We took (an almost) Christmas break from His Holiness the Dalai Lama programming to bring you this word on nutrition slash keeping healthy while traveling.

I’ve eaten much rice last week while on the monastery and yet felt incredibly fed with all sorts of important nutrients (of a different, more spiritual kind). See earlier shares regarding these days with His Holiness: 

bit.ly/2PIAQqB
bit.ly/397tEwb
bit.ly/2sREICh

So ~ someone asked me on Instagram what I take/do to keep healthy when I travel. 
From left to right, when traveling, I take all of these each day except for the oils,🏽:

• Camu Camu powder — super high Vitamin C content.

• Lypo-spheric Vitamin C — ditto, high quality and the typical lypo-spheric gel form works well, going straight to the places that need it most.

• Wellness Formula by Source Natural — all kinds of goodness. 

• Bio-active silver hydrosol — an amazing immunity-building nose spray.
 
• Vitamin D drops — always good for strengthening the immune system (ask your doc/research all these items, but in the case of Vitamin D, many of us are deficient. As one of my docs said, unless you’re traveling or live in a sunny destination and are actively and often are in the sun for a solid hour or more without a hat/protection, you need Vitamin D).

• Magnesium (Calm, powder form) — important mineral that most of us are also deficient in. It promotes restful sleep which when traveling keeps us healthy. 

• Sleep, drinking a lot of water and washing hands multiple times a day (anytime, but definitely when traveling) are all a must. Resisting the urge to constantly touch your face, nose or eyes when you haven’t washed properly is solid advice, too. These are a big three. 

• Underneath the Calm powder are melatonin pills (I take them the first 2-4 days, mainly when crossing multiple time zones to get myself on track (again, little sleep or bad sleep compromises the immune system).

• Lacrosse ball & mini roller for body aches. These may not be directly related to a healthy immune system, but they have everything to do with your I can walk, sit and sleep well “system”.

• Tea bags — of all sorts (only showing three kinds here but I bring  more) — drink a lot of water, yes, but when water gets boring or you realize you’re just not drinking enough, try switching to drinking a lot of simple teas (don’t add sugar or milk — both inflammatory agents). When I did my first fast, the nutritionist I worked with recommended spearmint tea to not break the fast, so I drink a lot of that as it’s as close as you’ll get to drinking pure water.

• Probiotics — healthy gut flora keeps us healthy. I don’t take these all the time for a few reasons, but I definitely take them when I’m traveling.

• Cocoa nibs, Brazil nuts and sprouted almonds (and seaweed, not pictured) ~ the cocoa nibs satisfy sugar cravings (but they have no sugar) and these two types of nuts are, not only great snacks, but are loaded with nutrients (Brazil nuts, for example, have a high Selenium content which is an important antioxidant and mineral needed daily for a strong immune system…just a few a day are great, I love the taste…p.s. sprouted almonds are also delicious). 

• Frankincense, Lemon, On Guard and Oregano oil (to name just a few that I typically bring…if I feel something coming on or feel like I’m dragging a bit, I make myself a shot of these mixed with little water, plus Melaleuca/Tree Tea oil and potentially Ginger oil.

Again, the main three I focus on most are drinking a lot of water, getting great sleep and washing hands often. Of course, a balanced meal filled with good fats, veggies and lean protein helps, too. 

Items missing from the photo:

Ear plugs 
Sleep mask 
Omega-3’s 
Being kind to airport employees
Going with the flow
Saying thanks  
Turmeric (omega-3’s, turmeric and magnesium are things I take every day at home).

And no, I didn’t bring many clothes to India, Vietnam or Thailand (meeting Josh and Nolan next in Vietnam) because my carry-on was filled with food and potions like these.

Make happiness your business by creating your authentic brand…enjoy your business, enjoy your life!

Life is good,

Michelle Ghilotti
Success Designer, Brand Activator & Social Entrepreneur 

PRESS PLAY

PRESS PLAY

PRESS PLAY

PRESS PLAY

PRESS PLAY

This is where I lived for the last week. Under the stars and at a monastery that is one of the oldest and most historically important in India and Monastic/ Tibetan/Buddhist world.

The camp to the side of the monastery accommodations was created especially for us with much love by Harmonica Co. and by the monks at Gaden Shartse Monastery.

Here and walking all around Mundgod, the sweet Tibetan (refugee) settlement where the monastery lives, I made new friends, new connections between old ideas or previous beliefs and realized new understandings (I wasn’t new to these spiritual teachings, to chanting, meditation, prolonged breathwork or talks/studies around using the mind for good, but this experience brought it all home for me in unique ways that I’ll still be downloading or processing for a long time to come).

At the center or heart of it all, through His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s teachings, via the scholars’ talks from around the world, as well as through private time a couple days with Jinpa, scholar and HHDL’s translator for over 30 years (such rich Q&As), was, we could say, simple:

Compassion is the method through which you feel peace and create it in the world…

Compassion is the method through which you feel peace and create it in the world.

More complex, maybe (or in other words, more worth it) the more you sit with all that it means to devote yourself to doing this on repeat (akin to a mantra, a chant) when life isn’t all monastic camping, slow-moving, thoughtful teachings and no traffic.

Just like my vision quest in July, what you (I) quickly realize is that the actual quest isn’t or wasn’t at all up on the mountain, it was returning home to ‘regular’ life ~ would you (I) work to actively engage with all gained and felt? Bringing the proverbial light from the mountain (or in this case ~ the monastery) with you/me and consistently so?

Speaking of light, I’m reuniting with Josh and Nolan soon! Much love from a plane over Southeast Asia!

[You can see what life feels and looks like inside a Tibetan settlement (especially when His Holiness visits) in one video, the sway I was talking about in The Buddhist Sway post from yesterday (bit.ly/2sREICh) in another and kids simply being kids in the last video (watch to the end). And with that last one as the perfect juxtaposition, happy holy days!].

Make happiness your business by creating your authentic brand…enjoy your business, enjoy your life!

Life is good,

Michelle Ghilotti
Success Designer, Brand Activator & Social Entrepreneur 

His Holiness, Indiaaaa and the divine experienced in Mundgod, you’ve reminded me of many things, not the least of which is that young is a frame of mind and  expression of spirit. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Human time ~ not real time. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Until next time, Namaste!⁣⁣
⁣
(Happy almost New Year!!)

Make happiness your business by creating your authentic brand…enjoy your business, enjoy your life!

Life is good,

Michelle Ghilotti
Success Designer, Brand Activator & Social Entrepreneur 

The Buddhist Sway 

Today, I sat in what can only be described as a soup…it was a soup made of chanting for over a couple hours inside the Long Life Ceremony for His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Before the ceremony and chanting, His Holiness spoke about the number of stairs he counted recently being 13 and that the number reminded him of being told that he would live to 113 years old. 

He joked that he had already asked to be given that many years, so that, really, we didn’t all need to be there doing a long life ceremony because he had it covered. 

That reminded me of something Thupten Jinpa, Monastic Scholar and His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s translator for over 30 years, said about His Holiness in our talk and Q&A with him a few days earlier…

He said one of the things he appreciated most about His Holiness was that he could be listening to a very sad, sad story one minute and be in it with that person, feeling those feelings, then in the next moment be laughing and joking.

Jinpa said this ability to ”switch moods”, as he called it, was impressive. 

Flowing from moment to moment ~ that’s the Buddhist sway.

And similarly, while His Holiness sat meditating, there was a sway, too. 

Closed eyes and chanting or meditating, many monks slightly swaying from side to side. I enjoyed watching His Holiness do it over the last days (I started doing it, too). 

It’s all reminiscent of things learned this week, like ~> meditation teaches us how to pay attention even when there’s no new stimulus in front of us.

Good, right? 

And this one, a direct quote from Jinpa ~> “The ability to be bored and not lose attention…*this* is the benefit of meditation.”

There have been so many gifts given this week, physical and emotional or energetic, and one has most definitely been the slowing down of it all ~ of life, work, of my mind/of thoughts… 

And it seems true, as we’ve also heard many times this week, that, in order to train your mind, you must first slow it down.

Let’s 
slow
her
/him 
down…

#sitondownnn
#thebuddhistsway

Make happiness your business by creating your authentic brand…enjoy your business, enjoy your life!

Life is good,

Michelle Ghilotti
Success Designer, Brand Activator & Social Entrepreneur