Berry good!

Oh yes! It is that time of the year... Berry time!

And what a joy is to have those bowls of cherries, sliced apricots and peaches, to mention a few. Berries and stone fruit mark for most of us the beginning of summer, the beginning of long fun days and the sweet memories of trips to u-pick farms.

Berries offer multiple benefits that make them a perfect kind of food. Different studies conducted on them have shown that berries are or may:

- Be loaded with antioxidants

- Decrease the risk of Type 2 diabetes

- A great snack any time of the day due to being low glycemic

- Decrease the risk of heart attack due to the flavonoids in them

- Help you keep your weight on check by making you feel full and satisfied longer. 1 cup of raspberries have 8 grams of fiber. The daily needs are about 25 grams. That is 1/3!

- Keeping your mind sharp. Flavonoids in berries have shown to enhance memory and motor skills and overall brain functions.

Liked by adults and children alike, berries are a perfect kind of food. Eat them by themselves, on yogurt, or with cereal. A favorite in my house is we make smoothies with them. A handful of them go a long way!

It is best to eat fruit during season as its nutrients, sweetness and ripeness are at their peak. However, you can benefit from these amazing powerhouses year round as supermarkets carry them from season to season.

Growing up in Costa Rica I used think that blueberries were not real. How can a fruit be blue? I was used to the rich hues of mangoes and all other kids of exotic tropical fruits, but the thought of a blue fruit for some reason was a little surreal.

When I first came to the United States I was completely in awe seeing blueberries in the supermarkets. They indeed existed! I was so happy when my brother got me a case of them, and I could sit down and enjoy each one of them.

I love all berries, but blueberries are still my favorite kind. I can eat them ALL day. Super super ripe, juicy black berries are my second top choice.

Ah, sweet berries... Sweet summer memories...

Being vs. doing

While looking at our family photos the other day, I ran into the ones from our road trip up to Oregon. One of the stops we made was at Crater Lake National Park. Crater Lake is truly a magical place. There is something about the so blue of the color of the sky and the water that makes you feel like suddenly you are not on Earth anymore. It is big. It is blue, very blue, and it exudes a peace that is hard to describe. Every time the topic of being vs. doing comes to my mind, my memory quickly travels to this very special place.

Why is it that we humans tend to measure others and ourselves by how much we get done, how much we have accomplished in life and how much we can potentially do? It is important to stop here for a moment. "Doing" is an intrinsic part of being human. We learn to crawl, walk and talk by doing. We also grow up to, for some of us, unite our lives with a significant other and perhaps have children. It is part of our nature to create, to do and to produce. And all that is great. The flip side of "doing" all the time is the burnout effect not only on the body, but also on the mind.

Our minds have an immense potential for creation, but little is accomplished if we skip the very crucial state of just "being." When we are "being" we absorb our surroundings and and this generates insights that would not happen otherwise. "Being" can be a weekend-long retreat away from home somewhere fancy, but it can also be a set amount of time you take during the day to just be. Some practical ways of "being" are:

- Contemplation of photos, the ocean, the sky, your garden, art in a museum, your pet or children playing.

- Meditation. This can be a few minutes here and there.

- Resting by sitting or laying down on a sofa or bed without any specific purpose. No reading material or electronics involved.

Whenever you have a decision to make, "being" is the way to go. It holds the key that will unlock the possibilities that come with a clear mind. How many times have you noticed that you get the answer to something you have been thinking about the moment you least expect it? I love to take a long shower when I wash my hair. I can have the water streaming down from the crown of my head and down and around my body forever! I think of nothing. I am just being in there in the soothing sound that envelopes me. It has happened many times that when I am getting dressed afterward I have an a-ha moment regarding something I have been dealing with. I did not think about it while in the shower at all. It came to me! It was in the space made by just "being." The insight had a chance to come through, and it will then translate into some type of "doing" eventually.

We all have "to-do" lists. Now, is that to-do list so long that everyday at the end of the day you are completely exhausted and unhappy? If that is the case more than a couple of times a week, I am offering the following: Every morning before you get out of bed think of how you want to feel at the end of the day. Think of the day you want to have and plan ahead. Pick the things on your to-do list that truly need to be taken care of that day. You might be surprised to see that one or two are that important or time-sensitive. Then make decisions throughout the day that will keep you on track to feel the way you really want by nighttime.

If we find the balance between "doing" and "being," our lives will be enhanced greatly. I encourage you to do it. If you are new to it, you might feel a little awkward. Don't let that discourage you! You are not being lazy. Trust me. For years I felt in that trap. It took me many years to stop feeling like I had to be or look busy. Try different ways to include more "being" in your life and stick with the one that works best for you.

Tell me how it goes for you!

Upeksha (equanimity)

At some point in our practice of yoga we all get to the point where we do it to attain peace of mind, to reach a blissful moment, to just be, without any pressure or tug of war going in our minds due to our everyday life's busy-ness.

This is where we are reminded of one of the four Brahmaviharas, or aspects for unconditional love: upeksha. Upeksha in Sanskrit, or equanimity, is a state of even-mindedness. It sounds easy, but it does require practice and discipline to fully embrace it.

Life can be rough at times. The unexpected happens, the expected does not happen, and the unthinkable becomes your new way of living. There are curve balls thrown at us at any time during this so precious journey called life.

It is in these very trying times when we need upeksha the most.

Think of when you or somebody you know has lost their job. Perhaps it was a job they had held for several years. Or, consider when an illness suddenly shows up in your life or the life of a loved one. How about losing somebody you love? The events can be extremely difficult to deal with. Upeksha is something we learn and practice and eventually becomes our default state of mind. Meditation is a powerful tool to develop upeksha. Another way to cultivate upeksha is to stop (hard as it might be!) for a moment before we react to minor events of everyday life. For instance, the soup you are making or warming up spills over. It is very hot and you just got a big mess to clean on your stove top or microwave oven. What happens then? The normal reaction to this event is to run and even complain given the fact that suddenly you have a chore to do. Instead, count to 5 or 10. Take a deep breath and just pick up a sponge or kitchen towel and clean it. No words included. Just see it as a task you were going to do anyway. It is hard. It takes practice. But it does pay off.

One more example. It is sunny out - a beautiful day to go on a bike ride. Off you go on your bike. It is all going perfectly well. You decide to park your bike by the beach and take a stroll barefoot in the sand. When you come back after five or ten minutes you realize your bike is nowhere to be found. You know you left it there. But it is gone now. What happens then? You call somebody to come and get you and likely for the next few days you will be telling everybody about it and getting upset every time you bring the event to mind. Instead, do your due diligence of making a police report and move on.

It is not easy to practice upeksha. Sometimes it seems life is unfair and we tend to react to it. Instead of reacting to events around us, upeksha teaches us to respond to all those events around us. It is not that we don't care. It is a state of mind that brings peace. A state of mind that leads us when things get rough.