Paloma Healing Arts

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✨Retreat Life✨

It's mostly tech-free here at Kripalu but couldn't resist taking and sharing a few photos of this gorgeous reading spot overlooking the lake. Most of my evenings are spent kid-wrangling followed by maybe a few brief moments of relaxation before collapsing into bed. Feeling incredibly grateful to have a husband and parents willing to hold down the fort (with 2 kids and 3 dogs) so that I can have a quiet moment like this to rest and recharge.

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✨The Resilience of the Lotus Flower✨

Many people assume that this tattoo on my inner forearm was inspired by my yoga practice. While that deduction is definitely understandable, the inspiration for it began many years before I discovered yoga and began practicing in earnest. In my early twenties, my boyfriend at the time spent several months traveling in India and Nepal. When he returned and gifted me with a scarf blessed by a Buddhist monk, he also shared with me a common teaching in Buddhism and Hinduism around the lotus flower. Because the lotus flower is unstained in spite of rising out of muddy water, it is considered to symbolize, among other things, resilience and the possibility of something beautiful emerging out of something difficult or challenging. As someone who has navigated their own personal challenges and has supported many people through their own over the past two decades, I often reflect on the symbolism of the lotus and find it a source of inspiration and comfort when walking myself or another through difficult times.

Do you have any symbols that you come back to time and again for support and encouragement?

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✨Strawberry Yogurt Granola Pops✨

As we have become busier as a family, we have admittedly relied a bit more on convenience foods than we'd like to. While, in an ideal world, we would make more of our food from scratch, my husband and I do our best to include as many whole and homemade foods in our diets and those of our kids. And, when we can, we try to find ways to replicate convenience foods at home and make them healthier. My kids love yogurt tubes, especially when frozen, and eat them with breakfast or for a snack. While we buy the healthiest versions of yogurt tubes we can find, they have a lot of sugar in them, don't contain any fresh fruit and are expensive. Yesterday, I decided to make these Strawberry Yogurt Granola Pops from a recipe I found online and am very happy with how they turned out, even though they are not as pretty as the photo that went with the recipe. I love that they are not super sweet, have chunks of strawberries in them and are more filling than a yogurt tube. I can't wait to make these again!

What kinds of swaps have you made to improve the health of your &/or your family's diet?

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✨Allergy Season Blend✨

Anyone else experiencing the joy of allergy season at the moment? For years, I have been diffusing these three essential oils to help ease symptoms of seasonal allergies. The peppermint helps me feel as if I can actually breathe again through my nose, the lemon is energizing and the hint of lavender is soothing. While you can feel free to play with the ratios, my go to blend is 4-5 drops lemon, 2 drops lavender and 1-2 drops peppermint. Enjoy and breathe easy!

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