eco-conscious • healthy • fun • creative
The Beauty Beneath the Surface
ISSUE 1 VOLUME 2 WINTER 2020
TRUE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE
Table of Contents
12
20
6
Personal Growth
Self Care
Health
It Came to Serve Me
Float Therapy
Mind is All
Challenges come to serve us. Will you allow yourself to grow?
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The concept of floating in saltwater for relaxation and healing has been around for hundreds of years.
Positive thoughts can change your outlook and change your day. There is truth behind mind over matter.
TRUE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE
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29
15
Cuisine
The Arts
Travel
Delight
Art on Paper
Land of the Midnight Sun
Modern and contemporary art defies tradition and explores a new destination... paper.
Take a step into the beauty and awe of wild Alaska. A beautiful, mysterious place that awakens the senses.
Take comfort in this delectible creamy dessert.
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HEALTH
Mind Is All By Linda Lombardo
“A positive attitude is a mindset that helps you see and recognize opportunities.” “A positive attitude means positive thinking. It is optimism and maintaining a positive mindset.” “Positive thinking is a mental and emotional attitude that focuses on the bright side of life and expects positive results.” I don’t know about you, but I was taught in school that you never define a word using that word. So, most of these online definitions leave me no closer to understanding what a positive outlook might be or how to get one. A bit negative of me, I know, as I search for this elusive thing called a positive outlook. As a little girl, one of my favorite books was Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter, written in 1913. If you’re not familiar with the book, or the subsequent movie starring Haley Mills, or any of the “Glad Books” series, the story is about a little orphaned girl who loses her mother at an early age and then loses her father, a missionary. Pollyanna is sent to live with her wealthy but stern Aunt Polly, who takes no prisoners when it comes to positivity. You see, Pollyanna plays a game, taught to her by her father, called the Glad Game. It’s about finding the ‘glad’ in the sadness or misfortune. Aunt Polly initially wants none of it. In her mind, life is not about gladness. It’s about responsibility and obligation. In fact, the whole town is stuck in its story about life. Everyone has a story of loss, sadness, missed opportunity, and more. And with no one to shake them out of their stories, they live their quiet lives, going through the motions … but not really happy; just resigned.
Here’s an example, in which Pollyanna explains the Glad Game to Nancy, the housemaid:
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Photo by Bekka Mongeau from Pexels
One by one, Pollyanna touches their lives, which at first is jolting to the townspeople. “Don’t touch my story of personal tragedy. Don’t dare tell me to be happy with all that’s going on in my world.” And being so young, it would have been easy to write off Pollyanna’s natural positive outlook as that of a child, who hasn’t really experienced the world yet. Except, she had.
PERSONAL GROWTH
It Came to Serve Me By April Diane
Personal growth is an emotional journey. A journey that begs the question, will you stay, or will you allow yourself to grow? A journey of discovering how to respond to the challenges you face differently, possibly with a more positive outlook. When you choose to rise to the challenges personal growth offers, by way of making a mess out of your comfort zone, the obstacles serve you up hefty doses of strength, courage, and wisdom; and you are forever changed. Your reality begins to transform, bringing the unconscious to your awareness, helping you identify weeds for the distractions they are, and positioning you to plant new seeds intentionally in the garden of your life, with determination and resilience. Emotion, coupled with fear initially, may urge you to resist growth. Circumstances arise that require you to sit with yourself grappling with choices you’ve made in the past with the hopes of making informed decisions about how to proceed to obtain a new outcome for the future. An internal struggle commences. However, when the call comes, you can’t resist. The feelings consume you as if you have been convicted by your soul, who refuses to be ignored. Around every corner, in every encounter, you connect with reminders to face your fears and do the work it takes to go within and sit with yourself to uncover your deepest thoughts, beliefs, desires, and feelings. No longer can you get by doing the same old things, hanging out in the same circles of people, practicing the same unhealthy habits, falling victim to being undisciplined. When the calling to grow enters your life at different moments on the journey, sometimes you are knee-deep in shit, and sometimes we get a gentle nudge to make a new choice. In times like these, you find yourself uncomfortable with familiar chaotic circumstances, and as a result, you propel to take a step in a new direction. You leave behind your comfort zone, faced with the challenge of change. Challenges come to serve us positively, and discovering how that is possible when things seem to be a complete mess is the transformative part of the journey. How can I learn to love myself when my internal messages have been filled with self-hate for so long? How can I have a healthy relationship when I haven’t had great examples of healthy relationships around me? How can I practice new beliefs when the old beliefs are so deeply embedded in my culture? How can I follow my dreams when no one ever believed in my ideas?
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PERSONAL GROWTH
The answer to this question is to take baby steps. Research things you don’t know, take classes for skills you need to learn, be compassionate with yourself, allow yourself the due process it takes to change. Forgive yourself for not knowing what you didn’t know. Start every day with new beginner eyes giving thanks for the lessons of yesterday. Applying them when you can and practicing self-love through self-care when you forget and remember that you forgot. When questions come upon you like “what if I fail?”, challenge them with answers like “what if I don’t?” Keep positive people around you who know what the journey looks and feels like. Allow yourself to feel. And most importantly, let it flow. The journey knows precisely where you need to go, and you’ll always end up right where you need to be, seeing what you need to see to be your best self. Just be brave enough to take a look in the mirror.
Photo by Jill Wellington from Pexels
April Diane is an entrepreneur born and raised in Long Island, NY. April combines creativity and wellness as the foundation of her business. Wearing many hats, including certified yoga instructor, published author, meditation facilitator, and Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, April continues to advance her expertise with the current goal of becoming a Reiki Master. You can connect with April by visiting her website: www.creatingthehabitofwellness.com
TRAVEL
Land of the Midnight Sun Compiled from multiple contributors
Once considered unchartered territory, Alaska has become a destination of awe for many. A natural environment so purely breathtaking, Alaska is home to a diversity of people and wildlife. Although rich in natural resources, which have been the driving force of its economy, tourism in Alaska has been growing. We asked our readers who have had the fantastic opportunity to visit this beautiful state how they describe their experience. Joanne Rydzewski Finds Beauty in Work: “For the past decade, I’ve been sailing on ships all around the world as a Merchant Mariner. Most of the time, family and friends don’t fully understand what I do as a Marine Engineer. I try and explain how I work in an engine room, overhauling equipment, maintaining engines, and monitoring systems. Often times, I lose people’s attention in a matter of minutes as I’d get too detailed explaining my job. I found it easier to take pictures of the engine room and major overhauls to give others a better idea of what I do while I’m gone for weeks or months at a time. Over time my focus eventually shifted to capturing the beauty of my surroundings above deck. I felt so fortunate to travel to so many remote locations that I made an effort to photograph anything and everything I could. In recent weeks, I was lucky enough to travel through Southeast Alaska with my current company. Some of the locations included Glacier Bay National Park, Johns Hopkins Glacier, Tracy Arm, Baranof Islands, and Inian Islands. Not only did I have the privilege to travel to these pristine areas, but I was blessed with the opportunity to see Humpback Whales breaching and bubble net feeding, fjords, glaciers, and an abundance of wildlife. I hope these pictures bring happiness to the viewers as much it brought me while I photographed them.” Lydia Bauer Recalls Priceless Memories:
Photo by Joanne Rydzewski
“I would guess a cruise to Alaska is a memorable experience for anyone. Ours holds a special place in my heart because it was an experience I got
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SELF CARE
Float Therapy by Karen Danchalski
Therapy for the senses
Seeking respite from a highly stressful period of my life, I would often lie my head down at night close my eyes and dream of space. Dark, cool, silent, all my problems were 25,000 light-years away. I was safe from worry, safe from distress. I just had to breathe and float in space; the tiny bright stars my only guiding lights. While I have never gone up into space, I have had a strikingly similar experience in a float tank. Three times, I have floated, and each time resulted in a powerful sense of calm and relaxation mixed with a deep inner connection to my biology via an out of body experience. Make sense? Let me try to explain. The Dead Sea, which lies at the lowest level of the earth, is filled with salts and minerals and has a rich history. Looking back to biblical times through the modern era, the Dead Sea has been a place of refuge, exploration, and therapy. The concept of floating in saltwater for relaxation and healing has been around for hundreds of years. Floating as a means of sensory deprivation therapy was pioneered by the neuroscientist Dr. John Lilly during the 1950s through the 1970s. The first vertical floatation tank was built in 1954 at a veterans hospital in Oklahoma City. There, Dr. Lilly studied how the brain was affected by sensory deprivation. Subjects floated vertically, wore a helmet with breathing tubes, and wrote personal accounts of their experiences. Dr. Lilly’s research branched into how humans could intelligently communicate with dolphins and how LSD could affect the float experience. He authored several books and scientific papers on these topics. Dr. John Lilly is the father of float therapy.
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SELF CARE
Float tanks have evolved quite a bit since Dr. Lilly’s first tank. A horizontal tank was built in 1970 by Dr. Lilly and Glenn Perry, which, although confining, eliminated the need for a helmet. As more research on the physical and mental health benefits of float therapy became established, float tanks gained popularity. Commercial centers, hospitals, educational institutions, private homes, and major sports teams began to use them. Floating has become even more popular over the past decade, and people can now float in spas and gyms in their local communities. Rather than enclosed tanks or pods, facilities now have tubs filled with 10 inches of water, 800-1400lbs of Epsom salt, and six-foot-high ceilings, so there is no sense of claustrophobia. Floaters can choose to be in the dark or turn on a soft blue light with the push of a button. A floater can speak to a receptionist through an intercom if needed. There is a sense of control. A typical float lasts between sixty to ninety minutes. Since I have no plans to go to the Dead Sea or to book a flight to outer-space, I am delighted that I have found a float tank twenty minutes from my house down the turnpike. So let’s dive into my experience. While my experience is my own, I will say that after reading Michael Hutchison’s book “The book of floating: Exploring the Private Sea,” and after reading several float therapy research articles, my experience is quite usual. Upon entry into the water, I realize how much I miss having a bathtub. The water is warm, 93.5 °F, and I float supine effortlessly in 1000 lbs of Epsom salt. I settle in as the last remaining light clicks off. It is now dark and quiet. At first, my mind does not ease. I wonder what kind of experience I will have this time. I
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Photograph by Robert Springer
CUISINE
Pear Delight serves 10-12 people
1. Place warm water in a small bowl and set saffron threads in the warm water. Slush around to release the saffron flavor. Set aside for 30 minutes.
Ingredients: One Bottle of Sauvignon Blanc (or Pinot Grigio or Pinot Gris)
2. Peel pears and slice in half and then again in half. Remove pits with a melon baller. Set pears on the bottom of a pan. Open bottle of wine, using entire contents, and pour over pears. Add saffron water and honey as well as cardamom pods and cover pears. If need be, add water. Bring to a boil and then quickly lower to simmer. Poach pears for 30 minutes or until tender all the way through. Do not discard liquid.
1/4 cup of honey 10-15 saffron threads 2 cardamom pods 5 Bosc or Bartlett Pears cut into fours from top to bottom (for a nice presentation try to keep stem on
3. Remove pears and set aside in fridge to cool. Meanwhile, continue to simmer liquid over medium heat until it is reduced to a thick syrup, measuring approximately ¼ cup to ½ cup. This will be used later as a reduced wine sauce.
one piece of the four) Pinch of salt 1 cup of crushed pistachio 3 cups of Greek yogurt
4. Take Greek yogurt and spoon onto a serving dish. 5. Take chilled pears and push one side into a flat surface with the crushed pistachios. Place pear gently on top of Greek yogurt. 6. When ready to serve, drizzle reduced wine sauce over yogurt and pears.
Chef Robert Springer is the owner of Chef Springer Catering and Private Chef. He is the winner of “The Mentorship with Tom Colicchio”, sponsored by Bravo TV. Chef Springer specializes in fine dining tasting menus for the epicurean at heart. In addition to catering private events, he is also available for in-home cooking and private tasting menus at clients’ homes. Contact Chef Springer at RobertSpringerFB@gmail.com and follow him at www.instagram.com/chefspringerish/. www.truelifestylemagazine.com 27
What happens when these
constituents collide with the
common factor called Paper? Art on Paper is born - where
modern and contemporary Art defies tradition and explores a new destination.
Sculptures, paintings, drawings, carvings, even entire
Photos by Jennifer Wojcieski
rooms created with Paper.
THE ARTS
Pier 36 New York 299 South St New York, NY 10002 March 5th: 6pm-10pm
(VIP preview only)
March 6th & 7th: 11am-7pm March 8th: 12pm-6pm https://thepaperfair.com/ny
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I pray this winter be gentle and kind--a season of rest from the wheel of the mind.
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- John Geddes
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