Soulful Living
Where the sacred meets the everyday.
Reflections, rituals, recipes, recommendations and seasonal rhythms.
An Easy Meal for Tired Nights
This is for the nights when I’m done. When I can make it to the grocery store, but cooking is out of the question.
I usually grocery shop at Sprouts Farmers Market. When I’m there I grab anything I need to stock up on and ESPECIALLY this:
A roast chicken.
Avocado.
Broccoli sprouts.
Blue corn taco shells.
Shredded Parmesan.
After unloading and putting groceries away the last thing I want to do is cook. So, I pull out the ingredients above and pull the chicken apart with my hands, stuff the chicken and a generous amount of broccoli sprouts into the taco shell, top it off with avocado and parmesan. Sometimes I even let my son make himself one on his own, it usually breaks and falls apart but that’s fine. For me, I add Chef Marcela’s salsa matcha, colima salt and a squeeze of lemon. Bright, grounding, just enough to make it feel alive.
No stove. No recipe. And the best part is my three-year-old eats it easily and then my body exhales.
Staying Resourced Through Cold and Flu Season
The truth is, I brace the moment I hear a cough. My son has asthma, so my nervous system doesn’t wait to see how things unfold. It prepares for impact. The bracing happens before I can talk myself out of it. What helps isn’t pretending I’m calm. It’s reminding myself that I’m resourced.
We have his asthma plan. We have his prescribed steroids on hand. We know what to watch for and when to escalate. And alongside that, I keep a small resource kit at home. Not to control the outcome, but to help his body move through whatever illness it’s navigating with as much support and comfort as possible.
Here’s what I keep on hand. Some I use daily, like his vitamins and green drink or smoothie. Others I use as needed. All are kid friendly or made with children in mind.
• Throat soother spray with zinc
• Herbal cold support tablets
• Elderberry immune booster
• Nebulizer with 0.09 saline solution
• Eucalyptus bath bombs
• A humidifier running at night
• Garlic mullein ear drops
• Tylenol and ibuprofen
• A thermometer
• Nasal aspirator
• Honey
• Chamomile tea
• Daily green drink or smoothie
• Daily vitamin and probiotic
None of this guarantees anything. For me, it’s about reassurance. When I remember that support is already in place, my shoulders drop. I can think more clearly. I can stay present with him instead of spiraling ahead. I’m not interested in forcing bodies into obedience. I’m interested in consent, comfort, and support.
This isn’t medical advice. It’s simply how I remind my nervous system that we’re not unprepared. Resourced, not panicked. Enough support to breathe.
Moving Intentionally into Fall
This fall we chose to practice soulful living as a family. Instead of buying more toys for our son, which is easy with an only child, we invested in experiences that bring presence and memory. We visited our favorite pumpkin patch at Oma’s in Lakeside, spent slow afternoons in museums, took an overnight trip to Perris to see Thomas the Train, and watched the Blue Angels with our faces lifted to the sky. Each moment reminded us that what stays with children is not the toy, it is the feeling of being alive and together.
At home we made space for this season too. My husband built me a small shed for my décor, Soul y Sombra materials, and private practice supplies. Before we moved anything into the shed we decluttered my office and our garage. It felt so good to make space, which also invited clarity and flow.
Fall is guiding us toward what nourishes. Less accumulation, more intention, and a life that feels both simpler and more full.
Little Ways I Take Care of Myself
I’ve learned that care doesn’t need a whole day. Sometimes it just needs fifteen minutes and permission to stop pushing so I can slow down.
One of the simplest ways I reset is taking a bath when I feel stretched thin. I don’t wait for the perfect moment. I take fifteen or twenty minutes. I put on an episode of Gilmore Girls or sometimes nothing at all. Just silence. I drop in a bath bomb and let my nervous system unclench without asking it to explain itself.
I also walk. Nothing elaborate, just movement and air. When time is tight or I feel keyed up, I wear a weighted vest. The added exertion helps me release built up energy and land back in my body more quickly. It’s practical and grounding and surprisingly effective.
When I remember, I take a fiber drink from Pure Encapsulations called GI Fortify. The gut and nervous system are deeply connected, so supporting one often helps the other settle. I also use Truvani chai protein powder. It’s simple, nourishing, and one of the few protein powders I enjoy.
My non negotiables are the bookends of my day. AG1 in the morning and AGZ before bed from Athletic Greens. Those two anchors help me feel resourced before the day begins and supported as I wind down at night.
None of this is about optimization or doing it perfectly. It’s about having different options on how I can show up for myself.
Testing Our Drinking Water
We tested our tap water out of simple curiosity, not panic. It felt good to know what we were actually drinking. From there, deciding whether to filter it felt less like a guess and more like a choice.
Why we tested our tap and what we learned
We ordered a simple home water testing kit — not out of panic, but out of curiosity. We wanted to know what we were actually drinking and using every day, especially in a house where dishes are constantly running and a toddler’s cup is never far from the sink.
I’ll upload the full results here once I have them in front of me, but one thing became clear: our water is hard. Not dangerous, but definitely filled with minerals that are starting to wear on our dishwasher, faucets, and maybe even our skin.
It confirmed what we’d already started to suspect — that we’d benefit from a filtration system. Not because the water was unsafe, but because it just isn’t working for us as it is.
Sometimes clarity doesn’t bring urgency. It just helps you make the next right choice.
What we use
Water Test Kit
We went with Varify as it has great reviews and very affordable.
Some links in this post are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you choose to buy through them. It costs you nothing extra, just helps keep this little corner of the internet going.
Making Ice Cream the Slow Way
We’ve been using the KitchenAid ice cream attachment as a way to slow things down in the kitchen. It’s not instant — and that’s the point. There’s something satisfying about planning ahead, choosing your own ingredients, and waiting for it to come together. It’s a small exercise in delayed gratification, with the added bonus of fewer weird ingredients and more room for creativity.
What we’re learning from mixing it ourselves
Making ice cream has become a monthly rhythm in our home, it’s something we look forward to, plan for, and do together. We use the KitchenAid ice cream attachment, and what I love most about it isn’t the attachment itself (though it works beautifully), but the way it slows us down.
We chill the bowl overnight. We talk about flavors. We wait. Our son loves tossing in ingredients and watching the mixture thicken into something cold and creamy — he’s learning patience without knowing that’s what it is.
So far, we’ve made mazapán and sweet cream, vanilla bean, and pistachio. The pistachio has become a family favorite, especially served in tiny bowls with flaky salt and caramel on top.
There’s something grounding about knowing what’s in it. No strange aftertastes, no food coloring. Just cream, sugar, flavor, and time.
What we use
KitchenAid Mixer
We can’t live without our KitchenAid Mixer. Bread, ice cream, dicing veggies, shredding chicken. She does it all.
KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker Attachment
Probably my favorite KitchenAid attachment. It’s easy and allows you to have ice cream instantly, you just need to pre-freeze the bowl and maybe prep ingredients.
Sea Salt Flakes
We sprinkle this on EVERYTHING.
Slow Tech & Sound
In our home, music is part of the rhythm. I use slow tech to listen without reaching for a screen. Just sound, space, and presence.
How we listen without getting back on our phones
There’s music in our home most days. But we were getting tired of unlocking a phone every time we wanted to hear something. The Yoto Mini and our record player became simple ways to bring sound into the room—without pulling us out of it.
My favorite part is watching my son learn how the record player works. He’s curious, careful, and fascinated by the process. Even when it skips or scratches, he stays with it.
With the Yoto Mini, he can listen to music, hear messages from me and family, or follow along as I read a story I recorded—complete with a little chime to turn the page. It’s presence, in a small, screen-free box.
Not perfect. But useful. And a lot more peaceful.
What we use
Yoto Mini
Screen-free, customizable, and lets you record your own audio.
Yoto Cards
Yoto offers a record your own card, music cards and story cards. My son’s favorite is The Beatles 1962-1966 card.
Record Player
Bluetooth, built-in speakers, and easy enough for little hands.
Record Player Needles
Because toddlers are not gentle.
Some links in this post are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you choose to buy through them. It costs you nothing extra, just helps keep this little corner of the internet going.