Looking after number one

*MATERNAL MONDAY*

Exercise and pregnancy

I thought this picture was most appropriate for this post.

I used to have this idea in my head that when I was pregnant I would work out all the time and look like this awesome Lorna Jane model… Ha!

WHAT EXERCISE I’M LOVING:

-I am beyond obsessed with swimming laps at the pool. It’s meditative, I’m weightless, it’s refreshing and so enjoyable that I don’t even realise I’m exercising.
-Each trimester I’ve met up with my lovely exercise physiologist Anna Miley who designs me a personalised program. For my third trimester I’m working on a great stabilising program, mostly using my fit ball and certain yoga postures. Oh and of course pelvic floor!
-My husband is also an exercise physiologist, so I sneak into his aqua aerobics classes with all the grandma’s at least once a week. They have knitted me so much baby gear it’s crazy!
I disregard the whole “This is how much weight you should gain in pregnancy…” conversation and just eat healthily and exercise regularly. I guess the most vital thing I’ve learnt during pregnancy is to LISTEN TO MY BODY and my energy levels.

What sort of exercise were you drawn to in pregnancy? What did you learn about your body?

Emma the Naturopath xx

32 weeks (the size of a wombok cabbage)

LOOKING AFTER NUMBER ONE

At Georgie Cooke’s ‘Resilience and Happiness’ workshop last week, she discussed the importance of self-care when building strength against life’s stressors.

Why is it that self-care is the first thing to go out the window when we’re under the pump, although that’s when we need it most? When we are feeling overwhelmed by life it’s so convenient to not take your lunch to work and grab sushi, have lazy dinners or spend late nights “zoning out” in front of technology.

For our nervous system to thrive we must NOURISH our bodies with fresh food and good quality sleep and NURTURE our souls by convalescing.

I’m putting in long hours at work at the moment and trying to tie up loose ends with the business before I finish up at the end of the year. Oh and did I mention I’m 32 weeks pregnant?! I’ve really up-ed the self-care rituals and instead of crashing and burning, I’ve maintained my momentum.

I currently have an evening ritual of:

-turning the TV off by 7pm
-having a simple but healthy dinner
-soaking in an Epsom salt bath with lavender
-reading in bed by 8:30pm with just my lamp and candles
-meditating for half an hour before I go to sleep

Georgie spoke about an interview in which His Holiness the Dalai Lama spoke about how he meditates daily, unless he has a particularly packed schedule, then he’ll meditate twice. I think that says it all.

Don’t forget to look after number one.

125. Top Five Things I LOVED This Week:

1. Walking into Pushkar and being licked to death by Molly the pup dressed in a Christmas elf costume.
2. Finding a stash of colouring books, stickers and pencils while I was cleaning out my clinic drawers and keeping them aside to give to someone. The next customer who walked into the shop was heading over to the Philippines following week on an orphanage mission and was over the moon with the supplies!
3. Flipping channels and coming across an episode of Sesame Street. I watched it for a few minutes to see what I’m in for in the future and they were talking about YOGA! The kids and this fluffy monster were talking about focus, practise, affirmations and meditation! I swear 25 years ago it was just Cookie Monster scoffing chocolate chip biscuits…
4. Driving to work on Friday morning and hearing Peaches by Presidents of the USA on the radio.
5. Eating hot brown rice nasi goreng for brekkie on a rainy Sunday morning as I type my Top 5.

Emma the Naturopath xx

PS. I glanced at my To Do list this week and it looked a little like this:
-thank_____ for the baby toys
-thank _____ for the artwork
-thank _____ for the baby singlet
-thank _____ for the flowers
-thank _____ for the card
-thank _____ for the ring
The list went on and on about all the kind people who have blessed me with little trinkets and cards over the past week. What a beautiful thing to realise that my only jobs were to offer people gratitude.

“If you want to find happiness, find gratitude”

-Steve Maraboli

*MATERNAL MONDAY*

GETTING THE GEAR

There’s less than 7 weeks till Baby Caller will be arriving so my husband and I decided to get things organised!

Some friends of ours so kindly leant us all of their baby gear: pram, capsule, cot, change tale, bath, Bumbo seat, a vibrating and a swinging bouncy chair, play mat, wraps, high chair, etc. We’d heard of so many people that had rushed out and bought EVERYTHING from overpriced baby shops and then found that they hardly used most things as the baby grew so fast or they just didn’t get used.

I grabbed a bunch of stuff from work last week like natural dummies, organic nursing pads, herbal nursing tea, lavender oil and almond oil. Then I ordered a carton of organic baby wipes and a 15L drum of natural laundry liquid last week –trying to be proactive.

What did you do when it came to organising all the baby paraphernalia? Did you buy new, borrow from friends or buy off Gum Tree?

What were your ESSENTIALS? What things could you have gone without?

Emma the Naturopath xx

*pictured*

33 weeks –size of a honeydew melon

126. Top Five Things I LOVED This Week:

1. Ferrero Rochers. I nominate the creator for a Nobel Peace Prize.
2. Decorating our REAL Christmas tree.
3. Beach towels with fringes.
4. The guy who fixed my air-con at work after two 30 degree days in a row.
5. A Christmas present to myself: Belle Gibson’s The Whole Pantry cookbook.

Emma the Naturopath xx

PS. I’ve been pausing a lot lately and asking myself “How can I simplify this?” It helps to weed out the superfluous tasks and highlights what is really important. I feel that this takes pressure off of myself (and who needs extra pressure this time of year anyways?) and grants me more breathing space. It’s a way of putting SELF-CARE into action.

Examples:

-Instead of receiving new 20 emails each day, I’ve been unsubscribing rather than just pressing the delete button til I see them again next month.

-Rather than rushing about after work gathering ingredients and preparing something elaborate for Christmas parties, I’ve been doing the trusty old dip and veggie sticks. Last week I even made a packet brownie mix.

-Asking my mum to help me run the shop so I can do laps and have a sleep. It made me feel human again.

-Accepting offers to go around to my parents’ house for dinner when the last thing I feel like doing is cooking.

How can you simplify your life to allow it to flow smoother?

*MATERNAL MONDAYS*

Not giving a f*&k

Sorry about the ‘f’ word folks, but I’ve got a point to make…

On Friday I had my last appointment with my naturopath before I give birth. She made me up a herb mix and a flower essence and we talked about diet during breastfeeding, what to take to the hospital and bumps in the road like mastitis and colic.

Then she looked me straight in the eye and said “Now Emma, this is the most important thing of all. Everyone is going to give you advice and tell you what you SHOULD be doing. You have to smile, say thankyou and then do whatever the f*&k you want. You know your baby better than anyone and all you have to do is listen to your intuition”.

I’ve encountered a few comments that I’ve brushed off along the lines of:

“Oh but you’ll use cloth nappies eventually though?”

“So you’ll be opting for a home birth I assume?”

“But you’ll have the basinet in your own room for the first couple of months right?”

“You’ll get the whooping cough vaccination of course?”

“You’re going to feed on demand aren’t you?”

“You’ll be having at least 12 months off work won’t you?”

My response: “We’ll just see what happens” with a smile.

I have a selected few women I trust for guidance as well as a couple of friends who I bounce ideas off, plus I just read the books that align with my beliefs. But apart from that, my husband and I look forward to figuring it out along the way!

Did you experience similar situations? What did you do in response?

Emma the Naturopath xx

34 weeks –size of a pineapple

I'm a massive fan of Gwenyth Paltrow's cookbook It's All Good. I just whipped up a batch of her Candy Bars (page 254 for all of you playing along at home).

CANDY BARS

INGREDIENTS

1 ½ cups raw cashews
1 ½ cups dates, pitted and roughly chopped
½ cup almond butter
½ cup maple syrup
½ cup coconut flour
½ cup shredded coconut (I used desiccated coconut)
½ tsp almond extract (I used vanilla extract)
1 ½ cups dark chocolate chips (60% or higher cocoa content)
1 ½ tablespoons coconut oil (I used organic butter)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Grind cashews to a very fine meal in a food processor. Add the dates, almond butter, maple syrup, coconut flour, shredded coconut and almond extract and pulse til you have a sticky ball of dough.

2. Line a baking tray with baking paper and press the mixture into the tray using wet hands. Refrigerate until firm, about 4 hours.

3. Combine the chocolate chips and coconut oil in a stainless steel or glass bowl set over a pot of simmering water on the stove top. Stir the mixture til it’s melted, remove from the heat and pour over the cashew mixture. Return to the fridge and let it cool for about an hour til the chocolate has set.

4. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to a week.
I tried some of the cashew mix when it was in the food processor and it was pretty sweet, so I'd prob leave out the maple syrup next time. But see how you go

Emma the Naturopath xx

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A new beginning

EGO vs SOUL

by Elizabeth Gilbert

Dear Ones -

A woman asked Pastor Rob Bell yesterday how you can tell the difference between when your soul is talking to you, and when your ego is talking to you.

Rob started with an explanation of the ego, as a force that is never satisfied. Nothing will ever be enough for the ego — not enough money, not enough praise, not enough shoes, not enough Facebook likes, not enough donuts. (He didn't say the bit about donuts, but you get the point.) And when the ego DOES get something it wants (success, attention, a swimming pool), all it can do is crow about it.

As for the soul, though, all it wants is joy and light and love...and excitement. When you are living the life that your soul wants to live, you will wake up each morning and say, "Oh my god, I can't believe I get to do this today!" (Whatever "this" might be — write this book, work in this garden, live in this house, see this friend, eat this food, raise these children, walk in the woods with this dog, go to this job, visit this family member, etc, etc...)

There is a place in our lives for our egos. (As Martha Beck, another great teacher always says: "Don't leave home without it.") You need some ego, to shore up your boundaries, to give you a sense of self, to keep some fire in your belly.

But don't let your ego make the big choices for you. Because it will do nothing but forever demand more, more, more, more. It will always say, "We don't have enough yet."

Look for the things that make your soul say, "I can't believe how lucky we are to have this!"...and try to surround yourself with as much of THAT as you can. And don't sacrifice the things that make your soul come alive for the things your ego demands.

*MATERNAL MONDAYS*

Boosting iron

Some afternoons lately I’ve been feeling pretty sleepy. As a professional convalescer, I embraced cat naps with open arms. However when I received my third trimester blood results back last week and saw that my iron stores were on the floor, it all started making a bit more sense.

I’m not a vego by any means, but I just haven’t craved red meat through my pregnancy (plus I’m not great at cooking it) so I haven’t really thought about it.

THE PLAN

-Eat more beetroot, organic dried apricots and prunes, parsley, pine nuts, green leafys.

Red meat twice a week.

-Take BioMedica BioHeme capsules twice a day, then I’ll retest my bloods in about 6 weeks to make sure it’s having an impact.

-If I have a chai, make sure that I take my iron supplement and multi at least an hour away (black tea contains tannins that inhibit the absorption of iron).

-Each day I’ve been making up a pot of nettle tea, letting it cool and then pouring it into a couple of glass water bottles in the fridge. It tastes a bit barley grassy, but it’s really refreshing.

-Exercise is an awesome way of increasing your body’s red blood cell production.

-Increase vitamin C-rich foods to help the absorption of iron. Lemon juice in water before a meal is great.

Did you experience low iron during your pregnancy? What did you find the most effective way to get your levels up?

*MATERNAL MONDAYS*
The Name Game

My husband and I were completely sold on our baby-to-be’s name even before it was conceived. But in the last month they’ve completely gone out the window. As a matter of fact, our ‘boy name’ has become our ‘girl name’.

I can think of probably eight girls’ names I like, but only maybe two for boys. Then you have to make sure it doesn’t rhyme with anything like ‘snot’ (sorry to anyone named Scott reading this) plus it can’t be a name of someone you used to go out with or didn’t like at school.

We’re also avoiding telling anyone our names to avoid “Oh… *pause* that’s an interesting name…”

Did you name your child after someone? Did you tell your friends and family the names or wait til after the birth to decided what he/she looked like? Did you look up the meaning of the name?

Emma the Naturopath xx

(30 weeks –size of a butternut pumpkin… Dear Lord!)

"She did not need much,
wanted very little.
A kind word,
sincerity,
fresh air,
clean water,
a garden,
kisses,
books to read,
sheltering arms,
a cosy bed,
and to love and be loved in return"
-Starra Neely Blade

123. Top Five Things I LOVED This Week:

1. Deep baritone croaks from frogs in drain pipes during the rain on Monday night.

2. Funny car names. My silver Nissan Bluebird is affectionately known as High Ho Silver and my husband’s white van is better known as Barry White (custom-made pirate curtains and all). What’s yours?

3. Mangoes every damn day.

4. An iPod full of new and old music. So many memories flood back of countless hours spent in highschool learning Pearl Jam’s Daughter on my guitar, living in Byron when I was 18 driving around in my old Gemini with Everyone Deserved Music by Michael Franti, lying on the beach in the Maldives listening to my new Jack Johnson album that I bought at the Singapore airport, singing along to Bob Marley with dad at the top of our lungs in our family car (yes it was High Ho) when I was little…

5. That feeling of satisfaction when you finally finish a book that you’ve had to re-borrow from the library four times. Don’t let me borrow your books, I am the sloooooooowest reader ever.

I WANT TO TELL YOU SOMETHING. IT MAY CATCH YOU OFF GUARD…

I have made a heart-based decision to close Essential Health. We have been open for 9 and a half years, founded by my parents in May 2005. I love the shop. I love our customers and clients, but it’s time to start the next chapter.

Years ago I remember watching an interview that Oprah did with Jerry Seinfeld about why he stopped filming his hit TV show because its success and popularity. He humbly spoke about elegant sufficiency. “You know when you’ve had a really delicious meal and you put your knife and fork down because you’re satisfied and know you’ve had enough? One extra bite would be too much and you just want to leave the restaurant satisfied rather than overdoing it.”

That pretty much sums up how I feel about Essential Health.

As soon as I made this decision on Tuesday night and said it out loud, my heart just beamed with happiness as I know that this is the perfect decision for my little family and I. I want to peacefully raise my child and give my husband back his calm happy wife. I have so much respect and admiration for women who do the whole baby plus work thing, but in the words of Elizabeth Gilbert “that’s somebody else’s dream”.

The ‘Emma the Naturopath’ Facebook page will keep still keep churning out the Top 5’s and Maternal Mondays plus my usual ramblings. You’ll still see me around town, but instead of rushing to the bank, carrying mail and invoices, I’ll be pushing a stroller with a smile on my face.

“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it and enjoy the dance”

-Alan Watts

*MATERNAL MONDAYS*
Loving this...

124. Top Five Things I LOVED This Week:

1. The thrill and anticipation of watching ominous storm fronts roll in each afternoon. Gotta love summertime in subtropical climates.

2. Wearing my super incredible heels –even if it does mean that I have to get my husband to do them up because I can no longer bend down.

3. Lovingly tending to my beetroot and oak leaf lettuce seedlings.

4. The most perfect dream catcher I’ve ever seen that my thoughtful friend made us for Baby Caller’s room. It’s got little pearl, turquoise and wooden beads and white feathers on the frame with a clear quartz attached to the centre of the hand-woven web. Go admire Chrystal’s creations on Insta: @seagypsytreasures

5. A morning spent eating buckwheat waffles, stand up paddle boarding at high tide, then tea and fresh banana bread in the garden. Happy bday Father Bear xx Hope you enjoyed your new goggles and locally made salami! Italians are easy to please.

Emma the Naturopath xx

PS. “When a woman conceives her true self, a miracle occurs and life around her begins again”.

-Marianne Williamson

Choosing my family over my business was easily the biggest decision I’ve made in the past 29 years, but my heart told me to jump, so that’s what I’m doing.

I’ve felt so touched this week by constantly being told by my clients, customers and friends “Congratulations, you’ve made the right choice”. I have received hugs, smiles and flowers from countless people each day for how grateful they are to have had Essential Health in their lives the last nine and a half years. The feeling is mutual.

Have a beautiful week x

Essential Health

Phone: 0266 514 533
Email: carrots_and_apples@hotmail.com
Facebook: Emma the Naturopath

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

Do nothing

"How beautiful it is to do nothing, 

and then to rest afterwards"

-Spanish proverb

116. Top Five Things I LOVED This Week:

1. The insane icing on the vegan, wheat-free chai carrot cake we shared at Santos.
2. Our new BioChef blender that I ordered through work. A little Father’s Day present to my husband from our unborn baby –gosh it’s a generous little foetus isn’t it? This blender could liquefy a brick!
3. Sitting in a chattery church waiting for the ceremony to begin, then all of a sudden a wave of Chinese whispers swept through the crowd of “She’ here!” and everyone hushed.
4. A refreshing swim in the eery tea tree lake at Lake Ainsworth.
5. Nathan’s chai, Eliza’s foot massages, the way Noa always thoughtfully sets the table with a plant, Blossom’s shy smiles and River’s belly kisses.

Emma the Naturopath xx

PS. In the words of Elizabeth Gilbert:
“Embrace the glorious mess that you are”

117. Top Five Things I LOVED This Week:

1. The new Country Road campaign featuring Gemma Ward with her baby girl. YouTube the clip.
2. Vicariously eating whatever Jamie O is cooking during his Comfort Food series. Did anyone see that lobster macaroni and cheese the other week? Or the one with the sticky date pudding? I feel as though I’ve gained 6 kilos after watching an episode!
3. The little chats I have with my newly planted seedlings. “Oh aren’t you getting big!” “Are you thirsty? Do you want a drink of water?”
4. That luxurious hour of solitude after my husband leaves for work at 7:30am til I have to leave the house at 8:30am. It’s usually spent sitting on the east side of the house which has been warmed by the sun, sipping a smoothie or green juice while scrolling through beautiful pics on Tumblr or watering my garden. Can you tell we don’t have kids yet?
5. Spending a Saturday afternoon drinking tea and making a raw vegan choc mint tart with my Mother Bear. (Recipe posted this week).

Emma the Naturopath xx

PS. I randomly pulled out one of my trusty yoga affirmation cards yesterday while in a complete fluster. It was Utkatasana Pose and the heading was ‘CONTROL’.

It read: Do not make a decision simply to end your discomfort of ambivalence. Connect to your strength. Allow the right choice to find you.

It can be incredibly tempting to take the easy way out to escape a physically or emotionally taxing situation… But it’s important to trust the timing of your life and live gracefully with patience in your heart. In the end, everything always works out for the best xx

CHOC MINT CHEESECAKE TART

The cacao nibs in the base give it an awesome crunchy choc chip texture and the minty-ness of the filling balances the sweet chocolatey-ness of the base! Now let’s not get carried away here, yes the recipe is raw and vegan with descent ingredients, but sugar is sugar so save it to have as a treat rather than for breakfast Enjoy!

Base:
1 cup almonds, ground into a meal
3/4 cup pitted, packed medjool dates
1/4 cup cacao powder
1/4 cup cacao nibs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In a food processor, mix ingredients into a moist dough that presses together easily. Add a couple of teaspoons of water if needed. Press the mixture into a 6" tart pan. Set aside.

Filling:
2 1/2 cups cashews, soaked overnight in water then drained
1 cup lightly packed mint leaves
1 cup water
1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons agave
8 drops mint extract or essential oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of Himalayan salt
3 tablespoons cacao butter, melted
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

In a food processor, combine everything until smooth and creamy. Taste the mixture - add more mint extract (or mint leaves) if needed. Pour into the crust and freeze overnight. Leave in fridge for 3 hours before serving.

There was a fair bit of mint filling leftover (maybe we'll add less water next time?) so we poured it into little ramekins and popped them in the freezer then ate them like little mint mousses the next day.

Emma the Naturopath xx

*SHARE this post or TAG a friend who loves you to subtly encourage them to whip this up for you*

*MATERNAL MONDAYS*

I have been offered SO many hilarious old wives tales about how you can tell if you’re having a boy or a girl. As soon as you tell someone that you didn’t find out the sex they’ll give you a theory based on how you’re carrying, if you had morning sickness or not, etc to give you a psychic prediction. Last week someone told me the sex of the baby was determined by whether the man or woman initiated the love making that resulted in the pregnancy! You just have to laugh

What wild stories have you been told or what do you swear by?

Emma the Naturopath xx
(24 weeks –length of a cob of corn)

WANT A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP?

Every night I massage my feet with some moisturiser and a few drops of lavender oil and then pop a pair of socks on and snooze the night away.

I think its the combo of the calming aromatherapy, the reflexology points and just a little self-love ritual to say "Thanks for carrying me around all day feet!"

Also a fan of magnesium as well as turning off all technology (phones/TV/laptop) by 9pm and reading in bed.

What night time ritual gets you counting sheep?

*MATERNAL MONDAYS*

INSTINCTIVE BIRTHING

I’ve just started flicking through Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering by Australian doctor Sarah J. Buckley. In a nutshell, we are reminded to have faith in our ability to birth our child as it is part of our innate wisdom. She affirms that by encouraging a trust in our intuition and body knowledge, this will assist in promoting a confident and calm birth: “In these circumstances, a labouring woman can let down her guard, switching off her rational brain and opening to the ‘unreasoned impulse’ of her instincts”.

In the chapter Vision and Tools for Instinctive Birth, she speaks of several key methods to enhance the power of our instincts:

-nourishing ourselves with wholefoods for optimal nutrition
-connecting to nature
-bodywork eg. prenatal yoga
-listening to our body clock rather than our watch
-honouring our own spiritual faith and practises
-taking time to contemplate, process and digest our internal feelings that arise through journaling, artwork, meditation and communicating with our partner

“We are all creatures of the Earth, and our bodies need the Earth’s nourishment to work effectively in any instinctive behaviour. For some women, pregnancy brings an urge to garden or to go walking, to hike or just to gaze at the scenery of earth and sky. All of these activities help align us with the Earth, our great Mother, and teach us respect and love for the natural order”.

Self-nourishment on a physical, emotional and spiritual level during pregnancy is a number one priority for all of us, but especially during pregnancy. I feel like when we connect with nature, be it walking on the beach, watching the sunrise or chopping up veggies from the farmers market for a juice, we are aligning ourselves with the flow of life.

Have you read this book or another one similar?
What are your thoughts/experiences regarding “instinctive birthing”?
How did you nourish yourself during pregnancy?

Essential Health

0266 514 533

carrots_and_apples@hotmail.com

Facebook: Emma the Naturopath

Smell the flowers

114. Top Five Things I LOVED This Week:

1. My husband’s eyes growing wide as he turned to me and asked “Was that the baby?!” Pretty special feeling the baby kick for the first time.
2. Walking down the hill from Bronte to the beach and admiring all the charming old houses and the abundance of Australian bush flowers: wisteria, bottlebrush, sea banksias, macrocarpa and wattle. *Photo by Brett the Physiologist*
3. The incredible jasmine vines that were draped from the ceiling beams at the wedding reception. The entire space smelled of Spring and looked magical. Congrats Mr and Mrs Satchwell, it was the most perfect day xx
4. A spontaneous morning involving the Bronte to Bondi headland walk, feasting at the farmers market, meeting up with friends at the chai tent, discovering Orchard St café (kombucha on tap!!) and spending time with more happy friends.
5. Ordering a chai bowl (yes a chai in a BOWL) from Pure Bronte this morning.

Emma the Naturopath xx

PS. “Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before”.
-Dalai Lama

Invite adventure into your life!

*MATERNAL MONDAYS*

“Experiencing a child growing in your body just gives you such a newfound respect for the human body. It’s just fascinating! It gives you this sense and this feeling of timelessness, this sort of evolution of man and what a miracle it is that you get pregnant at all.

It’s not like you take a special pill and this pill makes the baby grow. The baby just grows, without you even doing anything but breathing and sleeping and eating. That is an amazing feeling. You feel so proud of your body.”

-Liv Tyler

Emma the Naturopath xx
(22 weeks -size of a papaya)

~*OCTOBER SPECIAL: 10% OFF ALL STAINLESS STEEL WATER BOTTLES, INSULATED MUGS, LUNCHBOXES, LIDS & POUCHES*~ 

Water bottles are always the “go-to” present for that difficult person to buy for, or an awesome incentive for yourself to stay hydrated! Or come in and stock up on water bottles (and spare lids!) before the kiddo’s go back to school. We’ve got sizes from 350ml to 1.2L in lots of snazzy designs in all the best brands: EcoTanka, Cheeki and EarthLust!

Tag someone in this post who you think would get a bit excited about 10% off all water bottles!

"Happiness is to hold flowers in both hands"
-Japanese proverb

So high on Spring right now... What flowers are you loving? I'm all about the bottlebrush and calla lillies!

115. Top Five Things I LOVED This Week:

1. Hot gf chocolate and coconut pancakes cooked in salty butter. Just a little Tuesday night treat.
2. Whale sightings on a windy headland.
3. The name of my friend’s neighbour’s cat: Sophie PrettyToes. Best. Name. EVER.
4. Brand new bamboo sheets as well as a new king-size quilt and linen doona cover which have been washed and hanging in the sunshine all day. I am SO excited to go to bed tonight.
5. The fact that my overly house-proud husband finds it a necessity to have fresh flowers in the house at all times. No complaints here. *The wonderful picture is courtesy of lovely Sherrin from ST Images

Emma the Naturopath xx

PS. “It’s not how much love we give, but how much love we put into giving”
-Mother Theresa

When you give someone a compliment this week, mean it. And when you help someone out, do it cheerfully. Let’s genuinely care for one another

*MATERNAL MONDAYS*
NESTING

I’ve always loved cooking and baking (it's an Italian thing), but now that I’m pregnant I’ve really gone into overdrive! I have been scouring the library shelves for new cookbooks and saving recipes on blogs to a special folder entitled “TO BAKE”.

This morning I’ve made zucchini slice, bliss balls, toasted muesli as well as salt and vinegar almonds. Now I'm thinking about what I can cook for dinner... Did I mention it’s only 10:30am? I was at Coles at 7:30am to buy supplies. My husband is beside himself with joy.

When did nesting kick in for you? Were you madly rearranging the whole house or cooking up a storm like me?

Here is the bikkie recipe I baked on Saturday afternoon:

SPICY OAT COOKIES
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup cashews
1 cup gluten-free SR flour (I use a box of Orgran from the health food aisle of Coles)
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ginger (ground or fresh)
¼ tsp pink salt
½ cup honey/rice malt/maple syrup (or 100g coconut sugar)
½ cup coconut oil or organic butter (melted)
1 Tbsp chia seeds

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
2. Throw oats and cashews in food processor and grind coarsely.
3. Mix all ingredients in a bowl.
4. Roll mixture into walnut sized balls and place on a lined baking tray.
5. Bake for 10 mins or until slightly golden. Store in airtight container.

How easy is that? You can be eating hot chewy biscuits in 20 mins from now! Perfect for school lunchboxes, afternoon tea with a cuppa or at 2 in the morning when you’re STARVING!

(Recipe adapted from The Vegan Baker by Dunja Gulin)

Emma the Naturopath xx
(23 weeks –the length of a shallot)

Essential Health

0266 514 533

carrots_and_apples@hotmail.com

Facebook: Emma the Naturopath

Set yourself free

I’m a big fan of gifts from the heart. So how about making someone you love some homemade toasted muesli? Put it in a cute little glass jar and they'll love you forever.

TOASTED MUESLI
2 cups coconut flakes
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup almonds (roughly chopped)
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup pepitas
1/3 cup chia seeds
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1/3 cup of your fave dried organic fruit (roughly chopped) eg. figs, peaches, sultanas
3 Tbsp organic butter or coconut oil
3 Tbsp rice malt syrup

METHOD
1. Mix all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
2. In a small saucepan, melt the oil/butter and rice malt syrup.
3. Pour over muesli mix and stir to coat well.
4. Line a tray with baking paper and evenly spread out muesli.
5. Bake in a preheated oven at 120 degrees for 15-20 mins or once muesli is golden and dry. Keep a close eye on it! Move it around every now and then to get an even golden coverage. Store in a glass jar in the pantry.

To me, toasted muesli is a “sometimes food”. It’s a yummy breakfast, afternoon snack or dessert served with yoghurt and fresh fruit.

111. Top Five Things I LOVED This Week:

1. Picking lemons from heavy branches with dad.
2. Cozy dinners with new friends.
3. Pukka ‘Refresh’ tea that we drink from tiny cups every week at meditation group. I bought myself a box for home this week.
4. I had this dream the other week where I ended up in a library and it was one big party! I knew heaps of people there and I was having a great time! So I took it as a sign and became a member of the Coffs Library. Didn’t have the same nightclub vibe when I walked in, but I walked out with a Jamie Oliver cookbook, vintage Frankie mags, a Sex and the City dvd, a prenatal yoga dvd, parenting books, a cd of Brazilian street music and a kids book called The Penguin and the Cupcake to read to the bump.
5. Doing the Running Festival (I walked) with my parents and husband this Father’s Day.

Emma the Naturopath xx

PS. I want to leave you with a passage my husband read to me the other night in bed from The Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman:

An old man and his son worked a small farm, with only one horse to pull the plow. One day, the horse ran away.
“How terrible,” sympathized the neighbors. “What bad luck.”
“Who knows whether it is bad luck or good luck,” the farmer replied.

A week later, the horse returned form the mountains, leading five wild mares into the barn.
“What wonderful luck!” said the neighbors.
“Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?” answered the old man.

The next day, the son, trying to tame one of the horses, fell and broke his leg.
“How terrible. What bad luck!”
“Bad luck? Good luck?”

The army came to all the farms to take the young men for war. The farmer’s son was of no use to them, so he was spared.
“Good? Bad?”

*MATERNAL MONDAYS*
~Happy pills~

I eat well. It’s part of my job description. But my feelings are, no matter how fantastic your diet is, there is such a demand on the body when growing a baby (and breastfeeding) that it can be tricky to get the right amounts of all your nutrients at a THERAPEUTIC level.

MY SUPP'S:
Morning:
1 x MyGen Fertility Multi
1 x BioCeuticals Ultrabiotic Pregnancy Care

Night:
1 scoop x BioCeuticals Ultra Muscleze Night
2 x BioCeuticals DHA Omega

IN A NUTSHELL:
BioCeuticals Ultrabiotic Pregnancy Care (probiotic)
Keeps all the friendly bacteria in good a positive balance in the gut, urinary and reproductive tracts.

BioCeuticals DHA Omega (fish oil)
Prevents post natal depression and assists with nervous system and eye development.

MyGen Fertility Multi (multivitamin)
Tops up all my vitamins and minerals including iodine which is essential for brain development.

BioCeuticals Ultra Muscleze Night (magnesium powder)
Relaxes the muscles and calms the nervous system.

Something worth noting is that these supp’s were prescribed to me by my herbalist whom I have regular consultations with and she keeps an eye on my blood tests. I am also very particular about the QUALITY of my supp’s which is why I take practitioner-prescribed brands.

Which supplements did you find most useful during pregnancy?

Emma the Naturopath xx

(19 wks –size of a mango)

112. Top Five Things I LOVED This Week:

1. The gasp you let out when you see your bank balance dramatically jump up. Then you realise your tax return has arrived.
2. A 10km ride around Coffs creek in the glorious Spring sunshine.
3. A morning meditation class followed by hot gluten-free banana bread with salty butter and cinnamon ricotta. Both are equally good for the soul.
4. Being wide awake at 5:30 each morning because I’m STARVING, then having 3pm naps in the afternoon to catch up. It all started because that’s when my husband gets up to go surfing and now the baby starts moving around at the same time. They share a special bond those two.
5. Finding a fat caterpillar (named Fred) in the bunch of flowers on the dining room table and checking on him every day.

Emma the Naturopath xx

PS.
“She wore the scent of early spring on her delicate neck and every kiss I stole tasted of bright yellow flowers and buzzing bees”
-Michael Faudet

Spring is here beautiful people… Soak it up! At a “Spring Health” talk I did at One Conscious Breath Yoga Studio this week, I asked everyone to say a word that they associate with spring. Such answers included:

Jasmine flowers
Green
Healing
New beginnings
Sunshine
Freshness
Change
Lighter afternoons
Gardening

*MATERNAL MONDAYS*
~The 20 week scan~

My husband and I were adamant that there was no way we were going to find out the sex of our baby until we were holding it in our arms. That was, until we had our 20 week morphology scan last week.

I caved with all the excitement. “Are you SURE we don’t want to know?” I asked my husband repeatedly from across the room during the scan. The sonographer told us to look away if we didn’t want to know, while he zoomed in on the pelvic area. I saw my husband turn around and face the corner while I squinted to work out what the hell what was what on the screen. No luck.

Boy or girl -we’re stoked either way. I want a little daughter to cook and bake with, but the thought of a mini-Brett melts my heart.

Did you find out or wait for the delivery day? What were your reasons?

Emma the Naturopath xx
(20 weeks –the length of a banana)

SALT AND VINEGAR ALMONDS

I was flicking through my I Quit Sugar cookbook the other week (page 146 in the Savoury Snacks section for those of you playing along at home) and stumbled across a super easy recipe for salt and vinegar almonds. The recipe in the book says add 50ml of ACV and 1 Tbsp of salt to 1 ½ cups of almonds, but I’ve experimented and found that the below recipe works best for me.

Add to a bowl:
2 cups of almonds
1 Tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
2 tsp pink Himalayan salt

Stir well so the nuts are coated then spread out in a lined baking dish. Bake at 150 degrees for around 15 mins –stirring every 5 mins til the nuts are mostly dry. Store in a glass container in the pantry. They are sooooo morish hot out of the oven!!

113. Top Five Things I LOVED This Week:

1. The excitement of upcoming weddings: booking flights, finding a dress, buying and wrapping presents. The whole kit and caboodle (not kitten caboodle like I used to think the saying went).
2. Standing out in my garden watering all my plants and then doing yoga after breakfast. My favourite way to soak up some vitamin D.
3. Receiving 3 incredible bunches of flowers in 4 days. My house and shop are filled with colourful poppies, freesias, sunflowers and lillies. Thankyou Tamika, Jas and Bretty xx and once again the talented Precious Petal girls
4. Strawberry lassi: two handfuls of strawbs, fresh mint, a handful of ice, 2 Tbsp goat yoghurt, nutmeg, cinnamon and filtered water. So refreshing.
5. When your friend texts you going “Just made quinoa nori rolls and a spelt orange and chia seed cake with coconut ganache. Would you like to share if we bring it over later?” Um yes Sherrin, Y-E-S!

Emma the Naturopath xx

PS. “We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty”
-Maya Angelou

I have great respect for delayed gratitude. It is always worth acknowledging a well behaved child, a steady yoga pose, a uni graduate or a gradual loss of weight. The sacrifices and discipline we make in the short term equate to admirable achievements in the future. Like they say, there is no shortcut to anywhere worth going.

*MATERNAL MONDAYS*
-The reality check

Since hitting the 20 week half way mark a few things have happened lately that made me take a deep breath and go “Oh my god… We’re actually having a BABY…”

THE FIRST THING: seeing the delicate little baby on the 20 wk ultrasound. It looked a lot less like a squid like in the first scan. I turned to my husband that night with a spooked look and said “It’s never just going to be the two of us ever again…” I suppose it already isn’t.

THE SECOND THING: so many generous people have given us baby gear. My husband brought home a high chair last week and set it up next to our dining room table. Woah…

It’s so ironic because we planned this little baby and we are beyond excited but I suppose I just felt like I’d be pregnant forever because 9 months is such a long time... Do you know what I mean? When did reality sink in for you?

Emma the Naturopath xx
21 weeks

"The act of forgiveness takes part in our own mind.

It really has nothing to do with the other person."

-Louise L Hay

Um, may I just say, WOAH...!

There I was sipping my spiced dande and snacking on blueberries, just minding my own business, then I read this powerful quote that the lovely Georgie Cooke Quantum LifeSkills Coaching & Counselling posted.

All the grudges, resentment, hurt and sadness that we feel towards others is our own "stuff". We have made the choice to hang onto it and carry it around with us. People are who they are and we can't control that. But we can forgive them, and set us both free.

Emma the Naturopath xx

Essential Health

0266 514 533

carrots_and_apples@hotmail.com

Facebook: Emma the Naturopath