July Self-Care Retreat 2013 - Exploring Self-Care through Faith and Meditation

Over the past month a beautiful group of bloggers and readers have shared their thoughts on self-care. What it is, why it's important, best practices, etc...

Mid-way through the month I shared my own thoughts on what self-care has really meant to me in the past few years. Exploring my own spirituality and emotional health has been very important and has helped to shape the ever-growing person I am today. 

Through this month I spent time doing several guided meditation sessions with Iris Higgins (you MUST check out her new website: yourfairyangel.com) along with a few metta meditation sessions on youtube. (Youtube is a wonderful tool for free meditation resources!) 

For me, meditation has become one of my favorite methods of radical self-care. Meditation, done with a thoughtful teacher, has a way of helping me to better understand my own thoughts and feelings. Meditation has a way of quieting my mind and letting me see the "why" behind many of my frustrations and challenges. 

I often draw while I'm meditating. It helps me to focus and it gives me an actual "picture" of the feelings I'm working through. 

The sketches above were done while I was listening to the 1st meditation in Iris's 3 Day Chrysalis workshop. (If you scroll to the bottom of the Workshop page, Iris has the meditations in a podcast format, so you can listen and participate yourself!) 

I had a lot of deadlines this month, so I didn't set a list of primary goals to accomplish. But I really thought about all of the different ways I practice self-care and how much they have made a difference in my life the past few years. 

I have such a different perspective on problems than I did a few years ago. I have a much more positive outlook on life now than I used too. I feel so much happier than I did before! Much of this has been due to really wonderful counseling and wellness coaching from Cheryl Harris, the host of this amazing July event. But I also know, that a lot of it is due to finally being truly present in my life and working through issues as they come. No more ignoring things I don't like...no more resistance to change... no more hiding from my own feelings. 

As I look back on how life has changed for me in the past two years one thing that stands out to me is that REAL change takes time. Real change takes a lot of practice and patience and willingness. Real change takes communication. Real change takes exploration. And for me that hasn't always been easy. As Cheryl wisely told me in our last session, "We all have our "stuff" to work through." And I feel like I can really look back over the past two years and see real change. I can see that I deal with problems as they arise instead of putting them on the back burner and letting them simmer. I'm present to experience the blessings of each day, instead of dreading the challenges I might face.

Self-care is a process. A humbling, beautiful, and raw process... but the gradual results are priceless. Exploring life with joy instead of fear is one of the most abundant gifts I have ever been given.

Do you want to know more about how you can incorporate self-care into your own life? Please check out the thoughtful posts by all of the fellow bloggers and readers who participated through this month's event: 

Our fantastic group of bloggers:

June 28th:  Cheryl of Gluten-Free Goodness
July 6th: Valerie of City Life Eats
July 13th: Shirley of Gluten Free Easily (GFE)
July 20st: Iris of My Fairy Angel (you probably also know her from The Daily Dietribe)
July 27th Kate of Eat, Recycle Repeat
Aug 3rd Carrie of Ginger Lemon Girl

My Self-Care Goals 2013 GF Goodness

Guest Post from Linda on Self-Care

July Self-Care Goals on City|Life|Eats

Wrap up and July Challenge on Eat, Recycle, Repeat

13 Self-Care Lessons from the Masters GF Goodness

Guest post from Linda

Debi of Hunter’s Lyoness on Unconditional love

City Life Eats on Infusing some new into yoga

Iris of Daily Dietribe on Letting Go

Carrie of Ginger Lemon Girl with 9 Things that Make Me Feel Happy & Calm My Spirit

Cheryl of GF Goodness on Re-Writing the Story

Carrie of Ginger Lemon Girl on Emotional and Spiritual Growth

Kate of Eat Recycle Repeat on “How to Surrender”

Cheryl of GF Goodness on Depression and Self Care

9 Things That Make Me Feel Happy & Calm My Spirit

photo by Michael Forbes -  June 2013

1)     Listening to spiritual and/or inspirational acoustic music

Little in this world can change my mood like music can. Finding music that can reach your deepest, darkest places is pivotal. Figure out what is meaningful for your body and spirit. Whether it's hip hop, classical, death metal (my husband!), country, pop, celtic, kid's songs, christmas music... whatever genre it is, use it to help you feel better on rough days. 

2)     Going to the drug store and spending an hour reading funny birthday cards

There are always days when finding joy is hard. Simply going to the store and reading silly, funny, knee-slaping cards can ALWAYS bring a smile to my face. My husband and I often make a point of visiting the card aisle when we go grocery shopping. 

3)     Writing a real note and snail-mailing it to a friend

Because everyone, I mean EVERYONE, appreciates small hand-written notes. Whether it's a brief sentence or a full letter, you are sharing a small part of your day with someone else. It's an offering of love both to you and from you. 

4)     Slowly walking to my car in the hot, hot sunshine after spending all day in an overly air-conditioned office.

Learning to notice abundance, even in small, "everyday" things like the warmth of the sun is a priceless gift. Once you start noticing the gifts around you, others will notice them as well. Abundance is everywhere. 

5)     Reading the website: "What Money Cannot Buy"

The little things in life are truly the most valuable. When we learn to enjoy the smallest of blessings (finding a fork in my drawer at work during lunch time, when I thought I was completely out of utensils!), it makes the big blessings seem even bigger, and gives every single day endless possibilities. 

6)     Taking a LONG hot shower

The power of water can be unimaginably refreshing and rejuvenating. Soaking in hot water eases muscle tension, clears nasal sinus passages naturally (oh to breathe in allergy season!), and can clear your mind. 

7)     Making Michael an unexpected cup of hot chocolate or a batch of his favorite chocolate chip cookies.... just because

Doing small things for those who love us, especially on days when life seems blue, can be uplifting and energizing. Love the people who love you. Even when you don't feel like it. It can make a world of difference. 

8)     Baking bread or making cupcakes for other people... just because

I've always enjoyed baking and sometimes I just need the rhythmic physical-feel of baking bread or making cupcakes. Often, I don't even want to eat them, I just enjoy the act of making them. (However, don't leave me alone with a fresh loaf of bread and butter...) Sometimes, even for someone like me who rarely enjoys anything "physical fitness" related, the "physical-ness" of making something like cupcakes or bread is soothing and brings me a lot of joy. 

9)     Watching incredibly cheesy, happy-ending inspirational movies on Netflix

Need to watch something mindless, yet happy & heartwarming? Check out the inspirational movies on Netflix. Seriously, sometimes we just need to remember there ARE happy endings and not all pets die at the end of movies! Laughing at cheesy dialogue is also ridiculously fun!

What are things that make you happy & calm your spirit?? I'd love to how others relax and find peace!

Book Giveaway: I'm a Celiac's "Gluten Free Family Approved Recipes"

Enchilada Casserole page 50, from Pam Jordan's "Gluten Free Family Approved Recipes" 

I am a simple cook. I love shows like "Chopped" and "Cupcake Wars" and "Masterchef"... but honestly I'd never want to compete in them. Because my cooking isn't gourmet, it isn't fancy, it's just good food for hungry bellies.

And that's what I love about Pam Jordan's lovely little cookbook called, "Gluten Free Family Approved Recipes." This wonderful cookbook has over 50 recipes that Pam uses regularly in her home. They are a mix of completely homemade simple meals and meals that use gluten-free shortcuts like Italian dressing mix, taco seasoning, etc... Another awesome thing about Pam's book... it has a slow cooker chapter! And I'm kinda partial to slow cooker recipes! :-P

Every single recipe has been shared and enjoyed at her family table with three hungry kids and her husband.

"One Dish Wonder" pg. 41 from Pan Jordan's "Gluten Free Family Approved Recipes" 

So far I've tried the "One Dish Wonder" on page 41, a really awesome chicken meal that shows you how to make the main dish + 2 sides in one casserole dish. I loved this meal. Pam shows you how to cook all three parts of the meal in one dish by making them side by side with different seasonings. I actually just layered the dish because I was short on chicken. But the flavors in this meal are spot on! Pam called for GF Italian dressing seasoning, but I didn't have any... so I used half a package of dry Ranch dressing mix instead and it was AWESOME! I can't believe I've never thought to use the flavors of a dressing mix in a casserole. We loved this!

We also tried the Enchilada Casserole on page 50 (see the top picture in this post). It uses jarred gluten-free enchilada sauce (I had never used it before! YUM!), corn tortillas, and ground beef (we used ground turkey since that's what I had on hand). This was a really good casserole. Michael said it was like a "Mexican" lasagna and that's what I thought too. We will definitely be making this again.

Pam's book is a real bargain. As a matter of fact, you can buy it for your kindle right now for only $3.99 from Amazon. A STEAL for an entire book of tested recipes that really work the first time you try them! The next recipe on my list to try is the Pear Cobbler. Pears are my favorite fruit and I've never thought to try them in a cobbler, so I know that will be absolutely delicious!

Would you like to win a print copy of Pam's awesome book? 

Here's how: 

The Giveaway Nittygritty:

• 1 brand new printed copy of Pam Jordan's cookbook, "Gluten Free Family Approved Recipes"  
• This giveaway is open to everyone. 
• One entry per person.
• Enter by leaving a comment below on this post AND please include a way for me to contact you -- your email address preferably.
• The giveaway begins July 25, 2013 and ends on July 29, 2013  at 11:00 pm eastern daylight savings time.
• No purchase is necessary.  Odds of winning are based on the number of entries.  
• The winners will be randomly chosen and will be contacted by email.  The winners will have 24 hours to respond.  If the winner does not respond, a new winner will be randomly chosen.

GLG Disclosure: 

Pam sent me a free printed copy of her book to review, if I chose to do so. This is not a sponsored post and I did not receive monetary compensation. The opinions in this post are completely my own. The giveaway copy of the printed book will be provided by Pam Jordan. 

July 2013 Self-Care Retreat - Emotional & Spiritual Growth

How often do we begin a sentence with "I should have..." For instance, as I started writing this post, I wanted to say, "I should have written this post weeks ago..." And ideally that's what I meant to do.... but life is so rarely "ideal." Part of self-care is accepting and welcoming life when it isn't ideal.

Cheryl Harris (my nutritionista of awesomeness!) started the July Self-Care blogging event several years ago as a way to remember how important self-care is in our daily lives. We live such busy lives that we often forget how important it is to take care of ourselves, our-whole-selves. Generally, unless we take very good care of our whole self, it's very hard to take care of anyone or anything else!  And that means finding a way to put yourself first. I realize this sounds selfish. It kind of goes against a lot of what I learned growing up. But I've slowly learned that in order to take good care of my husband, my family, my friends, my furr-kids, my home, and my extended family... I HAVE to put myself first. I have to make sure that I am well cared for, so I can care well for everyone else in my life. 

Self-care means taking care of your whole self. Your body, your mind, and your spirit. Since we are all completely unique individuals this may mean something different for each person. You may need to focus more on your physical health, while other's may need to focus on their spiritual health or their emotional health. Finding the right balance of all three is a big part of self-care.

Over the past two years I've been really working on my journey to emotional health and spiritual health. I've done this in many different ways from coloring mandalas, to praying more, to journaling, to beginning the art of meditation... I also feel like in many ways I've been redefining my spiritual health and well-being. I've realized this plays so closely with my emotional health.

My personal religious & spiritual beliefs with God have morphed and changed a lot over the past few years. There were issues that for years and years never made sense to me as a Christian and I truly struggled with certain ideals. Over the past two-three years I've widened my beliefs and studied a lot about Buddhist practices and principles, along with traditional Catholicism, Native American spiritual beliefs, and even Judaism. I've realized that my own spiritual beliefs do not have to be boxed into any one specific category... and they never really have been. This has been a huge awakening for me.

Suddenly, I don't have to feel like I can't "believe" in a specific principle just because it doesn't fit within a certain religious guideline. In reality, I think I've always done this to a degree. There's a certain rebelliousness in believing what you want no matter what your specific religious background is... but to finally give yourself permission to change and grow and allow your beliefs to do the same is extraordinarily freeing.

It's also particularly fun and liberating to realize that you may NEVER stop growing and changing and redefining who you truly are as a person. I love having this new understanding of myself!

At the beginning of August I will share more about a few techniques I've been using to help myself grow, along with finding peace and joy in the "every day-ness" of life. It's been a life-changing few months for me, and I look forward to seeing the ways you have grown & changed too in the past few years of your life.

Many bloggers have participated in this year's July Self-Care Retreat. Please visit their websites and posts on the many different ways you can incorporate self-care into your life. 

• June 28th: Me! Cheryl of Gluten-Free Goodness
• July 6th: Valerie of City Life Eats
• July 13th: Shirley of Gluten Free Easily (GFE)
• July 20st: Iris of My Fairy Angel (you probably also know her from The Daily Dietribe)
• July 27th Kate of Eat, Recycle Repeat
• Aug 3rd Carrie of Ginger Lemon Girl 

Before we get into the “rules” (of the self-care retreat blog posts), know that the main “rule” is to relax, enjoy, take good care of yourself and have fun.

Why join us? Because self-care takes a village, too.

These posts are to inspire you all to make July a month of reflecting on self-care and the many ways to nourish ourselves. We encourage everyone to participate in this event in a way that feels appropriate to them, whether through making different choices around food, adding in movement, personal reflection, journaling or other self-care. If you would like to share your experience with self-care, we would love to include you in the experience, whether you join us for one week or every week. We ask that you link back to this post so that more people can learn about this retreat, and leave a comment for the weekly theme host, too! That way, we can make sure we see your post and that you’re entered into the drawing.

2013 Posts thus Far:

Cheryl's Self-Care Goals 2013 GF Goodness

Guest Post from Linda on Self-Care

July Self-Care Goals on City|Life|Eats

Wrap up and July Challenge on Eat, Recycle, Repeat

13 Self-Care Lessons from the Masters GF Goodness

Curious about past retreats? Recaps for July Retreats 2011 & 2012 are here:

http://www.gfgoodness.com/2012/08/05/a-july-self-retreat-recap/

http://www.gfgoodness.com/2011/08/11/4117/

So we went camping this weekend...

It rained... A LOT....

Needless to say it was a very short camping trip!

Have any of your plans been rained out lately?? Did you do something fun anyway?

Before we decided to leave the campground on Saturday morning, we were able to use a small table top grill for dinner on Friday night. We grilled all-beef hotdogs, fresh corn on the cob, and of course marshmallows! It was delicious and simple and still fun despite being surrounded by water on all sides!

I hope to post more in the next few weeks. I've been on a blogging/social media hiatus of sorts and it always seems hard for me to get back in the swing of things when I've taken a break.

Here's hoping your summer hasn't been quite as rainy as ours! (On the good side, we are in NO danger of a drought this year!)