Whole Girl

by Sadie Radinsky

  10-MINUTE BODY-SCAN MEDITATION

  1. Lie down on your bed or the floor. Get as comfortable as possible. You may want to place a cushion under your knees or a small blanket under your head.

  2. Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. How does your body feel? Tense, stressed, peaceful, calm? Just observe.

  3. Beginning at the very top of your head, very slowly scan your entire body. Go down your head, neck, shoulders, arms, hands, fingers, chest, rib cage, belly, thighs, calves, ankles, feet, and toes.

  4. With each body part, what do you feel? Is there a tingling sensation, tightness, or even pain? You don’t need to label anything—just breathe into the sensations.

  5. Take one final deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth.

  MINDFUL MOVEMENT

  CLIMB A TREE

  Climbing trees is still so much fun, at any age. I love the challenge of pushing myself to go higher—and even go out on a limb (literally and figuratively). But sometimes it can be terrifying, when I realize I’ve gone way too high and have no idea how to get down. However, when I do finally make it down, I feel like a total badass! I know it was worth it, even with the fear. So when you’re feeling afraid and want to break through it, give this challenge a try.

  1. Find a tree.

  2. Climb it.

  Buckeye Candies

  If you feel scared of baking for the first time, these candies are the perfect place to start. They’re simple to make (no oven) and taste like they’re right out of an old-fashioned candy shop with their creamy, nutty center and crunchy chocolate shell.

  YIELD: 14 CANDIES

  Ingredients

  1 cup unsalted nut butter of choice

  ¼ cup blanched almond flour

  3 Tbsp pure maple syrup*

  2 Tbsp coconut flour

  ¼ tsp sea salt

  ½ cup chopped dark chocolate*

  Instructions

  1. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients except the chocolate. Stir until a dough forms.

  2. Roll the dough into 14 balls using a heaping tablespoon, and place them on a plate lined with parchment paper. Freeze the balls for about 30 minutes, or until solid.

  3. Place the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Melt by microwaving it in 30-second intervals, stirring the mixture until smooth, or in a double boiler (“Double Boiler DIY”).

  4. Insert a toothpick into the center of a ball and dunk two-thirds of it in the melted chocolate, making sure to leave an open circle at the top.

  5. Place each chocolate-coated buckeye back on the parchment-lined plate. Smooth over the toothpick hole with your fingertip. Repeat with remaining balls.

  6. Freeze the plate of buckeyes for about 1 hour, or until they’re firm, then serve. Store leftover buckeyes in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 1 month.

  *To make the recipe sugar-free, replace the pure maple syrup with monk fruit maple-flavored syrup and use stevia-sweetened dark chocolate.

  Coconut Cashew Probiotic Yogurt

  This recipe never fails to amaze me. Somehow, with just five simple ingredients and no special equipment, we can make a tangy, super-thick, creamy yogurt from scratch. So do not fear! Just follow the instructions closely, and it will be as easy as pie (or … yogurt).

  YIELD: SERVES 14

  Ingredients

  2¾ cups full-fat coconut milk

  2 cups roasted unsalted cashews (not raw)

  2 high-quality probiotic capsules*

  1 Tbsp pure maple syrup**

  1 pinch sea salt

  Instructions

  1. Gather the equipment you’ll need for this recipe: 1 or 2 large glass jars (such as quart-sized mason jars), boiling water, cheesecloth (or thin dish towels), rubber bands, and an oven that’s available for 24 hours.

  2. Sterilize your jars by placing them in your sink and slowly running boiling water on their sides and inside. Using gloves or oven mitts, carefully pour out the boiling water from the jars. Let them cool to room temperature on the counter.

  3. Add the coconut milk and cashews to a high-speed blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Empty the contents of the 2 probiotic capsules into the blender and discard their casing. Pour in the maple syrup and sea salt, and blend until completely smooth.

  4. Pour the yogurt mixture into the sterilized mason jars (if your jar is quite large, the mixture might fit all in one jar). Cover the tops of the jars with cheesecloth. Secure the cheesecloth with rubber bands.

  5. Turn on your oven light. Do not turn on the oven; the oven light is the only heat the yogurt needs in order to ferment. Put the jars of yogurt into your oven. Let the yogurt ferment with the oven light on and door closed for 16 to 24 hours. After about 16 hours you can briefly open the oven door and taste the yogurt to see if it’s tangy enough for your liking. The longer it ferments, the tangier it gets.

  6. Remove the jars of yogurt from the oven and place them in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, to solidify. Serve the yogurt. Store leftovers in a jar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

  *Use a high-quality refrigerated brand of probiotic for best results. I use Renew Life 50 billion. Some probiotic brands have an added prebiotic. Don’t buy that kind! Added prebiotic can hinder the fermentation.

  **To make this recipe sugar-free, omit the maple syrup.

  Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

  The best way to tackle a project such as frozen yogurt is to do it in steps. First, make the Coconut Cashew Probiotic Yogurt. Once you’ve made that yogurt, this recipe isn’t so scary. The result is ridiculously refreshing, creamy, and popping with strawberry flavor! Trust me, it’s worth it to take the extra step.

  YIELD: SERVES 5–6

  Ingredients

  1 batch Coconut Cashew Probiotic Yogurt

  2 cups frozen strawberries

  2 Tbsp pure maple syrup (optional)

  Instructions

  1. Combine the yogurt, frozen strawberries, and maple syrup, if using, in a high-speed blender. Blend the ingredients together until smooth and creamy. It may help to use your blender’s tamper, if you have one.

  2. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, just drink the mixture now, like a milkshake!

  3. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and process per manufacturer’s instructions, until the yogurt is thick like ice cream. Scoop into bowls and serve immediately. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 1 month. Thaw slightly before serving.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Be Joyful

  This Little Light of Mine

  We usually think of joy as the way we feel when something exciting happens—getting a job we really want, having someone we like call us, buying a new phone. But the rush we get from those external things is always temporary.

  Actual joy has no expiration date. It doesn’t depend on our circumstances. Joy is an internal calm. It’s the life force that we always have inside us.

  We might be joyful while playing a favorite sport or a musical instrument. Whenever I pick up my guitar and start playing, I feel pure joy. Why? Because joy is derived from being in the present moment. When I strum the guitar, everything else falls away and I’m completely focused on the music. I exist only in that moment, which allows joy to flow through me.

  The cool thing is, you don’t have to be doing something you love in order to feel joy. You can always enter the present moment and become aware of the little flame burning within you. Right now, take a few deep breaths to help you connect with the flame. Then imagine it filling your whole body. That joy will always be with you. No matter what happens in your life—whether you lose money, gain money, feel good, or get sick—joy flows through you all the while.

  Help Thy Neighbor

  Think of the last time you held a door open for a stranger. How did it make you feel? You probably felt pretty good. That was the joy of helping others in full effect! When we do any act of service, big or small,
we focus on someone else’s needs. And that is an awesome recipe for joy. Many studies confirm that helping others increases our sense of well-being. If we perform even a small act of kindness each day, we feel more joy in our lives.

  The key is being of service for the sake of helping others—not for our own gratification. It’s easy to fall into the trap of doing something in hopes of getting recognized in some way. But when we do service solely to help others, we will feel the joy stream through us. That’s why anonymous acts of kindness are especially powerful. When we know that nobody will see us, our only motivation is the greater good.

  There are endless ways to be of service. No act is too small. Here are a few things you can try:

  Give someone a compliment not based on their appearance. (“You really know how to make people feel good! You did such a great job today!”)

  Bring a cookie for a friend at school or work.

  Take out the garbage (if it’s not already your job).

  Organize a donation drive for a homeless shelter.

  Help a classmate solve a tricky problem (academic or social).

  Volunteer doing something you’re passionate about.

  Pick up a piece of trash on the sidewalk.

  Hear Her

  I reached out to some females of all different ages and asked how they’ve been of service. Here’s what they said:

  I once babysat a few times a semester so my friend could attend a lab. It was no big deal to me, but I think it helped her feel supported.

  I used to go to a homeless shelter to hand out food. The look of appreciation on people’s faces made me feel like what I was doing had meaning.

  I sent some of my favorite books from a local bookstore to my friends. I wanted them to know that someone was thinking of them.

  At the airport, a young mother with a baby was alone and had so much to handle. She was getting searched at TSA and stressing about missing her flight, so I offered to sit with her baby while she handled everything. She was so thankful.

  I saw a girl crying outside a classroom. I made my way over and sat down next to her and held out my hand. She looked up at me with her glossy eyes, took my hand, and held it tightly as if to say “Thank you.”

  Q&A

  Q: I can see being joyful when things are going well. But how can I feel joy when I’m going through a tough time and life is really hard?

  A: Joy is not dependent on our circumstances. Still, joy can be hard to connect with when life is challenging. Take it from Nikeh Grey, a journalist who suffers from sickle cell anemia, a blood disease. She told me that sickle cell affects every part of her life, and it’s highly unpredictable. “You can be fine,” she says, “and literally within five minutes you can be in excruciating pain.”

  When she’s in pain, the only way Nikeh can find joy is to do an activity that snaps her out of her rut—stepping outside and enjoying nature (even if “nature” means the little garden at the hospital), writing down her feelings in a notebook, or going to therapy.

  If you’re struggling to find joy, try doing something that gets you out of your routine. For me, drawing really helps. You might like to go for a walk or blast your favorite album, if that helps you forget your circumstances for a while. Hold on to that space. Whenever you find yourself frustrated or in pain, remember that feeling and let it fill up your entire body. It’s here for you always.

  MINDFUL MOVEMENT

  RUNNING INTERVALS

  When you’re feeling lots of energy, let it fuel you to run fast! Afterward, the endorphins will make you feel euphoric. If you’re struggling to feel joy, this exercise can also help you. When we run, it breaks us out of our negative thoughts and brings us into the present.

  You don’t have to be a “runner” to do this! There’s no correct speed or distance—just whatever feels like a fun challenge.

  1. Find a fairly open place to run that you feel comfortable in, such as a fairly open sidewalk or park. You’re going to switch between three different running speeds. It helps to use a stopwatch or timer app if you have one.

  2. Start your stopwatch (or just estimate the time). Warm up by walking for 2 minutes.

  3. Then begin running at a slow but steady pace, for 30 seconds.

  4. Now ramp up your speed so you’re putting out a solid effort, for 20 seconds.

  5. Last, sprint as fast as you can, for 10 seconds.

  6. Repeat this 30-20-10 cycle 4 more times, for a total of 5 minutes.

  7. You have completed 1 set. Walk for 2 minutes, to catch your breath. Do as many sets as you want. I like to do it for 20 to 30 minutes total (assuming I can last that long).

  Chocolate Chip Cookies

  Sometimes simple memories bring us the most joy. The taste of chocolate chip cookies takes me back to playdates with friends when I was little, and slow weekend afternoons at home. When you make these, they can help you create new memories, so every time you bite into a chocolate chip cookie, you’ll think back to this joyful moment in time.

  YIELD: 16–18 COOKIES

  Ingredients

  2 cups blanched almond flour

  ¼ cup arrowroot flour

  ½ tsp baking soda

  ½ tsp sea salt

  2 large eggs*

  ½ cup sustainable palm shortening, melted

  ½ cup coconut sugar

  1 Tbsp vanilla extract

  ¾ cup chopped dark chocolate or dark chocolate chips

  2 tsp flaky sea salt, for topping

  Instructions

  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, arrowroot flour, baking soda, and sea salt. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, palm shortening, coconut sugar, and vanilla extract.

  2. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until smooth. Fold in the chocolate chips, reserving a few pieces for topping. Cover the bowl with tin foil and chill in the freezer for 30 minutes.

  3. Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

  4. Once the dough is done chilling, scoop 16 to 18 balls of cookie dough onto the baking sheet using either a 1½-tablespoon cookie scoop or a heaping tablespoon. I usually do 2 batches of baking because not all of the cookies fit on 1 cookie sheet. Flatten each dough ball out halfway, then sprinkle on some extra chocolate chunks.

  5. Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, or until they’re golden brown on the edges. Sprinkle cookies with flaky sea salt. Let them cool for at least 3 minutes, then enjoy. These cookies are best eaten the day they’re made, but leftovers may be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for a up to 4 days.

  *To make this recipe egg-free and vegan, replace the 2 eggs with 2 flax “eggs.” To do this, simply stir together 2 Tbsp ground golden flaxseed with 6 Tbsp warm water. Let it sit for 5 minutes to form a gel, then use in the recipe in place of the eggs.

  Magical Unicorn Frappuccino

  The original drink that inspired this smoothie has chemicals and a load of sugar. This one is made with fruits, veggies, protein, and fat that will make your body jump for joy!

  YIELD: SERVES 1

  Ingredients

  SMOOTHIE

  One 3½-ounce packet frozen dragon fruit

  ¾ cup frozen avocado chunks or 1 avocado, peeled and pitted

  ¾ cup filtered water

  ¼ cup full-fat coconut milk

  1 serving vanilla protein powder

  TOPPING

  4½ Tbsp coconut cream, divided, from the top of a chilled 13½-ounce can of full-fat coconut milk

  1 tsp honey

  ¼ tsp blue spirulina powder

  Instructions

  1. Using a high-speed blender, blend together all the smoothie ingredients until smooth. You may need to use your blender’s tamper, if you have one, because the smoothie is thick. Set aside.

  2. Stir together 1½ Tbsp coconut cream, the honey, and the blue spirulina in a small bowl. Scoop the mixture into a small plastic baggie, then cut off the tip of one corner of the bag. Drizzle the blu
e coconut cream on the inside of a large glass, in a zigzag design. Reserve some for drizzling on top.

  3. Add the remaining 3 Tbsp coconut cream to small bowl and stir vigorously with fork until it’s smooth and fluffy.

  4. Pour the smoothie into the glass. Top with the whipped coconut cream and a little more blue drizzle, then serve immediately.

  Vanilla Sprinkle Cupcakes

  When you get stuck in a negative rut, there’s a great way to break out and reset. Baking! Try these fluffy cupcakes with silky frosting, then share with loved ones to connect with your inner flame of joy.

  YIELD: 12 CUPCAKES

  Ingredients

  CUPCAKES

  1¼ cups blanched almond flour

  ¼ cup classic monk fruit sweetener*

  ¼ cup arrowroot flour

  ¼ cup coconut flour

  1 tsp baking soda

  ¼ tsp sea salt

  5 large eggs

  ⅓ cup full-fat coconut milk

  ¼ cup monk fruit maple-flavored syrup*

  ¼ cup sustainable palm shortening or coconut oil, melted

  2½ tsp vanilla extract

  2 tsp apple cider vinegar

  BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

  1¾ cups sustainable palm shortening

  ½ cup honey

  ⅓ cup coconut cream, from the top of a chilled 13½-ounce can of full-fat coconut milk