FMG TV: Dream Life Manifesting with Tara Mackey

November 17, 2016

We've all heard about the power of the mind, but do we realize the impact both negative and positive thoughts have on our lives? Tara Mackey is the author of Cured By Nature: How to Heal from the Inside Out, Find Happiness, and Discover Your True Self and the blogger behind TheOrganicLifeBlog.com. Overcoming a challenging past, she's created the life of her dreams using her thoughts. Her story of 'being born on drugs' as a child of a heroine addict, and the early exposure she had to trauma in her life propelled her into a dark cycle of pharmaceutical drugs prescribed by doctors trying to treat and remedy her emotions and health issues. By the time Tara was 24 she was on 14 different medications, and hit the tipping point where she decided to reclaim her life.

(Disclosure: This site uses affiliate links. All products are chosen at my discretion and promoted as other blogs promote products that reflect the lifestyle of the blogger, brand, and ethos. I only post brands and items I support.)

“Choosing challenge over comfort, adventure over safety, or visibility over invisability is an investment in ourselves.”

— Tara Mackey, Cured By Nature

What follows is an amazing journey of self discipline and commitment to creating the life she wanted for herself... drug-free and full of happiness. With a biology background and a researcher's mind, Tara replaced all of her prescribed medications with natural herbs, and self care practices that completely transformed her life. The biggest takeaway for me is how powerful the mind can be in keeping you stuck where you are or helping you to create a life more fulfilling than your wildest dreams. Tune into this episode of FMG TV to see how Tara shaped her mind into a positive powerhouse and learn her tried and tested tips for manifesting that which you desire.

I'd also like to share that if you are looking to come off of pharmaceutical drugs that you may be using to treat chronic symptoms or conditions, a really good option is to consult a naturopathic doctor. I just learned about a company called Parsley Health that offers such a service. Use this code for $100 off at Parsley Health: RADIANCE

For all you clean beauty junkies, there's a fabulous chapter on green beauty that helps you approach the green beauty scene from a very holistic place with supplements, diet (including fermented foods and smoothies), and home beauty recipes for masks and treatments. One gem that she talks about in the book is DIM, a supplement made from cruciferous veggies that helps to balance hormones (namely estrogen) and clear skin. My skin has become calmer and happier in the last couple of years, but I am still susceptible to breakouts and flair ups from product buildup or traveling. I took two capsules of Solaray's Dim Supreme and literally overnight my skin was happier and without irritated bumps that started to show up the day before. Thank you Tara! (To be safe, check with a healthcare provider first before you take any supplements.)

Tara and I would love to hear from you! Weigh in with your comments and questions in the comment section below and find us both on social media: Tara Mackey @organiclifeblog and Greta Eagan @gretaeagan.

Five Books to Help You Tap into and Support your Creative Self

July 7, 2016

Living creatively is both an innate need for self expression, and a challenge. They say that everyone has a book, screen play, or exhibit inside them, but how many people actually realize the dream of producing and sharing that creativity they feel called to? For whatever reason we get blocked. We are blocked by fear, doubt, insecurity and even ego. Yet, we still feel the need to express ourselves. Lucky for us this is not a single person battle. Many creators out there have gone through the same trials and devised ways to break through the resistance and create! Here are some resources I've found helpful along the way:

Elle Luna's book, The Crossroads of Should and Must: Find and Follow Your Passion. Not only a success story of someone who followed her bliss to find the meaningful work she is meant to do (so inspiring!), but a how-to guide on how you too can tune into your creative calling and make it work for you and your life.

The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. Gives you exercises and asks questions you (and others) may not think to ask that help show you what you really want. Pretty powerful stuff. What I valued most was the author's ability to guide us through our own thoughts and doubts to help us cross over to the other side and see what's possible.

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert. I have so much respect for Elizabeth Gilbert and her ability to stay humble and hungry amidst her success. She keeps questioning and growing and pushing to better understand herself and her role in this world and how it all works. We are so lucky she shares her insights with us and invites us along on her journey. Is there something you are curious about? Maybe just a little? Once you read the book, you will know what I am referencing and how powerful that question can be.

The War of Art: Break Through The Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battle by Steven Pressfield. This is a new resource for me, yet it struck me with such familiarity it felt as though I was connecting to some deeper knowing part of me finally put into words. The vocabulary and straightforward explanations on how we work as creative beings (both amateur and professional) hit home. Before long, I found myself quoting the book to another creative friend, and that is when I knew it was helping to shape the way I work and see my creative work.

Super Rich: A Guide to Having it All by Russell Simmons. I include this one in this lineup because there were some key takeaways for me that relate to creative work. The biggest one is to share your gift with the world. Give it out honestly and generously and the world will respond. It is a Law of Cause and Effect. Banish doubt and wherever you are in life do the best you can. Do everything that is within your control with passion and positivity and the world will take note and reward you. I type these things out now to share with you, but also to remind myself of their truth. The book provides stories and examples that are super motivating and help to light the fire for sharing your talent.

Book & Beauty Review: Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

March 31, 2016

If you have read or seen Eat Pray Love, you are well acquainted with Elizabeth Gilbert. A talented writer with a well defined voice that makes you feel as though you are in her inner circle and she is sharing her most intimate thoughts with only you. Her new book, Big Magic, is more of the same- deep realizations shared in her signature humorous dialog with some heavy hitting truths that are soul resonating.

BOOK REVIEW

Big Magic feels and reads like a TED Talk- which will either annoy or inspire you, and probably do both. And the inspiration part is worth it. From the beginning Gilbert takes us on a journey to explore and explain her creative process using stories and analogies. The stories illustrate her theory of Big Magic and how it works. She shares her experiences with ideas (big and small) that seem to visit her and ask to co-create. If she is open and ready- bam! they become a team and start to work to bring whatever that idea is into material being. If not, the idea moves on to someone else- still seeking to be created. It is a beautiful way of seeing the world and our role to co-create with ideas of inspiration. It also helps to show us we are not meant to attach to just one idea, but to remain open to many ideas and stay in creative flow throughout our lives in participation with them.

A must-read for creatives types, Big Magic uplifts with stories of success and guides us through the trials of fear and failure to a powerful place of understanding.

BEAUTY REVIEW

Off on Spring Break? This book is a great companion read. Short chapters and lots of fun stories strung together with Gilbert's wise realizations. Just be sure to pack a bottle of water and some sunscreen because you may get pulled in while at the beach and lose track of time. Here are my suggestions for safe and effective sunscreens:

THE HONEST COMPANY SUNSCREEN SPRAY SPF 30 ($13.95)

SUNTEGRITY BODY SPF 30 ($36.00)

SUN BUM SPF 30 FACE STICK (14.99)

COOLA BABY SPF 50 UNSCENTED SUNSCREEN MOISTURIZER ($36.00)