Work, Yoga, Fruits and Greens, Some Tea and Choccie... Best weekend in a long time!

I don't know how I've done it but I've somehow managed to have had THE BEST WEEKEND EVER! Call me crazy - sure I no doubt put everything into my schedule, so yes one could say it was all in my own doing. And I'll happily take that too. But I'll be honest with you, for what has been at least the last 2 if not 3 months, I havn't been feeling my true amazing self.

But today I have INSPIRATION! Which is so beautifully fitting as I feel really good about blogging today - which would lead you to believe that I don't always, and yes that's correct also. So as I got my dandelion tea ready (I think the coffee drinker in me still loves how it looks like a big pot of black coffee mmm), and a few pieces of choccie (did you know Loving Earth have a new recipe?), I moved my laptop into my study - where I do love to work but it is bloody cold in comparison to every other room in the house so at this time of year I don't really spend time there - and sat down.This is my little piece of Heaven.

It's picture perfect. I had my incense on and it overlooks the front yard which in itself is inspiring I think. The word "INSPIRATION" was staring me in the face, and on my yoga magazine; "Bliss Every Day".Um synchronicities much?

So the rest of what I want to type away with my excited little fingertips is this -

Yesterday I was working all day (yeh best weekend ever I hear you moan). But i LOVE my job. And what's more - I LOVE that I can say that! I know way too many people who can't. Or wont. I work with beautiful girls and LOVE talking to all the customers that come in. At 520pm I ran over to my gym for a 530pm yoga class that was taken by a fill-in teacher and she was beautiful. It was the perfect end to my day (and even more so as I usually do a weights class followed by a cardio class, but as I've been ill lately I think NOT being able to do those was a blessing in disguise paving the path for yoga instead). I waltzed out and was pleasantly surprised by Brock waiting at the door for cuddles before we walked back home together.
Hot showers and a delicious dinner followed by maca truffles that are my absolute favourite right now (thanks to the beatiful Tamara at The Goodness Company - love you).

This morning I woke and cleansed in another hot shower - rubbing organic sugar scrub all over my body and topping it off with warm oils. Yum! I made Brock and I juicy fruit platters before I met my cousin for a green tea in the sun over a good ol' chin wag - wasn't it absolutley delicious this morning?!?!

Sunday morning brekkie

I popped by the cafe my other cousin works at for a quick hug on my way to yoga again. This mornings teacher was one that I wasn't so fond of in the past so I did hesitate about going. But on Brock's wise words "Go - You love it!"  I am so so glad I did.

I've been practicing yoga on and off for a few years, doing more of my own at home but a couple of classes each week if and when I can get there. But for the first time ever, my thoughts stayed in the yoga room! MY mind wasn't wondering about work or college, or posting a letter, or what I had to do later... I was totally in the room in my practice with my breath and my flow (for those of you that know me well, you'll know how HUGE that is for me). 

I figure if I've made the effort and choice to take 90minutes out of my Sunday to attend yoga - then I "should" attend it! Save thinking about college work, blogging, washing, when I'll see Brock again, remembering to call Mum, message Tanya, make treats later... etc etc etc. Save it til after class coz right now, you're here so prove it! Easier said than done alot of the time though hey. I'm sure many of you can relate. But today - and I'll admit, the teacher (who yes I wasn't so keen on previously) was a HUGE help in this depertment. Reguarly checking in on our breathing to make sure it was audible made a big difference. And I suppose other than that, maybe it was all me. And I somehow managed to actually be in an entire yoga class. And it felt incredible.

So again, I floated on out into the crisp winter air and warm sunshine. A train trip home reading my latest magazine for inspiration on organics (I've got some interesting tips n info next post) made a yummy lunch, sat outside whilst reading the paper, then made a batch of sweet caramel hazelnut balls for a friends birthday, and now I'm sitting in my haven talking to you guys... I havn't felt so good in a long time!

I hope you all had SPECTACULAR weekends also :)

Sour Little Lemons

Just a quickie mid-week to let you know my latest post on LEMONS and why they're awesome in detox and particuarly for helping gallstones is up at The Raw Divas blog here so be sure to check it out!

Perfect Peachy Persimons

I whipped up such a yummy lunch after yoga last week. I came home starving and had to make something to fill my grumbling tummy pronto! I had found a couple of persimmons left on the bonnet of my car thanks to my man who sneakily dropped them off to surprise me, so I raced home and started chopping super fast!
Easily my favourite fruit at the moment; addicted!?!

Ingredients:


persimons
celery
apples
snow pea sprouts


Chop your persimons, celery and apples into small little chunks. Throw them into a bowl. Add your sprouts.

You can also drizzle a little olive oil or orange infused agave syrup over the top if you feel the temptations. A little blob of yummy nut butter is also delish!

And last night for dinner B and I shared a huge bowl of fresh spinach and persimon salad, laced with coconut water! And a few chia seeds sprinkled ontop. Sounds odd? Maybe so but it's so good.

Try it. Fast. Simple. Fresh. Yum.

Dinner for me?

My life pretty much revolves around food - blending smoothies, making juices, creating salads, chopping, slicing, dicing, packing lunches, trying to come up with a different salad for dinner... and as much as I love it all every now and then (I hit a rough patch) I couldn't care less, I'm sick of forever being in the kitchen, I'm tired and exhausted, and everything seems to much!! Know the feeling ?? 


Haha... always funny to look back on. Anyway that period hit me this week. Living in a house with three other people who don't eat raw I make everyone of my meals when the others share their duties. So when my mummy said she was going to make something special for me - OH MY GOD! I felt like I had died and gone to Heaven! I was so so SO grateful to have someone make my dinner for me I can't tell you how much it meant to me!

And what a FAB job my mummy did!!

These were so yummy, and the sauce only made them better! She spent days sprouting mung beans, black eyed beans and barley for these guys. Mixed them up with avocado, a little tamari, and a few other bits n bobs. Served with fresh rocket for a touch of spice (and lots of leftovers for later), I was one very happy lady :)

Nourishing Cooked Foods

At the top of my street there's a cute little Indian take away place. Not the dodgy greasy kind, but a nice small shop where all the dishes are cooked with loving hands each day by the Indian guys that work there. I walk past it everyday and have done so since it opened over 2yrs ago. And everyday I've seen petite crispy vegie samosa's through the window and have wanted to try them. But a bigger part of me intuitively felt that I would feel ill if I did. And so I never bought one. Never even ventured in - but then again if you wern't going to buy anything, why would you?

This evening on my way home from work after my kinesiology/Chinese Medicine session that I LOVE and look forward to every 3 weeks, I walked past the little Indian place again, and had the same thought; "yum yum vegie samosas", only tonight, I turned around, walked in, and bought one.

I walked home, sorted out my "coffee meditation" (my enema) that I'm currently doing daily, before later sitting down to try one of the crispy samosas I had looked at through the shop window everyday for over 2yrs (a part of me wondered if it was a little counter-productive to do so after an enema but admittedly I didn't really care).

A cooked vegie samosa for a girl that eats raw? Well yes. And why not? Today felt right. Oh how cliché yeh? But for me that’s exactly it. It felt right. The minute I turned around and spoke to the Indian man, it felt right. Almost a 'mothering' energy to what I was doing. I know that the catalyst for change was largely due to the kinesiology session I had – and the horrendous migrane I suffered from last Monday and Tuesday.

Whilst couch-bound last week I watched a DVD on food, nutrition and the links they have with Chinese Medicine. Fascinating! Fascinating!! Omg! Chinese Medicine is something I’ve only very recently gotten into but it’s definatley something I will be furthering my knowledge in. So in watching this DVD, the first topic they spoke about was, believe it or not, MIGRANES. A lot of people look to avoiding certain foods that might be causing migranes (traditionally alcohol, chocolate, bread, dairy, tomatoes, mushrooms – everything I don’t eat bar the last two), but in Chinese Medicine they look more at the cravings one might be experiencing prior to a migrane surfacing to help find the cause; if you're craving coffee and spices then your body is in excess, where as if you're craving sugar, sweets and carbs then your body is deficient.  Interesting point numero uno.

Furthering that, the spleen is like the KING organ in Chinese Medicine, and closely linked to migranes. I remember the DVD talking about warming foods, nothing raw and nothing cold to help with any spleen issues. Chinese Medicine on the whole is against cold foods - think about it, Asian cuisine is so tightly tied in with tea at every meal to help warm the body (amongst many other things).

So when I saw my kinesiologist this afternoon and told him I wanted to look at my headaches and migranes (which for me are clearly 100% stress based – hello migrane came first day due back at college!!), when issues with my spleen came up I was not in the least bit surprised. Adrenals also cropped up – again, no surprises there.

Your spleen cleanses your blood. And your blood carries all nutrients around your body of course. So if your spleen isn’t doing it’s job; either not enough blood is getting around your body (including your head) or not enough nutrients are getting around your body (including your head) which yes… could possibly be resulting in headaches! Interesting point numero due.

Additionally, if you think of your spleen as your wok and your kidneys as your fire, cold raw foods are seen as damp logs on the fire – these foods won’t cook very well in the wok. Warmer foods will. Cooked foods will. Interesting point numero tre. Food for thought...

In my case, there are also (more often than not of late) issues with my adrenals. These babies are located just above your kidneys and in a nutshell, they are HUGE in relation to your stress levels. If you’re stressed your adrenals will be feeling it (Reishi tea I’m coming for you honey!). For me – I could’ve ticked that box before I went in. I’m the first to admit I make mountains out of molehills and am forever trying to reach up to my high high expectations of myself, and wanting/trying/feeling the need to always be doing so so much! CAUTION: ADRENAL FAILURE right there!

So to put it in a pretty picture – high expectations, stress, and wanting to always achieve lead me to over-thinking, worrying, and a hell of a lot of time spent in my head going here, there and everywhere… (as for lying in bed EXHAUSTED at night but UNABLE to sleep… adrenals!!) This literally up-roots my energy, pulling me away from the Earth so I’m not grounded at all. Vicious cycle coz not being grounded only makes things in my head go even more coo-coo. A lack of blood getting around and/or a lack of nutrients being carried in my blood means there’s less of it or less goodies in it getting to my head, which of course would be impacting on the frequency and severity of my headaches and migranes.

But back to the samosa…

The thought of warm nourishing wholefoods has felt good recently. The thought of it even feels very earthing. And I’m an Earth girl suffering from a lack of Earth right now! It almost feels like something I need to go back to for a bit to see how things unravel. My body is never wrong. My mind often can be, and others’ minds often can me wrongly influencing mine. But my body never lies.

So after my appointment this afternoon, and a light day of juices (new one invented - you gotta try pear, lemon, ginger and beetroot OMG), nuts and seeds, I was walking home past the little Indian curry place and I had the same thought; “mmm vegie samosa”, and then something changed and I turned around and walked in.

“One vegetable samosa please” with a big grin on my face. And it felt perfect. It felt nourishing to do so. A little surreally perfect infact.

And so after my coffee meditation, I enjoyed it. It was pleasurable. Meditative. Delicious.

Every. Little. Bit(e).

And that's exactly how a migrane is so totally related to eating a vegie samosa  :)
Everything is inexticably linked...