Cold hands, hot tea

104. Top Five Things I LOVED This Week:

1. Smashing through a couple of hours of book work and then taking a blanket, some Pana chocolate and my journal down to the headland to watch whales for an hour before I started work.
2. The traits I inherit from my father: using coloured pencils as bookmarks so I can colour in the good bits.
3. The look on my 5 year old niece's face when I told her that the pink lace underwear she was giggling about on our washing line weren’t mine, but my husband’s. Some sort of mixture between shock and delight.
4. Quinoa croquettes from The Happy Frog. Can someone PLEASE experiment with a recipe and let me know asap!
5. Sunday mornings spent pottering around the house: YouTubing furniture restoration, writing a shopping list for Bunnings and hanging up pictures.

Emma the Naturopath xx

PS. Every two months since May last year I’ve been seeing a herbalist (because a dentist needs to see a dentist right?). I’ve never met anyone as magical as this woman.

At our last consultation she instructed me to go down to the ocean more often. She said that even if I can’t be bothered going for a walk, to just sit there and breathe in the salt air. It corrects the negative/positive ion ratio in the body, purifies our cells and relieves the urge for us to go nuts. That’s actually how she worded it.

I would like to pass this sage yet simple advice on to you this week. If you are not coastal, head to a park, botanical garden or any sort of patch of nature you can find. Breathe deeply and feel yourself being purified from the inside out.

Some call it “earthing”. Some call it “biophilia”. Or as my herbalist calls it “Stopping yourself from going nuts”.

I don’t believe in “Mondayitis” but I was really struggling to get in the right head space yesterday morning.

So as I was driving to work –through road works which of course pissed me off even further, I asked the Universe to send me exactly who I needed today. I do this from time to time and the coincidences are always quite freakish.

I received phone calls from people I’d been meaning to connect with, people popped in and shared wonderful stories that all had a common theme and I booked a handful of exciting new clients that I’m really excited to work with. By midday I was feeling refreshed and energised on life again.

Maybe give it a try sometime. Invite synchronicity into your life.

“What you seek, seeks you”

-Rumi

105. Top Five Things I LOVED This Week:

1. The Salt n Pepa car ad.
2. Being tucked up in bed listening to the wind trying to blow our roof off.
3. The cute little sparrows that bounce around the sushi place picking up fallen grains of rice. Actually kind of unhygienic now that I read that back.
4. Very slow, very gentle yoga in the winter sunlight.
5. The smell of chocolate beetroot cake baking in the oven.

Emma the Naturopath xx

PS. One of my gorgeous clients wrote in an email this week and shared a quote she had come across:

"If we do not feel grateful for what we already have,
What makes us think we'd be happy with more?"
-Ritu Ghatourey

Comparing ourselves to others is the easiest way to become unhappy.

To me, CONTENTMENT would have to be the best feeling there is. Just being totally stoked to the brim with exactly what you have and where you’re at right now. It takes away the burden of constant striving, we become less materialistic and it allows us to be happy for others rather than envious. Once all that pressure is off, it allows us to simply live in the moment and align with the flow of life.

The first step to feeling more content, is continually practising GRATITUDE. Every. Single. Day. Although at times I get distracted or stuck in a rut, I remind myself to:
*List a handful of wonderful things going on in my life when I go to bed and wake up every morning
*Repeat positive affirmations
*Surround myself with uplifting people
*Continue to write my Top 5

It amazes me how the simple act of practising gratitude acts as a potent catalyst for even more abundance that you could have ever imagined!

*EMMA THE NATUROPATH’S BEAUTY REGIME*

Over half of my shop is filled with natural skincare. I have meticulously picked every single product out and let me tell you, I am VERY particular!! When customers are browsing our shelves, I constantly get asked which ones I use. So here they are. My FAVE products that I *LOVE* and use all the time:

BUTTER NAILPOLISH: I’ve given away all my other nail polishes and am slowly growing my collection of Butter. Not tested on animals and lacking the 3 main carcinogens. ($17.95)

TAMAUNU OIL: We got this in about a week ago and I’m loving it on my face (at night) and body after a shower. Organically grown in Vanuatu and imported by a local lady in Scotts Head who used to live there. ($19.95)

VRINDAVAN CINNAMON SCRUB SOAP: Anything spicy smelling is my friend. Olive oil based with little poppy seeds in there for exfoliation. Life is too short not to use decadent soap! From the Sunny Coast ($4.95)

WARBOTANICAL ‘NORMAL’ SHAMPOO: Hands up who has tried a million natural shampoos with no success? Me too. Well this shampoo is the ultimate crowd pleaser! It foams perfectly (thanks to coconut and sugar) and my hair is always so soft after I use it. From Warburton in Vic. ($14.95)

MOOGOO CONDITIONER: It’s like a super thick cream. Plus it smells like milky-vanilla goodness. From the Goldy. ($16.95)

MOOGOO MILKY WASH: This is my favourite cleanser in the world!! You only need the size of a pea. Also a beautiful body wash. ($16.95)

KORA PURIFYING DAY AND NIGHT CREAM: My day time moisturiser. I feel like I’m “feeding” my skin with this little organic tonic. From Sydney. ($42)

RED SEAL ‘NATURAL’ TOOTHPASTE: Simple ingredients. From NZ bru ($4.95)

GIOVANNI 2CHIC AVOCADO AND OLIVE OIL HAIR MASK: Usually on a Sunday night I’ll leave this in my hair for 10 mins while I read a book in the bath. One of the few things that tames my thick wavy locks. ($16.95)

As you can see, I’m incredibly mindful about not only WHAT is in my personal care products, but also about WHERE they come from. We have so many fantastic natural brands in Australia that deserve our love.

Far out it’s nippy today!! QUICK! Let’s write a post together about all the things we love about Winter to keep the love alive! I’ll get us started….

What we LOVE about winter:

1. Holding cups of hot tea to warm our hands
2. Flanno pj’s
3. Knitted scarves made by someone you love
4. Opening the front door and smelling the slow cooker which has been bubbling away all day (without burning the house down!)
5. Burying yourself under piping hot laundry that’s fresh out of the dryer
6. Adding more hot water to the bath –for the third time
7. Hot water bottles with fluffy covers
8. Steaming pumpkin soup with a dollop of greek yoghurt
9. Empty beaches
10. Winter produce: mandarins, pears, leeks and pumpkin

Oh hi strangers!

Sorry for the lack of attention and Top 5 action this week but Emma the Naturopath has been in recovery from a nasty cold

Have been smashing down the echinacea, vit D, vit C, zinc, colloidal silver, probiotics, soaking up the sun, sucking on homemade coconut water/mango icy poles (recipe will be posted), eating soup, drinking gallons of water with apple cider vinegar and sleeping like nobody's business!

There will be a *VERY SPECIAL* Top 5 coming to you this Sunday!! That's all I'm saying for now...

HOMEMADE ICY POLES FOR SORE THROATS

There’s nothing like a yummy healthy icy pole to soothe an inflamed throat.

I bought some Lickety-Sip icy pole moulds for a few dollars from Big W and mixed up two different batches. Just blend, pour into moulds and freeze!

MANGO & STRAWBERRY ICY POLES
1 cup frozen mango
Handful of fresh strawberries
2/3 cup coconut water
1 Tbsp fresh mint leaves
(I also added vitamin C powder)

SPICED BANANA & COCONUT ICY POLES
1 banana
1 cup frozen mango
1 tsp cinnamon
2/3 cup coconut cream

Get as creative as you like!

Emma the Naturopath xx

Essential Health
Phone: 0266 514 533
Email: carrots_and_apples@hotmail.com

Facebook: Essential Health Coffs

The present moment

My dad's copy of The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle has been sitting on my bookshelf for many years now. I love that he's highlighted and underlined paragraphs and written little notes in the margins (just like I do). But I. just. can't. bloody. read. it!

However I read this quote the other week and it really hit home for me.

"If you are depressed, 

you are living in the past.
If you are anxious, 

you are living in the future.
If you are at peace, 

you are living in the present."
-Lao Tzu

There is a lot going on in my world right now so I have been implementing this quote in my everyday life as a reminder to just put one foot in front of the other, rather than getting overwhelmed by the entire journey. I am reveling in the simplicity of it.

So each day (depending on the date) I say: All that exists right now is Wednesday the 26th of March. Then tomorrow will be Thursday the 27th of March, but all that matters right now is that it’s Wednesday the 26th of March. All I have control over is what happens today.

How do you go at living in the present moment?
How does that quote sit with you?

“Life is available only in the present moment”.
-Thich Nhat Hahn, Vietnamese Zen Monk

Every Thursday night I write an *EMMA THE NATUROPATH’S WEEKLY TIP* Facebook post for the kind folk at Coffs for Kids who are a huge support to families in the Coffs community. This week I posted a recipe for a yummy after school smoothie!

Choc peanut butter thickshake

Throw in a blender:
1 frozen banana
1 Tbsp 100% peanut butter
1 Tbsp raw cacao powder
1 Tbsp vanilla pea protein powder
¼ cup rolled oats (or 1 Tbsp LSA if avoiding gluten)
1 Tbsp flaxseed oil
1 handful of baby spinach
Milk of your choice

I LOVE smoothies for kiddies! You can sneak so much goodness in without them even knowing! The flaxseed oil and baby spinach totally disappear once blended and the raw cacao powder is packed with magnesium while satisfying their sweet tooth. Also healthy enough for brekkie!

Top Five Things I LOVED This Wk:

1. Another flash back of one of my fave long lost songs: So Fresh, So Clean by Outkast.
2. The fact that my husband gave his mum a card and present on his 30th birthday this week.
3. My incredible alkalising green juice that I make each morning (which I look forward to as I go to sleep each night)! Green apple, mint, lime, celery and cucumber. I ran out of lime during the week so I juiced lemon myrtle leaves from my tree.
4. A good cry. Followed by a long hot shower, pyjamas and an eleven hour sleep.
5. Listening to frogs singing power ballads outside while I had a candle lit bath during Earth Hour last night.

Emma the Naturopath xx

PS. When I first read this poem earlier on in the week it had such a profound effect on me. And every time I have read it since, it sends little shivers down my spine and makes my heart flutter. I hope it resonates on some level with you too.

“She let go. Without a thought or a word, she let go.

She let go of the fear. She let go of the judgments. She let go of the confluence of opinions swarming around her head. She let go of the committee of indecision within her. She let go of all the ‘right’ reasons. Wholly and completely, without hesitation or worry, she just let go.

She didn’t ask anyone for advice. She didn’t read a book on how to let go. She didn’t search the scriptures. She just let go. She let go of all of the memories that held her back. She let go of all of the anxiety that kept her from moving forward. She let go of the planning and all of the calculations about how to do it just right.

She didn’t promise to let go. She didn’t journal about it. She didn’t write the projected date in her Day-Timer. She made no public announcement and put no ad in the paper. She didn’t check the weather report or read her daily horoscope. She just let go.

She didn’t analyse whether she should let go. She didn’t call her friends to discuss the matter. She didn’t do a five-step Spiritual Mind Treatment. She didn’t call the prayer line. She didn’t utter one word. She just let go.

No one was around when it happened. There was no applause or congratulations. No one thanked her or praised her. No one noticed a thing. Like a leaf falling from a tree, she just let go.

There was no effort. There was no struggle. It wasn’t good and it wasn’t bad. It was what it was, and it is just that.

In the space of letting go, she let it all be. A small smile came over her face. A light breeze blew through her. And the sun and the moon shone forevermore”.

-Rev. Saphire Rose/Ernest Holmes

This morning's GREEN JUICE:

1 granny smith apple
1 celery stalk
1 cucumber
1/2 a lime
handful of parsley
2 handfuls green grapes
leftover iceberg lettuce from the delicious san choy bow my husband made last night!

What was in YOUR juice or smoothie this morning?

BROCCOLI AND FETA FRITTERS (gluten-free)

I made these little pups last night for the first time and they're all I've thought about all day!!

Ingredients (makes 8-10 fritters)

1 medium sized broccoli
4 eggs, free range and organic
½ bunch shallots, chopped
1 large handful of basil leaves (or parsley), chopped
1 cup gluten free flour (or buckwheat or brown rice flour, or spelt if not gluten free)
1 tsp baking powder
80 grams of feta cheese (or parmesan or haloumi)
1 lemon
Pink Himalayan salt and cracked pepper
Olive oil

Method

1. Chop up the broccoli finely and steam for 5 minutes.
2. Beat the eggs in a bowl and add the flour, shallots, salt and pepper and basil.
3. Crumble feta and place into the mixture.
4. Roughly chop broccoli and add to the mixture.
5. Add extra flour to the mixture if it is too wet.
6. Heat a large frying pan over moderate heat and add oil.
7. Ladle amounts of mixture into the frying pan and cook the fritters for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until golden.
8. Serve with a squeeze of lemon juice with a fresh garden salad!

Recipe adapted fromhttp://juliaandlibby.com/2014/01/06/broccoli-feta-and-pine-nut-fritters/

There are a lot of aspects to being healthy. It’s all about BALANCE.

There tends to be a general understanding that “being healthy” means eating your fruit and vegies, doing some exercise and taking a multivitamin. Sure these things contribute to a wholesome lifestyle but as a naturopath I assess optimal wellbeing on a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual level.

I drew a WELLBEING WHEEL on our shop wall yesterday. It’s a handy way of visualising all aspects of your health holistically. It’s easy to get out of balance and neglect an area of your health.

For example, someone might be sweating it out at cross fit (exercise) and eating nutritious foods (diet and nutrition) but not spending enough down time walking on the beach (rest and relaxation). Or perhaps we become so busy running around looking after the kids and working full time (intellect) that our love for playing the guitar gets pushed to the side (self-expression) and we are too exhausted to catch up with friends on the weekend (social interaction).

So here are a few questions you can ask yourself to better understand yourself HOLISTICALLY…

Social interaction: When was the last time you called a friend who has a similar sense of humour and had a good belly laugh?
Self-expression: What is your creative outlet?
Intellectual conversation: What interesting piece of information have you learnt recently?
Spiritual connection: When was the last time you prayed/meditated/took a few moments to reflect?
Exercise: How often do you get huffy and puffy?
Diet and nutrition: Do you go to the farmers markets and try fruit and vegies that you haven’t eaten before?
Rest and relaxation: How do you give back to yourself?

Don’t stress yourself out striving for perfection by trying to keep all the balls in the air. Adopt an EFFORT WITH GRACE approach and just check in with yourself every once in a while to make sure you’re feeling balanced.

What area do you feel you could improve on at this current moment? I'm working on exercise at the moment and am off to a 'Groove Restore' hot yoga class tonight!

Top Five Things I LOVED This Wk: (our 90th! Oh my!!)

1. Realising that the Matron on Love Child is actually Rhonda (Ketut’s lover) from the AAMI ads!! Shut up!
2. A caring friend who recommended I go and get a facial after all that's been going on lately. And the wonderful Trista who gives the most delicious treatments!!
3. The balmy ocean breeze on Tuesday night as I walked to my car after the sweatiest hot yoga class. My two loves: yoga + sauna =happiness.
4. Going for a bike ride early this morning in the drizzly weather. No one else was around… Were you all at church or in bed eating hot cross buns perhaps?
5. Waking up in the middle of the night to find my husband and I holding hands in our sleep.

Emma the Naturopath xx

PS. I found another beautiful quote this week which speaks magnitudes to me. Live loudly everyone!!

“For what it’s worth: it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it.

And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of.

If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the courage to start all over again.”

-F. Scott Fitzgerald/Eric Roth

The change of seasons has set in and it has brought with it an influx of colds and flu into Essential Health!

We are all out of muddy puppies this week... But come have a chat to Vanessa or myself about diet, lifestyle and supplements that will give your immune system a fighting chance this winter!


Emma the Naturopath xx

Essential Health

0266 514 533

Boulevard Arcade (opp. Blush), Coffs Mall

Facebook: Essential Health Coffs