Weekend inspiration.

"Through yoga, I became interested in meditation and positive affirmations. Everyday, I tell myself I am a vibrant being of love and light". -Miranda Kerr

I'm currently practising Purna yoga on Tuesday nights with an infectiously uplifting teacher. Purna yoga means "integrated" and "complete" as it holistically combines specific alignments of physical postures, yogic philosophy, pranayama breathing and meditation.

I find Purna yoga, actually yoga in general, brings me immeasurable amounts of joy, makes my heart feel light and I walk out of class with an amazing sense of clarity about my life.

Put your fears and judgements aside and find a class to go to on a regular basis.

Namaste.

Get the most out of oats.

It's the last week of Winter!! So make the most of delicious hot breakfasts while you can! I made up a porridge handout for the shop after I realised that nearly every person was making "quick oats" in the microwave and adding brown sugar to it. Some people even add butter!! I felt like it was time to intervene...

What are the benefits of eating porridge?
Oats are a wholefood that are packed with protein to stabilise blood sugar levels, fibre which binds to cholesterol and eliminates it from the body and measurable levels of magnesium, tryptophan and B vitamins to improve mood. They also have a thermogenic effect on the body which means they keep you warm! When you microwave oats (or anything!) the nutritional value is lost.

How do I cook porridge for one?
Add half a cup of rolled oats (or brown rice flakes if coeliac) to a small saucepan, cover with water and leave for 10 minutes. In a perfect world we would soak them overnight, but 10 minutes will do for busy people. This will “pre-digest” the oats for you, making them easier for your body to break down. Place the saucepan on the stove and add ½ a cup of water and ½ a cup of milk and simmer on a low heat until creamy and tender. Add extra milk if you want it creamier.

What sort do I buy?
Try to buy organic rolled oats, not flavoured “quick oats” that have had their goodness steamed out of them and have artificial flavours and added sugar.

Banana and coconut porridge
Add 1 chopped banana and 2 teaspoons of shredded or dessicated coconut. At end squeeze on honey and a tablespoon of coconut cream.

Gourmet Aussie Porridge
Add 1 tsp of wattle seeds to soaking porridge and cook as per usual, add maple syrup and squeeze of lime to taste.

Chai spiced Oats
Let a chai teabag steep for four minutes in one cup of boiling water. Remove the teabag and use this water/tea to soak the oats in instead of plain water. Add honey and cinnamon to taste.

Mixed Seed Porridge
Soak the oats in water for 15 mins with a mixture of seeds, such as pumpkin, sunflower, sesame and linseeds. The seeds swell and are delicious when cooked in the porridge this way.

Cran-Hazelnut Oats

Combine 1 Tbsp of dried cranberries, a little orange zest and ¼ cup of crushed hazelnuts to your morning porridge.

Apricot-Almond Oats
Dice 4 organic dried apricots (black in colour) with 1 Tbsp of toasted flaked almonds.

Canadian Porridge
Add 1 Tbsp of chopped walnuts, stewed apples, cinnamon and a drizzle of maple syrup.

Cinnamon-Sultana Porridge
Add 2 tsp of sultanas, a Tbsp of LSA (linseed, sunflower, almond meal) and a sprinkling of ground cinnamon. Yummy served with some stewed apple and Greek yoghurt.

Strawberry-LSA Porridge
Add 1 Tbsp of LSA and 3 sliced strawberries at the end of the cooking time.

Pear-Pecan Porridge
Add ¼ cup of chopped pecans with some stewed pear

Jaffa Porridge
Add 2 tsp of cacao powder (raw unrefined powder from cocoa beans that has that bittersweet dark chocolate taste) and some orange zest.

Peach-Nutmeg Porridge
Add a few sliced of chopped tinned peaches with a sprinkling of nutmeg.

Date-Walnut Porridge
Add 4 chopped dates to your soaking oats and ¼ cup of chopped walnuts.

Which one to choose first??

Happy Monday!

Yes it's Monday again... So for those of you who were working your butts of indoors today and missed out on soaking up the rays, here's a little Yoda pug to cheer you up!

Knowledge is the new black.

Learn something every single day.

Expand your mind.

Immerse yourself with knowledge.

Exercise your brain.

Grow smarter.

Acquire a new skill.

Embrace your inner nerd.

Your brain is like a muscle = Use it or lose it.

Eating glue.

There was always that kid in Kindy who would get in trouble for eating the Clag glue (remember the one with the red lid with the brush inside? Not much has changed…

I was talking to a colon hydrotherapist last week and she was telling me how back in the day they used to make wallpaper glue out of flour, sugar and water… If you Google how to make kids craft glue, they will also tell you that combination.

Now think about most people’s diet: cereal for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, a few biccies for afternoon tea and a bowl of spag bol for dinner… Flour-sugar-water.

You are eating glue. This then becomes stuck to the walls of your intestine causing constipation and blocking the absorption of nutrients. The colon hydrotherapist enlightened me that we are all holding between 3-12kgs of waste in our colons! Refined foods like rice crackers, supermarket bread, packet noodles and wheat pasta have no health benefits and your body actually has to donate it’s own existing nutrients to help break them down! Double negative L

So how about a mushrooms and capsicum omlette for brekkie, a grilled chicken salad for lunch, fresh fruit and peppermint tea in the afternoon then a yummy prawn stirfry with brown rice for dinner?

Go wheat-free for ten days and notice the difference! Especially all you blood type A's out there! I remember when I ditched wheat six years ago when I was 20. I instantly shredded a dress size, gained energy, felt lighter in my digestion and realised that I wasn't in fact just a "tired person"!

Rule of the day: Keep it fresh, keep it real and make sure it’s recognisable as it was when it was growing in nature (have you seen any Nutra-Grain trees lately)!

Turkey lurkey

I recently expanded my thinking and have been really getting into the blood type diet.

My blood type is A which thrives on a fresh, pure and organic vegetarian diet with no wheat and dairy. A’s have sensitive digestion and flourish with yoga and meditation. This sums me up to a tee! We may as well rename the A blood type the Emma blood type!

Ever since the whole live cattle export drama went down, I haven’t eaten any red meat. And to be honest, my digestion has never been better! Type A’s can however eat some fish, chicken, turkey and poussin (baby chickens). When I was skimming through the blood type book I read poussin, I thought it said “possum”. Eek! Haha.

So I’ve really been getting into pink Atlantic salmon fish cakes, gluten-free marinara pizzas, free-range chicken stirfrys and a HEAP of turkey!!

Turkey to me was primary reserved for Christmas time but I’ve been roasting giant turkey breasts stuffed with purple Mexican garlic and buying turkey mince and making meatballs with steamed green beans and broccolini on quinoa. Yum….

Turkey trivia:
1. Turkey is high in an amino acid called TRYPTOPHAN.

2. Tryptophan converts to SEROTONIN which is a neurotransmitter that acts as an antidepressant.

3. Serotonin then goes on to make MELATONIN which is a hormone that regulates your body clock and makes you feel super sleepy.

So what does this mean?? Turkey helps you feel happy and makes you want to have a nana nap, which is why we all have a little snooze Xmas afternoon!

I'll chat more about the different blood types later but if you're curious grab a copy of Eat Right For Your Blood Type by Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo

The reason for seasons.

I swear I must be the only one loving Winter this year! Over the last three months I've spent hours soaking in hot baths, simmered litres of soy chai, prepared countless casseroles in the slow cooker and invested in a pure lambs wool underlay.

But rest assured, Spring is only nine sleeps away... Hello bare legs, blossoming flowers, light cardigans and yummier fruit!

Pining for pineapple.

I drive an economical red Barina named Ruby. On average she costs me about $12 a week to run. Same price as a kilo of bananas. Petrol or bananas? Hmmm…

So let’s boycott the traditional banana smoothie and get creative in the kitchen!!



Here’s a little something I threw together this afternoon:

Juice half a pineapple, 3 granny smith apples and a chunk of ginger.

Pour into a blender and whiz together with 6 strawberries and a heaped teaspoon of spirulina.

Ta-daaa!

Makes enough for one small naturopath and her thirsty boyfriend.


Perfect pineapple facts:

*Pineapple contains the enzyme bromelain which helps to gobble up inflammation in the body and helps you to digest your food.

*If you feel really bloated and heavy after eating meat, chop up some pineapple and place it in a bowl with the marinating meat. The bromelain in the pineapple “pre-digests” the protein in the meat and makes it super tender.

*Before a meal have a little entrée of a piece of pineapple, some paw paw (contains papain) and half a kiwi fruit (actinidin) -which are all high in digestive enzymes, to get your tummy all hungry and grumbly.

*On an empty stomach, bromelain has a Pac Man effect on inflammation. Therefore pineapple is awesome for inflammatory conditions like arthritis, ulcerative colitis, back pain and hayfever.

*Bromelain is particularly beneficial for A blood types.

*You can get bromelain in supplement form like in BioCeuticals Quercetain.


How good is using food as medicine!

Quote of the Week.

"No one can depress you.

No one can make you anxious.

No one can hurt your feelings.

No one can make you anything other than what you allow".

-Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

I will if you will...

Indulge this wkend. Go on... I give you permission ;)

Doona Day.

I was perusing the shelves of my local book shop last week and stumbled upon a little bundle of wonderfulness -in book form.

That book is Tucked In by artist and illustrator Meredith Gaston. I am an unconditional lover of hand written books eg. Succulent Wild Woman by Sark and The Enchanted Broccoli Forest by Mollie Katzen, just like Tucked In. So needless to say this book is now a permanent resident on my bedside table.

In a very imaginative nutshell, Tucked In inspires you to see sleeping and convalescing as a relaxing, healing and luxurious experience.

Chapters include:
Nurturing comfort foods
Tasty midnight snacks
How to knit a teacup cosy
Japanese haiku poetry
The art of journaling
A glossary of bed essentials
Herbal infusion baths

So fill up your fluffy hot water bottle, pull on your knitted bed sock and curl up in a ball as you read these silly sleeping facts:

Octopi seek out underwater caves to sleep in
Fish sleep with their eyes open
Flamingos, dolphins and ducks sleep with half their brains awake
Giraffes sleep for less than two hours a day and are known to sleep walk

ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz……

Fresh faced.

I have a newfound fetish for day spas. It’s true. What’s not to love about candle lit rooms, pan flute music playing softly in the background, adorably bubbly beauty therapists and then floating out of your treatment smelling like a meadow of flowers? Indulge yourself!

Here are five super easy tips to set you on the path to glowing skin:

1. Pour yourself a jug of purified water and add the juice of half a lime and ¼ of a cucumber all sliced up. Keep topping up your glass and sipping throughout the day. Other yummy combinations to add to your water are slices of strawberries and green apples, lemon and ginger or halved green grapes and fresh mint. Eat the fruit when you’ve drank all your water and try to buy organic. Great for those who struggle to drink enough water or have sluggish digestion!!

2. Keep your hands clean! How many times a day do you scratch your face or lean on your hand when you’re studying? This is transferring bacteria and more oil to your face.

3. Once a week use a clay mask to draw out any impurities in the skin. Mix one teaspoon of green clay powder in a teacup with one drop of lavender and just enough water to make a smooth paste. After a quarter of an hour, gently wash off with warm water and a very soft cloth. Not only is lavender oil a great antibacterial, it will help you feel chilled out as you breathe in the scent. Ahhhh… now that is worth looking like Shrek for 15 minutes!

4. Make an appointment with a reputable beauty therapist and let them analyse your skin. A lot of people assume that they have oily skin because they are breaking out but they may actually have dry skin and the “oily skin type” products that they are using are clogged their pores. They can also help to show you how to care for your skin as the seasons change.

5. Your skin is a reflection of what’s going on inside of you. Maybe your hormones are running wild, your liver needs a holiday or you’re having “incomplete” bowel movements. Chat to a naturopath to get you squeaky clean on the inside!

Because makeup is SO yesterday ;)

High five.

Don’t just celebrate all the major things in life such as graduations, weddings and job promotions. Celebrate ALL of your (and your loved ones) achievements no matter how insignificant they may seem! This includes handing in assignments when you’re in your first year of uni, 3 month anniversaries in a new relationship or losing 2 kilos when you’re on your way to 10.

Celebrating even the tiniest success you experience is a positive reminder that you’re one stepping stone closer to your goals.

Looking at a sizeable goal such as finishing a uni degree or losing a large amount of weight can be really overwhelming and feel far from your grasp in the beginning. So breaking it down into little bite-size chunks makes it so much more achievable and motivating.

Last Tuesday night at my yoga class I did my first unattended headstand! Metaphysically it can be quite a challenge to have your heart above your head… So to celebrate I rewarded myself yesterday with a massage :)

"Tiny ripples create a vast ocean."