GUEST POST BY DR NATALIE KRINGOUDIS.

I don’t have a preferred contraception. They’re all seriously nasty and come with a monster list of side effects, complications and troubles. The copper IUD is one many women turn to because it doesn’t contain ‘synthetic’ hormones. We visited the Mirena a few weeks back – you may like to take a read of that here.

The copper IUD is a small intrauterine device that prevents pregnancy (see below image). It’s believed to work as the copper coil, which is wrapped around the IUD itself, releases ions into the surrounding fluids. This impairs the mobility of sperm like some kind of super hero magnetic force. It is believed that this is an effective form of contraception. Sounds harmless – but lets dig deeper.

The IUD also changes the thickness of the uterine lining, affecting implantation. There are several theories around this – none of which have been 100% proven. In my professional opinion, any object imbedded into the uterine lining has ramifications, much like endometriosis or a fibroid present. These types of disruptions can, of course, affect long-term fertility.

Heavier and more painful periods are very common while a copper IUD is in the uterus. The presence of a foreign object wedged in the vaginal wall is, in my opinion, confusing for the body. A heavier period is simply the body trying to get rid of the obstruction each and every month. From a Chinese Medicine perspective, anything disrupting the normal menstrual flow will cause pain – be it a fibroid, endometrial tissue or cysts – hence why many women experience painful periods with an IUD.

The real issue with these devices is the vulnerability they expose the body to by way of infection. There is a really high chance of infection developing in the first 20 or so days after insertion. Infection can lead to long-term damage to health, and especially to fertility. Pelvic inflammatory disease (be it from the IUD, from a sexually transmitted illness, from scaring, damage) whatever the cause, is a serious issue and must be addressed and treated accordingly. Scaring from PID can lead to damage of the uterus, which has been linked to ectopic pregnancies (which are an increased risk with those who have an IUD) and miscarriage. In many instances where there is damage, patients are left with little option other than IVF. And, whilst it goes without saying, I’m still going to make mention that IUDs do not offer protection from STIs, which have the same ramifications as I’ve just mentioned with regard to PID.

From a TCM stand point – any form of contraception interrupts the natural body rhythm. Over a long period of time, this can play havoc with a woman’s fertility.

So do I like the copper IUD? Not really. I guess if I had to suggest one form of contraception that is least damaging; when you weigh the copper IUD up against the rest, but it still totally comes with a host of issues. My major concerns are with any object wedged into the uterus and how each unique body reacts to it. Every woman will react differently, which makes it virtually impossible to predict if you are a lucky winner or not. For some women, there are no apparent issues with the copper IUD and for others it can have a long standing, disastrous impact on the future of her fertility.

I guess the real question is, are you prepared to take the risk? My mission is and always has been to help people listen to their bodies and interpret what is being presented. Through this, my hope is to educate women that there are natural contraception methods and you truly do have options. When all is said and done, just how much are you dying not to be pregnant? And how much are you willing to put your body through long term?

For more information and guidance on natural contraception you can read some of my previous posts:

healthtalks: How To Tell When You’re Fertile

If Not The Pill, Then What?

Everything You Need To Know About The Pill

Positive affirmation for the day: Everything is happening because it’s meant to happen.

Our bodies require certain things from us during the cooler months. They want us to have extra sleep, they want us to rug up and stay inside more, they want us to be more gentle with ourselves, and they want us to eat quite differently to other times of the year. There’s a reason why we crave hearty, heavier, warming meals during winter. It’s our body’s innate intelligence letting us know what’s best for us. Here are some ways that you can give your body what it needs this winter.

1. Eat warming foods: Warm yourself up from the inside out by including foods like hot rolled oats, vegetable soups, lentil curries and bean stews. Include warming spices like cayenne pepper, chilli, pepper, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, fennel and anise.

2. Eat more cooked than raw: Winter is the month when raw food diets can become tricky. Our bodies naturally crave warm food during winter, and it’s important that we give it to them. It’s still important to have some raw in your diet so that your body is receiving fresh, live enzymes – but you can decrease the ratio of salads and increase the ratio of cooked food.

3. Eat grounding foods: Your body will feel more supported if you feed it heavier meals that include legumes and beans and grounding foods like root vegetables. It’s no mistake that these are the veggies that are in season during autumn and winter: potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, turnips, celery root, pumpkin, beetroot. On that note, it’s super important that we eat seasonally, so look for foods grown locally in your area. Click here for a list of winter veggies.

4. Eat immune-boosting foods: Add garlic to your meals wherever possible, eat plenty of leafy greens, eat heaps of fresh foods, and load up your diet with foods that are high in vitamin c (citrus, kiwi fruits, Brussels sprouts, strawberries, papaya etc.) and zinc (nuts, seeds, leafy greens).

5. Eat for good gut health: Overall health and immunity starts in the gut, and this is particularly important through winter. So, include a probiotic in your supplement regime, but also consume fermented probiotic foods. Here’s a healthtalks segment all about that.

6. Have warm drinks: Start your day off with lemon juice in warm water rather than a cold juice or smoothie so that you don’t shock your system first up. It’s also good to drink your juices and smoothies at room temperature rather than icy cold. Plus, get stuck into plenty of herbal teas and warm nut milk drinks.

8. Hippocrates soup: This is the soup that I’ve eaten every day (twice a day) for the past three years. It was an important part of Gerson Therapy, but it’s so good for you that I’m choosing to stick with it. It’s designed to support the kidneys, which according to Traditional Chinese Medicine, is one of the organs we most want to take care of during winter. Now that I’m off Gerson I can fancy it up a bit sometimes by adding roast pumpkin, spices and coconut milk. Click here for the recipe.

What does your body crave during winter? Do you have anything else to add to this list?

Positive affirmation for the day: I’m listening to my body and acting accordingly.

1. HAY HOUSE WORLD SUMMIT

I love me a good internet summit, and they don’t get any better than this one.

For 10 consecutive days – from 1 June to 10 June – you’ll be able to learn from 110 incredible teachers all for FREE. The summit includes conversations with some of my absolute favourites:

Louise Hay, Doreen Virtue, Wayne Dyer, Michael Bernard Beckwith, Gabby Bernstein, Kris Carr, Deepak Chopra, Donna Gates, Robert Holden, Esther Hicks, Mark Hyman, Mastin Kipp, Bruce Lipton, Anita Moorjani, Caroline Myss, Lissa Rankin, Cheryl Richardson, Bernie Siegel, Iyanla Vanzant, Marianne Williamson + more.

Seriously, how freaking good is that line up! Go here to sign up.

2. KYLE CEASE: “YOU CAN’T GET INTO THE MOMENT”

My friend Kyle Cease is brilliant. He’s a comedian, an actor and one of the best transformational speakers I’ve come across. Check out this video he recorded recently about living in the moment – or, more importantly, why most people don’t understand what being in the moment actually means.

I love this: “I guess that was supposed to happen – because it did.” The key is to allow, stop resisting things and just be the moment. It’s key to freedom, my friends.

3. KRIS CARR: YOUR GUIDE TO HEALTHY POOP

There are many things that I love about Kris Carr, but one of the biggest things is the love we share for talking about poop.

“I love talking turd, and I’m not ashamed to say it! Turd, turd, turd. It’s time we all stop hiding behind our toilet paper squares and start understanding one of the most important parts of our everyday well-being — poop! Sure, it’s not the sexiest of subjects, but vibrant health is pretty darn hot in my opinion. And whether you like it or not, your poo is part of that picture.” – Kris Carr

Click here to read Kris’ very informative post on healthy poop.

4. THUG KITCHEN

If you’re not a fan of curse words, maybe don’t check this one out. But if you are … click on over and join 177K of us who are in love with the potty-mouthed food Facebook page, Thug Kitchen. Common sense food chat + curse words = I’m in love.

5. TED TALK: RE-THINKING UNPOPULAR

In my newsletter a couple of weeks ago, I wrote about my desire to be always be authentic and true to myself. This was coming off the back of a particularly trying week where I’d had more criticism come my way than usual. After that newsletter went out, one of my beautiful readers sent me an email with a TEDx talk attached. Rethinking Unpopular by Erika Napoletano – watch it if you’ve ever thought about what anyone else thinks of you, if you’ve ever worried about how your decisions will affect how others think of you, and if you’ve ever apologised for speaking your truth.

6. HEALTHY CARAMEL

Coconut oil + almond butter + maple syrup = caramel. Holy game changer. I came across this discovery via my new favourite foodie blog, This Awesome Vegan Life when I tried this recipe for Emily’s caramel tart. So freaking good.

7. STAY GOLDEN.CO

My crazy talented designer, Sian Richardson, has just launched her online store and it is a-freaking-mazing. This girl has serious skills. Check it out for some awesome goods to decorate both your digital and real-life spaces.

8. THIS INCREDIBLE STORY

My friend Nicola Chatham makes friends with the most random people. She doesn’t discriminate at all when it comes to how they look, how old they are, or the way they’re dressed. It’s one of the things I love most about her. It’s because of this quality, that Nic’s always coming away from mundane situations with new friends and awesome stories. Stories, such as this one she shared in a blog post called ‘Probably The Most Incredible Story I’ve Ever Heard…’ The story definitely lives up to the hype. Trust me when I say that it will be worth your while reading it.

What are you loving at the moment? Share away in the comments below!

Positive affirmation for the day: I find happiness in the smallest things, I am unmoved by conflict and always demonstrate courage in the face of adversity.

Ever since Angelina Jolie announced that she has just undergone a double mastectomy to prevent breast cancer, the world seems to be buzzing about the topic. TV and social media have gone to town with this story, and while I may not agree with the messages that have been attached to it, I think it’s awesome that her story has got everyone thinking, talking and opening up healthy discussions about what is a very sensitive subject.

I’m not a breast cancer expert, but I do have access to people who are. Which is why I asked to speak with my friend Dr Sherrill Sellman about the topic. Dr Sellman is the author of What Women Must Know To Protect Their Daughters From Breast Cancer and Hormone Heresy: What Women Must Know About Their Hormones. She’s done extensive research in the fields of epigenetics and the breast cancer genes – BRCA 1 and BRCA 2.

And while I may not be an expert, I’ve spent enough time researching and living this topic (both for my cancer and my mum’s) to be able to say that I firmly believe we have more options than what we’re led to believe by the mainstream world.

The intention of this interview isn’t to judge whether Angelina (or anyone else in her situation) made the right choice or not. We’re all different. We all have different fears, different conditioning, and different ways of looking at and understanding the world. But, what I do want to do is counteract the messages that are being pumped out by mainstream media by offering alternative answers to some of the questions and fears this story has stirred up.

In this interview, you will learn:

+ If you have the breast cancer genes, do you have options other than a double mastectomy when it comes to preventing breast cancer?

+ Why BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 aren’t the death sentences we’re led to believe they are.

+ What we can do to lower our risk of developing cancer – whether we have the genes or not.

+ Why mammograms are the worst step for someone who has a predisposition to breast cancer and should never be used for screening purposes.

+ What to do instead of having a mammogram.

+ So much more on this very loaded topic.

Click here to listen:

DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION FOR SHERRILL?

On Wednesday morning, Sherrill and I will be holding a live Q&A call so that you can get answers to any questions you may have on this subject.

The call will be held at 9am (Australian EST). Click here to sign up and receive further details.

Can’t make that time? Sign up anyway to send through your question and receive a recording of the call.

SEE SHERRILL IN PERSON

Click here for a full list of Dr Sherrill Sellman’s Australian tour dates.

What did you think of this interview? I’d love for you to join in the conversation in the comments below. Politely though, please.

Positive affirmation for the day: My mind is open to new ideas and beliefs.

I’m a little bit in love with this week’s Foodie Friday. I stumbled across the blog, This Rawsome Vegan Life, a couple of months ago, and ever since I’ve been both enamored and in awe of it’s Canadian creator, Emily von Euw.

Her recipes are the most creative and drool-inducing I’ve ever seen, her photographs are incredible quality, and her words are witty and wise. Did I mention that Em is only 19? Man, when I was 19 the only thing I could cook was pumpkin soup. From a can. And even then I would over cook it.

Em is a “high raw vegan” and on her blog she says, “I eat raw plants because I love my body, the planet, and all beings. We are all equal and all one! When I eat food, I want it to be beautiful, but not just in taste. I want it to nourish my body and soul, work in harmony with the earth, and allow other earthlings their right for freedom. I find that raw, organic plants fit the bill pretty well.” I absolutely love that!

Meet Em …

What was the catalyst that turned you into a healthy foodie?

I don’t remember a specific event or catalyst but I know that I had general passion for healthy living before I learned about veganism, and then when I did discover it – it made too much sense to ignore so I told myself I’d go vegan for 30 days. Just a few days into it, I knew I was going to be vegan for life and that I would never go back to eating animals.

What are your non-negotiables when it comes to your diet?

Fruit and greens. On my website, many of the recipes are decadent raw vegan desserts which ARE healthy and 100% guilt-free, but at the same time they aren’t meant to make up your entire diet. That stuff makes the lifestyle fun but when it comes to ESSENTIALS – my faves are giant green smoothies, salads and huge bowls of fruit.

Why do you eat the way you eat?

It comes down to three equal factors: my health, the health of the planet and the wellbeing of our animal friends. Eating a diet consisting of raw plants is optimal for MY body and following that, it works naturally in harmony with the sustainability of the ecosystem, finally – it does not require murder. A burger will NEVER be worth a life. We are all equal and have no right to treat our fellow creatures the way we do. They are our friends.

If you were trying to convert someone to your dietary philosophy, what would you make for them?

Hahaha. Almost any of the recipes on my blog. I choose to focus on recipes that are pretty much food porn for anyone, not just health nuts. I could just post recipes of green smoothies and salads but that’s not exactly persuasive for skeptics. I try to show people that you can have your cake (or brownie, pizza, tart, chocolate, lasagne, milkshake, etc.) and eat it too. You can enjoy a wholesome, nourishing diet, feel and look amazing and never miss a thing.

How do you stay healthy while travelling?

It’s easier than you might think. I’ve been all over the States and Canada and have NEVER had a problem. I went on a 10-day bike trip with my dad last summer and we went to some SMALL towns. But ya know what? I got amazing smoked tofu salads, fruit smoothies and black bean burgers in places I’d never expect. If there isn’t something on the menu that’s already veggie (rare), I’ll just get a salad without dairy and ask for extra veggies or ask for a custom order: usually sauteed veggies with rice. If you really can’t find anything in a restaurant (I can’t imagine this happening though) there are always grocery stores where you can buy fruit, veggies, beans and oatmeal. The world is becoming more and more accessible for veggie people every day.

What are your go-to meals and snacks when you are super busy?

Green smoothies and fruit bowls, like I mentioned earlier. They are SO fast to make, easy and delicious. Plus they are the most nutritious foods ever. I actually have no idea how I survived without green smoothies before. And there is nothing like a giant bowl of fruit to dig in to.

Juices or smoothies: Which do you prefer? What’s your favourite combination?

Ooooh. Tough question. I used to be pro-smoothie gal all the way and wasn’t so crazy about juice. But then mom got a juicer and I tried a juice fast; LIFE-ALTERTING. I love juice now and try to have a big glass of green juice every few days. I think juice is best for cleansing and instant nutrition while smoothies are great for daily bulk, fiber and post-workout nutrition that will give you long-lasting energy for the day. My fave smoothie recipe is a banana, a few cups of kale or spinach, 1 cup of frozen berries and 1 cup of water or vegan milk. My fave juice recipe is usually a combo of cucumber, celery, apple, carrot, ginger, mint leaves or cilantro and a bunch of spinach or kale.

What’s the biggest nutrition misconception you are always having to clear up for people?

There’s a few, but the most common one I get is the problem of protein. It’s such a joke though because most people actually eat WAY too much protein (about 5 times too much) and we don’t need much in the first place! Also, people are afraid of carbs, which is too bad. We thrive on carbs! But only the ones coming from whole foods like fruit and veggies, not processed flours like most people associate carbs with.

If you could prepare a meal for anyone (dead or alive) who would it be and what would you make?

Woah! Awesome question. Oh man, let me think… probably the founding fathers of America. I’d make them a giant vegan feast of fair trade quinoa with peanut sauce, roasted local veggies and herbs, and finish off with a raw coconut cream pie. While they are gobbling down the goodness, I’d give them a heads up about the unsustainability and cruelty of the future meat industry and basically just try my hardest to influence them to make eating a wholesome plant-based diet a cornerstone of American living. (I’d love to make a nice bowl of rice and veggies for Buddha or something, but that’d be a bit selfish.)

What does being a Wellness Warrior mean to you?

Being an active agent in sharing the message of holistic, wholesome, compassionate living for all. I believe a major change is coming in the diets (and thus lifestyles) of us western regions. We are realising the way eat effects more than just our bellies – and that it is time to DO something about it. I like to think I am helping facilitate that action and new philosophy.

A Recipe From Emily:

Raw Chocolate Molten Lava Cakes With Goji Berries

Makes about four cakes

What you’ll need:

Cake:
1/3 cup each of raw oats, walnuts, dates, and raisins
1/4 cup cacao powder

Molten lava middle:
1/3 cup each of melted cacao butter, maple syrup, dates, and cacao powder
1/4 teaspoon each of cinnamon, Himalayan sea salt, and chili powder
Nut milk, as needed 

What to do:

To make the cakes:

Pulse the oats, walnuts and cacao powder in your food processor until they become a rough flour. Add the dates and raisins and process until it all starts to stick together.

Using about 2/3 of the mix (you have to save some for the tops), press into the bottom and sides of lined cupcake tins and put in the fridge. Use the rest of the mix to make the tops by pressing it into cookie molds the same diameter of your cupcake tins. Put those in the fridge as well.



To make the molten middle:

Blend all ingredients until smooth, adding the milk as needed to make it creamy and a “molten” consistency (whatever that means… hopefully you know).

Take the cakes out of the cupcake molds and pour the molten mixture into each one, filling up almost to the top. Now carefully press the tops onto the cakes, gently pressing together the edges. Flip over and decorate with cacao nibs and goji berries. Eat da lava, mohn. 

A few substitution options: To make these gluten-free, use buckwheat groats instead of oats. If you don’t want to use cacao, use coconut oil instead of cacao butter and carob instead of cacao powder. 

Positive affirmation for the day: I’m taking care of my body for the sake of my health, the planet and all beings.

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Positive affirmation for the day: I’m taking care of my body for the sake of my health, the planet and all beings.

GUEST POST BY CYNDI O’MEARA.

Dried fruit seems to be a popular snack food for young children, and adults. It conjures up the image of a healthy alternative to sweets. You’ll find piles of dried fruits in the health food stores, and from that we assume that it’s a healthy food. But is it?

The history of dried food goes back to our hunter-gatherer ancestors. When fresh foods were abundant, our ancestors would dry their excess food so that they had something to eat when the winter months came and food was scarce.

The food was usually reconstituted with water before it was eaten.

With food so abundant these days, we don’t need to use dried fruit as a survival food source, but we consume it as a convenient snack. This is OK if it’s done occasionally, but some people are eating dried fruit up to six times a day. For example, breakfast might be sultana bran or muesli, then some fruitcake for morning tea. Lunch might be a few slices of raisin toast, followed by some dried apricots in the afternoon and a dessert of plum pudding at night. Perhaps that’s a little exaggerated, but I often see well-meaning parents give their children dried fruit constantly throughout the day.

Dried fruit is very hard to digest. Any parent who’s been confronted by a nappy full of blown-up sultanas can attest to that! For these foods to be properly digested and assimilated by our bodies, it’s important to add water. If water isn’t added before you eat dried fruit, then your body has to add the water when the fruit reaches your stomach. This can dehydrate the body, and means by the time the dried fruit has become a real food again, it’s already on its way out of your body before it can do any good.

Unless you’re only going to eat a very small amount of dried fruit, I suggest you quickly boil it then leave it to soak in the water overnight.

Isn’t it frustrating when you think you’ve been doing the right thing by eating a healthy alternative, and then I go and ruin it? Sorry, but wait till I tell you what they add to your dried fruit – it’ll blow your socks off!

There are several things added to dried fruit, either during the drying process or after, and they’re not necessarily on the food label. They are (get ready!) sugar, dextrose, glucose syrup, fruit juice, colouring derived from fruit, glycerin (422), sorbic acid (200), sulphur dioxide (220), paraffin, edible fats, and oils. Oil is sometimes marked on the ingredients.

By the way, a quick way to tell if oil has been added is to look for a shiny, greasy appearance to the dried fruit. If oil hasn’t been added, it will look dusty. And if oil is there, you can be sure that BHA (320) is also there.

Many different oils are being used in dried fruit, sometimes there may be a vague ingredient term such as vegetable oil, this could indicate a number of combined oils such as soy, canola or other inferior refined oils. I’ve noticed of late palm oil is being used and this does not go without any controversy as to the ethics and sustainability of this product regarding rainforest destruction and the animals and species that live within the rainforests. For an oil to be preserved it may need to be hydrogenated, fractionated or interesterified, none of these terms are ever seen on the packaging of dried fruit. The best way to avoid the processes or the oils is to read the ingredient of your dried fruit and make sure there are no other ingredients other then the fruit itself. If you are unsure you can always call the company.

Good dried fruit (with nothing added) looks vastly different from the stuff you see on the supermarket shelves. Some of the effects these additives can have on humans include headaches, thirst, nausea, high blood sugar levels, skin irritations and irritations of the digestive tract, to name just a few.

So what’s the alternative? Try to buy organic, naturally dried fruit. Or, dry your own. Food dehydrators are easy to find. Or on a hot dry day you can cut some fruit up thinly, place it on a metal tray or sheet, and dry it in the sun. Or you can pop the fruit into a convection oven on a very low heat for three hours or so. But remember that (even with natural, healthy dried fruit) it shouldn’t be a constant food source. Eat your dried fruit occasionally and in moderation.

Action steps

1. Choose dried fruit that has been naturally dried – you will know by the colour.

2. Try to find organic dried fruit.

3. Remember, dried fruit is a treat – not a food source.

Do you eat dried fruit? Do you consider it a healthy snack choice? To you buy yours or dry your own?

Positive affirmation for the day: All of the answers are inside me – I just need to be still enough to hear them.

Last week I had my very first colonic. I’ve been doing daily coffee enemas for over three years now, so I’m quite comfortable with putting tubes up my backside and funnelling fluid into my colon. But this was different.

A colonic is not the same as an enema.

For one, when I do my enemas, I’m alone. It’s just me, a good book (or Rachel Zoe or The Kardashians on my laptop) and my enema bucket. But when you have a colonic, a colon hydrotherapist is in the room with you. They insert the tube for you (which is much larger than an enema tube), they massage your belly while you’re lying on the bed, and they talk you through the whole process as it’s happening.

Secondly, a coffee enema’s job is to detoxify the liver while a colonic is designed to cleanse the colon and flush out toxins and waste that are lodged up in there.

I had what is called a “gravity fed” colonic, where the water is funnelled into you via the wonder of gravity. This is opposed to a pressurised colonic, which uses pressure created by a machine to feed the water into you. Pressurised colonics can feel more intense and uncomfortable. Gravity fed colonics are more gentle, and if the therapist knows what they’re doing, the process should be relatively comfortable. I didn’t feel any pain at all during my treatment. I could feel the water filling up inside of me, but because of the gentle in-and-out flow of the water, it wasn’t bad at all.

Colonics don’t take the place of enemas, but I think they’re a great addition to your cleansing regime to give the internal plumbing a good clean out. These would be especially great if you experience constipation or you know you have issues digesting food (undigested food can remain in your system, becoming toxic and acidic).

If you’re not pooping daily, something is going on in your digestive system. However, even if you do poop every day, you could still benefit from a colonic. As I said, I do coffee enemas daily and my bowels work on their own as well, and I still had stuff up in my colon to dislodge.

Adverse opinions against colonics claim that they strip the colon of good bacteria as well as bad, so it’s important to replenish your supply by taking probiotic supplements and eating fermented probiotic-rich foods.

Have you ever had a colonic? What do you think of them? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Positive affirmation for the day: My voice stays strong and firm, even amidst the differing opinions of others.

Patience has never been my strong suit. I’ve always despised the process involved in getting somewhere or creating something and when things take longer than I want, I can become very antsy. It happened when I was a little girl and I quit jazz ballet because I didn’t want to learn the steps – I just wanted to dance already, and it’s happening still to this day. Being such a big lesson I clearly need to learn, the universe keeps putting me in situations where I have the chance to learn it.

If spending two years at home committed to a healing regime isn’t enough to teach you patience, I don’t know what is. However, I still struggle with it. Case in point: my recent endeavour buying a house. We had been looking for a house to buy for about nine months, and I loved every single house we looked at. Even if it was so crappy that the whole thing needed to be torn down. Part of this was due to optimism and my belief that we could make something beautiful out of the rubble, and part of this was just because I wanted to buy a house already! As the months went by and we weren’t finding the perfect house, I was getting frustrated. We had our hearts set on a couple and missed out on getting them, and then I would get even more frustrated. I knew that it was just because our house was still out there waiting for us, and that perhaps the timing just wasn’t perfect yet, but that logic all went out the window most of the time. Still, I told myself that everything happens in the perfect time, and instructed myself to just take a deep breath and trust.

Then, when we did eventually find the perfect house and we bought it for the exact price I was manifesting hard core on, it all made sense. We missed out on the other houses we liked because the universe was protecting us. It knew that our house was still out there, and that it was much better than any of the others we were looking at.

It was the same when it came to landing a book deal. This is something I wanted so badly for ages, and I actually wrote two other books prior to the one that was picked up by Hay House. Every time a publisher turned me down, my heart sank. Now I know that those books that I was pitching aren’t the books that need to be out in the world yet. The book deal was always going to come, but the universe was waiting to deliver it to me at the right time and for the right book.

I know consciously that there’s no point to being anything but patient, but it’s something I need to remind myself of often to avoid getting caught up in anxiety and stand firm in the truth that everything is unfolding in the perfect way at the perfect time. Being impatient isn’t going to make things happen any faster – it’s just going to screw around with the perfect order of things.

Seeing as patience is something I struggle most with, I have quotes plastered all over my vision board reminding me of why it’s such an important quality to cultivate. I want to share a couple with you, just in case this is something you resonate with.

“Adopt the pace of nature, her secret is patience.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Patience child, patience. Remember, life is a journey. If you got everything you wanted all at once there’d be no point to living. Enjoy the ride, and in the end you’ll see these “setbacks” as giant leaps forward, only you couldn’t see the bigger picture in the moment. Remain calm, all is within reach; all you have to do is show up every day, stay true to your path and you’ll surely find the treasure that you seek.” – Jackson Kiddard

And this is one from my Doreen Virtue book, Daily Guidance From Your Angels:

Take It Easy

“Sometimes you struggle and strain to achieve so much that you unwittingly block yourself. This is especially true when you want something so bad that you try over and over again to make it happen.

Take it easy today, and allow the universe to do the work of creating your dreams. Your job was done once you made the wish, so turn it over to God and enjoy the creative ways in which your prayers are answered.”

How’s your patience? Do you get frustrated when things take longer that you would like?

Positive affirmation for the day: I relax and surrender all of my desires to the universe.

I go through phases with my books. When I first started educating myself about wellness, I devoured every nutrition book I could find. Then, I started reading spiritual tomes non-stop. And then, I didn’t want to read anything besides fiction that had nothing to do with work. Now, I’m revisiting the foodie books. Full circle.

Here are four books I’ve got on my desk at the moment:

1. The Beauty Detox Foods by Kimberly Snyder

I love everything about Kimberly Snyder. She’s an amazing example of a wellness educator – spilling food truths and backing them up with solid research. I loved Kim’s first book, The Beauty Detox Solution, and her second one is the perfect follow up. The Beauty Detox Foods revisits some of the principals from her first book, but it includes heaps more mouth-watering recipes.

2. Raw Addiction by Katrina Ellis

Katrina Ellis is a naturopath, iridologist, author, raw chef and cancer survivor – and she’s combined all of these credentials to deliver an awesome recipe book full of simple, tasty and super healthy raw recipes.

3. UnDiet by Meghan Telpner

Meghan won me over with the chapter titled “Just Eat Real Food”, and then continued to impress me as she delivered clear, sensible information woven through the pages of amazing recipes. Winner.

4. The Honest Life by Jessica Alba

I love it when a celebrity has kiddies and suddenly they realise just how important it is to take care of the body. Jessica Alba now has a whole company dedicated to living a clean, chemical-free life. This book covers how to live naturally in all areas of our lives – food, beauty, baby and home. It has a great section on pregnancy, birthing and bringing home your baby. I’ll be hanging onto this for inspiration in a few years.

Have you read any of these? What other books are you loving at the moment?

Positive affirmation for the day: I am making decisions in favour of my best self.