Saturday, March 22, 2014

Raise your words


Top Five Things I LOVED This Wk:

1. Listening to two friends speak so passionately about lawn mowing! I feel like I must be missing out on something.
2. The word ‘tempestuous’.
3. Another weekend to myself largely involving Frank coffee scrub and watching Sex in the City on my laptop in the bath. Oh and more star-fishing.
4. Spontaneous sleepovers from friends on their way down the coast. A beautiful way to brighten an otherwise monotonous Monday night. There’s nothing like that mad cleaning spree when you get home from work! Maybe I should clean like this more often…?
5. Restraining myself at Bunnings from buying an apple shaped bird feeder and zebra print gardening gloves. Although a couple of extra seedlings may have snuck into my basket. 

Emma the Naturopath xx

PS. 
“There is nothing more rare, nor more beautiful, 
than a woman being unapologetically herself; 
comfortable in her perfect imperfection. 
To me, 
that is the true essence of beauty.”

-Steve Maraboli





"Raise your words,
not your voice.
It is rain that grows flowers,
not thunder"
-Rumi





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Now let me tell you something about Emma the Naturopath...


I have always had a TERRIBLE morning routine that consisted of waking as late as possible, sitting in front of the computer cramming in book work or scrolling through Insta as I drank a smoothie or vegie juice then rushed out the door to work going "Is that the time!"

Since returning from a very nourishing trip to Hawaii a few weeks ago, I've found myself in a nice little morning ritual. I wake at 7, get a pot of dandelion chai simmering on the stove then wander outside to check on my little garden. When I come back inside, I light my Drishti 'Uplifter' candle (lemongrass and lime) which is like my "coffee" that sends a message to my brain to wake up.

I sit at our wooden dining table with my chai and choose an affirmation card from the deck. I ponder it for a while, maybe write about it in my journal, eat some red papaya (obsessed right now!) then start getting ready. My husband gets up at 5 each morning to surf and watch the sun rise so the house is deliciously silent.

It's taken me 29 years to get my morning routine sorted! I knew all along that I should make the effort but I was full of excuses like "I'm just not a morning person". Now I'm reaping the benefits.

Emma the Naturopath xx

PS. Here is my affirmation card from this morning that literally jumped out of the deck as I was shuffling!

"GIFT: Within every struggle resides the tremendous potential for growth. Look for the treasure. All is well".







"Risk it, go for it. Life always gives you another chance, another go at it. 
It's very important to take enormous risks"

-Mary Gaunt





Top Five Things I LOVED This Wk:


1. That Seattle has banned the sale of bottled water!!
2. A perfectly juicy white peach.
3. The inspiring energy of Janine Allis –founder of Boost Juice. She gave a beautifully stirring and practical talk at a business seminar I attended this week.
4. Telling my husband about all the delicious recipes I can’t wait to create in my I Quit Sugar for Life cookbook. He then pointed out the fact that I was eating a Tim Tam.
5. How quickly Vanessa and I jumped back on our paddle boards when she felt something slimy brush against her leg.

Emma the Naturopath xx

PS. “Let go and your world will open up”
-Eileen Hall

Release your grip on jobs you don’t love, ended relationships and belief patterns that do not serve your life in a positive way. Let go of safety nets you have constructed around yourself and put your faith in the possibilities of the future. You’ll never know what opportunities are waiting to meet you!

Oh yeah, and please be mindful that it takes 450 to 1000 years for a single plastic bottle to biodegrade.





“I have come to accept the feeling of not knowing where I am going. And I have trained myself to love it. Because it is only when we are suspended in mid-air with no landing in sight, that we force our wings to unravel and alas begin our flight.

And as we fly, we still may not know where we are going to. But the miracle is in the unfolding of the wings.

You may not know where you're going, but you know that so long as you spread your wings, the winds will carry you.”
-C. Joybell C.

Have trust and and live in the present moment. 
You are stronger than you realise.







Top Five Things I LOVED This Wk:


1. Sliced banana and shredded coconut on top of Monday night’s yellow curry. My husband knows his way around the kitchen!
2. Mango smoothies on a sunny beach day. Cheers Mac
3. Seeing two beautiful friends become Mr and Mrs Pomroy. Because true love is a big f*%king deal.
4. High five to the person (no doubt a woman) who invented stick on nipple covers. A backless dress’s best friend.
5. Watching people sheepishly snavel our council pick up. So many slow driving cars and neighbours going for walks as the sun sets.

Emma the Naturopath xx

PS. “You never know what’s around the corner. It could be everything. Or it could be nothing. You keep putting one step in front of the other, and then one day you look back and you’ve climbed a mountain” –Tom Hiddlestone

On a drizzly overcast morning I poured myself a mug of dandelion chai and snipped up a pile of my Frankie mags and Lorna Jane catalogues and made myself a pretty little vision board *pictured*.

I don’t physically write specific goals on a piece of paper anymore as I try to adopt a more “effort with grace” approach towards the future. Sometimes the more you chase things, the further they go away. So for me, this is the perfect way to set intentions without getting too caught up in the details. Are you a fellow vision boarder?

0266 514 533
Boulevard Arcade (opp. Blush), Coffs Mall
Facebook: Essential Health Coffs

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Let them have cake


Top Five Things I LOVED This Wk: *Hawaiian Style* (It’s Sunday over here!)

1. Chomping down a massive acai bowl while watching Kelly Slater dominate Pipe.

2. The underwater language you speak to each other while snorkelling. Lots of nasal squealing accompanied by enthusiastic pointing and arm tugging. And then me clinging to my husband like a cat when it gets a bit deep for my liking.

3. When my yoga teacher asked us to dedicate our practice to somebody, I chose a beautiful friend of mine who was due to give birth that day. After a very sweaty power yoga class and an amazing refuel at The Beet Box Café, I came home and saw the good news that her beautiful son had entered the world!! Welcome little Otis!

4. The sunset on Wednesday afternoon at Sunset Beach. It turned the sky, sand and ocean the most insane electric pink.

5. Hiking to the summit of Diamond Head then tandem surfing with my husband off the Waikiki reef. I’ve never seen such turquoise water!!

Emma the Naturopath xx

PS. We stood in front of the Duke statue in Waikiki yesterday as the sun was going down. Quite a humbling experience for my surf rat of a husband. I saw a little bronze plaque on the side of the state which was really touching:

“In Hawaii we greet friends, loved ones or strangers with ALOHA, which means with love. ALOHA is the key word to the universal spirit of real hospitality, which makes Hawaii renowned as the world’s center of understanding and fellowship. Try meeting or leaving people with ALOHA. You’ll be surprised by their reaction. I believe it and it is my creed. ALOHA to you”.

-Duke Paoa Kahanamoku






Top Five Things I LOVED This Wk: (I’m home!!)

1. At the top of my “must do” list for Hawaii was to swim with turtles. On our second last day I was snorkeling at Hanauma Bay and swam right up to the most gorgeous sea turtle who was just chewing on the reef and gliding around peacefully! Tick!

2. My yoga teacher’s top “I’m just here for the savasana”.

3. The day I flew back to Coffs, I went for a walk without my iPod around the rainy marina and empty beaches. Just the grounding experience I needed.

4. My super amazing parents who dropped us off and picked us up from the airport, did my banking, collected my mail, even worked in the shop when we were a girl down, watered my plants, filled our freezer with mangos from their tree, stocked up our fridge with our fave foods and cooked us vegie patties for dinner the night we arrived home! Such legends!!

5. Digging out my old favourite story books from my childhood to read with my little niece and nephew when they came to visit.

Emma the Naturopath xx

PS. And so our time in Hawaii has come to an end. It was so nourishing on every level. Physically, we were living on granola, green smoothies, pineapple, papaya, salads, vego stifrys, coconut kefir, spirulina kombucha and acai bowls. Oh, and the odd Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups! We were riding around on our bikes, hiking, swimming and surfing in the ocean, soaking up the sunshine and sweating it out at yoga.

On a spiritual/mental/emotional level, having that time away allowed me to reflect on my life/goals/priorities/values which was so essential. That’s one of the elements of travelling which I love the most. I always gain a new perspective by seeing my world with clearer eyes. You can’t help but live mindfully in the present moment.

It’s left me feeling so inspired and excited about life again. And I can’t wait to share it with you all!!

“You have to leave the city of your comfort zone and go into the wilderness of your intuition. 
What you discover will be wonderful. 
What you discover will be yourself”

-Alan Alda



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Top Five Things I LOVED This Wk:

1. When your fave long lost song comes on the radio and you sit in the car in the driveway singing away til it’s over.

2. When your mate convinces you to bring your board “just in case”. I’m so grateful he did! We all surfed the funnest little peelers at the Pass while dark ominous clouds loomed overhead.

3. Salted caramel cupcakes at the Bangalow markets.

4. Leaving the oil on your body and through your hair for as long as possible after a massage. Stoked to find my new fave masseuse in Coffs!

5. The mini red capsicum I grew. It made a cameo appearance in tonight’s tofu rice paper rolls.
Emma the Naturopath xx

PS. “Forget yesterday
It has already forgotten you.
Don’t sweat tomorrow.
You haven’t even met.
Instead, open your eyes,
and your hearts to a
truly precious gift;
today”

-Steve Maraboli



*CHOC ZUCCHINI BROWNIES*

These are the most deliciously dense little morsels. They only rise a few inches and are really rich and moist so cut them into small squares for the perfect accompaniment to a peppermint tea as an after dinner treat or lunchbox snack!

1 ¼ cups almond meal
¼ cup cacao powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
¼ cup coconut sugar
2 tablespoons coconut oil
¾ cup zucchini, grated (one small-medium zucchini)

1. Throw all the ingredients in a food processor and blitz til smooth.
2. Grease 6.5 x 4 inch loaf pan with coconut oil or line with baking powder.
3. Bake at 180 degrees in a preheated oven for 35-40 minutes.

Dairy free
Wheat and gluten free
Paleo friendly
High protein



Top Five Things I LOVED This Wk:

1. Cellulite and stretch marks. Insta and the net can be so bombarded with super skinny flawless models with thigh gaps and “fit-spo” pages. Clearly I’m all about being physically fit and living a healthy lifestyle but it’s so refreshing to go down to the beach and see “real” girls.

2. A packet of apple sticky notes that one of my besties sent in a birthday parcel. I’ve written affirmations and stuck them in my diary, mirror and on anything else that doesn’t move.

3. Sunny windy weekdays where you only have to share the beach with a few school kids jetty jumping and a flock of seagulls.

4. Having an impromptu sleep over at mum and dad’s farm. I woke up to roosters crowing, birds in the trees, gentle rain on the tin roof and the smell of very strong Italian coffee.

5. A weekend to myself =sleeping starfish at night.

Emma the Naturopath xx

PS.
“Be here.
Be present.
Wherever you are, be there”

-Willie Nelson

Being a naturopath, has really taught me to LISTEN to people.


To hear WHAT they are saying.

To hear WHY they are saying it.

To hear HOW they are saying.

And sometimes, what they are really TRYING to say.


It’s about being totally present and feeling empathy towards the person in front of me.

How do you go listening to others? Do you dominate 90% of the conversation? Do you read their body language? Do you make eye contact and give them signs that you are interested in what they have to say? Or are you waiting for them to stop talking so you can give your opinion? Are you mentally committed to the conversation or are you thinking about what you need to buy for dinner?

Listening and being present with someone is such a simple yet meaningful gift you can give someone. Let’s focus on that this week.




It's hard to leave old habits behind. 

But when you want a new result (be it a pain-free back, clearer skin, a few less kilos or a better nights sleep) some improvements need to be implemented. There are no magic pills or quick fixes for change, just effort, determination and releasing the old. 

And if you need some guidance with that, 
I'm here waiting for you 


Emma the Naturopath xx

Essential Health
0266 514 533
Boulevard Arcade (opp. Blush), Coffs Mall

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