Late-Summer Succotash

As summer winds into fall, it's time to take advantage of nature’s late summer bounty. For those of us with gardens, we gather our last harvests before the cold weather sets in. And for those without our own gardens, we stock up on the last of the season’s produce at our farmer’s markets and local food vendors.

On the menu? Top of the list are two American favorites - sweet corn and tomatoes. Off-season frozen or canned corn and tomatoes picked before ripening to be shipped from far away just can’t compare to the sweet juicy goodness of the fresh in-season varieties. Also still available are the summer squashes, like zucchini, pattypan and crookneck squash.

One easy and delicious way to make use of all the variety of late-summer veggies is with LSW’s variation on the traditional Succotash dish. We suggest making use of any and all of the season’s abundant vegetables, mixing and matching to create your own colorful, flavorful treats.

Best of all, this dish will last all week in the refrigerator - make a big batch on the weekend, and you’ve got healthy lunches or dinners ready to go for several days. Just reheat, and serve with your favorite whole grain (like brown rice, quinoa, or millet) or whole grain pasta.

LSW's Late-Summer Succotash

Choose fresh, local, in-season veggies over frozen or canned!

* Start with these veggies as your main ingredients, but feel free to substitute or add in your own favorites: corn, zucchini, yellow squash, onion, tomato, fresh garlic, parsley and basil.

* Remove corn from the cob, chop veggies into bite-sized chunks, and mince the garlic, parsley and basil.

* Combine all ingredients in a large pan, and sauté with olive oil until lightly cooked (veggies should be slightly soft).

* Salt and pepper to taste, and enjoy!

Share your Succotash

How'd your Succotash dish turn out? What additions or changes did you make to accommodate your local bounty? Share your thoughts and seasonal twists with us in the comments section below, and an LSW counselor will respond!

LSW counselors are experts at supporting women to use food medicinally to nurture, balance, and heal their hormonal systems, instead of masking or eliminating them with drugs or surgery. Our holistic health group pairs clients with insightful and compassionate counselors who are trained experts in holistic nutrition and women's self-care.

How Far Have We Really Come?

Women have come a long way over the past several decades: more parity in salaries, more options in career, more freedom in lifestyle choices. But how far have we come in our underlying self-esteem?

It’s amazing that so many of us still have areas in which we feel inadequate, maybe even powerless. We can be CEOs, doctors, US Senators – but we still might cringe at trying (and being initially klutzy at) a new sport, showing our imperfect legs in shorts, or asking for a long-overdue raise. We can negotiate fiercely in the Board room – but put up with lousy haircuts for months before we get up the nerve to “fire” our hairdresser. We sit “small” in our airplane seats, not wanting to take up too much space.

Self-esteem is not the same as assertiveness. Assertiveness is a behavior; self-esteem is the underlying feeling of worthiness, value, even self-love. Many of us in business or sports or other competitive arenas have learned to be assertive – but as a survival mechanism, not necessarily from an underlying sense of healthy self-esteem.

That gap between how we are acting – assertively – and how we are feeling – undeserving or unworthy – causes an internal tension, a feeling of incongruence, and definitely less effectiveness in our performance and in our lives. By trying to “fake it until we make it,” we set ourselves up to never make it at all!

And though our lack of self-esteem as women may be rooted in past signals from our family, underlying messages in our culture, etc, etc, etc – the power to improve our self image is in the present moment. Past conditioning can be corrected by re-conditioning in the present.

How to do this? The first step is awareness and acknowledgement. Do you feel like you are “in the way” on the golf course? Do you feel timid telling your doctor that you want a second opinion? Or when you do gird yourself up to confront a situation at the office, does it take an incredible toll on your body and emotions?

Once you’ve identified the areas where you self-esteem is lagging, try this practice:
1. With eyes closed, sit quietly and bring to mind the situation where you’ve felt unworthy.
2. Allow yourself to feel into the picture in your mind. How does it feel in your body? Where exactly is the feeling located in your body?
3. After a few minutes, turn your attention to your breathing, your deep inhales and complete exhales.
4. As you allow your body to relax into your breathing, imagine yourself in that same situation but as a new, truly self-confidant and empowered you.
5. Sit with this new picture of yourself for a few minutes, breathing deeply.

While doing this practice, if your new picture is not perfect, don’t despair! You will have already caused a shift in your sense of self simply by acknowledging and breathing through your old discomfort. Play with the technique, and you’ll notice how much more vibrant the self-confidant images of yourself become – and how powerfully this simple practice will impact your life!

Late-Summer Succotash

As summer winds into fall, it's time to take advantage of nature’s late summer bounty. For those of us with gardens, we gather our last harvests before the cold weather sets in. And for those without our own gardens, we stock up on the last of the season’s produce at our farmer’s markets and local food vendors.

On the menu? Top of the list are two American favorites - sweet corn and tomatoes. Off-season frozen or canned corn and tomatoes picked before ripening to be shipped from far away just can’t compare to the sweet juicy goodness of the fresh in-season varieties. Also still available are the summer squashes, like zucchini, pattypan and crookneck squash.

One easy and delicious way to make use of all the variety of late-summer veggies is with LSW’s variation on the traditional Succotash dish. We suggest making use of any and all of the season’s abundant vegetables, mixing and matching to create your own colorful, flavorful treats.

Best of all, this dish will last all week in the refrigerator - make a big batch on the weekend, and you’ve got healthy lunches or dinners ready to go for several days. Just reheat, and serve with your favorite whole grain (like brown rice, quinoa, or millet) or whole grain pasta.

LSW's Late-Summer Succotash

Choose fresh, local, in-season veggies over frozen or canned!

* Start with these veggies as your main ingredients, but feel free to substitute or add in your own favorites: corn, zucchini, yellow squash, onion, tomato, fresh garlic, parsley and basil.

* Remove corn from the cob, chop veggies into bite-sized chunks, and mince the garlic, parsley and basil.

* Combine all ingredients in a large pan, and sauté with olive oil until lightly cooked (veggies should be slightly soft).

* Salt and pepper to taste, and enjoy!

Share your Succotash

How'd your Succotash dish turn out? What additions or changes did you make to accommodate your local bounty? Share your thoughts and seasonal twists with us in the comments section below, and an LSW counselor will respond!

LSW counselors are experts at supporting women to use food medicinally to nurture, balance, and heal their hormonal systems, instead of masking or eliminating them with drugs or surgery. Our holistic health group pairs clients with insightful and compassionate counselors who are trained experts in holistic nutrition and women's self-care.

How Far Have We Really Come?

Women have come a long way over the past several decades: more parity in salaries, more options in career, more freedom in lifestyle choices. But how far have we come in our underlying self-esteem?

It’s amazing that so many of us still have areas in which we feel inadequate, maybe even powerless. We can be CEOs, doctors, US Senators – but we still might cringe at trying (and being initially klutzy at) a new sport, showing our imperfect legs in shorts, or asking for a long-overdue raise. We can negotiate fiercely in the Board room – but put up with lousy haircuts for months before we get up the nerve to “fire” our hairdresser. We sit “small” in our airplane seats, not wanting to take up too much space.

Self-esteem is not the same as assertiveness. Assertiveness is a behavior; self-esteem is the underlying feeling of worthiness, value, even self-love. Many of us in business or sports or other competitive arenas have learned to be assertive – but as a survival mechanism, not necessarily from an underlying sense of healthy self-esteem.

That gap between how we are acting – assertively – and how we are feeling – undeserving or unworthy – causes an internal tension, a feeling of incongruence, and definitely less effectiveness in our performance and in our lives. By trying to “fake it until we make it,” we set ourselves up to never make it at all!

And though our lack of self-esteem as women may be rooted in past signals from our family, underlying messages in our culture, etc, etc, etc – the power to improve our self image is in the present moment. Past conditioning can be corrected by re-conditioning in the present.

How to do this? The first step is awareness and acknowledgement. Do you feel like you are “in the way” on the golf course? Do you feel timid telling your doctor that you want a second opinion? Or when you do gird yourself up to confront a situation at the office, does it take an incredible toll on your body and emotions?

Once you’ve identified the areas where you self-esteem is lagging, try this practice:
1. With eyes closed, sit quietly and bring to mind the situation where you’ve felt unworthy.
2. Allow yourself to feel into the picture in your mind. How does it feel in your body? Where exactly is the feeling located in your body?
3. After a few minutes, turn your attention to your breathing, your deep inhales and complete exhales.
4. As you allow your body to relax into your breathing, imagine yourself in that same situation but as a new, truly self-confidant and empowered you.
5. Sit with this new picture of yourself for a few minutes, breathing deeply.

While doing this practice, if your new picture is not perfect, don’t despair! You will have already caused a shift in your sense of self simply by acknowledging and breathing through your old discomfort. Play with the technique, and you’ll notice how much more vibrant the self-confidant images of yourself become – and how powerfully this simple practice will impact your life!

Make Your Dream Jewellery With Ex-Beading Accessories

Our love of jewellery has not only been restricted to wearing them, but also making them. Ideally, jewellery are made and manufactured by professional jewellery makers like goldsmith etc. But now you can make your own trinkets at home with ease. Making jewellery involves simple steps. All you need is ex beading accessories and beads or any material that you want to add in your pieces of jewellery. It is a wonderful hobby and quite easy to start with.

How to get started?
No big task, jewellery making is simple and fun. First, you need ex-beading accessories. Then decide on the materials you are going to use. You can start off with beads as they are easy to begin with. Also, get good quality threads (or wire) that have high tensile strength. Next, make a knot at one end of the thread, and decide on the length of the jewellery. If you are making a necklace, then a good idea is to measure it against your neck. You can keep it as long as you want to. Then, string the beads into the thread till you reach the end. Now, with the help of ex beading accessories, give your necklace or earrings a professional finish.

That was a very simple one. Once you graduate from here, you can go ahead with more complex designs. There are different types of ex-beading accessories that you can use to give shape to what you have in mind. There are accessories to hold the pendant, pliers to keep beads and charms together, and many more such accessories.

Basically, jewellery making is a simple hobby, and an equally great activity for recreation. You will get different kinds of ex-beading accessories with some of the good web-based providers of such tools. With such accessories, not only can you beautify yourself the way you want to, but also make jewellery for your friends, or simply gift them for birthdays and special celebrations.

Make Your Dream Jewellery With Ex-Beading Accessories

Our love of jewellery has not only been restricted to wearing them, but also making them. Ideally, jewellery are made and manufactured by professional jewellery makers like goldsmith etc. But now you can make your own trinkets at home with ease. Making jewellery involves simple steps. All you need is ex beading accessories and beads or any material that you want to add in your pieces of jewellery. It is a wonderful hobby and quite easy to start with.

How to get started?
No big task, jewellery making is simple and fun. First, you need ex-beading accessories. Then decide on the materials you are going to use. You can start off with beads as they are easy to begin with. Also, get good quality threads (or wire) that have high tensile strength. Next, make a knot at one end of the thread, and decide on the length of the jewellery. If you are making a necklace, then a good idea is to measure it against your neck. You can keep it as long as you want to. Then, string the beads into the thread till you reach the end. Now, with the help of ex beading accessories, give your necklace or earrings a professional finish.

That was a very simple one. Once you graduate from here, you can go ahead with more complex designs. There are different types of ex-beading accessories that you can use to give shape to what you have in mind. There are accessories to hold the pendant, pliers to keep beads and charms together, and many more such accessories.

Basically, jewellery making is a simple hobby, and an equally great activity for recreation. You will get different kinds of ex-beading accessories with some of the good web-based providers of such tools. With such accessories, not only can you beautify yourself the way you want to, but also make jewellery for your friends, or simply gift them for birthdays and special celebrations.

Unbalanced Life=Unbalanced Hormones

As we move from the lazy days of summer into faster-paced autumn - coming back to our "regular lives" after vacation, the longer days of summer, and for many of us, shorter summer work hours - we find ourselves in a perfect space for coming back to ourselves.

This transition period between the seasons - almost like a pause or a feeling of "waiting" - is the time for evaluation. It's time to take stock of what is, what has been, what's working and what you want to carry forward.

If this sounds daunting, try looking at it from a seasonal perspective. Come winter, our energies will be directed inward, toward comfort and home. This is a time when we'll have the space to open up and be creative, moving forward with projects and manifesting ideas. So it makes sense that fall would be the time to take stock, figure out what our next directions are, what we want to be creating for ourselves during the winter months.

Why take stock?

It's important to remember that our health is impacted by every facet of our life, even those that may seem unrelated. Any areas that are neglected, or are out of integrity with who we are (or are just plain not enough fun!) tend to create stresses, which in turn set off a chain reaction in our endocrine system, leading to hormonal imbalances and a host of other health issues.

Building your "life pie"

One of our favorite tools for refocusing on our selves and what's important in our lives is the Wheel of Life. You'll be making a "pie" that represents different areas of your life - it only takes about 10 minutes, and can be remarkably illuminating!

For this exercise, you'll need a blank piece of paper (preferably unlined) and pen or pencil. Feel free to make this exercise even more fun by using colored paper, or colored pens or pencils.

* On your piece of paper, draw a large circle and then divide it into 10 "pieces of pie" by making 10 lines from the center to the outside edge. (If you like, make each line in a different color, for each different category.)

* Next, you're going to label each line with a different area of your life: home environment, relationships, social life, joy, health, career, creativity, finances, education and spirituality.

* Now comes the fun part: For each of the 10 different categories, make a dot on the line that represents your level of involvement with each area – the center of the circle is zero, and the outside of the circle represents areas of most involvement or satisfaction.

* Once you've got a dot for each area, connect the dots and see what your "life pie" looks like!

Your Wheel of Life should give you some good ideas as to which areas of your life need more attention at this time. Keep in mind, this is a process that will last all through the fall – taking the time now to take stock and prepare will set you up for a creative, productive fall and winter!

Cleanse with us!

One of the best ways to re-balance yourself and your body as you transition through the seasons is with a gentle cleanse. Cleansing not only helps your body clear out excess wastes and come back to a place of balance, it also helps clear YOU - removing some of life's clutter and leaving you with a clearer vision of your direction, helping you to balance your "life pie".
Many of the cleanses available out there can be very extreme - and therefore hard on the body. We've created our own super-supportive whole foods cleanse, done in the comfort of your own home but with the support and guidance of the LSW counselors, as well as a whole community of women - that you're connected to via our online forums - who are all doing the cleanse at the same time.

We'll be running our Fall Cleanse throughout the month of October. For more information on this transformational event, just fill out this short web form and we’ll be in touch with more details. Or, call us at 212-581-0001 to register now and reserve your spot!

Need more help figuring out your next steps?
One of our popular and powerful group programs may be for you! Metamorphosis, our eight-week telegroup designed especially for women in their 20s and 30s, begins on Monday, October 1st. Also beginning on October 1st is Emerge, our six-week online program designed for the college-age woman. See below for more information, or contact us today at 212-581-0001 to save your space!

Share your "pie"

How'd this exercise go for you? Did any of your areas surprise you? Which areas did you feel were your strongest? Your weakest? Share your results and ask your questions in the comments section below, and an LSW counselor will respond!

LSW recognizes the importance of indulgence, pleasure, and sensuality for every woman's menstrual and sexual health. We help you find the right medicinal foods for healing your condition, and we support you to understand, accept, and enjoy your woman's body and your feminine energy.