What we eat is so important for our overall health. But, so too, is how we eat. Mindful Eating – something I’ve been practicing as of late. Connect with whomever you’re sharing a meal with (even if it’s just you)…slow down, and practice gratitude for the connection of your food…from where it came from to…

I remember the first time I walked over the Brooklyn Bridge, on a mission to eat cheesecake at Juniors…it was my first trip to New York, I was in my mid 20’s, naive to city life, and thought I knew who I was and what I wanted in life. I had always dreamed of moving…

I haven’t spoken on gun violence but it’s hard not to share my opinion with so much tragedy in the world created by them, especially over this past weekend… I HATE guns. I have zero tolerance for them. I hate that people can purchase a gun so freely with the power to take someone’s life….

Yoga gives me something I can work towards, every day, for myself. It’s taught me to do the work. It’s taken years for me to open my body and gain flexibility and strength, just as it’s taken me years to work through my trauma and abandonment (a constant work in progress). It teaches me patience,…

There’s a direct correlation between trauma, addiction, and depression. Substance abuse, most often, is a coping mechanism to escape the reality of traumatic experiences and PTSD that can follow. For most of my adult years, I minimized the trauma I experienced in life, as a child and adult. On the outside I presented as healthy,…

I recently watched the movie ‘Instant Family’, about foster families. When I was in foster care I wasn’t the trouble maker but rather the ‘trying to be perfect so that I would be loved’ child. I equated being perfect with being loved. If I helped around the house, did my chores, got good grades, and…

The day I brought Lyle home for the first time, he had already lived in 4 other foster homes, originally found on the streets of Mexico. He was energetic, curious, and a bit skittish/nervous; not sure who to trust as finally being his permanent new home. He would pee when I came home from excitement,…

I’m scared. ‘You’ve got this’ she said. But what if I fall? ‘Then I’ll catch you’ she stated.  I’m not ready. ‘No one ever is’ she chuckled.  What if I’m not good enough? ‘Oh sweet girl, forget good. You are great.’ She said with a smile in her eyes. I am trying to be brave….

Take time to practice more empathy.  Until you walk in someone else’s shoes, you never know what their life is like. You never know their struggles, their thoughts, their dreams, their reality. Don’t be so convinced to think that your perception of another is accurate. We can be quick to judge, assume, and create false…

Identity. wrapped in her through different names, homes, and types of love. Title, educational background, societal labels.  Like a hand-woven sweater, her true identity slowly, delicately, unraveling like a loose thread. Revealing her soul.  Her smile, and unspoken words communicated through her eyes. Beautiful scars,  some seen and unseen, telling the depths of her experiences…

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© Christina Kajal • (619) 252-5322 • ChristinaKajal@gmail.com