Finally! Healthy Fast Food.

Jenny’s the proud owner of HealthFare in Burnaby

Ever since I have been diligently eating healthy, I kept saying “why can’t there be healthy fast food restaurants?”

Well, it’s finally here and it’s called “HealthFare“. It seems to be a Canadian franchise and one just opened up in Burnaby, British Columbia at Market Crossing which is on Marine Drive and Byrne Road.

It’s got a fairly good menu variety – artisan sandwiches, salads, savory rice bowls, interesting side dishes, homemade soups, smoothies and even breakfast items.

The owner, Jenny Saini, warmly greets you and helps you make a selection. She just opened the restaurant in February 2013.

I had their Chicken, Peanut & Lime rice bowl but substituted the chicken with tofu instead, and also some curry lentil soup and a frozen yogurt – all wonderful, especially the yogurt!

It’s a bit pricey, but I’m OK with that because I applaud the concept. When business owners are passionate and care about their customers I think that provides high value.

I wish Jenny all the best and congratulations on forging the way for healthy fast food options!  Hopefully we will see this as a trend across Canada and the U.S.

~Wendy

Why journal?

Write a journal in any way you want. There are no rules.

I used to think that writing in a journal was for day-dreaming teens.  Since my cancer diagnosis and choosing to live life with intention, I have started keeping a journal.

Cultivating joy for me includes being mindful and recognizing what’s going on in my life and how I am experiencing life.

Here are some benefits to journaling that I have found:

1. Living your life with intention means being self-aware and not sliding through life on auto-pilot. Journaling is a great way to write down your intentions, goals and plans.  I find it so interesting to look back in my journal after months or years to see just how my intentions have manifested, or not. More often than not, I find that if I had set an intention, it comes true – and that feels pretty good!  It shows the progress I have made.
2. It’s a great way to express emotions without having to speak about it. Sometimes we just need a confidential avenue to express ourselves.
3. It’s my way to record important shifts and events in my life. Especially when something wonderful happens, recording my gratitude helps me remember when life is good.
4. If you practice meditation, journaling your experiences during meditation is rather fun.  Some of my meditation students have started journaling and enjoy noting the increase in sensations and experiences they are having as they cultivate their practice.

There are no rules to journaling.  There is no pressure to write regularly or in any particular way. Select a journal that you are drawn to and feels like your own.

I know some people like to journal on their computer.  Sometimes when I have a lot to journal I do it on the computer as I’m a fast typist, but somehow I find it very satisfying to curl up on the sofa and write it out by hand.

Here is a good article about journal writing that I found on the Plum Deluxe website.

~Wendy

Workplace meditation results for stress and resiliency

It seems daily that we hear about more research into the benefits of meditation and mindfulness.  I just completed another survey of my workplace meditation students that I’m so excited about!

As an organizational change manager, I have found that teaching meditation and mindfulness in the workplace produces amazing results.  Staff who attend even on a sporadic basis have reported wonderful benefits of stress reduction and increased personal resiliency. There is a huge benefit to people personally but there is also a significant benefit to an organization who has employees who are able to transition through change easier.

Out of 60 respondents, please look at the results for these 2 questions:

Note:

• BEFORE TAKING CLASSES: 16% rated their ability to handle stress as High
• AFTER TAKING CLASSES:  66% rated their ability to handle stress as High
• Therefore:  a 400% increase

• BEFORE TAKING CLASSES: 36% rated their ability to handle stress as Low
• AFTER TAKING CLASSES:  Dropped to 0%

_________________________

Note:

• BEFORE TAKING CLASSES: 14% rated their personal resiliency as High
• AFTER TAKING CLASSES:  75% rated their personal resiliency as High
• Therefore:  a 530% increase

• BEFORE TAKING CLASSES: 36% rated their personal resiliency as Low
• AFTER TAKING CLASSES:  Dropped to 2%

So what do you think?  I’m so excited to see these results.  Please tell me what you think!

If you would like to read how I started meditation and mindfulness in the workplace, please read here.

~Wendy

Meditation ‘rescues’ in the most dire time

Sudhir believes meditation rescued him from a terrible fate

One of my meditation students has a surprising and fascinating story to tell about how he believes meditation saved his life. Meditation isn’t just about stress reduction.  It can lift you out of an unexpected life-challenging situation. I wish you could see and hear him tell his story in his humble and gracious way.  Please read Sudhir’s important story:

“I have an amazing story to tell.  One year ago, I was running for the bus after work, tripped, and hit my head very hard on a post.  I picked myself up and carried on as usual, but during the next 3 weeks, I experienced many strange symptoms, and eventually my mind could not even figure out how to navigate to work. 

My wife called 911 and after several hospital tests, the doctors told my wife to prepare herself that I may never return home. They said I had a brain disorder, a type of mental illness, and may not recover enough to return to my life as I knew it.  This was obviously devastating.

Somehow, I decided to practice the meditation that Wendy Quan taught me at work just a few weeks before. My colleague had encouraged me to attend the meditation class and I had only gone 3 times.  I am so thankful to had learned this, and I practiced meditation for hours in the hospital each day.  This meditation felt like a ‘rope’, the only lifeline I had to pull me out of the dark hole I was in.

3 weeks later, I was miraculously well enough to go home. The doctors wanted me to take strong medication for the rest of my life, but after 6 months, I decided I did not want to do this.  I kept meditating 20 minutes a day, and today, one year later, I feel better than I did before my accident.

I told Wendy Quan that I believe with 200% certainty that the meditation is what saved me.  I say ‘Wendy is my medicine’.  I am truly thankful for the meditation classes at work and words cannot express my gratitude.  Meditation rescued me and life has so much more meaning to me.”

Sudhir is a humble, gentle and gracious man who works in the IT field.  I am blessed and honoured to know him.

My reason for posting this is to share the knowledge of how meditation can be a very important life skill. A common misconception is that meditation is only for stress-reduction. On the contrary, it offers a multitude of benefits and having the skill of meditation can pull you out of a bind when you need help.

~Wendy