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David Wolfe Australian Tour – Have the best day ever!

I couldn’t miss the chance to see Super Foods guru David Wolfe speaking when he came to town last weekend. The response in Perth was massive. The event sold out so a second was put on earlier in the day due to a bigger venue not being available. Huge confirmation that us Westerners are super keen for such events and presenters. Please do come to Perth we want you, don’t be put off by our remoteness make the effort to visit it will be appreciated. It was great to see the WA leg of the tour incorporated some local businesses as well in the sponsor’s area.

I’ve never been to one of David’s events but from what I had heard and read from he knows how to put on a show. No disappointments at all. David lived up to his ‘entertainer’ label and kept the audience engaged for nearly three hours in an informative, light hearted and easy to understand manner. Of course there was plenty of humour too.

Where to start telling you the details of what I learned? Information overload for sure, in a good way. Most of the Super Food’s spoken about I had heard of, some I wasn’t too familiar with or have ever used. I took pages of notes so I’ll start at the top.

Being a creative person I loved the analogy of food and colour. The colour of the food relates to their healing properties. Eat blueberries for eye health, tomatoes for heart heath etc. It took a while to get my head around ‘black’ foods being the ultimate Super Foods. The photos of black lumps didn’t look appealing. What did I learn at art class? I mixed a bit of every colour in the spectrum to get a ‘pure’ black, same with nature. For example black rice is the most nutritious of all rice & has the most zinc in it. Theses colours switch on certain good genetics in our bodies. Think Chakras, they all have a colour too. We are not just feeding our one physical body but nourishing all four of our bodies the emotional, mental and spiritual. We see in colour so we should eat in colour.

Some of the herbs and Chinese mushrooms mentioned I could not spell or repeat the pronunciation. Their health benefits of longevity and anti ageing sounded awesome. It was sad that some Super herbs such as coca leaves are illegal thanks to the abuse and misuse of them. Some tribes in South American live to be over 100 years old from munching on raw coca leaves straight off the tree. Apparently they are the happiest people on earth. Hmmm funny that?!

Salt came up too and my beliefs were questions. I’m a hard-core pink Himalayan advocate that is still good. David was telling us to go wild & gather the salt from pools by the sea. Get it straight from the source the ocean. No factories or packaging or transporting. Makes sense as long as you are near to sea. The ancient remedy of drinking warm sea salted water is a proven method for good adrenal health as well as a tonic for almost any aliment. We can get our potassium from eating raw foods but it’s hard to find salt in natural foods so we do need to ‘add’ it to our intake. Definitely not the white crappy, chemically bleached ‘table salt.’

There was lot’s of talk about marine plankton and blue green algae. I’m a huge spirulina and chlorella fan. They have massive antioxidant benefits as well as essential omega oils. Again watch what brand you buy there are very few that are harvested, processed and packaged correctly. It makes all the difference to the quality. I personally use Green Nutritionals Hawaiian Pacifica brand that come in dark glass bottle with oxygen tight lids. Our future nutrition is going to rely more on the ocean as a resource. I’m quite excited about the concepts of home grow Spirulina tanks!

In the question time right at the end someone asked the ‘gold’ question. “What do you think of vaccinations?” It’s an area I have been questioning myself & chose not to have travel vaccines last year & I was just fine (if not better as I’d not had a dose of evil chemicals). David clearly stated that no vaccination in the world has ever passed a double blind random control cross over study. That is the ‘5* standard’ scientific test. He said when they do he would happily have them but until then there is clear evidence that vaccines are not 100% safe.

What really resonated the most with me was that we were asked to question those ‘learned’ beliefs that society, scientists, doctors, who ever have drilled into us that ‘are right.’ Especially when the subject of Breatharians came up. We rely too much on what others tell us to be true without going out there & finding it out for ourselves & seeing what works for us. What we can believe is that if we eat straight from nature, out the ground, unhampered & organically we will thrive. It’s the vicious cycle of eat chemicals, get sick, see doctors, treat it with chemicals, then eat more chemicals which is throwing our bodies into mayhem. Eat how nature intended. She did not put batter on chickens for a reason. ‘We’ did and then we get sick from it.

A grand night out and a huge kick up my butt to keep on track. I got home to see a loaf of fresh bakery white bread that would have been lovely toasted with lashing of organic butter. No, I did not partake thinking how bloated I’d be and the fact it would not serve me nutritionally at all. Feed your body love & it will return the love right back to you.

Love Seren xx

Seren Blog David Wolfe stuff

Fitness Focus – Xtend Barre

The phrase “see you at the barre” may well get most people chiming ‘oh okay then mines a pint.’ Alas no pints at this barre unless you count the pints of sweat you will be expelling. I am talking about ballet barres. Over in the States barre classes are the latest new trend sweeping the fitness sector. A franchise called Xtend Barre reached Australian shores last year. At the time I was looking for some anonymity away from the yoga world & something new to try out my muscles on. My inner ballerina who never got chance to shine was screaming to be let out. Xtend Barre was the perfect solution.

Being the hot new thing in town getting into a class was a tad challenging. Classes are available at three locations in my city and all offered online booking. That meant they pretty much sold out & you were wait listed. Classes have strict numbers as there is only so many bodies you can fit on the barres & equipment to go round. This varies from studio to studio. If you went as a walk in chances are you wouldn’t get in. Desperate to give it a go I managed to get into a Saturday morning class. I loved it & it just what I was looking for. There was even a studio nearer to where I live which was great. With my crazy schedule I only manage a couple of classes a month but it’s worth it for a blast of something different.

The class is open to anyone, no dance or ballet experience necessary. I for one am the ‘un-co’ queen of the century so don’t worry it usually takes me a few rep’s to get my arms and legs moving in unison. The concept is simple Xtend is a 55 minute ballet inspired class using the French ballet terms & positions. Think plies, tendu, turn-out & releve. Don’t worry if are not familiar with this lingo just follow the instructors lead. A warm up sequences of plies, stretches and leg lifts leads into an upper body-work out with light hand weights. Then its time to hit the barre.  More plies, squats, releves and pulsing till your legs are shaking like jelly. You have the option of lower impact variation if it all gets too much. Subtle cues like ‘light finger touch on the barre’ helps remind me I’m not a monkey clinging on for dear life!

It is a solid work out though if you put in the effort. Even in winter I am sweating my socks off. You will be rewarded with toned, lean, sculptured muscles, a firm core & improved cardiovascular function. All the instructors are accredited pilates teachers and some I have taken class with are physio’s. They know their alignment & those eagle eyes will put you back in the safe, correct position if you are unsure. You are in safe hands, especially when you hit the floor for the ab exercises at the end.

You don’t need any special equipment for barre, just a pair of socks. I have invested in the branded Xtend socks that are just like any pilates socks with the grippy, sticky ball things on the soles. Normal light exercise clothing is recommended as I said above you will sweat. The choreography incorporates hand weights, resistance balls, straps and the new Xtend Stick. These are all provided by the studios as are the mats for the floor work. Water and a small sweat towel are also useful to take.

If you looking for a fun & challenging work out with upbeat music & a killer ab track give Xtend Barre a try. The new Xtend Stick classes are launched this week in Perth so watch this space how I get on with that one.

See you at the barre!

Love Seren xx

Seren Blog Xtend Barre

Image Credit: https://www.facebook.com/XtendBarre

Be More Random

The last week of May seriously messed me up as I explained in my hibernation post. June rolled in and the cloud lifted, just like that. Seven days made such a difference. Resting up and taking it easy did the trick. It helped immensely I had a long weekend to really rejuvenate. I’m out the other side, happy, shining and ready to go.

Digging really deep and asking lots of inner questions lead me to realise what I’ve been missing recently. Randomness! My days are like most of yours I have a job that requires me to be there from 9-5. With this structured non negotiable I need to make sure the rest of my waking hours do not fall into the same boring routine of eat, sleep, work, exercise repeat. My Soul gets very grumpy when I forget this and that rigid structure becomes all day, every day. She needs to be random!

Saturday June 1st I was random. I took myself off to an Xtend Barre class then went shopping at a mall I never go to. It was lovely. I even bumped into a friend randomly & met some new people. I could feel my Soul jumping for joy, clapping her hands saying ‘how nice is this.’ The change of space was just what I needed to freshen things up.

My other job teaching yoga is very structured too. I have regular time slots I teach because of my day job. It is mixed up on a two-week rotation (more for the students sake!). We are able to switch and swap classes when something else comes up. I have been reluctant to do switches lately, as I didn’t want to upset my balance. Oh how wrong was I and stuck in that rut. I was on plateau central and needed step off. I had to trust the universe that the balance will come if I made some changes.

Over the weekend I helped out two different teachers get covers. It was epic, getting everyone sorted out across two studios on different days and times. Resistance did kick in I was over thinking, staring at my roster looking for an answer. The answers came when I asked for some inner guidance. We fixed it everyone got the covers they needed.

What did I get out of it? Four different classes at times I never or rarely teach. I was so excited about this. New people to teach, also students I know & never get to teach would be at these classes. Mixing it up for all of us. Randomness ahoy Soul! I had to juggle the day job a bit but hey it’s no biggie. When I trust that the best solution for me will present itself & surrender control all will run smoothly.

It’s not been that easy, of course there were challenges in all of this. One class I was not sure about as it meant teaching two classes back to back on a school night. I’ve not done a b2b for ages so why not go freaking crazy balls that week.  By taking on the double I get a whole Saturday off! I’m usually out and about on Saturdays doing self-love things after teaching and buying the weekly food supply. The Saturday I switched is a blank canvas. All I need to do it throw some paint on it. How lovely.

Now I will be more aware when I’m feeling the grind of every day life that I need to mix it up. Get uncomfortable when I’m too comfortable. It’s not that hard and if it’s the right thing for me it will all come about. However, like with everything, I need to take action for myself. Trigger that spark of thought for something new and then give the universe permission to help me out in showing me the way.

Have you done something totally random recently and loved every minute of it? Please share in the comments below.

Love Seren xx

 

Chapels on Whatley

No recipe today, instead it’s back on the tea trail. A few weeks back I had a girly catch up afternoon at a lovely place in Maylands, Perth. Chapels on Whatley is an eclectic mixture of antique furniture, art, home wares and a teashop. My friend had already been before and raved about the unlimited tea drinking. Just up my street. Two hours of unlimited tea for $5.50. They are strict about the two-hour time limit. After reading some reviews it sounded quite scary that you may be in danger of being de-tabled as soon as your time is up. Understandable as everyone should get the chance to have some tea.

I should know better than to read reviews, especially one’s that bag out the service & I was right. I went with no expectations so I had no disappointments. We had a lovely time. The place was heaving with the tail end of the Saturday afternoon lunch rush. We arrived about 2pm. Great time as we did become exempt of the two-hour limit & were left quietly to enjoy our endless tea for nearly three hours.

Breakfast and a simple lunch menu are offered. Expect the stupid higher end prices Perth is now experiencing. Think $15 for a vegetarian bagel. We skipped lunch and went straight for dessert. (Under $10) There is a vast selection of sugary goodness, including homemade macaroons that were huge. We opted for the homemade profiteroles with ice cram and berries. Yum yum. Alas I scoffed mine before taking a photo.

This was all washed down with (I lost count) five or six pots of tea. Chapels imports over 60 varieties from throughout China. We tried white, green, black, infused herbal of different kinds, there were so many to choose from. The deal is you order one pot at a time you can have a pot each but not more than two pots at a time per table. We just shared a pot each time so we could get through more flavours. The tea wear is fabulous. We started with fine bone china before the glass came out for the infusions. Not a tea drinker, fret not. Chapels serve the very tasty Yahava (Pronounced ‘Java’) coffee from Margaret River or the usual range of soft drinks. Chapels is a licensed venue so not BYO.

What a divine way to spend the afternoon sipping tea and catching up on news. There is plenty of parking around or over the road in the train station. Perthlings check it out for sure!

Tea’s up!

Love Seren xx

Seren Blog Chapels tea

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