Soul Sharing Archives - Page 21 of 29 - Seren Holistic Lifestyles

Archive of ‘Soul Sharing’ category

Juicing it up!

February 20, 2014 By Kat

For many months, a whole year actually, I’ve been going round in circles as to whether I should buy a juicer. I’m a loyal Thermomix lover that makes awesome smoothies so I felt like I was cheating on Thermie even looking at a juicer.

Juices vs smoothies I feel shouldn’t be a competition; it’s down to preference or just have both. Each have oodles of nutritional benefits. Smoothies make a filling & wholesome, fibre rich breakfast that generally quicker to make too. Pure vegetable juices are easily digested & a large variety of different vegetables can be mixed together in one hit. No chunky bits either to deal with.

A niggling voice & a gut feeling was telling me the time was right to get myself a juicer. I couldn’t ignore it any longer. I finally took the plunge a week ago & headed to the Good Guys for a look. I’ve done a lot of research on the different brands, trawled the blogs & read the reviews. There are a lot of juicers out there. The main difference I’ve found is the way the juice is extracted. Cold press is best as any heat from rotating blades & motors can reduce the nutrient value of the juice. It’s better to gently squeeze out the juice that vigorously chop & mash.

Here’s what I found. Again I am no expert, just an avid Googler, one must chose the juicer that is right for you. The path of self-discovery is the most rewarding 😉

The number one juicer seems to be the Norwalk. The Gerson Therapy only allows its programs juices (13 a day!) to be made in a Norwalk cold press. This is the shebang mother of all juice machines & rings in at US$2500. They aren’t available in Australia so add shipping & tax/import duty that could be anything up another $1000. Err no, sorry can’t afford that just for every day juice.

The second best one is the Angel juicer. This looks a little more compact & is shipped free in Australia. Again this comes in at nearly $1500. Sadly out of budget.

A similar model to the Angel is the Champion juicer. It looks like the same shape but is plastic instead of stainless steel. It’s a lot cheaper at $549.

I know a few people who have picked up second hand quality juicers from various websites that is always an option to save a few dollars. Breville Juice Fountains are highly regarded. The size put me off though.

After all my research I ended up going for a very entry-level cold press juicer that I found in the Good Guys. I’m glad I went to a shop as the size & weight of juicers varied dramatically. At the end of the day I’m new to all this, have a tiny budget & very little kitchen bench/storage space. I feel I made the right choice for me.

I went for the Aquaport Juice Pro Slow cold press juicer. It was on special for $230. It’s compact, not too heavy, and easy to clean. It does the job I require. I’m very happy with it. It also is great for making almond milk. Once I’ve soaked & grinded in the Thermomix instead of filtering the milk through cheesecloth my juicer does it for me. Separating the milk from almond pulp.

My first juice was a simple greens made with an organic Granny Smith apple, cucumber, spinach, kale & lemon. I chopped the veg up as recommended; it fed through without any drama & the juice tasted really good. I did find it foamed a bit as the juice filled up in the container. A quick stir eliminated most of it. The motor did get warm but not drastically & it didn’t affect the juice that was still cool. (I’d refrigerated my produce first)

I do have to say that I’m now a convert & haven’t had a smoothie since getting the juicer, sorry Thermie! Pure juice is so tasty. Even more it’s so energising. Apart from the green apple I haven’t juiced any other fruits yet as I’m loving the green vegetables. Green juice gives you energy. It’s true! You have to be careful with other fruits, as without the fibre it’s pure sugar, natural for sure but still it’s good to note if you worry about that sort of thing.

Fresh is best. Gerson recommends all juice be drunk no more than 20 minutes after pressing as the nutrient value diminishes. Some people freeze juice or keep it till later in the day & report they still taste good. I made double quantity juice the other day. I put the extra juice in an airtight mason jar in the fridge. However it was so good it couldn’t leave it sitting in the fridge & guzzled the second serve. A healthful craving for sure.

What’s your favourite pure juice recipe? Please share in the comments below.

Love K xx

Click on image to enlarge
©Seren Holistic Lifestyles Blog 2014
(please share the love with full credit thanks)

The Wellness Warrior on tour

February 18, 2014 By Kat

Last Tuesday I was lucky enough to have snagged a much-coveted ticket to see Jess Ainscough aka The Wellness Warrior speak live in Perth. The tour was originally scheduled for October but due to a deeply personal situation for Jess she had to postpone. Now it’s February & Jess is bouncing back into the spot light.

If you’ve never heard of Jess take a look at her awesome & inspiring blog right here. I started following her about eighteen months ago. A quick 101; Jess was diagnosed with a rare & incurable type of cancer, epithelioid sarcoma, in her left arm at just 22 years old. The hard-core party girl thought her life was over. After an unsuccessful bought of chemo the cancer returned. Jess’s only option for survival doctors told her was to amputate her arm. Even then this would only buy her a few more years until it spread further.

Jess knew there had to be another way & decided to tackle her cancer with the holistic method of Gerson Therapy. Six years on Jess is thriving & is definitely one of Australia’s number one healthy lifestyle ambassadors.

The tour was to celebrate the launch of Jess’s book ‘Make Peace with your Plate.’ I first purchased this when it was released as an ebook a few years ago. That didn’t stop me purchasing a hard copy now Hay House has published it. I find it handier especially for recipes & tips to be able to flick rather than click.

The Perth event sold out within a day the first time round. A bigger venue was found that sold out again. With the rescheduled date & an even bigger venue selling out it was a full house. Go Perth’s wellness tribe!

When I first arrived (super early as usual) I thought I’d got the wrong place. The foyer was filled with young, glamorous & glossy folk. I thought I’d walked into Perth fashion week. That l left me feeling a wee bit self conscious in my baggy yoga pants, flip-flops & Bali bag. Ha at least I’d slicked on some (organic) makeup. Not to worry at all. I was actually really pleased that Jess was reaching out to these hot young things & educating them early on healthful lifestyle choices. Wellness is awesome. To quote Jess, “You can love green juice & nice shoes.”

My early arrival enabled me to secure a front row centre seat. I no longer care about going to events alone. It’s nice to meet new people. The lady next to me struck up a conversation & we happily chatted about our common interest in wellness.

In person Jess was super glam. Sporting an angelic white cotton dress & sky-high heels. She was open, funny, cursed a little & above all was down to earth normal. The damage to her left arm was visible. Her left wrist was strapped up; I could see a few scars & she had minimal mobility in her left fingers. Still, she had her arm. Jess to me is a ‘glowing & radiant’ picture of health. “A cancer thriver” Jess calls herself.

Jess’s number one message was strongly based around the individual. Gerson therapy suited Jess. It isn’t for everyone & she fully backs that. You must find your own way to heal by listening & observing what your own body is telling you. I agree. The body is amazing & has it’s own way to self-heal; you just need to help it along with good nutrition. Jess’s message was ‘ditch the diet dogma’ do what is right for you. Eat what your body tells you too. Forget rules & labels. Don’t beat yourself if you eat an egg despite regarding yourself a vegan. If your body wants an egg, eat it. If you bloat up like a balloon after a steak then don’t eat it.

Obviously being a wellness advocate Jess couldn’t stress more how a plant based & organic diet does work best for optimum health. Jess is a living example how she tackled her cancer through a very clean vegan diet & oodles of coffee enemas. (I still haven’t tried one!) There really isn’t a place for processed food in our diets. Eat straight from the ground as nature intended.

An example Jess gave regarding processed food vs real food was an experiment she set up at home. Jess put three different types of food out on her kitchen bench to see how long each lasted till they perished.

A homemade salad sandwich using all fresh organic produce.
A shop bought packaged salad sandwich.
A McDonalds cheeseburger.

The organic sandwich didn’t last more than a day before the creatures moved in to chow down on it & the vegetables perished. The shop sandwich lasted a little longer but not much. The Macca’s cheeseburger sat there for SIX MONTHS! Nothing would touch it & it didn’t even go moldy. Hmm something very wrong there. Bugs & insects are not stupid. They know what good food is; they are part of nature too & want to eat well. They did not recognize the cheeseburger as food. Who wants a cheeseburger now?

The biggest take home message I got from the evening is wellness can be fun. Change is uncomfortable; it’s hard & challenging. Find a way that works for you. A juice combo that makes you want to leap out of bed & crank up the juicer. As David Wolfe says ‘don’t wait for a crisis to happen before you change your diet.’ Also don’t let the fear of getting sick or dying to be the reason to get healthful. Do it because you love your body & wish to care & nourish it the best you can. Your body will respond.

The other guest speakers were awesome too. The amazing & stunning Melissa Ambrosini, musician Wes Carr & local Perthling Paul Reid owner of Solomon’s café in Highgate. All shared their own stories of finding their path to health. Beating anxiety, drink & drugs despite being in the high pressure entertainment industry. Paul is a muso too & Mel used to dance at the Moulin Rouge as well as TV present. Wes show cased his talents by playing a few rocking tunes & we had a mini dance party to round off the evening.

Just sitting in the theatre that night I could see wellness was cool. It wasn’t weird or hippy or grungy. Wellness can be glamorous too. It’s up to you what you make it. Just because you are looking after your health you don’t have to change who you are. If you like wearing nice clothes & curling your hair there is no reason why you still can’t do that. Just don’t judge your life on the material, what you have or have not or how big your pay cheque is. Fixating on the material won’t make you happy. Be content with what you have right now by staying present. “Pretty things are just the icing on the cake” is how Jess put it.

Meditation was big on the ‘must do’ list. I back this 100%. Sitting in stillness with yourself every day is the only way you’ll discover who you are & what makes you tick. The more you know the real you ‘inside’ by leading from your heart rather than you head will make life flow. All the speakers advocated Transcendental Meditation (TM) as a practice of choice (The Beatles were also keen practitioners who worked directly with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi). I’ve never tried it personally but I’m currently looking into it. I can say though any type of meditation is beneficial & doesn’t have to cost a lot of money.

To wrap up…be yourself, love yourself & cherish the present moment for the gift it is. The more you love yourself the more that love will return back to you. Go easy though, be kind to you & take a few small steps at a time.

Love K xx

Seren blog jess photo 4

Click on images to enlarge
©Seren Holistic Lifestyles Blog 2014
(please share the love with full credit thanks)

Here we go again its Mercury Retro!

February 11, 2014 By Kat

Those who follow the planet cycles will know it’s that time again for Mercury to go into retrograde. Friday 7^th February it all kicked off for the first time this year. Mercury retrogrades are all about communication. It’s the perfect time to speak up & speak out authentically. For a more in depth explanation & daily commentary check out Elizabeth Peru’s FB page.

I really enjoy a good retro period, as it’s a great chance to review & make changes. The only thing I don’t like is that communication technology does go a bit bonkers. Don’t be shocked if your phone, ipad, computers & other electrical equipment start to do their own thing.

The pre-shadow phase of this retrograde started on January 22^nd. Think back to that time & what was going on in your life. This will be your theme to work on from February 7^th to 27^th.

For me it’s all about boundaries this time around. Learning to say ‘no’ is a struggle. I hate letting people down, especially if something sudden comes up & they need assistance. However I often say ‘yes’ to things out of guilt, obligation & trying to be nice. I take on extra work & ‘I’ end up suffering for it. In others words I become run down because I give up my days off or my business suffers, as I have to put projects on hold. Projects that bring me great joy & will help grow my dream life. Putting others needs before mine own is counterproductive & makes for a bad energy exchange.

My challenge this time round is more when I’m put on the spot in person. When this lesson has come up before I learned not to reply to texts or emails straight away. I would step back, sink into my heart & ask within for the answer to what I should do. I’d have the time to properly review my schedule & workload. Then make an authentic decision. More often than not I can find a compromise & come back with a good exchange this way. Everyone is happy then.

However when something is proposed in person or on a phone call I dither. More often than not I’ll say yes without thinking it through from the heart. Being put on the spot for an answer I just jump in & say yes to please the other party. Time to change this reaction.

My retro theme will take strength & courage. I have a strategy though!

If I am asked in person to help out with something I will politely excuse myself to check my diary first. It is very important to move away & be in my own space for this. Someone can easily be peeking over your shoulder at the diary & clearly see a blank space & that may lead to questioning. Once away from the situation I will be able to sink within for my answer whilst cross checking my schedule. If I am available & my heart says yes, all is well.

However if there is a space in my day due to scheduled down time or business building that is when I really need to assess my needs first. Can I move things around? When is my next day off? It’s also not just the day in question that needs reviewing, it’s the days before & after. No good taking on extra work on Tuesday if I’m flat out crazy busy Monday & Wednesday. I will help others more if I have attended to my needs first as I’ll be in a better place to serve.

The Challenge is on! I’ll keep you posted on how I go…

Have you had any recurring themes over the past few weeks that are calling for your attention? Feel free to share in the comments below.

Love K xx

The Soul only knows perfection

February 6, 2014 By Kat

This quote popped up on FB the other day. I love it & it resonates a lot with a challenge I’ve been facing of late. A challenge I am hoping to close the loop on for good.

There is a difference, a huge one, between intentionally hurting somebodies feelings & speaking your truth from pure intent, which is then interpreted differently. In others words the other person gets the hump with you.

I’m finding the deeper I get into remembering where I came from & why I’m here this lifetime (My Soul contract) the more I am being misinterpreted. I know my words are coming from my heart driven by my Soul. It shows me I am progressing & doing everything just right in my life that I feel comfortable speaking my truth. However this usually involves saying things others may see as weird or they miss the point & get offended.

That is just fine. I can recognise now when my words are not understood that the recipient is not ready to hear them or their frequency is tuned to a different station. I’m not saying I’m better than those around me or more awake. I’m saying I fully recognise we are all on different stages of our journey.

When someone gets hurt by my actions I do feel hurt too, especially when I didn’t mean to bring pain. I am however not responsible for others reactions to my actions & vice versa. This is where Doreen’s quote comes in handy.

At the core of who we are, the Soul, we are one. The Soul, the part of us that goes home after we leave our physical body, only knows purity & perfection. When we are in our physical human form we are split in duality between our Soul & human emotions in our head. (Some call this the ego) It is our head that tries to mentally process what goes on around us & emotions kick in.

Our Soul cannot get hurt or offended. If you ever hear someone say ‘you’ve offended my Soul’ this I believe is untrue. You’ve offended their ego. Soul only knows love. It is pure & all knowing. In stillness it will tell you all you need to know honestly & openly. You must quite the mind first in order to hear it.

If my ego gets hurt for what ever reason or others get offended/hurt by something I’ve said I must remember to send them love. It happened just last week. I had caused offense by something I wrote right here on my blog. There was no confrontation or conversation had, I was totally clueless as to why a certain person was suddenly being off with me. Once I figured out the issue I was sorry the person involved had taken my words the wrong way. I never meant to offend or hurt anyone. It was my personal take on a situation & I am the only one responsible for my reaction, which was to write about it.

The offended person came into my radar in a professional situation. All I could do was send them love & compassion. I had a job to do & I could not let ‘personal crap’ get in the way. They were hating on me it was clear (cold shoulder, scowling & snappy words) but I must never hate back, even if my ego was bruised by this, my Soul was telling me it was okay. They are hurting & they need love, it was my job to send it out. Hopefully once the other person is ready to sink into their heart, feel the love, see the pure intention & step back they will ease their own pain.

Just remember at our core there is only love & oneness. Nothing can hurt you deep in the centre. It hurts on the surface but its only skin deep. The more love we give the more will come back around. We are LOVE.

In love, K xx

Previous 1 … 19 20 21 22 23 … 29 Next