Feb 25, 2010

Do what you Love. Love what you do.

Last night I went to Dr. John Demartini seminar on Reaching Your Goals and wanted to share one piece of valuable information with you that he spoke about;

Priorities.

And on opening my daily page of wisdom in my book Simple Abundance this morning to read the mesage for today, I was not surprised that it was titled "Reordering Your Priorities".

By acknowledging, recognising, and reordering our priorities so that they can give purpose to our days is a deeply personal task that we all need to do if we are to learn how to live by our own lights.

Delegating lower priorites so as to get on with our higher priorities will in turn allow us to focus on our higher values. And our heirachy of values dictate our destiny.

What is your Destiny?
What are your highest values?
What are your most important priorities?

Chunk it down. Work it backwards. We are all Masters of our own Destiny - not victims of our history as John Demartini put it.

Do what you love. And love what you do.

Feb 22, 2010

You are what you eat



This past week I was blessed by being able to attend 2 different lectures in the city both on health, wellbeing and particulary nutrition, which is my passion.
On Thursday I went and saw Don Tolman who is an author, public speaker, trainer, educator, entertainer and experimental nutritional-eating researcher and all about wholefoods. I hadnt really heard much about him before Brock asked if I wanted to go, but my closest friend Maya is a big fan so I thought OK I'll see what he's all about. And I'm so much more than glad I went along. Fascinating to listen too with a wealth of knowledge under his belt, I really resonated with alot of what he spoke about;

Your bodys' only purpose is to maintain life and health.

Noone can heal you - only your body can heal itself.

And then on the weekend I went and saw David Wolfe who I do know about, have his books, and love his work. To sum him up is impossible as the list of work, credentials, experience, travel and everything else he has done is AMAZING, but any raw foodie would know him as either the "avocado guy" or the "chocolate guy" - he won’t be shy to tell you why chocolate is the greatest, most prosperous, nutritious, mood-elevating, highest energizing, and top weight loss aphrodisiac food on the planet!

... by 'chocolate' I mean RAW, organic, unsweetened, vegan CACAO... a source of calcium, omega 3, zinc, iron, copper, sulphur, beta-carotene, protein, potassium and stree relieving magnesium - the reason women crave chocolate every month. Food of the Gods.

And I'm happy to hear it!!



Seeing him was INCREDIBLE! Just sitting in the university lecture hall where he was speaking, surrounded by 450+ like minded individuals, immersed in raw nutrition education, there was an energy in the room and I myself was buzzing!! That's my thing. My purpose. My BUZZ! It's what I live for!

He spoke about superfoods liks goji berries, cacao, noni, maca, mangosteen, bee pollen, MSM, avocados, spirulina... working with your strengths, eating raw foods, LIVING! I loved how he said "we've survived the worst... now it's time for the best". Forward movement. Get into LIVING! LIVING FOOD. LIVING BODIES.


YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT :)

Feb 16, 2010

Self Love on Valentines Day




"Don't seek for love. Seek to find and remove the barriers you've built against love." -Rumi

I hope you all had a happy Valentines Day :)

Whatever your take on the day, each year my feelings about it are completley different. When I've been single I've either dreaded it as everyone around me makes their romantic plans... or embraced it and loved having noone with me when I've felt really solid in who I am! This year I have a partner and half of me was really excited about it yet the other half of me wasn't at all. Either way, I think Valentines Day should be about SELF LOVE first and foremost; whether you shared that with a loved one, or decided to cuddle up on the couch with a good book and a cup of tea. I hope you had fun :)

I was more than happy that Brock had work most of the day so I could do what I wanted to do for me first and then see him later on.

My day began early with 4 mangoes then a trip to the organic markets getting some sugar bananas, spaghetti veg and rosehip oil, along with the Sunday paper which is a secret little indulgence of mine :) I got home, had some more mangoes whilst reading the paper and later went for an hour-long mid-morning run which felt FANTASTIC!! I had a beautiful big green salad for lunch with my mum and sister Nikki at home, complete with my favourite raw carrot bread, spread with hemp seed butter. Mmm. Green and creamy :)

Nikki and I wandered up to my local markets after lunch, got some cute little cards and a few cups of walnuts so I could make raw cupcakes for Valentines Day. I wasnt exactly sure what I was going to do or how I was going to do it, but bit by bit I began seeing more and more creations in my head and then the finished product... Voila!!

VALENTINES CUPCAKES!

They are made with LOVE, walnuts, organic carob powder, medjool dates, raspberries and coconut oil. Piece of (cup) cake!

Brock came over late afternoon to whisk me away to our surprise location for the night - a fancy apartment in the city! Complete with a box of fresh delicious produce to snack on for dinner and brekkie! Best present ever!! With all the heavy rain we spent our evening indoors relaxing and catching up after having spent almost a week away from each other. Blissful and perfect.



Yesterday I did some quiet journalling, reading, karma cleaning, even some nude sunbaking in the back yard as the sun let itself be known again after so long without it!

Today I started my day with an old Ayruveda technique called oil pulling, then meditated before a giant sized celery, carrot and ginger cleansing juice for brekkie. YUM! I had my first Italian class after lunch which was so much fun (I'm getting back into the language of LOVE I learnt for so many years)! I felt like an eager school girl on the edge of my chair listening to the words roll so easily off the tongue of my teacher :) Then I BLISSED OUT on mangoes for dinner before 2hours of power yoga and body attack at the gym topping off another AMAZING DAY :)

But lastly, I was presented with the Angel of Relaxation card from my deck this morning when I asked what I needed to know right now;
"Let go of desired outcomes and you will get what you want"

I also read todays page from my book Simple Abundance - A Daybook of Comfort and Joy written by Sarah Ban Breathnach that I read everyday. And it spoke about picking up the double edged sword of Love and Light when feeling frightened or unsure about the future...

"our dragons are our fears; our day stalkers, our night sweats. Fear of the unknown. Fear of failing. Fear of starting something new and not finishing. Again. Or the real fear, the one that sends shivers up our spines: the fear of succeeding, of becoming our authentic selves and facing the changes that will inevitably bring...

we don't know where we're headed and it's very scary...

instead of clarity we feel confused...

always remember, it's simply not an adventure worth telling if there aren't any dragons. But as in the best old tales, at the end of your exploring, you will live happily ever after."


Syncronicity. And it's PERFECT with where I feel I am right now. But then why wouldn't it be? ;)

Feb 11, 2010

Going Bananas

Musa Acuminata - Banana Tree

Anyone that knows me knows I'm addicted to bananas. I LOVE THEM! Can't get enough. And so after a bit of a difficult week and not eating too well I decided that I wanted to do a short mono-fruit fast to get back on track - mentally, emotionally, spiritually and nutritionally - and to help my digestion along the way. Due to my work committments I chose bananas as they're high in carbohydrates that will keep me going and going and going and going (it's like an indulgence fast for me)... amongst SO MANY other AMAZING benefits I've listed below...


- Bananas are a GOOD MOOD FOOD as they contain an amino acid called tryptophan. Tryptophan is converted by the body into serotonin, which relaxes a person and helps in improving one's mood.

- Bananas are FULL of POTASSIUM. Potassium is beneficial for so many reasons... it helps to keep the body fluids and electrolyte balance in our body cells, it normalises our heart beat sending oxygen to our brain (so really good in times of stress when our potassium levels are depleted quite rapidly; perfect late night snack at the office) and it also helps muscles contract properly during exercise and in turn reduce cramps. Potassium is also known to prevent high blood pressure and reduce the lieklihood of strokes.

- Great post workout! During long exercises your body loses vitamins and minerals and a banana replaces these nutrients as well as giving you the energy you need. Conveniant. Nutritious. And comes in it's own packaging.

- Bananas are packed with vitamins B6 (helps to improve nerve function), loads of vitamin A (helps with the development of specialised tissue in the eyes and for the growth of the skin and soft skeletal tissue), and vitamin c.

- Bananas are the only raw fruit which can be eaten without distress in chronic ulcer cases. They neutralise the over-acidity of the gastric juices and reduce the irritation of the ulcer by coating the lining of the stomach.

- Bananas are great for heart burn as they have a natural antacid effect in the body.

- Rubbing the inside of a banana peel on a mosquito bite is very effective in reducing itching and swelling, and using the skin to get rid of warts worked for me as a kid!

- Bananas are also a natural source of iron. The iron found in bananas can help in the creation of haemoglobin, thus making bananas an ideal fruit for people who are suffering from anaemia.

- Bananas are very high in fibre, making them of great value in constipation and diarrhea as they normalize colonic functions in the large intestine to absorb large amounts of water for proper bowel moments. They also contain pectin, a soluble fiber that can help normalize movement through the digestive tract.

- Bananas also possess the ability to change the bacteria in the intestines - from the harmful type to the beneficial type thanks to an exceptionally rich source of fructooligosaccharide; a compound that nourishes probiotic (friendly) bacteria in the colon.

- ATTENTION ANY DRINKERS: Bananas are also considered to be a natural solution to hangovers. A banana milkshake mixed with honey will help to calm the stomach and build up depleted blood sugar levels at the same time (if you can stomach it) :)



- And last but not least bananas taste AMAZING, satisfy sweet cravings, can be made into mouth watering raw ice cream (see the bowl I whipped up for afternoon tea), eaten dried up, chewy and full of flavour, blended up with your favourite nut milk and added yummies then gulped down or straight out of the beautiful skin you find them in.

Day one of my two day fast. Feeling great. Full of energy. Loving life :)

Feb 8, 2010

Goddess of the Unknown

A new chapter of your life is around the corner; remove fear and embrace the unknown. Only through the darkness of night are we able to see the beautiful tapestry of light which stems from the stars above us.
Even though you presently cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel, you are being urged by the Goddess to trust. You are always on the right path even when you think you've strayed completley off it.
A major chapter in the story of your life has recently come to a close and an exciting new chapter is about to begin. Through the current emptiness, the seeds of a fertile new future sprout through. Soon, you will see the light shining as brightly as ever.


This card presented itself to me this morning after several minutes of meditation putting the intention out to become clearer on what I needed right now.
I've felt like I've been in a dark night for a few weeks -
Unsure. Confused. Lost.
Quiet. Contemplative. Still.
Reflective. Calm. Introspective.

But dark.

At times when I feel very lost and off path, trusting can be tiring. And difficult to try and remember. But I somehow manage to always come back to it, and today my cards have helped me in doing so.

Feb 4, 2010

What do you love?


Doing what you love. Doing what makes you happy. Doing what makes your heart sing. Doing what makes you smile. Doing what stirs up those butterflies in your tummy that want to leap out with passion, enthusiasm, and LOVE. It's what it's all about.
I've been doing so much of the things I love lately and feel AMAZING coz of it.

I LOVE going away on retreats.
I LOVE helping my beautiful girlfriend Maya out at raw catering gigs she does and seeing her do what she gets so much joy out of doing.
I LOVE getting up at 530am, when the world is still asleep, and heading off to the gym. It's my secret world full of people all high on life and the thrill of training pre-dawn like me... I get such a buzz out of it.
I LOVE my new HEMP SEED BUTTER that I was so lucky to be given as a gift from my sister as she returned home from the States. And then of course eating it on my raw bread with my big amazing salad.


I LOVE eating mango after mango after mango after mango... Way to my heart.
I LOVE coaching and the trusting alliance that it is; facilitating and supporting my clients to get to where they want go, overcoming any obstacles along the way, seeing the opportunities for growth, and the joy within themselves when they reach their goals.
I LOVE writing and emailing friends and family overseas and awaiting their replies with such excitement about what they're up too.
I LOVE journalling everything, always, anywhere, anytime.
I LOVE KITCHEN FUN!!! (this week I've made more bread and crackers, my own raw Beetroot and Rosemary burgers, Co's Super-Super Balls, and a Strawberry Coconut Surprise Tart).

I LOVE organisation; I'm a bit of a nazi-planner, everything-in-its-place kinda gal.
I LOVE my colonics.
I LOVE spending time in the ocean blissing out under water. Salt water cures all.
I LOVE driving with the windows down and my fav tunes pumping.
I LOVE watching DVDs on cold rainy days (I'm slowly indulging my inner nerd watching all six episodes of Star Wars again).
I LOVE having long girly chit chats on my bed with my mum and sisters.
I LOVE drinking kombucha.
I LOVE reading books on nutrition (predominantly raw; I LOVE the subject), personal growth and development (I seem to continually have more of these than I can keep up with), coaching (it's one of my passions and luckily my job), and adventure-filled, romantic, vespa-riding, pizza-eating, Italian fiction that sweeps up and away to the land I so love :)
I LOVE drinking herbal teas - s l o w l y - and being consciously aware of every little sip

I LOVE being real, authentic, and ME!

What do you LOVE? :)