Surrender

Almond milk

Frozen mango

Red pawpaw

Cinnamon

Coconut oil

Barley grass powder

Pea protein powder

Chia Seeds

Whizzed up in our pimping BioChef blender

What was in your smoothie this morning?

118. Top Five Things I LOVED This Week:

1. Watching a young tradie pull his ute over and scoop up three tiny plover chicks and reunite them with their mummy and daddy who were distressed that they couldn’t jump up the gutter. Bless. I on the other hand have taken out a restraining order against all plovers...
2. Pomegranate sorbet after wandering through the Bangalow markets.
3. Stopping over at our favourite antique shop on the drive home. Yes I did need that goose-shaped serviette holder.
4. The craziness of the teepee markets at the Byron Bay Surf Festival.
5. The sweet elderly customer who knitted a pair of booties, mittens and a little hat for my bub -all wrapped up in waxed baking paper!

Emma the Naturopath xx

PS. “The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or a hostile universe”
-Albert Einstein

It’s good just to check in with ourselves every now and then to see how optimistic our view on our world really is

119. Top Five Things I LOVED This Week:

1. Listening to ‘Turn Your Lights Down Low’ by Bob Marley and Lauryn Hill.
2. The cat that sat on our window sill at 2:30 this morning and began serenading us at the top of its lungs. We were in hysterics.
3. Sneaky Spell purchases…!
4. Incredible jacaranda trees lighting up my life like exploding purple fireworks.
5. Mum’s perfect lamb roast and veg with homemade mint sauce followed by a gluten-free apple and date lumberjack cake =food coma for days.

Emma the Naturopath xx

PS. There are three things my dad has always tried to instill upon me for as long as I can remember. The first is to not attach unnecessary emotion to a situation. The second is not to live beyond your means. And the last is to have patience...

I’ve always sucked at the latter. It’s a work in progress.
The yoga affirmation card I pulled out this morning read:

PATIENCE (Kurmasana Pose –Tortoise Pose)

Patience is not a command to wait.

It’s a relaxed approach to this moment,

so the next moment can reveal itself with ease.

Your patience creates excellence.

What an eloquent way of describing patience… Please borrow this sentiment this week if it resonates with you. It hit the nail on the head for me.

*MATERNAL MONDAYS*
SURRENDER

I’ve always had such a fear of giving birth.

After a lot of reflection, I figured out that the fear stemmed from the lack of belief in my own body as I felt that I was “too yin”. I thought the tougher, stronger and “more yang” you were, the better you would be at birthing your baby. “Why can’t YOU do this?” I’d say to my husband (the most yang person I know).

But after doing the HypnoBirthing course, hearing positive birth stories from women I align with and reading Sarah J. Buckley’s book ‘Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering’, I have really transformed my feelings.

This passage by Buckley completely clicked for me:

“Surrender is not a popular virtue in the West. In fact, surrender is often seen as weakness in our culture; we are instead encouraged to be active and in control of our lives. This very yang, masculine attitude may serve us in some circumstances, but we cannot birth our babies through sheer force of will. We need to learn more subtle –yet equally powerful, path of surrender.
When we surrender conscious control, we allow our deeper innate rhythms to surface. In allowing her labour to go at its own pace, without hurry or interference, a woman learns to trust her own , and her baby’s, natural rhythms.

In surrendering to birth, we also learn about our role on the Earth: we are neither the rulers nor the architects of creation. Life comes through us, simply and gracefully, when we allow it”.

Did you have fears around giving birth? What helped you and what did you discover about yourself?

Emma the Naturopath xx
*picture taken last wk at 6 months*
(27 wks –length of a continental cucumber)

I am so head over heels for what Elizabeth Gilbert wrote last week about staying true to yourself that I just had to share it:

Thought of the Day: DON'T LIVE SOMEBODY ELSE'S DREAM.

Dear Ones -
I found this picture today that my husband took of me in 2011, doing research for THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS. This photo captures exactly what I did for three straight years. I sat in a chair, reading books about botany, evolution, abolition, women's history, missionaries, Dutch 18th century commerce, and more...in order to fill my brains (and index cards) with enough information to write that novel.

There is no situation in which I could possibly be happier than this — submerged in the vocation that I love, vanishing for hours a day into my work.
Un-showered, greasy hair, eyes tired, totally falling down the rabbit hole of research...this is me, living my dream.

I was thinking today about all the other paths that I did not take in life, no matter how shiny and appealing they may have looked. I've had the possibility of living so many different kinds of life that could have been a dream for somebody else. I never choose those lives. I've never lived the dreams that other people wanted for themselves — nor have I lived the dreams that other people may have wanted for me.

I never had children...because that's somebody else's dream.
I never took the opportunities that were offered to me after the success of EAT PRAY LOVE to have a TV show of my own...because that's somebody else's dream.
I never took a good steady job teaching writing at a nice college...because that's somebody else's dream.

I didn't remain in Bali or Rome, gorgeous as those places are...because that's somebody else's dream.
I turn down 99% of the invitations I get to attend to fancy parties and stellar gatherings...because that's somebody else's dream.

I sold my big beautiful house with its fabulous gardens and lovely library...because one day I looked around at that gorgeous home and realized: "This is somebody else's dream." (Happily, I sold the house to the family whose dream it actually was. So we all win.)
I never hired a team of personal assistants and staff and consultants to help me "grow my brand"...because that's somebody else's dream.

I know what makes me come to life — working on my books — and this picture tells the whole story. Knowing what makes me come to life has helped me to distinguish between my dreams and the dreams of others.

WHAT MAKES YOU COME TO LIFE?
Ask yourself this question, whenever you are given any choice or opportunity. Ask: "Will saying YES to this path bring me closer to the source that brings me to life? Or will it take me further away?"
No matter how alluring, no matter how beautiful, no matter how sparkling and fancy and delicious — do not say YES to other people's dreams.

Do your own thing. Live in your own waking dream. Stubbornly.

Even if it means not washing your hair for a week. (ESPECIALLY if it means that!)

ONWARD,
LG

Emma the Naturopath xx

Essential Health

0266 514 533

carrots_and_apples@hotmail.com

Facebook: Emma the Naturopath

Instant friendships

*MATERNAL MONDAYS*

“During pregnancy your body is your unborn baby’s universe. You are the rivers, sunlight, earth, atmosphere and sky for this being growing within you. Your baby’s body, mind and soul intimately intertwined with your own.Together you express the creative flow of life”.

-Deepak Chopra
Magical Beginnings, Enchanted Lives

Emma the Naturopath xx

-16 weeks, the size of an avocado

I actually caught myself thinking “I’m just too stressed to go to meditation class tonight”… I had to laugh at myself!

Even though I’ve practised yoga since a young age and listen to a meditation track on my iPod every night, I had this preconceived idea of what going to an actual meditation class would be like. I envisioned a bunch of gurus sitting around on cushions on the floor, levitating in silence for an hour. Maybe with a bit of chanting thrown in there...

Much to my delight, it involved sitting back in comfy armchairs, drifting off into a blissful state during a guided meditation. (Yes there were times I was thinking about noodles or tomorrow's clients, but it was mostly bliss). Then we sipped delicious organic tea and Georgie chatted to us about practical tools for helping with a “monkey mind” and incorporating a sense of calmness and positivity into our daily lives.

Meditation has countless benefits to our health like lowering blood pressure and easing anxiety, but it’s also just a beautiful self-care ritual –which is generally the first thing to go out the window when we’re stressed!

Georgie Cooke Quantum LifeSkills Coaching & Counselling is a counsellor, psychotherapist, NLP coach, naturopath and full-time ray of sunshine. Georgie runs meditation classes on Mondays 1-2pm as well as an evening class 6-7pm from her gorgeous space on the jetty strip in Coffs, just next to Old John’s. Give her a call 0406 786 395 if you want to check it out. No levitating gurus, just warmth and happiness.

“Within you there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself.”
-Hermann Hesse

109. Top Five Things I LOVED This Week:

1. My 63 year old Sicilian father writing in a text to me “omg”. Wtf…?
2. A delivery of teddy bear sunflowers from the talented girls at Precious Petals. They are just so beautiful and happy (the flowers AND Nat and Court).
3. Stormy headland walks just on dark with friends.
4. Top knots –on chicks, dudes and kids.
5. Lying in bed half asleep on Wednesday morning and feeling a little tickle in my belly. My eyes opened wide and it happened again. “Oh, good morning” I said aloud as I felt my little baby move inside of me for the first time.

Emma the Naturopath xx

PS.
“You have within you more love than you could ever understand”
-Rumi

I believe this is quite literal during pregnancy. But generally speaking, we tend to search for love in external places (in people, places, possessions) to feel loved. Knowing that a LIMITLESS source of love resides within ALL of us leaves me feeling so warm and content. What a beautiful thought to start the week with.

*MATERNAL MONDAYS*

I’ve been really touched by the friendships I’ve formed over the past 4 months. You begin forming connections with people you wouldn’t know from a bar of soap based on the fact that you are both pregnant.

Women who have already had a baby are wonderful to talk with as they provide instant relief and valuable knowledge from their experiences, but talking to another chick that’s also pregnant for the first time turns into an instant friendship.

I find such joy when either myself or a friend or customer sneakily mention that they’re pregnant and it is instantly met with squeals of “I’M PREGNANT TOO”!!! Followed by gushings of “Did you get morning sickness?” and salivating while describing how much you’re craving barbeque chips. Other hot topics include asking what size fruit their baby is, how many times they get up to pee each night and how much you’re turning into a sloth and sleeping all day. These conversations go about one hundred miles an hour and can continue until the cows come home.

I’m mindful of not boring my friends with too many pregnancy related tales as hearing them used to make my ears bleed before I was pregnant and I was bewildered how your whole life could be taken over by something like pregnancy and babies… Haha! So other pregnant chicks are the perfect outlet and support! I love hearing stories like “We’ve been friends for 10 years since we met at prenatal yoga”. I look forward to lots of beautiful new friendships that will blossom as our children grow.

Emma the Naturopath xx
(17 weeks –the size of a pear)

*ATTENTION ALL HIPSTERS & FACIAL GROWTH ENTHUSIASTS*

Had a great chat to a gentleman today who purchased almond oil and jojoba oil, as well as cedar wood, bergamot, patchouli and sandalwood essential oil and informed me that this is the ULTIMATE BEARD TONIC. Can’t argue with a man with a beard.

Like my friend Zac says “If your dad doesn’t have a beard, you’ve got two mums”!

110. Top Five Things I LOVED This Week:

1. Sitting in traffic for one hour on Monday morning and absolutely rocking out to Everyday People by Sly and the Family Stone when it came on the radio. The people in the other cars were looking grizzly and my car was practically vibrating from having the tunes up so loud. Go listen to it now, guaranteed instant mood booster!
2. Fresh coconut meat smoothies.
3. Mornings off at home while it absolutely buckets down outside. Snoozing, reading in bed with a chai then having a bath before work. There would be world peace if we all started our days like this.
4. The concerned look I was given by the guy serving me at the bottle shop when I purchased a bottle of brandy for making flower essences.
5. Having the house to myself the last three days =eating all the yummy foods he doesn’t like that I LOVE! Mum’s marinara pizza with extra mushrooms and gluten-free pasta with bacon, broccoli, chili, olive oil and a little cheese. The Sicilian in me comes out!

Emma the Naturopath xx

PS. I heard something this week which I LOVED:

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results."
-Albert Einstein

So I approached a few habits and relationships a little differently this week, although my ego and comfort zone tried to seduce me to remain the same.

I found it challenging but refreshing.

*MATERNAL MONDAYS*
~SHOWING~

So here is a 4 month pic of Emma the Naturopath. That's right people... Only 4 months! I was told that I wouldn’t start to “show” until around the 20 week mark. Especially considering it was my first. I was gutted!

However as of week 14 I officially *popped*! Every morning I’d wake up and my muscles felt as though I’d done 1000 sit-ups and my lower abs felt stretched as my tummy moved forward. I began receiving “Nice baby bump!” comments from friends, customers, the lady at the bank and check-out chicks. It was no longer a secret.

I’m so in love with the bump. There is never a moment where it’s not be rubbed by either myself, my husband or a random stranger! It validates why my body has not felt like my own for the last 3-4 months. I caught my reflection in a window yesterday and went “Oh wow, I’m a pregnant lady”. I have felt I’ve also noticed a lot of strangers staring at the bump and then looking up and grinning at me! Haha!

When did you start to show? Are you loving belly rubs off of everyone or do you get a bit freaked out? Do you also stand in front of your wardrobe for 10 mins every morning going "What the hell am I going to wear?!"

"The idea of waiting for something makes it more exciting"
-Andy Warhol

Emma the Naturopath xx

Essential Health

0266 514 533

carrots_and_apples@hotmail.com

Facebook: Emma the Naturopath

Trust yourself

Top Five Things I LOVED This Wk:

1. John Butler’s cover of Pharrell’s Happy on Triple J’s ‘Like a Version’. What a way to start the weekend! Did you hear it? Check it out on YouTube.
2. Super cruisy mornings at Joel and Chrystal’s at Lennox: fruit salad, topping up cups of tea, laughs and the four of us stretching on the lounge room floor. Followed by surf checks and car park chats.
3. The little kid walking up the lighthouse behind me loudly singing his timetables.
4. Rose and strawberry raw vegan cheesecake.
5. Fun surfs with friends at Wategos involving board swapping, party waves, water camera shots and chicken dances.

Emma the Naturopath xx

PS. Prior to performing for Like a Version, John Butler was asked if he was still enjoying being a musician after all these years…

“I’m enjoying it more… I think I’m finally getting the hang of it. For a lot of it actually, the first ten years was a little bit frustrating. I was always scared. I was always just frightened about what the hell I was doing.

I still get frightened but I think I trust myself a bit more. I think it all comes down to trust and I love what I do and I’m just so thankful to do it. So I enjoy every millisecond of it.”
I reckon most people who have taken a leap and experienced a big transition could relate to this. Starting a uni degree, first time parents, going on a big overseas trip or for me, buying a business at 24. For the first 12 months I was living on any drop of adrenaline my poor little adrenal glands would secrete! Then once in a while I still have a panicked moment! Why did I wag most of my business subjects at uni?!

I’m 29 now and I feel like I’ve ironed out most of the bumps and its full steam ahead. I am so grateful for the forever bubbly Vanessa and my gorgeous customers, clients and Facebook peeps that make my world so joyful and allow me to go to work each day with such purpose.

POST-EASTER COME DOWN
We rustled together a few goodies here at Essential Health to help you ease off the sweet stuff

PUKKA LOVE TEA
A delicious blend of organic herbs including chamomile, lavender, licorice and lime flowers which not only curbs the urge for something sweet after a meal, it’s a great digestive blend.

COCONUT OIL
This brand ticks all the boxes: extra virgin, certified organic, cold pressed and in a GLASS jar. My dad claims to have conquered his sweet tooth by having a spoonful of oil when he feels the need.

I QUIT SUGAR FOR LIFE by Sarah Wilson
Practical and yummy recipes. Includes a four week wellness plan in the back.

BAMBOO TOOTHBRUSH
To keep your dentist happy.

CACAO LIP BALM
Raw, vegan, certified organic and smells like Mars Bars!

BIOCEUTICALS GLUCOFACTORS
If your blood glucose issues are a little more serious, have a chat to your naturopath about supplements to assist pancreatic function and increasing glucose receptor sensitivity.

STEVIA POWDER
Derived from the naturally sweet stevia plant, this powder is a smart low GI option to add a little sweetness into your life.

Emma the Naturopath xx

Top Five Things I LOVED This Wk:

1. Opening a box from my parent’s storage shed labelled ‘Emma’ to find a dusty assortment of hand written letter and cards, photos, posters, mixed cassette tapes and journals. Heart warming and cringe-worthy.
2. A chilled afternoon bbq in the garden involving besties, babies and brownies.
3. Walking outside after my bath to get my book I’d left in the car and pausing to take in the stillness of the crisp Autumn night, the brightness of the moon, the stars that were twinkling away and chirping of a few crickets. Mindfulness is such a beautiful gift when we stop and give ourselves the time.
4. Peanut butter Lindt balls.
5. That pause at the top of your breath before a big exhaaaale while meditating.

Emma the Naturopath xx

PS. Something crazy happened two weeks ago that totally shifted the perspective I had on my life.

A friend of a friend popped in to say hey as she was on her way down the coast. When she asked me how I was, I told her how I’d been feeling stuck and frustrated with a situation that’d been going on for at least 12 months now.

She shared with me a similar situation she’d been in and that was causing her to experience those same anxious feelings and then she goes “and I realised that all those time frames and restrictions that were causing me so much stress and worry were put there by ME… SO. I. JUST. TOOK. THEM. ALL. AWAY”.

As soon as she said those words I could physically feel my shoulders feel lighter and my heart had room to move again. I just let it all go. All the expectations, impatience, criticism and pressure I’d placed upon myself. I’d put them there in the first place, so I was the one that had the power to take them all away. Too much effort without enough grace... I just let them all go.

I’d been told “Just let it go” a thousand times by my loved ones, but it wasn’t til the way my friend put it that I realised what I had to let go of. I had reached a point where I was ready to hear it.

Since choosing this shift, I’ve been aware of people, quotes and signs that are popping up in my life that are helping me along my way which is reassuring. I was so happy when I came across this quote during the week:

“Follow your bliss.
If you do follow your bliss,
you put yourself on a kind of track
that has been there all the while waiting for you,
and the life you ought to be living
is the one you are living.

When you can see that,
you begin to meet people
who are in the field of your bliss,
and they open the doors to you.

I say, follow your bliss and don't be afraid,
and doors will open
where you didn't know they were going to be.
If you follow your bliss,
doors will open for you that wouldn't have opened for anyone else.”

-Joseph Campbell

It goes to show what a significant impact a seemingly simple anecdote can have on another person.

Top Five Things I LOVED This Wk:

1. Mixing a giant bowl of sauerkraut with my hands at a fermenting workshop this afternoon. (Can’t wait to tell you more about it this week)!
2. The beautiful rustic design of Mothers Milk -the new café in Sawtell. Makes me feel like Coffs is moving up in the world. Slowly.
3. Being handed a cold coconut as I walk in the door after another sweaty hot yoga class.
4. A friend of ours who is such a passionate seamstress made my husband a gorgeous patchwork bean bag and sprinkled it with patchouli oil. There was a story behind each piece of fabric (curtains that used to hang in her children’s bedroom, calico flour bags, parts of shorts, etc). The definition of “made with love”.
5. Those pieces of clothing (aka my tattered denim shorts) that keep creeping their way out of the op shop pile and back into my wardrobe.

“The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or a hostile universe”.
–Albert Einstein

Wake up each morning and decide to be happy. Invite optimism into your day because the universe is on your side. Trust me, it’s good for your health.

Essential Health

0266 514 533

Boulevard Arcade (opp. Blush), Coffs Mall

Facebook: Essential Health Coffs