Turn him on! Fertility Slow Cooked Beef Ras el hanout.

I made the sexiest, most fertility enhancing slow cooked beef ras el hanout last night. Sure to start a fire in any mans heart (or pants). If your man comes home to find this in the oven (or slow cooker), he’ll be more then willing to settle down and start a family. And if he’s already committed, this certainly confirms he’s made the right decision.

What makes it a fertility masterpiece you ask?

The ‘meat’ is extremely high in fertility essentials, zinc, iron, B vitamins and plentiful in protein. Nutients so so important for powering healthy sperm and supporting the growth of new cells.

But the real magic, I believe, lies in the spice mix. North African ‘Ras el hanout’ translates into “head of the shop” meaning it’s a mixture of the best spices there is to offer. As I put this together last night, I found the spices remarkably stimulating and sensuous. So when I did a bit of research I was pleased to find that Ras el hanout traditionally contained a powerful aphrodisiac called Catharides, made out of the Spanish fly (yes you read that right, an insect) an ingredient banned in the 90s. In fact, according to my friend Wikipedia, Henry IV was said to consume spanish fly to aid erection, at risk of his own good health, like insect Viagra. Caesers wife once stirred Catherides powder into the dinner of her politically powerful guests in the hope of encouraging them into behavior she could later black-mail them with. What a bitch.

History aside, even without crushed Spanish fly, the ingredients of Ras El Hanout are a circulatory stimulating, blood flow enhancing, anti-inflammatory, feel good shebang of love you long time.

You can buy ready made preparations of Ras el hanout from gourmet supermarkets and possibly your local farmers market, but I made my mix with the spices in my cupboard.

If you make your Ras el Hanout at home, and I recommend you do, read through the properties below as you add the spices. Focusing intention on your spices as you add them and mix them together makes a much more effective and romantically spicy mix, don’t ask me why, it just does.

Ras el hanout

Ingredients ½ tsp each of ground cloves and cayenne pepper.

Cloves are warming and grounding, with phenomenal levels of fertility essential nutrient manganese, cayenne pepper is a circulatory stimulant and has an excitatory energy about it, spice it up and get things moving! 2 tsp each allspice, ground cumin, ground ginger, ground turmeric, freshly ground black pepper (I used an Australia Bush Pepper blend) and ground cardamom.

Allspice aka pimento is traditionally associated with prosperity, ground cumin contains coumarone, an anti-inflammatory, likewise, Turmeric is the best source of coumarone available, a potent healer. Ginger is a great energy and circulatory stimulant, as well as a digestive tonic and an overall wellness warrior. Black pepper is anti-cancer and has an overall spicy energy while cardamom is antioxidant and very much a love and success herb.

  3 tsp each of ground cinnamon and ground coriander.

Cinnamon is a blood sugar balancer but is also quite sweet and dare I say it feminine in energy, sure to make you sparkle in your mans eye. It’s anti-inflammatory and is soothing on the digestive system, great for digestive conditions. Ground coriander is a great source of minerals as well as being delicious and fragrant.

1 ½ tbsp. of freshly grated nutmeg.

Nutmeg has long been associated with good health, and in Elizabethan times was believed to ward off the plague. Today we know nutmeg has a high essential oil content, with anti microbial, antioxidant and immune protective effects.

Add all spices together and mix. Store in a jar, preferably with a beautiful label you have created yourself.

Slow-Cooked Beef with Ras el hanout

Inspired by a recipe by the Sydney Monday Morning Cooking Club featured in their recent book “A Feast Goes On” and published in the May 2014 issue of Delicious magazine

Serves 2 – 4 (my husband ate enough for two easily, and perhaps 3)

500g organic grass fed steak, like chuck or rump, diced into 2.5cm pieces with gratefulness to the cow for providing nourishment (or for a vegan version, you could use tempeh, but I can’t promise the man catching properties will be the same…of course there’s always exceptions, you know your man better then I do)

1 onion 2 garlic cloves 2 tsp ras el hanout spice mix 2 small red chillies sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste 1 tin of tomatoes + 1 big tomato OR use 4 – 5 big tomatoes ½ a preserved lemon rind, chopped finely, discard pith and pulp (optional) 2 tsp honey coriander parsley

1. For the slow version preheat oven to 140°C. For the quick preheat the oven to 180°C.

2. Get out your favourite, most home-cookin casserole dish

3. Place the beef in the casserole dish, and add all the rest of the ingredients, bar the fresh herbs.

4. Mix it up, visualising happy husbands and happy tummies, love and connection

5. Place in the oven for 3 hours for slow cooked version. I’d run out of time for slow cooking, and so I turned up the heat and popped this in the oven at 180, set my timer for 2 hours, and went down my garden path to give a Shiatsu massage. Meanwhile, my husband Andy came home and following his nose to the oven, found the dish, which he described as ‘nourishing goodness,’ and decided it was ready to eat after an hour and a half cooking time, as I found him with a giant bowl and rye toast when I walked in the door.

I served it up with the fresh herbs on top, steamed sweet potato, a tahini, tamari sauce and some lightly stir fried broccoli with red capsicum. The vegetables complimented the fertility powers of the Ras el hanout perfectly, but that’s another blog post.

Andy then showered me with affection for the remainder of the night, grateful for such a wonderful meal. I lapped it up like a princess, charmed by his positive reaction and delicious results.

I’d love to hear about your sexy cooking efforts. If you have a story to share please tell me about it below.

Take care my lovelies,

In wellness, Lib.

Sexy fertility enhancing beef ras el hanout sure to make a man fall in love with you

Healing Chicken Soup

Yesterday only hours after boasting about my ‘immune system of steel' my husband Andrew, I fell ill with headache and fever. I was straight home to bed were I stayed for hours, I downed immune boosting herbs, anti-viral essential oils, vitamin c and zinc, I was making myself ginger lemon tea and swallowing garlic cloves whole. I managed to muster up the strength to cook myself a healing whole chicken soup, and today after plenty of rest, I feel like I’m in convalescence, I managed to stop this monster in it’s tracks.  

A soup made with the whole chicken, provides proteins essential for the production of immune cells, and all the wonderful minerals from the bones are leached into the broth providing zinc, magnesium, calcium, and Vit D just to mention a few. Only recently have a started eating meat after 13 years as a vegetarian, and sometimes vegan. I ate my soup yesterday with gratitude reverence for the chicken, and all of the life giving and healing vitality it bestowed. I beleive yy intention of healing while I prepared and ate this dish played just an important role in my quick recovery as the nourishing ingredients themselves.

Here is my recipe adapted from Perth author Jude Bleureu's “Healing Chicken Soup in her amazing book Wholefood.

Healing Chicken Noodle Soup

Okay first of all this works best if you have a really big soup pot, like a proper stock pot. I don’t have one of these and tried making my soup with a le crusset casserole dish. It worked but it was a tight squeeze, and I made a bit of a mess.

I whole organic free range chicken 2 medium sized brwn onions or a large brown onion 3 stalks of celery 3 carrots a few sprigs of fresh thyme 6-8 sage leaves 2 sprigs fresh oregano 1 corn cob, kernals removed and reserved 3-4 garlic cloves 1 tsp apple cider vinegar 2 bay leaves sea salt black pepper 2 handfuls of flat leaf Italian parsley 8 dried shitake mushrooms two handfuls of noodles, soba noodles, vermicelli egg noodles, or whatever noodles you acquire

1. Place your large soup pot over a low heat and place the whole chicken inside. IF therese is skin on the chicken the fat will serve to cook the vegetables, but you can add some olive oil to help the cooking process along.

2. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and gently sizzle. Add the thyme, sage and oregano, and then the corn and the corn cob, garlic, ginger and half the parsley. Add the stock, the shitake mushrooms and the bay leaves. Cook for one hour.

3. Lift the chicken out of the liquid and remove the flesh. I used a pair of tongs, and a fork to get this job done. Also take out the shitake mushrooms and slice them up nice and small. Add the bones and mushrooms back into the broth and simmer for an additional 30 minutes.

4. Remove the bones and the corn cob, and check soup for consistency and flavour. Add the noodles. Add more herbs if you like, some extra salt as required or some tamari. When the noodles are cooked through the soup is ready.

Happy Wellness

Why Shiatsu?

I give shiatsu purely and simply because I discovered I had a gift for it. Actually, that's not quite right, I didn't so much 'discover' my gift, as I was not looking for it, it was more that my gift came up to me one day and 'healed' me in the face.

The universe works in funny ways, at the age of 20 I found myself quite accidentally, but very happily living out of a tent on a beautiful bush property just meters from the northern NSW coast. Wondering down the street of nearby Byron Bay one day I happened upon a street stall selling crystals. Without any prior experience in crystals and very little money I found myself attracted to a particular flourite crystal cut into a long cylindrical shape with a point on one end. This stone is beautiful, a transparent green and purple glassy like crystal, smooth, powerful and of the heart chakra. This crystal showed me how to heal by conducting and moving energy. It guided me, my intuition tuned into this rock, and it absolutely blew me away.

I then found myself giving massages. It was like the crystal opened up the door to an inner wisdom, a knowing. People tend to be weirded out at the prospect of a crystal healing (a what?) but are very open to have someone physically manipulate their muscles. I had no massage training and no prior experience but somehow I knew how to run through a massage routine and relieve stress and strain. Even more incredible is that I met certain people who would seek massage from me and pay me for it. This was not something I had to look hard for, they came to me. I guess the moral of the story is that I tuned into the universal healing flow of love that allows us to heal.

Libby is a damn good shiatsu massage therapist.This is the crystal that inspired her healing path.

I have since completed formal massage training with a diploma in Shiatsu, thereby gaining an understanding of Traditional Chinese Medicine. After a couple of years I had developed a passsion for discovering the biological science behind our wonderful bodies and took up Biomedical Science and the University of Notre Dame. I completed a semester, studying hard while at the same time developing a relentless obsession with healthy food and new recipes. I decided to look into nutrition and found myself drawn to the nature cure promise of Naturopathy. Five years later I'm a naturopath who absolutly  love's to practice Shiatsu. There is a therapeutic elegance in the simplicity of a massage.

My massage studio is not a clinic, it's a true escape from the outside world. Some clients feel like it's an alternate universe. I think of it as a more a medititative haven. However you see it, once your inside there's nothing to do but release stress, pain, and worries.

It's Joy Time. 5 tips for Harmony in the Heat.

  Feeling a bit hot lately? Thank heavens for the air-con in my Shiatsu Studio! I remember one time long ago, I was with my Bestie and sweltering in 47° C at a New Years festival somewhere very far inland, close to the Victoria-NSW border. I’d noticed all these people walking around covered head to toe is dry cracked mud and nothing else (hey, it was Confest) and was quite perplexed at the reasoning behind this mud skin. We happened upon a giant rubber tyre tube and giddy with excitement launched ourselves into the bush creek that circled the festival. We drifted slowly with the current and then suddenly, there it was…. the mud bath. A big 3m diameter hole completely filled with gooey, slippery, dark grey, slightly smelly mud. My Bestie looked at me with a glimmer in her eye “let’s do it.” Oh my God here goes. I shut my eyes and started to wade. It was so cool in there. It was a muddy heaven in contrast to the relentless dry heat that beat on us from all places that weren’t filled with mud. With that mud on our skin we stayed cool for at least an hour, a very efficient cooling method by any camping measure.

But Alas, it’s not always practical to just have a mud bath and walk around practically nude. These days when the Perth mercury rises above 35 every single day we are well and truly in the throes of the fire element. Tuning into your body and flowing with the season is vital to maintaining inner balance and harmony.

The fire element is directly related to your heart meridian. Your sense of joy and happy spirit are dependent on the state of your fire element. Such weather extremes can easily throw you off kilter causing excess and have you wishing away your summer days. Here are some tips for keep your chi flowing freely and have you thriving in the heat.

1. Eat a rainbow of bright summery fruits and vegetables and get your chef on by creating gorgeous meals. Cold foods are indeed delightful in these conditions however too many cold foods cause contraction, hold in heat and sweat, and interfere with digestion. Ice cream and heaps of iced drinks are therefore not the best choice (I’m sorry). Instead lightly cook your food in high heat quickly, and season with pungent flavours such as ginger, garlic, horseradish, black pepper and cayenne. Hot food and drinks, and I’m talking about both temp hot and spicy hot here, induce sudden sweating and therefore have a cooling effect on the body.

2. The best foods to cool summer heat are apples, lemons, watermelons, limes and cucumbers. Try for a cooling atmosphere when you eat, like on the deck or a picnic in the shade. Enjoy with loved ones.

3. Heavy foods such as meats, eggs and an excess of nuts, seeds and grains cause sluggishness on a hot day. When you think about it salads, fruits, a little seafood and dare I say it tofu are way more appetising in extreme heat. When we don’t pay attention to our bodies it’s easy to habitually eat the same old menu, and feel worse off for it.

4. Plan a little holiday. Soon. Summer time is a time for outward activity and expansion. Getting out and doing something new is completely in sync with the energy of Summer. This is joy time. The health of your joy emotion is directly related to the state of your fire element. Any disbalance in this area means a disbalance of joy. So get on with it, action something that makes your heart sing!

5. Get up early and go outside. Reach your arms up and say hello to the sun. Outdoor early morning yoga, runs on the beach, Qi Gong in the park. These are all perfect ways to say hello to the day and keep your fire element happy. Summer is a very yang time, and the Sun is the most yang of all. To quote Paul Pitchford “Summer is a period of luxurious growth. Reach to the sun for nourishment to flourish.” Nothing like a little Vitamin D to nourish you and make you strong, just get under cover before the UV rays start to burn.

Happy harmony seeking my friends. I wish you many happy spirit summers and tremendous joy.

Shiatsu is a Japanese massage that brings your energy back into balance. So if the summer has already got to you, please don’t hesitate to see me! I’d love to help you out.

Love Lib

References Paul Pitchford, Healing with Whole Foods, 2002.

Missing meditation? Here's what you're missing out on.

I love being in sync. I find if I really tune in and listen to my inner voice everything starts going right for me. A few weeks ago I was completely in the zone. I was cruising around being guided by my inner goddess and everything was rocking. I was waking up with giant pushes to sign up for a photography course, do the health coaching course with Institute of Integrative Nutrition, be a Naturopath, practise Shiatsu, go to Melbourne for a writing conference, I was literally in 100 places at once. I can handle it.   I was organising all this amidst moving house to South Fremantle, and what a gorgeous sanctuary it is. Hot backyard bath, and incredible vegie garden, a sacred meditation and healing space, beautiful high ceilings and ornate details. It’s like a holiday hideaway at home.

But there was just one thing….I was missing meditation.  With the busy-ness of the move my meditation space was packed away and then not set up for a couple of weeks.

This is a story of a girl who does too much. The Friday before last I woke up, relieved to have a day at home. I had a photography course at 9.30, and was on my way for an early start, I found myself at the parking meter and realised I had left my wallet at home. 'Why did I do this to myself?' I wondered. I went back to retrieve it and thankfully I was only a few minutes late. Later on I looked in my diary and found I had completely missed an important appointment for the online course I'm doing. I was so excited about this course I found it unbelievable that I had simply forgot about this first call. Hmmm things were not going so well.

I was reminded of a lecture I heard the other day about synchronicity. It seems that when you follow your own inner guidance and honour yourself, you find that you are in the right place at the right time. Consequently ignoring your own inner voice finds you in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was experiencing this first hand. Things were not going so smoothly and I was feeling awkward, tired and full of bad habits.

I had spent the morning rushing rushing, not quite meeting my appointments, not quite having the right kind of camera for the photography course (though definitely good enough). I was hurrying home to be prepared for a phone interview about Shiatsu with the Mind, Body Spirit section for the Tuesday West Australian. I had been careless enough to schedule it at the exact time the photography class ends …. not giving myself a chance to properly complete one thing or prepare for the other. Had I just sat and listened that morning…. listened to my phone messages that is, I would have received the message that the journalist was ill and wanted to reschedule for the next week.

How different my morning would have been had I received this piece of information, how unrushed, how complete. Had I taken my time to respond to what was directly in front of me, checked my date book, clued in to all the cues, how effective I could have been. But most importantly, I would have enjoyed myself a hell of a lot more. Now thank my lucky stars I had another chance to get it right. Slow down, relax, meditate :-)

My meditation space is now beautifully set up and reverently peaceful. It sits at the south end of the shiatsu room, holding crystals, candles and pretty images of peace. It’s like heaven in a garden studio and I love it!

Sitting in stillness is paramount in helping me stay on the right path, get more done and my most important task...do my best to be of service in the name of all things good.

Whats your favourite way of slowing down and chilling out? I'd love to hear about it in the comments below.

Much love

Lib x

De-cluttering made easy; Clear your space with heart

Next Tuesday I will officially become a homeowner :-) These past 11 years since I flew from my mothers nest have seen me in many different living arrangements, from tents, to couches, to rentals of various quality and ocean side holiday homes. Finally a true dream has come true. I have a place to call my own, to decorate as I desire, and best of all, an organic vegie garden with a beautiful healing studio perfect for shiatsu out the back.

So gearing up to next weeks ‘Big Move,’ I am taking this opportunity to clear as much stuff as possible from my possession. The thought of letting go to my much loved and hand picked clothes feels akin to letting go of the the hundreds of life experiences I associate with them.... Overwhelming to say the least.  I felt like I needed some serious help for this task. Fortunately, as if divinely timed, Leonie Allen’s Amazing Biz and Life Academy is running a space clearing e-course with inspiration and guided meditations to assist me on my de-cluttering journey.

I lit a candle and cuddled up with a blanket and pillow on the couch ready to go into space-clearing transformation. Leonie’s meditation has me standing in a spacious protective golden egg and pulling off parts of myself just for a little while so I can be free to be the whitelight fairy angel healing spirit that I am (on the inside).  I was pulling off my legs, my hair, my arms, my jewellery, all painlessly and with ease of course.  I hung out in that airy-free lightspace feeling safety in owning nothing but my essence.

At the end of the meditation I magically put all my body pieces back together, got up off the couch, moved my candle to the bedroom and put on some relaxing music.  After my golden egg freedom exercise I miraculously I found it much easier to go through my wardrobe and separate myself from my possessions. My inner voice (that fairy-angel-spirit voice) had told me whilst in meditation to trust my de-cluttering intuition.  Surprisingly and to my delight, my intuition allowed me to keep the things I was scared more sensible to part with (yeah so I haven’t worn it in 10 years but still worth keeping, apparently) and I was guided to donate some more recent items that I probably would have kept if I were making decisions from my head and not from my heart. I was relieved to find that I didn’t have to throw out anything I really liked. The whole process was not so psychologically impossible after all, and I came up with some new outfit combos I hadn’t thought of before, so ultimately I actually gained clothes to wear.

Plus inspired by the label on a cute top, I visited the company  website on my wardrobe-clearing break and found a gorgeous black velvet dress that completely reflects who I am and what I want to feel like – at half price!

By throwing out the old I had made room for something new, beautiful and perfect-for-right-now sent from heaven, with plenty of space for hanging!

I feel like it’s a responsibility of mine to keep things beautiful. Like regular body maintenance is required for a clear flow of chi through your energy meridians, clear physical space in your home is vital for positive chi in your environment. I can’t help but feel clear space helps you reach your higher potential and experience more wealth, joy, love, creativity, health and job satisfaction.  Isn’t everyone happier when the house looks good?

If you want to find out more about space clearing and other life improving e-courses at the Amazing Biz and Life academy I can hook you up, just comment below or email me.

Click here for some more  tips on getting your chi flowing. I wish you much love and I hope to see you for a Shiatsu soon, we’ll get some space cleared in your shoulders yo. Sign up here for newsletters with specials and wellness.

Peace Love and Healing Angels

Lib xxx

Your Skin Will Glow If You Let It. 6 Must Dos for Complexion Radiance.

Feeling excited by all things healthy skin this week as I trial an exciting new offering, a delightful shiatsu facial that will be available very soon so watch this space. I am freshly home from a blessed weekend on the majestic Yallingup hill, I am yet to unpack but very keen to share some skin love aspirations with you.

In my teenage years I longed for clear, bright beautiful skin. I wanted the peaches and cream freckle-free doll complexion that my very best friend was blessed with. Of course when I look in back in photographs, my skin was glowing with youth, but at the time, I was my own worst enemy. I wouldn’t even leave the house without a protective layer of foundation.

I was prone splotchy red patches on my face, I’m sure because of a terrible diet with regular missed breakfasts and a often a large chocolate milk for lunch.

As I grew older my interest in health food and eating vegetables grew, the unhealthy self neglect and party habits of youth were tossed away, I started to exercise regularly and my skin got better and better.  Now I’m 29 and haven’t worn foundation in years. I believe my skin looked better in my late twenties then in my early to mid twenties, simply because I was a nutrition nerd with a keen desire for a sweaty workout.

Our skin is literally a reflection of what is on the inside. If we give ourselves all the nutrition and care we need, this self love will be reflect on the outside, no matter what your age.

Here are 6 absolute must do’s for a complexion you can wear with confidence. This is for everyone, from you daughter to your mother, and even your boyfriend.

1. Hydration

You know you need to drink water, and maybe you drink plenty, good for you, excellent, But many people don’t drink enough …I know I have my bad days. Water plumps of your skin cells keeping them full and firm and filled with nutrients

2. Exercise

Exercise floods your body with oxygen, the most essential nutrient of all, Well oxygenated skin repairs faster ,and eliminates unncescessry toxins. Oxygenated skin glows. If I’m heading out for the evening and want to look my best I always do some cardio that day, I can see the difference in the mirror.

3. Eat your Greens

Chlorophyll containing foods actually contain plant chemicals that reflect light and brighten your skin tone. If you eat your greens, you are literally eating a light, bright glow for your skin. Take this further, add a teaspoon of spirulina or vital greens supplement to your morning smoothie. Your insides will love you.

4. Essential Fatty Acids

Healthy fats act like a nourishing protective barrier for your skin cells. They help keep the cell hydrated by keeping the moisture in, and essential skin nutrients like the radiant vitamin E hang out in fats.  Make sure you get plenty of omega 3’s in ground linseeds, flaxseed oil, fish oils, and walnuts. Get you mono-unsaturated fats in almonds, avocados, olives and seeds.

5. Bathtime Bliss

Hot water strips your skin of protective fats drying it out. It’s so tempting up the hot water on a cold day but the drier your skin the less heat you should use. Likewise, vigorously towelling yourself dry will irritate your skin, causing redness and inflammation, rather lovingly pat yourself dry and apply a water based moisturising cream when it’s still slightly damp.

6. Antioxidants:

My favourite foods are loaded with antioxidants. These guys scavenge free radicals keeping you clean, fresh and beautiful. So just imagine you have all these atoms circling in your body. These atoms like to be attached to one another, just like people, but sometimes another atom will swing by, attracting a new mate and then leaving some poor atom stranded and left behind. This guy left behind becomes dangerously pissed off and starts causing havoc and inflammation to everything around him. If you have plenty of antioxidants in your diet, like the kind you get from berries, vitamin C and green tea, the antioxidants attach themselves to the angry guy left behind, soothing his bad temper, keeping everything peachy keen, smooth, youthful and beautiful.

If you have any skin tips or tricks to contribute please share them below. I'd love to hear from you.

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Your body is brilliant. Love it.

My blood pressure dropped dramatically greying out my vision as I stood up from a forward bend in yoga this morning. My vision returned and I managed to steady myself, averting a fall. This wasn’t the first time I had a dizzy spell in the last couple of days. I wondered what has caused this sudden blood pressure irregularity and then it hit me… I gave up coffee the other day. I, almost ashamedly, have been quite a coffee drinker of late, particularly my student self who was afraid that a lack of caffeine would dreadfully impact my powers of concentration and academic smarts. I knew the excess coffee was stressing me out but like a true addict, was too scared to stop.

Coffee has long been linked with a rise in blood pressure. Caffeine stimulates adrenals gland to release cortisol and aldosterone – the blood pressure hormone.

I’m pretty sure my coffee intake was elevating my aldosterone and driving up my blood pressure. To compensate, my body had been releasing less aldosterone because my coffee intake was dependable, regular and catalysing the release of aldosterone for me. So I quit coffee and my blood pressure drops for a few days while my body figures out how to bring itself back into balance.

Rather then get into a lecture on the negative health impacts of coffee here, I simply wish to remark at the incredible intelligence and beauty conveyed by the human body.

I just wanted to take this moment to truly express gratitude for my body and the amazing balancing wholeness that it is. This caffeine addiction experience (the latest of a long on-again off again love affair) was also a bleeping red alert to take better care of my clever body.

We are the custodians of a brilliant finely tuned living breathing physique that we should absolutely be in love with. Your body will love you back providing you take good care of yourself. Since giving the black gold the flick I am sleeping better, dreaming better, I have lost a little weight (or fluid) and my eyes are brighter.  Small changes can harbour big results over the long term.

What small change can you make today to make yourself feel healthier? Share your ideas in the comments below.

It’s an exciting time coming up, in December I will be graduating as a Naturopath and I am look forward to sharing loving health and wellness thoughts with you for many moons to come ;-) Click here to to get my newsletters in your inbox.

Take care of yourselves beautiful angels

Love Lib x

An important health tip children do naturally but we neglect

I remember marveling at the mysterious adult experience of ‘stress’ as a child. I was perhaps eleven or twelve years old and reading a newspaper article about the common experience of stress and the significant health risks associated with being stressed out. I had no idea what 'stressed out' felt like....what a fabulous age to be alive.  

Back then I didn’t need to worry about where my next meal is coming from or if there would always be a roof over my head. I trusted that it would be so. Once you feel like your own survival depends on you stress levels begin to rise.

Of course children feel stress too, but in a natural way. Stress is really a response to a perceived threat. Our adrenal glands sit on the kidneys and release cortisol when we are stressed, and with good reason. Cortisol kicks in the fight or fright response.  Your heart beats quickly, blood drains from your organs to go to your limbs to allow stronger quicker movement for running away or fighting back. As the blood rushes to our limbs it drains from our internal organs, slowing digestion and other body processes. You might even eliminate your bowels and bladder (when really terrified). You become completely alert, your brain works clearer and faster for quick thinking. Cortisol is an anti-inflammatory that will allow you to run longer or fight harder with less pain, lowering your immune response in the process.

The average Australian child feels stress daily, as do all of us, but they have the opportunity to calm down through play and relaxation. A stressor will ignite a fight or fright response to which the child will react, they will get away from the problem or ride it out, and then they relax. Everything is back to normal.

This child experience of stress is really how it is supposed to be for all of us, so the scientists say. In an ideal world: You happen upon a threat – it frightens you – The fright stimulates your adrenals to release cortisol – you become very strong and fast and you RUN. As you run you burn off the cortisol. The problem ends. You rest and digest, you feel cosy and safe, you relax, things go back to normal and you feel peaceful and happy.

Now lets come back to modern day.  Many people are stressed in one way or another ALL THE TIME.  It’s not as simple as bare bones survival like in the animal kingdom, we torture ourselves with our own minds, believing things should be different to what they are and feeling like we should be achieving more then we have. You work long and hard for years and years to reach the pot of gold on the retirement rainbow.  Then you can relax.

Continual stress means you are continually releasing cortisol…. So the stress response is constantly activated. This means lingering less then adequate digestion and and irritable bowel leading to nutritional deficiencies. The alertness brings chronic sleep disorder and anxiety. Your immune system is lowered…hello cold. Eventually the adrenals become exhausted and you start running on empty, and you develop some big grey saggy bags under your eyes. Cappucino anyone? Oh and guess what, caffeine stimulates cortisol release, which partly explains why caffeine makes you more alert and seemingly smarter for a short while. However too many coffee’s regularly will hasten adrenal burnout and heighten the destructive impact of your constant stress.

Good news! With a bit of action and mindfulness you can free yourself from this stress induced anguish.  Exercise is crucial for this as it burns up excess cortisol, just as nature intended.

You need to schedule in exercise and rest times to avoid burnout.  I say schedule because more then likely if it’s not scheduled, you’ll feel too ‘busy’ to relax.

By allowing yourself to truly relax, feel peace and just breath, you are giving your adrenals a well deserved break and allowing for restoration. Shiatsu massage is gorgeous for stress relief.  You just have to lie there while the practitioner works at healing your tension and pain. The deep breathing and rest gives your cortisol levels a chance to drop to normal. Be kind to yourself and enjoy rest time regularly to save your immune system, improve your sleep, retain nourishment from your food and to simply feel joyful.

Take Action! Schedule in 2.5 hours of proper rest time spread throughout the next week, and 2.5 hours of exercise (not all at once). Don’t tell yourself you ‘have no time’ just distinguish the difference between important tasks and not important tasks to make room for your newfound self-care. If you adhere to your wellness schedule I promise you will be feeling a difference this time next week.  I’d love you to share your de-stress activities in the comments below to inspire me and others on our wellness journey's.

I love inspiring loving kindness in the form of good health. I hope you got something out of this article and If you love hearing about your health please sign up here.

Thank you for reading my blog. I'm honoured.

Take extra precious care of your beautiful self.

Love Lib xxx

Maximise Your Energy. 5 delightful ways to get your Chi flowing.

  Vital force, Chi, Prana, call it what you will the idea that there an invisible lifeforce that determines our health, happiness and surroundings has been around for a very long time.

The Chinese symbol for Chi (qi) is made up of two smaller symbols; one that can be translated into vapour steam or gas and one that means hard and solid ‘uncooked rice.’

The closest match for translation of ‘Chi’ into English is arguably the word ‘energy.’  Energy can be both invisible and immaterial, like a sound wave, but also solid matter like a tree trunk (or hard rice), as is the understanding of modern day physics.

I'm sure we can all do with a little more energy in our daily lives. Here are a few easy suggestions to maximise your Chi-energy flow,

1. Breathe.

Focusing on your breath centers you in the current moment and oxygenates your cells. The more oxygen that is available to nourish your cells the more energy your cells will produce. Deep breathing in meditation allows our stress response hormone, cortisol, to reduce. This releases muscle tension, improves digestion (and therefore nutrient assimilation) and increases lymphatic flow (boosting immune function and helping you feel lighter.)

2. Yoga

A moving meditation. Yoga is a series of poses that are designed with the intention of channeling prana through heaven and earth. I know when I do a yoga sesh I feel lit up from the inside. I consider yoga practice imperative to giving good shiatsu, which is about optimising the flow of chi in the recipient. Not only does Yoga make by body, core and posture strong, yoga fills me with good vibes better enabling me to practice good shiatsu.

3. Healthy Healing Nutritious Food Choices

You know how some foods sound like a good idea but after consumed not so good? You become tired and want to lie down. Energy goes to 0. I find eating in tune with my body to be the best thing I can do for myself on a day-to-day basis. For me this means eating fresh and natural wholefoods that are in season, and mostly local. Eating gracefully and mindfully until you are just about full, and avoiding anything that is overly processed, refined, high in sugar or unnaturally white.  Getting a wide variety of nutrients is essential for energy production at the cellular level. My favourite foods for good energy are leafy greens, kale (I know this is also a leafy green, but it deserves a mention all on its own), green tea, berries, broccoli, sprouts, avocados, raw chocolate, apples, nuts, seeds, sweet potatoes, tofu, miso and seaweed

4. Shiatsu

It had to be in here somewhere. Shiatsu is about getting your chi moving in the right way, while also being a deep tissue therapeutic massage.  The practitioner finds the most stagnant and most deficient energy channels (don’t worry we all have them) and works at bringing back a healthy flow of chi. Shiatsu is all about balance, energy, rest, replenishment, peace and wellness.

5. Feng Shui

Feng what? I love the concept of Feng Shui. This is a huge topic but I will give you a paragraph long condensed version. Energy or Chi is moving around us all the time. The placement of structures and objects in your surroundings governs whether the overall feel of the area is positive or not so positive. You could also go as far to say that good placement brings good fortune, while bad placement encourages bad fortune. Fortune aside, there is a lot of common sense in Feng Shui. Keeping your home tidy and clutter free with a few beautiful plants, pictures and some soothing chimes are the basic recommendations for encouraging a positive chi flow. It’s true, don’t you feel happy when your house is looking good? Avoiding bad Feng Shui is actually quite obvious, like making sure doors and walkways are not blocked, cupboards are accessible, and things are in their place.  When my laundry is piled up and my bed is unmade I generally feel more frustrated and on edge. So yes, Feng Shui makes sense.

Taking action to integrate healthy changes in you life is like walking up a garden path to happiness. Perhaps you could take note of your energy levels on a scale of 1 – 10 in your day planner and watch how they fluctuate from day to day. When you have a good day consider what you have done differently to help your energy improve.

Please share in the comments below what you like to do to boost you energy, I’d love to hear it!

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Take care,

Lib xx

Self care is NOT selfish. It makes you nicer.

Being female comes with a certain amount of guilt. We feel guilt for leaving our children to work, guilt for leaving work to attend to our children, guilt for eating that delicious cake and then the guilt for not exercising it off. We were raised to give so much of ourselves all of the time and we feel guilty and selfish if we book time out for some self-nurturing. But this guilt is self-defeating. By denying ourselves self-love we are basically saying to ourselves that we ‘are not worthy.’

The truth is that you are worthy. You are here, you might as well enjoy yourself.  Neuroscientist Rick Hanson says in his book The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom, that by allowing ourselves to focus on positive experiences, we are training our brains to feel positive for more of the time, leading to a happier more fulfilling life. Likewise, by focusing on negative thought and experience, we are training negativity into our lives, and generally, our experiences and thoughts will be more negative.

Consider a Shiatsu massage, a whole hour to lie and rest. Tension is released, muscles and joints are relaxed, circulation is improved and your cells are nourished. You are giving yourself the beautiful message that you are worthy of care. Your brain neurons are getting training themselves in making positive connections, strengthening your positivity muscles and enabling you to feel good more frequently in future.

Taking action in your life to make yourself feel good, be it meditation, prayer, exercise, healthy food or a massage, will ultimately improve your experience of living. A happier body will free your mind to focus on getting the important things done. A chance to stop and relax will allow stress levels to normalise. Most importantly though, a sense of fulfilment will allow you to naturally be a more generous, giving and loving member of your family and wider community.

Positive change starts from the inside. There is so much wisdom in the saying ‘in order to change the world, we must first change ourselves.' If you can think of something you can do for yourself today to enhance your feel good factor please share in the comments below so we can inspire each other. I’m going to start with making a delicious Temple Bowl for dinner with brown rice, home-made hummus, cherry tomatoes, steamed bok choy and a boiled egg.

I hope you enjoyed this offering. I will be sending health and wellness tidbits on a weekly basis, if you would like to hear more please subscribe to my blog. I’ll keep you updated.

In bright shiny healthy love

Libby x

Make regular deposits into your wellness account to build fabulous health

The sun radiates pinks and oranges as it sets past yonder at Cottesloe beach. How peaceful this moment, as we walk our dogs, as we jog away our work day and that office birthday cake for morning tea. We watch the sun sink into the Indian Ocean, and for a moment we can just stop and be amongst the still and beautiful.

Back home there is dinner to cook, mess to clear, kids to listen to, to care for, to soothe. We are busy. We are tired. We are sore, irritable and exhausted. Such is life.

The author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Stephen R Covey tells us to think of our relationships like a bank account. You make deposits into your relationships, but inevitably you will also make withdrawals. If you make enough deposits into the relationship you have something left in the kitty when you make a withdrawal. If we make more withdrawals then deposits eventually the account dries up and will close altogether.

To borrow Mr Covey’s analogy, think of your sense of wellness like a bank account. You can make wellness deposits into your bank account and build up a healthy wellness balance.

It is daily fact of life that you will make wellness withdrawal’s. The stress and strain of living ensures battles are fought and energy is depleted. You need to ensure you create little wellness deposits for yourself here and there so that when it is time to make a withdrawal, the funds are there for the taking.

Take enough withdrawals from your wellness fund and you will be spent. Aren’t you sick and tired of being spent?

Take baby steps to integrate a few more wellness deposits into your day.

The following suggestions are quick easy and will put you in good stead for your day;

·      Try a few stretches in the morning.

·      Have some lemon juice in hot water first thing. Lemon juice is alkalising and will kick-start your digestion to ensure proper assimilation of nutrients.

·      Eat Breakfast: Try nuts, wholegrains, nut butters, fruit, eggs, and greens (perhaps not all at once). Sit down in a nice place and take 20 minutes to nourish yourself.

·      Appreciate your loved ones: Take a little moment to be grateful for those you love. Just 10 seconds is all it takes.

I wish you good luck for better living and much love and happiness on your wellness journey. he sun radiates pinks and oranges as it sets past yonder at Cottesloe beach. How peaceful this moment, as we walk our dogs, as we jog away our work day and that office birthday cake for morning tea. We watch the sun sink into the Indian Ocean, and for a moment we can just stop and be amongst the still and beautiful.

Back home there is dinner to cook, mess to clear, kids to listen to, to care for, to soothe. We are busy. We are tired. We are sore, irritable and exhausted. Such is life.

The author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Stephen R Covey tells us to think of our relationships like a bank account. You make deposits into your relationships, but inevitably you will also make withdrawals. If you make enough deposits into the relationship you have something left in the kitty when you make a withdrawal. If we make more withdrawals then deposits eventually the account dries up and will close altogether.

To borrow Mr Covey’s analogy, think of your sense of wellness like a bank account. You can make wellness deposits into your bank account and build up a healthy wellness balance.

It is daily fact of life that you will make wellness withdrawal’s. The stress and strain of living ensures battles are fought and energy is depleted. You need to ensure you create little wellness deposits for yourself here and there so that when it is time to make a withdrawal, the funds are there for the taking.

Take enough withdrawals from your wellness fund and you will be spent. Aren’t you sick and tired of being spent?

Take baby steps to integrate a few more wellness deposits into your day.

The following suggestions are quick easy and will put you in good stead for your day;

·      Try a few stretches in the morning.

·      Have some lemon juice in hot water first thing. Lemon juice is alkalising and will kick-start your digestion to ensure proper assimilation of nutrients.

·      Eat Breakfast: Try nuts, wholegrains, nut butters, fruit, eggs, and greens (perhaps not all at once). Sit down in a nice place and take 20 minutes to nourish yourself.

·      Appreciate your loved ones: Take a little moment to be grateful for those you love. Just 10 seconds is all it takes.

I wish you good luck for better living and much love and happiness on your wellness journey  :-) Stay in touch by subscribing to my newsletter here.

Love Lib

Fight Flu with Elderberry

After not being sick for years I flew into Broome the other day (yes on a holiday) coming down with a head cold. It started in my ears and at the back of my throat. My ears were tingly ears and swallowing felt weird and uncomfortable. The uncomfortable feeling moved down into the larynx. My head was tired, as the plane came into land my ears felt like they were filled with glue, very painful pressurised glue. I was equipped with lemons, ginger, and a herbal tablet that contained immune boosting, energising anti-inflammatory herbs. I craved horseradish and ate it with my lunch that day, the cooling radish helped clear my sinuses and soothe my throat.

Immediately after stepping off the plane I felt the humid air dry up my nostrils. It was like a healing gift from the universe. I felt grateful that on the day that I am hit with my first cold in two years is the day I fly to extreme northern Australia. The symptoms were relieved somewhat by the climate but the underlying cold was still hanging around.

Several days later I stepped out for lunch at an amazing Japanese fusion restaurant and I noticed they had an Elderberry extract available for a refreshing beverage, claiming to be the 'Flavour of Angels'. Being an angel lover I fell for the sale point hook line and sinker and ordered one immediately.

Yes my Elderberry was indeed was incredibly delicious. I had a hunch though that the elderberry was actually just what the doctor ordered for my head cold. Knowing that Elderberry is considered good for the respiratory system I decided to some research when I got home. As it turns out my hunch was correct.

• Some viruses, such as influenza A and B, and the Herpes virus, have little tiny spikes on their exteriors. These spikes piece the outer membrane of your cells allowing the virus to enter and infect the cell. Elderberry has constituents that actually deactivate these spikes, so they are unable to piece your cells and continue to infect you further.
• Several studies have shown that with regular dosing of Elderberry extract flu symptoms were less severe and resolved a couple of days quicker then those taking placebo.
• Elderflower is particularly effective at fighting colds and flu when taken with zinc and vitamin C.

I noticed in the pharmacy the other day that you can actually buy a bottled extract of Black Elderberry, botanically known as  Sambucus nigra (Fun Fact: Sambucca liqueur is made from elderberry hence the name Sambucca). The product is marketed with cold and flu syrup, and I recommend getting the one with  added Vitamin C and Zinc. The product also comes in dried tablet form and lozenges. I'm more inclined to go for the bottled variety as the healing constituents are better preserved that way. I love sharing health and well being knowledge. If you love hearing it subscribe to my newsletter and I'll let you know about any new updates.

In health and wellness

Lib