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Annie B Kay

telehealth holistic dietitian, yoga therapist

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You are here: Home / Archives for Integrated Life / Balanced, Happy, Blessed

Balanced, Happy, Blessed

How a baby bird taught me to begin again

June 24, 2019 //  by annie//  2 Comments

baby bird

Cats, birds, and nature don’t always  – or maybe ever – mix. We get busy and distracted in our important lives – starting a new practice, entertaining and improving my level of fitness and oops. Right now I’m grateful to a tiny baby bird, who reminded me about the courage to begin again and again, to make space for practice.

Here’s what happened

Two days ago, a baby bird came into our lives and reminded us about moral clarity. I was pulling weeds in my garden, stood and came around the corner of the house and there it was – a naked egg-shaped baby bird between the paws of my two-year-old cat Bandit. Clearly alive. Clearly struggling.

My beloved and I live atop a hill overlooking an undisturbed field (no spring cut). There are too few uncut fields anywhere these days. A type of bird in New England nests in fields – I don’t know its name but I can show you two of them right now, perched in the tall grass courageously watching their nest and babies – I believe they are endangered.

I scooped up the hatchling so it would not be eaten alive, showed Craig, brought it inside, and made a little nest out of cotton and leaves in a flower pot. I thought I would just make it comfortable as it died and I tried to forgive myself for said death. I googled, made calls and started to find my way to people who could help with information or maybe even save this little one. That might take me off the hook for this possibly endangered bird that my cats have been feasting on while making me feel as though I was doing my part – check!

Fearless fighting Freddie lives

I found out that you can feed them softened cat food. It was clear this little one was not going to die immediately, his neck strained and little beak opened wide for the dropper. He grabbed that dropper and sucked with force. Wow. Impressive.

Through that first night, with (fearless fighting) Freddie cheep-cheeping every 45 minutes, and me rolling over to feed it, it was clear that 1. he might actually live and, and 2. we needed to – as every bird-oriented wildlife person will tell you –  keep the cats in to give the other babies a fighting chance. Maybe weeks. Or forever.

Freddie dies but lives on

Freddie died the next day after a valiant effort – he spent much of a day and a half in that upstretched open-mouthed position that is so cute. He/she died for a hundred possible reasons including that he was too warm/cold/over-hydrated/underhydrated/had internal injuries/the wrong food/or handled too much. I loved that little bird. I could recognize his/her voice cheep-peeping every 45 minutes. Craig loved him too – we decided, after he made it through the night, that we would roll him into the family – do what we had to to take care of the little fellow. This in spite of the mess and stink and the fact that I really do not like bird-pets. We also have 3 cats.

Through the experience, we were reminded that once in a while doing the right thing comes and smacks you in the face. We have to keep the cats in, regardless of how cute they are as they scamper to the door when we make the slightest move in that direction. Maybe for weeks. At least until those two parents are no longer guarding their nest. Maybe indefinitely.

It reminded us, too, that as conscious beings we have to practice – we can’t just wander on and let nature and life take its course. We had a lot of house guests around the time Freddie came into our lives and had stopped practicing. We were less connected to nature than usual. Tending the land comes with responsibility – now that we know those birds are there, we can’t let the cats out. If a little Freddie shows up because we didn’t know or weren’t paying attention, we try to rise to the occasion. Peep peep!

Now what? The answer is always practice

Freddie is now resting-in-peace near his nest. I am grateful to that little fellow and to the practice of mindfulness that allows me to slow down enough to learn from all the crazy things that are unfolding around me.

A good reason to think about joining our online group – to begin (or begin again) to practice mindful living.

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Category: Balanced, Happy, BlessedTag: mindfulness, nature

Annie’s Health Philosophy – What’s Yours?

May 10, 2019 //  by annie//  2 Comments

Annie Kay health philosphy

Hi, I’m Annie

I’ve been a clinical nutritional biochemist for over 20 years, a yoga teacher and therapist for 15, and a student of the psychology of how people change and of consciousness for all my career.

Through my years of helping groups and individuals improve their health through lifestyle, I have seen hundreds (maybe thousands) of people who want to eat a healthful diet that supports who they are, but don’t.

It’s Tough to be Healthy

They can’t get started, can’t sustain it or get sidetracked by things that don’t work. It can be nearly impossible to eat well in our current (nutritionists call it toxic) nutrition environment.

Our modern culture is filled with mixed messages about food, weight, and how we should look and feel. The same is true for other aspects of healthful lifestyle – we want to be physically active yet our worlds are set up to be sedentary. We want to practice mindful resilience and stress-management yet we don’t have time because of the 24/7 culture of work, family, life.

Where I Fit In

I am an unapologetic proponent of spirituality as essential to health. Mind body and spirit have been fractured in our modern culture, and re-uniting and fully occupying our multidimensional selves in balance with the earth is the path forward that resonates for me.

One of the gifts of living right here and now is that we have the potential to be the re-integrators. We have at our fingertips the modern health sciences, and we also have new and accessible interpretations of ancient wisdom-sciences such as shamanic plant work, Ayurveda and tantra. Many practices from these wisdom traditions are proving to be effective modalities for addressing the mind-body-spirit split and toxicity of modern life.

Here’s How I see Health

Practicing an integrated life (imperfectly but regularly) maintains wellness and supports dynamic well-being. For a variety of reasons, most people don’t or are not able to sustain regular practice. Enjoying a plant-based diet, moving, taking time for rest and contemplation, and connecting with family like-minded people are components of a life that keep things in dynamic balance. Your unique variation on that lifestyle fuels your life force – healing is a feeling. But life, for nearly everyone, inevitably becomes imbalanced. It is our nature and indeed the nature of life here on earth to become imbalanced.

I also think that feeling bad about ourselves is overall the largest chronic health problem. Please please don’t feel bad about the choices you make. It’s the critical first step to change.

And Healing

The opportunity of imbalance is to learn more about who you are and why you are here.

You can become a discerner of the array of therapeutic options from evidence-based and wisdom realms, or find others you trust to help you sort it out. You can become a students of who you are – each of us are unique, and what works for someone else will not necessarily work for you. Then you can become a thoughtful experimenter of what works.

With time, life comes into a (often new) balance. Dynamic, changing balance that requires ongoing tending and practice.

It’s a long-term project and a lifelong dance. The alternative, for many, is to get sick before your time. You can do this. I’m honored to share what I know to show you how.

What’s your health philosophy? What’s most important for your health and well-being? I want to know!

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Category: Balanced, Happy, BlessedTag: Annie B Kay, health, nutrition

Do Goals Make You Anxious? What to Aim for Instead

January 3, 2018 //  by annie//  Leave a Comment

I’ve always be a goal-oriented gal. Every year-end I love to reflect on the year that was, integrate the lessons and vision what may be.
I’ve noticed, however, when working with people who are trying to change, that setting goals can trigger anxiety. Goals don’t always seem to support happy change, and we can get a little reductive and crazy around them – push push push. Goals also suggest an endpoint.
When it comes to lifestyle change, there isn’t an endpoint – there are ongoing choices and adjustments. There is practice. Rather than goals, how about milestones – points along the way that can let you know you are on the road you intend. Rather than push, how about flow.
Words are important – they do nothing less than create our world. So, let’s re-think the language surrounding goals – particularly if goals make you anxious.
Rather than goals, think about shift (I call them milestones). Rather than relapse, it’s life (I bow down to my teacher-friend Aruni for that one!). This language feels more real and relevant. When I use allowing and flow language in a workshop, I can see people relax and focus on what really matters – bringing their lives a bit more in alignment with who they are.
The yogis say that change is a dance of being and becoming. Of embodiment and right action. Here in the West, we focus so much on the action phase, but really not at all on the quieter embodiment side of practice. Of walking your talk, and acting as if you understood how sacred the process can be.
Today, life is moving so fast, and is so open to limitless possibilities and is so unpredictable that setting goals seems…not so relevant. I like the idea of getting clear what you are interested in bringing into your life, and the practice doing that – experimenting with the many ways you can walk your talk, and take the right next step.

Did you make goals for 2018? Have they made you a little anxious? How about giving yourself a break, and softening your goal language into shifts, milestones, and practice?

Here are a some other articles on supporting shift and intentions for this new year.
Intention in Action – New Year’s Intentions
Intentions Can Last – Here’s How 
Gather Ye Guides
 

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Category: Balanced, Happy, Blessed, Integrated LifeTag: change, goals, lifestyle

This Simple Tool Crushes Resistance

October 25, 2017 //  by annie//  Leave a Comment

This Simple Tool Crushes Resistance by Annie B Kay - anniebkay.com

This Simple Tool Crushes Resistance by Annie B Kay - anniebkay.com
Despite being at this game of health for decades, I continue to fascinate myself with my own resistance to…well, just about anything. I need help sustaining healthy change, and you probably do too.
I’ve been reading lately about the power of implementation intentions. There’s good research behind it as a strategy to help us move through our day and respond to the inevitable hitches that come up. When we get challenged, we remember what we are trying to do – “I intend to enjoy healthful eating,” and have a few if-then contingency decisions we pre-make every day.
If my husband isn’t home I’ll go to an extra yoga class. If my mom wants to come to Thanksgiving, then she’ll do the turkey.
Turns out that when set intention and we pre-make these decisions, we are more likely to carry them out.
Here are a few that may be helpful:

  • If I’m hungry after work and it’s not dinner time yet, I will have an apple.
  • If I don’t have time for lunch, I’ll grab a couple handfuls of nuts.
  • If I’m tired, I will move anyway – but it will be gentle and enjoyable.
  • If I work late and can’t get to yoga, I’ll take 10 minutes to unwind and meditate before leaving work, then another before going to bed.
  • If I haven’t eaten vegetables yet today, I will double up at dinner.

I find that having three if…thens on a given day do the trick for me. If you can take a moment in the morning and visualize your day, and create three if-thens for your day that help you set an intention to be balanced. If…then.
If I see you today, then I hope you say hi.
Be well,
Annie
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Category: Balanced, Happy, Blessed, Integrated LifeTag: Annie B Kay, implementation intentions, resistance

Navigate the Fall Transition

September 27, 2017 //  by annie//  Leave a Comment

Navigate the Fall Transition by Annie B Kay - anniebkay.com

Navigate the Fall Transition by Annie B Kay - anniebkay.com
Be Still.
After Labor Day, things swirl a little faster, everyone’s at their desk type type typing away, and off we go. Fall. It’s back to school, back to work.
I love Fall – the color in nature here in New England, and every year I do have a few back-to-school flashbacks, thinking of my Disney-bus lunchbox that smelled of old bread and peanut butter. Jelly!
This month I’m in the swirl of fall energy. New business, different business, I’m reaching into new places. As a small business owner (rather than my full-time job as Lead Nutritionist at Kripalu, which I left in January [they won’t be replacing me anytime soon, sorry integrative nutritionists]- though I still teach there a bit) I am learning my own way of marketing – how I inform those I serve of what I offer, finding my way toward having income and expenses balance out (they can balance out, right?).
Fall has some challenge to it. The cold winds begin to blow, aggravating our Vata (an Ayurvedic constitution embodying movement, cold, and dryness. Our whole culture, some say, is Vata deranged, meaning we are over-stimulated in a certain way). We are prone to colds and flu now – and here comes the first round!
I need to remind myself, in these busy days of September, to take time to be still.
To practice – perhaps bowing down to Ganesha, the tantric mascot of new beginnings, good friends, and family bonds. This month I follow his lead, being in the dance of joy and work-life. I’ll remember to enjoy the sweetness of this life no matter how absurd or challenging or ironic the universe seems.
So I practice. Practice wonder and work. And I care for myself in that fall flu preventing way. Here are few ideas:

  • Eat Nutrient Dense. Especially antioxidants. Citrus, dark greens, brightly colored vegetables. Squash and tomatoes are your energy-rich yet calorically light friends.
  • Tend Your Inner Garden. Remember that the vast majority of our immune system is found in the gut, and more specifically, in the collection of bacteria we tend in our large intestines. This is an excellent time to pick up a jar of fermented sauerkraut or kimchee, or, if you are not one for fermenteds, try a good quality probiotic. Look for one with a nice high CFU (colony forming units) number – more than 1 billion per dose is what you are looking for.
  • Take Time to Be Still. As time passes, I am more and more convinced that it is what’s inside our minds that makes us well or not-so. Find a mindfulness group (yes this is the plug! – Check out my weekly online Mindful Presence Group). Or find a local one.
  • Consider the Fine Art of Abhyanga. Through the winter, I rub myself with warm oil each morning, and actually, it’s fantastic oil at that. I either make my own – Ashawaghanda in sesame oil, or I get a nice fragrant (and expensive!) oil from the Kripalu shop for a treat. Each morning I warm a bit, and take a few of the waking moments to take fantastic care of myself. It has literally transformed my life! My Ayurvedic brothers and sisters do it in a particular way – and it depends upon your constitution, which way is just right for you. But, just the warm oil on my cold fall and winter skin. Heaven.

May you navigate the transitional season of fall with nary a sniffle. Be well, love your life and stay in touch.
Annie
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Category: Balanced, Happy, Blessed, Integrated LifeTag: balance, fall, transition

How Mindful Presence Transforms

September 13, 2017 //  by annie//  Leave a Comment

How Mindful Presence Transforms by Annie B Kay - anniebkay.com

How Mindful Presence Transforms by Annie B Kay - anniebkay.com
This month, I’m launching a telehealth private practice. Very exciting. You can now work with me individually online. I’m beginning with Tuesday and Thursday afternoon/evenings for privates and going from there. Wednesday at 6:30 PM EST is an online Mindful Presence Group.
One of the reasons I am partnering with the platform that I am is the capacity to do online groups – we can cyber-gather to meditate, brainstorm, collaborate. The first one that I’m launching is a weekly Mindful Presence Group. I’m launching that one first because I think that it is a powerful basic structure that supports our becoming more of who we intend to be – it supports change. It helps manage stress, forms community, and nudges us along the practice of mindfulness meditation. To paraphrase from my meditation teacher:

Meditation practice helps us quiet down, lets us catch up with ourselves. It leads us to and allows us to gently rearrange, the center of our being. No one else can do this work for you. Only meditation can unlock these doors.

While it does not replace face-to-face connection, it is easy and cost-effective (about $20/session) to practice.

Here is more about the practice:

Mindful presence eases you into meditation! The practice of presence – when we get clear about what is going on, and speak it, particularly in a supportive group, helps us understand that we are not alone and that life is…beautifully imperfect. For everyone. We witness another’s experience silently, with open hearts. Being heard by others in this way can make it easier to move with confidence into a deeper appreciation of life.
Each group is limited to 12 participants.

Outline for the 60-minute call:

  • Annie: Welcome and meditation (10 min)
  • Each participant speaks for 2-3 minutes (Annie will facilitate – it’s easy AND speaking is optional…you can just listen if you prefer)
  • Annie integrates and offers a follow-up question or deepener
  • Group members share as desired, time allowing (Annie will facilitate)
  • Annie closes with a brief meditation

Basic ground rules of conscious communication:

  • Statements come from your experience: “I am experiencing…”, “I am feeling…”
  • Resist the temptation to cross-talk. While something someone else says may resonate with you, resist saying “I agree…” or “That reminds me of…”
  • When someone has the floor, we are silent witnesses to their report. We simply hold space for one another.
  • You don’t have to speak – you can pass. Too, when you are complete, let us know by saying “thanks,” or “that’s it.”

Give it a try!
It is a group meditation and conscious communication practice rolled into one.

Here’s the link to join in. 

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Category: Balanced, Happy, Blessed, Heal with Yoga, Integrated Life, Meditation & BreathingTag: meditation, mindfulness, presence

Feeling Diabetic? Let's Fix It.

June 21, 2017 //  by annie//  Leave a Comment

Feeling Diabetic? Let's Fix It. by Annie B Kay - anniebkay.com

Feeling Diabetic? Let's Fix It. by Annie B Kay - anniebkay.com
Diabetes is the scary sister of the obesity epidemic.
The physical fallout from insulin resistance (IR) and the resulting roller coaster of blood sugar leads to life-altering circulation problems which in turn can lead to vision issues, neuropathy (nerve issues), kidney issues and more. It’s scary stuff.
What does it feel like to live in a body that has pre-diabetes?
It feels tired – unusually tired. It feels hungry – really hungry for comfort foods and fat – things like bread, cookies and sweets, potatoes with gravy or butter. It feels a little shaky and often nervous. It can feel overall crummy, unmotivated and a little hopeless.
It’s not you! It’s your blood sugar.
When you feel like you have diabetes, comfort foods – the very foods that make the condition worse – are most appealing. Yes, the universe is ironic.
Most diabetes begins as pre-diabetes and worsens over time. UNLESS!
Unless you change.
The good news is that for this type of diabetes, you can, to a HUGE extent, prevent progression of the disease. I have seen it reversed time and time again when someone has the support to eat to manage blood sugars, gets adequate movement and manages stress. Maintaining it is the tricky part…hard (but possible) to do.
Many mainstream medical docs are not talking about the extent to which you can reverse diabetes. It drives me (and my proactive doc friends) crazy to hear that someone’s blood sugar is a bit up and their doc tells them to watch and wait. What you’ll end up watching is your blood sugars rise, and diabetes take hold. When I see someone with a borderline high fasting blood sugar, it’s ACTION TIME! It’s the time you can completely change your future.
You are so very worth it. 
It’s all about finding your version of a healthier life; enjoy a delicious healthful diet, manage stress and move adequately. There are so many paths to managing blood sugars. You don’t have to be perfect, and each person can find the balance of eating, moving and having fun (another way of thinking about managing stress) that works for them.
A few easy ways to get started are:

  1. Add one more serving of your favorite vegetable, either raw or lightly cooked, than you eat right now. Begin today, and repeat tomorrow.
  2. Try the psyllium shot before meals. I swear it works!
  3. Consider the disco minute. Put on your favorite dance song and dance like no one’s watching.

The earlier you address the issue, the better (though it’s never too late – even if you are on insulin, improving your self-care will improve your overall health). The earlier you begin, the more likely you’ll be able to fix the issue. From years of providing evidence-based nutrition to people with creeping weight gain afraid of diabetes, I can tell you that the number of people with metabolic syndrome (a little diabetes and a little cardiovascular disease that add up to bad news for health), who don’t know they have it is very large and growing. Even many people with good medical care don’t seem to know (or are too afraid to know).
I hear you – diabetes is a scary condition. It might seem that in order to address it you have to give up your favorite foods – all the comfort and fun in your life. While you do have to change to address the condition, many people are doing it and actually enjoying life more. Step by step, little (or a lot) at a time. When I work with someone with diabetes, we work on making sure food is not the only source of comfort in life – we have to do that first, then addressing food is easier.
Once you’re ready to make a change (and have practiced one of the easy kick-starts I mentioned above) is to take stock of where you are. Again, it can be un-nerving to take that clear look at the numbers that describe what’s going on, but just know that whatever they are, you can change them.
This summer I’ll be blogging more about diabetes – what it is, and how to manage it with lifestyle.
In the meantime, here are a couple posts that you might find helpful:

  • Getting Started with Healthy Eating 
  • Yoga for Diabetes

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Category: Balanced, Happy, Blessed, Integrated LifeTag: diabetes, weight bias

Do You Get Fat Shamed? 5 Ways to Channel That Hate into Love

June 14, 2017 //  by annie//  13 Comments

Do You Get Fat Shamed? 5 Ways to Channel That Hate into Love by Annie B Kay - anniebkay.com

Do You Get Fat Shamed? 5 Ways to Channel That Hate into Love by Annie B Kay - anniebkay.com
Donald is gaining weight. He’s feeling the stress! But I am saddened by some of my favorite commentators’ abusive language around his stress eating and resulting weight.
Several years ago at a nutrition conference, I took a test designed by researchers at the Rudd Center for Food Policy at Yale, that consisted of quickly circling a series of characteristics which may or may not describe an overweight person.
Here we were, a roomful of dietitians who’s professional lives are dedicated to helping those who struggle with weight and eating, and when the results came in, we were shown to be rife with our own weight bias. The speaker shared that her experience with health professionals across the country suggested that all of us – down to a person – carry a deep bias against people of size.
I feel it myself.  Working in yoga, which has, overall, become a youth-oriented, thin-oriented world isn’t always easy. There are times my brilliance doesn’t matter – how can that be?!
We are a nation terrified of gaining weight and intolerant of those who do. Social stigmatization of overweight people is at an all-time high. All the while it seems more difficult to achieve a healthy weight, and Americans continue to gain. We are hard on each other, and hard on ourselves, and none of it is helpful.
This mass aversion to weight appears to be based less in science than fashion (and fear). Body weight, scientists are finding, does not predict health as well as healthy lifestyles and physical fitness do. More Americans are fit and fat, and thinness does not guarantee good health.
Obesity is being blamed for everything from higher gas prices to global warming. The latest round of zealous investigation of the costs of obesity is an article in the current issue of The Engineering Economist, which calculates how much more gasoline is used by overweight Americans. The findings are in the same vein as an article by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last year, that calculated how much more fuel airlines use now that the American waistline has expanded.
“People are out scouring the landscape for things that make obese people look bad,” noted Kelly Brownell, a director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy at Yale in a recent New York Times article. Is that a bad thing? Opinions are decidedly mixed. Some educators feel that anything that can be done to motivate people to eat less and exercise more should be done, including social ridicule.
Does this public flogging work? Research suggests that for weight issues, it does not.
Unlike other public health issues – smoking, substance abuse, peer pressure around obesity seems to make the problem worse. Several recent studies reported in Obesity Research suggest that the stigma of overweight and its emotional fallout leads those who struggle with eating and weight to eat more, not less.
Why might this be so? For smoking, drinking and other unhealthy habits, abstinence is a viable and sometimes preferable choice. But we need to eat to live, so with food abstinence is not an option. To eat consciously we must learn to be moderate. And moderation is not a widely observed American trait.
Eating is a sensual experience, with its emotional roots deep in our earliest memories. From our first nursing at our mother’s breast (or from the bottle offered by dad), eating is what humans do when we come together, be it family dinner or special celebrations. Food is not only the fuel that enables our survival; it represents connection, comfort, even love. No wonder, when our lives feel out of balance, our relationship with food also becomes unbalanced. Eating is comforting, at least in the short term. Over time, however, overeating as a coping mechanism never works and becomes just another stress-producing part of life.
Our deep connection with food and eating is brilliantly exploited in advertising, with large portions of snack foods offered up as a salve for what ails us. Studies have shown that food in advertising is also presented as means to relieve loneliness, replace relationships, reward ourselves, and manage stress. At the same time, the media suggests we keep the medicinal chocolate cake handy, it also peddles images of beauty that are impossibly thin.
What can we do to escape the cycle of eating and intolerance? How do we turn the hate into self-love and forgive the haters?

  1. We can relax. By occasionally unplugging from the constant contact, always available, 24/7 culture, we can begin to unwind. By slowing down we just say no to the media-driven messages of disordered eating and unhealthy body image. As we do that, a quiet whisper of truth can finally be heard, and more natural ways of being can emerge.
  2. We can learn to feel our emotions fully before reacting. This is a great practice – feel, honor, release emotions without pacifying or burying how we feel with distractions of food or shopping. Just taking a brief walk can be a great way to manage stress, to think, to breath, and to elucidate and integrate how you feel about something.
  3. We can try this simple (but not easy) process when we feel the red flag of intolerance toward ourselves or others: Slow down. Breathe. Relax. Send loving kindness to whoever triggered your red flag. The Dalai Lama says that when someone triggers you – really pushes your buttons, we should bow down and thank them. I love Buddhist humor! So hard to do – but so necessary to make the world a better place.
  4. We can practice compassionate self-observation free of judgment. What are the parts of your body that you feel are most beautiful? Can you let those good feeling expand – like a golden light – to your whole body? How about your life – what is going well?
  5. We can try less. Try less of anything we approach with a consuming mindset, be it food, busyness, money, or exercise. Don’t believe the lie that you have to do everything or be perfect.

Each of these simple (though not easy) practices cultivates conscious renunciation of the crazy culture we live in. They are a simple (but not easy) means of taking control of your own life experience.
Part of the job of being me is to practice and model. To show up, even when it’s hard and I’d rather not. I believe very very deeply that it’s the oldest, largest, most handicapped person in the yoga class who is the biggest teacher – who sends the message to every young woman and man that yes, it’s OK to get older or larger or less well or lose a leg (like one wonderful woman who, when there was a deep community connection, came to classes regularly).
We all need to live in the world. And our world is a bountiful place where anything is possible. Fashion, the media, and all the gizmos of modern life can be fun tools for creating a productive and meaningful existence. There is nothing inherently evil about our culture except that parts of it are designed to make us feel horrible about ourselves as a strategy to keep us shopping and eating.
The obesity epidemic is a global health crisis. And it may be that our growing waistlines contribute to global warming, high gas prices, and other societal ills. Let’s forgive the researchers who spent their time, talent, and our money to make these calculations.
Ooaaahhhmmm. Namaste.
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Category: Balanced, Happy, Blessed, Integrated LifeTag: fat shame, love, weight bias

Garden Hacks Book Review

May 17, 2017 //  by annie//  Leave a Comment

Garden Hacks Book Review by Annie B Kay - anniebkay.com

Garden Hacks Book Review by Annie B Kay - anniebkay.com
Shawna Coronado’s enthusiasm is contagious in her latest offering, 101 Organic Gardening Hacks: Eco-friendly Solutions to Improve Any Garden.
She’s going on a journey to reuse, reduce, and recycle in the garden in some wonderfully inventive and a few wacky ways, and she’s inviting you to come along. Overall, this 4-color 160-page guide is a very handy and appealing one for this spring. Every time I open it I get excited, and I learn a little something new.
A hack, notes the author, is just a great idea that’s come to life. It’s the short path to the desired result. Hacks in the book are organized by type (maintenance, edible, seedlings, tools) and they really are great ideas.

Here are a couple of my favs:

  • 101 Organic Gardening HacksHack 43 – Pet tender seedlings to keep them strong and stocky (put thigmotropism to work for you). I’m all over this one and had forgotten that. Grateful for the reminder.
  • Hack 61 – Regrow food from cut kitchen scraps is a great reason to enjoy leeks, celery, or herbs in spring. You can plant them in your garden after dinner! Step by step instructions for increasing your likelihood of them taking are included. I really haven’t done this successfully, but am grateful that a gardener more enthusiastic than I has. I’ll try it again!

There’s a secret about gardens – they don’t have to be hard. You can practically toss seeds at the ground in spring and they will pop up amongst the weeds (and will pop up even better if you take a little time to pull the weeds). But you can keep it very very easy and simple.
That’s why I love Shawna’s new book – it’s in that spirit of whatever you can do. It’s not fancy, not precious. It’s a get-out-there and put-your-hands-in-the-earth (which I swear is a nutrient – hands in earth nutrient) sort of attitude. It’s reuse that plastic container attitude. It’s begin where you are attitude. I love me an expert who has that type of DIY (do it yourself) attitude – not what I call a guru “only I know” attitude.
Happy digging, be it containers on your windowsill, a square in your back yard, or the whole wide world.
Would you like to connect with me in the tropics in February 2018? Check out my Pura Vida Retreat. It’s filling up, so if it sounds like your cup or tea, reach out!
Garden Hacks Book Review by Annie B Kay - anniebkay.com

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Category: Balanced, Happy, BlessedTag: 101 Organic Gardening Hacks: Eco-friendly Solutions to Improve Any Garden, book review, garden, nature, plants, Shawna Coronado

Wake Up, Show Up, Get Up: Lifestyle Medicine

April 19, 2017 //  by annie//  Leave a Comment

Wake Up, Show Up, Get Up- Lifestyle Medicine by Annie B Kay - anniebkay.com
I’m hearing more about lifestyle medicine these days (thank goodness!), including another movie “What the Health” on the problems of “big health” (pharma-central health care and advocacy, processed food and other areas where $ over-rides health). Like life itself, it’s more complicated than good guys and bad guys. I love health advocacy groups, and taking funds from big pharma, is well, OK – so long as it funds lifestyle – and while pharma is often used when lifestyle ought to be the first line of treatment, drugs do save lives (with side effects). It’s just not black & white.
The American lifestyle – including:

  • An over-processed, nutritionally devoid, inhumanly raised food supply,
  • More sedentary lives,
  • And inadequate ways of handling stress (we love us some comfort food & screen time).

All add up to bodies more likely to express the chronic disease tendencies in our family histories. We have so much room for improvement!
In the post-truth age, I am going to do my best to tell you my whole truth on this.
It’s hard to live well today.
It’s nearly impossible to eat well all the time. That’s OK, because you do not have to be perfect. If however you have biomarkers of disease (like high fasting blood sugar and A1c, lipid labs suggestive of cardiovascular disease) or symptoms (achy joints, weight gain, skin issues) that something is out of balance, you’ve gotta give it a try. You’ve just gotta keep trying. I love to eat and sometimes overeat (my 55 year-old metabolism is slowing down down down despite exercise, and that’s probably a good thing in the long run) so managing my weight is a constant companion. So, I practice.
It’s hard to get adequate physical activity. The evidence and advocacy groups say you need at least 30 minutes of moderate movement most days of the week. Ten-thousand steps might need to be elevated to fifteen (which doesn’t matter if you, like me, sometimes come in at the 1,000 range!). In order to be healthy, as you age, you’ve got to move. Quite a bit. As much as you can. Your life needs to be physical (even if you have limitations – if you can use your arms but not your legs, use your arms. There are a million ways to do it (I walk and clean and garden and do yoga and even, recently calisthenics classes – weights). I still need more. I sluff off. When I do it I feel better – less achy, higher energy. So I practice.
It’s hard not to get stressed out. Life is upsetting. We are past the Co2 tipping point, for goodness sake. That’s really bad news. We are losing a lot and need to learn to let go. But what we are losing often feels really important. And so it is. That’s why I carry around a book that helps me work on non-attachment. My own personal practice is non-attachment while caring. It’s tricky, but a really good practice. It works for me. So I practice.
So, what to do?

  • To work lifestyle medicine – the heart of preventive health, or being in balance with the earth and our own bodies, we do need to wake up. To not buy the cultural norms being sold to us. To know that both fake news and true healing are alive and well in the food and health industries. Health is in the nuance – in the middle ground between fake and true.
  • We have to know who we are and show up for our own lives in a real way. To be honest, I don’t care what you eat in any given moment. I do care if you enjoy it, and very much hope that you do. Whatever you decide to eat, decide to do, decide to be, do it all out, have fun with it, learn from it and carry on. There is a full, true, healthful version of you in there, and I so wish that you dance in that version more of the time.
  • I can’t see a way around getting up. We have to participate in our lives in a physically and mentally active way in order to be healthy. We need to dance and clean and hunt and play golf and badminton and what ever else we love to do.

At this point in time, lifestyle medicine is a little radical – a little against the grain. It’s a little uncomfortable and might feel a little judgmental – who do you think you are, doing all that self-care?! That’s a really good questions.
Here’s my answer of who you are: you are a divine expression of God. That’s why you deserve to be your fullest expression. That’s why you deserve to take fantastic care of yourself.
Go forth and practice! Let your freak flag fly!
L,
Annie
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Category: Balanced, Happy, Blessed, For Health ProsTag: lifestyle medicine, nutrition, physical activity, stress

Shall We Meet in Paradise? Tropical 2018 Retreat

March 29, 2017 //  by annie//  10 Comments

Shall We Meet in Paradise? Tropical 2018 Retreat by Annie B Kay - anniebkay.com
Sign up now. Space is limited and this will sell out quickly. 
Those of you who know me know that I absolutely love to combine vacation and learning. In 2018, I’m offering it to you: let’s meet at a beautiful spa in the tropical clouds of Costa Rica for deep support and directed self-inquiry.
In this 5-night retreat, you will have the opportunity to:

  • Deepen your relationship with your physical body with gentle progressive yoga and meditation.
  • Enjoy food and all that nourishes through mindful practice and interactive learning.
  • Gain insight about your one precious life through conscious group share, guided imagery, and Shamanic journey.
  • Get clear about and support your full, true, gorgeous expression of you.

Leader:  moi – Annie B. Kay – nutritional biochemist/yoga therapist/plant alchemist
balanced happy blessed retreat with Annie B KayCosts:
Tuition: $380
Room & Board: Ranges from $702 (double in a glam-tent) – $1627 (single in the fanciest rooms). Prices subject to change (a little).
Check out the venue: https://puravidaspa.com/accommodations/
Pura Vida is a gorgeous retreat about 20 minutes from the San Jose airport, has spa treatments (separate), hosts excursions (separate). If you go you might spend a few days at the beach before or after the retreat. 
NOT included: Airfare.
To hold your space: $400 deposit



Shall We Meet in Paradise? Tropical 2018 Retreat by Annie B Kay - anniebkay.com
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Category: Balanced, Happy, BlessedTag: Annie B Kay, Costa Rica, nutrition, Pura Vida Spa, retreat, travel, yoga

5 Top Whole Food & Nutrition Memes for 2017

January 1, 2017 //  by annie//  2 Comments

5 Top Whole Food & Nutrition Memes for 2017 by Annie B Kay - anniebkay.com
Happy New Year! It’s that time again!
Time to review the year that was, and reset our course for the possibilities ahead. I honestly don’t know too many people who had a stellar 2016, but I know you’re out there. Here’s a round up of the top whole food & nutrition memes I see out there.
Prediction: 2017 will be the year of the skillful – we will be challenged! For those who are clear about who they are and what’s real, and roll up their sleeves to serve others and have a good time, it will be a good year.
So, let’s eat! The mega-trend is AUTHENTIC. REAL is in.

So, your practice of discernment – of separating the true from the pretenders – is the practice of the year.

Here are my top whole food memes to watch:

    1. Spicy shots! It all began with the re-emergence of Fire Cider (and the bru-ha-ha that followed when an upstart trademarked a beloved herbalist’s recipe – couldn’t this have been prevented with a kind and appreciative phone call?). Anyway, I just whipped up a new recipe on this concept that does not require steeping for 6 weeks. It’s not the original, but it has increased our Free Fire Cider consumption and has been keeping us warm this month. Recipe coming soon! These fun little morning shots are warming and nutrient dense – natural preventive nutrition of the very best kind. This is my favorite food trend of the year. Bottom’s up!
    2. Post-paleo Real-paleo – return of the (whole) grains! Paleo taught us a lot – it taught us to think about our genetic imperative (just how do we feed humans?). It taught us that refined foods (even those with a Paleo wrapper), refined grains, and refined sugar are not our friends. Paleo man (that famous 10K-year-old fellow) did not, however, eat bacon. He didn’t eat meat 3x per day. He sure didn’t eat modern grain-fed hamburgers, even without the bun. I’ve read a number of analysis suggesting he ate more than 110 gm of fiber (most Americans get 5-14 gm in our refined diets). Now that the paleo-frenzy has subsided, we are re-appreciating whole grains, and enjoying them as tolerated. Let’s hear it for balance.
    3. Authentic quality animal & fermenteds! As my friends and excellent nutritionists John Bagnulo and Kathie Swift say – you are what they ate. Our great-grandparents didn’t need terms like organic and grass-fed, but unfortunately, due to the duplicity of marketing, we do now. We are swimming in poor-quality food, high in calories and low in nutrition. So, to improve your diet, if you eat animal foods, choose only those that are raised as nature intended. Cows are designed by the universe to live off grass, not grain. Chickens are healthy and happy when they are eating bugs and grass. This year, try your own fermented food recipes and include a little something fermented every day.
    4. Revenge of self-acceptance.  This year the NIH taught us a new phrase: metabolic adaptation. It means that if we gain weight and then lose, there’s a chance that, pound for pound, we will need fewer calories than if we hadn’t taken that weight gain sidetrack. Sigh. Does it go away over time? Something in me tells me that it does, but not to the degree we’d wish. So, enter self-acceptance. If you can follow a preventive health lifestyle regardless of the number on the scale, and you sustain it over time, you will win. You will look better, feel better and probably live longer. Will you reach your high school (or college) weight? Will you do it without dealing with your own hunger and satiety issues? Probably not.
    5. Smarter supplement use.  Supplements can be powerful medicines but are generally over-used and generally of really poor quality. Taking every supplement you hear about, and buying the cheapest version you can find, is a losing strategy. I only suggest someone try a supplement to address a lab value or a symptom, find the highest quality you can find & afford, take as directed and watch to see if you get the result you are seeking. I also keep supplement use to your top 5 (and 5 is a lot!). Run from practitioners that insists you need more. The right supplement at the right time can be a lifesaver, but food is so much more important overall. A qualified licensed nutritionist can work with you to sort which are worth it for you, and how to use supplements along with diet and lifestyle effectively.

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Category: Balanced, Happy, BlessedTag: authentic, food, grains, nutrition, paleo, self-acceptance, supplements

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