In 2013 I was handed nutritionist and holistic wellness expert Kimberly Snyder’s book The Beauty Detox Foods, after I had mustered up the courage to ask a new friend, who is an actor, about her diet and lifestyle. I write ‘mustered up’ because as a 20-year veteran of the fashion industry at 23, I had come to the conclusion, for tender and obvious reasons, people aren’t always comfortable detailing what they eat or how they maintained shape, particularly those under an added spotlight.
Nutritionists and personal trainers felt reserved for actors in production, professional athletes, or shelved for a future time with more savings in the bank account, somewhere out on the horizon. I wanted palpable advice, and mostly got vague responses like, “Think thin!” and my personal favorite, “Oh, I don’t workout or watch what I eat, I’m just naturally like this.” I would be featured in a print ad in a magazine and could turn the page to a disingenuous ‘What I Eat In a Day’ describing a diary of caffeine, processed foods, sugar, dairy. All the things that made me feel sluggish, bloated and dim.
Being handed Kimberly Snyder’s book by a professional actor glowing right in front of me felt like an optimization, with the newest software ready to be downloaded. After years of cross country red-eye flights, sustained by airport lounge cheeses, caffeine at all hours, vending-machine-style craft services, and disrupted sleep, I knew that I would have to start making a conscious effort to achieve the inner and outer glow coveted by so many. Kimberly had me at ‘Glowing Green Smoothie’ and just a little after a week on her nutrition protocol a photographer I often worked with said to me, “Your skin literally looks airbrushed, thanks for making post production easier!”
Kimberly has written six books, three of them New York Times bestsellers, including Radical Beauty, which she co-authored with Deepak Chopra, and wrote her latest book, You Are More Than You Think You Are, while she was pregnant with her second son Moses. The day my copy arrived I was anxious about the year coming to a close, and that anxiety was exacerbated by a pandemic. I felt stunted in my growth, or perhaps not as far along with certain projects I thought would be near completion. I was distracted, and quite honestly I was depressed. In some ways, in a nutritional sense, I had come a very long way and felt well equipped. My mind and spirit on the other hand felt frenetic. As the old saying goes, I felt off my nut by a mile and a half. Her book is what the world needs now; a practical and simple guide to finding enlightenment in our everyday lives.
Seeing the new cover felt like greeting a beloved friend again. I noticed right away that it was her first book without her photograph on it. Later, during a Virtual Book Tour on Instagram Live with her friend Danica Patrick, who is the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel car racing, Kimberly shared her decision to not have her image on the cover because the book is not about her. Later in the conversation, in the context of the dangers of clinging too desperately to what we want to attract in the future—a particular outcome perhaps or attracting love—Danica potently brought up a teaching reinforced in Kimberly’s book; “If you hold too much grip, it creates a force of resistance.”
This teaching resonates with just about anybody, and naturally it suits the only woman in the world to win an IndyCar series race.
Kimberly does not hoard transformative information. As a spiritual guide, meditation teacher, nutritionist, and holistic wellness expert she fundamentally understands it is meant to be shared, because what good is our own radiance, without meeting it out in the world? By publishing this philosophy she makes accessible practical methods for improving the quality of our lives. Throughout the book and motivated by her time spent in India, there is an overdue spotlight on the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda, who was instrumental in making yoga accessible in the West in the 1920s.
Kimberly shares, “The central message of the book is how to tap into the unstoppable force of the True Self inside of you. It’s an inner power that everyone has access to inside of them. Tapping into it is the key to living your best life. It’s the stable, courageous, intelligent, calm, creative part of us.”
Her Four Cornerstone philosophy is centered around the pillars of Food, Body, Emotional Well-Being, and Spiritual Growth. “When you follow this holistic approach, you honor and nurture all aspects of yourself because your power lies in your wholeness, which is found inside of us,” she says. “We are whole beings regardless of what our society or social media says about who we are. When we treat ourselves as fractured, then we get fractured energy and results.”
“In over a decade of working with clients in all areas of their health, I’ve found that if we focus on only one part of our lives, we’re not experiencing real wellness,” Kimberly says “Sure we might get fit or lose weight or whatever, but we still feel like something is off. Maybe we still don’t feel peaceful or confident. And that is because wellness is wholeness.”
One of my favorite things about her book is the gentle cadence. I felt I was inhabiting a nurturing space in it’s landscape. Some days chapters flew by, exercises easily filled pages in my journal (a meaningful body of work to revisit after you finish the book), other times I gave myself days to sit with myself and contemplate. Her words guided my attention to shifting away from feeling a place of lack, to a place of abundance. In this book she details her full playbook of teachings and practices to create love, abundance, peace and vitality in our lives. It can be as simple as her Peace Now Practice which can be accessed literally anywhere, anytime.
“While we all enjoy the latest trends, old things can have great value. I highlight in this book specific ancient (really old) practices and techniques that will help you tap into your fullest potential, access unbounded energy, and bring forth prosperity and abundance in all that you do. And it’s easy to do. ”You Are More Than You Think You Are is available now wherever books are sold. For more information on Kimberly please check out her site: www.mysolluna.com.
