Morning Ritual with Lisa of Green Heart Foods

Finding Daily Moments of Peace Through Meditation

In the last several years I have made an extra effort in having some time in the morning to get centered, and be in a state of grace before the madness of my day begins. Since I’m pretty much a single mama with a  brood of animals, I have lots of chores when the sun rises. I have noticed though, that if I give myself the half hour extra, and an hour on the weekends, I actually get more accomplished and am much happier through out the day. Yes that means waking up earlier, but the rituals end up giving me more energy throughout the day. Now I look so forward to my moments of peace and meditation before anyone is up. Sunrise is also the time when our intuition is the most clear and uncluttered, so tuning in can be very beneficial to getting messages or thoughts of inspiration from your inner self.

For more spiritual rituals see The Local Rose.

When I first met Lisa Chatham I instantly noticed her serenity, sense of strength, calmness and presence. When she told me she begins each day with set of rituals, I realized where some of that magic in her stems from. She invited us into her lovely home in Venice where we discussed morning rituals, her restaurant Green Heart Foods in San Francisco, our favorite raw coconut water, the California drought, coconut pulling, and more. I have actually visited Green Heart in San Francisco and love the all organic, healthy concept behind the green love. Through food, Lisa is transforming and educating people about why organic and sustainable food sources are a must. She truly lives in tune with plants and the environment around her. Now inspired by her, I pull a card each morning after several cups of Living Tea. I also discovered skin scraping or Gua Sha which is an ancient Chinese practice of clearing the skin for optimal health. Read below for the interview with her, and soon to come a recipe for a coconut turmeric tonic.

1) What makes your heart green?
Green is the color of the anahata or heart chakra so I guess I believe we all have green hearts. I’m very connected to colors and I interpret people, qualities, and experiences partially through color. The color green feels vibrant and rich to me.

2) Tell us about your morning ritual? How does this inform your day?
My days are intense (just like everyone else), and my morning practice puts me in a place of balance and clarity to begin my day. Not only does it keep me more in a peaceful flow, but it also makes me more effective, and keeps me healthy. This is my practice:

1. WAKE: usually between 5:00 – 5:30am. There’s something about the before sunrise hours that feels packed with potential.
2. IN BED: Before anything, I meditate. Right now, I’m at 15 minutes and was at 10 for about a year. It’s not very long. At one point I realized that the act of getting out of bed was inhibiting my practice, so I started just doing it in bed. I still get out of bed sometimes, but if the only thing that’s standing between me and my practice is leaving my bed, I can compromise.
3. IN THE KITCHEN: I do oil pulling with coconut oil for 10 minutes, then take swig of organic bitters followed by a big glass of water. Organs are awake now!
5. OVER TEA: I try to sit down for 15 minutes or 3 pages of stream of consciousness writing. The voices and reflections that emerge before my brain is fully awake are insightful. The writing ebbs and flows, but what’s constant is tarot. I’m trying to experientially learn so I pull one card a day and hold that card in my awareness so I can see how it shows up. It’s amazing to see how clearly the cards can speak for themselves. I sleep with my deck beneath my pillow to keep them close while I’m dreaming.
7. FOR THE BRAIN: I swear 15 minutes of brain training each day is making me smarter.
8. FOR THE BODY: Most mornings, I do either reformer pilates or strength training which keep me feeling really strong. That’s helpful in moving through my day to day. Before I shower some days, I do a few minutes of gua sha or body scraping which increases circulation and seems to help my skin elasticity. It’s one of those things that hurts, but feels really good afterward.

After that, I’m feeling pretty amazing and it is most certainly time to get to work.

3) What inspired you to create Green Heart Foods?
I wanted to create a job for myself where I could do my food for people who appreciated balance, not a restrictive diet. I started in my home kitchen where I cooked for singles and couples who wanted meal support during their week. Then, out of the blue, my first corporate client, Yammer asked me to do a daily snack for their office of 90. I said “yes” without knowing how the hell I was going to pull it off. That’s when I started hustling and I’ve pretty much been doing that for the past five years. Now we feed about 1300 people a day in various offices throughout San Francisco. I love feeding clients who I’m really psyched about like Craigslist, Lumosity, Burning Man, Instacart, and Uber. It’s really cool for me to feed clients whose products I use.

4) You travel between San Francisco and LA weekly. What are your favorite 3 things about each city?
San Francisco is my more yang place. It’s my place of focus, work, and practicality. When I’m not working, I love Reliquary for clothing, fragrance, and jewelry. I love early morning walks before the city is awake – the hills with both sunrise and the moon make for very special lighting for San Francisco. I also obviously love the Green Heart Foods Cafe on 20th (at Folsom St.). I eat at least one meal a day there because it keeps me feeling good (and it’s my baby!).

Los Angeles is more yin for me. I can find my natural flow again and restore myself. The easy, breezy nature of Venice is exactly what my heart and body need each week. What I love about LA is the inspiring community. The creativity of the place lights me up and pushes me to feel more free. Another LA love of mine is Blackfoot Trading Post, which is essentially a vintage pop-up on Abbot-Kinney, owned by a wonderfully wild French woman. I don’t know where she gets the clothes, but I do know that she’ll have me strip down behind a partition and will put me in something that unexpectedly works! My other place is no longer around, but it lives on in my heart – Axe. Joanna Moore did such a phenomenal job at Axe and I miss her precision and the many fun nights in the back patio. I’m not over it.

5) Do you have a favorite beauty product or what makes your skin glow as it does?
My routine definitely starts from the inside out with a green juice most days and a once a month colonic. Day to day, I really like Evan Healy hydrosols and face oil by Blue Labelle from Isle of Wight, England. That combo keeps me feeling nice.

6) What bed is on your nightstand?
The Red Book by C.G. Jung. A friend gave it to me as a thank you gift – an amazing gift! I’m trying to read it, but it is an enormous bedside book. It’s like holding a toddler.

7) Are you a mermaid or forest fairy?
I’m certainly a forest fairy, specifically a rainforest fairy.

8) What is your dream vacation?
My dream vacation is spending a month exploring Iceland with someone special. I love Iceland; the colors and textures of the place are so psychedelic. Even though I’ve been twice, I still can’t wait to go back.

9) Do you have a motto or creed you live by?
I have a little poem: This is exactly what I need in this moment. This is exactly what I need in this moment. THIS is exactly what I need in this moment. And so on. And so on.

10) Where do you see yourself in years to come?
I see myself continuing to spend time in both Northern California and Los Angeles, but with the balance shifting toward more time in LA. I love both so much though!