this one's from Mexico (my momma's hometown!) This one brings back memories of drinking way too much, riding around on an inflatable banana boat, and cracking up with some kick-ass friends.

I randomly painted this LOVE picture and decided to hang it above my door to remind us to always have love and peace in our hearts as we leave our home.

Last, but not least, our garden gnome, Larry II.

The most important thing in my life is my family and the love that we share. My love is so strong, not only for my immediate family, but for the people I call my friends, whom are my family, as well. I urge you to be present and to take a look at your surroundings. What brings a smile to your face? Feel free to share your thoughts and/or photos.

More to come on ways to reduce stress....

A Great Way to Spend a Fall Day

A stoic barn we passed along the way…

Oh, fall-it's the season that encourages us to wear flannel and consume copious amounts of pumpkin and apple-based baked goods. Feeling inspired, I decided to take a day trip to a local orchard where I could don my beloved flannel and gather some apples for a delicious apple pie.

Living in the city, I don’t get as much time as I would like to really submerge myself into nature and am always excited for a day-trip where I can hug a tree or walk around bare footed. All About Apples is a really helpful website with an abundance of information on orchards across the state.

I found Royal Oak Farm in Harvard, Illinois to be quite charming and was touched when I read that they are closed on Sundays so that they can spend time with their families. The hour and a half drive out to Harvard was lovely and scenic-we really felt like we had traveled outside of the bustling city.

Royal Oak Farm was everything that I had hoped it to be as we pulled up the winding drive-I felt a sense of peace immediately flow through me.

If you have little ones, the tractor ride is a fun way to get around through the orchards but we chose transportation by foot-any opportunity I have to walk on actual grass I will take!

It seemed that the rows went on forever...

We asked a sweet lady at the farm which apple she would choose for baking and she said Cortland apples are best because of their balance between sweet and tart. All of the rows of trees are clearly posted with the name of the apple, and marked with a yellow flag if they are ready for harvest.

I couldn’t help myself…

There is nothing like the sound of leaves crunching underneath your feet…

The farm also keeps bees, and offers the all-natural honey for sale in the General Store…stay tuned for more about the art of bee-keeping.

Our finished product after a delightful day in the country.

For delicious organic pie recipes, please visit: Greenopia.com

Is my strive for innerpeace bringing inner turmoil?

I have to admit, after yesterday's post, I began to feel a little apprehensive. Honestly, I let my ego get in the way (bad ego! trying to get rid of it!). I began to think, what if people thought I was trying to be perfect. First of all, we should not care what people think. As Dr.Wayne Dyer says, "You can meet 32 different people and they all will have 32 absolutely different opinions of you, non of which you can control." Nobody's claiming to be perfect here (hello - there's no such thing!). We are simply trying to get on the path of contentment. We all want to be happy. If we were our happiest, then imagine what we could accomplish. We live in a society where ego truly gets the best of us. We think of ourselves too much and are quick to judge. Imagine if our world didn't consist of hatred, jealousy, egos, and the desire for lots of money.

What if our world was more simple? Probably war, poverty, cancer, the desire to bring people down, chemicals, etc. wouldn't be issues that we face today. We are all here to live out our lives to the best of our ability and to help one another. We will all die one day - it's a fact. Why don't we work together, bring one another up and truly work on allowing our best selves to be present. Believe me, this is not the path of least resistance...it's easier to go the other way, but what's the point? Being negative might temporarily make us feel better (misery loves company) but in the long run it hurts us and those around us.

Yesterday was a trying day for me. Not judging or making comments wasn't as easy as I thought but I was able to catch myself. When I found myself on the verge of thinking something that might be considered a judgment, I stopped myself. We CAN control our minds, peeps! I'm going to try MY best to work on this. For MY innerpeace.

The path of contentment isn't a clear one. There are lots of branches to cut through, big obstacles that we must persevere through, and many setbacks that we will encounter; but I'm absolutely confident that once we reach our destination, it will be so beautiful and filled with love, we will never want to turn back. That's why I am on this journey. Why are you?

Passing Judgement

I'm currently reading a great book that I borrowed from my daughter's school, "The Seven Spiritual Laws for Parents" by Deepak Chopra. The book is quite enjoyable and eye opening. One part I found particularly interesting was about teaching our children not to pass judgment on others. Passing judgment is a common practice for a lot of people, but it brings nothing but negativity back to our own lives.

A great way to teach our children not to judge others is by example. Let's all try to go one day without making negative remarks about others. I must include Chopra's words with this post. They are beautiful, simple and inspiring.

"Passing judgement is not part of a spiritual person's approach to life. We all project negativity onto other people, but we do this because we confuse our emotional reactions with reality. If people make us angry, distressed, afraid and so on, we feel that this negativity is their responsibility. Spiritually, the Law of Pure Potentiality tells us that no one can be labeled or judged because life is all possibilities; everything is inside ourselves. Nothing in our nature can be created or destroyed by someone "out there." The very person who makes you angry or afraid can have the opposite effect on someone else. So it is worth setting aside some time to see everyone in the light of love, to hold no judgement, to call no one bad or wrong."