I discovered the Breathe Easy Deck while looking for meditations and affirmations to share in my yoga classes. This little deck is perfect – each of the 36 cards contains a theme, such as compassion, meditation, floating, sacred space or balance, as well as an affirmation related to that theme. For example, the “openness” card reads:

I am open.
When we open ourselves up to the truth, we show real faith-and then miracles can happen.
I breathe in the faith that things that I do not know and cannot see at this time will work out for the best. I am filled with receptiveness. I breathe out close-mindedness.

I use these during meditation time in my classes. Since meditation can be challenging, I like to read an affirmation for the class to reflect upon as a way to guide the meditation. These work very nicely!

Ew. This just proves that we should always take time to read ingredient labels. We should know what we’re eating!

The juice in the photo is the Depth Charge, from Daily Juice in Austin, TX.

I enjoy making my own juice. Sometimes (especially in summer, when the fruit is amazing) I make fruit juice, but more often than not I make green juices, with cucumbers, celery, kale, limes, grapes, apples, coconut water and more. I’ve been using my Breville juicer since 2007, and although it has served me well, I’ve been thinking about an upgrade. The Breville is a centrifugal juicer, which means it’s speedy and easy to clean, but you have to drink the juice fast to avoid nutrient loss, and the pulp is pretty wet, which means the juice isn’t being fully extracted. This means I can’t make juice in large batches to save for later, and as the juicer gets older, I’ve noticed that its extraction power seems to be deteriorating. For about a year, I’ve been eyeing the Green Star, which is the gold standard of juicers. It makes really good juice, but is bulky, slow and expensive, so I’ve never taken the plunge. It seems that now I don’t have to. According to awesome raw chef Kristen Suzanne (she really is one of my faves), there is a new juicer on the market that combines the quality of the Green Star with the ease and speed of the Breville. Luckily for me, Kristen compared all three juicers; the videos are posted below. I’m definitely going to start saving for the new Hurom juicer, which looks amazing.

For Kristen’s original post on juicers, click here.

In this magical memoir, author Noelle Oxenhandler explores the power (and danger) of the art of wishing. After a series of tumultuous personal events, Oxenhandler finds herself divorced, spiritually bereft and raising her daughter alone in a rental house. Simultaneously envious and suspicious of her friend Carole’s ability to manifest her desires through wishing (a husband! a successful art career! three houses in France!), Oxenhandler decides to research and explore the history and power of wishing.

She embarks on a year-long journey to fulfill three wishes: to find love with a man, to buy a house and to heal her soul and spirituality. She reads all that she can on wishing in its various manifestations (prayer, magic, positive thinking, etc.) as she struggles to reconcile the sacred and the profane (is it okay to ask God for more money?) and magic versus hard work (do shrines, wishlists and ceremonies have any place in modern society?).

To her surprise, her wishes do begin to come true, in a variety of ways. She discovers that she spends as much time wishing for her friends as she for herself, and after a year of startling discoveries, begins to feel comfortable with the blessings appearing in her life. An intriguing, compelling read for believers and non-believers alike.