As we leap into a winter of wellness I’m so excited to tell you Christian Miranda (elite personal trainer to celeb’s, models and other hotties) is going to be joining us on the blog every week for some #fitgirl action.
This week he kicks it off with some tips for those dreaded cold mornings when we’d rather hit the snooze button.
We’ve all had those early morning battles with the snooze button on the alarm and the voice in our head saying ‘just 5 more minutes’. Getting up out of bed is a lot more difficult when its freezing cold outside! With the colder morning now upon us, keeping warm is important for a number of reasons:
- To be comfortable - We all enjoy what we’re doing a hell of a lot more when we are comfortable. As difficult as it is to get out of bed on a cold morning, your motivation is going to be determined by the goals you’ve set and being comfortable helps make this a lot more achievable!
- To prevent sickness - Myth or not, the changing of body temperature from the warmth of your home, to the cold air, to the heat and sweat of a good workout, and back to the cold air afterwards needs to be managed to ensure we don’t get sick. That said, the deliberate changing of temperatures such as with cold baths, hot showers etc can actually improve circulation by stimulating blood flow throughout the body.
- To prevent injury - The last thing we want is to get injured because our body wasn’t properly warmed up and as we age, our body’s ability to repair itself from injury is limited due to decreased circulation. By keeping our bodies warm, and performing a few basic exercises we can prepare the body for the day or a training session.
Tips for improving your circulation:
In the past, as soon as winter hit, I would go into hibernation mode. I feel the cold a lot. I am the type of person that would have the heater sitting at my feet at my desk whilst I sit with a blanket wrapped around my shoulders. I would keep all the windows and doors closed and pretty much become a hermit.
The space in which you spend most your time—whether it is your home or your office—is so important that I’ve even dedicated a whole chapter to it in my book 12 Steps to Wellness. I explain that we are not only what we eat, drink, and use topically on our skin but also what we breathe in. Most of us will breathe the equivalent of over 11000 litres of air each day. This will substantially increase if we are exerting our bodies through exercise or other physical activities. So, it makes sense to spend as much time as we can in spaces filled with clean, fresh air, loads of natural light, and as toxic free as possible. Right!? But most people don’t. They leave their cluttered, messy home, jump into a dirty, smelly car, bus, or train and sit in a grey, dark cubicle on a near windowless floor all day long. Then, they jump back into that smelly car, bus or train and back into their messy, cluttered home. This is hardly inspiring or good for your health and happiness.
Here are 5 ways to detox your home and prepare your wellness sanctuary for winter:
- Fresh Air
Open your windows every day (even in the middle of winter). This will allow fresh oxygen to fill the space and reduce the number of toxins floating around.
- Get Plants
Plants take in the toxic chemicals through their leaves, roots, and even the soil they sit. They, thus, remove many of the toxic vapours that may be lurking about. Try peace lily, Boston fern, chrysanthemum, philodendron, and spider plants.
- Use Organic Cleaning Products
Most cleaning products are loaded with highly toxic chemicals that you really shouldn’t be breathing in all day long. Get organic products. Even better: Make your own using essential oils and water.
- Let There Be Light
Open the blinds and let in as much natural light as possible. This will stop mould from building up. Mould is highly toxic and you shouldn’t be breathing it in. If you have mould forming in your bathroom or home, don’t ignore it. Don’t something about it ASAP. Try Tea tree oil, grapefruit seed extract and vinegar
- Bedding
Wash your sheets at least once a week and replace your pillows every year to stop mites and bacteria from growing.
- Quit using Candles, Incense and Room Sprays
Most of these are loaded with highly toxic chemicals that, again, you don’t really want to be breathing in all day long. Get soy or beeswax candles, natural toxic-free incense and burn organic essential oils instead of room sprays.
- Clean
I know this might sound silly but do a thorough, deep clean at least once a week with organic cleaning products to remove any toxics. A once-every-two-week clean really isn’t good enough. Set aside one hour per week to make your home and office sparkle. If you don’t like doing it, hire a cleaner.
- Kick off Your Shoes
We bring loads of toxins from the outside world into our home and office on our shoes. So, make sure you kick them off at the door and leave them there or carry them inside and put them in your wardrobe.
I go into much more depth in my book 12 Steps to Wellness. Plus, I give you loads of action steps to take immediately to create your wellness sanctuary. So, jump over and get your copy now!
Now over to you, gorgeous! Join in the conversation. Have you got any other tips you can add to the list?
Now that it is winter in Australia (although the weather has been incredible) as much as I hate to admit this, it’s going to get cooler, but hopefully not too much. So I’ve decided to dedicate May’s blog post to giving you all the tools to create a winter of wellness. To keep you warm, well, inspired, happy and fit over these more chilly months. I have loads of special guest bloggers coming on board to help support you and give you exactly what you need.
Please stay connected, reach out and tag #winterofwellness in all your winter posts.
So to get in the winter spirit I’m going to kick things of today by giving you a delicious warm apple delight recipe that you can have for breakfast or even as a treat.
Enjoy my loves.
I am so excited and proud to introduce you to my beautiful friend Nicole Daboul today. Nicole and I met a few years ago through yoga and have been hanging out eating high vibrational food, doing yoga, sipping green juice and coconuts since.
Nicole and one of my other good buddies Tyler Atkins have just launched their new business The Living Lunchbox which I can’t wait to tell you about.
Let’s dive in!
How young are you? 34
Where do you live? Woollahra, Sydney.
Current occupation: Art Director, Kundalini Yoga Teacher and half of ‘The Living Lunchbox’
Why is fuelling your body with beautiful food and thoughts important to you? Back in my mid twenties my friends recommended I see a naturopath to help me with some stomach troubles I was having. I didn’t realise it at the time but I was quite unwell. This time marked the beginning of my personal healing journey (physically and emotionally)and a new awareness of what I was putting in my body. Was it of a high vibration? Was it nourishing me? Supporting me? I’ve worked as a creative in advertising and publishing for years which was taxing on the body and nervous system, especially my adrenals. Charging myself up with healthy food and positivity, ensuring I was healthy from the inside out, helped me to function in a fast paced and often cut throat environment.
What does self-love mean to you and why is it important? The work I do on myself and share with others through Kundalini Yoga teaches us that this concept is not about ‘fixing’ ourselves but rather coming to a deeper place of acceptance of ourselves. That inner knowing that all the love we need is within and that we do the work to uncover all the layers and blocks that prevent us from loving ourselves fully and sharing this source of infinite love with others. My favourite poet Rumi sums this up beautifully with this quote: “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
Tell us why you started your blog/business and what it means to you? My business partner and close friend Tyler (Atkins) and I had been hanging out doing yoga and talking about some ideas and visions for the future. Turns out that we both shared the dream to start a healthy lunchbox delivery. We decided to do just take the plunge and do it. There wasn’t any real planning involved, it evolved (and continues to evolve) quite organically. we are coming up to our third week on Monday and we’ve been overwhelmed and humbled by the support and how it’s taken off. It’s evidence for me that when you’re in alignment with your truth, and doing the work on yourself, if you have a vision and you vibrate that vision – you will manifest and accomplish that with complete support from the universe. It will blow your mind. This came to be from a complete letting go and surrendering on my part of what I thought I was ‘meant to be’ doing and making some space for this seed to grow. I can’t explain the thrill and the high I get from making this beautiful, living food every Monday with my friend and delivering it to people all over Sydney! It’s so much fun and such a blessing do be doing something I feel so passionately about.
Your top 5 tips to stay healthy and happy?
1. Don’t believe everything you think.
2. Surround yourself with people and places that are vibrationally aligned, and UPLIFT you.
3. Fill yourself with LOVE: loving food, loving thoughts &ideas, loving friends, dreams and visions.
4. Do what you love, and if you don’t know what it is don’t give up until you find it.
5. Be humble, compassionate and kind. Forgive readily. Love infinitely.
Be silly on a daily basis. It keeps you young.
What are your big dreams, goal and aspirations? I don’t think I’ve ever been happier in the present moment that I am today. I only wish to continue to follow my path where I am guided, and to share beautiful uplifting food and yoga with people as much as I can. Wherever in the world that takes me.
What’s your favourite live by affirmation, mantra or quote?
“Vibrate the Cosmos; the Cosmos shall clear the path.”
This is one of Yogi Bhajan’s Five Sutras for The Aquarian Age.
Share your favourite recipes? Today I’m in love with a Golden Goodness smoothie that I tasted at the Health Emporium (Bondi) yesterday. I slightly added to it for my smoothie today. Made from: Frozen bananas, frozen mangos, coconut flesh and water, fresh ginger, turmeric powder, cinnamon, ovvio vanilla bean powder, macadamia nuts, chia seeds, maca powder. It’s so ridiculously good.
Where can we find you?
Website – www.thelivinglunchbox .com (coming soon)
Instagram – @thelivinglunchbox and also @i_am_yoga
A: Accept. Accept everything. This is the key to freedom.
B: Brush and floss your teeth twice a day. You would be surprised at how many people don’t. According to Dr. Ron Ehrlich: “Digestion starts in the mouth, and is where loads of bacteria live.” So we want to make sure we get brushing and flossing
C: Chill out! Take time each day to just be.
D: Dance. Whether it’s in your room or in a class, move your butt. You would be surprised at how good it makes you feel. You’ll feel better emotionally and physically. I’ll crack Rihanna or Beyoncé on my iPod in the mid-afternoon for a pick me up. It’s so much fun.
E: Exercise. This should be a non-negotiable part of your everyday life. Do it first thing in the morning so you can’t argue with your ego about it.
F: Forget calorie counting. Listen and tune in to your body. It’s always telling you what it needs and wants.
G: Go fresh. Nothing beats the taste of real, fresh, whole foods. Plus you get so much more in nutrients, vitamins and minerals when you eat fresh fruits and veggies
H: Help. It’s okay to ask for help and get support. I wouldn’t be where I am today without my teachers, mentors, and coaches—whom I all still see I might add. When I was younger I thought it was a sign of weakness to ask for help. Now, the more the better.
I: Introduce new foods. Every Saturday when I go to the farmers’ market, I pick up one new thing I have never tried before. Give it a go!
J: Juice. Drink at least one green veggie juice a day on an empty tummy.
K: Kindness. Practice random acts of kindness from your heart.
L: Let go. Let go of control, fear, resentment, anger, frustration, hatred, and pain. These are all holding you back from living your best life. They are also massively aging you.
M: Meditate. Meditate every morning for at least five minutes.
N: No. Learn to say no and not be a people pleaser. Ask yourself: Why do I want to people please?
O: Open your heart. In every moment, just breathe and open your heart.
P: Plan. If you’re busy, plan your meals. When you go shopping for the week get the items you need for that week’s menu so you’re never caught out.
Q: Quit picking on you. Work your self-love muscle and quit with the negative self-talk. It’s so 2008.
R: Run. Nothing beats the feeling after an awesome run along the beach or in the park.
S: Surrender. Surrender, surrender, surrender and when you think you have surrendered, surrender some more.
T: Trust. Trust in the process of life.
U: Unity. Remember we are all one.
V: Veggies. Eat them! You can’t get enough of them.
W: Walk in nature. Make sure you connect with nature at least once a day.
X: EXert! Exert your heart, mind, soul and body toward your best life.
Y: Yoga. Yoga is the best moving meditation you can give yourself.
Z: Get Your ZZZ’s. Make it a priority to get eight solid hours every night. This is when all your healing happens.
My partner very much lives his life in the flow. Now this used to shit me. It was so hard to plan holidays, what we were going to do on the weekend, or even what we’d have for dinner that night. He always wanted to ‘go with the flow’ and ‘see how he felt in that moment’. He would say to me, “Darling, how can I tell you now what I am going to feel like doing on Saturday? It doesn’t exist yet!”
Good point! Buuuuutttttttttttttt I WANT TO KNOW NOW!!!!
Hello, control freak.
Over the years, I have very much adapted to this in-the-flow business. But, I still have moments of wanting to plan, plan, plan (this is just my ego, by the way!)
Most weekends, Jamie and I don’t plan anything. We see how we feel on the day. But, I still usually have a rough idea of what I need or want to do.
Oh! Hi, control freak.
But this weekend, I did a little experiment.
On Sunday, we had absolutely no plans. As I lay on the beach at 10:30 on Sunday morning, it hit me. I have nothing planned for today. My mean girl went into freak-out mode, wanting to go straight into planning.
I turned to Jamie and shared what was going on internally for me. “Darling, I just realised we have no plans. Now this can go one of two ways: I can freak out or I can sit with the feeling of having nothing on.”
I sat with the feelings that came up for me and realised there was nothing to fear. It was all just my ego.
You see, our mean girl (aka ego), wants to keep us busy, busy, busy constantly to prevent us from actually stopping and just being. Your mean girl will keep you going at a million miles per hour in your head to keep you out of the present moment.
Why? Because that’s the only way the ego can survive. Your ego cannot live in the present moment. So, it will do whatever it takes to keep you in your head and in the past or future.
And don’t be fooled! It will sneak up in there when you least expect it. Be on guard and super present to catch your tricky, sneaky, little ego.
The only way to be on guard and catch your ego is to be in the here and now.
We must keep bringing our attention back into the present moment.
Whenever you go off in your head, remind yourself to come back. This is like the self-love muscle I talk about in my book: 12 Steps to Wellness. It’s a moment-to-moment practice.
As a result of completely surrounding on Sunday, I had one of the best days of my life. It was filled with so much love. Randomly bumping into old and new friends that I really wanted to see. An impromptu sunset dinner. Hysterical laughing fits. Dancing and singing my lungs out to shine bright like a diamond with my bestie. Amazing company. A magical sunset. Delicious food, and ocean swims.
You see: None of that magic would have happened if I had gone into planning mode. It all happened in the moment.
Wake up each morning with the intention to be present. At the end of my meditation each morning I say,
“Today, I commit to being fully present and in the here and now.”
Write this on Post It notes and stick it all over your house so you don’t forget!
Now, I want to hear from you, gorgeous. Are you a planner? If so, how do you bring yourself back to the present moment?
Originally featured on Move Nourish Believe
Welcome to week four (our last week) of Believe Bootcamp.
Before we get started, I want to take a moment to acknowledge you for all your hard work and dedication over the past few weeks. You seriously ROCK! I know how hard it is to take responsibility for our feelings and look within. So kudos to you, gorgeous!
But it ain’t over yet, sister!
Now that you’re well aware of the nasty things your mean girl says to you, you have the tools to flex your self-love muscle. You’ve quit comparing yourself. You’re ready to start to live your best life. No more excuses. You know too much now. All you have to do is BELIEVE in yourself. Believe you deserve the best! Because you DO, my love.
To BELIEVE and love oneself unconditionally is the biggest gift one can give herself. Once we BELIEVE, nothing else matters. All else falls away and evaporates. When we love ourselves, we don’t compare. We choose nourishing foods. We commit to being present. We practise forgiveness every day. We give. We share. We support. We are completely and utterly grateful for air and all that we are experiencing. We’re authentic, honest, open, raw, real, and loving. We move our tush lovingly each day. We follow our heart. We speak the truth. We sit in stillness. We pray. We meditate. We stay on purpose. We surround ourselves with inspiring kick ass souls. We jump out of bed each morning. We honour our temple. We cherish our gifts. We make self-care a priority and self-love a non-negotiable.
Now is your time to sign the contract with yourself. Print this off and stick it on your fridge.
Love Melissa
Warning: For all you super foodies out there be prepared to salivate over Jacqueline’s amazing recipes.
Let’s dive straight in.
How young are you? 28
Where do you call home? Sydney
Current occupation: TV Producer
Tell us a little bit about your beautiful self. I’m a 28 year old who grew up in coastal Newcastle and spent my teenage years in the kitchen making a mess. A move to Sydney and a bigger choice of culinary experiences helped fuel my foodie obsession. But it wasn’t until I headed into my mid 20’s that I really started looking at food and where it came from. TheGoodPlate is my journal of rediscovering the good stuff about food without sacrificing the flavour or the experience. It’s a blog for those who love to eat but also want to stay on the healthy side of the plate.
Why is fueling your body with beautiful food and thoughts important to you? I want to give myself and my family the best chance at life and to me that starts with the simple philosophy “You are what you eat”. If I can give my body and my mind the best chance at a happy and healthy life than I think that’s as successful as you can get.
What does self-love mean to you? To me it’s all about giving yourself the best chance at life, fuelling your body with good food that makes you happy but also living your life, having great experiences and not being too hard on yourself.
Tell us why you started your blog and what it means to you? I started my blog in October 2012 after a few people close to me got sick, for me at the time the only thing I knew how to help was to cook. So I started looking at food that was both good for you but also super tasty that still made food an experience. I was always a massive foodie and loved to eat and cook, but I started taking my favourite recipes and tweaking them into healthier versions free of preservatives and as close to the source as possible.
TheGoodPlate is not about getting fancy pants, or cooking for 6 hours with 40,000 ingredients.
It’s good, honest, simple home cooking on the table, filling you up and making you feel GOOD!
I think we would all love to eat organic all the time, spend hours at the farmers markets on the weekend and grow a fantastic vege patch in the backyard. When the reality is I work full time, live in an inner city terrace and have a busy social life. TheGoodPlate is about doing the best you can with your resources, it’s good cooking for busy people who are conscious about what they put in their bodies. TheGoodPlate doesn’t use the words diet, calories, fat – it’s simply about fuelling your body with the good stuff but also enjoying food, enjoying life and not feeling guilty about it.
Your top 5 tips to stay healthy and happy?
1.) Fuel your body with the good stuff which means trying to stay away from preservatives and ‘fake food’ and cooking with food as close to the source as possible. And if you can move you body a little bit as well than I think you are doing pretty good.
2.) Surround yourself with good people – I’m such a people person and have always loved being around good people. I’m really lucky that the people in my life are wonderful beautiful creative people who inspire me daily.
3.) Keep learning – I can’t think of anything worse than not being surprised and learning everyday, I think that its important to keep your mind active and keep learning about the things you love and for me that’s good food.
4.) Laugh – I love a good chat and good laugh, especially around the table whilst sharing a meal. A good laugh can take a bad day and make it the best.
5.) Laugh some more – rinse and repeat as above
What are your big dreams, goal and aspirations?
It’s pretty simple for me – live well, eat well, stay healthy and laugh!
What are your favourite recipes?
-
Quinoa-Salad-w-Roasted-Cauliflower-Zucchini-Pomegranate
Where can we find you?
Throughout my journey, I have read so many self-help, spiritual, and self-improvement books. A lot of them are great but these four are my all-time favourites. These books are the ones I keep coming back to over and over again. They are the ones I pick up and randomly open to a page I so needed to read in that exact moment. They are the ones I continuously recommend not only to my clients but also to my friends and family.
If you haven’t read these books, do yourself a favour. Curl up with a nice cuppa and dive in.
- A Return To Love by Marianne Williamson
- The Power Of Now by Eckhart Tolle
- Biology Of Belief by Bruce Lipton
- You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay
Have you read any of these books? If so, what did you think?
Originally featured on Move Nourish Believe
Hi darling,
How did you pull up from last week’s self-love workout?
Before we dive into Week 3 of Believe Bootcamp I have a confession to make. I used to suffer from‘comparisonitis’ (a little something my friend Rach has written about here). I lived in a constant state of ‘not feeling good enough’ and compared how I looked, the work I did, how much money I made, my shoes, how many clients I had, my handbags, clothes, my hair, boyfriend, relationships, my home, my weight, the car I drove, my happiness…..EVERYTHING!!
However, on my path to wellness I’ve come to realise that comparison robbed me of happiness. When we compare ourselves, we are coming from fear (your mean girl), the opposite to love. I used to be so unconscious that I didn’t even realise I was living in fear. Now I know the truth. Phew!
You see the mean girl (aka ego) compares to keep you in suffering and out of your heart, that’s the mean girls job and the way she survives.
But why would your mean girl do that?
Because the ego can NOT survive in love. So, it will do whatever it takes (like compare you to everyone else) to keep you out of your heart. It’s just another sneaky trick of the ego.
When I was in comparing mode, nothing flowed in my life. I would compare how many clients I had with others. As a result, I had none. I would compare my bank balance. And money never flowed. I compared my relationship and it flopped. I compared how I looked and could never shift the weight. But, as soon as I saw what was really going on, I remembered that I had a choice. I could choose to come from love or stay in fear. I chose the first and I want you to as well. Why?
Well, now that I live this way new clients are drawn to me, I am fully booked (without any marketing). Money flows in. My relationship freaking rocks. I am content in my skin and best of all, it’s effortless.
Looking back I realised when I lived in a state of comparison my friendships are vastly different to the friendships I have now. Back then it was like a competition – who could compare the most. Now though, my friends are successful, courageous and passionate entrepreneurs, changing lives and doing what they love. This is a reflection of where I am in my life. No longer do I entertain toxic relationships.
“Instead of gossiping about who’s skinner, what we didn’t eat and who kissed the hottest boy, we talk about our favourite raw recipes, realising our dreams and positive change.”
Maybe the biggest difference of all is that we are all completely authentic with each other – there’s no masks, cover-ups or secrets. Gone are those days. Thank god!
So gorgeous girl, I invite you to catch yourself next time you go into compare mode. Maybe even take a moment, to look at the relationships in your life that are based on comparison. Gently remind yourself to slide back into your heart (it’s so much warmer in there). Be grateful for what is, choose to come from love and let your mean girl take the back seat.
Love Melissa
XO
