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Reflections on Turning 28: Manifesting, the Blessing of Darkness, & The Year Ahead

Today I turn 28.

I am sitting at Soho House in New York City journaling my heart out, sipping a cold brew with almond milk (my second, shhhh), drinking a blueberry & broccoli smoothie (don’t knock it til ya try it), I have 3 books cracked open on the table, and my fiancé is by my side.

Out the window we have a gorgeous view of the Meatpacking District, which has always been my favorite neighborhood, ever since I wandered into a DVF store down the block when I was 15. We have nothing on the agenda today until the GLA Lyme Gala tonight — it is one of the biggest honors of my lifetime to attend a benefit on my birthday no less that raises awareness and funds for a cause that has so greatly impacted my life.

If I had written what my dream life at 28 would look like a few years ago, this would be it. It is pretty unbelievable to think about the power of manifestation and turning thoughts into reality.

I have always been the kind of girl who is fueled by two things: PASSION, and love. Passion for writing, work, yoga, people, love, learning, spirituality, and so much more. And love on a very deep level: romantic and friendship and family. If I had envisioned my dream life at 28, it would be full of both of those things.

One of my biggest fears in life was always not finding my person. THE PERSON who gets me inside and out, who synapses my soul, who sees me beyond my human self on this Earth by really seeing ME deep inside and everything I am and will always be. I could not have dreamt up a life partner more perfect for me than Jonathan. I pinch myself daily (10 times a day) that he is my fiancé, that we are spending the rest of our lives together, that he knows me on a soul level, that he will be the father of my babies and we will create a family and a life together beyond our wildest dreams.

Without love and passion this year would have been a dark one. Actually to be radically honest, it was still a dark one. It begs the question… how can a life with SO MUCH LIGHT, so much love, so much passion and happiness and excitement and support rooted in such deep spirituality and self-work, be clouded with so much darkness still?

The universe found a way to test me and bring me the blessing of extreme darkness — I say blessing because that’s exactly what it is. It’s making me stronger every day and giving me the perspective of a lifetime. Without this illness, the havoc it has wreaked on my body and my mind, I don’t know that I would have the same appreciation or worldview on the simple things in life. At this point… TWO things matter to me, and only two: (you can guess by now…) passion and love.

As long as I am doing something I love, enjoying my days, fitting in the things that set my soul on fire, I am happy. Coupled with being surrounded by the ultimate love from the love of my life, my family, and my friends — it is enough. I could lose everything beyond those two things and I would be completely fine.

This year has taught me to surrender. All of the control I thought I had, I had to let it go. Control around my schedule, my routine, my food, my body, my work, people around me, travel, exercise, free time, health… I mean ALL control. And once you spin out of control there is no going back. It’s like you’re catapulted into an entirely new reality — a place where your old self no longer exists and so many layers have been shed you are exposed to the bone. It is as refreshing as it is terrifying, and you realize you can’t ever go back. And nor do you want to. You see things through new eyes, rainbow kaleidoscope eyes on even the darkest of days, learning that time doesn’t exist and material things do not matter in the least and that love is the only emotion that is even remotely real.

See, BLESSING.

In the span of one year, I… blew up in full body hives and came down with a fatigue that can only be described as my physical body rejecting being here on this Earth by shutting the absolute F down. Fell into a deep dark mental state as a result of my body turning its back on me (or so it felt). Had an identity crisis and removed myself from almost all of my brand partnerships. Got ahead on my podcast so that I could spend an entire month in Bali by myself, living like a local, trying to find my health again. Opened up psychically and couldn’t help but channel entire notebooks full of poetry, channeled words from those who have passed, and inspirations for new projects.

Water fasted for an entire month post-Bali in Northern California, marking the longest I have ever been away from Jonathan and Huddy. Got diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease, mold poisoning, MCAS, parasites, MTFHR, and more. Began a rigorous treatment plan that I pay thousands per month out of pocket for while also cutting way back on my work. Began to say NO to everything / everyone who did not serve me. Shed more layers. Got engaged to the love of my life. Found a new perspective and way of life on the island of Kauai.

Started to plan a wedding. Realized who really mattered to me. Had a deep, intense, mind blowing, amazing channeling experience on the plane to NYC this week — the first major channeling session since I was in Bali — and started to see things through a deeply transformational lens.

The main thing I have learned this year: I am my own healer. Everything I need is within me.

I know my purpose, and I want to shout it from the rooftops. This year is all about cultivating a bit more inner knowing in my life without immediately blasting it out to the world the second it flies into my head. It’s about being present, slowing down, and being IN the journey rather than living in the future.

This will be a year to soak in. Wedding planning, being surrounded by our closest loves, and approaching an absolutely massive pivot in my business and brand.

Taking you guys along for the ride is my greatest honor. Having you here means everything.

If you’re in NYC, come celebrate my belated birthday with me this Saturday October 13th at Hu Kitchen at 3pm. We will be there until 4:30. It will be magic in the purest form to connect with all of you in person.

Thank you. Thank you for being here and reading my soul. All I do is pour it onto the page and hope for the best. I don’t even proof read. I realize I am not your average blogger, so thank you for being here despite that. Something tells me if you’re here, we’d be best friends in real life (and in many ways we are).

I also realize I am not your average podcaster. Did you guys know that I say “no” to every single PR pitch and guest pitch for my podcast that comes through my email or Instagram? I hand pick every guest and every brand sponsor, and I do it based entirely on intuition. I am not saying this way is any better or worse than saying “yes” to the pitches that come in — I’m just saying I am different and I am aware of it. And I am glad, because it fuels me. To me the podcast has never been about the money — neither has this blog, which is why I know it will always be a constant in my life. It’s one of my lifelines. If every brand partner went away, nothing here would change.

My soul doesn’t let me do things that are not entirely, one hundred and eleven percent aligned.

And if you feel the same way, well… let’s just say I have a lot of fun things coming your way this year. And they will require me to massively PIVOT, as I mentioned.

Love y’all. Love to my fellow Libras (HAPPY BDAY TO US) and my fellow 10/11 babies. Love you all, a LOT. Intro yourself below if you haven’t yet… or even if you have. I wanna know you!! XOXOXO

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Top 5 Anti-Inflammatory Tips for Healing the Bod

Hi guys! I have missed writing to you every day this week, ah! Though the September Series of blogging every day has come and gone, blogging will forever have such a huge place in my heart. I have been running all around this week getting ready for our trip to NY this weekend/all of next week — eek!! I am so excited.

Today I wanted to chat with you about my top 5 tips for reducing inflammation in the body, especially for those of us who suffer from inflammatory diseases or even just the occasional bloat which of course relates back to inflammation as well.

When I got diagnosed with MCAS (Mast Cell Activation Syndrome) earlier this year and found out it was part of the reason why my body was reacting to everything around me (I mean everything — from food, to scents, to animals, to changes in my routine, to travel, everything) it made me realize I really needed to step my anti-inflammatory game up.

I have been dedicated to my health and well being for a long time, but I think wellness is one of those things where when everything seems to be going just fine… you just live your life and let a few things “slide” if ya know what I mean. I was letting a ton of things slide, and eventually everything piled up & I became an inflamed, rashy MESS.

I mean, you guys remember what I looked like a few months back. RIDDLED with eczema and a total & absolute mess. Here is a photo in case you don’t recall…

Being covered in head to toe eczema & hives was one of the hardest experiences of my life. I can’t even begin to express the sheer amount of extreme discomfort I was in 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. For eight months.

Doing a 2 week water fast at True North helped a lot with the rash itself, but the inflammation has persisted. I have gotten my histamine levels down from 1300 (pre-water fast) to about 700, and I am hoping they continue to go down from here. Just for reference, a normal number is about 30. Yes, THIRTY. 3-0. And mine were a 1300.

Lyme disease, co-infections, and mold illness all add to elevated histamine levels and super high inflammation. When the body is swimming in bacteria and disease, it naturally becomes very inflamed. But even for those of you reading who do not have a disease or chronic illness of any kind, you can still be inflamed.

In fact, most of us are inflamed! It is just part of our culture these days and living in the ever-polluted world that we do.

I have been so dedicated to reducing inflammation in my body to feel better overall and ultimately get my life back. I am still on that train, as it is a LONG process, but I have made a ton of progress. The above photo was taken in April, and now by early October I can safely say I have not had a MAJOR rash outbreak since late June. I still get patches and extreeeemely itchy areas of skin, but it is nothing like the head to toe pain I was experiencing before.

Ok, so here are my tips for reducing inflammation in the bod & living the most anti-inflammatory life possible…

5 TBB Anti-Inflammatory Tips //

1. Living an alcohol-free lifestyle.

This one might sound obvious, but there is a reason I am including it and making it number one on the list. I feel like alcohol is one of those things that often goes under the radar in a healthy lifestyle. I have so many friends who are very health-conscious during the day/week, and they like to let loose on the weekends with drinks or even nightly with wine. There is nothing wrong with that for a perfectly healthy person — to each their own, and I wish I could be more lax with alcohol and let loose more often.

But for those of us who deal with inflammation and chronic illness, alcohol is one of the absolute worst things we can put into our bodies. It’s pure toxicity for us, really. The first thing my Lyme doctor asked me when I was diagnosed was, “Wait, you don’t drink alcohol, do you? Because if you do I would highly suggest stopping.” And the reason for that is alcohol aggravates the body, dehydrates us, and makes the liver and kidneys work extra hard to detox it from the body when the liver & kidneys are already perhaps compromised from inflammation and disease.

Many of us who suffer from extreme inflammation issues have compromised detoxification pathways. This can be for a variety of reasons… it could be a genetic mutation (like in my case I have something called the MTFHR gene which greatly compromises my detox process), complication of chronic illness, or simply toxic buildup from your lifestyle or environment. That means that our bodies have to work SO HARD to detox even the most “normal” of things… even something like a potent perfume that the woman next to you in the coffee shop might be wearing (I experienced that this morning).

So if our bodies are already in overdrive trying to detox, introducing alcohol into the mix is a recipe for disaster. If you notice that you get extra bloated, puffy, hungover, or sick from alcohol, it could be an indicator that your body can’t handle it right now. I am not talking about forever — but at least for me right now cutting alcohol out of my life has been a huge saving grace in my healing process and in reducing inflammation.

2. Celery juice every morning & all around staying SUPER hydrated.

I write this blog post AS I sit here sipping on celery juice! Everything I know about celery juice I learned from the Medical Medium, so I would highly recommend checking out his site to get the entire DL on why it’s so amazing for us. In his words, he’s “seen thousands of people who suffer from chronic and mystery illness restore their health by drinking 16 ounces of celery juice daily on an empty stomach.” SAY WHAT?! I mean guys, with an intro like that it’s worth a try.

Celery juice calms inflammation, contains many potent mineral salts that keep our kidneys and adrenals functioning and raise our gut’s hydrochloric acid to help our body break down food, restores our body’s pH balance, and cleanses and repairs the stomach and liver. It is full of essential vitamins and nutrients, and is also one of the most antibacterial foods on the planet. For those of us with thyroid issues, celery has the ability to cleanse the thyroid of toxins and bolster production of the thyroid hormone T3.

AND according to MM it flushes out viruses and eases digestive health. Those are just a few of its benefits, not to mention it is extremely hydrating. Which brings me to my next point… staying HYDRATED to reduce inflammation is key.

I like to start my day with 16 oz of celery juice, then drink a large warm water with lemon before I have anything else. I drink at least 8 glasses of water a day but I recommend even more to really flush them toxins out and stay as hydrated as possible!

3. Reducing or eliminating coffee.

I know, so sad! I wrote this post recently on eliminating coffee & some of my fave coffee alternatives, from matcha to mushroom coffee to adaptogenic elixir blends. Trust me, I love coffee. I am a coffee addict at heart. I CRAVE it when I wake up. But reducing it in my life has greatly enhanced my healing and has helped so much with reducing inflammation.

Also, when I got tested for food allergies earlier this year (multiple times) COFFEE was literally the only thing that showed up, so my body was trying to tell me something. I still have a nice decaf coconut mylk latte once or twice a week because I LOVE it, and I do believe when something makes our soul happy it is worth incorporating into our lives here and there if we can handle it.

But eliminating that daily cold brew really, really helped me. Coffee is full of positive things like polyphenols and fiber, but for those of us with inflammation issues it really wreaks some havoc. If you feel okay having coffee my biggest tip would be to stick to one cup a day. It’s overdoing it with the coffee that really messes with us.

If you are suffering from extreme inflammation, eczema, or histamine issues I would say cut coffee out for now. That’s not to say you can’t add it back into your life when you’re feeling much more ready to, but if you’re truly ready to put your health & healing first it’s gotta go for at least a little while!

4. Eating an SOS-free plant-based diet (or plant-based at the very least).

You can read more about the salt-oil-sugar free plant-based lifestyle that I lead in this post that I wrote a few months back, and you can read an update about it here. A brief rundown about the SOS-free vegan life is that it is an anti-inflammatory way of eating that includes no added salt, oil, or sugar. Doctors like Dr. Neal Barnard, Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Dr. Michael Klaper, and Dr. Alan Goldheimer have studied it extensively and concluded that for people with disease and chronic illness (and even people without it), it is the most inflammation-reducing and heart-healthy diet on the planet.

I am not here to preach to you or tell you to be vegan. Been there, done that and I don’t believe in telling you to eat a specific way or ascribe to a specific label. But if you’re looking to reduce inflammation in your body, upping your plant intake and reducing your added salts, oils, and sugars will help a LOT.

I have gone off of the SOS-free train a few times in the last few months for various reasons, and every time I do it is bad news with my health. A little bit of salt here and there has been okay for me, but oil really does me in. And super salty restaurant foods just kill me! Once your tastebuds get used to it you’ll see — you get used to it and foods in their natural, most nutrient-dense form just taste the absolute best.

And if SOS-free is too much for you, just eating more plant-based foods, specifically leafy greens and other green veggies will help a LOT. Juicing kale, ginger, and beets is another fave of mine for getting more anti-inflammatory plants in my day to day.

5. Taking anti-histamine supplements.

Ok, this one has been huge for me! I take a supplement every day called “HistDao” and another called “AllerDHQ” both from the brand Xymogen. I don’t see those on Amazon, so a comparable one you could buy online is here.

I also take several tinctures per day of anti-inflammatory herbs that are prescribed to me by my Lyme doctor, so I would highly recommend finding a doctor or Chinese Medicine Practitioner who can help you find the right blends for you.

There is no “magic pill,” but I can definitely say that when I went off of all of my supplements for my fibroid surgery last month (I was off of them for 3 weeks), my inflammation came back with a vengeance. My face was more inflamed than EVER before… and all around I was much more itchy and puffy.

There are so many great supps out there so I would encourage you to keep finding what works for you! An omega helps with inflammation a lot too. My favorite omega supplement is called Omega the Great, which you can find on Hum Nutrition‘s site (use the code SOUL for 20% off of your first purchase!!).

Alright guys, I hope these tips & tricks help!! I am always here to share more so just tell me what else you want to hear on this subject and I am happy to dive deeper. I can think of about 293829 anti-inflammatory tips off the top of my head!

And definitely do check out the Medical Medium, he is full of so much knowledge. I just ordered his Thyroid Healing book and I cannot wait to read it…! x

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Souls Wrapped in Skin- Reintroducing New Foods, Dealing with IBS, & Listening to My Body!

Hello, beautiful friends! Thank you for all of the love on the new site layout — I am so overjoyed about it. I cannot even handle how much I feel it represents my heart and soul now, and the direction that my brand is moving. If ya couldn’t tell from the branding, I feel the brand (and myself!) moving in a very spiritual, ethereal, calming / zen vibes, soul-level-depth kind of direction. Quite a far cry from the vegan food blog I started in 2013! (But always love that too.) Speaking of vegan food blogs… my journey with food has been such a, well, JOURNEY over the years. Being plant-based again has drastically helped to improve my health issues over the last few years as I have been dealing with Lyme, co-infections, mold, parasites, hormone issues, and more. In fact, I even came up with the term intuitively plant-based (I am sure I did not invent it lol- but have been calling myself that for a while now) and have been following that for the last couple of years. Although I shied awa...

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Top 5 Anti-Inflammatory Tips for Healing the Bod

Ok, so here are my tips for reducing inflammation in the bod & living the most anti-inflammatory life possible…

5 TBB Anti-Inflammatory Tips //

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