Ah, how to quiet the mind!? The number one response I get when I tell people that I’m a mediation and wellness guide is, “I’ve tried to meditate but I can never really quiet my mind”. Sound like a familiar sound bite? Well let me tell you that you CAN indeed quiet your mind, yes it can take a little practice, and you will have to work on it day after day but isn’t having a quiet mind something beyond worthy to work for?

When we quiet our mind we can hear our truth.

When we go behind all the noise, the “shoulds”, the “what ifs” and center into  ourselves, we are able to connect with our inner guide or intuition. We have all the answers inside of us, we merely need to remove all the garbage we’ve thrown on top of them. This is why I became a meditation guide, this is why I wake up every morning and sit on my meditation pillow for 20 minutes and why I return back to that place of surrender and quiet whenever I need an answer to a question in my life.  Meditating allows us to relax, release all the stress and strain we carry along with us through the day (and yes, even wake up with!) and it allows us to come home to ourselves, our love and light, our highest selves. So whether you meditate to clear your mind, for more focus, to relax or to be more productive, doesn’t really matter to me, it will help with it all, what matters is that you start! If only for a few minutes a day, take the time, listen to one of these guided meditations below and begin your journey to quieting your mind.

– A great morning meditation to start your day off right!

– A releasing, relaxing meditation for those days where you really need to let it go or unwind at night!

– A on the go meditation for when you’re at work or at the supermarket and you lose your cool.

Still saying to yourself that you don’t have enough time!? Too busy to meditate? Well check out this article on Well + Good this week about 7 busy women who ALWAYS make the time to meditate. Maybe it will give you just kick you need to get going!

 STILL STUCK? NEED HELP GETTING GOING OR WANT A PERSONALIZED MEDITATION FOR YOUR LIFE?

A lot of times starting out can be the hardest part, taking that first leap, deciding what’s the best meditation to begin with and just committing to doing it. That’s why I offer EMERGEN-ZEN sessions, these sessions are great jumpstarts for your new meditation practice or powerful additions to an already regular practice when you’re yearning to go deeper and tackle the big stuff. Together we’ll talk about your personal situation, I ‘ll guide you through a couple meditations tailored to your needs, record them and send them to you so that you can keep up with it at home and discuss with you the homework you need to do on the day to day to keep your mind quiet and calm. Feel free to discover more about these sessions here or email me for full details and scheduling at cassandra@gosweetandskinny.com.

Guest Post by Kelsey Cook

Kelsey is a healthy lifestyle blogger and Health Coach based in New York City. Kelsey specializes in helping her clients reach an ideal level of health and wellness while still enjoying life and allowing for indulgences without the guilt attached. A few of Kelsey’s favorite things are the beach, green juice, yoga, puppies, margaritas, music festivals, pizza and traveling. You can hear more from Kelsey at http://www.bananasandbellinis.com.

In my early 20s, being “perfect” was something that I strived for. This desire manifested itself most prominently in my quest for the perfect body through a strict, vegan diet that eventually morphed into orthorexia. While I had the best of intentions, I became so obsessed with being perfect and healthy that I completely lost sight of who I was, how to take care of myself and how to enjoy my life…the biggest problem was that I didn’t even realize it.

Eventually, as quite often happens in these cases, I reached a point where I just couldn’t do it anymore. I was exhausted, stressed out and just generally miserable, even though I had reached a weight I considered “perfect” and had the healthiest diet of anyone I knew. I decided to seek help and was able to work through my issues in a way that was healthy, productive and sustainable. In the years since, my goal is no longer to be perfect, but to be balanced. I work to maintain a lifestyle that makes me happy, keeps me healthy and doesn’t create unnecessary stress in my life. Do I have my moments? Of course. Who doesn’t? But, the difference is that now I know that happiness is achieved through balance, not perfection. Here are my top three reasons why being balanced is better than being perfect:

  1. Balance doesn’t allow for “cheat days” because it’s impossible to cheat. When you are working around the clock to maintain a perfect diet and avoid “bad” foods, a well intentioned “cheat day” can easily turn into a full-on binge where you inhale every cookie within a 10-mile radius because, “it’s okay, I’ll be good the rest of the week”. When you’re balanced, you eat the cookie if you want to eat the cookie no matter what day of the week it is. You skip the gym to go to happy hour with your girlfriends if that’s what you want to do. And you know what? It’s fine. One cookie or one skipped gym session isn’t going to derail everything you’re working for. Eating every cookie in the tri-state area? That could cause some problems.
  2. Balance alleviates stress and anxiety. Letting go of the idea of perfection is seriously liberating. As soon as I stopped trying to be perfect, the feeling of anxiety that always consumed me was just not there anymore. I could go about my day without spiraling into panic over what I was eating for lunch, when I was going to be able to make it to the gym or if the shirt I was wearing made me look fat. When you’re not stressed out over trivial things, you can focus your energy on things that are important, like spending quality time with your friends, getting work done productively and accurately and pursuing hobbies that you are interested in.
  3. Balance is sustainable. When I was maintaining a strict vegan diet, I had this terrible habit of getting drunk, housing an entire pizza and spending the next day mentally bashing myself and swearing that I would never do it again. I’m sure you’ll be shocked to find out that it did happen again. Many, many times. What can I say? I love cheese and was forcing myself to completely avoid something that I really enjoy, all in the name of trying to be perfect. Now, I maintain a mostly vegan diet and when I feel like having a slice of pizza, I eat the damn slice of pizza and I rarely go overboard. When you deny, deny, deny all the time, you are bound to overdo it when your self-control eventually wears thin, and this goes for anything, not just food. Perfection is not sustainable over a long period of time…listening to your body, however, is.

So, here’s the thing. “Perfect” doesn’t exist. And the chances of you being happy, healthy, enjoying life and maintaining the lifestyle you’ve created in the pursuit of perfection are slim to none. You’re allowed to be obsessed with green juice and yoga while also being obsessed with pizza and taking naps. I am. And not only is it okay, it’s normal and nothing to be ashamed of. Once you let go of the idea of being perfect and find a level of balance that you can maintain, your life will take on a new form and you will be the happiest, healthiest, most perfectly imperfect version of yourself possible. I promise 😉

 

A lot of my clients are total cereal addicts when they come to me, and if not cereal, then granola. So naturally, I knew there needed to be a delicious alternative to some of the over processed, over sugared things out on the grocery store shelves. This recipe I whipped up for the Gluten Allergen Free Show and was so delicious and easy to make that I just had to share it with you. It takes no time to make and is a great Sunday project to make a nice big batch for the rest of the week. The granola in that you’ll get from this recipe is enough to feed you for probably two weeks, so share with friends, give out granola baggies to people you love or just cut the portions down if you don’t want to make as big of a batch! Enjoy!

 

GLUTEN FREE ALLERGEN FREE CHOCOLATE CHERRY VANILLA GRANOLA

4 cups of Gluten Free  Organic Rolled Oats

1 cup organic buckwheat groats

1 cup organic raw sunflower seeds

1/4 cup flaxseed meal

1/4 cup chia seeds

1/4 cup hemp hearts

3 tbsp of pure vanilla extract

4 tsp of pumpkin spice

1/2 cup organic brown rice syrup

1 1/4 cups unsweetened dried tart cherries

1 1/2 cups of Pascha 55% organic vegan allergen free chocolate

1/4 cup chia seed oil (I used to grease the pan)

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees and lightly grease a baking sheet. Combine all dry ingredients (minus the cherries + chocolate) and then add your vanilla extract and gently fold in the brown rice syrup 1/8 of a cup at a time so that the granola evenly clumps. Place the plain granola on your baking sheet as evenly spread out as possible and bake for 5-10 minutes or until just slightly browned. Remove the sheet from the oven and let it cool for 20-30 minutes before adding the cherries and chocolate. Take your time with this because you don’t want melty chocolate granola. 😉

 

Check out my recipe for how to make a quick yogi bowl for busy nights! This is one of my favorite go -to dinners, it’s easy to throw together, fills you up and is packed with good for you foods. Making a yogi bowl makes eating healthier even easier and gives a fun name to mixing and matching your favorite veggies, grains and homemade dressing!

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked quinoa

1 avocado

2 cups of steamed mixed veggies ( you can use frozen, steam fresh bag for an easy, practical option or some fresh, chopped and steamed broccoli or cauliflower or sliced zucchini)

1 cup of black beans, rinsed and heated over the stove

Enough for two servings. In a large bowl place a scoop of quinoa, 1 cup of steamed veggies, a scoop of black beans, and ½ of an avocado sliced.  Next add your favorite healthy dressing!

 

My favorite is a simple Dijon vinaigrette

4 tbsp of olive oil

2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar

4 tbsp of Dijon mustard

2 tbsp of fresh horseradish

pinch of salt

pinch of pepper

(optional to add some grade B maple syrup to make it a maple-dijon)

Well, technically, it may be the second day of September but I know most of you were out enjoying your “last day of summer” yesterday and have only clicked in to full September mode today! I wanted to share with you a practice that is very near and dear to my heart and has proven very effective for my wellness + meditation coaching clients, intention setting! Since we were little, September signified a fresh start, it was the start of the school year, a new grade, new classes, new teachers and a chance to re-create ourselves after the blissful relaxation and adventure we had all summer.

WELL WHY NOT NOW?

Hey, maybe we’re a little older, JUST a little, but September always feels like the start of something new to me and I still love to imagine I’m starting the next school year of life!

So last night, I whipped out my bad ass “Manifest Journal” given to me by the ever-lovely and inspirational Kelly Bennett ( she creates them all individually and infuses them with lots of love and good energy for your manifesting). I keep mine specially for times like these and use my regular pink moleskin for the day to day breakthroughs and brilliant ideas. Regardless, you can use whatever you’d like, you can even get all crafty with it and bring paints, construction paper and the whole nine yards and make it really fun!

Now comes the good part, the actually setting intentions part. Here’s where you start brainstorming what you want to create / manifest in your life for the month ahead.

What this looks like for me is spending about 15-20 minutes in a meditation, connecting with my higher self and really asking for guidance surrounding what the next step is for me. I allow whatever comes in to come in with out judgement and then I start scribbling! I just let the information flow and allow myself to be surprised by what pops up and excited about any and everything I put down on the page. You can have one or two intentions or many, listen to what resonates with you and feels good while your setting intentions.

What are my September intentions?

Well, my overwhelming theme for this month is **FALL OF FOCUS** so everything fell under that massive intention. I’m determined to eat ONLY high vibe foods that help me stay CLEAR and focused, which means for me, no sugars and no alcohol. I don’t eat very much sugar or consume a lot of alcohol but I recently came across the saying “99% is a bitch, 100% is a breeze” and it truly resonated with me. It’s fine for my day to day life and for my clients to indulge in moderation, however, this is my FALL OF FOCUS, and that for me, means going big and really fueling my mind + body to be performing at it’s peak. And I know, even the occasional vegan cookie or glass of red wine, certainly gets me to a “less than crystal clear” place and I’m just not willing to make that sacrifice right now. It also means, earlier wake up calls because I’m at my best in the AM and creating more programs so that more people have access to my coaching than the people who are able to work with me one on one. I have a lot going on this month, creating a new online program, my first ever group coaching program is launching (details below!) and I’m finishing up my book. I’m excited to make a fresh start this Fall towards being the clearest, brightest version of myself so that I can show up as my highest self for all of you!

For more information about my FRESH START FOR FALL group coaching program, click here and email me to reserve your spot today. Class size will be VERY limited to keep it intimate and allow everyone personal access to me.

This is one of my absolute favorite things to make whether it’s for a picnic or BBQ, or I’m just feeling snacky at home! Avocado fries are great to load up on good for you fats and and satisfy that crunchy and savory craving a the same time. The sriracha lime dipping sauce is addictive and will leave you wanting more things to dip! Sweet + Skinny tip: save it! And use any left over to dip raw veggies when you’re looking a nibble during the day.

 

Enjoy, Enjoy, Enjoy, my loves!

 

AVOCADO FRIES WITH DIPPING SAUCE

Serving for 1 or 2.

 

2 avocados

¼ cup of coconut oil ( for lightly greasing the baking sheet)

2 cups of panko bread crumbs

2 eggs (can be subbed out if you’d like to make this vegan- we can go with flaxseed meal and water “eggs”)

adobo seasoning

salt/pepper

 

Preheat the oven for 425 degrees. Lightly grease your baking sheet with coconut oil. In one bowl, whisk the two eggs.  In another bowl mix your panko, adobo seasoning (to your taste – I used about tbsp.)  and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Slice avocados lengthwise, dip in either whisked eggs or flaxseed mixture, and then into the panko mixture.

Place on baking sheet and season again if you feel it’s necessary. I always like to put a couple more shakes of adobo and a little more salt before they go in the oven. Place the sheet in the oven for about 10 minutes or till the panko starts browning.

 

dipping sauce:

1/3 cup of tofu sour cream

juice of ½ a lime

¾ tsp of sriracha

sprinkle of salt

½ tsp of freshly chopped cilantro

Tonight is the new moon in Virgo and as many of you who follow me on instagram or work with me one on one know, I’ve gotten really into the moons this summer! After intensifying my kundalini yoga practice and hearing so much about the moon cycles and how they effect us, especially women, I really connected with it on a soul level. I absolutely love reading about it in Mystic Mama and think it’s a beautiful thing to be aware of so that we can fully use the cosmic energy around us.

This new moon in Virgo is all about self-improvement, ( because Virgo correlates to the archetype of self-improvement) so it’s the perfect time to go inside and really set some intentions for doing the work to be your best self. The Virgo energy helps us to develop a deep, loving, acceptance of ourselves. And who doesn’t need more of that these days?! It’s SOO important to be in a loving, accepting relationship with ourselves so that we can welcome outside relationships from a more centered place. This energy is also going to help us channel our intuition and really listen to what our body + soul needs! That’s everything from more alone time, meditation, releasing fears to dietary changes or an increase in movement. Take advantage of this time to really ASK your higher self what it needs to release, what it wants to take on, listen and let yourself be guided.  This is a perfect time to really tap into your true potential through journaling, meditating,  healthy diet and movement as well as consistent daily inner work.

This insight really resonated with me from Mystic Mama:

“When our mental realms come under attack we become exhausted and have no energy, but when our energy is cleared and flowing there is an aliveness and feeling of sheer bliss. Not an easy task to get there, especially when we are constantly getting hacked! But it begins with an owning and acceptance of what is and a dedication to healing and a knowing that there is support.”

A lot of my clients have really been feeling this shift recently and it’s important to know that sometimes we do feel exhausted when we’re “detoxing” and moving towards our greatest potential, to take care of ourselves during this time and also to know that bliss is on the other side. It begins with a willingness and commitment to finding a better way, to seeing things differently and to allowing yourself to be supported on your journey.

That’s why in honor of the new moon, I’m doing my first-only-ever SALE on my 90 minute EMERGEN-ZEN sessions, when you book TODAY only they’re $111 (regularly $197). I’m here to support you guys, I want to be a resource for you, I hope this blog post gave you some insights on the work you can do to start cracking open tonight but I also know that I wouldn’t have gotten where I am without the support of a mentor or guide.  I created EMERGEN-ZEN sessions just a couple months ago because I had numerous people reach out about a la carte “spot treatment” session, they didn’t want a full on six month program, they were in the middle of a crisis or particular situation/cross roads in their life and wanted relief fast and some tools to take with them afterwards. So the E-Z session was born and has been a great addition to my offerings and tremendously helpful to clients.

A traditional EMERGEN-ZEN session goes something like this:

– it’s 90 minutes via Skype or in the east village if you’re in NYC

– we talk about what’s making you “not-so-zen” right now

– I guide you through a series of personalized meditations to get your zen back

– we discuss what comes up for you during the work

– I send you on your way with a personal “prescription” for daily work to keep your peace

For more info, you can read more about it here. For anyone who contacts me with the subject live “HAPPY NEW MOON”, you’ll get the discounted rate of $111 and we’ll also do a new moon meditation to set intentions and release habits or thought patterns that are no longer serving you.  Email me at gosweetandskinny@gmail.com to schedule yours before they book up!

Check out my latest recipe for Shape Magazine, this Asian Broccoli Slaw Quinoa is the perfect healthy dish to bring to a BBQ this summer or just make to spice up your usual week day dinners. It’s vegan, gluten free and delicious. The perfect light summer meal that will fill you up with out over stuffing you. Watch me making it on SHAPE.com above and try it for yourself with the recipe below! Enjoy!

ASIANBROCCOLISLAW

ASIAN BROCCOLI SLAW WITH QUINOA (2 servings)

1/2 cup of cooked quinoa 1 bag of broccoli slaw

¼ cup of shelled edamame

¼ cup of shredded raddichio

¼ cup of slivered almonds

¼ cup of shredded carrots

Empty the broccoli slaw into a bowl, add edamame, raddichio, almonds and carrots.

for dressing: ¼ cup of macadamia nut oil 3 tbsp of rice vinegar 3 tbsp of sesame oil 3 tbsp of shoyu 1 tbsp garlic (fresh, chopped) 1 tbsp scallions (fresh, chopped) 1 tbsp ginger (fresh,chopped) Blend all ingredients for the dressing and then drizzle in broccoli slaw bowl till the mixture is wet but not overly saturated. Scoop about ½ cup of quinoa on to a plate and top with broccoli slaw mix. Optional garnish with almond slivers, carrots

Not everyone has the privilege of always having a juice bar or health food store near by every time there stomach grumbles and one of the most common questions I get from a lot of my coaching clients is,” what are some healthy options at places that are easy accessible to me?”. Well, get ready because I’ve decided to start doing healthy food hauls on some common spots so that you know what can be a “go-to” when you need to grab something “to-go”.  A lot of the times when we’re out or traveling we can’t get something ideal but we CAN make the best choice of what’s available to us. It’s about doing the best you can in your situation and being gentle on yourself.  Starbucks seems like one of those places that no matter where you are, you can usually find them, airports, highway rest stops, and every block in NYC, so that’s where I decided to begin! Enjoy this video where I show you how to find healthy food at Starbucks and let me know where you’d like me “haul” next!

 

 

Lately, I’ve really started loving taking pictures of gorgeous produce at my local farmer’s market in union square and I also noticed that you guys ( on instagram ) are really digging it! My fruit pictures get even more “likes” than some of the more challenging meal creations I’ll post and I love it! It’s so nice to be in awe of nature’s beauty. We live in a culture where you can walk around the block and see a giant picture of a bacon cheeseburger that’s been photoshopped and painted with shellac to perfection specifically to make YOU crave it.

Well why not do that with the GOOD stuff?!

Actually it’s infinitely easier to do it with nature’s bounty because there’s no photoshopping or shellacking  needed. These are pure uncut, unedited, rough shots I snapped while walking through the farmer’s market this morning. Sit back, relax and enjoy some of my favorite #produceporn from this week! Let it inspire you to add some fresh, organic finds to your meals this upcoming weekend. Summer is almost over and you should take advantage of whatever is in season in your part of the world. These are all from NYC, of course.

If you would like to see this become a weekly post on GoSweetandSkinny please comment below and let me know you enjoy it! Also, tag me on instagram with @gosweetandskinny and #produceporn so that I can see all your glorious farmer’s market pics too.

Have a great weekend!

xo, Cass

blueberriescurrants

Organic blueberries and currants! oh my!

 

cranberrybeans

these cranberry beans are just so incredibly beautiful, I couldn’t resist.

 

heirloomtomatoes

All sorts of sizes, shapes and colors, heirloom tomatoes are gorgeous.

 

husk cherries

I found these “husk cherries” so wild and whimsical.

 

minibellpeppers

 

A fiesta of little mini bell peppers! I can’t even..

 

okra

Okra, you purrrrty!

 

peppers

Pepper party!!

 

strawberries

 

 

Figured we would end on a sweet note. You can see how SWEET these little strawberries are!

 

Hope that you’ve got your appetite raring and ready to head to your local farmer’s market for some local, organic produce for dinner tonight. I know mine sure is.

Check out this tropical beauty I made for the #ShareTheSilk contest with Shape Magazine! Key lime pie is one of my favorite indulgences so why not have it for breakfast in a nutrient rich smoothie?! This smoothie is so simple and delicious, it should be sinful. Enjoy my little slice of heaven and read below for all the details on how you can participate in the #ShareTheSilk contest with Shape Magazine!

Key Lime Pie Smoothie

1 avocado 1 green apple chopped 2 limes (with out the skin) 2 limes just for juice (just squeeze ’em!) 1 tsp of vanilla extract 1 tbsp of cashew butter 1 cup of Silk Vanilla Soy milk ( any nut milk can be used) 2 tbsps of flaxseed meal ( for the “crust” rim) In a blender or vitamin combine all of the above minus the flax seed meal. Take one of your used limes from juicing and rub it around the top of your mason jar or glass and then roll the rim in the flaxseed meal for the faux graham cracker crust. Add a fun straw and enjoy!

ENTER THE #SHARETHESILK CONTEST ON SHAPE.COM:

* post your photo of your favorite smoothie recipe or healthy food with Silk and tag @shape_magazine @lovemysilk and #sharethesilk on instagram * tag me @gosweetandskinny for a chance for me to #regram you or feature on the blog as well!

You can win my book Juicespiration, Candice Kumai’s book Clean Green Drinks on a new Kindle Fire as well as 6 months of nutritional coaching! More details here.

I felt the need to write a little about PEACE this week, it’s certainly been an ongoing theme in my life recently and I’m sure it has seeped into quite of few of your lives as well with all that’s been going on in the news. As many of you probably know, on August 8th (Friday), there was a global meditation for peace lead by Deepak Chopra as well as many others around the world. I spent that afternoon, when it was going on, in yoga class doing a meditation for peace. We all envisioned what our version of a peaceful world would be and then planted that seed and sent that love and light out to the world.

My vision of peace was very simple, I saw a street in SoHo (where my yoga studio is in NYC) and just lots of people walking past each other, smiling, saying hi and just showing love and light for one another. For me, peace is really us all being able to see each other as love and realizing that the other people we meet are just reflections of ourselves. We’re all human and we’re all going through this human experience, why not send each other love and light and be pleasant (even friendly!) with one another!?

On Sunday, I got invited to a “Unite for Peace in the Middle East” event with two very special influences in my spiritual life, Marianne Williamson and Jennifer Kass. Both ladies brought up a very important point in their talks, PEACE begins with US. That is, peace needs to start with our personal experience. We need to find peace within us, within our relationships and within our lives. How can we preach about peace in the middle east when we can’t keep peace in our romantic relationships or even sometimes within our own head? Peace starts with you.

Below is a meditation that I love using on the go for those situations in life where I need to remind myself that peace begins with me. I find it very helpful when you’re out there interacting with the world and silly things come up that push you out of your peace. For me, meditation is that tool that helps me come back to my inner peace and therefore helps me spread peace in my daily interactions. Peace (and happiness) is a CHOICE we can make. Sometimes it can certainly be harder to make that choice then others but that is when it is so important to ask for help and guidance. Whether you’re asking for help from the universe or some higher power by simply saying a prayer for guidance ( for example, “please help me see this differently // please help me see this with love // please help me find peace in the situation. ” ) and that’s really as simple as it can be, or reaching out to someone like me, for an emergen-zen session so that you can get the tools to help you get back to that place of peace inside of you. The only requirement is your willingness, when you are ready to find that peace and serenity, you will be guided to it. Sending you guys love and light, I hope you try out this mini-meditation for peace and please let me know how it goes for you. I’ll answer and comments or questions below if you need some more insight or want to share your tips on coming back into your inner peace.