Herb Root Veggie Soup

Hello! I LOVE soup weather! I decided to make root vegetable soup this week. It's all vegan except I used organic bone broth to give it a little gusto. The recipe is at the end of the 19 second video link below, if you want to see what I put in it. I have found that using high-quality ingredients means it always comes out delicious and I don't need to follow a recipe--I usually just make it up as I go along with what I have on hand plus a few items from the market. I was surprised at how much wax I had to peel off of the root vegetables from the store. I find that making wholesome meals with what I read online or people tell me they are eating is fun and entertaining. 🍲🍃🌿

HERB ROOT VEGGIE SOUP

I encourage you to make up your own recipes and enjoy the benefits of feeling inspired to create delicious kitchen concoctions. 

Much love and happy eating,

Heather

Miracle Monday!

Here are a few health items to keep you feeling great and may you have a pep in your step.

Much love,
Heather

How to be well in 60 seconds, with Dr. Frank Lipman:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLsnhgtwyUo

20 Ways to Get Sugar Out of Your Life
10 Reasons to Avoid Refined Sugar

Headspace App Dr. Lipman mentions

15 Things Learned in 15 Years of Marriage

Michael and I have a wonderful list hanging in our bedroom that we both refer to because we really love one another and want to continue to be happy together. In an attempt to find it on-line and share it with the world I stumbled onto MANY other lists people have written.

I'll share a few links here for your viewing pleasure. They were all thoughtful and helpful to me.

http://www.unremarkablefiles.com/2018/06/15-things-ive-learned-in-15-years-of-marriage.html

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/marriage-secrets_b_1459770

Ready For More Energy This Holiday Season?

Sign Up Today For 

Group Health Coaching

 with 

Heather Brown

 Holistic Health Coach &

 Licensed Massage Therapist 

Sessions Begin Monday, Nov. 19th 

From 6:00 – 7:15 p.m. at the Soul’s Garden in Norwalk, Iowa 

And a second group via telephone sessions 

12 Sessions, $30 each session ($360 total) 

Pay weekly, monthly or in advance is $300. 

Groups limited to 5

Call: 515/689-2001 or 

Email: Heather4752@gmail.com

Let's work together to create a life that leaves you feeling happier, clearer and more energetic. I'm offering group health coaching either in person or on the phone to make holding yourself accountable affordable, easier and more fun! Send me a text or give me a call for more information. 515/689-2001.

Much love,

Heather Brown

TOP SEVEN REASONS TO JOIN GROUP HEALTH COACHING

1. A Personal Support System Group coaching gives you the opportunity to share your feelings with others and develop deeper connections, making your sessions more meaningful. Knowing you are not alone in your journey will help you develop the confidence and motivation to address your challenges and succeed. 


2. Higher Likelihood of Achieving Goals You’re much more likely to stick to your gym routine if you have a gym buddy, right? The same is true with group coaching. When individuals are part of a group, they procrastinate less, accomplish more, and reach their goals faster.

 3. Benefit from Collective Wisdom You’ll brainstorm solutions, open creativity channels, and uncover opportunities you may not have discovered working solo. Have you ever been in a study group where you’ve learned from a classmate who gets it? Other group members help you master new concepts like a pro!

4. Gain a New Perspective When you work alone, you examine situations from one perspective – yours. But when you work in a group, you’re exposed to a variety of insights that empower you to see a situation from multiple angles and motivate you to develop new solutions. Ever get a precious nugget of advice from a really honest friend that you just couldn’t see on your own? It’s like that.

5. A Great Value Get the same quality coaching, but at a fraction of the cost of individual coaching. Group coaching is a smart and affordable way to receive top-notch guidance. 

6. A Team Invested in Your Success When you work in a group, the whole team celebrates your success. Just like when a hockey player scores a goal, resulting in a win for the entire team. In this case, no ice skates are required! 

7. Turn Work into Play It’s more fun to go out to dinner with friends than by yourself, right? Working with a group is a social event that participants look forward to. You’ll join a close-knit group that is energizing, motivating and most of all – fun! Group members often become lifelong friends. 

Contact me today to join Health Coach sessions starting in November. You will not regret making the first step to a happier and more energetic YOU! It's the best gift you can give yourself and your family.

Heather Brown
Licensed Massage Therapist and Holistic Health Coach
501 North Avenue, Norwalk, IA 50211
515-689-2001

Empowering you to make decisions for a smarter and happier life. 

Energy is defined as “the strength and vitality required for sustained physical or mental activity.” It’s your most valuable, renewable resource.

You can choose activities that drain your energy or build it. You can choose people who energize you or suck you dry, and you can choose foods that fuel you or leave you exhausted. When you learn what gives you energy, all areas of your life will improve.

WHAT CREATES OR DRAINS ENERGY?

We gain energy by eating nurturing foods and drinking vibrant beverages that support our physical health. Even more critical to energy are the relationships we choose to engage in, career satisfaction, physical exercise, and a fulfilling spiritual practice.

Look at this chart and mark a dot for each category. The closer you place your dot to the outside of the circle, the more fulfilled you are in that area. The closer to the center, the more dissatisfied you are. Connect your dots and see which areas of your life are creating energy and which areas may be draining energy.

© 2014, 2016 Integrative Nutrition, Inc. | Reprinted with permission

Top Seven Reasons to Join a Group Coaching Program

1. A Personal Support System Group coaching gives you the opportunity to share your feelings with others and develop deeper connections, making your sessions more meaningful. Knowing you are not alone in your journey will help you develop the confidence and motivation to address your challenges and succeed. 

2. Higher Likelihood of Achieving Goals You’re much more likely to stick to your gym routine if you have a gym buddy, right? The same is true with group coaching. When individuals are part of a group, they procrastinate less, accomplish more, and reach their goals faster.

 3. Benefit from Collective Wisdom You’ll brainstorm solutions, open creativity channels, and uncover opportunities you may not have discovered working solo. Have you ever been in a study group where you’ve learned from a classmate who gets it? Other group members help you master new concepts like a pro!

4. Gain a New Perspective When you work alone, you examine situations from one perspective – yours. But when you work in a group, you’re exposed to a variety of insights that empower you to see a situation from multiple angles and motivate you to develop new solutions. Ever get a precious nugget of advice from a really honest friend that you just couldn’t see on your own? It’s like that.

5. A Great Value Get the same quality coaching, but at a fraction of the cost of individual coaching. Group coaching is a smart and affordable way to receive top-notch guidance. 

6. A Team Invested in Your Success When you work in a group, the whole team celebrates your success. Just like when a hockey player scores a goal, resulting in a win for the entire team. In this case, no ice skates are required! 

7. Turn Work into Play It’s more fun to go out to dinner with friends than by yourself, right? Working with a group is a social event that participants look forward to. You’ll join a close-knit group that is energizing, motivating and most of all – fun! Group members often become lifelong friends. 

Contact me today to join Health Coach sessions starting in November. You will not regret making the first step to a happier and more energetic YOU! It's the best gift you can give yourself and your family.

Heather Brown
Licensed Massage Therapist and Holistic Health Coach
501 North Avenue, Norwalk, IA 50211
515-689-2001

Empowering you to make decisions for a smarter and happier life. 

Looking for more energy this holiday season?

Energy is defined as “the strength and vitality required for sustained physical or mental activity.” It’s your most valuable, renewable resource.

You can choose activities that drain your energy or build it. You can choose people who energize you or suck you dry, and you can choose foods that fuel you or leave you exhausted. When you learn what gives you energy, all areas of your life will improve.

WHAT CREATES OR DRAINS ENERGY?

We gain energy by eating nurturing foods and drinking vibrant beverages that support our physical health. Even more critical to energy are the relationships we choose to engage in, career satisfaction, physical exercise, and a fulfilling spiritual practice.

Look at this chart and mark a dot for each category. The closer you place your dot to the outside of the circle, the more fulfilled you are in that area. The closer to the center, the more dissatisfied you are. Connect your dots and see which areas of your life are creating energy and which areas may be draining energy.


Let's work together to create a life that leaves you feeling happier, clearer and more energetic. I'm offering group health coaching either in person or on the phone to make holding yourself accountable affordable, easier and more fun! Send me a text or give me a call for more information. 515/689-2001. ~Heather Brown

© 2014, 2016 Integrative Nutrition, Inc. | Reprinted with permission

Radical Self Love & Self Care

Radical Self Love & Self Care

By Heather Brown, Licensed Massage Therapist, and Holistic Health Coach

We have learned messages about how to care for ourselves and what self-love is. What is self-care? What is self-love? They are not so much things we buy or do for ourselves as the life we cultivate for ourselves that creates a rich and luxurious sense of well being and joy from the inside out. Everyone’s list of favorite self-care and self-love routine is different. I decided to create my own list and share thoughts about each item and how I have come to this space to honor myself and my life in the way that feels right for me. I have made space for myself by releasing things that do not honor my higher self's wishes for a healthy and joyful experience. My wish for anyone out there reading is to find what feels right for you on a deeper level. 

 1. Meditate   2. Laugh   3. Gratitude & Intentions  4. Yoga   5. Walking

  6. Water     7. Food is Fun  8. Massage  9. Sleep, Rest & Renew

  10.  Epsom Salt Baths 

Meditate

My meditation routine has varied a lot over the last 6 years since I started meditating. After my divorce in 2012, I needed a way to release repetitive parts of my thought patterns that were hindering me from evolving into the person I really wanted to become. I meditated with many different groups (including Buddhist Monks and Priests) in Des Moines and learned lots of different meditation methods, all of which I found fascinating, liberating and fun. I was on my own, “Eat, Love, Pray” journey—as I called it. I needed to find out who I was underneath everything I was told I was or who I thought I was supposed to be. Some of the meditations I practiced were on my own. I found it helpful to practice on my own while hiking, when I woke up and when I went to bed. Some days my mind was filled with so much worry, ache, and pain that I needed a break from my own mental torture. More than anything this is one of my favorite ways of growing and finding my sense of purpose and joy in the world when I have forgotten my way.

Laugh

I’ve always loved laughing! I studied comedians and their backgrounds. Most comedians came from lives that were wrecked with similar dark times as I had felt or had in my life. For that reason, I really wanted to be like them. I wanted to bring joy into my life and the lives of others. I did and I have and will continue to be with others who can laugh in spite of the chaos. I surround myself with others who can find the silver lining no matter how bleak things may seem. Laughing has been scientifically proven to be one of the best medicines for a reason.

 Gratitudes & Intentions

The art of being thankful and grateful for everything in my life (even the awful things) changes my vibe to one that is filled with peace instead of negativity. I joined a group called the Intenders Circle about 4 years ago to help me manifest more love and abundance in my life and in the world. We read a wonderful list called, The Code out loud and write down our gratitudes and intentions. Then we share what we wrote down. It has helped me tremendously over the years and I can’t say enough about it. Find an Intenders Circle anywhere in the world or start your own circle. Setting intentions and taking action on those intentions gets us out of our minds and into solution mode versus just complaining. Anyone can complain. Those who want solutions find them easily and effortlessly. If you don’t want to join a group, simply write down a few gratitudes every morning and a few intentions for the day, week or year and revisit those every day or week. Make note of all of the intentions that were granted and how far you have come! The main thing is that if it isn’t for your highest good, don’t ask for it. I learned from one of the founders of the Intenders of the Highest Good is that things we manifest that aren’t for our highest good are called miscreations.

Yoga

I began practicing yoga with a video in 2000. It was called A.M. and P.M. Yoga. Then I bought a maternity yoga video in 2001 when I was pregnant with my first son. I began practicing yoga at the YMCA with a wonderful tribe of yoga moms who would change my life and viewpoint. I wasn’t sure I would be a good mom or how to be a loving mom when being a mom triggered so much feeling and emotion in me, including debilitating anxiety. Being with other moms who were mindful and caring helped me a lot in those first few years. I lost a lot of weight by practicing yoga which was my first taste of a form of meditation that was a moving meditation. It made my head hurt at first not to think all the time. I eventually learned to shut my mind down and take a break. It helped me to see my eating habits and patterns. I would eat for comfort, not just for nourishment. I would eat things that weren’t in my best interest. I learned to expand my consciousness to one that could fathom higher levels of being than where I was at that time. I remember thinking as a kid that I would never be a believer in yoga. Yoga means union. And I am grateful for the union I experienced on levels that were comforting to my heart and soul.

Walking

When I feel stiff from sitting or working, walking is my recipe for relief. I couldn’t get out of bed in February of 2018. It was the first time that my body hurt so much that I cried getting up. My chiropractor told me to rest. I stayed in bed for a few days but I only hurt worse. I got out of bed and started walking slowly around the block. I did that for a few days until I felt better. It was then that I knew I needed to always make time for walking. My life was out of balance and I needed to make sure I wasn’t on my feet all day to the point that I didn’t want to walk for fun. I loved walking with my Golden Retriever Shadow. She developed a large tumor on her forehead shortly after my episode of bed rest. I couldn’t get enough of being with her and walking. We loved going to our favorite spot to walk in the nearby forest preserve. Then her inoperable tumor became so large we had to have her put down. I cried for three months before her death. I couldn’t imagine walking without her at our favorite spots so I decided to take up low impact jogging to help me ease through the transition. I started with half a mile and worked my way up to 3 miles over the course of a few months. I felt great until suddenly my legs just couldn’t take anymore and I couldn’t even walk. It was painful to move. I vowed to listen to my body and just practice gentle exercise from then on. I grew up loving aerobics and weightlifting. Over the years I had had minor injuries at the gym that brought me the mindset that if I run, someday I may not be able to walk. So, I’m back to the belief that yoga and walking are my go-to exercises from now on.

Water

Water is life. I grew up in Houston and Austin, Texas. My relatives were all outdoor people. We spent a lot of time outside near beaches, rivers, and lakes. I grew up honoring water, nature and drinking water. I loved to swim. I still love water and feel it is one of the reasons I have been generally very healthy for most of my life. Our bodies need clean drinking water to function properly. I’ve never been a fan of drinking sugary drinks or juice and when I pay attention to who I want to look like when I am 70, they all have healthy eating and drinking habits. I honor my body and thirst by drinking water and carrying my water bottles with me wherever I go. It is an important habit that I have passed onto my sons. They even ask me to buy them new water bottles because they know it is important and makes them feel good. I am grateful I have passed that legacy onto them.

Food is Fun

I've always been surrounded by great cooks. For that I am grateful! They taught me how to have fun in the kitchen creating to my heart's content. I'm happy to say I knew the love of my life was for me because of our mutual foodie habits. I love going to the grocery store with a list of items to create a lovely meal with just a few items. I mix and match broths, veggies, grains, and a protein to create a soup, roasted meal or stir-fry. When I need inspiration I get a new cookbook from the Half Price Bookstore or look online. Going through Health Coach training has opened me up to a whole new world and ways of eating. Each season brings new ways I like to eat and will never follow any set diet that feels complicated or makes me feel hungry for more. I have done that and it created a binge eating situation for me after I realized it was unsustainable. I enjoy cooking enough food to last me for two or three days so don't need to cook every day. I appreciate others who inspire me to cook and feel my best. I found a wonderful doctor near me who made a cookbook for his patients, has veggies growing in the office and cookbooks for us to check out. Food is medicine. Farmers are our friends.  When my sons were little we volunteered on organic farms and my job on the farm was to cook and help in the garden while the men were in charge of the heavy work. It was one of the best experiences of my life. I was allowed to be creative and it was FUN! We can all find ways to make food fun and let our love of food be contagious for the next generation as my family and friends did for me. 

Massage

At age 44, I went to massage school. It was one of the most wonderful and healing experiences of my life. I learned that our bodies have muscle memory. Our bodies hold trauma and we can heal it with massage. I made amazing friendships and learned what radical self-care was made for. When we have physical or emotional baggage we don't feel our best. We are in pain and suffering. Regular massage can bring about huge results and help us transform our lives. We can feel joy again and we don't have to suffer in silence. I'm always amazed at the wonderful women and men I meet all the time who tell me that massage is their favorite self-care practice and how much it has changed their life. I personally feel that anyone can practice massage. I have friends who didn't go to school but they trade massages with their partner, friends, and children. It is an enriching experience that many other countries practice and teach to one another. There are many different modalities of massage and I believe they are all valid and helpful. 

Sleep, Rest & Renew

I'm like a princess when it comes to getting my rest. I grew up in a family that honored sleep and rest. I have lots of friends who have the mantra that they can sleep when they are dead. Well, some of them are dead now. That is no laughing matter but I can see the correlation. We must notice how we feel when we are rested versus running all the time. What is the point of running ourselves ragged if we don't feel well at the end of the day? I have friends who have retired and all they wanted to do was sleep. I honor that and now they are finally rested after years of being deprived of rest time. I love snuggling with my love at the end of the day and cocooning by myself if needed while I regain my strength. It is my way of honoring my natural rhythms which change all the time. Even my sons have gone through different times in life when they didn't feel like being forced to be social if they didn't feel like it. As much as I missed their company, I honor their needs to be left alone without guilting them.

Epsom Salt Baths

People swear by Epsom Salt Baths. I found out about them while I was in massage school. They help the body to heal from physical injury and they also contain magnesium which is a vital mineral that our bodies need to function properly. I sometimes take an Epsom salt bath every day if I am feeling fatigued and it helps my body repair and relax. 

I have about 30 self-care and self-love items I could list. These are just the ones I have found the most helpful to me. May you be infinitely blessed as I have to allow yourself the time to nurture your mind, body, and spirit with radical self-love and self-care. We are all worthy of finding time for ourselves. 

Much love,

Heather Brown