Kale, amazing kale is one of my favorite vegetables.  It's low in calories, only 36 per cup, high in fiber, its filled with minerals such as iron, magnesium and calcium in addition to being a powerhouse of antioxidants including vitamins A, C and K. Kale will help lower your cholesterol, reduce your risk of heart disease and best of all its a great anti-inflammatory food.

Read on for some delicious recipes

Did you know that you can use herbs for spring allergies?  As I mentioned the other day, spring is the time for new beginnings.  The plants begin to flower and now we have pollen which for many creates heavy, stuffy heads, watery, itchy eyes and so much more.  

Instead of grabbing for an allergy pill you may want to use herbs and foods to both alleviate the symptoms in addition to helping to eliminate the problem.

When I think of spring what comes to mind is new growth.Spring represents new beginnings. The plants are coming to life again, the trees have buds on them and the new greens are popping right out of the ground. Everywhere you look around you the colors are changing from brown to green. There’s new life abounding, baby birds, baby rabbits (the one’s I don’t want in my garden) and my favorite plants are coming back. 

Spring represents new beginnings. It’s the place where we can become unstuck and go forward.

Are you paying attention? Really paying attention can be as simple or as difficult as you choose it to be.  In today's blog, I'm going to talk about paying attention to your body.  In paying attention to your body you must pay attention not only to  your body but to your mind and spirit as well; as they all work in conjunction with each other. Have you ever thought about how you could balance your body and your life so that it didn't feel precariously balanced like the stones are in the image?  

The three things I'd like to focus on are:  what you eat and drink, how you focus yourself and how to relax yourself. 

Today, March 20, 2013 is Spring Equinox. Spring Equinox is one of only 2 days in the year when we have equal day and night. There are exactly 12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark. As you look online about spring equinox you will notice a lot of talk about balance. Balancing brooms, standing eggs on their ends, but what I really want to chat about today is "Do you feel balanced?"

Yesterday, as I walked around my yard, I noticed that the daffodils were popping through the soil.  Don't they know that it's still winter? For most of these plants a few days of warm weather will have them seeking the sun and popping through the soil. (even though it's a little too early for them)

What struck me was that just as the plants are confused so are many of you. "I want to eat healthy but what should I eat?"

Listen to the small stream and "relax"

Have you ever sat under an enormous white pine and felt the healing energy she gives us or taken a few pine needles,or a small twig and scraped the bark off and smelled the clean white scent she offers us? Pine is considered a sacred tree throughout much of Europe and many American Indian traditions. To the Iroquois, she symbolizes a balanced life, truth, peace and a clear life purpose.  The Seneca people see her as a dream of peace for all beings and many of the cultures believe that the Spirit of the Forest lives in the old pines. After the senseless murders last week in Newtown, CT, White Pine seems like the plant we should be working with right now.

For many of us sore, sprained and pulled muscles are something that happens once in a while, while others are constantly looking for solutions to these issues.  For a sprain your first line of defense should always be ice, which helps bring the inflammation down. In addition there are some herbal remedies you may find helpful. 

Have you ever felt like you are stuck in a rut?  You’re angry, aggravated and just need a little something.  Next time, reach for a little bit of motherwort tincture and see how all of a sudden things look a little brighter.

Motherwort is an interesting plant, as you look at her relatively innocuous flowers, just be aware that towards the stem they are very prickly and I’ve been stuck numerous times.  

Have you ever given any thought to the fact that what you put into your body can change whether it begins to corrode (break down) or recharge (rebuild). When I think about this, what first goes through my mind is whether the body is acidic or alkaline.  Think about battery acid and how it can corrode anything that it touches.  Now think about what that acid can do in your body.  What can cause acid in your body?  

We'll start with anxiety:

For me as soon as I see dandelion flowers popping out all over the place, reality sets in, Spring is finally here. 

The dandelion is a tough tenacious plant which is know for its ability to survive almost anything and to spread herself far and wide. The bright flowers look like little suns, full of energy and power.

When you look at the energy of dandelion, she is a tough cookie. Have you ever tried to pull a dandelion, her roots extend far into the ground.It reminds me that dandelion is so useful for people who are very intense. These people are hard-working, over-stressed and many times very irritable. They cram too much into every day.  They need to learn to let go just like the puff ball of seeds that the dandelion has later on in the season.  Does this sound familiar??