I love kale. I always purchase kale for my salads and smoothies, so I decided it would be more cost effective to grow kale in my garden this year. I also found that it was very difficult to find a bag of kale chips without artificial flavors and preservatives. Kale chips could also be quite expensive, so I started making flavored kale chips at home. It took a few some experimenting to come up with the perfect recipe.
Shopping List
Fresh kale, cleaned and cut into bite-size pieces.
Flavored olive oil (I used cilantro & roasted garlic.)
Flavored salt (I used garlic.)
Side note: Get creative. Add crushed red pepper, minced ginger, black salt, etc.
Directions
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
Spread one layer of kale onto a baking sheet.
Drizzle olive oil over kale. Make sure each leaf has olive oil on it.
Sprinkle with salt.
Cook in the oven for 12-15 minutes. Watch kale closely. If you overcook, it will taste bitter and burnt. If you don’t cook it long enough, it will not be crunchy and will be slick with olive oil.
The final result…
Crunchy, yummy, healthy kale chips with a nice flavor of cilantro, onion, and garlic.
We love animals, so being able to see wolves, foxes, bald eagles, owls, and coyotes up close was really cool. We snapped a lot of pictures! The Adirondack Wildlife Refuge operates on donations, so make sure you leave a few dollars to keep this non-profit organization running smoothly.
I always watch the Olympics. We got at the complex at the perfect time; the Olympians were practicing ski jumping into the pool. We watched them in awe. Then we took an elevator ride to the top of the ski jump. It gave us great views of the complex and high peaks.
Olympic Platform in the Ski Jump Complex
Ski Jump Complex, Lake Placid, NY
Hiking Cascade and Porter Mountain
If you are not in decent physical shape and don’t have the appropriate gear, please don’t attempt the high peaks! This was grueling. It took us six hours to do both Cascade and Porter mountains. The conditions were terrible; muddy and high water everywhere. Jason and I are in decent physical shape and we struggled! If you can do it, I would recommend it. The summits are beautiful and we enjoyed a breathtaking view. There are plenty of easier, shorter hikes if this is too challenging. I would recommend getting outside and on a trail!
Cascade Mountain
Fly Fishing
Jason visited the local fly shop, The Hungry Trout, and had the best day in his fishing career. He fly fished the Ausable River and caught (and released) over 20 brown trout. This is a fisherman’s dream!
I treated myself to a 90-minute massage and cupping treatment with Tim. It was one of the best massages I have ever received. I made sure to bring my AromaTouch essential oil, which made me feel super relaxed and calm. When I go back to Lake Placid, I will be getting another treatment at Balanced Bodywork and Massage.
Inside Balanced Bodywork and Massage
Shopping in Lake Placid
After my massage, I spent the rest of the day shopping in downtown Lake Placid. I purchased local olive oils, salts, dish towels, local brews, and other novelties. Each shop is unique!
Final Thoughts
This is a great trip for families, couples, and singles. There is truly something for everyone in any season. If you like the great outdoors, relaxing, adventure, and enjoy the Olympics, you would really enjoy visiting Lake Placid, NY. We will be re-visiting Lake Placid in the near future.
Have you been to the Adirondack region? What was your favorite thing to do?
There are centers of energy within your body called chakras. These spheres are constantly in movement, moving energy throughout your body.
When aligned and balanced, you physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually feel at peace. But, as energy is constantly shifting, your chakras can move out of alignment. This post will teach you about chakras and how to achieve optimal alignment for spiritual and overall well being.
What are chakras?
To put it simply, chakras are energy centers within our bodies. They’re constantly moving and shifting.
To explain a little further, check out this scene from Avatar: The Last Airbender:
**Note: Yes, the video doesn’t explain in depth what each chakra is but it’s a great introduction, especially for teaching children. I highly recommend watching Avatar for it’s introductory take on the elements, different forms of martial arts, and the use of meditation and energy work.**
There’s many different chakra areas in your body but there’s seven major ones that we’ll focus on.
Root (Earth) Chakra – Muladhara
This is located at the base of the spine and is our foundation. We use this chakra to be grounded and stable. It also deals with our instincts, security, and survivability.
When its out of balance we may feel anxiety, hopelessness, or instability.
Sacral (Water) Chakra – Svadhisthana
This energy center is located in the pelvis. It involves our sexuality, creativity, confidence, and ability to accept others/new experiences.
When out of balance, there may be issues of addiction, emotional imbalance, a lack of well-being, and feelings of loneliness.
Solar Plexus (Fire) Chakra – Maripura
This area deals with out self-esteem, self-love, willpower, energy, and vitality.
Problems with gas, stomach ulcers, procrastination, or a lack of confidence can occur when this chakra is out of alignment.
Heart Chakra – Anahata
This chakra is located in the center of the chest.
It’s considered the connection between mind, body, and spirit; it connects the lower chakras to the upper within our body and acts as a bridge between the two.
This energy center deals with love, inner peace, and connection.
There’s guilt and a fear of intimacy, along with asthma, heart conditions, or allergies, when this center is unbalanced.
Throat Chakra – Vishuddha
This chakra is located in the throat, governing truth, verbal expression, and self-expression.
Feelings of confinement, difficulty expressing your feelings, sore throats, and thyroid problems are signs of an imbalance.
Third-Eye Chakra – Ajna
Located between the eyebrows, our third eye is the center of our intuition and focusing abilities.
Problems with eyesight, lack of intuition, and hormone imbalances can occur when this chakra needs to be reopened or realigned.
Crown Chakra – Sahaswara
This chakra connects us to our higher self, Guides, deities, and universal energy and spiritual sources. It’s at the crown of the head.
When unbalanced, you can experience problems with meditation, sleep deprivation, and generally feeling disconnected.
How do I know my chakras are out of balance?
It depends on how bad the shift is.
Sometimes it’s very slight; you can’t tell that much of a difference. Maybe your pelvis feels slightly off or you’ve had to pop your knuckles today. Something small and unnoticed.
But let’s say you get really sick. Your throats is burning, your eyes are watery, nose is dripping, and you’re running a fever. Although it may not be the cause, chances are your throat and crown chakras are out of alignment. Re-balancing them will help you recover quicker.
When can go our whole lives without being realigned; the energy within our bodies can shift back into place. However, when we take initiative and realign our own energy, we’re taking our complete health and well-being into our own hands.
You don’t have to go to a guru and have your chakras worked on for over an hour to be realigned (although that is a viable option).
Re-balancing your energy can can easily be done from the comfort of your own home or while you’re going about your day. Here’s some ways you can change it!
Food
Yes, eating food can realign your chakras. But don’t break out the Ding Dongs yet!
You have to eat:
Food that nourishing for your body
Corresponds to the different chakras
An easy way to do this is just with the color of the food you’re eating. But here’s a sample list of foods you can use:
Essential Oils
Using essential oils for balancing your chakras is one of my favorite ways to realign! But I also love smelly things like candles and oils.
You can make your own perfume, candles, hair mist, or anything you can think of with these oils to rebalance yourself. Bath bombs are my favorite; plus it’s bath magic! Woo!
Here’s a list of oils you can use:
*If you are looking to purchase essential oils, please look no further than Danielle’s doTERRA page where you will receive personalized guidance to choosing the best essential oils for your lifestyle and well-being. Please click here to shop and e-mail Danielle at realmofvibesdg@gmail.com to get started!
Crystals
One of the more popular methods amongst the witchy community, crystals can be used to realign your chakras or increase their vibration.
All you have to do is place the properly corresponded crystal on the energy center and meditate/relax for awhile. Here’s a list to help get you started:
Tarot readings
Tarot can be used to tell you the current status of your chakras and what you can do to realign yourself. This method can be incredibly personal, which is very good for realigning your chakras in everyday ways.
I do offer a reading for identifying the state of your chakras and offering advice on how to fix them on my shop. It uses the lovely Dreams of Gaia tarot (as you can see above).
Pendulums
My absolutely FAVORITE way to balance my chakras: using my pendulum. I do this after I take a long, bubble bath and boy do I sleep great.
One way you can use a pendulum is to stand over someone who needs their chakras balanced, place the pendulum over each center, and ask it to realign that chakra. It will take a minute to do this; as one chakra moves into position another may move out. So be super diligent.
Another way is to simply have your hand out with your pendulum over it. Ask it to realign or balance your chakras. Done! The downside to this method: you don’t know what’s out of alignment because it’s so general.
My personal favorite is to make a pendulum board specifically for your chakras and have your pendulum tell you which is unbalanced and let it work on each one individually. I made one in my personal witchy journal and it works fantastic! Very much a sketch, but it works for me.
And voila! There’s your introductory guide to chakras, what they are, and how to realign them in everyday ways!
If you liked this article and want to share your thoughts, hop over to the Facebook group for witchlings.
What do you think about chakras? What other ways can you align them? Leave a comment below!
Until next time, stay balanced!
Namaste.
If you are interested in guest posting on Realm of Vibes, please visit the Contact page and fill out the form. Or, e-mail realmofvibesdg@gmail.com
Ever have one of those days where you think to yourself, “I should have just stayed in bed!” I know that I have had days where everything, from the time my feet hit my bedroom’s floor, goes terribly wrong, and I count the minutes until I clock out of work and race to my car in the parking lot. I crank up the radio and just can’t wait to get home, pour myself a big glass of wine, take a nice hot shower, and read a book in bed, my safe place.
When these days happen, what gets you through the day? Whenever I have a bad day, I press the pads of my index fingers and thumb together, take a deep breath, and think “This too shall pass,” which the mantra of my mother, who has repeated that quotation since I was a little girl. You’re right, Mom, the issue at hand, will pass, and I, will be fine…
Everyone handles stress and bad days differently. I collected mantras from other bloggers across the Internet; please enjoy them below…
“Inhale the good shit, exhale the bullshit.”
I love this mantra because it really is as easy as breathing out the bad. No matter if it one incident or a period in your life, it is always best to keep your head up and be positive.
If I am having a bad day, I like to ask myself, “How can I turn this day around?” Dwelling on the negative is a roadblock to contentment and if something did go wrong, I remind myself, things can only get better. I try to teach this to my children as well. I will often ask them, “How can we turn this frown upside down?” or “Let’s find what you need to make things better.” A snuggle or connection with me will do the trick most times. We all have bad days, but it is best to keep a positive attitude. Although that is not possible 100% of the time, we can use our “bad days” as inspirations to make life improvements and remembering those low times only helps us appreciate the amazing days that much more.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” or “This is a blessing in disguise.”
It shifts my perspective from paranoia (universe is against you) to pronoia (everything is for you/ to help you)… so many times we don’t see the blessing in the current “curse” until later on in hindsight.
For example: “Thank God I missed that flight because I wouldn’t have bumped into the love of my life at the airport later that day”… or maybe more subtle, how do we know that if we hadn’t tripped over that stick, we wouldn’t have arrived to the crosswalk 5 seconds sooner and that racing car that came around the corner might have hit us? Or if I hadn’t been severely sick in bed for 1 week I would have amazing realization/ breakthrough/ opportunity, etc. The butterfly effect! 🙂 So I always thank every bad day and any situation, no matter how seemingly “negative.”
This is something that my husband is known for saying. It’s a reminder that no matter how chaotic or stressful the situation, everything will be okay. It’s easy to get caught up and stress over small things. Sometimes saying, “It’s all good” helps me remember what matters most.
“Get some sleep, and it will look better in the morning.”
It is so cliched, but in almost every situation it seems to ring true. I’m a sensitive person, so I can get worked up about things big and small… but even the most intense things I’ve been through in life are usually worst at night, and at least a little bit better after I’ve woken up in the morning. And of course, then I remind myself to “be nice to myself” the next day, which is something my mom always tells me if I’ve had a bad day.
“Nevertheless, she persisted.” -said by Mitch McConnell about Elizabeth Warren
It’s so simple, but it’s so powerful. When I’m having a bad day, I would want someone to say this about me. It’s short, sweet, but conveys both girl power and the need to constantly push on, because bad days will come to an end when the sun goes down, and I am stronger than one bad day.
A quotation I use to pull me through a bad day or rough experience is this, “What can I be grateful for right now?” This pulls my mind away from whatever is uncomfortable or undesirable and brings me back to a space of abundance, light, and calm. It reminds me that there is always good around me, that I always have everything I need, and that I am exactly where I am meant to be at all times.
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I love running with my dog, Bailey. Some people would classify my “running” as a light jog or brisk walk, but we have a lot of fun exercising with one another while getting our Whistle and FitBit activity minutes. Whether you are just starting out with walking or are an avid runner, here are some of my tips for running safely and easily with your canine companion.
1.Get doctor and veterinarian clearance.
It is important to make sure you can physically handle exercise. Schedule a physical and consult your doctor about starting a walking/running program. Bring Fido in for a check-up and get clearance as to how many miles you can walk/run with your dog. Bailey is cleared to run up to 10 miles with me. When I was training for a half marathon, we ran up to 8-9 miles. It’s imperative that you start slow; make sure you do an adequate warm-up for both you and your dog.
2. Know your dog and plan your route.
I prefer running early in the morning, or 60-90 minutes before sunset at a park. I like a clear trail, opposed to running on the street. Some streets in my development don’t have sidewalks, so running with Bailey (or foster) can be dangerous. She also likes to run ahead of me, so that’s why I typically avoid street running. Depending on the season, you want to make sure your dog can handle the temperature. I like to run early or late in the day, especially during the hot summer months.
3. Get your gear!
I don’t know what I would do without my Tuff Mutt – Hands Free Dog Leash. The leash clips around my waist, has a bungee cord with a carbineer that clips to Bailey’s collar or harness. It has a short and large handle so I always have control over her movements. It is also reflective, so we are noticed by pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles on our path.
Tuff Mutt – Hands Free Dog Leash
Hydration is super important, whether you are going on a short or long run. I have a few different tactics for handling both of our water. First, I wear a Hydration Belt. around my waist. I usually fill one with water, and one with a sports drink. If I go on a short run, I bring a Collapsible Dog Bowl for Bailey’s water. Sometimes, I bring a Gulpy Water Dispenser which is a water dispenser. I clip it to my waist with a carabiner or I carry it for added resistance. Whatever you do, make sure you have enough water for both you and your dog and that you take plenty of water breaks!
Hydration Belt
Collapsible Dog Bowl
Musher’s Secret Pet Paw Protection Wax is my go-to product before a run. It is easy to apply the hypoallergenic, nontoxic wax to Bailey’s paws, which gives a nice protective coating to prevent accidents on the trail. You know what they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. 4. Add some extras!
I love my Fitbit Charge 2 Heart Rate + Fitness Wristband. I have been using a FitBit since it came on the market and helps keep me accountable regarding exercise. I like the FitBit Charge 2 because it has a relaxation setting where it prompts you to do 2 minutes of breathing exercises. I also like knowing which heart rate range in which I am exercising.
FitBit Charge 2
Bailey has a Whistle Activity Monitor. This shows how active she is throughout the day. We try to give her at least 60 minutes of daily exercise. It clips around her collar. When we had a pet sitter, we could see how long she was taking her on walks, and I could look at her stats from work to see if she is destroying my home. I think the Whistle is well worth the investment.
Whistle Activity Monitor
Final Thoughts
Running with your dog can be a great form of exercise! I know that after our runs, we both feel great, and get a better night’s sleep. How do you exercise with your dog? Leave a comment to let me know!
. The leash clips around my waist, has a bungee cord with a carbineer that clips to Bailey’s collar or harness. It has a short and large handle so I always have control over her movements. It is also reflective, so we are noticed by pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles on our path.
around my waist. I usually fill one with water, and one with a sports drink. If I go on a short run, I bring a 
which is a water dispenser. I clip it to my waist with a carabiner or I carry it for added resistance. Whatever you do, make sure you have enough water for both you and your dog and that you take plenty of water breaks!
is my go-to product before a run. It is easy to apply the hypoallergenic, nontoxic wax to Bailey’s paws, which gives a nice protective coating to prevent accidents on the trail. You know what they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
I have been using a FitBit since it came on the market and helps keep me accountable regarding exercise. I like the FitBit Charge 2 because it has a relaxation setting where it prompts you to do 2 minutes of breathing exercises. I also like knowing which heart rate range in which I am exercising.
This shows how active she is throughout the day. We try to give her at least 60 minutes of daily exercise. It clips around her collar. When we had a pet sitter, we could see how long she was taking her on walks, and I could look at her stats from work to see if she is destroying my home. I think the Whistle is well worth the investment.
Realm of Vibes 