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Happy Spring!
While the temperatures still feel a bit frosty, spring is undoubtedly chirping its bright beak. This season, the season of renewal, is the perfect time to clean out your home, your body, even your mind. Just as gardeners clear away weeds, prune old plant growth, and rake dead foliage to make room for spring's new buds, we can do the same in many aspects of our lives.
Are you a pack rat? Do you tend to be stubborn when faced with new ideas or with change? Consider this: it is easier to let go than to hold on. maybe letting go of what you know seems pretty frightening to you; maybe you prefer the familiar to the unknown. However, by clinging to things you are creating more work and tension for yourself! Try this experiment: right now, clench your fists really tight....then relax and let your palms open. Which was easier? Which caused more tension? If you want wonderful things to come into your life, remember - nothing can be placed into a closed fist.
Iinterested in more? From congestion to digestion, from clutter to bad habits, the article below on Spring Cleaning goes into all the details. Ready to welcome some cleansing spring greens and breezy spring recipe ideas into your kitchen? Check out this month's Food Focus and Recipe of the Month. Eager to let go of your raging sugar habit? Then read on about the details on my most popular workhop, Sugar Blues. Looking for fun? Bring your family and join Vital Touch Wellness and our neighbors at the Eagle Village Barn for our Spring Festival - details below.
Enjoy embracing all that spring has to offer!
All the best in life and health, Jen
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Spring Cleaning
P eople like "stuff." We tend to hold onto it year after year. We save, and eventually stock up on, things we don't know what to do with anymore. Maybe we keep things because they hold precious memories of days gone by, or they remind us of our parents, grandparents, past loves or childhood. To part with these precious possessions seems out of the question. There is a saying that goes, "You have to get rid of the old to make way for the new." If you are feeling stuck or stagnant in your life, try spring-cleaning. Throw out some of that stuff, say goodbye to your past, and welcome the new energy of your happy, healthy future.
For good mental and physical health, we actually have two "houses" that need to be spring-cleaned: our dwellings and our physical bodies. Just as we accumulate "stuff" in the form of outgrown clothes, magazines, rusty bicycles, tools and random keepsakes, so do our bodies accumulate old food residues and toxins that need to be cleaned out.
To spring clean your body, give it a break from rich and complicated foods by either cleansing or fasting for a short period of time. Cleansing means paring down your food to just simple fruits and vegetables, lots of water and perhaps whole grains. Fasting means limiting most foods and drinking lots of water, fresh vegetable and fruit juices, teas and soups. Without as much energy being spent on digestion, more energy is available to the rest of your body and mind. Cleansing and fasting can sharpen your concentration, help you gain insight and promote spiritual awareness. It can also lead to improved immune function and better digestion.
While you're cleaning out your body and home, don't forget to spring clean your heart. Throw away negative thoughts and habits you've been harboring that no longer serve you. A clean heart will allow you to receive all the good that awaits you each and every day. If your heart and mind are cluttered, there is no room for life's gifts and surprises to enter.
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Food Focus: Greens, Glorious Greens!
L eafy
greens are some the easiest and most beneficial vegetables to incorporate into
your daily routine. Densely-packed with energy and nutrients, they grow upwards
towards the sky, absorbing the sun's light while producing oxygen. Members of
this royal green family include kale, collard greens, swiss chard, mustard
greens, arugula, dandelion greens, broccoli rabe, watercress, beet greens, bok
choy, nappa cabbage, red or green cabbage, spinach and broccoli.
How do
greens benefit our bodies? They are very high in calcium, magnesium, iron,
potassium, phosphorous and zinc, and are a powerhouse for vitamins A, C, E and
K. They are crammed full of fiber, folic
acid, chlorophyll, and many other micronutrients and phytochemicals. Their
color is associated with Spring - a time of renewal and refreshing, vital
energy. In traditional Asian medicine, the color green is related to the liver,
emotional stability and creativity. Greens aid in purifying the blood,
strengthening the immune system, improving liver, gall bladder and kidney
function, fighting depression, clearing congestion, improving circulation and
keeping your skin clear and blemish free.
Leafy
greens are the vegetable most missing from the American diet, and many of us
never learned how to prepare them. Start with the very simple recipe below.
Then each time to go to the market, pick up a new green and try it out. Soon
you'll find your favorite greens and wonder how you ever lived without them.
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| Recipe of the Month:
Shiitake and Kale
PREP TIME: 2 minutes
COOK TIME: 10 minutes
SERVES: 4
Ingredients:
- 1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms
- 1 T olive oil
- 1-2 cloves crushed garlic
- 1 bunch kale
- pinch salt
Directions:
1. Warm oil in pan over medium heat with minced garlic until aromas of garlic are released, about 2-3 minutes.
2. Add chopped shiitake mushrooms and stirfry 5 minutes.
3. Add chopped kale and stirfry 2-3 minutes.
4. Add a splash of water and a pinch of salt to pan; cover and steam about 4 minutes.
Enjoy as a side dish, or mix with brown rice or quinoa and beans or cooked meat for a meal! |
SUGAR BLUES
Tame Your Wild Sweet Tooth!
Do you constantly crave sweets and want to understand why? Would you like to gain control without willpower or deprivation? Join me for an amazing and trasformative talk on cravings, carbs, and the effects of artifical and refined sugars! Naturally sweet treats provided for an extra yummy morning.
THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 7-8:30 PM
Pearl's Market, 160 Park Road, Downingtown
$20 includes handouts, recipes, and naturally sweetened snacks!
SPACE IS LIMITED
CALL AHEAD TO RESERVE YOUR SPOT!
(484)437-0752
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SPRING FESTIVAL!At the Eagle Village Barn Join Vital Touch Wellness, Filigree, and Pearl's Market as we celebrate the advent of the season!
- FREE Chair Massage
- Wine Tasting
- Fine Arts and Antiques
- Flea Market
- Food and Beverage Samples
- Music
- Kids's Activities
- LOTS of Discounts!
SATURDAY, MAY 16, 10-6
16O Park Road, Downingtown (in the Village of Eagle)
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HOST YOUR OWN COOKING PARTY
For Kids and Adults!
Cooking Classes are FUN!
Our cooking classes are all about teaching quick and easy ways to prepare yummy and healthy meals with whole ingredients. Do you have friends, neighbors, or family who are interested in discovering delicious new recipes and cooking techniques that nourish better health? Do you have kids that love playing in the kitchen, and you want to nurture healthy habits? Have your own cooking party with 5-10 people!
FOR ADULTS:
- Home Cooked Meals Quick and Easy
- Cookie Bake with Whole Grains and NO Refined Sugars
- Sweet Treats w/o the Sugar
- Whole Grains
- Eating to Boost Athletic Performance
- Breaking the Breakfast Rut
FOR KIDS:
- Superpackers -Fun and Yummy Lunches
- Sweet Treats w/o the Sugar
- Breakfast of Champions - Tasty Morning Meals
$300 for a 2 1/2 hour adult class; max. 10 people
$200 for a 2 hour kids class; max. 10 children
FLEXIBLE SCHEDULE; EVENINGS AND WEEKENDS
CALL TO TALK ABOUT HOSTING YOUR PARTY! | |
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Rediscover Your Best Self
At Vital Touch Wellness we are committed to your life-long health and vitality. Our mission is to help our clients live their lives to the fullest, offering holistic health counseling, therapeutic massage, cooking classes, and nutrition workshops.
We have highly experienced and intuitive massage therapists on staff whose goal is to free your body from pain and tension and clear your mind of stress... so you feel uplifted and better able to take on your life with joy... long after you walk out our door!
As a holistic health counselor, I offer an individualized program to guide my clients through the confusing flood of information and research about nutrition. I help you discover which foods and lifestyle choices work best for you and your body to help you reach and maintain your goals. My mission is to inspire and empower you to nourish yourself from the inside out by integrating the best of traditional, eastern and western approaches to health! Come in for a free initial consultation with the coupon below, or forward this newsletter to a friend who could use some support improving their health. See my website for more details.
All the best,
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Jennifer McLamb, CMT, CHHC
Founder and Director,
Vital Touch Wellness |
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