"'Catch' your kids doing something good. When my kids were little, I would say, 'I know something good about you!', and it would make them very happy." - Shani Enns, energy worker

"Take even just 15 minutes of each day of just YOU time... time to relax, de-stress, pamper yourself and regain your center: whether it's through breathing, dancing, singing, soaking in a warm bath or standing outside and gazing at the beautiful sky... and return to that wonderful centered, neutral place of compassionate detachment. Remember, our children are our teachers as much or even more than we are theirs." - Deedre Diemer, author

"Breathing is sooo important! When I'm driving my kids to school, we practice our breathing - deep belly breathing to calm, alternating nostril breathing to balance, or diaphragmatic breaths for mental clarity." - Lee Anne Jester, Pilates instructor

"Don't force your child to finish meals or foods. This damages the ability to stop eating when you've had enough. Instead provide a variety of healthy foods and model eating healthy foods. When provided with good options and a healthy food environment a child will eat intuitively and they will not deprive themselves." - Skye Howard, nutritional counselor

"Children come fully equipped with their own innate intelligence. We can help guide them into an experience of that intelligence by creating space and time for creative exploration and expression." - Linda Putthoff, Pilates and Yoga instructor

"If your child shows curiosity toward any of your health-related activities, let him or her sample some of the activity with you. If they ask about why you walk for exercise, practice yoga, or meditate, don't just tell them why - invite them to join you for a short session. Avoid pressuring them; instead, let their natural curiosity be the guide. Even if they soon lose interest, the experience will leave a positive imprint." - Becky Holsen, Yoga for Kids teacher

As seen in KC Wellness Magazine, March 2008.

Green living is living in harmony with others and the world, but is it possible to achieve harmony outside of ourselves if we have not created harmony within? Although every effort counts and moves us toward that goal, I believe the answer is no.

The world is our reflection, both individually and collectively. As a collective, we have created what we see outside ourselves. We are at war outside because there is war raging within. We not only feel warring energies within in the form of rage, anger, sadness, confusion, and apathy, but there is war right on our streets, and sometimes even in our homes. Parents yelling at children. Children yelling at one another. Red, yellow, brown, and white gunning one another down in the streets and schools. Dragging oneself everyday to a job that sucks the joy out of life. All of these things are mirrors for us, wake-up calls if you will, urging us to look within and make different choices.

And then there is the stuff we feed ourselves, and I don't just mean food. The vast majority of Americans come home from work or school and turn on their television sets. We feed our minds with sound bites. We feed our emotional addictions with fear - color-codes for whether or not it's safe to fly today (terrorism), or news that McDonalds profit margin didn't increase for the first month in 5 years (recession), and even with advertisements that show so-called beauty and perfection beyond what is actually humanly possible. It's an addiction for many. The most popular programming feeds our deepest fears in both gross and subtle ways, telling us we are neither safe nor good enough, but we might feel better if we ate this kind of food, drove this kind of car, wore these types of clothing, or saw some magic number on the scales. According to television, there is almost no problem consumerism can't solve. The truth is that the only place we can ever hope to find peace, joy, and harmony is within. If we cannot see these things within ourselves, how will we recognize them in our neighbors? How can we live in harmony as a global citizen if we are not even able to create harmony in our own lives? So how do we do that? The answer is very simple but may not always be easy because it asks us to challenge every thought, every belief, every pattern and habit we have. The answer is choosing love over fear to transform our world from the inside out.

When we become peaceful within, we will broadcast peace by our very presence. When we can look upon our own shortcomings with love, then we can begin to see our neighbors, both local and global, with compassion. When we recognize our fear, pain, and suffering and how we are contributing to it ourselves, we can begin to make different choices. We can begin to manifest a life of great joy. Begin to ask yourself this question: Am I choosing to be in a state of love or fear in this moment? Then consciously choose love.

Shani Enns is an Energy Practitioner and Spiritual Coach at Plaza Wellspring. Call 816-739-9949 or email shani@spiritual-liberation.com for a private appointment.

Soak and sprout seeds. Children will enjoy participating in (soaking, rinsing) and watching the sprouting process. They can eat some of the sprouts and plant some of them to watch sprouts become plants. If you will then plant the rooted sprouts and let them mature. Children will appreciate the watering, nurturing process as the plants produce their fruits, nuts, leaves. The more involved your children are in the food growing process, the more they will enjoy the foods.
~Gwyneth Jones.HHP

My tip for getting kids to eat veggies is presentation. I will put as many colors as possible on a platter and offer the healthy food first. Sometimes cut into fun shapes, sometimes with fun dips, sometimes they help me prepare them.
~Lee Anne Jester, Pilates Trainer

Loving Living Foods by Gwyneth Jones

Apple-Kale-Lemon
4 apples (cored and seeded, maybe peeled)
½ lemon juice only
5 leaves of kale (remove the stems)
2 cups filtered water
Puree the apple and kale and slowly add the water
While the blender is on High.

Peach -Spinach
6 peaches
2 handsful spinach leaves
2 cups filtered water
Puree the peaches and spinach while slowly adding water
While blender is on High

Pear-Chard-Mint
4 ripe pears
5 leaves Swiss Chard
½ bunch mint leaves
2 cups filtered water
Puree first three ingredients in blender on High while slowly adding the water.