Wave of Balance

Snow in March and Dinner In Nicaragua

I woke up this morning thinking about balance. I found myself thinking about how much I will appreciate warm summer days after icy and bitingly-cold ones like today. There's a certain joy that comes when the weather breaks because a cycle is ending, another is beginning, and new joys are coming. Even as I sit here with snow coming down in March, I couldn’t be more excited for the spring. There’s an electricity in me that can’t wait to share something awesome with you!

The “Not So Well” Wellness Cycle

I guess I should see if you’re going to be as excited as I am, right? Only seems fair. So, let me ask you: Have you ever wished to be calmer? Less stressed? Have you ever wished to feel more energized or more focused?

If you’re anything like me, you have. And maybe you tried things like caffeine or energy drinks. Maybe you got into the cycle of taking something to help you sleep and in the morning something to wake you up and get your energy or mood in check.

Maybe this cycle works for a few weeks but then you skip a coffee, get a migraine, spend an unproductive afternoon on the couch, and try again the next day.

Or maybe you’re a Rockstar at keeping this cycle. You grab a coffee on your way to work, pop a melatonin in the evening and repeat the next day. Sure, you could keep this going, but it’s not got you feeling all that healthy. You just don’t feel like it’s adding to your wellness routine at all.

You may find yourself in a “keep it going” cycle. The thing about that cycle is that it’s often giving you a sort of “take A for this symptom and B for this symptom” approach. It’s not giving you what we need to have healthy and sustainable mood, energy, and focus. It doesn’t have you feeling balanced. It doesn’t have you riding the waves of life and it doesn’t have to be that way anymore.

You can choose to feel more balanced in your energy, focus, and mood each day.

I know, because I had a dinner in Nicaragua once. And that dinner and it changed my life.

About That Dinner In Nicaragua

So, I found myself at dinner in Nicaragua one evening discussing food, of course, with some friends ( To read more about this amazing trip click here).

I had been to an awesome little smoothie bar earlier that day and had grabbed myself something new to try. I asked my friends what they knew about the stuff they put in my smoothie. It was this “new-to-me” food called Moringa.

An Impromptu Moringa Lesson

I was expecting the usual “It’s the newest fad for the tourists,” or “It’s glorified kale,” . I was expecting something to let me know that I had fallen into a tourist trap of sorts. But what I found was my friends telling me about the superfood that landed in my smoothie. They mentioned how growing it gives work to the farming community. They described how it was full of antioxidants and loaded with nutrients.

At dinner I learned that Moringa helps battle malnutrition in other countries. It offers sustainable farming opportunities in Nicaragua. And it's also a daily tool for energy, focus, and mood elevation.

I learned that those who grow Moringa (and those who use it daily) call it the “Tree of Life”. It definitely earned that name. It’s this superfood tree that grows fast, is super leafy, resists drought and loves warm climates. So, Moringa is often a tool for addressing malnutrition in the developing world.

Moringa is full of bioactive plant compounds and current research explores Moringa's application to antibiotic and cancer treatment, its impact on blood pressure, its impact on immune response, and how it addresses blood sugar response.

Current research aside, there are some things I do know:

Moringa is overflowing with antioxidants, energy-boosting power, an ability to help with GI balance.

The Birth of Wave of Balance

That was enough to have this community-conscious chef excited, but it got even better. My friends knew a local Moringa farmer and I began to get the feeling that this was meant to be. I met with this farmer one afternoon in Nicaragua and also met a man by the name of Mr. Soon that day too. Mr. Soon and I hit it off so well that he and I began a business relationship. We were ready to bring Moringa back to our home countries.

It was then that I created Wave of Balance, a Moringa supplement company with a conscience.

When I first decided to bring Wave of Balance to my little corner of the world, I gave out samples to friends and loved ones. I thought I’d have to check in with them in a few months to see how they were doing. But what happened instead is that they began to tell me what was going on with them.

Some felt a little pep in their step and others said they were sleeping better. Some reported their skin felt smoother and others had made it through the winter without a bout of the flu. Moringa (with its antioxidants and nutrients) was helping them. It was addressing their greatest areas of imbalance. While that’s awesome for them, now it’s your turn.

Wave of Balance: Cutting Through The Noise On Your Way To Wellness

You have so many choices when it comes to your daily routine. And there can be a lot of noise out in the world telling you what you need to live a life full of wellness.

Wave of Balance is here to cut through that noise and offer you a simple way to care for your body every day.

If you’re ready to give Wave of Balance’s Moringa Line a try click here.

Looking for a delicious way to use your Wave of Balance Moringa Powder? Click here to grab the recipe for a magical Moringa smoothie.

Nicaragua

Nicaragua: Beautiful Memories, Wildlife Conservation Adventures, And A Clear Clean Water Community Mission

Nicaragua is a place that continues to hold a revered place in my heart and in the hearts of my family.

I fell in love with Nicaragua after connecting with a friend who had family there. My family and I have grown closer to these friends and our memories with them are some of my favorites. As our families became closer, their niece who has traveled with us each time we are in Nicaragua, would watch the girls for us when needed. Needless to say, our twin daughters have been going to Nicaragua with us, of course, since they were very young and we know they’ve grown to love our trips there as much as we have.

As with any place that holds your heart, I’ve become truly committed to the people of Nicaragua. We bought land there and my non-profits have worked to enhance the lives of the people there as well. Food For Thought By The Sea worked with Waves For Water to supply water filters to the people of Nicaragua. There is a Section of Waves For Water called Restaurants For Water on their site and this organization serves to deliver these filters. There are projects going on all along the Pacific coast there. From Chancletas in the north to Tola in the south and along the Caribbean coast, in the jungle outside of Blue Fields.

I’ve traveled there to connect with the indigenous people of Nicaragua that speak forgotten languages, live in places with no automobiles, and have forged self-sustaining cultures complete with shopping and all manners of daily living.

I’ve traveled to a research center where they are studying the tapir, an animal that looks to me like wild boar with a horse head. They’re almost extinct, and I was lucky enough to see the project to get them to reproduce and grow their population. These intriguing animals are almost prehistoric looking and without this project, they’d be completely gone.

Chris Jordan was one of the people who work on the project and he traveled with me. I was soon grateful for his company because it was an adventure just to get there: We took a boat through the pearl river, and the boat engine died. We found ourselves nowhere near anything, truly terrified, with no cell service. We overcame our fear and got the engine going. Moving again we went to Pearl Lagoon for lunch (a delicious and well-earned fish meal) and then took another boat to the jungle. From there we took a horseback ride for 45 minutes and hiked from there another 45 minutes to the research center. After the research center we too another 45-minute horseback ride and 45-minute hike to where they were bringing the water-filters to a school.

The excursions were quite exciting but there were other joys on the trips I took to Nicaragua, including the exposure to a completely new culture. I loved going to surf and enjoy the beautiful beaches, watching volcanoes at night erupting in the distance. Climbing those volcanoes on the lake during the day was also nearly indescribable.

Lake Nicaragua is the only fresh water lake with oceanic animal life, sharks, swordfish and the like and it is one of the most breathtaking places to which I’ve ever been.

 Whether we spent the day sailing, hiking, or slack-lining between palm trees outside a local bar, we often found ourselves enjoying huge fresh-caught fish at lunch and dinner. While I enjoyed my fair share of fish and other fare, no trip of mine is ever truly complete without exploring and learning to make a local specialty or two. Nicaragua has so much to offer in this department and so much of it will be new to an American palate.  On my trips I love to learn to make a local dish and in Nicaragua that meant Nacatamales and Pili’s cheese cake. I learned to make them from Antonia, the woman who cares for the house that I rent there.  Pili taught me to make her passionfruit cheesecake/panna cotta hybrid in the kitchen of her own restaurant I brought that recipe and memory back and you can find it served at Langosta Lounge in the summer.

Nicaragua is an infinitely beautiful and memorable place for my family and I. It is a place where we go to explore and enjoy and to be of service and we would encourage you to make your own journey there. Should you take my advice, I promise you’ll never look at palm trees, volcanoes, clean drinking water or cheesecake the same way again.