Dr. Frank Lipman, The voice of sustainable wellness

I often speak with people who know that their health needs a boost, and they want to embark on a cleanse. The only problem is that they can’t find the right time to start. They may have a wedding coming up, or a birthday, business trip or holiday.

My recommendation is that if there’s one event standing in the way, just go ahead and start your cleanse. There will always be some special occasion on the calendar, and part of the process of improving your eating habits is learning how to stay on track during these special occasions.

Here are some suggestions to prepare for your Cleanse: 

1. Set the date that you are going to start, and plan to go grocery shopping a day or two before you begin.

2. Look at your calendar during those 2 weeks, and get clear about when you’ll be socializing. If you have work dinners or birthday parties, just make a plan for what you will eat at those events.

3. Spend the week before cutting down on caffeine and sugar.  Here is a plan to transition off caffeine.

4.  Check out the Cleanse dietary guidelines and recipes on the website.  Plan some lunches and dinners that you will enjoy.

5. Most important! Spend 10-15 minutes journaling about why you want to do this program, what symptoms you want to clear up, what results you want to achieve, and how you’re hoping to feel when you’re done. Have fun with this and be specific!  This will give you the inspiration to jump in.

Good health starts now – don’t put it off!

Herbert Benson, MD, a brilliant Harvard Medical School professor, has been studying the science of meditation for decades. His pioneering book, Relaxation Revolution (Scribner, 2011), is packed with scientific research studies, practical tips, and guided meditations and visualizations on how to deal with a range of specific life challenges.

I’m excited to share a few of my favorite Big Ideas from this mind-blowing book. So let’s dive in!

A Solution to Stress

The relaxation response, writes Benson, is the opposite of the fight-or-flight stress response. “It is characterized by the following: decreased metabolism, heart rate, blood pressure, and rate of breathing; a decrease or ‘calming’ in brain activity; an increase in attention and decision-making functions of the brain; and changes in gene activity that are the opposite of those associated with stress.”

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The first time I heard of Chia was when Chia pets were popular in the 80’s – remember those “adorable” green leafy creatures that you grew by watering an animal shaped terracotta pot. Who knew then that beyond their ability to grow animals, Chia seeds are actually a dynamo superfood. Turns out that the Aztecs and Mayans in pre-Columbian times did! Chia was an important part of their diet and legend has it that a single tablespoon could sustain Aztec warriors all day. The seeds, which come from a plant called Salvia Hispanica are loaded with many healthy benefits.

They are the richest source of plant based omega-3 fatty acids (higher than flax seeds)  – great news for vegans. Chia seeds provide an excellent source of fiber – both soluble and insoluble which helps you feel full and keeps things moving smoothly.

They are full of anti-oxidants, protein and minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, copper, niacin and zinc.

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To achieve optimal health and create sustainable wellness, it’s imperative that you become aware of not only what you are putting in and around your body, but also, what you put on it. Between shampoos, toothpaste, face creams, deodorant, cosmetics and so on, most people are voluntarily dousing themselves daily with multiple chemicals, carcinogens and mutagens, adding to their toxic loads and setting the stage for illness and disease. Seems like kind of a crazy habit, doesn’t it?

The problem is that many cosmetics and personal care products contain undisclosed toxic chemicals that are dangerous to your health and are known to contribute to cancer, nerve damage, and infertility. And as your skin is an extremely permeable membrane, these toxins enter your body very easily, so the fewer you use the better, particularly with products that remain on the skin for long periods of time, such as facial makeup. The longer you are exposed to chemicals, the greater the opportunity for your body to absorb them. My advice? Try to keep cosmetic self-pollution to a minimum by taking the following steps:

1. When choosing makeup, select unscented, fragrance free products that contain few or no petrochemical derivatives.

2. Avoid products that contain diethanolamine (DEA) and triethanolamine (TEA).

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Though we’ve all heard by now that chocolate is good for us, most people, no matter how welcome that information is, still have some doubt about accepting it whole-heartedly. And rightly so.

Let’s get to the bottom of this so we can all enjoy our chocolate freely yet consciously, and reap the many rewards.

First a little background: I never expected to be a chocolatier. After college, I found my way to Asia, where I went to learn about meditation. I ended up staying 11 years. Most of that time I lived in the Himalayas, adjacent to a monastery, often in retreat.

Coming back to the US after more than a decade, it was clear that a lot had changed in the interim. I saw how stressed and overwhelmed people were. Obesity, diabetes, cancer and heart disease had become part of the everyday lives of so many people. I thought perhaps I could help by teaching meditation.

One day, after experiencing exquisite handmade truffles, I had an a-ha moment: chocolate is a perfect way to introduce meditation into our busy lives.

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A few months ago, I was honored to have Arianna Huffington as my guest in a series called Conversations on Sustainable Wellness that I did at Urban Zen. Here is a snippet of our chat that evening.

Fragrance is the problem child ingredient of traditional beauty products. Wild and wily, these molecules of scent can wreak havoc on your skin by causing contact dermatitis, a seriously red and itchy rash, or other allergic reactions like a headache or asthma. According to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), fragrance is the biggest cause of cosmetic contact dermatitis. It’s up there with nickel and poison ivy, which most people know how to avoid.

But it can be hard to steer clear of something that’s in scores of products, from skin care and hair care to makeup and perfume, of course. An equal opportunity player, fragrance is added to drugstore brands and department store ones alike to connote luxury or brand unity or cover up what skin-care ingredients might smell like without it. (Medicinal with a hint of cold cream is not very sexy.) Here are few more facts we’ve sniffed out about this potentially vexing ingredient.

“Fragrance” is a catch-all term on the list of ingredients, making it hard to know exactly what’s in your skin-care product

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Baaba Maal is both one of my favorite musicians as well as one of the finest people I know. Not only is he a superstar in his native Senegal and a spiritual pop singer, he is on a mission to bridge the cultural divide between Africa and the rest of the world. As an artist, Baaba Maal is regarded highly because of his unique musical style – his ability to mix traditional music with modern beats. His popularity and status as an influential spokesperson for Africa is largely due to his social conscience and his ability to use his music to spread messages of hope.

Last year I moderated a Q and A session with him at Urban Zen, where he also performed a few songs. His final song was one that he sings frequently. It is a song for the African children who have lost their parents to HIV and subsequently fallen into a life of violence and drugs and a call to save these children by providing them with support and education. Watch here to get an idea of what I am talking about…he is special!!!!

Below is a mix of some of my favorite Baaba Maal tracks with both Itunes and Spotify links. If you want to know more about him and watch 2 great youtube videos of tracks that I could not find Spotify links to, click here.

1) Television

2) Dakar Moon

3) Tindo Quando

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My mom recently asked me about meditation. I had three minutes to communicate this practice to her, over the phone, in a way that would both serve AND inspire her to continue a practice on her own. I was nervous and had no plan, but this is what I shared, and it feels right to share it here.

Lightning-fast meditation to balance your head and your heart — an actual, factual balance. Right now, as you read, feel how much energy it’s taking to read and process these words in your brain.

Now bring an equal amount of attention down into your heart. Even though we read and compute first with our minds, play with this for a few seconds. Close your eyes and feel the resonance in your heart as equal to the resonance in your mind.

Why is this so difficult to do?

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A few months ago I had a chance to hear Gabrielle Bernstein and Kris Carr give a lecture on “Crazy Sexy Miracles” and I was completely blown away by both of these amazing dynamos. Gabrielle teaches from the metaphysical text A Course in Miracles, and she spoke about how each time we shift our perception from fear to love we create a miracle. Our internal shifts enhance our external experiences. Serenity kicks in, fear subsides and we know that all the love we need is inside us.

When it was time for Gabby to introduce Kris Carr to the audience, she spoke about Kris’ diagnosis of cancer, and said something that struck me to the core. She said that the miracle is not that Kris has learned to live (and thrive) with cancer, but that she has learned to live without fear of cancer. It helped me to see the ways that fear is running my own life, in the areas of money, relationships and health, and to see that there is a better way.

Since then, I’ve done group coaching with Gabby, I’ve shared her work with many friends, and I’ve also had the opportunity to read her latest book Spirit Junkie. This book is such a valuable manual for how to choose love in our fear-driven modern world. Gabby tells it like it is – being a woman in your 20s trying to find your way in the world can be tough. Gabby speaks honestly and openly about her struggles with finding meaning, feeling different, trying to be cool, heartbreak, drinking, drugs, addiction and recovery. Gabby doesn’t sensationalize the troubles of her past, dwelling on juicy details. She bravely shares her story with a focus on the lessons she learned, and how she overcame her struggles to carve out a path of joy and love.

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