Issue 24 | Face the Current

Issue 24

July/August 2019

fAce the current TRAVEL

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CULTURE

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MUSIC

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SPORTS & FITNESS

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HEALTH

The Magic of Wanderlust With Kristina Makeeva conquering white waters with

world champion kayaker nouria newman

Habits & Hustle

The Fit Philosophy of Jennifer Cohen

Satsang

Beyond Eye Candy

Music & Art A Craveworthy Eats Conduit For the + Powerful Herbs Human Experience

Fuel for an inspired life.

Editorial

fAce the current Issue 24 · July/August 2019

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JOIN THE MOVEMENT Face the Current is creating a ripple effect, inspiring positive change in the world and enhancing lives by encouraging one another to relentlessly discover, explore, question and learn from current and emerging information and perspectives. Driven by a deep-rooted love of learning, creative minds and a great appreciation for connection with other individuals who are passionate about what they do, Face the Current has quickly developed into a growing team and global community of incredible people who believe in living life to the fullest and discovering their true potential.

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Cover Image Credits: • Front cover: Kristina Makeeva • Back cover: Kristina Makeeva

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(*)Sasha Frate, Founder & Editor in Chief sasha@facethecurrent.com (*)Ainsley Schoppel, Co-Editor in Chief ainsley@facethecurrent.com Sema Garay, Executive Designer sema@facethecurrent.com All Rights Reserved DISCLAIMER The information provided in this magazine is intended for your general knowledge only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice or treatment for specific medical conditions. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease without consulting with a qualified healthcare provider.

Opinions and other statements expressed by the kind souls sharing their viewpoint, users and third parties are theirs alone, not opinions of Face the Current. Content created by third parties is the sole responsibility of the third parties and its accuracy and completeness are not endorsed or guaranteed. Face the Current Website and third parties may provide links to web pages, web sites, and various resources or locations on the web. Face the Current has no control over the information you access via such links, does not endorse that information, and shall not be responsible for it or for the consequences of your use of that information.

All products and services featured are selected by our editors. Face the Current may receive compensation for some links to products and services in this magazine.

July/August 2019 CONTRIBUTORS

We are a growing team of Up-Standers whose intention is to create positive change in the world through networking, connecting, supporting, and developing our global thought-community at both an individual and a collective level. We are passionate about building our crew of experts and industry leaders to deliver cutting-edge information that is created “by our global community, for our global community.” This issue’s FtC team and contributing crew are based in the U.S, Spain, and Canada.

Kaylie Grace is the creator of “Purely Kaylie”, a plantbased recipe blog, which uses simple and healthy ingredients. On the blog, you’ll find delicious recipes ranging from colorful smoothie bowls to gooey chocolate chip cookies. Kaylie’s mission is to make healthy eating an inviting, approachable, and enjoyable experience for everyone. She offers meat-free, dairy-free, and glutenfree recipes. Whether you follow a vegan, vegetarian, or omnivorous diet, you are guaranteed to find a recipe you love at the Purely Kaylie blog! www.purelykaylie.com eBook: www.purelykaylie.com/shop

Jennifer Sodini

is an author, public speaker, and the founder of the conscious media platfor m Evolve and Ascend. Through her tr avels and research, she has visited some of the wor ld’s most sacred esoter ic places, including Egypt, Nepal, Tibet, and Bhutan. A lifelong student of the occult, perennial philosophy, and The Secret Teaching of All Ages, she now shares her knowledge through a wide var iety of endeavor s, including the conference ser ies Well-Being in the Moder n Age , in which she is a par tner.

Lisa Guy

is a well-respected Australian naturopath, author and passionate foodie, with over 18 years clinical experience. Lisa runs a naturopathic clinic called ‘Art of Healing’ and is an avid health writer and recipe developer for leading publications. Lisa is also the founder of Bodhi Organic Tea, an award winning herbal tea company who makes beautiful unique tea blends all naturopathically blended to enhance health and wellbeing. http://artofhealing.com.au/

www.evolveandascend.com www.amentior acle .com

FtC Team

Sasha Frate Founder & Editor-in-Chief is a perspective seeker, adventurer, and explorer. She received her Master’s Degree in Liberal Arts and continues to study a variety of subjects within and outside of the academic setting. Sasha brings her personal moonshot approach to life to FtC, aiming to provide an experience for our global community where we inspire one another to stay curious, never stop exploring, and to live with purpose and to our potential.

Ainsley Schoppel Co-Editor-in-Chief Ainsley is a classical pianist, former figure skater, and loves summers at the lake in northern Ontario. She holds an honors BA in Psychology and Arts & Business, and also earned a graduate degree in Hospitality and Business Management while working at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. After working in Toronto on published women-focused research, she moved outside the city to raise her family. While home with her son, she indulges her love of the written word with freelance editing.

Sema Garay Executive Designer Sema is the graphic designer behind the development of the image and magazine of Face the Current. He has developed a multitude of projects, including his previous job leading the Creative Department of BG Life Magazine, in Marbella, Spain. Sema graduated with a Masters Degree in Architecture at ETSA of Sevilla and is proficient in a wide range of design software. He is passionate about all kinds of artistic expressions, and when not active behind the scenes of Face the Current design, you’re likely to find him playing music for Beach Grooves Global Radio or local venues along the Costa del Sol.

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JULY/AUGUST CONTENT

06 The Magic of Wanderlust With Kristina Makeeva

travel 06. The Magic of Wanderlust: Elevating Photography to Vibrant Art with Kristina Makeeva 14. FtC Travel Connection: Sarah and Eric 20. FtC Travel Connection: Noah Lang Ragone

44 Conquering White Waters with World Champion Kayaker Nouria Newman 4

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culture 20. Putting the “Science” in Science Fiction with Dr. Erin Macdonald 28. Amenti Oracle Feather Heart Deck and Guide Book: A Tool for Modern Consciousness

music 32. Taking Flight with Sonic Butterfly: Andrea Brook’s Unique Experiential Musical Art Installation

FtC Issue 24

42 Habits & Hustle:

The Fit Philosophy of Jennifer Cohen

38 Satsang: Music & Art A

Conduit For Human Experience

38. Satsang: The Human Experience That Feeds Our Soul Through The Conduit of Music & Art

sports & fitness 44. Conquering White Waters with World Champion Kayaker

Nouria Newman 50. Habits and Hustle: The Fitness Philosophy of No Gym Required with Jennifer Cohen

health 56. Beyond Eye Candy: Crave-Worthy Plant Based Smoothie Bowls & Healthy Treats with Purely Kaylie 60. Vamp Up Your Meals And Health With These 3 Powerful Herbs 66. Meal Kit Services A Healthy Solution for Modern Lives: HelloFresh and Green Chef in Review

56 Beyond Eye Candy:

Craveworthy Eats + 3 Powerful Herbs To Vamp Up Meals 5 www.facethecurrent.com

FtC travel

the magic of wanderlust Elevating Photography to Vibrant Art with Kristina Makeeva by sasha frate Born in the Moscow region of Russia, Kristina Makeeva’s daily surroundings were anything but saturated in color and vibrancy. However, at the age of 16, Kristina picked up a camera and changed her world. Through her daring and stunning approach to melding fashion, location, and an essence of magic, Kristina invites her viewers into her photographs to believe in a beautiful and bright world. With gorgeous international backdrops and a wide array of props, Kristina Makeeva has created an incomparable niche for herself among the many travel photographers circling the globe.

Face the Current chats with Kristina about the inspiration behind her techniques, her favorite shooting locales, and her feelings about image over-saturation in our modern world. Each one of Kristina’s photographs tells a story that will beckon you in. Stay a while and enjoy.

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Traveling opens up a new world, expands our consciousness, inspires us and creates tolerance.

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Sasha Frate: When and how did you begin to travel and get into photography? Did the two come hand in hand, or one before the other?

Kristina Makeeva: At the age of 16, I took the camera in my hands and have been shooting since then. I did not study photography at university, but there were related subjects on graphic design, web design, Adobe programs, and so on. At school we did not have such clubs, but I often did my own presentations with pictures in Photoshop for school courses. I’ve been working with Photoshop since I was 14 and shooting photographs since I was 16. My first camera was a Panasonic video camera which took pictures with a resolution of 640x480 pixels in JPG format. That was 14 years

ago. I received a related education at university, as I studied graphic design and it strongly influenced my work.

Designers always create their worlds out of nothing, as I do now—I always need to embellish reality.

Travel began much later; about five years ago. I don’t travel for rest and relaxation, but for work and vocation.

Traveling opens up a new world, expands our consciousness, inspires us and creates tolerance. All of this greatly influenced my work.

SF: When not traveling or creating amazing photography shoots, how do you like to spend your time?

KM: I think that more than anything else in the world, I like to sleep.

SF: Which destinations in Russia do you feel provide a “best of ” experience and why?

KM: Baikal is a stunningly beautiful place. The first time I went for the company and did not expect anything.

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What I saw and felt kept me awake all three days I was there. I wasn’t tired at all; inspiration pulled it from me. Having traveled to many countries, I still consider it one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

The religion there is Shamanism, so it is felt. In addition to the beauty, you feel the energy. I really hope my next visit there will fill my tired mind with this pure energy. People can be very cynical, but Baikal forces us to reconsider our views on various spiritual processes. Perhaps it is the pure air, water, and natural products that create the positive energy. Residents of megacities often lack pure oxygen. Of course, when

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the visual component is beautiful, any photographer probably feels an increase in strength and abilities.

Photographers in this place burst with emotions and excitement. It’s almost like taking a drug; dopamine pours into the blood. All the beautiful visuals are simply dopamine stimulants.

I think in terms of pictures and I always have a movie in my head.

When I plan to take a trip, I plan more than would be physically possible in that destination. It is rarely possible to do everything you plan for on a journey that you think of at home in advance, but nevertheless, “homework” is necessary to give you

the opportunity to create something unique on the spot. Personally, I become immersed in history, landscape, and pictures.

For a trip to Baikal (and to any place) I prepare requisite must-sees. If it’s somewhere I haven’t been, I look at photos on Google and based on my own knowledge of those locations and experiences with other travel, I prepare props. Even still, with outdoor shooting, everything heavily depends on nature. I order special clothes suitable for the surrounding landscape, we sew dresses, and I order props. I bought thermal underwear so we don’t freeze. I even plan to dress up Timon for some

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The term “magic” is often applied to my photos, and there truly is an element of magic. Growing up in a gray and ugly city near Moscow, I always wanted to be in a fairytale like the ones I read in my childhood. When I travel and project my own fairy tales, the national flavor of the countries that I visit is added in.

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pictures from the drone. But no matter how I plan, the result will be different. Therefore, I am preparing, but not planning.

SF: What most captivates you about visiting Lake Baikal and what was it like shooting at this location?

KM: In the winter, Baikal is the most beautiful. Also, in May when the ice is already leaving and the seals are resting on the ice floes, Baikal is mesmerizing.

SF: What are your top 3-5 destinations that you most enjoyed visiting and photographing?

KM: I loved Baikal, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Great Britain, and Iceland.

SF:You’ve said that we all need more magic in our lives. What does this mean to you and the work you do?

KM: The term “magic” is often applied to my photos, and there truly is an element of magic. Growing up in a gray and ugly city near Moscow, I always wanted to be in a fairytale like the ones I read in my childhood.

I loved stories about hobbits and Moomin trolls, books like Alice in Wonderland and The Silmarillion, and fairytales by Russian authors like Max

Fry and others in the fantasy genre.

With age, the perception of fairytales and the tales themselves change.

When I travel and project my own fairy tales, the national flavor of the countries that I visit is added in. For example, in a project with flowing fabrics, I was most recently inspired

by Asia. In many Chinese or Japanese fairytales, there are girls with fabrics flying in the wind. The simplest example is probably the Japanese anime of our childhood, Sailor Moon: Tales of Miyazaki. Everything in our environment and experiences logically has an impact on us.

I think about what it is that I want to show. I want to show the magic www.facethecurrent.com

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in the ordinary. We have a project that is permeated by all of my photos which is called “Simple Magic Things.” We want this project to show that everyone is surrounded by the amount of magic that he or she can see. A gray, dank reality can make it feel as if there is little to make our world magical. But life is not somewhere over the mountain in the gardens of Sakura (which are overflowing in the spring, by the way), but rather it’s here in our apple orchards, or in a cup of herbal tea in the rays of the setting sun. Any piece of fabric can turn into a magic train, and that in principle, there is nothing that is impossible.

Photography has tremendous power.

Sometimes I receive private messages

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from people that my photo has helped them to cope with sadness.

Sometimes they even speak about their depression, and if my photos help that to become better even for a moment, then I am glad. We initially began to work in order to carry the light of beauty into the world (however pathetic that may sound).

Through the responses from people, I see that that light sometimes helps. In fact, that’s what I want to bring with my photos: light and wonder.

SF: “When dreams come true” appears to be a common theme in your images. Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge, for knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while

imagination embraces the entire world and all there ever will be to know and understand.” How do you see your dreamy travel and lifestyle scenes inspiring this greater understanding of our world and our life experience?

KM: I think that they inspire learning.

SF: Do you have a dream that you feel has come true for you?

Is there a dream you still hope will come true in your life or in the world?

KM: A dream for me is something that is impossible. Goals are the things that can come true. If I set a goal, I will certainly reach it sooner or later, one way or another. A dream for me is to fly into space.

KM: He appeared after I started working as a photographer—he is only 6 years old. He became my most inspiring muse. His grace and understanding of what is happening shocks my imagination and excites the audience. He quickly became a fan-favorite and has probably helped me gain the following I have.

SF: If you could describe Kotleta’s typical “mood” or “vibe”, how would you describe it?

KM: Royal!

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SF: What elements do you like to incorporate into your images to capture a story or moment within a scene that invites people to imagine and dream into a wanderlust experience?

KM: In our photos, the main goal is to create a feeling of unreal reality. It’s as if we are now on another planet, but something about it is familiar. We look at it with different eyes. What plays a leading role in any given photo is not important. Sometimes the main focus is a glass ball. Sometimes I shoot one shot without processing and sometimes I collect the universe in pieces. But I always insure myself with backgrounds—this is another secret: something that does not fit into an ordinary lens will fit in the post-processing. It is also important to understand that over the years of filming I have accumulated a huge

amount of objects such as airplanes, flowers, fabrics, snow, clouds, sunsets, balls, and drops that I can use in my work. These are my personal stock photos and it’s how I collect my universes. What I lack in location I can finish at home.

Also, there are often a lot of people at any given natural or city site, so that has to be retouched. For instance, there was a lot of rubbish and a dusty moped-covered road behind a beautiful temple, so we removed it and reframed it. Or, if the temperatures are extreme, then we shoot as quickly as possible and remove all the shortcomings in post-production. The deception can sometimes be extensive, but the viewer must believe. It’s the same as believing in movies, especially those we believed in childhood.

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SF:Your cat Kotleta is an adorable part of your team and featured in many of your images.

Did he come along before you got into photography or after?

How has Kotleta added to the fun and creative process for you?

In our photos, the main goal is to create a feeling of unreal reality. It’s as if we are now on another planet, but something about it is familiar. We look at it with different eyes.

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SF: You did a beautiful campaign for Oh My Look! & G.Bar in Paris, France. How do you come up with your ideas for creating such incredible fairytale scenes like you have in this campaign with immense balloon bouquets, merry-go-rounds, a colorful smoking umbrella, princess-style

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dresses, and more?!

KM: We developed this campaign along with the brand of rolled dresses, so we didn’t have problems with the selection of dresses for locations. We just took all the classic ideas about Paris and made a fairytale out of it.

SF: What do you believe makes a good photo?

KM: I have been working for 15 years as a photographer. I did a presentation at a university on what makes a photo attractive. For me, “God is in the details.” A good photo should not be sloppy, and all elements should be worked out

as close as possible to the real world without losing their magic. I no longer think about the composition and light; it happens automatically.

There should also be a rhythm in every photo.

For example, seagullswave dresses-clouds.

This simple example demonstrates harmony.

Since I initially shoot for processing, the final frame is very different from the source code in terms of composition, light, and color. Color is very important to me. I can get a visual “orgasm” just from a beautiful combination of colors, and I understand that the same story with altered tinting will look different. This gradation can determine a good or bad photo.

All of these things are technical components.

Then there are transcendental values such as feeling and mood.

Every photo should of course elicit emotion.

There is an abundance of photos on the internet, particularly on Instagram, that are bright but unemotional. They are without soul or fresh ideas. Nothing is original and everything is shared. Honestly, I don’t even want to look at my friends’ images as they all repeat something from someone else. It’s boring. I call this phenomenon, “indifferent art.”

Photos should evoke emotion—even delight or excite the mind of the viewer to think.

SF: Have you ever had a surprise encounter—something that

wasn’t planned or anticipated— while traveling in a city or in nature that “made” your whole trip?

KM: I don’t remember the unexpected meetings; I guess there weren’t any. I just do not plan everything point by point, including props and dresses, so travel for me is always a surprise and an experiment.

SF: What do you hope to inspire most in people who follow your work?

KM: Warmth. Joy. The brightness of the world. I do not like pale photos.

I certainly respect artists who create great pictures in any genre, but that is not mine. I need to make the world brighter and I need people to believe in it, so I do not do a “deliberate” photoshop. I try to make reality.

ymore info: www.ipai.ru Instagram: @hobopeeba www.facethecurrent.com

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FtC travel

What do you find unique about traveling in Japan compared to other countries?

A lot of countries are very beautiful and rich in culture, but Japan offers culture and natural beauty, which is very diverse within its own borders.

We spent a year travelling through the entire country and were blown away by how different each region was.

There’s also this politeness and genuine friendliness we felt as we travelled around. People are generally happy to see you and very happy to chat and get to know you. It’s a place we’ve made many friends along our travels.

FtC Travel Connection wanderlust & adventure stories

ftc travel connection

Sarah and Eric PLACE we Call Home: Hong Kong & UK Instagram: @chopsticksontheloose www.chopsticksontheloose.com 14

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Hitachi Seaside Park in Japan

What are your top 3 summer and top 3 fall destinations you’d highly recommend experiencing, and what do you love about these places?

Okinawa is right on the other end of Japan, down south.

This is a tried and true summer destination with its white sandy beaches and clear blue waters.

Our favorite destinations to travel in summer are Hokkaido (Japan), Okinawa (Japan) and Siem Reap (Cambodia).

Siem Reap is our third favorite summer destination despite the heat. To be honest, temperatures are quite similar throughout the year so it’s not such a huge difference, but in the summer months there is much less tourists, which means cheaper prices and less crowds to deal with.

Typically, Hokkaido is associated with winter wonderland scenes and frequented by skiers and snowboarders in search of some of the world’s best powder. But during the summer months the island sees flowers of all colors bloom and nature really comes alive. It’s a place full of incredible natural scenes, which is still relatively untouched compared to the rest of Japan.

For our favorite fall destinations, these would be Tohoku (Japan), Guilin (China), Zhangjiajie (China). Tohoku makes our list as the entire region is full of incredible viewing spots for the famous Japanese fall foliage. Guilin and Zhangjiajie both consist of many beautiful mountain landscapes, which means there are also many great hikes perfect for the cooler fall season.

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travel connection

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Japanese onsen at Lake Kussharo

What is your favorite thing about blogging and sharing your travel insights with others?

We started blogging as a way to document our travels so that our parents could keep up to date with what we were up to. Eventually, what happened was that we were receiving messages from people telling us they had felt

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inspired to travel to these destinations themselves. It’s a really humbling feeling to know we were able to provide a little inspiration for others to get out and explore. One of our more recent articles was on our road trip through Hokkaido, which we went through everything one would need to know if they were thinking of going themselves.

Hokkaido

You’ve traveled to major cities like Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Budapest, and also deep into nature. What’s your take on city or nature- how do they compare for you?

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travel connection

We hope this doesn’t sound like a cop out answer, but the truth is we love them both. They both offer experiences, which the other probably couldn’t - so we see them as two types of travel, which compliment one another.Very often you’ll find us lost in nature one trip and then lost in the city the next.

Mifuneyama Rakuen Hotel Light Installation 3 www.facethecurrent.com

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How do you utilize the create expression of photography to capture and convey travel experiences, stories, and culture?

Photography is a really powerful way to tell a story and it’s one, which isn’t restrained by the barriers of language. Similar to blogging, our passion with photography began as just a way to document our memories for us to look back on, but we now never travel without our cameras. On most of our trips, we have one or two shots planned before going, this way we can plan the best times (usually sunrise or sunset) to be at those locations. The rest of the trip we like to keep it fairly free so that we can enjoy and be present in those travel moments.

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Daruma Dolls in Katsuo-ji

Blue moon Valley in China

Hitachi Seaside Park, Japan

Takachiho Gorge Manai Waterfall

Temple in Dali,Yunnan www.facethecurrent.com

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FtC travel

ftc travel connection

Noah Lang Ragone PLACE I Call Home: Honolulu, HI Instagram: @noahawaii www.noahlangadventures.com

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What is one region you’ve spent time traveling in that you find unique and breathtaking?

The San Juan National Forest in Colorado. The entire drive along highway 550 starting in Durango all the way up to Ouray is nothing short of mind blowing. In the San Juans I had the opportunity to hike to Ice and Island Lake, which is next to nothing in terms of beauty when it comes to alpine lakes. The whole drive is unique to people visiting because of the little towns sandwiched in between the mountains that are different and wholesome in their own way. The fall beauty along that drive when the aspen trees start to change color in the fall is like nothing else, and something that anyone who enjoys the outdoors would love.

What is your favorite thing about blogging and sharing your travel insights with others?

I like sharing the real side or truth behind travel. Many times on social media, Instagram in particular, you only see an image, but not really what goes on behind it. Some of the more common locations on Instagram that people like sharing photos of are actually illegal, and those are the types of things I like to share with people.

One of the best examples of this is when I climbed Mount Fuji. We got off the mountain and had to pay over $100 US dollars because we didn’t have any Yen to pay a bus driver a couple of bucks to drive us back to the train station and there’s no ATMs around the mountain.

So each way it was over 100 dollars to pay a taxi driver because initially we arrived in the middle of the night. In my blog I told people to bring cash to avoid this trouble because it was over $100 dollars to get to the mountain in the middle of the night and over $100 to get down.

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From Tahiti to Hawaii, the Pacific Northwest and beyond, you’ve traveled to some pretty captivating waterfalls and mountain landscapes! Can you share top picks for waterfalls, hikes and mountain landscapes?

I live in Hawaii, and it just comes with living on an island, but the mentality is to always keep secrets secret because the islands and many other places in this world are very special. That being said the island of Kauai is my absolute favorite in terms of raw beauty, jaw dropping scenery, waterfalls, etc.

One of my favorite places I’ve ever seen is Havasu Falls on the Havasupai Indian reservation, and another is this random valley on Tahiti right before the summit of Monte Aorai with nearly 20-30 waterfalls pouring into the valley from all sides. The photos I have of it are not anything that does it justice.

I do believe it’s nearly impossible to narrow it down to just a few hikes, waterfalls, or landscapes, but if I had to make a list I would say Havasupai, Kauai, the San Juan National Forest Lakes, and southern Utah.

I am absolutely in love with the desert and the wide open clear night skies, and aside from that all of the parks and public lands Utah has to offer makes the hiking out there second to none.

How do you utilize the create expression of photography to capture and convey travel experiences, stories, and culture?

My go to is winging it. Since I like to travel I usually do all my own research on hikes, but it is not until I’m there that I may or may not find a photo I would like to take. Sometimes I do find it better just to sit and enjoy the sunset or sunrise without even pulling out my camera. If I do plan anything it is usually based around sunset or sunrise, and which way the view faces as to what I think will give the best light for a photo. Beyond that I always say I hike first, and photos come second because it is because of hiking that I now shoot professionally so it is nice to remember where it all started.

As for the first question I always say photos are the best souvenirs. Photography for me is a way to remember experiences and travels. I love it when I can look through old photos and smile because of my time spent there knowing what I was doing at that moment in time. Overall it’s for the memories.

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There is beauty everywhere it doesn’t have to be foreign or exotic. Many times it’s in your own backyard. And when you do have the means to travel farther from your home I hope that everyone can treat it and respect it like their own backyard.

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What are some of the most surreal naturescape scenes you’ve encountered on your travels? Is there any one location you’d say is “a must”?

An absolute must in my mind is Kauai. The landscape, the ridgelines, and overall Hawaii beauty speaks for itself. Although, I really don’t like that answer because I know travel can be expensive and Hawaii is not a cheap place to travel by any means, let alone to an outer island. The best answer I have as a must do

is just to be active and outside where ever you are.

Instagram has a way of making people jealous of locations that others see and are envious of, but to be completely honest I could make Kansas and Nebraska seem like the next best place to be based on photos I could post. My point is there is beauty everywhere it doesn’t have to be foreign or exotic. Many times it’s in your own backyard. And when you do have the means to travel farther from your home I hope that everyone can treat it and respect it like their own backyard. www.facethecurrent.com

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FtC culture

Putting the “Science” in Science Fiction with Dr. Erin MacDonald “Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” - Carl Sagan

BY JENNIFER SODINI Studying the vast complexities of our universe is an endeavor that requires patience, skill, intelligence, a sharp wit, and a keen sense of humor. Dr. Erin Macdonald is the living amalgamation of these attributes.

She is an astrophysicist, science fiction consultant, and aerospace engineer, who specializes in general relativity and hosts the online series, “Dr Erin Explains the Universe.”

Dr. Erin has previously worked in the LIGO Scientific Collaboration searching for gravitational waves, and currently consults with science-fiction writers, teaching STEM through popular culture.

We recently chatted with Dr. Erin to learn more about her work, science, exploring the inner-workings of the universe, how life imitates art, and more!

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Jennifer Sodini: Can you recall the moment when you first fell in love with science?

Erin Macdonald: I don’t really remember ever not loving science.

Like most kids, I was enthralled by space and dinosaurs. I can probably point to the joy I felt as a young kid going to visit our local science museum and getting to see dinosaur bones and pictures of space up close.

I didn’t have the internet while I was growing up, so those trips were the only exposure I got to what scientists actually worked on and what they got to see.

I also loved watching PBS in the afternoon and “Bill Nye the Science Guy” had great segments for doing science at home; that really started me down the path of becoming a scientist because I loved replicating those experiments. One that sticks out in my mind was being able to fill a jar with water, put a piece of

JS: How did that moment alter the way you looked at the world and the universe?

EM: All of those experiences made me feel like the world and the universe was a puzzle to be solved, and that scientists were the ones who try to solve it. I loved that there were questions yet to be answered.

JS: What is your all-time favorite science fiction film or series?

EM: That’s such a hard question to answer! Nostalgia-wise I have to say The X-Files because I have so many memories of programming the VHS player to record episodes and then watching it in secret. Not just that,

but the fact that Dana Scully was the coolest person I ever knew and all I wanted to do was become her so I could use science to solve problems and fight aliens. Another movie that resonated with me was Contact with its awesome balance of science and philosophy, not to mention a strong female lead. I did however discover Star Trek later in life, around my undergraduate studies, and I always find myself coming back to these series with Deep Space Nine being my favorite. I love the community of fans and how much Captain Janeway in Voyager kept me going through graduate school. In fact, I have Star Trek on in the background right now!

JS: As the saying goes, “life imitates art”, but when it comes to your work, I guess one may say that you inspire “art to imitate life.” What inspired you to pursue such a unique path of exploring the science within science fiction?

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cardboard on top of it, flip it over and the cardboard stays put when you move your hand away. I probably showed that “trick” to everyone who came over, and of course proceeded to explain how air pressure made it happen. I’d make a terrible magician!

All of those experiences made me feel like the world and the universe was a puzzle to be solved, and that scientists were the ones who try to solve it. I loved that there were questions yet to be answered.

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EM: There are a few paths that led me here. When I was doing my dissertation—and of course procrastinating—I was watching a lot of Star Trek, as I mentioned, and realized that I was doing my PhD in general relativity. That meant I could actually calculate how warp drive worked! However, that was just a fun passion project for me at the time. Once I realized that I did not want to pursue a career in academic research, I felt very lost in how to fulfill my desire to continue teaching. I discovered that some sci-fi conventions were having scientists come to talk about their work, so I started attending those and purely giving science talks. My own passion for science fiction (like calculating warp drive in graduate school) led me down the path of wanting to share my own “science of science fiction” with the public. I discovered a huge audience of people who have always loved science but never went into it, and who take any opportunity to learn more. Linking it to their favorite fandoms gives an anchor for

references and makes it seem a little more accessible.

JS: How has your life changed since you started that exploration?

EM: As the amount of talks that I gave started to grow, and I was attending multiple conventions across the United States, I started meeting people in the entertainment industry.

Some of them were even involved in the shows or movies that I was talking about. I decided to move to Los Angeles so I could be closer to this community and started helping science fiction writers with their work. This work really is my dream job and I’m so happy when I get the chance to use science to solve a problem in a creative world. The icing on the cake is when I get to go to the public to talk about how this connects to actual science and teach them along the way.

JS: What is your best memory (so far) on this journey?

experiences so far—it’s difficult to choose. I have met amazing friends and been able to be a part of some of my favorite worlds, getting to experience them as a fan and then being an ambassador for other fans. I have also had amazing opportunities to meet women who were my idols growing up; women who really played a role for me that shaped who I am today. All that said, a few years ago I was introduced at a convention as “Dr. Macdonald, a warp drive expert” and felt that I had finally made it!

JS: How do you feel using the scientific method in the creative process can open people’s minds to otherwise dense or hard-tograsp concepts?

EM: In my classroom, I had mentioned that the Kepler Telescope had discovered an exoplanet (a planet orbiting a star other than our own Sun) that seemed to resemble Tatooine—Luke Skywalker’s home planet in Star Wars. The class instantly perked up, the questions flowed.

EM: I have had so many wonderful

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I discovered a huge audience of people who have always loved science but never went into it, and who take any opportunity to learn more.

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If my work manages to shape one kid’s future, that is the greatest triumph of all.

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JS: What has it been like being a woman in a predominantly male-dominated field? What has been your biggest challenge and what has been your greatest triumph?

EM: My biggest challenge in my career was finding a mentor. While there were some other women in my field, there were none I necessarily related to or could see myself being. In those moments where you really need a mentor to help guide you, I found myself turning to those fictional characters who inspired me in the past, mostly Dana Scully and Kathryn Janeway.

They were incredibly inspiring and motivating characters for me, but it was hard to not have anyone I could talk to. In terms of success, I really do love teaching. When I go into a classroom that is expecting “Dr. Macdonald-who-will-talk-to-us-aboutAstrophysics” and a woman with bright red hair and tattoos walks in, the reaction always makes me smile.

There are a lot of kids who go in with no interest, but my appearance being contrary to their expectations causes their minds to open and realize that science and math may be more accessible and fun than

they realized. Since I started putting portions of my talks online (“Dr. Erin Explains the Universe”), I’ve had parents talk to me about how much their kids love my shows and how I’m starting to inspire them to become a scientist. If my work manages to shape one kid’s future, that is the greatest triumph of all.

JS: What advice do you have for someone who is interested in pursuing a career in the sciences?

JS: How can we learn more about your work and stay in touch?

EM: You can find some of my talks on YouTube at “Dr Erin Explains the Universe”. My live appearances are updated on my website at www. erinpmacdonald.com and I also spend a lot of time interacting on Twitter: @drerinmac!

EM: Find a mentor; find your inspiration. Science is difficult and it can be lonely. In those moments, you’ll want to have a foundation to turn to that reminds you why you got into this in the first place and will help keep you going.

JS: Can you share what you’re currently working on and what we can expect to see from you in the future?

EM: I can’t share the details of my current project, but I have some fun appearances coming up! I will be giving some special science talks at Star Trek: Las Vegas, and will be back as a guest at Dragon Con in Atlanta later this summer. Other ones will be announced soon so stay tuned!

ymore info: Youtube: erinmacdonald Website: www.erinpmacdonald.com Twitter: drerinmac www.facethecurrent.com

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FtC culture

Amenti Oracle Feather Heart Deck and Guide Book: A Tool for Modern Consciousness

By Ainsley Schoppel

“This, then, is the ultimate paradox of thought: to want to discover something that thought itself cannot think.”— Soren Kierkegaard

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Jennifer Sodini is an author, public speaker, and the founder of Evolve and Ascend, her conscious media platform.

Jennifer’s passion for traveling and experiencing the world has led her to visit some of the world’s most sacred locations including Nepal, Egypt, Tibet, and Bhutan. Considering herself to be a lifelong student of the occult, perennial philosophy, and The Secret Teaching of All Ages, Jennifer shares her knowledge with others in several ways, including the conference series of which she is a partner, entitled Well-Being in the Modern Age. Her latest endeavor is the Amenti Oracle Feather Heart Deck and

Guide Book, a stunning keepsake set of oracle cards and a companion guidebook to help fellow soulseekers to discover the timeless ideals of truth and balance. Unlike tarot cards, oracle cards can be thought of as more of a Rorschach for the subconscious mind. The symbols in the cards have the ability to take on subjective meaning and are intended to be malleable depending on your individual level of consciousness. Partnered with illustrator Natalee Miller, the oracle deck and guide book were designed to bring the wisdom of Ma’at—the ancient Egyptian concept of truth and balance—to the modern world in which we live.

Readers will uncover the seemingly mystical power of eternal ideals, learning to simultaneously cultivate a heart as light as a feather. Each deck contains forty-two uniquely illustrated cards with accompanying wisdom which will provide guidance to all those who seek it. The 144-page guide book is also illustrated in full color and takes a deeper look into the meaning of the cards. It provides practical applications of Ma’at teachings and advice on intuitive card readings. Both the deck and the guide book are contained in a beautifully illustrated keepsake box with a magnetic closure and flocked tray to hold and protect the cards. www.facethecurrent.com

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At its essence, an oracle card deck is a powerful tool to provide a platform for self-inquiry. Users are able to derive insights and wisdom through the probing of the subconscious mind. The cards include a variety of symbols, words, colors, and imagery. As they are laid out, the cards activate the imagination and spark the intuitive faculties of our consciousness. Less a system of divination and more of an instrument to create deeper connections to the present, oracle cards prove that the “future” is truly the eternal now. As users practice their connection to the cards, they will be better able

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to identify and draw meaning from their thought-patterns’ effect on the world. In doing so, they will be able to establish and connect to a deeper level of mindfulness, awareness, and empowerment.

Before you start using oracle cards, try to connect to your intention for working with them. No two

outcomes are the same and it’s highly intuitive, so it’s best to define your purpose ahead of time. Oracle cards can be used daily by pulling one or multiple cards each morning to provide an energy gauge to navigate the day ahead.You can also use the pulled cards as a form of meditation for the day. If this approach seems too involved, you can also choose to begin each week with the oracle cards as a way to map out and encourage synchronicity. If working with moon-cycles is of interest to you, you can also draw cards for the New Moon and Full Moon to derive a

deeper and connected relationship to these cycles of time.

Different oracle decks exist for different purposes, but they all carry the same intention: self-actualization and a sustained connection to the greater and invisible systems of energy that exist within our world. In this way, oracle decks can be designed on almost any topic under the umbrella of the human experience.

Amenti Oracle Deck is unique as its ancient Egyptian wisdom is encoded in the forty-two ideals of Ma’at. In Egyptian tradition, Ma’at is a goddess, but for the purpose of Amenti, Ma’at has been explored as a living principle—not an idol. These forty-two ideals are explored as a way to offer a modern resource for understanding philosophies that are

interwoven in almost every tradition.

Amenti presents a holistic worldview that honors these sacred teachings with the intention to explore unified consciousness by making occulted wisdom easily accessible and more readily digestible.

As you continue to use the deck over time, the words in each passage of the guide book will evolve along with you and the layers of wisdom will require you to experience and study further to unlock them.

But remember, the Feather Heart Guide Book offers clarity to the ideas presented through the cards and users are highly encouraged to intuitively follow what the cards mean to them. It’s important to discover how the cards directly speak to each individual’s mind, body, and spirit.

“Read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for granted, nor to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider.

Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.”

— Francis Bacon

ymore info: Instagram @jennifersodini Twitter @evolveandascend http://www.jennifersodini.com http://www.evolveandascend.com Amazon.ca, Amazon.com Barnes & Noble Chapters Indigo www.facethecurrent.com

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FtC music

Taking Flight with Sonic Butterfly:

Andrea Brook’s Unique Experiential Musical Art Installation

By Sasha Frate Harps often evoke images of cherubs or angels gently and calmly plucking harmonious notes into the atmosphere. Not so with Andrea Brook’s self-designed acoustic chromatic long-string harp, dubbed Sonic Butterfly. With strings starting at sixty-feet-long, hers is a full-sensory instrument requiring complete body participation.

Andrea Brook is an international performing artist, yoga teacher, and public speaker who has toured her visually and sonically stunning performances for the past eighteen years. Using the architecture and natural environments of her performance locations to amplify her large-scale musical instruments, Andrea has transformed venues such as the Coliseum in Rome, the Space Needle in Seattle, the Temple at Burning Man, and the Grand Theatre in Shanghai.

Transforming the architecture and natural environments into large-scale musical instruments, Andrea has performed around the world including the Grand Theater in Shanghai, outside of the Coliseum in Rome, a grand cathedral in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and Richard Branson’s Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands.

Andrea amalgamated her talents in 2013 when she formed Sonic Butterfly Productions. Since then, her career and reach has taken flight as she continues to amaze audiences with her transcendent performances. FtC had the chance to sit down with Andrea and unearth more of her story as she shared some insights into the genesis of Sonic Butterfly and what it’s like to share her unique gift around the world.

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Photo credit: Chris Ward

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I was entranced by the journey of the monarch butterfly. Each year five or six generations of caterpillars undergo chrysalis, a war of cells where their imaginal discs are ignited to become a butterfly so they can fulfill their purpose to fly their leg of the yearly migration from Mexico to Canada and back, acting as pollinators along the way. The final generation, a super generation, arrive back in Mexico around the time of the Day of the Dead, and it is believed that they are the spirits of loved ones returning home to celebrate. As I witnessed the astonishing completion of their yearly act of transformation and purpose, I felt a deep resonance and knew that it was time for me to do the same.

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Photo credit: Chris Ward Sasha Frate: What led you to decide that you wanted to create a visual, immersive musical experience with the harp?

Andrea Brook: Sonic Butterfly is my design of an acoustic, chromatic, long-string harp. The brass strings are a minimum of sixty feet long and transform indoor and outdoor theaters, buildings, and natural environments into an immersive musical instrument. The resonating chambers with butterfly wing shaped projection screens—“projection

wings”—have two full octaves and the strings expand out over the audience, creating a full sensory experience.

The concept for it was born in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where I was performing for La Calaca, a Day of the Dead festival. San Miguel is a truly wonderful place—a town filled with both Mexican artists and international artists, where old and new come together, blending contemporary Mexican society, Aztec traditions, and new artistic ideas from across the globe. Imagine stunning,

unique altars set up all around the city, a huge crowd of people dressed in traditional costume with faces painted in a katrina mask, fire dancers and drummers, multi-colored flags flapping in the wind, and monarch butterflies everywhere.

I was entranced by the journey of the monarch butterfly. Each year five or six generations of caterpillars undergo chrysalis, a war of cells where their imaginal discs are ignited to become a butterfly so they can fulfill their purpose to fly their leg of the yearly migration from Mexico to www.facethecurrent.com

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Meanwhile, a Rumi poem was recited me and one line made it all clear: “Jump into the fire, become the butterfly, become the butterfly.”

I knew without any doubt that I

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wanted to build a Sonic Butterfly; to create an immersive musical chrysalis.

SF: What is your background in music and instruments, specifically the harp?

AB: I played a little piano and bass guitar, but I was a dancer. It wasn’t until I first played a long-string harp that I found “my instrument.” As a dancer, I am kinesthetic. The longstring harp is a fully kinesthetic instrument that requires you to dance as you play it. I have now been playing long-string harps for nearly eighteen years.

you considered any other visual before or was it the butterfly from inception?

AB: Sonic Butterfly has always been a butterfly. It’s interesting as I was never a “butterfly” or fairy girl. In fact, I grew up as more of a tomboy. Since becoming Sonic Butterfly, I learned that in Aztec culture the butterfly is not a creature of fairytales. Instead, butterflies are warriors that walk through the fire to fulfill their purpose. This rings true for me, as I have always walked right through the center of life.

SF: Why the butterfly and had

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Canada and back, acting as pollinators along the way. The final generation, a super generation, arrive back in Mexico around the time of the Day of the Dead, and it is believed that they are the spirits of loved ones returning home to celebrate. As I witnessed the astonishing completion of their yearly act of transformation and purpose, I felt a deep resonance and knew that it was time for me to do the same.

In Aztec culture the butterfly is not a creature of fairytales. Instead, butterflies are warriors that walk through the fire to fulfill their purpose.

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SF: How would you describe the difference in the experience from a solo, duet, trio or fullband performance?

pilgrimage, InHERitance is about what it is to be a woman today, and String Duplexity is a complex layering to create a fabric of music.

AB: Music for me is storytelling and each of my shows tells its own story.

I have two solo shows, Butterfly Nature and Super Sonic Butterfly. The first, Butterfly Nature, is my story; the story of becoming Sonic Butterfly.

The second, Super Sonic Butterfly, is a celebration and I have a great time playing Sonic Butterfly over dance tracks.

My trio shows take it all to the next level. Blue Cocoon is a sexy, dreamy, superstar show. And the Multi-Media Trio brings into play gorgeous live visuals.

I have three duet shows that are each a dialogue with their own essence. Cherry Blossom is ethereal

And last but not least, Kaleidoscope is my full-band show and is a world tour with songs inspired from around the globe and performed with intimacy and expansiveness, creating a journey of grace, beauty, and energy.

SF: How did yoga find its way into the Sonic Butterfly

performances and why do you believe it to be such a good fit?

AB: I have been a yoga teacher for twenty years, so Sonic Butterfly found its way into my teaching. To me, yoga is a tool to support us to consciously, energetically, and physically set our intentions into motion and to live lives of well-being and authenticity.

Combining Sonic Butterfly and yoga is extraordinary. Ascending overtones and healing harmonics of long string vibrations not only provide the perfect soundtrack for the yoga practice, they also transmute and sublime one’s energy to promote physical/energetic health and creative inspiration. www.facethecurrent.com

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SF:The ecstatic dance workshop that is led with Sonic Butterfly is said to enable you to feel the five rhythms from “Flowing, to Staccato, then Chaos, Lyrical, and finally Stillness”. How would you further describe this experience?

AB: Gabrielle Roth’s 5Rhythms is a dynamic movement practice—a practice of being in your body—that ignites creativity, connection, and community.

I have created a set list of both solo songs and also playing along with tracks to create a soundtrack for dancers to interpret the 5Rhythms that Roth set forth in their own personal way.

SF: What is the cocoon, where is it located, who is welcome, and what is offered there?

AB: The Ojai Cocoon is my home studio in Ojai, CA, and I welcome everyone to come when you are visiting the wonderful town of Ojai. I offer a five-star experience called the Sonic Butterfly Ojai Musical Journey, which can be booked privately through me, or through Airbnb and a few of the local hotels. It is a two-hour experience that takes you through the sights, sounds, and story of Sonic Butterfly in a magical studio where the dragon meets the butterfly in a sea of fireflies.

Photo credit: UAB

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Photo credit: Kevin King

I also offer a Guest Artist Series in the Ojai Cocoon, where I collaborate with amazing artists from a wide variety of genres including Grammy winner Mikael Jorgensen from the band Wilco, David Lynch’s vocal muse Chrysta Bell, Grammy and Academy Award winning bansuri flute player Steve Gorn, Carnegie Hall opera singer Rebecca Comerford, plus violin, guitar, tap dance, poetry, DJs, chapman stick, and the list goes on. I even had a magician levitate a guest! My next show in the series will be in the fall with Rebekah Del Rio, who is best known for her stunning performance in the movie Mulholland Drive, as she sang “Llorando”. We are still determining the date.

Photo credit: Chris Ward Send me an email to andrea@ sonicbutterfly.com to get on my newsletter list to get the details for the Guest Artist Series or to come for a Sonic Butterfly Ojai Musical Journey.

SF: One description of your performance was: “Imagine being inside Yo-Yo Ma’s Cello…”

What is it like being inside as the performer?

AB: This is such a great ending question, because at the end of my

shows, wherever it is possible, I invite the audience to come up to play the harp. I want everyone to experience what it is like to be the performer of Sonic Butterfly.

Long-string harps are played not by plucking the strings which creates a horizontal vibration, but by running your fingers along the strings to create a longitudinal vibration. Singing bowls are also played to create a longitudinal vibration, and both longstring harps and singing bowls have an ascending overtone which lifts

your vibration from a lower state into a higher state of being. What is so special about a long-string harp is that you are inside the instrument.

And when you are the person running your fingers along the strings, it is honestly magical.

ymore info:

@sonicbutterfly_andreabrook www.sonicbutterfly.com/andrea-brook/ Tiffany Goodman, Goodman Artists tiffany@goodmanartists.com www.facethecurrent.com

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FtC music

SATSANG

The Human Experience That Feeds Our Soul

Through The Conduit of Music & Art

By Sasha Frate | PHOTOS BY: MARK CLUNEY

Satsang is a Sanskrit word that means “in the company of truth.” It is also the name of a Montana-based “conscious music” trio founded by Drew McManus, its guitarist and lead vocalist.

Never yielding to alluring offers from large record companies, Satsang has persisted true to its roots and independently toured its three albums nationally for the past five years. Tapping into concepts as broad as political commentary and as intimate as relationships with family, Satsang’s latest album, Kulture, is a diverse and timely collection of songs inspired by Motown, 90s hip-hop, and 70s rock.

Using his past struggles with addiction to propel his music and personal life in a healthy and fulfilling direction, McManus has built a life for himself of which he can be proud. Join Face the Current as we chat with Drew about his journey, his musical process, and his belief that art is a conduit for constant learning as we all must embrace the human experience.

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Sasha Frate: Music can be such a powerful medium for inspiring people to make changes in their lives and in the world. How did you decide that this was a path with purpose that you wanted to pursue?

Drew McManus: I have been writing songs since I was fourteen. It wasn’t until my mid- twenties that I began taking it seriously. As I worked through my trauma and issues, this creative flow just kind of started pouring out of me, and still does.

It kind of revealed itself to me as the path rather than the other way around and by the time we were recording “The Story of You”, I just adopted a crazy work ethic and ethos to get the music to as many people as

possible. And that hard work would be the thing that got me where I wanted to go.

SF: Do you write all your lyrics?

What is your process for composing song lyrics and where do you source your inspiration for the messages you want to share through your music?

DM: Yes; I write all of the lyrics.

This process is a weird one for me.

I could always freestyle, even when I was a kid. If I can get in the head and heart space, I just get out of the way and it comes. Most of my favorite writers are MCs, so I just always thought that was the way to write.You take a subject or idea,

swirl it around, get out of the way, and let it flow. My inspiration comes from everywhere—my kids, my wife, history, the news, travel, and getting stuck in traffic. Karl (Satsang’s bassist) has more stories than he should about me writing verses while driving or stuck in traffic. For me, the music comes second about 90% of the time.

SF:Through your music you speak to a lot of big concepts that are part of a global movement of transformation such as “be the change,” “awake and arise,” “one love,” and “one race.” What is your take on how this “movement” has evolved and how do you envision the transformation in the future? www.facethecurrent.com

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We are on the side of love and love wins every single time.

People have to talk to each other! That’s my goal for the movement; to bridge all the cultures in which I get to exist. It’s a bridge you can dance to.

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DM: I think the thick of the movement is just coming from an open heart. I think there have always been sages since the dawn of time that carry the knowing of equality.

And as more and more people latch onto this basic idea that all people have worth, deserve to be here, and deserve to live a life without fear of being messed with, it will keep growing. As more people wake up to this non-partial and non-political idea of human rights and teach their kids, it will stomp out the xenophobic remainder. That is fear. We are on the side of love and love wins every single time. People have to talk to each other! That’s my goal for the movement; to bridge all the cultures

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in which I get to exist. It’s a bridge you can dance to.

SF: What is “conscious music” to you?

DM: The “conscious music” thing is a trip to me as we are starting to see a lot of artists doing what seems like pandering. When I first heard the term “Conscious Music”, the only people I ever heard drop it in conversation were Franti and all these hip-hop cats (Dead Prez, Talib Kweli,Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) and Common) and “conscious” punk bands (Clash, Bad Brains, US Bombs, Anti Flag, Op Ivy). I think the whole new-age conscious “scene” is a good thing, and I feel blessed to be a part

of it. What it seems to be is people from all walks of life that want to do what I touched on above: live in love, make the world better, be healthy, and be better humans. I think we fit in it because my main topic of writing is trying to be better, and that individuality and expression are good things. Seeing it grow and seeing whole festivals built around this fills me with more hope than I can express.

SF:You recently released your third full-length studio album, Kulture. How would you describe this new album?

DM: This record is all over the

place and I am beyond proud of it.

I started writing it in 2016 before Pyramid(s) was even fully released. The (presidential)election messed me up for a bit and I felt there was a need to speak on it from my perspective as an artist and traveler. I get to talk and mingle with people all over the country and I felt a responsibility to show that there is an army of people against everything the presidential campaign was built on. So, a chunk of the songs are about that. I attempted to not fit into any boxes when I selected which songs would be on Kulture. There are touches of every genre of music in it. I settled on the name based on feeling like everything, all we take in, all we do, is built on culture. The “K” and

intentional misspelling was a nod to the ignorance that still exists. I love the human experience: food, music, fashion, language, spirituality—these are the pillars of culture, the things that feed my soul, and the elements that tie us together.

SF: In the song “Right Now”, you mention the desire to return to our ancient ways. What are you referring to with this?

DM: I live in Southwest Montana.

People hunt, fish, and grow food there. There is a rugged self-reliance at home that I don’t see other places.

It is primal. We as humans have over-complicated a lot of the world, becoming very far removed from the natural world. We must reclaim our relationship to plants and animals

because it is the relationship that got us here. When I wrote “Right Now”, I was climbing all the time and worked with and tended to a variety of plants.

I was neck-deep in my connection to the physical earth. (Google beartooth pass—that’s my back yard!) I guess I was just pointing to the importance of our ancient ways and our connection to earth.

SF: In the song “I AM” it says, “I no longer fear the unknown; cause I know what I am here for.” What do you see as the best way for people to identify and align with their own sense of purpose and how can this enable people to transcend limiting fears and beliefs? www.facethecurrent.com

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If you know what you are struggling with, you must make hustle meet prayer. Find things that are hard (exercise is a good one) and do them. The growth that comes from conquest that transcends ego has been the key for me.

DM: Discipline. I am a huge believer in discipline and work. If you know what you are struggling with, you must make hustle meet prayer. Find things that are hard (exercise is a good one) and do them. The growth that comes from conquest that transcends ego has been the key for me. Submission-grappling and boxing were the key to that lock for me. The harder you push yourself, the more power you reveal to yourself and life begins to simplify as you realize your potential for incremental progress is infinite.

SF: Painting is another medium and creative expression you’ve beautifully embraced! Can you share the story behind one of the most meaningful paintings you’ve created?

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DM: Thank you for saying that!! I love to paint—it was my first love as far as public expression is concerned.

Kulture’s cover was probably my favorite. What was under it was a painting I was supposed to do for a charity about ten years ago, but I was an addict and didn’t finish it. I kept the canvas forever. I used gesso (a white stiffening agent to prepare canvases) to go over the old painting and then, in pretty much one night, I did what became Kulture on top of it.

To go over an ugly piece of my past with a piece of the future was magic. I loved the whole last series and I can’t wait to do another this winter.

SF:You’ve featured pyramids in your art and as your second album. What do the pyramids symbolize to you?

DM: The pyramid has a strong foundation. What makes the pyramid is a gradual build with the most emphasis on the foundation. The intro to the album Pyramids is a recording of my Uncle Jo summing that up for me at a crucial time in my life.

SF: In “Face It” you say, “The Power is in facing it. Not shutting down. Not tapping out.

Even though it looks chaotic... it’s pretty beautiful.” How has this rung true for you and what was the most helpful resource or tool that helped you face the “chaos” to “rise into your power”?

DM: That is my whole ethos. I used to use a lot of substances to hide from my past, my thoughts, my

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I used to use a lot of substances to hide from my past, my thoughts, my feelings, my whole story. Now I face it and own it with so much pride. I am a humble student at the feet of the human experience.

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feelings, my whole story. Now I face it and own it with so much pride. I am a humble student at the feet of the human experience. Mixed martial arts and the whole community around the sport has done more for me than I can say. Grindhouse MMA in Billings, Montana changed my life. It’s a magical thing because you can’t master it. It never fails that as I continue to train, I think I am making headway, and then I get tapped and have to reexamine another weakness.

Knowing that the work is never done, because life and martial arts are not a task, they are a road—it is my medicine. Fighting looks like chaos, but it’s not; it’s a dance, it’s an art, it is life.

major influences that have had a positive impact on your music?

SF: Do you have any mentors, particular collaborations, or

SF: In the song “Between” you sing about how “the work is

DM: All the bands I named above have been huge for me musically and artistically. As far as actual mentors: My wife. She is a Buddha. She teaches me so much about myself.

My kids are a major influence as are the people who teach me at the Grindhouse. They don’t even fully know what I take from that gym into the world. Franti is someone who is always there and always answers.

Collaborations with people like Nahko, Trevor Hall, and Tubby Love are beyond special to me as well. It solidifies us as community when we sit together.

never done” and “if you want it you can have it, pay your dues with this magic, wrap it up in the package, give it back to the masses”. How would you describe what this “work” is that we should constantly be doing and what is this package—or gift—that we can be giving back to the masses?

DM: The work part is that self-work is never done. It’s a forever process and not a finite task. Nahko wrote the other part of those lyrics. My take on it is that if we put in the work, we can hone a craft and use it to give back.

ymore info: www.satsangmovement.com www.facethecurrent.com

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FtC sports

conquering white waters with world champion kayaker nouria newman

By Sasha Frate Born in Chaméry, France, Nouria Newman has been playing on white waters for over twelve years.

Competing in canoe, freestyle, and extreme kayaking, Nouria’s achievements prove that you can excel at more than one sport. In 2013, she won the Ottawa XL, one of the most crucial international freestyle world meetings. She quickly won K-1 silver at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships and was crowned extreme kayaking World Champion just a few months later. The accolades didn’t stop there, and Nouria continued to collect podium finishes for the next four years.

When not competing, Nouria loves to travel, evaluate nature’s white waters, and test her fortitude and skills.

Recently, Nouria embarked on a solo kayaking trip down the Tsarap, Zanskar, and Indus rivers in the Himalayas.

With a master’s in journalism and political science, Nouria is a shining example of what it means to be a successfully diversified athlete. FtC chatted with Nouria about her sport, the dangers she faces, and what it was like to travel and kayak solo in India.

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Photo credit: Erik Boomer_Red Bull Content Pool

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I broke my nose and concussed myself on my first waterfall. I was sixteen years old and thought I was invincible. I learned the hard way that stepping up your kayaking takes time and work.

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Photo credit: Ali Bharmal_Red Bull Content Pool Sasha Frate: How and when did you get into kayaking?

Nouria Newman: I started kayaking at age five because France has a really good club system which makes kayaking way more accessible than it is in most other countries.

I also started because some of my dad’s friends stopped at the house with a blue plastic kayak on the top of their car. It matched my Playmobil car at the time and I just thought it was a big toy; I really wanted to try it. My parents said no because I didn’t know how to swim, and I think that made me want to try kayaking even more. After taking swimming classes for the whole summer I was able to join the local club.

SF: Most people run trails, but

you run waterfalls! Can you share some of the dangers of your sport and what goes into the proper execution of whitewater challenges?

NN: Waterfalls are one of the features that can be found in whitewater kayaking. They are very photogenic, but kayaking cannot be reduced to running waterfalls.

For me it’s about paddling down rivers, solving problems to find lines down a large variety of rapids— sometimes waterfalls— but also big water features, technical rocky combinations, and all of that over multiple days. The main danger of whitewater kayaking is getting stuck underwater and drowning.

SF: What is the highest waterfall

drop you’ve completed and how did you build up to this?

NN: The highest drops were about twenty-five meters but they were definitely not the hardest rapids I have run. Tall waterfalls are a totally different kind of kayaking.You need to get used to free-falling and learn how to stay controlled. The only way to do that is to run smaller waterfalls and slowly go higher. I broke my nose and concussed myself on my first waterfall. I was sixteen years old and thought I was invincible. I learned the hard way that stepping up your kayaking takes time and work.

Coming from an Olympic discipline, I used to have a training program which included kayaking but also a lot of physical preparation outside of the kayak, including a little bit of www.facethecurrent.com

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Freestyle kayaking consists of surfing a wave or a hole, scoring as many tricks as possible for forty-five seconds. I really struggle with the term “extreme” or even with river classification. What’s the difference between one hard rapid and another hard rapid?

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Photo credit: Graeme Murray_Red Bull Content Pool mental preparation. With extreme kayaking, I no longer have a strict program. I just paddle as much as I can but I’m definitely relying on my slalom background. For the hardest rapids, I usually make a decision in the moment. I analyze the rapid and identify the dangers and the lines. If I like it and if I feel good in the boat, I usually go for it. If not, I just portage (walk around the rapid).

surfing a wave or a hole, scoring as many tricks as possible for forty-five seconds. I really struggle with the term “extreme” or even with river classification. What’s the difference between one hard rapid and another hard rapid? I started kayaking on small rivers and started running harder rapids, but I don’t know at which point kayaking is considered “extreme.”

SF:You compete in freestyle and extreme kayaking. Can you explain the main ways these sports differ and what must a kayaker perform in the sport to be considered “extreme”?

SF: Was your Himalayas solo kayaking trek your first solo?

What did you like about trekking and kayaking solo, would you go solo again, and if yes, where do you dream of next?

NN: Freestyle kayaking consists of

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NN: I had been paddling alone before but never on a big selfsupport trip. I didn’t really mean to achieve anything when I went solo. We had just spent two weeks struggling with Indian administration, not getting river permits, going from one office to another, even getting arrested by the police. I was really frustrated with my time in India and I knew that if I flew back home straight away, I would never go back. One of my Indian friends told me about that expedition up north so I changed my plans and headed up there. I decided to go alone because I wanted time by myself. I wanted to be away from the selfies-craziness and people. There is no such thing as personal space in Kerala.

NN: All the photos were taken after the solo trip. I went back and ran some of the rapids with easy access. On the third day of the photoshoot I swallowed water in one of the rapids and I got really sick. The next day I was really weak and after a sevenhour drive, I was in no state to paddle. The photographers decided to go shoot with the camels, but they were actually not needed to access the river. I don’t recommend riding a camel if you’re feeling nauseated!

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I had been paddling alone before but never on a big self-support trip. I didn’t really mean to achieve anything when I went solo. I decided to go alone because I wanted time by myself. I wanted to be away from the selfies-craziness and people. There is no such thing as personal space in Kerala.

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SF: Riding two camels with your kayak strapped on is such a beautiful and somewhat surreal scene captured from your solo trip. Can you share something about that experience?

SF:You got caught in a “worst case scenario” for your sport while solo on the Zanskar River. Can you describe what happened and what crossed your mind when you found yourself unsure whether you’d ever get yourself out of there?

NN: I wasn’t concentrating enough and floated towards a rapid I should have scouted. When I realized how bad it was I just tried my best to get out of it. I jammed my dry bag and paddles onto the rocks, and I tried to clip my boat and jump out on the same rock hoping that I would be able to pull my boat out, but it didn’t work. I got sucked in the siphon. I was so angry at myself for making such a big, stupid mistake. I’m just so happy I popped back up.

SF: In retrospect, looking back on the fears you faced on your solo trip, how has that impacted you?

NN: After the accident, it was hard to keep going because I was scared, and I lost all confidence in my ability to run that river.

I also couldn’t stop replaying the entire accident in my head over and over again. I just messed up in a place where I shouldn’t have. I don’t think there is a greater meaning behind what happened or that it was a lifedefining moment. I didn’t continue afterward because I was strong or brave, I just didn’t have any other options. I definitely had a hard time running hard white water afterwards, but I didn’t want to be scared anymore. In the following months I had to ease back into running things that scared me. www.facethecurrent.com Photo credit: Ali Bharmal_Red Bull Content Pool 47

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Photo credit: Ali Bharmal_Red Bull Content Pool

I love this element of challenge; the adrenaline and the feelings you get through kayaking. But what I love most is the opportunity to meet amazing people and to travel to incredible places.

SF:You once said, “I love those sequences which combine various technical moves. It’s like solving a puzzle one piece at a time.” Is it this element of challenge and/or something else that impassioned you about whitewater kayaking?

NN: I love this element of challenge; the adrenaline and the feelings you get through kayaking. But what I love most is the opportunity to meet amazing people and to travel to incredible places.

SF: Red Bull has dubbed you as the “whitewater kayaker who’s always where you least expect her.” What kind of unexpected places have you taken the sport and what do you find unique

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about the way or the places you perform?

NN: I think they meant that I’ve been doing quite a few different kinds of kayaking from competitive slalom, to freestyle, to expedition kayaking… it’s not common to do that many. But maybe it would fit better to describe how disorganized I can be. I often travel without much of a plan and end up doing things I didn’t expect.

SF: What is something that whitewater kayaking has taught you in life, whether it’s being in nature, the human experience, our ability to adapt, or some other “lesson”?

NN: I think it’s taught me a lot! You put in the time and effort to achieve

your goals, to be humble and respect the river (because she always wins!), to make things happen with less, and to adapt when things don’t go as planned. But most importantly, kayaking brings a lot of joy in my life.

SF:Your academic career has led you to obtain a master’s degree in journalism and political science. What did you enjoy most about your academic career? Does this have a role in your sports career, or do you have a plan to utilize it in the future?

NN: Kayaking is a small sport and it’s not like you can really make a living out of it. Studying was a good way to not put all my eggs in one basket and to have a back-up plan. At the

Credit: Ali Bharmal_Red Bull Content Pool

moment I am not really using my degree because I have the opportunity to paddle full-time, but I will use it at some point.

SF: Is there anything you hope to accomplish in your sport?

NN: I am not too sure. There are rapids, rivers and things I’d like to do in my kayak but that’s pretty insignifiant. I hope that I can still progress at kayaking and that I can just keep doing what I’m doing for a little bit longer because I love it.

ymore info: More Info: Instagram: @nourianewman Twitter: @NouriaNewman Photo credit: Erik Boomer_Red Bull Content Pool

www.facethecurrent.com

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FtC fitness

Habits and Hustle: The Fitness Philosophy

of No Gym Required with Jennifer Cohen

By Sasha Frate

Jennifer Cohen is a leading fitness and wellness authority, bestselling author, wife and mother, entrepreneur, and frequent guest on national media. She was recently named one of the “100 Most Influential People in Health and Fitness” by Greatist and ranked sixteenth on the list of the “Most Impactful Fitness Entrepreneurs” by Web MD. Jennifer is also consistently featured in national health, lifestyle, and entertainment publications, including People, Cosmopolitan, and Woman’s Health, as well as in newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post.

Jennifer has regular columns in Forbes and Entrepreneur which have garnered a loyal readership and are widely considered the most popular on their respective sites.

In her life beyond training, Jennifer is the lifestyle and fitness spokesperson and consultant for world class brands including Muscle Milk, Polar Heart Rate Monitors, KIND Bar, LOEWS HOTELS, and Weight Watchers. Her first bestselling book, No Gym Required – Release Your Inner Rock Star (2009), outlines her no-nonsense approach to fitness and health, and serves as an overall healthy lifestyle guide.

FtC sat down with Jennifer to uncover her favorite career aspects, her approach to healthy living, and the success of her brand-new podcast. Feel inspired and get in gear with Jennifer Cohen!

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Most people want to know more about boosting their mental stamina, not just their physical side. Everyone wants to look good on the outside, but it truly does start from within. In my Forbes column, I teach executives and entrepreneurs how to boost productivity through wellness.

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Credit: Gurminder Banga Sasha Frate: What is a “body image consultant” and how did this become part of your repertoire?

the most in-demand topics you’re asked to cover? What do you most enjoy writing about/ sharing?

Jennifer Cohen: A body image consultant is someone that helps to improve, enhance, and upgrade a person’s physique through methods of exercise and proper nutrition. It doesn’t stop just in the gym and with a food journal. To achieve the goals a person wishes to obtain, you have to adjust many facets in your life, a main one being the way you think about yourself. It begins with loving the skin you are already in. I knew I wanted to help people become happier as a whole and adjust their mindset, not just what they see in the mirror.

JC: Most people want to know more about boosting their mental stamina, not just their physical side. Everyone wants to look good on the outside, but it truly does start from within. In my Forbes column, I teach executives and entrepreneurs how to boost productivity through wellness. I enjoy writing for these publications because it expands my reach so that I can help the most people get to the next level in whatever path they are on. That’s why I started my podcast, Habits and Hustle, with my partners at Habit Nest. Habits and Hustle uncovers rituals, unspoken habits, and mindsets of extraordinary people. The podcast just got picked up by Entrepreneur

SF: As a columnist for Forbes, Entrepreneur, Men’s Journal, and Health.com, what are some of

Magazine and is now a part of their podcast network.

SF:You’ve been ranked in the “100 Most Influential People in Health and Fitness” by Greatist. What are some of the ways you have been involved in and influenced the fitness world/ industry? What is your favorite thing about being a fitness influencer?

JC: I was the co-creator of the Hot 5 Fitness App which was acquired by Weight Watchers and was ranked #1 immediately upon release. I also starred in 9 workout eDVDS for Weight Watchers and helped develop and lead their fitness pillar. I am the President and CEO of my wellness brand, No Gym Required (NGR), which offers products and services based on my “anytime, www.facethecurrent.com

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in the fitness world is that I truly believe there are no excuses to block anyone from success except a negative mindset. I am here to change that mindset and help people achieve their goals.

SF: What are two of your most frequently asked questions in regard to fitness and body image or weight?

JC: I am always asked what the fastest way is to get “skinny” and how long will it take to see results. First, let me just say I hate that term. It’s all about being STRONG, physically and mentally. Your goals can be attainable if you first have the proper mindset and the want is long term. There are no quick fixes or shortcuts that last. When it comes to fitness, it must be sustainable. I don’t create summer bodies. I want you to have a life body!

This is a marathon, not a race.

SF: In your second book Strong is the New Skinny—#2 on the Bestsellers list—how do you speak to concepts such as the “fit ideal” and “be fit to be healthy” vs. “look fit to be sexy”?

Credit: Gurminder Banga anywhere – no excuses” fitness philosophy! Under NGR, I produced a first of its kind wellness toning shoe, which was the only sneaker to use removable weighted soles. The shoes had hundreds of thousands of fans including Courtney Cox, Jennifer Garner, David Beckham, Jennifer

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Aniston and more, before it was acquired. I also wrote two best-selling fitness books titled No Gym Required and Strong is the New Skinny.

My favorite thing about running my fitness brand and being influential

JC: I trained a young lady who came to me and said, “Jen, I really want you to help me. I have fluctuated in weight all my life trying to do quick fixes for last minute photo shoots or for a dress for a red carpet. I’m pushing myself for a temporary fix just to be exhausted and feel like crap when it’s all done!” I don’t want you to look good in your clothes. I want you to look GREAT naked! At the end of the day, when you are stripped down and ready for the shower, you should walk by the mirror and love what you see. You should see results from hard work and how YOU want to look, not what social media portrays, leading you to believe the world is one size fits all. There are many different body types and I find what works for you.

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Badass gives you the tools you need and encourages you to carry out the tasks. It’s a start-to-finish manual that will help you look and feel better once you’re done. It’s literally a trainer in your pocket.

are right at their fingertips. Those are my favorite success stories.

SF: If no gym is required, what are your top recommended places and ways to train, and why?

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JC: Your local park. Being outdoors in the fresh air does wonders during a workout. You can do incline pushups on the bench. Your office is another great place. Take mini breaks to do squats or lunges. Or, just WALK; it’s the most underutilized form of exercise. Park further, take the stairs, don’t drive to your go-to lunch spots. Download an app that keeps track of your steps and check it at night. You will be surprised and I guarantee you will have a personal competition to beat your previous day.

SF: What are some unique things that your latest book/ journal combo Badass Body Goals:The Booty Building and Waist Trimming Journal addresses and provides that you believe have not really been properly/ fully covered with other books out there?

SF: What inspired you to create your company NGR (No Gym Required), what does it offer, and who are some of your client-fans that have found success through NGR? JC: No Gym Required was developed because I am a working mom. I am always on the go. Sometimes, I don’t have room in my schedule to pack up my things, go to the gym, wait for a machine (if it’s peak time), drive back through traffic, thank the babysitter,

etc. Do you know how long all that takes in LA in real time?!

No Gym Required offers you solutions to get the workout in whenever, wherever, however. I feel my best if I have done a workout. Fitness boosts your endorphins, which are intricate in productivity both physically and mentally. I have numerous clients who message me on social media telling me how they love being able to workout using the simplest tools that

JC: Badass Body Goals is more of a journal than a traditional book. I wanted to create something that people could engage with and use to keep themselves accountable. It’s interactive. You can read all day about how to do a proper squat or different forms for push-ups, but once you’ve read it, what’s next? Badass gives you the tools you need and encourages you to carry out the tasks. It’s a start-to-finish manual that will help you look and feel better once you’re done. It’s literally a trainer in your pocket.

SF:Tell us about the Hot 5 App and what do you believe led to its popularity and success to bring it to number one on the Apple App store and to be acquired by Weight Watchers? www.facethecurrent.com

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JC: The Hot 5 App gives you fiveminute workouts you can do anywhere. Life comes at you fast.

Not everyone can take an hour out of their day to devote to the gym. But what if you could break up that hour into five-minute increments? That was the thinking behind the development of the app. Once it launched, people related and felt included, and it was so popular that Weight Watchers acquired it.

SF: In your podcast Habits and Hustle, you interview thought leaders, entrepreneurs, and extraordinary people on what has made a difference in their success. Can you share a couple examples from people you’ve

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interviewed on habits and rituals that stuck out as exemplary to you and perhaps you’ve since implemented them into your life?

JC: I am so thankful to have launched my podcast and that it has been so well received. I wanted to share with others the knowledge of thoughtprovoking people and the routines and habits that helped them achieve their goals.

Some of the guests we’ve had on include Dennis Rodman (NBA Star); Toni Ko (Founder of NYX Cosmetics); Autumn Calabrese (Founder of the 21-Day Fix by Beach Body); Alli Webb and Brittany Driscoll

(Co-Founders of Drybar); Valorie Kondos and Katelyn Ohashi (UCLA Gymnastics Coach and six-time All American and four-time USA Gymnastics Junior National Team gymnast); and more. We have upcoming guests like Mark Cuban, Magic Johnson, and Oscar De La Hoya which I’m very excited about. I think you learn something every episode—I know I do!

SF:You yourself juggle an extraordinary number of things.

What’s your success secret to efficiently and effectively “hustling” without draining yourself along the way?

JC: Planning, planning, planning. I’m

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If you set goals and a path to get there, you will be more likely to check things off your list without exhausting yourself or feeling overwhelmed. ‘If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.’

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Credit: Gurminder Banga not saying that my daily schedule is perfect! There are times where I’ve had to change things at the last minute because life will throw you curveballs, but if you set goals and a path to get there, you will be more likely to check things off your list without exhausting yourself or feeling overwhelmed. “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

SF: How has your role in the fitness industry lent itself to coaching in corporate wellness and business-building?

JC: It helps to build mental strength.

You develop mental clarity. When you are working out, no matter what setting you choose, you aren’t

thinking about the stress. You are releasing. You are opening your mind. I’ve gotten some of my best ideas on the treadmill. There is a direct correlation to synchronizing the mind and body as it connects to fitness.

SF: What has been the most fulfilling for you on your path so far, and what is something you aim to achieve in the near future that aligns with this sense of fulfillment?

JC: It’s so hard to put one thing at the top of my list of achievements.

I’m proud of being a good wife and mother, and I’m super excited about my most recent accomplishment

with the launch of Habits and Hustle podcast and it being syndicated on Entrepreneur Magazine. I celebrate all victories with my hardworking team and my family. I know that if you don’t have like-minded people around who also want the best for you, it can be easy to get held back. I would say I am most fulfilled thus far being able to do what I love and still being able to tuck my kids in bed at night!

ymore info: www.jennifercohen.com Badass Body Goals: The Booty Building and Waist Trimming Journal Strong is the New Skinny No Gym Required www.facethecurrent.com

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FtC health

Beyond Eye Candy: Crave-Worthy Plant Based

Smoothie Bowls & Healthy Treats with Purely Kaylie Purely Kaylie is a plant-based recipe blog that focuses on simple and healthy ingredients.Visit the blog and you’ll find delicious recipes ranging from colorful smoothie bowls to gooey chocolate chip cookies. Kaylie’s mission is to make healthy eating an inviting, approachable, and enjoyable experience for everyone, and she offers dairy-free, meat-free, and gluten-free recipes. Whether you follow a vegan, vegetarian, or omnivorous diet, you are guaranteed to find a recipe you love at Purely Kaylie!

A plant-based approach means Kaylie’s recipes are rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds, and are always centered around these wholefood ingredients in order to maximize nutritional value.

Although these ingredients might not sound craveworthy upon first impression, this diet does not have to

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be boring! In fact, plant-based recipes are often bursting with color and flavor. Just take a look at the Tropical Pitaya Smoothie Bowl, Kiwi Pear Smoothie Bowl, Vanilla Chia Pudding, Berry Acai Bowl, and the Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Cookies below!

The Tropical Pitaya Smoothie Bowl is eye-catching with its bright pink hues and each spoonful is bursting with flavors of mango, pitaya, and lime. Aside from its deep green presentation, you’d never know the Kiwi Pear Smoothie Bowl is packed with spinach and kale as it tastes light, sweet, and refreshing. The Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Cookies are soft, chewy, and naturally sweetened with fruit—it’s the perfect recipe to healthily satisfy your sweet tooth. Vanilla Chia Pudding is a great way to get fiber, protein, and healthy fats in your diet. With just four ingredients, the recipe will keep you full for hours and it’s a perfect on-the-go meal for a busy lifestyle!

You’ll undoubtedly be craving the Berry Acai Bowls each morning. This healthy breakfast is full of antioxidants and fiber from the acai, blueberries, and raspberries. Add your favorite toppings and enjoy it with a spoon!

Getting hungry yet? The fun doesn’t stop at the taste!

Kaylie subscribes to the idea that we eat first with our eyes. Because of this, her recipes are always beautifully and creatively styled, and this is an important component of the Purely Kaylie blog. Presenting a meal in an attractive manner makes cooking all the more exciting!

So, get in the kitchen and give these recipes a try—your taste buds and body will thank you!

Tropical Pitaya Smoothie Bowls *Recipe makes 1 bowl Ingredients ● 1 frozen pitaya packet ● 1 ripe banana, frozen and sliced ● 1 cup frozen mango ● 1 tbsp lime juice ● 1 tbsp hemp seeds ● 1/3 cup coconut milk Instructions 1. Combine all ingredients in a high-speed blender. Blend until smooth.

2. Transfer the smoothie to a bowl.

3. Add fresh fruit and granola on top. Enjoy with a spoon.

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Kiwi Pear Smoothie Bowls *Recipe makes 1 bowl Ingredients ● 1 banana, sliced and frozen ● 1 pear, sliced and frozen ● 1 kiwi fruit, peeled ● 2 cups baby spinach ● 2 cups kale, stem removed ● 1 tbsp lime juice ● 1 tbsp hemp seeds ● 1/2 cup coconut milk Instructions 1. Combine all ingredients in a high-speed blender. Blend until smooth. Add more coconut milk, if needed.

2. Transfer the smoothie to a bowl.

3. Add fresh fruit and coconut flakes on top. Enjoy with a spoon.

Vanilla Chia Pudding *Recipe makes 2 cups Ingredients ● 2 cups almond milk ● 1/2 cup chia seeds ● 2 tbsp maple syrup ● 2 tsp vanilla extract Instructions 1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.

2. Whisk ingredients vigorously until well combined.

3. Set aside to thicken for at least 30 minutes. Whisk intermittently.

4. Spoon the pudding into cups/jars and add fresh berries on top.

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Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Cookies *Recipe makes 8 cookies Ingredients ● 2 cups rolled oats ● 1 cup mashed banana (~2 large bananas) ● 1/3 cup natural peanut butter ● 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips ● 1 tsp pure vanilla extract ● 1/2 tsp cinnamon ● 1/2 tsp salt Instructions 1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. 2. In a large bowl, mash the ripe bananas until nearly smooth. Add in the rest of the ingredients. Stir to combine.

3. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Alternatively, grease the tray with non-stick spray.

4. Scoop balls of the cookie dough onto the tray. After, use a spoon to flatten the dough.

5. Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm with almond milk.

Berry Acai Bowls *Recipe makes 2 bowls Ingredients ● 2 bananas, sliced and frozen ● 2 frozen açai packets ● 1/2 cup frozen blueberries ● 1/2 cup frozen raspberries ● 1 tbsp lime juice ● 1 tbsp chia seeds ● 1 cup coconut milk Instructions 1. Combine all ingredients in a highspeed blender. Blend until smooth.

2. Transfer the smoothie into bowls.

3. Add fresh fruit and granola on top.

Enjoy with a spoon.

www.facethecurrent.com

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FtC health

VAMP UP YOUR MEALS AND HEALTH WITH THESE 3 POWERFUL HERBS

By Lisa Guy, Naturopath and Founder of Bodhi Organic Tea Herbs not only add extra flavor to meals, but they also deliver a wide range of impressive health benefits that will take your dietary health to the next level. Herbs provide an array of phytochemicals that positively affect our health and protect us from a variety of diseases.

Including fresh and dried herbs in drinks and sweet and savory dishes is a simple, cheap and delicious way to support good health.

Three super herbs that you should be adding to meals regularly are ginger, turmeric and cinnamon.

Here are some creative ways to incorporate them into your daily diet to reap their many health benefits.

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GINGER (Zingiber officinale) Ginger is one of the most popular cooking spices used throughout the world. Chinese herbalists have been using ginger for thousands of years for its healing powers, to treat colds and flu and digestive complaints. Ginger is a well-known remedy for nausea, especially morning and sea sickness, and it helps ease digestive complaints like excess wind and bloating.

Ginger is a great addition to winter meals to enhance the body’s ability to fight off respiratory infections.

Gingerol, the main active compound in ginger, is responsible for much of ginger’s immune enhancing benefits.

Ginger has the ability to boost the immune system by activating T-cells (white blood cells) and through its anti-bacterial action. Drinking ginger tea is an excellent way to soothe a sore and inflamed throat. Try adding a teaspoon of Manuka honey and a couple of slices of lemon for an extra anti-bacterial boost.

Gingerol also has powerful antiinflammatory, antioxidant and anticancerous properties. Ginger is highly effective at relieving inflammation and pain associated with arthritis.

Eating a wholesome diet rich in antiinflammatory foods like ginger is of upmost importance for preventing inflammation in the body, and for reducing the risk of chronic disease and promoting longevity.

Ginger helps reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by lowering high cholesterol and triglyceride levels, while raising beneficial HDLs (‘good’ cholesterol). (1) Ginger also has the ability to reduce platelet stickiness, which helps improve circulation and reduces the risk of heart attacks and thrombotic strokes. Ginger’s ability to stimulate circulation makes it an ideal herb for anyone suffering from cold hands and feet.

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HOW TO SPICE UP YOUR MEALS WITH GINGER: SAVORY: Add freshly grated or ground ginger to soups (pumpkin and carrot, miso), stir-fries, curries, dahl, noodle dishes, and Thai chicken meatballs. Add ginger to salad dressings, satay sauces and marinades (with soy sauce or tamari, garlic, ginger and sesame oil) for chicken, pork, tofu, beef and salmon. Pickled ginger is delicious served with nori rolls, sushi, Asian salads, noodles, and fish. Fresh ginger is an essential ingredient in Asian dishes, including Indian cuisine.

SWEET TREATS: Stewed or poached fruit (berries, pears, apples, stone fruits) or rhubarb with freshly squeezed orange juice and grated ginger.

Homemade chia berry jam or applesauce with ginger is great to have with toast, pancakes and waffles.

Ginger Tofu

DRINKS: Add a slice of fresh ginger to vegetable juices and hot and iced teas. Ginger works well in green smoothies or paired with mango, kiwi and pineapple. Add powdered ginger to turmeric lattes (coconut milk, powdered turmeric, ginger, pinch pepper), hot chocolate, coffee or masala chai.

BAKED GOODS: Add powdered or freshly grated ginger to desserts, crumbles, and healthy baked goods (ginger cookies, ginger bread, carrot cake). Ginger pairs well with banana, apple and apricot so add some to banana bread, apple pies, cakes and muffins.

COMBINES WELL WITH: cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, paprika, and saffron.

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Ginger jam

Smoothie ingredients

TURMERIC (Curcuma longa) Turmeric has long been a much loved staple in Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine. This super spice, which is the main ingredient in curry, possesses many wonderful health benefits. Turmeric contains a potent antioxidant called curcumin that has been studied extensively for its ability to fight damaging free radicals in the body and for its powerful antiinflammatory effect. Free radicals are one of the main culprits when it comes to the development of chronic diseases and premature ageing. Turmeric helps protect against cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease and is beneficial for alleviating inflammation and pain associated with arthritis.

Studies have also shown that turmeric can enhance brain function. Researchers have found a link between improved cognitive performance and the consumption of turmeric. A study indicated a lower prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease and better cognitive performance in Indian people who consumed curcumin in curry on a regular basis. (2,3) Turmeric also has a protective effect on the brain. Curcumin protects brain cells from free radical damage, which can help prevent neurodegeneration. (4)

Turmeric Raspberry Oatmeal Bowl

Consuming turmeric regularly will also help support liver and immune health. (5) BEST WAYS TO USE TURMERIC IN MEALS: DRINKS: Enjoy turmeric lattes (coconut milk, ginger and a pinch of pepper). Turmeric works well with coconut milk. Add a fresh slice of turmeric to ginger tea and veggie juices.

SAVORY: Add ground turmeric to rice, cauliflower rice and quinoa, curries, lentil dahl, soups, vegetable patties, salad dressings and sauces, scrambled tofu or eggs, and frittatas.

Oven roasted turmeric cauliflower. Grate raw turmeric through vegetables.

Adding a pinch of black pepper with turmeric will significantly improve turmeric’s absorption.

SWEET TREATS: Add ground turmeric to cakes, cookies, raw desserts and protein balls.

COMBINES WELL WITH: ginger, cardamom, cumin, black pepper, coriander, garlic, cinnamon, curry leaf, galangal, lemongrass, mustard seeds, paprika, fennel, fenugreek and chili.

Turmeric Popsicles www.facethecurrent.com

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CINNAMON (Cinnamomum zeylanicum)

cholesterol by 12-26%. (7)

Cinnamon is a spice that has been used for thousands of years around the globe for its medicinal properties and delicious sweet taste. There are two types of cinnamon, Ceylon cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum), which is called true or real cinnamon, and Cassia cinnamon. True cinnamon is more expensive and has a sweeter flavor and scent compared to cheaper more robust tasting cassia.

Ground true cinnamon is often finer and their quills are rolled in the one direction.

Cinnamon is a great source of glutathione, which is one of the body’s major antioxidants needed for good health and prevention of chronic diseases like cancer and heart disease, and premature aging. Glutathione is required for maintaining a healthy immune function and it helps protects us from environmental toxins. Cinnamon also contains anti-inflammatory compounds that can help prevent chronic inflammation that plays a major role in the development of various neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. (8)

Cinnamon has been found to be extremely beneficial for keeping blood sugar levels balanced and for improving insulin efficiency. Cinnamon makes a great alternative to sugar and other sweeteners for diabetics. Adding just 1 tsp of cinnamon to a meal can slow the rate the stomach empties by around 37%, which significantly slows the rise in blood sugar levels. Even less than half a teaspoon daily can reduce blood sugar levels in people with type-2diabetes. (6) Including cinnamon in the diet can also notably reduce risk factors for cardiovascular disease in people with type-2-diabetes. A study showed that consuming between 1 and 6 grams (around 1/3 – 2 teaspoons) of cinnamon daily may lower triglycerides levels by 23-30% and total

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Cinnamon has been used traditionally in Ayurvedic medicine to support the immune system. It has antimicrobial properties that can help fight off colds and flu, and prevent the growth of candida, bacteria and fungus infections.

Cinnamon is a useful remedy for digestive complaints like excess wind, diarrhea and nausea.

Cinnamon is also useful for enhancing circulation. Cassia cinnamon contains high levels of coumarin, which is a compound that has a blood thinning effect. People taking blood thinners like warfarin should limit their intake of cassia cinnamon for this reason.

BEST WAYS TO USE CINNAMON: DRINKS: Stir 1 tsp of cinnamon powder in warm almond milk with a little raw honey.

Cinnamon is a main ingredient in masala chai.

Spice up your next hot chocolate with some cinnamon. Add ½ tsp of cinnamon to your coffee before brewing, or use it to sweeten up your next smoothie.

BREAKFAST: Spice up your morning oatmeal, Bircher muesli or chia puddings with a teaspoon of cinnamon. Make your own healthy granola sprinkled with cinnamon. Add a stick of cinnamon when poaching pears. Berries pair well with cinnamon.

BAKED GOODS: Add a good spoonful of cinnamon to healthy baked goods, pancakes, waffles, granola bars and fruit crumbles.

SWEET TREATS: Homemade ice cream (coconut milk, honey, cinnamon, banana and toasted almonds). Add cinnamon to rice puddings, raw desserts and protein balls.

Cinnamon works well with cacao in healthy chocolate desserts.

SAVORY: Oven-baked sweet potato, carrots or pumpkin sprinkled with cinnamon. Add cinnamon to soup (pumpkin), stews, chili and lentil dahl. Cinnamon works well with lamb and chicken. Cinnamon is an Indian staple in many rice and curry dishes.

COMBINES WELL WITH: cumin, nutmeg, ginger, turmeric, coriander, cardamom, cloves, tamarind and anise.

Broaden your cooking repertoire and have some fun in the kitchen experimenting with new recipes using these outstanding herbs. Including ginger, turmeric and cinnamon regularly in your diet is an excellent way to make meals more flavorsome while boosting your health and reducing the risk of disease.

REFERENCES: 1. Alizadeh-Navaei R, et al. Investigation of the effect of ginger on the lipid levels. A double blind controlled clinical trial. Saudi Med J. 2008 Sep;29(9):1280-4.

2. Shaji S, Bose S,Verghese A. Prevalence of dementia in an urban population in Kerala, India. Br J Psychiatry. 2005 Feb; 186:136-40.

3. Ng TP, Chiam PC, Lee T. Curry consumption and cognitive function in the elderly. Am J Epidemiol. 2006 Nov 1;164(9):898-906.

4. Gary W. Small et al. Memory and Brain Amyloid and Tau Effects of a Bioavailable Form of Curcumin in Non-Demented Adults: A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled 18-Month Trial. The American Journal of Geriatric

Oatmeal

Ice Cream

ymore info: www.artofhealing.com.au www.bodhiorganictea.com Psychiatry.Vol 26, Issue 3, March 2018, Pages 266-277.

5. Jagetia GC, Aggarwal BB. “Spicing up” of the immune system by curcumin. J Clin Immunol. 2007 Jan;27(1):19-35. Epub 2007 Jan 9.

6. Paul A Davis, Wallace Yokoyama. Cinnamon intake lowers fasting blood glucose: meta-analysis. J Med Food. 2011 Sep ;14(9):884-9. Epub 2011 Apr 11.

7. Alam Khan, MS, PHD et al. Cinnamon Improves Glucose and Lipids of People With Type 2 Diabetes. Diabetes Care 2003 Dec; 26(12): 3215-3218.

8. Ramaswamy Kannappan et al. Neuroprotection by spice-derived nutraceuticals: you are what you eat! Mol Neurobiol. 2011 Oct; 44(2):142-59. Epub 2011 Mar 1.

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FtC health

Meal Kit Services A Healthy Solution for Modern Lives:

HelloFresh and Green Chef in Review

By Ainsley Schoppel and Sasha Frate We live in a busy world. For most of us, our days are scheduled from the moment we wake up until the moment we crawl back into bed. Between work, social engagements, appointments, school, sporting activities, and music lessons, meal planning and grocery shopping tend to feel like afterthoughts. As a default, grab-and-go food options or quick-serve meals such as frozen dinners or fast food tend to be our fall-back selections. With more households containing two working adults than was the case in the 1990’s, there isn’t one person responsible for meal planning and preparation. To add to this, food waste is a chronic and concerning issue in North America, and with the 2019 cost of groceries increasing by $450 per year in Canada, grocery shopping on a budget and with food waste in mind is critical. To counter this and inject delicious, quick, healthy meals into busy families, meal kits were created. FtC sampled two meal kits—HelloFresh (a Canadian company) and Green Chef (an American vegan option) to understand how the delivery services actually change dinner time and the ways in which they can benefit a busy family.

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A Meal Kit Experience Overview: Green Chef Sampled by Sasha

With the 24/7 nature of modern life, dinner has become a flexible concept with an increasing number of variables. In many homes today, everyone is choosing their own meal and where they want to eat it. For families with children, it’s further interesting to note that kids have lost over 12 hours of parental time a week over the past few decades, and according to Sylvia Ann Hewlett, author of ‘’Creating a Life: Professional Women and the Quest for Children’’, some families are trying to hold on to their mealtimes together. Meal kit delivery is a great way to bring the household together for dinners and to try out new foods when family members have otherwise stuck to their guns about a particular dietary preference.

Meal kits are also a great way to

experience variety and spice things up! Variety is offered in more ways than within the individual meals alone; it’s also an opportunity to try out specialty diets. Green Chef offers paleo, vegan, gluten-free, omnivore, keto, and vegetarian kits. If you’re looking to vamp up your plant-based eating but you’re not actually a vegan, their vegan meals are a great way to do this. If you’re wanting to reduce gluten in your diet but you feel like anything gluten-free that you’ve tried has been unappealing, give the glutenfree meals a try to introduce new recipes into your routine that will have you thinking differently about gluten-free options. Or, maybe you love to eat anything: you can explore their meals online and see what appeals to you to cook in-home.

Rotate your selections to try out a variety of diets and maybe you’ll soon

be re-inventing your diet to what feels like the best fuel for your body.

What about portions? In a world where portion sizes have been increasing for years, meal kits are a great way to get to know proper portions and how they translate to total calories for a meal. The increase in our society’s portion sizes is actually a well-measured phenomenon. In their 2009 study The Joy of Cooking Too Much, Brian Wansink and Collin R Payne found 18 recipes that had been continuously published in The Joy of Cooking from 1936 to 2006. Over those 70 years, portion sizes and calorie counts had increased incredibly: in 14 of the 18 recipes, calorie counts had shot up nearly 50%. It can be all too easy to remain clueless about what our meals are adding up to in terms of www.facethecurrent.com

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calories and many may simply prefer to look the other way to avoid the reality of such details. One aspect of being mindful of our connection to the process of eating and refuelling our bodies with nourishing foods is to have at least a general idea of how much we’re consuming in relation to what our bodies need. Preparing the meal ourselves is a great first step in the concept of mindful eating, as is feeling good about what we’re preparing and enjoying every bite.

Is meal kit packaging wasteful, you may wonder? There can be a fair amount of packaging with meal kits, however a pleasant surprise comes next when you realize it’s all recyclable and the freezer packs are

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reusable! Plus, let’s get real about the average grocery shopping experience: bringing home all of those ingredients typically amounts to a lot of nonrecycled packaging. We can get better about this too, opting out of the plastic bags for our produce (or bringing reusable ones); the average consumer, however, is not going this route.

Speaking of bad habits, did you know more than one-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally? In the United States alone, the average household throws away $2,200 of food each year.

In other terms, more than 20 lbs. of food is wasted per person

every month in the U.S. and 20% of food that the average American buys is never eaten. Similarly, in the UK, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee reported that the average household lost £470 a year due to avoidable food waste, while those with children lost £700 in 2015. Food and financial loss can be minimized, but what about the joy and ease of food prepared outside the home? According to Pew Research Center, Gen Xers (ages 35-54) tend to spend the most on average on food prepared outside the home, averaging about $4200 per year, or $350 monthly.

This takes us to our next question: is it expensive, or should it be

considered a luxury to pay for meal kit delivery? With the aforementioned in consideration alone, one might argue that it surely is not. Then ask yourself the following questions: How much are you spending on food that doesn’t get eaten because you have to buy larger quantities than your recipes call for?

How much of the food in your house is treats you might not buy and eat if you were more satiated by a variety of daily, made-from-scratch meals?

How much time might you save on grocery runs? When crunching these numbers in response to how these questions factor in, it can be shocking to realize how affordable meal kits actually become!

Kyle Kowalski’s “Busyness 101: Why Are We So Busy in Modern Life” also puts it in perspective when he observes the new trend and the “why” behind our busyness today. Nowadays, we’re willing to pay increasingly for efficiencies and conveniences to save time. We went from a time when, “keeping up with the Joneses was all about things—the big house, sports car, and designer clothing…materialism and lifestyle inflation are still around us,” Kowalski states, “but, things are being challenged by something ‘new’—time.”

As he reveals the long list of whys, it’s not hard to understand why modern life has left us with little time for shopping, preparing, cooking, and enjoying our food. Just think, how

often do you end up eating out or ordering in because you’re exhausted from your busy day or feel you have limited time? With Green Chef meal kits, there’s no shopping or planning and the majority of food prep is done for you.You’re left with the ability to still enjoy some of the art of slowliving as you put your ingredients together to craft a meal from scratch, ultimately enjoying a satiating homecooked meal.

I think we can all admit to getting and staying in our own culinary ruts, so even if it’s for one or two weeks per month, meal kits are a fantastic way to freshen up our routines and keep our bodies happy. www.facethecurrent.com

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A Meal Kit Under a Microscope: HelloFresh Sampled by Ainsley

HelloFresh is a flexible subscription service that delivers selected meals to your doorstep once a week. With your subscription, you’re able to skip weeks and change the delivery address to accommodate vacation destinations or any necessary location alterations.You are able to plan your deliveries up to 8 weeks in advance and you can view menus two weeks in advance. All orders are locked in on Wednesday at 11:49pm of the week prior to your delivery in order to ensure all suppliers have adequate time to provide yummy and fresh ingredients. There are many benefits to pre-portioned meal kits!

They reduce food waste by 47%— that’s a lot of food kept out of the landfill and a lot of extra cash kept in your wallet. HelloFresh is also direct sourced which reduces supply chain energy, water, and labour by up to 14%! Accelerated supply chains are also used which keep food fresher than you would see at your local store. (Your HelloFresh ingredients skip the wholesaler, warehouse, and supermarket, and go straight from the producer to HelloFresh, and then

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your door.)

On the Tuesday of my delivery weeks, a medium-sized box was delivered right to my front door. All of HelloFresh’s boxes are made from 100% recyclable and biodegradable cardboard from Forest Stewardship Council certified sustainable sources, so you can feel good about the packaging. Just fold up the box and recycle with regular household recycling. The box is insulated with a silver liner made from FSC-certified sustainable carboard and that can be recycled as normal as well.

(HelloFresh recently reduced their outer packaging by 30%!) Certain ingredients appear in food-safe plastic packaging that can be rinsed and tossed in your recycling, too. When I opened the box, all recipe cards and info booklets were located on top. All meals were individually packed into paper bags with color-coded stickers and text labels for easy identification.

These bags are 100% compostable and are recommended to dispose of things like carrot tops and pepper stems before hitting the green bin.

Underneath the bagged meals is a cardboard divider that separates sensitive ingredients like meats, seafoods, and veggie-friendly proteins.

Meats are RWA certified, raised without the use of antibiotics or growth hormones, and the seafood is traceable and sustainable. All proteins are packed at the bottom of the insulated box with an icepack that is 99% water and recyclable plastic. As per the instructions, I just dissolved the contents down the sink with hot water and recycled the plastic bags. If for whatever reason you don’t want to do that, HelloFresh also runs an ice pack return program!

I unpacked the box and put the meal kit bags in the fridge. Depending on your selected meals, there may be a recommendation to cook a certain meal first (i.e. seafood), so check the recipe cards to see what you should prepare tonight. Match the recipe cards to meal kit bags and follow the step-by-step instructions!

The following is a break-down of my experience with each recipe over the two weeks of my HelloFresh meals:

Week 1: Lemon Turkey Scallopine

Moo Shu Pork Tacos

It was so nice to have fresh herbs in January! I tend to cook with them mainly in the summer when the herb pot is growing on the deck, but it was a burst of freshness and a nice reminder to use herbs even in the middle of winter. This was a delicious dinner! It was a lemony, salty, savoury pasta dish with ample pasta portions. It fed 3 people with a little leftover pasta. Depending on your preferred protein intake, 2 turkey breasts can be suitable for 3 servings.

This was delicious! It was a perfect blend of flavours and textures with a yummy ginger flavour shining through in the spice blend. The serving size was ample with 3 tortillas per person and plenty of filling to distribute. (I actually found it was more like 7 tacos worth of meat, but maybe I went a little light on the filling.) This took about 35 minutes total with one person completing all steps.

Definitely Recommend: 5 Stars Open-Faced Steak Sandwich I had leftover oregano because only 1 tbsp was needed for a serving of 2, so it went into the crisper for another time. This was a yummy “summery” meal in January and was a nice change from soups and stews. It took about 45 minutes total with one person completing all the steps.

The serving size was generous: with 2 buns halved, it felt more like 3-4 servings.

Definitely Recommend: 5 Stars

Definitely Recommend: 5 Stars

Pan-Seared Chicken Smashed potatoes were a new way to prepare red potatoes and they were delicious—definitely going to do that again! I’d also never roasted sugar snap peas before, and they were a winner. There was leftover rosemary for the crisper, as well. Ample servings: chicken breasts were large and served 3. Took about 40 minutes for one person to complete the recipe.

Definitely Recommend: 5 Stars www.facethecurrent.com

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Week 2: Sriracha Turkey Burgers

Homemade Vegetable-Packed Calzone

The sriracha mayo on the toasted bun made this burger. I made 4 open-faced burgers out of this by making smaller patties—still very filling and super-quick to pan-fry. This burger has delicious Asian flavours with soy sauce, ginger, and garlic. There was leftover spring mix and ginger for the crisper. This would have been a hearty 2-person meal.

Took about 40 minutes for one person to complete the recipe

DELICIOUS! All calzones I’ve had before have been made with pizza dough which is thicker and can be tougher. The puff pastry was flaky and delicious! Even with making 4 smaller calzones, the portion size was perfect, and I even had one mini-calzone leftover! This recipe took 35 mins for one person to complete.

Definitely Recommend: 5 Stars Cajun Shrimp Tacos There wasn’t quite enough Cajun seasoning mix to coat all the shrimp so about half a dozen went into the pan without, but they picked up the seasoning in the oil. Zesty crema was very easy to put together, but I just wished there was more of it! YUM! Depending on your portion preferences, there were 3 tacos for 2 people or 2 tacos for 3 people. Shrimp cooked very quickly, so this recipe took about 35 mins for one person doing all the steps.

Definitely Recommend: 5 Stars

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Definitely Recommend: 5 stars Fusilli Al Forno This was so delicious and comforting on a cold winter night! This recipe amply served 3 and took 40 mins for one person to complete. I’d definitely recommend going light on the red pepper flakes! I love spice so this was perfect, but if you prefer meals on the milder side, start VERY light. Only half the package of ricotta was needed for a 2 serving meal, so I mixed a little sugar and cocoa into the remaining ricotta for a yummy dessert!

Definitely Recommend: 5 Stars

Overall Experience of HelloFresh My expectations were far-exceeded with this entire experience! From delivery, to unbagging and making each meal, I was so impressed with the recyclable packaging, fresh ingredients, and delicious recipes. Injecting new recipes into my weekly meal prep was so welcome and actually made me look forward to dinner time. I gave each meal 5 Stars and I know it sounds like an impossibility for each recipe to be a smash-hit—there had to be one dud in the bunch, right?

Nope! Each meal was so tasty and I kept the recipe cards to make these meals again. It was also so fantastic not having to grocery shop for these meals or think about what to make as the dinner-hour approached. With a quick perusal of the meals available on HelloFresh, my weekly dinners were selected and the work of shopping and portioning was done for me. I would definitely recommend trying HelloFresh to give your brain a break and your taste buds a treat!

ymore info: www.greenchef.com www.hellofresh.com www.facethecurrent.com

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