I’m thrilled to have hosted my first retreat "The Ramadan Reboot" at such a beautiful place, just outside of Cairo, the wonderful Ardi Dahshur @ardi_dahshur ‍

More about the retreat:

The Ramadan Reboot is an inclusive spiritual women’s weekend retreat to reboot your mind, body and soul.
Spend a weekend in a breathtaking and serene setting, surrounded by nature.
It’s time to go low-tech and high connection!
Connect with your higher self, your surroundings and others.
Use the power of intermittent fasting to nourish your body, practice self-care and stillness, and tap into the limitless love, strength and beauty within.
Through a series of group lectures, discussions and sessions, learn about and engage in wellness-boosting practices and healing activities from guided meditations, hypnotherapy and sound healing to sunset yoga and live music and more!
Take charge of your thoughts, emotions and actions and come out of the...

Today is March 20th, the INTERNATIONAL DAY OF HAPPINESS!

Today and everyday I invite you to choose happiness.

I invite you to focus on what happiness means to YOU and to align your thoughts and actions to your unique vision of happiness, knowing that you deserve it and can achieve it!

This past week, after 4 challenging months for my family, I dedicated a week for self-care and rejuvenation. I had listened to my body and recognized that it was time to heal.

And so I went on a detox retreat where I had a much-needed change AND pushed my limits.

I had juice shots, smoothies and soups, exercised more than I have in the past 30 years, connected with wonderful people, learned even more about health and nutrition (and myself), enjoyed sunsets, nature and amazing weather, listened to live music at the beach, went hiking and mountain climbing and even did yoga in a cave! 

I’m now back, full of gratitude, strength and energy and happy to be back to my wonderful home and family.

We...

Me with a giant pestle and mortar, just because why not?

I’m not the kind of person who would see this and walk past it. Naturally I stopped to play for a bit.

As often as I can, I seize opportunities to goof off, experience new things and even be “silly”.

Who wants to be serious all the time, right?

Do you weave play into your day? How?

On a different note, if you were to completely CRUSH ONE LIMITING BELIEF in this giant pestle and mortar, which would it be?? 

Are you aware of your limiting beliefs? For the longest time, I wasn’t (until I was ).

Here’s one of my old beliefs:
I used to believe that I wasn’t good enough; that I had to prove myself through hard work and impressive accomplishments. This caused me to put constant pressure on myself to perform and often left me dissatisfied with the results.

I certainly crushed THAT belief! Now I have nothing to prove, I believe I am good enough exactly as I am, I allow myself to simply BE, and I feel...

A couple of days ago my husband and I went on an overnight trip to Fayoum (in Egypt) to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary! Here are some of my favorite pics

We took in a lot of beauty, relaxed and laughed, had some adventure and enjoyed good food.

We felt grateful and blessed that our marriage has not only survived but thrived for 30 years and I thought you might like to know how we did it.

Here are some of the things we do:

1. Resolve any conflict before going to bed at night. Open and honest communication goes a looooong way Ditch the expectations, assumptions, generalizations and labels and instead talk and really listen to each other.
2. LIKE each other. Yes, love your life partner romantically. Really like who they are as a person too though. That lasts and builds memories.
3. Recognize that, as with anything, we get results when we put in the effort. Just as we as people are a work in progress so are our relationships. They require our attention and our energy and...

Sometimes, not always, I’m inspired to cook something super delicious and super healthy!

Here’s the result of one of those times + some of my cookbooks

I find cooking to be an incredibly therapeutic, creative process that can be simultaneously calming and exciting (even if it at other times it can feel like an unwelcome chore).

Cooking healthily has the added benefit of not only being therapeutic for the soul but for the body too!

I have needed to make an extra effort to nourish both recently, so I thought I would share this post with you today to encourage you to nourish yourself too.

As you go through your day, being yourself and doing your thing, remember to nourish your body and your soul

For 8 years I have had the opportunity to swim in this lagoon that I am grateful to wake up to every morning these days. For 8 years I never seized the opportunity.

Today was different.

A Swiss neighbor of mine, who I hardly know, passed by these fins to encourage us to enjoy the lagoon the way she does.

Suddenly this body of water that I hadn’t particularly cared to swim in before, became curiously inviting. My neighbor’s lovely gesture, and watching her swim so happily, stirred something in me.

So this morning I decided that I would take those fins, walk over to that lagoon and finally take a dip in it.

What an exhilarating feeling it was! The peace, the freedom, the beauty, the quiet. To think I had never once tried to experience it before. This got me thinking WHY? And the truth is that I hadn’t given that lagoon much thought. I’m not someone who swims much anyway and I had basically programmed myself not to swim in it by complacently stating (to...

A watering can that I have probably had for over 15 years and finally started using!

I’m watering plants again (inspired by my daughter’s new plant passion/obsession) and I’m managing to keep them alive! That’s new for me.

And I’m watering time in nature, time with family, and peace of mind.

And I’m watering making my home comfortable and pretty and enjoyable to be in.

And I’m watering biking and swimming (baby steps).

And I’m watering my boundaries.

And I’m watering my love for humanity.

And I’m watering my career goals.

We gift life to what we give to water to.

What are YOU watering?

If your dreams are on a shelf like this can was for so many years, how about taking them off that shelf and turning them into goals?

(Photo featuring my younger daughter’s plant “Sunray”)

Today is my 51st birthday! :) 

Here are 51 of my favorite things, written down as they came to my mind. It felt great to remind myself of what matters most to me and the little things I enjoy. Although at first I thought it might be hard to find 51 things, towards the end of my list I had more to say than I had space for!

Sitting outdoors in a cool sea breeze right before sunset

When a baby grabs my finger in their fist

When my cat licks me

Our chaotic zoom family reunions

The “imperfection” of the leaves on that magnificent tree right outside my window

The blessing of an air conditioner on a hot day

The sound of leaves crackling under my feet when I’m taking a walk outdoors

Using the car’s windshield wipers

Removing that plastic security device off of a clothing item I’m buying at a store (I once asked permission to remove it myself and they let me. I was like a kid in Disneyland)

Seeing the best in people 

A strong internet connection...

These are uncertain times for all of us, some more than others. If you’re struggling to manage your emotions here are 7 tips to help you feel better.

1. The first step is to ACCEPT the uncertainty. 

Some things we can control, other things we can’t, and that’s OK.

Some things we can control, other things we can’t, and that’s OK.

Also notice what meaning you are attaching to events as they unfold. Other people will project their perceptions onto you but YOU get to choose what meanings to attach, so make them as positive as you can. 

Your thoughts will set the tone for your day.

2. LEARN, and look for what’s GOOD.

Instead of asking "Why is this happening?"

Ask yourself “What can I learn from this? What is this trying to teach me”?

Practice looking for what’s GOOD. 

The more you look for it, the more you’ll be able to see it.

3. ADAPT. 

What do you want to do differently? 

What can...

One of the biggest obstacles to our GROWTH is resistance to CHANGE.

But, the way I see it, WE’RE CHANGING ANYWAY. 

With every minute of every day, as we go through life and experience it through our senses, we are changing, even if the changes are subtle.

So why not EMBRACE CHANGE, take charge of it and allow it to move us forward in the direction of what’s important to us?

We do this by focusing on and being more aware of OURSELVES (our thoughts, our values, our dreams, our actions) and being in search of the POSITIVE LEARNINGS along the way.

The more fearlessly open we are to change, the more we gain positive learnings that move us forward and allow us to grow, becoming even better versions of ourselves and living a life that is aligned with our true selves and that serves us and those around us.