This was the perfect weekend if you needed to refill your wellness tank! Or as was discussed here, your "cup." Think of it as your cup of life .... sometimes it's just filled with anxiety, stresses, ailments and just overall ick. I've literally noticed that however I quickly react to a situation (when I do), that it's pretty easy to see what is actually in your cup. Did you react angrily? Frustrated or annoyed? Or did you come from a peaceful and understanding place, where you were more aligned with your higher self?
I just returned from Institute of Integrative Nutrition's RECONNECT & REJOICE conference and was welcomed by that message of refilling our cups! This was the weekend to recharge and replenish with the tools, skills and vision to make our lives better, more healthy and more aware. I was amazed at the powerhouse line-up of health & wellness' most influential leaders, who gathered together to inspire, educate and share their fields of expertise with approximately 2,000 attendees and viewers – all IIN graduates or students. I graduated myself last August, 2021, and this was the first chance I have had to be able to connect with like-minded people from here at an event. It was everything I had hoped it would be – and I am still high from the amazing positive energy and am excited to share it with you!
For those of you unfamiliar, IIN is founded by Joshua Rosenthal, who actually created the Health Coaching industry! It was non-existent before that, and he had the foresight to understand how helpful this could be to make a ripple effect across the world. 
He started from his tiny apartment in New York City with a mission and purpose to help others get well, healthy and lead terrific lives. It was lean and difficult years, but the message and purpose was ultimately all that mattered. It ended up being the very thing that could shape, change and inspire lives across the globe. People need to take charge of their own health and well-being, and Joshua gave them the roadmap to do that. Plus, he gave others the path to gaining their own businesses and practices by creating certification courses and helping people get their own businesses set up! I took the courses last year and become a certified Integrative Health & Wellness Coach; and while I don't practice, I have learned more tools and skills to help myself and my friends like you take their own health and well-being to new heights.
This weekend featured Deepak Chopra, Dr. Andrew Weilv (pictured here with his signature beard), Dr. Daniel Amen, Gabrielle Bernstein, Melissa Wood-Petersen, just to name a few of my personal favorites. See the individual blogs on each of their lectures to get the highlights!
The conference attracted attendees from all over – Switzerland, Mexico, Costa Rica, France, Canada, and all over the USA. No matter what age or nationality, everyone here shared one thing in common: a passion for health and overall well-being for themselves and others. Plus, I realized that everyone had something else in common, too. The majority of everyone there has either had a health scare, or serious illness, or has had something major to overcome in their own lives that made them want to take their health into their own hands. The situations might be different, but the theme was the same: the need to be and stay healthy.
Joshua Rosenthal truly is a magnificent human being. He reminded us that we are all among the healthiest of folks out there, and to also remember to not be so caught up in perfectionism. It's ok to be .... "bad." At least every once in awhile. So often, we get so caught up in eating only the most healthy things, living our most healthy lives, and we can often get too strict about it. It's important to relax a little! To do something that reminds you that you're human, and that it's ok to not be completely perfect. There's no need for shame or guilt or feeling bad about yourself, if you aren't being ... 'perfect.' In fact, our homework assignment was to go out and be 'bad,' and the worse the better! Most of us went out and became bad by having a cocktail (or two), or eating pizza, or as in my case – the best chocolate cookies I could find (and I found them!). It's a message to just live a little. We all returned the next morning excited and revitalized by this permission to be, well, human.
The group itself was a supportive, positive and overall healthy – all drawn to living their best lives and helping others to do the same. If you are interested in signing up, check out their programs here! We were told that helping others be better and live longer is the most amazing gift of all, and I couldn't agree more.
I hope to do that in the ways that I can through my website here, as well as in interactions that I have with you. If you ever want to email me and share your own health journey, I'd love it. Just send me a note at wellness@farmstarliving.com anytime.
If you are interested in learning more about IIN for yourself, please visit the website here to learn more about them for yourself. There are classes and courses on things like hormonal health, gut health, and more. Even if you're not interested in becoming a coach, the information can help you live your best life. And transform you. I know. I did it and my life has changed because of it – dramatically and for the better. Live your best life!
Love those great potato ideas!