The Pill, Libido, Political Patriarchy and Vedic Embryology – Part 1

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alternatives to the pill, hobby lobby decision, is the pill bad for me?, negative health effects of the pill, oral contraceptives, vedic embryology, yogic philosophy

The United States Supreme Court (I say Senate in the video and I meant to say Supreme Court!) ruled Monday that some companies with religious objections can avoid the contraceptives requirement in President Obama’s health care bill. This is the first time ever that businesses can hold religious views under federal law. This means the Obama administration must look for a new, different way to provide free contraception to women who are covered under the health insurance plans of companies who object to birth control.

In this article, I will talk about oral contraceptives (referred to generally as the pill in this article), the health implications of taking the pill, what to do instead and how to ensure your body is healthy, no matter which contraceptive method you choose. I will also discuss the pill in light of this new decision by the US government and discuss yogic and Vedic influences on this subject.

Let me start off by saying that I was on the pill for the last 7 years of my life because my periods were very painful and my hormones were out of control (a problem in itself). Of those who use oral contraceptives, 58% of them use it to reduce menstrual cramps, migraines, acne and PMS.

I recently decided (with a bit of apprehension because I had tried to go off before without success) to stop taking it.  I decided this because after being more educated than I was when I was making that choice initially, I thoroughly understand the true effects of the pill.

When I expressed concern about being on the pill years ago, my OBGYN insisted that it was healthy so I believed her because I was young and didn’t know any better. Now I do know better and am going to tell you about it and help you understand what to do instead.

So let’s clarify what hormonal contraceptives are actually doing to your body, and what your gynecologist isn’t telling you:

1. Being on the pill alters your natural ability to attract and be attracted to a genetically compatible partner (and you could end up marrying/partnering with the wrong person). 

With a BA in Anthropology, I’ve known for a while that this is a ubiquitous fact in the field. Our attraction to men is not only emotional, it’s very much chemical as well. As women, we can instinctually, when our hormones are healthy and natural, be attracted to men who are genetically different from ourselves, so that when we procreate, we will have genetically healthy offspring.

The pill reverses our hormones (even low doses) so that we’re attracted to men who are more genetically similar to ourselves. This is because we evolved to have our brothers and family around us when we were pregnant.

Being on the pill is like being pregnant all the time because we’re not ovulating. So we are naturally inclined, hormonally, to surround ourselves with family- those genetically similar to us – when pregnant. Being on the pill replicates this need to be around genetically similar people, possibly attracting the wrong man because pheromones are directly related to hormones and genetic code.

I know women who were on the pill when they were dating and getting married and then went off the pill after they were married to be able to have kids (more about fertility in a bit), and hated the way their husbands smelled and didn’t feel attracted to him as much! So if you’re engaged, get off the pill to test this out! Imagine a sex-less life with your partner because you can’t stand his smell (pheromones).

For more information read this Time article.

2. The pill compromises your immune system and strips your body of nutrients: The pill robs your body of nutrients, vitamins and minerals, which can manifest as fatigue, IBS, bloating, migraines and acne. The effects build up over time, compounding what is essentially malnourishment. Malnourishment happens when people eat a diet rich in animal products, processed food and sugar and low in fresh fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts and seeds. When we get sick, there’s a problem with our nutrition because when we’re eating the right foods, we get more than enough protection from disease and illness. No supplements required (usually). The pill inhibits your body’s ability to absorb much needed nutrients. More information here.

A book that I recommend to all my clients that will help you understand how to maximize nutrient absorption: Eat To Live.

3. It dampens your sex drive.

Because it’s chemically altering your hormones and stopping ovulation, it’s also lowering your desire for sex. Libido is directly correlated with your body wanting to make a baby! The pill reduces the amount of testosterone running through your system. Testosterone (as we understand from our male counterparts who tend to be much more sexually driven, on average, than women) is vital to libido. Less testosterone = lower libido = lame. More information here.

4. It can severely affect your fertility later in life. When I went to my OBGYN with concerns about the pill affecting my fertility later in life, she told me, as most OBGYNs will, that it would be fine. This is not true. A study done in the UK, among others, showed that women who were on the pill had twice as much trouble conceiving later on than women who had used condoms and non hormonal birth control. When I went off the pill the first time I tried, I didn’t get my period (didn’t ovulate) for six months. And then my OBGYN convinced me, again because I didn’t know better then, to go back on. I never ended up getting my period off the pill that time. I also wasn’t vegan then (more on this in a bit). More information here.

5. It puts you in danger of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, blood clots and stroke. Cancer, diabetes, heart disease and other lifestyle related diseases all have roots in the body’s absorption of nutrients, the amount of animal protein and fat in the diet and estrogen. The genetic component plays much less of a role than you think. Along with animal products, the pill, by increasing the amount of estrogen and reducing the body’s ability to absorb nutrients, sets you up for these diseases. And cancer especially takes root at a very young age, depending on the quality of your diet and how much animal protein and fat you’ve consumed, along with processed foods and refined sugars.

6. It keeps your body in a constant state of stress. Excess estrogen in the body gives us motivation, drive and ambition. Estrogen and progesterone work together during our cycle to naturally balance each other out. If estrogen runs in excess, it irritates our nervous system. This keeps you in a constant state of ambition without allowing your body to rest as it would if progesterone were more present to balance the estrogen. This hormonal imbalance can result in many other symptoms.

So. What to do, what to do. I suggest getting off the pill. It is, of course, your choice. Do so safely and with awareness.

Alternatives to hormonal contraceptives:

Fertility Awareness Method. Effectiveness with perfect use: 98-99%.

Very effective if you are highly motivated to do it right. This is taking charge of your health and contraception at it’s best. This also depends on which barrier method you choose when you are in your fertile period. Some studies have shown that FAM can be 98% effective when abstaining from sex during your fertile period and 99% effective when used in conjunction with coaching. If you choose this method, it is critical that you receive proper coaching and training.

Barrier methods to be used in conjunction with FAM:

Condoms. Effectiveness with perfect use: 98%

Diaphragms. Effectiveness with perfect use: 94%

Today Sponge. Effectiveness with perfect use: 91%

Pill: Effectiveness with perfect use: 99%.

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/contraception-guide/Pages/how-effective-contraception.aspx

Elle Griffin is a holistic health coach and colleague of mine who specializes in women’s fertility and teaching FAM to women. Visit her website here.

Some tips on balancing your hormones after going off the pill and retraining your body to ovulate again:

1. Go vegan– for a while at least. When I went off the pill more recently, because I was vegan, my hormones regulated themselves perfectly. I got my period exactly a month after having a pill-induced period a month before. This was a perfect example of how wise and intelligent the body is when we feed it the right foods. Animal products, including organic meat and dairy, have disastrous effects on our hormones. Read Eat to Live to understand this further. I’m sure it will take my body a while to continue to heal itself.
2. Eat hormone regulating foods like maca and avocado.
3. Cut out the crappy processed foods. I can help you do this.
4. Exercise and stay active.
5. Drink a ton of water. (3-4 L per day is ideal).
6. Reduce soy, which contains a lot of estrogen.
7. If you don’t go vegan, drastically reduce your intake of animal products.
8. Take time for R&R. Rest. Let your body heal. It will literally have to heal itself after being on the pill, so let it.

In part two, I discuss the religious, political and spiritual implications of oral contraception, with a focus on the yogic tradition and what the Vedas say about human conception. Stay tuned!

Jenna

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My (comical) journey through detoxing and what you can learn from my mistakes…

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cleansing safely, detoxing without deprivation, holistic cleanse, holistic health, Ocean Beach Yoga SF, san francisco, whole foods detox, yoga and cleansing

Last year, I did my first cleanse. On my own. Before I was a health coach and knew what I was doing. It lasted about four and a half days (it was designed to last three weeks). My intentions were pure. I had just returned from India and Nepal and had definitely overdone it on naan and creamy chai’s. Not to mention the fact that I’d gotten sick twice while traveling and was having all sorts of strange stomach pains… I knew something needed to change.

Clockwise from left: The best food in Varanasi, the daily chai in Kathmandu, a thali set at Asi Ghat, Varanasi, and eating yak cheese in a small village outside Pohkara, Nepal.

So I declared: “I’m going to do a cleanse! YAY! That will solve all my problems and I’ll feel amazing!” I distinctly remember a family member rolling their eyes at my enthusiasm as well. I was off to an interesting start… So I did a free cleanse that I found online and it seemed good to start but dinners were things like a mushroom with kale and olive oil and that was IT. Now if you don’t know me personally, I’m an active person with a steady, consistent need for calories throughout the day. So after about 5 servings of kale and mushrooms, I was sick of said meal and haven’t had it since.

Like I said, the cleanse was designed to last three weeks. I did feel better but was constantly starving and knew I needed something…different? More support for sure. More fat? More protein? The feeling that I was actually cleansing my body of toxins rather than starving it?

What I did gain was a greater sense of connection with my body, what it feels like to be truly hungry, rather than just bored, and how much food my body actually needs, in contrast to thinking I needed to eat all the time. So when I became a health coach, I knew detoxing would be a part of my practice in helping my clients reconnect to what I call our “Earth Suits” – the vessels we’ve been blessed with inhabiting. Help them stop abusing their bodies with less than ideal foods that don’t serve them and move beyond the food to help them heal other areas of their lives.

But I knew I needed to develop a system that wasn’t as harsh as my experience had been and also was accessible for people at different stages in their journey toward healthy eating. I also knew that I could be the guide that had “gone before,” so to speak to help light the way for my clients so they wouldn’t feel so overwhelmed at the thought of cleansing their bodies.

So when I put a detox into motion that allows people to ease into it no matter where they were on their journey, and having it focus on whole foods rather than just veganism, I knew I was on the right track. This detox provides all the elements that were missing from my own DIY, haphazard cleanse the year before- a support network of detoxers, an expert guide along the way to answer my questions and concerns and help me adapt it to my unique metabolic and life needs, yoga to support my body detox at the cellular level and enough calories to keep me happy!

So if this sounds like exactly what you’re looking for to feel amazing going into summer, read on my friend… This spring detox journey will help you reduce inflammation, lose weight naturally without feeling deprived, sleep better, boost your metabolism, reconnect you with your body and emotions, and figure out which foods work with your body and which ones don’t work so well.

Plus the entire detox is online! So you can detox with me wherever you are in the world.

Join me May 12-22nd for my Spring Detox Journey- we will be detoxing together, as a community, honoring our individual differences, and nourishing our bodies, minds and emotions with healthy foods, thoughts and self care. This is NOT your grandma’s detox.

If you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area, join me at Ocean Beach Yoga SF for cleanse- supporting yoga from 7-8:30 on May 13, 15, 17, 20, and 22. Sign up for yoga here.

Finally, here’s one of my favorite recipes from the detox: It’s called Dream Date Smoothie and it’s amazinggg: 1 ½ cups dairy free milk (almond, coconut or hemp), 2 pitted Medjool dates, soaked and pitted, 1 frozen banana, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 tablespoon raw honey. Blend all together and enjoy!

Sign up to detox with me here. Let me know how you like the smoothie and what aspects of detoxing scares you the most and which parts you think you’d love! I want to hear from you! Be receptive. Jenna

I Am A Wizard. And You Can Be Too!

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alchemy, change your life with food, cleanse, detox, harry potter, health transformation, holistic health coaching, meditation, nourishment, whole foods diet, yoga

Yes, I watched both of the 7th Harry Potter movies in a row this weekend. No I am not kidding. Yes I am serious that we can all be wizards. Tomorrow begins the free video series of my upcoming four month group program – Alchemy: Transformational Health Intensive. Alchemy is the power or process of transforming something common into something special, an inexplicable or mysterious transmuting. Water into wine. Lead into gold. Negative into positive. As an alchemist at heart, I love transforming, creating and evolving. I think this is why I love yoga and meditation, my career as a health coach, and travel so much – their endless ability to transform your mind, heart and eyes.

I am here to help you transform as well as teach you how to be a sorcerer in your own life. Teach a man to fish, as they say. To turn the lead of your life into gold. To embrace the challenges of your life and turn them into something beautiful. Because that’s what I did. Turned setback after setback and grief and despair into fuel and fertilizer for the garden that was to become my life now.

When we plant the seeds of health and wellbeing with a whole foods, nourishing diet we can transmute the ordinary into the extraordinary. When we set up the foundation of our house correctly, the house will stand for many decades to come and it’s the same with our lives and health. Food, career, physical activity and the other more every day aspects of our lives must be in order so that we can focus on what truly matters like our spiritual practice, relationships and big dreams.

So join me tomorrow, for the completely free Alchemy Intensive Video Series. We are going to be talking about food as the foundation for your life- you driven, motivated, spiritual deep thinker, you. We’re going to talk about the three things that people with big dreams are missing or don’t understand about food and how this is continuing to make them play small, struggle with their weight and have lackluster energy. Join me by signing up here. Be sure to confirm your subscription in your email inbox in order to be added to the list!

Namaste my friend.

Jenna is a board certified holistic health coach and yoga teacher and is the health and wellness expert for the global yoga community. She presents workshops and classes regularly at Google and at yoga studios around the San Francisco Bay Area. She helps spiritual, visionary people with big dreams have more energy, lose weight without dieting, curb sugar cravings, and heal their relationship with food. She combines western holistic nutrition and eastern philosophy to maximize her clients’ transformations.

Weaving Your Life Together: Radical Transformation, Channeling Negative Thoughts, and Scones

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#jennapacelli #jennapacelliyogaandholistichealthcoaching #yoga #health #holistic #holistichealthcoaching #wellness #primaryfoods #lifeoffthemat, balance, death and dying, detox, healing, health transformation, holistic health coaching, India, meditation, san francisco, spirituality, suffering, ucla, understanding grief, understanding suffering, what to do when you don't know what to do, yoga

Intensity. My whole life has been a mosaic and conglomeration of one intense experience after another. Whether that was an intense relationship, with a lot of heat and love, or international travel or my opinions on world events, my life has often been fiery, passionate and active.

As a triathlete in college, I somehow got it into my head that something only counted as exercise if it involved at least 15 miles on a bike, 3 miles (at a minimum) of a run, or an hour in the pool. Nothing else really “counted” to me- so walking wasn’t an option, let alone walking meditation or hiking. I fell asleep in yoga when I was first practicing at my college gym at 7 in the morning. Whether that was because I was extremely sleep deprived or actually bored, I don’t remember. It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence for me to wake up really early to go train, come back, have breakfast and desperately want a nap at 9 AM, only to fight this plea from my body with a couple cups of coffee and a scone.

This life of imbalance, intensity and black and white thinking put me into overdrive, all the time. I was in a sorority, often active with events and frat parties. I was in a leadership position in everything I was involved with. I was a camp counselor for underprivileged kids. My resume is as long as the flight from SFO to Delhi. I was always doing something.

It wasn’t until my life unraveled around me when my love died that I saw this for what it was- a façade. I found myself trying to do all the things I had done previously with the same intensity but was instead crying constantly, on high alert just from walking through campus, and fantasizing about him coming back and it all turning out as a nightmare. I thought I’d wake up. Well, wake up I did, but in an entirely different way that happens when life slaps you awake.

The constant doing and achieving was a way to avoid the truest parts of myself – the part that longed for a spiritual connection with my body, mind, heart and spirit.

What I didn’t know then was that this unraveling was presented to me so that I could re-weave the threads of my life into something more wholesome, more connected and more in alignment with my true spiritual purpose.

From there, I started to embrace the difficult parts of my life- grief, sorrow, anxiety, turmoil and channeled them. I channeled them into art, creating, writing, music, yoga was an entirely new experience, connecting deeply with others, and seeing the world through entirely new eyes. What opened up for me was the beauty of my own being- the fact that I had been lost in society’s ideas of success and wellbeing became painfully clear.

I ended up choosing a life path that was entirely different from the medical school route I had previously planned. And a few years later, I found myself in India, living at an ashram, feeling so much joy because I felt accepted and loved unconditionally by those around me and most importantly myself.

So I want to know – what parts of yourself do you want to get to know better? The artist? The writer? The yogi? What’s getting in the way of you fully expressing yourself in this way? Maybe some de-programming is needed?

If you are craving a more meaningful life – one that is supported by healthy food choices and moderation, rather than the constant doing and going like I used to do, join me for my Alchemy Transformational Health Intensive Video Series. Here’s what I’ll be covering in the videos: 

Week 1 launches April 2^nd: Alchemy of the Body: Why we’re so confused about the food we eat, why it may not be your fault, and what to do instead. We’ll be talking about how to break through nutrition overwhelm, how to tell if your cravings are lifestyle or physiological in nature and how to take action today to create massive movement forward.

Week 2 is all about the Alchemy of the Mind: Breaking through the habits of the mind to create lasting success in our health, relationships, career, and spirituality. Many of us think, like I once did, that it’s only the big things we do that matter, when in actuality, it’s the little things. I’m going to teach you a new way of thinking so that you can actually do what you want with your life rather than dreaming about it.

Week 3: Alchemy of the heart: Stop selling yourself short, wake up to your fullest potential, love yourself everyday and grow through discomfort. This week will be all about becoming friends with yourself and treating yourself as you would your child or beloved pet. Plus, we’ll be talking about the fact that life is not all about being happy and what we can focus on instead to infuse joy into the every day nooks and crannies of our lives.

So I hope to see you at the Alchemy Video series! You can be sure you’re on the list by clicking here and opting in to hear from me! If you’re interested in the Alchemy Transformational Health Intensive, head on over here!

Once you sign up for the video series, join the private facebook group here. We’ll be gearing up for the videos and I want to hear from you there- your struggles, hopes, dreams and goals plus all the things you’d like to learn in the videos!

See you there!

Jenna

What To Do When You Feel Stuck

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don't know what career i want, don't know what to do with my life, feeling stuck, holistic health coaching, in a rut, inspiration for life, living a big life, meditation, stuck in the hamster wheel, Travel, uninsprired, yoga

Feel like you’re in a rut? That you’re living someone else’s life rather than your own? Here are some questions to ask yourself today (other than “What’s for dinner?”) and a crucial action step at the end:

1. What’s the real end goal? Some people think that health is the end goal. It’s really not for me. I love helping my clients rediscover their health so that they can then create the freedom that comes from feeling more confident in their bodies, having more energy so they can create more of what makes them come alive, and so on. What would you do if you didn’t feel so insecure about your body/skin/shape? What kind of work could you do if you weren’t addicted to caffeine and were running on natural energy? What doors would open up if you addressed the emotional struggles you’re having or looked at your emotions for the first time in your life?

2. What’s the purpose of your life? What gives you joy, meaning, fulfillment? I’ll give you a hint- it’s not all the partying you’re doing or used to do, or how good looking your boyfriend is or how much money you make. But you already know that. Why were you put on earth? The ancient yogis had some powerful ideas to pass down to us. I suggest studying the ancient Vedic texts to help guide you. I used the Vedas and yogic philosophy to coach my clients back toward wholeness (because they just got lost there for a second and forgot that they were whole to begin with). You can’t get where you’re going if you don’t know where you want to end up.

3. What’s keeping you stuck? Are you ready to address the more everyday, mundane aspects of life like food, finances, and your career so that you can discover the more mysterious, wondrous parts of your being? Do you understand that you are not, in fact, your mind? What does it feel like to observe the silence in between your thoughts? Are you listening to the messages your heart and intuition are giving you? These things start to inhabit the place that the every day issues were residing and you can begin to really start to answer the Big Questions for yourself.

4. What work would you do if retirement weren’t an option? Is it what you’re doing now? For the majority of you, probably not. Make strides every day to move you toward what you truly want to be doing with your life. If you don’t know, take time every day to explore and discover what that would be. Make it a priority. Your life is too precious to waste it doing work that bores you to make money to buy things you don’t care about to impress people you don’t like. Do you actually like sitting in a cubicle? Does that truly excite you or have you just avoided trying to discover what it is that actually lights you up?

5. If money were a NON issue (meaning you had unlimited funds) what would you do with the money? Don’t be realistic. Just dream here for a second. We have been repressed into believing that we can’t actually be astronauts or circus directors or professional athletes. This is simply an exercise in repression-rejection. And if it’s “buy a ferrari” then write that. Don’t feel guilty, altruist. My guess is you’ll run out of materialistic things that you want and you’ll start to uncover some bigger, grander goals. One of mine? Open a school for underserved girls in India where they are given a holistic education that includes yoga and meditation and honors their femininity and right to be womanly in the world.

Take Action! Big changes only happen when we take action. We’re going to be talking about all this and more in my Four Month Transformational Health Intensive Video Series! Sign up here to get access to the free videos as they are released, find out more about the Alchemy Transformative Health Intensive, join the private facebook group and save the date for the series: 

APRIL 2: Alchemy of the Body: Why we’re so confused about the food we eat, why it may not be your fault, and what to do instead.

APRIL 9: Alchemy of the Mind: Breaking through the habits of the mind to create lasting success in our health, relationships, career, and spirituality.

APRIL 16: Alchemy of the Heart: Stop Selling Yourself Short, wake up to your fullest potential, love yourself everyday and grow through discomfort.

Namaste, Jenna

 

5 Reasons Why Sugar Is Ruining Your Health and Limiting Your Yoga Practice

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brittle tendons, food allergies, how does sugar affect yoga?, is sugar addicting?, is sugar bad for you?, sugar and yoga, sugar feeds cancer, sugar is addicting

Sugar can make the tendons more brittle. Your tendons love yoga. They don’t love sugar. Give them what they love and they’ll love you back.

Sugar can make our skin age by changing the structure of collagen – the anti-aging benefits of inversions become meaningless if we don’t support them with a healthy, low-sugar diet.

Sugar can cause asthma – pranayama? No thanks, too difficult – I prefer my sugar.

High refined sugar diet reduces learning capacity. Svadhyaya, the study of scripture and one of the basic tenets of the eight limbs of yoga, becomes a lot more difficult if we’re struggling with brain fog.

Sugar feeds cancer and tumors. Getting cancer will significantly reduce the amount of time spent in this body, in this lifetime. The less time you’re on earth, the less time you have for Self-Realization.

Source

What struggles do you have around sugar? It’s highly addictive and most people have some kind of craving for sugar. Join me this Saturday in San Francisco: Overcoming the Sugar Blues – Loosening the grip of sugar and other addicting foods to embrace a yogic life of true nourishment. 1-3:30 PM at Ocean Beach Yoga SF. Sign up HERE

Namaste Divine Beings. You deserve to be free of your addiction to sugar.

Jenna

Alchemy: Four Month Health Transformation Intensive

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alchemy, coaching, four month program, health, holistic health coaching, manifestation, wellness

“Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not. ”
― Pablo Picasso

Manifestation of the world within me is exciting, magical and powerful. A four month transformational health intensive is in the works, set to launch April 28th. Food is the foundation for this transformation because when we change our food we change our life. This program is for you if you understand that you are powerful beyond measure but just don’t know how to tap into that power because you’re still struggling with the more mundane or everyday aspects of life like food, finances, your home environment, career and so on.

Please like and share with others who you think would be interested. Also, comment below and let me know your struggles around health and wellbeing and the unmanifested dreams lying dormant inside you because you’re still working through life’s basic elements.

What To Do With The Pulp From Your Juicer?

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avoid waste, creativity, gluten free zucchini bread, juice pulp, juicing, organic, save money, thrift, vegan zucchini bread, what to do with pulp from juicer

Namaste my friend,

I have heard time and time again that people don’t like to waste the pulp from their juicer and so therefore they don’t want to juice at all. I hear you. And you don’t have to waste it. Green juice can be extremely beneficial – it can heal your gut, help reduce sugar cravings, pump your body with nutrients, give you natural energy and so much more! So don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. So get creative! Try adding it to recipes for some added fiber and nutrition. I love adding it to the zucchini bread I make. Try it and let me know how it goes! Compliments of this idea go out to one of my clients, Meaghan!

2 cups whole wheat flour (or Bob’s Red Mill gluten free flour + xantham gum- follow the bag for directions)

2 teaspoons (tsp) baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1.5 c shredded zucchini (replace with juicer pulp- organic)

1/5 c unsweetened applesauce

1/4 c apple juice concentrate, thawed, undiluted. organic.

1/4 c pure maple syrup

1 tbsp organic canola oil or safflower oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 c chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350. Mist an 8.5 x 4/5 inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

Place flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves in a large mixing bowl, and stir together using a dry wire wisk.

Place remaining ingredients except walnuts in a separate bowl, stir together until well combined. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Mix just until dry ingredients are evenly moistened. Stir in walnuts and mix until evenly distributed. Spoon batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake on center rack of oven for about 50 to 55 minutes, or until cake tester (fork) inserted in the center tests clean. Turn bread out onto a cooling rack and let cool completely before slicing or storing. Wrap cooled bread tightly. It will keep at room temperature up to three days or refrigerate up to seven days.

Recipe adapted from Breaking The Food Seduction by Dr. Neil Barnard. Highly recommend this book if you struggle with cravings.

If you liked this post, then you’ll love my newsletter– weekly inspiration for the healthy, spiritual life, straight to your inbox. 

Jenna is a board certified holistic health coach and yoga teacher and is the health and wellness expert for the global yoga community. She presents workshops and classes regularly at Google and at yoga studios around the San Francisco Bay Area. She helps her clients have more energy, lose weight without dieting, curb sugar cravings, and heal their relationship with food. She combines western holistic nutrition and eastern philosophy to maximize her clients’ transformations.

Creating Freedom From Sugar Addiction To Move Toward Yogic Fulfillment and Self Realization

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Bay Area, health, holistic health coaching, meditation, San Francisco Bay Area health coach, Self Realization, Sugar Blues, sugar cravings, wellness, yoga

When food is controlling us rather than us controlling our food, we struggle. We may gain weight, have lackluster energy or find ourselves in the clutches of lifestyle-related disease. More importantly, we cannot fulfill our dharma when we are still stuck in lower-level chakra blockages. What I mean is if you cannot move past your addiction to cheese, sugar or any other addictive foods, you will create blockages in your lower chakras, the energy centers that allow you to manifest in the world. When we are blocked in our lower chakras and worldly matters, we are unable to become fully expressed in in love, relationships, communication, and spiritual insight and wisdom.

When I was addicted to cheese and sugar, before I attended and graduated from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, I was not even close to feeling fully expressed because I was focusing so much on food and nutrition in my own life and this took up way too much of my energy.

I felt stuck and would have done anything to move forward in my own life. Now, granted, I am not a woman of inaction. On the contrary, I can tend to over-do it in the action area, which has its pros and cons. Regardless, I became a health coach. I was already a yoga teacher but I wasn’t fully expressed in that area either.

As I learned about health and wellness and how to break out of the grip of food addiction, my life seemed to blossom in so many ways. I got my finances in order, I lost weight, I started to speak my truth and come into alignment with what really mattered to me- devoting my life to Self Realization, among many other smaller victories. Not to mention I had the energy and mental capacity (because when we get sugar and processed foods out of our diet, we de-fog our brains) to create, focus, and build a business and life I love.

Food is the foundation for a life that matters and is fulfilling to us.

{When we are at peace with food, we start to find peace in other areas of our lives. Tweet It.}

I’m sure many of you would love to break free of your food addiction.

Breaking Free of Food Addiction. Four Steps:

1. Deconstruct Your Craving – Keep a food journal. Note the times when you crave sweets or whatever food you’re craving. Is there a pattern? You’ll notice that maybe on the days you didn’t eat breakfast or didn’t workout in the morning, you crave sweets in the afternoon. Or when you had a hard day at work, you turn to food as comfort. Looking at the realities of your own life will help you understand the role foods play – and it may be different than people you know.
2. Pay attention to your primary foods– How are you feeling in your relationships, career, physical activity and spirituality? Are all of these areas flowing for you? Are they fulfilling for you or are there things missing from them? Usually, when our primary foods are overflowing, we don’t have an issue with food addiction.
3. Look for any gaps in your diet or the possibility of nutritional imbalances – This may require the expertise of a health coach or nutritionist. Are you eating 5-10 servings of fruits and vegetables per day? Are you eating whole grains? Are you crowding out refined carbohydrates like pasta, crackers and chips?
4. Join me tomorrow for my free Sugar Blues teleclass all about breaking free from your sugar addiction. Sign up here. Even if you can’t make it on the call itself, when you sign up you will be added to my newsletter and everyone on my newsletter will receive the recording of the call.

Final Words: You can create a life you love when you get your relationship with food in order. You don’t have to be addicted to sugar/cheese/meat/processed foods. Sometimes it helps to enlist the support of someone who’s been there, done that.

+ My bonus: Everyone on the call tomorrow will receive a surprise gift from yours truly! It will expire Friday so be sure to either be on the call or listen to it before Friday evening in order to take advantage of it! 

Namaste Divine Being, Jenna

Two Simple, Quick Tips to Grocery Shopping Like A Health Coach

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east bay, fruits and vegetables, healthy shopping, holistic health, jenna pacelli yoga and holistic health coaching, northern california, nutritarian, nutrition, organic, san francisco, vegan, vegetarian

My cart during my last trip to the grocery store! Join me today in San Francisco to learn even more about healthy shopping. Click on the events tab above to find out more and RSVP!

Are you confused about what to buy at the store? Feel like if you buy all organic or all raw or all vegan or whatever that you’ll spend a fortune? Or don’t know what to do with all the fresh fruits and vegetables you just bought?

I’m going to give you two simple, quick tips to help you through this.

1. Shop by color. The more produce you eat the better. Food can be a potent form of medicine. As you’re shopping, shop by color. Color means phytonutrients. To learn more about phytonutrients and why these are the ticket to long-lasting health, watch my video from last week. Each color has its own place in your diet and none are more important than others. You need a rainbow of colors in your grocery cart and refrigerator.

Red: Rich in phytochemicals that reduce free radical damage (the stuff that causes disease and aging). Heart healthy. Orange: great for your eyes. Yellow: improve circulation and immune function. Green: The. best. thing. you can put in your body. The evidence of the healthfulness of greens (especially dark leafies) is overwhelming.  White: Nature’s pharmacy. Reduce blood pressure and LDL cholesterol.  I talked all about a couple potent white foods here! Blue and purple: prevent early signs of aging and heart disease. Texture: choose a variety- light and leafy, dense and strong, light and crispy.

2. Get inspired and guided: I suggest picking up a couple plant based cookbooks to make this much easier on you and then cooking in bulk to save you time. Here are three of my favorites (you don’t have to be vegan to appreciate or benefit from them): Thrive Foods, Superfood Smoothies and 30 Minute Vegan 

RSVP for Jenna’s free grocery tours every first Monday and Thursday of the month in the East Bay and San Francisco. Click here for more information. 

Jenna is a board certified holistic health coach and yoga teacher and is the health and wellness expert for the global yoga community. She presents workshops and classes regularly at Google and at yoga studios around the San Francisco Bay Area. She helps her clients have more energy, lose weight without dieting, curb sugar cravings, and heal their relationship with food. She combines western holistic nutrition and eastern philosophy to maximize her clients’ transformations.