While traveling, I like to keep the same healthy habits that I keep while at home in the San Francisco Bay area.

While traveling some of the healthy habits that I like to maintain are:

●      Eating gluten-free, sugar free, and dairy free

●      Eating organic whenever possible

●      Keeping up with my daily ritual of meditating and Jin Shin Jyutsu self-care

●      Keeping some form of movement going

Lucky for me that gluten-free seem to have become a new diet fad or is it that many are sensitive to the sea of gluten intolerant beings out there.  Thank God that Whole Foods is almost in every major city; thus I am able to purchase things that are required for my personal nutrition plan pretty easily these days.

My handy iPhone application with Urban Spoon usually can direct me to some nearby restaurants with my nutrition requirements. Last year, I went to NYC for a family vacation – yes I love to thrive off the energy of NYC.  When I was making the travel plans with my husband, I voted for NYC over New Orleans because I knew that I would be able to find some healthier choices in the big apple and would be less tempted to fall in my family roots way of unhealthy eating.

Since I am a healing arts practitioner trained with acupressure and a not-so-mainstream modality – Jin Shin Jyutsu, I have the luxury of waking up every morning and giving myself at least one daily flow.  This allows me to center myself before I even get out of bed. I can do this anywhere since my hands are attached to my body and are required to recharge this body.

Sometimes movement exercises can be difficult to integrate into my trips, but somehow I always seem to pull the rabbit out of the hat whether that is finding a yoga class on the beach in Kauai for a sunrise yoga class or walking around the streets of Manhattan and feeling free without a vehicle!

The easiest way for me to get exercise was just what I did this past weekend as I taught a local class, at the lunch break,  I practiced tai chi exercises.  For me tai chi is calming yet it brings me the flow of life force energy to rejuvenate me, center me and possibly take care of any stagnation of chi that I might be feeling on any level – whether that is mind, body or spirit.  It allows that connection with Spirit and brings me to a higher vibration.  Again, nothing is required to bring, but just my body.

When I feel the need, the Spirit within me moves to the Fair Lady at the loom or the White Crane who spreads its wings…sometimes I pretend I am a Water Dragon diving into the sea.  Whatever, movements I choose, I know that I am integrating the five elements of wood, fire, earth, metal and water, which can all be found in nature as a tree, the sun, the dirt, minerals and the sea…and let’s not forget in me or you.