brooke's travels to shark bay

Melbourne has welcomed me home with it's symphony of seasons after my travels to the beautiful Shark Bay in Western Australia to visit my beautiful cousin. I've not been on an airplane for nearly two years, so this time I was very aware of my need to travel as well as I could (airplanes and airports expose us to radiation) without worrying about being free of my normal self-care routine. I'm pleased to say that my body has handled the travel better than ever before despite long hours on the road, eating more conventional than organic produce, and a routine that did not include my normal self-care practices. Hooray!

Denham, Shark Bay, Western Australia

Getting my earthing on!

I had such a great time with my cousin it's hard to know where to start! My travels to Shark Bay saw me facing many of my fears, like holding a thorny devil and riding a camel, as well as going on a scenic flight in a small plane! Shark Bay is located at the most western point of Australia and is a place almost untouched by humans. I stayed with my cousin and her awesome trivia-loving, karaoke-singing flatmate in Denham, which is a coastal town down the highway from Monkey Mia. The air smelled of the ocean and the locals walked around barefoot, never bothering to lock their cars or their homes. It's a beautiful place with beautiful people. 

My gorgeous cousin Skye and I...

...in her beloved van, The Skoobe Van

Some of the many highlights from my travels were seeing my first shooting star at the hot tub fed by a natural spring in the middle of the desert, hanging out with my cousin and her friends at Monkey Mia, flying over Shark Bay, seeing dugongs and dolphins on a wildlife cruise, hugging a camel after riding a camel, road tripping to Perth with my cousin after my bus was cancelled and sleeping in her van at a 24 hour servo! And then giggling hysterically as we quoted Austin Powers "this is me in a nutshell" as we tried to go to sleep, her in the back, me in the front, rugged up, with a pile of stuff between us that any hoarder would be proud of!

The plane and pilot...

... and me ready to fly

The jetty to the boat at Monkey Mia

Do you think sitting on a net above the water is like walking on water?!

During my travels, I made sure I maintained a baseline of self-care every day. I drank up to 3 litres of water a day, I took chlorella tablets to help my body detoxify as well as daily probiotics and digestive enzymes, I did dry skin brushing before my showers, I went walking, I ate a vegan diet, and I spent quality time with my cousin. Thanks to my cousin's stash of dry organic food I was able to mix in some high-quality food with conventional produce and still ate more than 50% raw food, including fruit bowls for breakfast and fresh salads during the day. Eating out was a bit trickier as the vegan food available was slightly outside my day-to-day diet, but the good thing is I didn't suffer any digestive troubles! In fact, my body was efficiently getting rid of waste, which tells me my body is healing well and can cope with the stresses of travelling without negatively impacting on my health and my long-term recovery from ME/CFS.

Hello, there's a thorny devil on the road!

What a dopey little guy...

...but awake enough to wave at us!

Now that I am home, I am cleansing my body through juice fasting, coffee enemas, oil pulling, chlorella tablets and lots of sleep! I've come down with a cold and cough, but to me, this is a sign that my body is trying to get rid of the nasty bugs. With this self-care routine, my body only took a day to get over the travel fatigue! I feel so satisfied with my travels to the other side of Australia. Even though I've needed to be diligent about how I've travelled and made some compromises along the way with my diet, the memories shared with my cousin make it all worth it! My love tank is full and this keeps me healthy just as much as my plant-based diet and self-care practices!

Camel ride along the beach at Monkey Mia

Please be my friend!

Hugging the soft and gentle Ally

Skye giving Ally a big kiss!

Kat, Tinka, Skye and me

For more tips and tricks about how to travel well read this blog post by The Wellness Warrior.

12 steps to better health... part two

Hello again! Thank you for tuning in again to learn more about the steps you can take to improve your health! Last week we briefly explored 6 out of 12 steps to better health, which can be followed in any order at your own pace. Let me encourage you that by making small changes now you will see a BIG difference down the track. These steps will help to restore and revive your health. So, let's get started!

12 steps to better health

To recap, here are the 6 steps we looked at previously:

1. Drink more water

2. Practice cooking

3. Increase whole grains

4. Increase sweet vegetables

5. Increase leafy green vegetables

6. Experiment with protein

Now, let's look at the other 6 steps that you can take:

7. Eat fewer processed foods

Just to be clear this means eat less of the food that is processed, comes in a package, and has a looong ingredient list with words you've never seen or can't even pronounce! Most people will start to feel significantly better just by eating less meat, sugar, artificial junk food, caffeine and alcohol, and by eating more fruit, vegetables, whole foods, high-quality protein, drinking more water and getting more rest or sleep. For what your plate should look like at a meal and for better health check out this article.

8. Make a habit of nurturing your body

Nurturing your body is all about self-care and taking the time to make sure that you are nourished body, soul and spirit. After all, how can you live your best life and help others if you're falling apart at the seams? Think about the oxygen mask demonstration on an airplane. You put on your own mask before you help others put on their masks. Take the time to breathe in and out again. If you are stuck for a place to start here is a list of 100 extreme self-care ideas. Try to make nurturing your body a habit by scheduling self-care into your daily or weekly schedule. 

9. Have healthy relationships

Healthy relationships are central to living a healthy life. It's all about people in the end. Our relationships with people can either enrich our lives or be a drain on our time, energy and health. One thing I've learnt how to do is to let go of toxic relationships in my life and work towards building healthy relationships based on love, trust and respect. Knowing how to have a healthy sense of boundaries can help you to either release or restore relationships. Here is an interesting article on how toxic relationships are connected to adrenal fatigue with advice on how to work through it. I am so grateful for the richness of relationships I have in my life now more than ever before. To my family and friends (you know who you are), I just want to say to you: I love and appreciate you!

10. Enjoy regular physical activity

Finding exercise or physical activity that you enjoy is the key to keeping active and working towards a regular fitness routine. Our bodies are made to move and all you need to do is start moving more and more often! You can read here for more of my thoughts on exercise and here for an explanation of how much exercise is enough. My weekly exercise regime includes running, walking and Pilates for strength, stretching and cardiovascular exercise, but you may find that by doing more incidental exercise, such as taking the stairs instead of the lift, you start to become fitter, stronger and healthier every day. 

11. Find work you love

There are many aspects of life that nourish us other than food and a fulfilling career is one of them. Finding work we love requires us to follow our hearts, dreams and desires, and leave behind the misconception that success and happiness is wrapped up in fame and fortune. Yes, it's about taking risks, but if you're not taking steps to change your life, your life won't change. Finding work that you love may look like cutting back on your work hours to spend more time on creative projects, doing some online study, or starting your own business. Whatever it looks like, know that by doing what you love, you are on your way to better health and a more fulfilling life. 

12. Develop a spiritual practice

We are spiritual beings. And we need spiritual nourishment. For me, as a Christian, I am nourished by being in relationship with the living God, who made a way for me to be healed spiritually and come to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. God is the One who quenches my spiritual thirst with His rivers of living water. He is for me, He loves me, He is always with me. My hope and my trust are in Him, and I know that as I turn to Him, He works all things in my life together for my good. He gives me peace and joy. He nourishes me. My relationship with God and my church family at Planetshakers has been an important step on my journey to better health. Perhaps developing a spiritual practice will help you on your way too!

May you be blessed on your journey to better health as you follow these steps and live your best life! xx

My gorgeous cousin and I at St Andrews Market, the best hippie market in Melbourne! I'm very excited to be going on an adventure to Western Australia tomorrow to spend the week with my beloved cousin!

12 steps to better health... part one

Hello friends! How are you? We often answer this question with a very polite "good thanks" when in reality there can be a more complex answer bubbling beneath the surface. That's where knowing how to foster health in our lives can help us to work through whatever obstacles we may face in the day-to-day ebb-and-flow of life. I know for myself I am a busy bee this week as the teaching term winds down and I get ready for an amazing holiday in WA with my cousin next week. Life is good! But, there is a structure and stability to my life that allows me to stretch my resources so that I can truly enjoy and embrace the amazing adventure that is life! And that, my friends, is a self-care practice for better health.

I'll be writing more in the weeks to come about self-care, but for now I want to put to you a plan that will help you move towards better health. This 12 step plan is from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, the world's largest nutrition school, through which I am studying to become a certified Health Coach. You do not need to follow the steps in any specific order. Just pick one. And go onto another step when you are ready. Move at your own pace. And be patient with yourself. Better health is a long-term lifestyle and the way you move towards it is with one step at a time. 

12 steps to better health

1. Drink more water

Our bodies are made up of 60-75% water. We can only survive a few days without water. And most of us are not drinking enough. Just by increasing the amount of water you are drinking every day, you can significantly improve your health. And the best news is, water is free! Read my post here about water, but don't stress too much about where your water is coming from in the beginning, just start to drink more!

2. Practice cooking

Recipes are tools to help you learn how to cook. Follow them as you learn how to prepare nourishing food for your body. Don't be afraid to make mistakes, that's how we learn! I love to be creative in the kitchen and only use recipes as a guide when trying something new, but if you need to work on this step, see this blog post for websites with healthy, delicious recipes. 

3. Increase whole grains

Whole grains are the real deal. Try to replace the refined grain products in your diet with either the whole grain version, or the actual whole grain. Whole grains are a nutrient-rich food full of vitamins, minerals, fibre and protein, and include amaranth, barley, brown rice, buckwheat, corn, kamut, millet, oats, quinoa, spelt and teff. If you have a sensitivity to gluten try the gluten-free grains, which are amaranth, buckwheat, millet, oat groats or quinoa. Read these posts here and here to learn more about whole grains.

4. Increase sweet vegetables

Do you have a sweet tooth?! Combat those sugar cravings with increasing the amount of sweet vegetables in your diet. Sweet vegetables include many root vegetables as well as corn, onions and pumpkin. Here are some recipes for sweet vegetable dishes.

5. Increase leafy green vegetables

By now, I think you all know how much I adore my greens. But, just in case you don't, read up on my obsession with leafy green vegetables, the most nutrient-dense food on the face of the earth, here, here and here. 

6. Experiment with protein

For most people, eating less meat will improve overall health. And experimenting with protein can be an effective way to move towards better health. If you eat meat, try to eat better quality meat, such as organic or biodynamic meat, less often. There are many plant-based sources of protein, many of which provide you with all nine essential amino acids. You may want to try being meat-free one day a week and eating more vegetarian meals. For more information on plant-based proteins read this blog post. 

How's the serenity? My favourite place, Bonnie Doon (yes, it's real)!

I'll write more about the remaining 6 steps next week (I just want to keep you in suspense!), but to give you a head start and to help you on your way to better health, I'll tell what they are:

7. Eat fewer processed foods

8. Make a habit of nurturing your body

9. Have healthy relationships

10. Enjoy regular physical activity

11. Find work you love

12. Develop a spiritual practice

May your journey towards better health be one that revives your body, soul and spirit. All my love! xx

sharing the raw food love

Today, I'm going to share some raw food love with you all! I've written before about eating raw food here but in this blog post I'm going to share with you some of my favourite go-to websites for both raw food and healthy eating. But first, let's look at why eating a diet that is high in raw food is good for us...

A raw food diet consists of mainly uncooked and unprocessed plant-based foods like fresh fruit and vegetables, leafy greens, sprouts, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, grains, seaweeds, superfoods, herbs, fermented foods and living water. There is an abundance of food to eat! Generally, at least 75% of the diet is raw or living foods, and mostly, raw foodies are vegan, although some do include raw meat or dairy in their diet. In the process of heating food above 115 degrees Fahrenheit or 46 degrees Celcius, enzymes in the food are destroyed, which your body needs to digest and assimilate food. Not only are the enzymes and most of the nutritional value lost in the process of cooking but eating cooked food will cause a response in our bodies called leukocytosis where white blood cells are used to digest food in the same way they would respond to a foreign substance. So, the fact is our bodies do not recognise cooked food as, well, food!

Now here's the good news: by shifting the ratio of raw to cooked food in your diet to at least 50% raw to 50% cooked you can stop leukocytosis in it's destructive tracks! And you will also receive the benefits of eating raw food, which include the prevention of degenerative diseases, effects of ageing are slowed down, enhanced energy and emotional balance, and an improvement of overall health, wellbeing and beauty!

I know it seems daunting to begin with but by adding more raw food into your daily diet you will start to crowd out the cooked food. Start by eating more fresh fruit for snacks and a salad for lunch or before you eat your dinner. And green smoothies for breakfast are always quick, easy and nutritious! To help you out, I want to share with you some of my go-to websites for raw food recipes and healthy eating info...

• David Wolfe, the rockstar of the superfoods and longevity world, for the latest information on raw food and natural living.
• Eating Vibrantly, by Nikki Stokes, a raw foodie from Melbourne for rawesome vegan recipes!
• Hallelujah Acres, for vegan and vegetarian recipes, healthy eating and a healthy living guide. 
• Kemi's Raw Kitchen for raw food recipes and classes, and raw beauty retreats in Melbourne.
• Kimberly Snyder, a Celebrity Nutritionist and Beauty Detox Specialist, author of The Beauty Detox Solution and The Beauty Detox Foods.
• Loving Earth, a Melbourne-based superfood company with a treasure trove of healthy recipes. 
• Path to Wellness, by Melissa Ambrosini, for healthy living tips, healthy recipes and health coaching.
• Reboot with Joe - Juicing for Weight Loss with Joe Cross, creator of the film Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead.
• The Healthy Chef, by Teresa Cutter, for healthy, delicious recipes that cater for intolerances. 
• The Wellness Warrior, by Jess Ainscough, for cancer-kicking vegan recipes and lifestyle blogs. 
• This Rawsome Vegan Life for beautiful raw food recipes and beautiful pictures of raw food!
• Ultimate Raw Food Resource from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition for a list of raw food products, kitchen gadgets, books, films, recipes, restaurants and resources. 

Hopefully, this list will give you a place to start in the kitchen, inspire you to eat more raw food, and help you on your way to finding health and wellness in your life. And please, feel free to share the raw food love!

My twin sister, brother-in-law and me during my last trip to London (where they live). I'll be moving in with them again for six weeks at the end of the year! I'm looking forward to their company and many adventures, including going back to eat at one of the awesome raw food restaurants in London, Saf, which is at one of my all-time favourite places, the Whole Foods Market.

the season of singing... & chocolate

Hello friends! Well, spring has definitely sprung here in sunny Melbourne! I'm soooooo enjoying the warmer weather and my body is thanking me for the vitamin D fix! I don't have a favourite season per se, but I love how the seasons change. And I'm not just talking about climatic change. I love how the seasons of life change. Life, after all, always moves forward. And I love that with the season of spring comes new life and renewed hope. 

For behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come... (Song of Songs 2:11-12, ESV).

We can support new life in our lives in different ways. We do this through nourishing our body, soul and spirit. Our food choices will not only affect the nourishment of our bodies but also the world we live in. And so, I want to encourage you, in this new season, to make food choices that will not only nourish your body but that also support the nourishment of the world we live in. Now, I'm not saying you all need to go hug a tree right now (you can if you want!) but if you're looking at living a greener life, the place to start that will have the greatest impact is with your food choices.

So, here are my best tips for being kind to your body and the trees! Try to buy more of the SLOP foods:

• Seasonal
• Local
• Organic
• Plants

Our food choices have an impact that reaches far beyond our bodies. Let's be conscious about our food choices so that our world is able to continue to produce food that will nourish all the generations to come. If you want to read more about sustainability and how our food choices impact the environment click on these links here, here and here. If you can't afford to go all organic, start with swapping out the most chemical-laden foods for which you can find the list here. Change starts with one step at a time - just make sure you're stepping in the direction that brings life!

Lastly, I have a confession to make... In case you haven't noticed, I have a love affair with chocolate, and though I only spend time with the real deal, I found that all those hot chocolate dates were taking me on a ride when sugar came along. So, I experimented with a sugar-free version of this beloved drink, and voila, my raw chocolate drink found me! Feel free to take this drink out to dance! 

Here's to dreaming in this season of new life and renewed hope; the season of singing!

raw chocolate drink

This delicious drinking chocolate is raw, vegan and sugar-free! Enjoy this drink hot in the cold months or cold in the warm months. Raw cacao is full of goodness like antioxidants and magnesium, which is the most deficient mineral in the western diet. Yacon syrup is both a natural sweetener and a pre-biotic, helping the digestive tract to function properly, which in turn boosts the immune system and aids in the removal of waste and toxins from the body. Mesquite powder is a sweet and caramel-like alternative to any sugar, natural or not. 

1 cup almond milk

1 Tbs raw cacao powder

1 tsp maca powder

1 tsp mesquite powder

Shake of ground cinnamon

Dash of pure vanilla extract

1 tsp raw cacao nibs, optional (for extra chocolatey goodness!)

Drizzle of yacon syrup, optional

Blend all the ingredients together in a high-powered blender, such as a Vitamix. To warm the drink up, keep blending until the drink is warm to the touch and the almond milk is frothing. For a hot chocolate, pour the drink into a mug and drizzle with yacon syrup, if desired. For an ice chocolate, add ice cubes to the blender and process on low for a few seconds to break up the ice. Pour into a glass and enjoy! Adjust measurements to taste. Serves 1.

keep calm & just breathe

Keep calm and carry on. We've probably all come across these words in popular culture. On posters, mugs, salt and pepper shakers. These words are good advice. But in a world where our lives are more busy than ever what do these words really mean to us in our day-to-day life? Don't get me wrong, I believe in speaking positively, using affirmations, and practicing gratitude, but how does this translate practically for our body, soul (our mind, emotions and will) and spirit?

Like many people, I've struggled with ongoing stress and anxiety in my life. Over the past few years, I've learnt to manage stress and anxiety so that it no longer has a hold on me. Chronic levels of stress and anxiety are related to both physical and emotional illnesses. Chronic stress and anxiety will raise the level of cortisol (the hormone released in response to stress) in your body and it will stay raised, which in turn suppresses your immune system. Basically, if your body remains in this state, you will burn out and become very sick. Our body responds to stress and anxiety with the release of cortisol in order to divert energy from functions like digestion and immunity in order to survive the immediate threat. The problem is that what we can perceive as a "threat" is actually not threatening to us at all. And so, we are stuck in a cycle that cannot be broken without reframing, retraining and reviving our body, soul and spirit.  

Here is a stress-busting and life-giving framework that works for me:

Philippians 4:6-7 (ESV), Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Why does this work? I am laying down the things I am carrying and entrusting them to someone (God) who is bigger and greater than me and my situation. I am practicing thanksgiving, or gratitude, which many psychologists will agree with is the antidote to negativity, which can be a toxin in our lives and in our relationships. And in the context of a loving relationship with my heavenly Father, I can entrust the difficult things in my life to Him, knowing that in place of stress and anxiety, He will give me peace and joy.

Physically, we can interrupt the physiological response to stress and anxiety with a very simple tool, and that is deep breathing. The practice of deep breathing is essential to the sustaining of our lives. As I've written before, it is through the act of breathing we obtain the oxygen our bodies need to function at their best. The benefits of deep breathing include the massaging of internal organs for tone and optimal functioning, purification of the blood, drainage of waste through the lymphatic system, improved heart health, decreased blood pressure, and is the natural way for your body to keep calm during times of stress and anxiety.

Located at the centre of the diaphragm is the solar plexus, a concentration of nerve cells. The more work we give the diaphragm, the more we stimulate these nerves and increase the amount of nerve energy going to the vital organs. There is a general calming effect on the entire nervous system, enabling us to cope with stress and pressure more readily (How a Man Lived In Three Centuries: The complete guide to Natural Health, Roger French).   

Our main breathing muscles are the intercostal muscles, which are the muscles between the ribs, and the diaphragm, an involuntary muscle which is basically the "floor" of the ribcage. You will see and feel deep breathing. As the air goes in there is an expansion through the ribcage and the abdomen, and as the air goes out there is a contraction through the ribcage and the abdomen. Try this slow and deep breathing cycle: in, out, pause, repeat. Imagine your lungs are like balloons that get bigger as the air goes in and smaller as the air goes out.

Here are some relaxing breathing patterns that may work for you:

• Focus on the breath. Place your hand flat on your abdomen (i.e. below your sternum and above your belly button). Count each breathing cycle slowly from 10 to 1. With each out breath, allow yourself to feel heavier and more relaxed as you release the tension from your body.
• Pick a spot to focus on. Count five breaths backward and with each breath allow your eyes to close gradually. Concentrate on each breath. When you get down to one breath your eyes will be closed. Focus on the feeling of relaxation.
• Sit still in a quiet place with your eyes closed. Be aware of the breath entering through your nostrils, filling up your lungs and exiting through your lips. Count through each breath as the air goes in and out. Count through the pause before the next breath. Continue this breathing pattern for fifteen to twenty minutes. 

In times of stress and anxiety you'll do well to remember this phrase... keep calm and just breathe!!!

weighty matters

Today I'm sharing my thoughts on perhaps what is a very sensitive topic and a weighty matter - the matter of weight. Before you read on, or stop reading, I want you to know this is a judgment-free zone. We are all on our own journey and no one is perfect. So please, silence the inner voice that is condemning and unloving, and try to open your heart to a new perspective.

I'm going to put myself out there and be honest and vulnerable with you. A friend has recently demonstrated a boldness in honesty and vulnerability towards me and this has challenged me to do the same. I would like to share with you something I wrote last year as I was processing some changes in my life. Writing has been a very therapeutic thing for me to do, in case you haven't noticed! I am sharing this with you because this year I've become very concerned with the amount of attention I can hear people place on body weight without balancing the unfolding conversation with a focus on the process of becoming healthy.

Health is not just physical. A healthy lifestyle addresses the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of ourselves. Many people who struggle with being underweight or overweight tend to have suffered a trauma in their early life or are carrying some kind of emotional weight, which was never intended for them to carry. Depending on the season of our lives, sometimes we must learn to sit with something. Sometimes we must learn to let go. Here, I am going to share with you two excerpts from the same piece of writing; the first excerpt is about my very free, very first memory and the second excerpt is about the process of letting go...

The day was overcast and windy and the leaves were swirling around our feet in a myriad of autumn colours. We went over to the tall gum trees and stood by the hammock with our cousins, waiting for our turn. When it was my turn he gently picked me up and placed me in the hammock. He tucked my feet into the holes of the hammock and told me to hang on as he wrapped the hammock around me, swaddling the precious cargo it held. And then he pushed. Grandpa pushed. And I swung. I swung in the hammock, safe and carefree. Back, forth, back, and forth.

It's a heavy load; it's crushing. And though I have tried to earn your love through my achievements, my success, and my efforts, I know I have to let go. Because I can't change you; but I can change me ... There are no places for me to put the things that I have carried. They belong to you. I could wish for someone who was for me. I could wish my life away, waiting for you. But you know what? I think I'll swing myself instead.

Just for the record, the second excerpt is not about my Grandpa! It's about someone. And I share this with you because I would like to think that many people could step into this scene and identify a person in their life who is that someone. It can be almost impossible to love and care for ourselves when the weight of a heavy load is sitting upon our shoulders. And when we carry this weight in life it can manifest in our lives through our relationship with food. I mean, who hasn't found themselves staring at the bottom of a packet of chips and wondering who ate them all?!

The process of letting go will look different for everyone. And if this post has resonated with you here is what I want you to know. There are things that happen in our lives that are beyond our control. But what you do with those things is in your hands. My wish is that you would choose to start to let go. You don't need to do this alone. There are resources for you in the process of becoming healthy. There are resources for you physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. If you would like a place to start physically, read this blog post on losing weight in a healthy way without counting calories. And surround yourself with people who will support you on your way to living your most healthy life. After all, you are worth the swing!

Sharing the healthy love with my twin sister!