The New Age Crystal Light

When I was a kid we always had Crystal Light drinks in our fridge. It was a childhood reminder of summer time (especially the lemon-lime flavour). I have a different type of “crystal light” now, one without fake colours, flavours, or aspartame.

Okay, and it’s kind of hippie-ish.

Here’s what I do. I take a few crystals and let them sit in a big jug of water for about 24 hours. Tigers eye and opalite are my current picks, but you should choose whatever you vibe with. This alone will change how your water tastes (seriously, try it). Tons of research on water will show you the effects of positively and negatively influenced water cell structures (see picture below), and this is essentially what putting crystals in your water will do. It will infuse the water with the characteristics of the crystals. Add some trace mineral drops to take it to the next level (check out your local health food store, they’ll definitely have a product like ConcenTrace).

DISCLAIMER: Do your own research on crystals and their effects on the body before making elixirs. Some have less than desirable or even toxic effects.

If you’re so inclined, also try adding some crushed fruit and a few drops of stevia. Add lemon slices and strawberries for a pink lemonade flavour. Or orange slices with vanilla stevia for an orange crush flavour. The options are endless. Plus, it makes you want to drink more water! Water’s kind of a big deal when it comes to your overall well-being. Just look at a plant. As soon as you water it, you can visibly see it perk up and glow a little bit. Considering how we’re mainly made up of water, it would make sense that drinking more of it would have a similar effect on us.

With summer (and music festivals, and outdoor activities, and traveling) upon us, it’s key to start drinking more water than you normally would! It’s one of my top seven ways to instantly feel better (as featured on MindBodyGreen). Read the rest of those tips by clicking here!

Homemade Mocha Iced Capps

I can smell spring in the air when I step outside. Nothing quite says summertime like a good ol’ iced cappuccino. I remember the milk-and-sugar-laden concoction from Tim Hortons well. The whipped cream on top with sweet sugary frozen caffeinated goodness underneath. The almost flavourless ice left at the bottom every time.

The bloating and the blood sugar crashes. Good times.

Needless to say when I woke up to a particularly balmy morning here in Vancouver, I immediately went to my freezer to pull out some frozen Americano cubes. Enter, vegan mocha iced capps.

Ingredients

8 ounces of frozen Americano

½ cup almond milk

1-2 teaspoons cacao or cocoa powder

8 drops English toffee stevia

½ tsp maca powder (optional)

Directions

Add all ingredients into the blender and slurp away! Sun, warmth, and tan not included.

“These Things Just Happen to Me!”

How many times have you heard someone say this? It tends to be the chronically unlucky (or consistently lucky) folk that have this mantra nailed down. So how do things – good or bad – chronically “just happen” to people? Let me give you some examples to help you better understand.

There tends to be one person we know who always has a problem. Every time you talk to them, they’ve either lost their cat or crashed their car or come down with the flu. Chances are, all of those things have happened to them in the last two days. Usually they don’t even want your help to solve these problems, they’d really just like to tell you about how much their life sucks. The conversation usually ends with “These things just happen to me!”

Alternatively, there’s usually another person in your life who tends to have fantastic luck on the regular. They might’ve found a $50 lottery ticket on the ground, got all of their groceries on sale, or met James Franco at dinner the other night (“He’s just a regular guy, honestly, it wasn’t a big deal” Yeah, okay Shirley, whatever). When you ask them how they have such good luck, their reply is usually, “These things just happen to me!”

The difference lies in how in flow and in integrity you are. Are you living your life purpose with joy in your heart, or are you going by what other people tell you to do, against all of your intuitive hunches? Are you in an undergrad program you despise and find that your essays get lost in cyberspace, or you’re chronically late for class (if you ever even go, that is)? Chances are, if you were absolutely in love with your program, you’d actually look forward to class. You’ll find your bad luck turns around when you start to follow your passion.

People that consistently have good luck are probably doing something they love. It might not be where they work, but it could be a hobby they do on the weekends. Consider that we spend the majority of our lives working, and if it’s not something we’re passionate about, creating passion in your life will likely be more challenging. Doing things (work related or otherwise) that fuel your soul are crucial to your overall well-being. It’s not so much about results as it is satiating your soul. Do something creative, do something fun.

If you find you are having bad luck, acknowledge it and take responsibility for it. At the end of the day, we are truly responsible for everything that happens to us. Vibrate at a low level, and low-energy events will happen to you. Once you acknowledge that only YOU have the power to change your life, you can start to take full control of the events that occur.

James Franco loves animals too.

Taking a Step Back in Time with Music

I’ve discussed my love for music and it’s power of keeping me in flow. It’s rooted deep in my bones. Going

The beaches of Cabo were beautiful... I've got a different mountain view these days.

without music is like going without food or water; it can be done for a certain amount of time until I feel myself needing it, craving it, even fantasizing about it.

I got my first iPod-like device when I was seventeen. This is when I started organizing my songs by the month. Each month I create a new playlist to keep track of what songs I’ve recently added (since the “Recently Added” file just isn’t organized enough for me). Ever since I’ve started to create these lists, I’ve found myself going back and listening to the old ones.

Since I was seventeen I’ve had a few different music devices, so some of my lists have been lost over the years. When I’m going through a musical dry streak (i.e. I don’t have any new songs I’m obsessively listening to), I go back about eleven months to an old playlist. I’m not sure why, but the old tracks I feel like listening to are always from ten to eleven months prior.

I can close my eyes and remember exactly how I felt at that point in time. I remember where I was, who I was with, what I was going through. I remember how each song made me feel, and observe that feeling from a new, outside perspective. It’s interesting. It takes me somewhere comfortable, somewhere I’ve already been to and I start to get nostalgic. This week I was listening to my playlist from last April. It reminds me of my trip to Cabo. It reminds me of the walk I took from my parents house to the subway station, where I would go to meet my boyfriend for our gym dates. It reminds me of my cousin. For just a moment, it reminds me how easy it would be to go back to all of that. And if I’m being honest, it’s hard to not want that.

Everything’s better in hindsight right?

Just like music keeps me present and in flow, music also keeps me grounded and reminds me of what I’m creating for myself. I won’t grow or expand by wishing it was last April.  But I can certainly still enjoy Machu Picchu while strolling along the sea wall, being grateful for how far I’ve come.

Pause. Inhale. Hold. Exhale. Pause. Repeat.

Thank you.

Other favesies from last April:

Reminded – Tyga ft Adele

My First Song – Jay-Z

Rolling In The Deep – John Legend

She Said – Plan B

Forever – Wolfgang Gartner ft Will.i.am

University of Life: Your Professors and Your Classmates

Let’s say there was a formal school for this.  Let’s say you had your first day of school today.  Who were your teachers, and who were your classmates?

Your teachers are the people in your life that allow you to look at your most negative and most positive aspects of yourself.  They shine the light on your skeletons as well as your best qualities. That man blabbing on his cell phone about the seemingly minute problems in his life in front of you at the bank, that was your morning class.  Learn compassion and patience for others.  He may have mirrored a quality in yourself that you don’t like to acknowledge.  Maybe you focus on the negative too much, and your homework is to look at the amazing, positive aspects of your life more often.

The single mother you held the door open for on your into your apartment building was your afternoon class.  The genuine thank you and smile she flashed you mirrored the loving, kind qualities you embody but may sometimes dismiss.  Your homework tonight is to remember that you are an incredible being of light and love, and each little action you do to display this counts, and is noticed.

Your classmates are the people you brush past in the subway, or your brother that tries to start a conversation with you, as you hastily brush past him en route to the fridge. Have love and gratitude that they are in your life.  We are all the same type of humans trying to experience universal love for each other.

Remember these lessons as you go to bed tonight.  Class dismissed.

Weeding Out Negativity: It’s YOUR Choice

As I continue down my life path, I become more and more clear of my values and boundaries. In the past, I haven’t always been concrete in what is and what isn’t okay by me.  And since manifesting such incredible experiences and people, I’ve realized that negativity isn’t cool in my books.

It's your choice who you surround yourself with! Do the people in your life emulate what you're trying to manifest?

If you’ve tuned into the latest episode of The Awesomeness Advantage, Kels and I discussed how our lives aren’t always rainbows and lollipops; having that balance of super high-vibes and not so super high-vibes is all a part of life. It’s about acknowledging those moments, and knowing that you don’t have to stay in a state of feeling negative. YOU choose how you feel and experience situations.

When it comes to relationships of any sort, I choose to surround myself with positive, encouraging, conscious individuals.  I choose to associate with people that value and care about the planet, themselves, and me.  At the end of the day, those are all really one in the same. When it comes to romantic relationships, these values are even more important to me. Since my life has become plant-based and earth-friendly, I choose to be with people that share these values. The fiery Aries and worldly Aquarian in me is quite stubborn about this. Once I clued into where my values are, it made choosing to associate with certain people (and disassociate with others) a natural choice.

When it comes to work, I know which environments I thrive in and which ones I squirm out of. I realized these things by tuning into how my body and mind felt in and after each situation.

I’ve noticed my blog is taking a turn in the direction of its content as well.  I’ve chosen to focus more on living life to its fullest in the most awesome of capacities. While nutrition and healthy living is still a passion of mine that I fully embody, it’s not where my focus has been these days.  At this point, I’m not still considering going to school for natural chef certification.

I think I may choose to enroll for U of L (University of Life, in case you’re not familiar with that term).  Thoughts?  I’m applying for my masters, I think I’ll learn some amazing lessons.

The Ins and Outs of Reading Nutrition Labels

If only it were this easy!

It’s recently been brought to my attention that people still pay attention to calories.  I chuckled a little bit when I realized this.  It’s been so far off of my radar, I kind of forgot about it. Every so often I get this urge to write a post about nutrition.  I mean, I’m a CNP and all that but my focus has been elsewhere these days. Nonetheless, this is a question that is often overlooked.  What’s the deal with food labels?

Okay, well let’s start with the obvious. What is a calorie? It is the energy needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water through 1 degree Celsius.

Did anyone else just have a WTF run through their head? Even as a nutritionist, reading this definition just boggles my mind. We’re so focused on the word “calorie” when it comes to weight loss and weight gain.  What bears more importance on food labels are the macronutrients: fat, carbs and protein. If it was all about calories, you could eat a specific amount of ice cream or cookies, and still lose weight (sadly, there are people that have made money off of this idea).

Does your cereal have 14+ grams of sugar in it? You’re basically eating candy for breakfast. Does your total protein intake average of 30+ grams of protein? Your body is going to have a tough time digesting that.  Sorry, how many grams of hydrogenated fat are in your food court lunch? Jeeze louise, that’s a little worrisome. Some labels try to justify these ridiculous numbers with the micronutrients, “Contains 50% of the daily recommended vitamin B6…”.  That’s great, but what form are these vitamins and minerals in? Foods that have been “fortified” don’t count (sorry, Wonderbread) since your body can’t recognize and absorb them.

Also check out the serving size. If the serving size is ridiculous compared to the other numbers (for example, if there are 34 grams of sugar in each cookie you have at Starbucks, that is WAY too much for just one cookie!).

Above and beyond the numbers of your meal, what are the ingredients? This is what you should be looking at. Food labels are listed with the most amount of ingredients to the least.  If the first ingredient is sugar… well, that means that there is more sugar than anything else in your food. And even if the last ingredient is FD&C Blue Nos. 1, it still means there is food dye that has been linked to ADHD and other “diseases” in your meal. A food with high fat content from coconut or avocado is WAY healthier and an encouraged choice, whereas if it is from a vegetable oil source, you should steer clear.

If you can understand the ingredients, you’re off to a great start.  If you still need some help, hit me up, abigail@abigailchristens.com

How to Fall in Love with Your Life

As I started to type up this post, my song-of-the-moment came on and I broke out into silent lip-syncing dance with Kelsey.  People sitting around us at the coffee shop looked at us through the side of their eyes while we rocked out trying not to notice or react. I can confidently say that I am in love with my life.

It’s pretty easy to fall in love with your life.  Here are the steps:

1. Do what you want.  Not in a rebel-without-a-cause kind of way, but in a you-have-control-of-your-life way.  Seriously, you have complete control over your life (with some Universal divine guidance, of course).  If you don’t like going to the bar, don’t go with your friends every week.  Go to a yoga class or a coffee shop – you’ll probably find people that are more in line with your values and interests.  Some people and things may fall away when you start doing what you want, but that’s okay. It’s all part of the process of falling in love with your life. Also, do what makes you feel good! Respect your physical vessel and only eat/drink things that make you feel delicious (does you crave foods that DON’T make you feel good? Check out this post , or this one). Do you feel amazing with a hangover? Probably not. Maybe you should party less. Just saying.
2. Hang out with people that make you smile and laugh.  Nothing raises your vibes like laughing
   

   What happens when you do what you love, stay present, and surround yourself with people you love? Random dance parties in the coffee shop with creatures like these! True story.

   yourself into a giggle oracle session . You are who you surround yourself with, so associate with people who are also in love with their lives.

3. Express gratitude on a regular basis. Appreciate moments, people, places, and things. Get a journal and write down at least 3 things that you’re grateful for in your life every night.  This is especially helpful when you’re not feeling in flow; you can look back and reflect on all the ways you can get back into your groove. Also telling people how grateful you are for them is a really powerful way to form meaningful connections.
4. Express yourself. This means something different for everyone. You can choose to express yourself through art, music, dance, or writing. You can also start to express how you really feel.  Standing your ground helps you to form healthy boundaries. Boundaries keep you true to yourself and tell the Universe what is and what isn’t okay by you. This attracts more people, situations and opportunities that are okay! Yay!
5. Acknowledge yourself.  You’ve come far on your journey to get to where you are, and it’s high time you recognized that. Take a second and stop the “on to the next one” goal mindset and look around. Did you move cities? Did you get into school for your dream career? Are you in your dream career? Did you work your butt off to be able to afford the computer you’re reading this on? These are all goals you have achieved – congratulations! For me, moving to Vancouver was a huge personal achievement, but almost as soon as I got here all I could think about was what was next. Instead I should’ve thought “Hey, good job Abby, you just moved across the country by yourself to a city where you don’t really know too many people.  Nice work.”
6. Be present. This is not a piece of advice to look over, it’s probably the most important point! Be present to where you are and enjoy that moment.  Instead of thinking about what you want to make for dinner, or thinking about the next time you’re going to see the person you’re already with, just enjoy what’s going on around you. You cannot control the future or change the past; the only thing you have a choice in is this present moment.

Here’s one way to do it: close your eyes and listen to the sounds around you without analyzing them.  Yep, even if you’re in a coffee shop.  Listen to the sound of the espresso machine, the clicking of keyboards, and the different tones of voice.  Take a sip of your Americano and savour the flavour. Open your eyes and smile at the person next to you.  We’re all humans roaming the earth wanting to experience life and love, most of us don’t bite when strangers smile at us (hopefully).

Obviously, not every moment is full of giggles and dance sessions.  If it were, we wouldn’t be able to fully appreciate the loveliness we’re normally surrounded by. Ask yourself: if everything in your life stayed the same as it is right now, would you be happy?

This is your life.  Start living it, and start loving it. Much love, angels!

Truly, Madly, Deeply… and Feathers

 

Psst… Wondering how to let go of your intentions? Click here.

7 Things You Can Do to Feel Better Instantly

Everybody’s looking for a quick fix.  Whether it’s to lose weight or achieve their dreams, people are searching for the magic pill or perfect practice to make their lives “better”. There’s a tendency to believe that what we want is outside of who are already are.  You want world peace? Ask how at peace are you with yourself, your body, and your life. You want to lose 30 pounds? Ask how much extra “baggage” are you carrying emotionally. It’s not that we’re hypocrites, most of the time we’re just not aware of the inner turmoil we have going on.  You have to dive deep to find the answers you’re looking for.

All that being said, there are things you can do right NOW that will help you feel better instantly.  Keep in mind that you have to do these things consistently to see and feel real change in your life.

1. Breathe more deeply. I find this is especially useful when I’m eating, since it allows me to feel how full I’m getting and actually enjoy my meal. Breathe deep into your belly, feeling your diaphragm expand.  Breathing lowers your stress levels, rids your body of up to 70% of toxins, increases your energy, improves your digestive, immune, nervous and cardiovascular systems, relieves pain and helps you let go of tension.  Here is one simple deep breathing technique you can try: breathe in through your nose for 5 seconds, hold for 5 seconds, and slowly exhale for 5 seconds through your nose. Repeat 5 times.
2. Drink water as soon as you wake up (well, drink more water in general).  It helps you wake up and gets your digestive system
   

   Average work day: green tea tumbler, Santevia water bottle, Klean Kanteen bottle to refill the Santevia!

   moving (nothing starts the day off right quite like a great bowel movement).  I drink around 3 to 4 cups first thing. I find that keeping water right next to my bed helps me to keep this habit up.  Your body needs water, especially after seven to nine hours of not drinking any.

3. Add spinach to your smoothies.  Spinach, kale, chard, chlorella tablets… whatever.  Just add something green.  Greens help to increase your energy, alkalize your body, provide a dose of antioxidants and phytonutrients, and generally just make you feel amazeballs. Plus, you can hardly taste them in a smoothie.  If you’re really worried about your smoothie tasting too green (as if there was such a thing), start with spinach and work your way up.
4. Go outside.  Coming from a mainly self-employed bloggerista, trust me when I say going outside for some fresh air makes a huge difference in your overall state.  I work from home (or next door to home in a coffee shop) and I know how easy it is to forget there even is an “outside”.  I’m sure everyone working in an office can relate. We can live without water for weeks and without food for months – oxygen is the most important nutrient we need. In efforts to save on fuel costs, we insulate offices and buildings that cut off our fresh oxygen supply. Even if it’s just for 5 minutes, go outside and get some fresh air.  Practice deep breathing (see point #1) and notice how much more calm and happy you feel.
5. Throw on your favourite song. I told you guys about how music keeps me in flow.  Listening to music releases endorphins and makes you happy.  Seriously it’s that simple.  An epic track can change everything.
6. Put your fork down between bites.  It can be tempting to shovel food into your mouth sometimes, such as when you’re eating a delicious meal or eating at your desk.  Enjoying food is one of the simple pleasures us humans take for granted.  Unlike the little lovepuff wonderdog I live with, I get to actually enjoy each morsel I put in my mouth instead of inhaling it. You also give your body time to recognize when it’s getting full.  As you eat, your stomach expands.  This expansion helps to tell the brain when it’s getting full and to stop eating.  This technique also helps to balance your weight and allows you to get to know your body.
7. Smile more!! The simple act of smiling, even if you’re not in a particularly good mood, makes your brain THINK you’re in a good mood, and releases happy endorphins.  Let’s say that smiling just because is like eating more vegetables.  It’s good for you, so you should probably do more of it.  Step up your happiness-intake by smiling at strangers, laughing more, or performing random acts of awesomeness   There’s no losing in this situation.

There you have it folks.  Change your life in seven simple steps.  Instantly.