Get well soon Wendy.

Essential Health is currently without it's resident herbalist Miss Wendy Russell :(

Dear Wendy, may your bowl be overflowing with chicken soup and your bloodstream be filled with leukocytes. (eww...).

P.S. You don't really look like a skunk. It was either this picture or a naughty nurse... :)

No more excuses.

Essential Health's number one pet hate... People who don't make New Years Resolutions!! Or those random fluffy ones like "Be healthier" or "Get fit", but don't make any improvements or changes to make them happen.

Resolutions need to be specific and realistic. Instead of “I will exercise more” how about, “I will go to a Body Balance class at the gym on Tuesday and Thursday nights”.

The things we want in life don’t just knock on our door or fall into our lap, so think about the steps you need to put into place and certain people who can help you to make your goals happen. Ask friends if they can recommend a good personal trainer or naturopath, find the timetable for your local yoga studio, browse book shops for healthy cook books, get a new pair of joggers or sexy Lorna Jane tights and schedule workouts into your diary (in pen, not pencil) like you would a hair appointment.

Telling a friend and writing your health goals down somewhere you can see them on a daily basis like on the fridge or the inside of your diary helps to cement them.

Having said that, here are my New Years Resolutions for 2011:

*Start tennis lessons to make use of the tennis racket Santa gave me for Xmas

*Climb Mount Warning

*De-stress by getting a massage once a month

*No more eating on the run

What are yours?

No grinches allowed.

There will be no grinches allowed in Essential Health this Christmas season.

That is all.

Crazy as a coconut...

What smells remind you of Summer? Sunscreen, mangoes, frangipani and gardenia flowers, salt air, surfboard wax, watermelon and of course, COCONUT!!

Poor old coconut oil got a bad wrap a few years ago due to the fact that it's a saturated fat. But people are now getting their act together and realising that it's a little gem with a plenitude of health benefits!

Try opt for extra virgin and certified organic whenever possible. We like the brand Banaban!

HAIR CARE
Coconut oil penetrates into the hair shaft and scalp to reduce protein loss in hair, especially through damage caused by styling. Massage oil into the scalp and leave for 15 minutes as treatment before washing your hair.

SKIN CARE
Due to coconut oil’s antimicrobial and antiseptic actions, it can be used topically for treating skin problems such as staph infections. It is very nourishing to the skin so is great for dry skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis. Add a tablespoon to the bath or massage into the skin after a shower. It's also an epic makeup remover and cuticle treatment.

WEIGHT LOSS
The medium chain fatty acids in coconut oil are easily digested and follow a completely different pathway when eaten than other fats. They're converted into a rapid source of energy which increases metabolism, improving your chances for faster weight loss and more energy.

LOWERS CHOLESTEROL
Studies show that using coconut oil in your diet reduces LDL (bad) cholesterol and increases HDL (good) cholesterol and therefore helps to prevent heart disease and atherosclerosis.

URINARY INFECTIONS
Pour oil into ice cube trays with one drop each of tea tree and lavender essential oils. Allow to set in the fridge and insert into the vagina before bed while using a panty liner for it's soothing and antibacterial effects. (Who knew...)

IMMUNE BOOSTING
Coconut oil is antibacterial and antiviral, and therefore can be taken internally for viruses such as the flu, stomach ulcers, throat infections and urinary tract infections. The antifungal properties of coconut oil can kill fungi and yeasts that cause Candida, ringworm, athlete's foot, thrush as well as expelling tapeworms, lice, giardia, and other parasites.

COOKING
You can use coconut oil like you would olive oil as it has an extremely high frying point without turning rancid.

What's not to love?

Click here for some more Essential Health coconutty goodness!

The 'C' Word.

Everybody has a favourite word. Mine would have to be "convalesce". Yes, it is a word...

Convalescing means to grow strong and healthy again when you're feeling tired and depleted. If you've been pushing yourself all week (or all year!) and are feeling exhausted you need to take time to unwind and find yourself again otherwise you'll burn out (and look seriously unattractive)!

A lady came into Essential Health a while ago and told me how she was going on holidays soon. When she returned to the shop a few weeks later she absolutely floated through the door. I asked her how her holiday went and she told me that she cancelled it at the last minute because she was simply too tired from all the work she'd been doing and the thought of having a full itinerary of sights to see for two weeks was too overwhelming. She still had the two weeks off work but had a "sleeping holiday" instead.

She said the first few days were mentally tough because a little voice in her head kept telling her that she was being lazy, she didn't deserve this and that she should be cleaning out messy cupboards. But then she told the voice to shut up and just surrendered to her body. She'd wake without an alarm each morning, go for a walk on the beach, have a cup of tea and fall asleep on a blanket in the backyard. She'd spend her afternoons reading her book and then pick vegies from the garden and put effort into making a beautiful dinner for her and her husband each night. She said it was the best thing she had ever done for herself.

Your goal for the weekend is to spend time doing something that brings you happiness so you can emerge on Monday looking ridiculously well rested and vibrant.

Greetings from Earth.

If you're after good karma, Earth Greetings paper goods are for you. They are an Australian made carbon neutral company that uses vegetable ink on 100% post-consumer recycled paper. Earth Greetings do a range of gift tags, greeting cards, bookmarks and wrapping paper.

The 2010 Christmas card range is now hot off the press and for sale at Essential Health.

Just when you think they couldn't get anymore ethical, from each ten pack of Xmas cards sold, $1.65 is donated to the Trees for Life Foundation to plant one tree.

So keep these guys in mind next time you lose your wallet or get a flat tyre...

Bend and stretch.

It's pretty safe to say that if you typed "yoga classes"' in your area into the yellow pages search engine, probably 4 or 5 would pop up about 10 kms from your house. Yoga studios are everywhere. But why should we sacrifice an hour of our favourite crime show to adorn stretchy pants with a bunch of strangers?

Yoga increases flexibility, muscle tone and loosens joints. Instead of complaining of lower back pain from sitting at your desk all day or the headaches that your stiff neck causes you, why not strengthen your muscles and increase the circulation to these areas so they fix themselves?

Yoga poses are like an "internal massage" for all the organs of your body so it's great for digestion and increases the flow of nutrients to all areas of the body. This gentle manipulation assists your body with its natural detoxification process.

The benefits of yoga aren't just physical. We store so many emotions and tension in our bodies that when we put our bodies in different poses it helps to release this stress.

I could write for hours about the benefits of yoga, but why don't you go out and experience them first hand. Don't worry if you're not that flexible at first. Regular practice will have you folding up like a laptop in no time.