Collecting some fresh coconuts in the wet tropics of far north Queensland.

Since I first came across coconut oil a few years ago whilst doing a holistic lifestyle coaching course in Sydney, I have loved it and used it mostly just as a moisturiser for my skin. During this course, and many other health seminars I have been to I have heard that we shouldn’t put anything on our skin that we wouldn’t eat. Well coconut oil is yummy and healthy inside and out!

My testimony for Skin Health with Coconut Oil… 

During my January visit to the Central Coast where I stayed for 3 weeks with mum I didn’t have any coconut oil with me I used some of her mainstream moisturiser creams on my face. Over this short period of time I noticed a dramatic change in the look of my skin. To me it started to appear tired, aged and worn. As soon I returned home and started using natural oils (if I can’t get my hands on coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil is my second preference) again I noticed an instant difference and with regular coconut oil use my skin absolutely glows.

Coconut oil is my all time favourite product to use to moisturise my skin.  In my experience it is the best anti-aging, toning, yummy tasting and smelling, natural, non-toxic, cost effective skin product you can use which also helps to heal and prevent all sorts of skin problems as well. I personally notice a glow as soon as I put it on and get complements all the time, especially from massage therapists, about how healthy, nice and smooth my skin is.

*   *   *

My testimony for Weight Loss with Coconut Oil… 

Towards the end of last year and early this year I had been struggling with a few extra kilo’s I couldn’t seem to shake. Not alot, but enough. I felt heavy, yucky and could really notice the extra rolls I was carrying around my hips (also know as a ‘muffin top’ or where my partner comes from they call it a ‘cupcake’) and the extra layer on my belly. 

My partner let me know it too… In a nice, loving, joking way of course, hahahahaaa! 

I was feeling rather self conscious about it though and when I traveled back down south in January to visit my parents and had to face myself in a full length mirror (we only have one tiny little mirror the size of two bricks up home in the Daintree) I had to admit, he was right! 

3 weeks ago today we picked up our delivery of coconut oil. We had been wanting to get some coconut oil for months but as it kept escaping our shopping missions I had finally ordered 2 x 500ml jars online from Coconut Magic as I know they supply a top quality product. 

My personal favourite source of pure, extra virgin coconut oil. Find out more about Coconut Magic here.

I started taking two daily doses of coconut lemon water, it’s a glass of water with the juice of half a lemon and a tablespoon of coconut oil mixed in, it’s yummy and great for cleansing and an energy boost, along with using it on my skin. I was also excitedly awaiting my copy of the book ‘coconut cures’ to arrive in the mail to find out more about the many other health and healing benefits of coconut oil and coconuts. 

Within two weeks not only was my skin glowing and was I feeling more energy and overall more healthy, but also my partner also started to comment on how my body was starting to look even more yummy and how I was trimming down(whilst at the same time he, who has been very slim has been bulking up a little and I had noticed was looking extra yummy also!).  And by the way, my exercise routine hasn’t really changed either. I certainly could be adding more in for my personal fitness practice. But the coconut oil works anyway. If you want to know even more about this subject you may like to refer to Bruce Fife’s book ‘Eat fat, look thin’ (it’s particularly about the health qualities of the particular type of fat that coconut oil contains).

*   *   *

I’ve also tried out the ‘oil pulling’ technique several mornings which helps to detox the body, whiten teeth and cleans gums. It’s a simple process from the Ayurvedic health tradition which involves putting a teaspoon of coconut oil in your mouth and swish it around for 10-15 minutes. I’ll be adding this to my daily routine too as my teeth and mouth are feeling wonderful, fresh and clean and my partner commented the other day how white my teeth were looking!

I’m now more than half way through reading Coconut Cures and 3 weeks into taking the coconut oil inside and out…. With my new found knowledge about coconuts, my supply of coconut magic (the purest coconut oil on earth) and our local supply of fresh coconuts up here in the tropics, me and my partner are both falling madly in LOVE with coconut and are using coconut oil as a skin moisturiser, eating a daily dose of coconut oil for it’s many health and healing qualities, eating plenty of yummy fresh coconut flesh and drinking fresh coconut water… 

You could say we are going a little crazy for coconuts, and loving it!

Kathy eating a fresh coconut, one of the MOST amazing natural foods on earth… YUM!

Here are just a few of the reasons that we LOVE coconuts, WHY it one of the MOST amazing natural foods on earth and HOW it can help you!

Coconut Oil can be used both internally and externally to help

• Increase your energy
• Detox your body
• Eliminate food cravings
• Enhance your immunity
• Balance your hormones
• Keep you feeling and looking young
• Clear skin conditions
• Whiten teeth
• Support weight loss
• Increase metabolism
• Fight infections
• Reduce inflammation
• Assist healthy thyroid function
• Antioxidant
• Aids absorption of fat soluble vitamins and minerals

It’s a safe, healthy oil and nutrient for women during pregnancy and breast feeding mothers. And actually it can help give breast feed babies essential nutrients that the mother may otherwise be lacking that are important during for growth during their early months.

It’s also great as a natural insect repellant, sun screen, cooking oil and it’s natural, non toxic and has no negative side effects! It can also aid in prevention, recovery

Would you like to give coconut oil a go or find out more? 

I personally recommend Coconut Magic as a coconut oil supplier. Coconut Magic’s coconut oil is so pure, clean and yummy! Not all coconut oils are equal and I’ve had experiences where some not so good quality coconut oils in the past. We love our coconut magic so much that after our little trial run with the 2 x 500ml bottles I’ve just ordered us the bulk 5 litre tub of coconut magic which we think will give us a good 3 month trail of using it in as many ways as we can think of and liberally! Can’t wait to pick up our delivery, test it out and experience the results

For more information about how coconuts can help you I recommend purchasing a copy of ‘Coconut Cures, Preventing and Treating Common Health Problems with Coconut’ by Bruce Fife, N.D through the book depository online.

What we do is create the space where people can rediscover, explore, express and reclaim their natural, joyous, childlike laughter and playfulness as a full body and mind experience.

 Laughter is a natural form of expression, stress relief, bonding and joy. 

Absolutely everyone has the ability to do. It is within all us of. No matter what age, sex, race or religion we are or have. We all have the ability to laugh. 

In a natural healthy state of being we will experience and express a full spectrum of emotions freely through our physical and emotional body.

Through our experience of life however, for many reasons, our laughter (and our expression and experience of a wide range of emotions) may become repressed. 

When we are very young we have a natural curiosity and freely express our joy through laughter and playfulness with our whole bodies. At some point along our journey of life we may learn that this is no longer acceptable, this free expression of joy.

Especially in the western world, we tend to be conditioned and learn that their are only certain times when it is acceptable to laugh, that we should be laughing in a certain way (for example when an outside stimulus, the humour based model of laughter) or sometimes we may suppress it completely feeling that we are not allowed to laugh at all.

These beliefs and conditionings can start as early as at fifteen months of age when we are expressing our joy of being in the world and it is not mirrored back to us with love and appreciation from our mothers or whomever we are surrounded with at the time.

In Dr Christinane Northrup’s book ‘Mother-Daughter Wisdom, creating a legacy of physical and emotional health’ she gives an example and states….

“A mother who participates in her daughter’s joyful emotions is actually helping to develop and reinforce the brain circuits that support healthy mood. However, the reverse is also true. Say, for example, that a sixteen-moth-old is excitedly pointing to a monkey’s antics in the zoo and trying to get her mother’s attention. She wants to share her joy and win her mother’s approval. But her mother may be too depressed or exhausted to respond, or she may simply be deeply absorbed in a conversation on her mobile phone. Research has shown that at fifteen to sixteen months, a child is particularly vulnerable to what is known as the ‘danger of deflation’ – caused by her mother’s lack of interest or inability to mirror her child’s excitement back to her.

If her mother doesn’t smile back at her when her child gets excited about something, then that child’s mood deflates. When a child feels something, she naturally looks around to see if others mirror her feeling. If they don’t, she feels ridiculous and ashamed of herself for feeling joyful. The inference the child makes is that her mood must be wrong. After all, her mother is bigger, more powerful, and in charge – she must be right! So the child starts to believe that something is wrong with her, and that joy is bad and must be hidden.

As a result of repeated experiences when her joy isn’t reflected back to her, a child learns how to blunt excitement and put a ceiling on her joy. After a while, she no longer gets excited and may feel that life is hopeless and that she is helpless to do anything about it. A feeling of futility and resignation gets wired into her body.”

It is not just at this early age however that these neural pathways to suppress our natural sense of joy and laughter may happen however. I believe it can happen at any age in life. It could be as a reflection and mirroring of the people we are around or the environment we are in (such as a school, workplace, church or other social network) or could happen due to illness, injury, loss of a loved one, financial stress or even from the media we may subject ourselves to such as the daily news.

“One of the greatest losses to a human life, is the loss of the sound of laughter.”

What is important to remember is that it’s no matter what stage we are at in life, or what conditioning and neural pathways we have formed in relation to our laughter, we can make the choice to reclaim our natural birthright, expression and experience of laughter and joy.  

In the doing of this, you will not only improve your own wellbeing and rediscover your natural flowing fountain of laughter and joy, but as you bring more of this into your life and fill yourself up it can have an overflow effect of giving others permission to also express and share in their own natural fountain of laughter and joy. After all, laughter is very contagious!

If you haven’t laughed out loud for a long time, or rarely laugh or express joy. It may be a little uncomfortable at first. You may have resistance even to the idea of it. Just remember, that is your conditioning at work. Your neural pathways have become like deep rivers of fear and guilt. 

Fear of rejection. Fear of looking silly. Fear of being criticised. Fear of drawing attention. Fear of being punished. Fear of doing something different. Fear of feeling anything. Fear that you won’t be able to laugh. Fear that you think it will be fake.

Guilt because you think or feel you don’t deserve to experience joy. Guilt of how can you laugh when so much pain and suffering in your life and in the world.

And the list goes on. Fear, fear, fear. Guilt, guilt, guilt.

9 tips to help you Reclaim YOUR laugh….

• Hang out with people who laugh out loud and express joy.
• Start intergrating the 4 elements of JOY into your daily life (read about the 4 elements of JOY).

• Join or start a laughter club ( get trained to start your own laughter club in our 2 day course) .

• Look for opportunities and reasons to laugh every day.
• Try new things and get outside your comfort zone.
• Remember times when you shared laughter with others and perhaps even share the story to someone.
• Cultivate and explore your childlike playfulness (read about the value of being childlike ).
• Do things you Enjoy.
• Attend a laughter workshop.

Dr Kataria, the founder of Laughter Yoga teaches that there are 4 elements to JOY.

They are laughing, playing, dancing and singing.

And the more we incorporate these 4 elements into our lives the more JOY we will experience. 

A friend of my who was participating in a shamanic personal development program last year shared a story I really related to about the importance of JOY for our health and wellbeing from ancient cultures…

He told me that they had learnt that in shamanic cultures, when a person in the village was ill and would go to the village medicine man or woman (or doctor), in many cases before prescribing anything to the patient after hearing their ailments the ‘doctor’ would ask them four questions.

“When was the last time you laughed?”, “When was the last time you played?”, “When was the last time you danced?”, “When was the last time you sang?”… 

If the patient couldn’t answer the questions or when asked, realised they hadn’t done these for a long time they were sent away and told to return only once they had laughed, played, danced and sung… And often, once completing the tasks (or shall we say, integrating the 4 elements of joy into their lives) there was then no need for the person to return!

Some of us have been taught that these things are childish, that there isn’t space to indulge in things like this as adults, that we should be serious… bla bla bla.. When in actual fact laughing, dancing, playing and singing are elements integral to our health, wellbeing and JOY!

Don’t believe me, then try it out for yourself… Ask yourself honestly how long since you’ve really laughed, played, danced or sung? Not just for show, but in a way that YOU really feel it, celebrate it and is truly YOU.

Is these a once in a blue moon experience for you or a daily practice? 

So, is it time you cultivated more JOY in YOUR life?

All the time, often, rarely or never?

All too often as adults we come to think that our way is the best way, that children and childlike qualities are to be squished before they become a hindrance to grown up life and arrogantly we may believe that it is the adults job to teach children how to behave, act and think thus we miss the great opportunity and gift of learning from the children around us and appreciating childlike qualities that truly are a precious gift and valuable asset to our human existence.

Just think about it for a moment… How often have you said, thought or heard someone deliver reprimands for things deemed as childish behavior? And what is childish or childlike anyways?

There is so much we can learn from children, especially before we condition them out of their natural states of being and into what we think they are suppose to be.

We are born into this world naturally and freely expressing our emotions as they surface (thus not trapping them and storing them in our bodies until they become chronic illnesses or injuries), loving and exploring our own bodies as they are free from shame or guilt, wanting to explore the world in a state of awe and wonder and having a wild imagination full of creative possibilities unrestrained by what we think can or can’t be done.

All of the possibilities within the universe lay here within the childlike imagination… Remember, anything that has ever been created in this world that is not of nature on it’s own was first only a thought that existed only in the human imagination!

Children and childlike qualities are precious gifts to our lives and to this world to be honored, cherished and appreciated.

Remember that children are not only great students but also great teachers and beware of crushing or devaluing the amazing gifts that children and childlike behaviour or thinking can bring into your life, home or workplace.

Is it time your rediscovered the value of being childish or childlike?

Watch this insightful and inspiring clip of child prodigy Adora Svitak and what she has to say about how the world needs “childish” thinking

http://www.ted.com/talks/adora_svitak.html

Rediscovering the Value of Being Childlike……

Step One:

If you don’t have any children or grandchild of your own or you don’t come into contact with children very often I recommend taking some time to (alternatively you can do the same exercise in any environment where children are freely playing) go sit in a local park or near a beach where there are a mixture of young children around particularly children aged under 4 or 5 and just sit and watch them play.  As you sit back, breathe deeply and observe the scenes around you tuning into the environment begin to feel within your own body the joy, excitement and energy that the children are feeling. Within your mind imagine you can see into their imaginations.

Step Two:

Close your eyes and now visualize yourself moving, playing and exploring life with the same joy, excitement and energy that you just witnessed the children embodying.  Experience the freedom and ease of movements, the fascination of looking at the world through the eyes of a child, the possibilities, the creativity and imagination you would see and feel.  Bring those feelings strongly into your own body and see the scene play out in your mind.  Take a deep breath in and sigh gently out through your mouth as you bring yourself back.  As you open your eyes feel a new sense of energy and playfulness coursing through your body and let yourself be filled with a sense of gratitude for the children in this world and the childlike playfulness that your are rediscovering in your own life.

Step Three:

Now it’s time to start bringing it into your existence in your daily life.  Remember things you loved to do as a child, perhaps write a list of them and include things you always wanted to do but didn’t get a chance to try.  Start experimenting and playing with these… You may still enjoy doing some of them.  It could be playing with your children or grandchildren or as simple as taking some time to dream or imagine everyday, making up and singing songs, or laying on the grass on a nice day watching the clouds roll by and seeing what your imagination makes out of the clouds or finding a group of other adults who also value the preciousness of rediscovering childlike play and creativity. Whatever it is for you, remember that being young at heart is not only great for your vitality and wellbeing , but also the key to creativity, energy, a window to possibility and the essence of a long, joyful and youthful life!

Kathy Popplewell, the founder of Vibrance Whole Health & Fitness.

It’s a little hard to come to terms with for me as I’ve put so much energy, love, passion, blood, sweat, money and time into Vibrance since I began. It’s scary to say out loud and to share the news with you here but it appears that this part of my journey may be coming to an end. 

To continue or to close the business. I’ll know that at the end of April.

And in advance I would like to express my extreme gratitude to everyone who has helped, encouraged, supported, followed my amazing Vibrance journey so far, attended any of our Vibrance events and journeyed with us online via our emails (that includes you!) or facebook.

Before this decider takes place however, I’m determined to make this, what could be my last 6 weeks in the business as fantabulous as possible and to share as many things I can with youwhich have inspired, helped, grown and healed me along the way in the hope they may add value to, nurture or inspire you.

So that if I do have to close down it is with joy, peace and the knowledge that I did my best, shared the most I could, hopefully inspired a few (or many) people along the way and that it was simply ‘time’ for this transition.

In the next 6 weeks I’ll be sending writing to you every few days and sharing little Vibrance inspirations, my favorite giggles, health and loving life tips, tools and reflections and hopefully give you a whole lot of valuable content that you can either enjoy in the moment, share with others or save for a rainy day.

How will April be our decider month?

It really comes down to finances, which has never been very high on my values list as it’s been more about the journey for me… However it looks like I finally have to join the ‘real’ world and if I can’t come up with the income to make continuing in the business viable it will be time to close up shop.  And I’ll also need to sell my van (Mercedes Benz 2006, auto, SWB, 5 door).

Don’t get me wrong. I certainly haven’t been spending up big on expensive loving life experiences and pampering. Or even on traveling. If anything I’ve been living more simply and cut as many expenses as possible (we don’t even have a phone, a fridge, mains power or currently even a generator for power, hahahaha which has been a wonderful eye opening and gratitude filled experience. But I haven’t been focusing on earning income because that’s not where the energy has been for me.  I really did need, want and have LOVED this experience of loving life and living simply. And by the way I don’t think there is anything wrong with money, it’s an awesome tool and a wonderful energy exchange… But I do admit it hasn’t been high on my priorities, this has been one of my biggest business downfalls….

I know it can be done. I know I have lots of value to share. But I had to give myself a time limit. So now I have 6 weeks and counting…. Let’s see if I can do it…. I’ll give it everything I’ve got and journey on shining no matter what happens.

If it unfolds it’s time to close… I will be sad, however at the same time excited that it must be time for a new phase of my life’s journey. Maybe I’ll finally write the books I’ve been wanting to.  Maybe I’ll just settle down, work in the garden grow vegies and live in the rainforest. Maybe I’ll start a family. The possibilities are endless.

If this next little while goes awesome and we can continue to keep Vibrance alive and thriving… I look forward to sharing our first Celebrating Womanhood retreat in the Daintree Rainforest later this year and other loving life camps, retreats and trainings in the future. And perhaps all the above things (in if it’s time to close) will happen as well!

I’m not asking for a hand out. 

I want to earn our way to continue by giving you an inspired, loving life hand up! 

That could be through enjoying some of the Vibrance Infusion emails I send you over the coming weeks or it could be by attending a Vibrance event.

Sooooooo, we’ve got a bunch of yummy loving life events (see below) and special offerings including our new ‘Ultimate Loving Life Goddess Package‘ and ‘Goddess Healing Sessions‘ happening on the Central Coast of NSW (where it all began for me) happening during the month of April.

If any of them tickle your fancy I hope you may be inspired to attend.

Thanks for reading. I know it’s been a long one. But felt it was important to share with you what’s happening and also give you the heads up on why you’ll be receiving more emails for me all of a sudden. It’s because I want to share as much value with you as I can!

Now I’m putting it out to the universe and will patiently wait to see what unfolds knowing that whatever happens it’s for my highest expression of loving and living of life

In trust in the universe, love and laughter,

Kathy

2. Take your Bra Off whenever you can. If you don’t have to wear one, don’t. Wearing a bra can greatly impair your lymphatic flow. There has been found to be a 125 fold difference between the non bra wearing and 24hr bra wearing women in cancer rates. Click Here to read source.

3. Tell your Beautiful Breasts you Love them and acknowledge how wonderful they are. This is a powerful step as many of us have been conditioned to feel that we are not good enough or not beautiful enough by our media and marketing frenzied culture. Take this tip from Louise Hay and tell yourself 7 times every morning or night “I love and appreciate my beautiful breasts”.

4. Massage and Caress your Breasts Daily. Touch is powerful and healing. When you are bathing or moisturising your body explore and massage your body and breasts with tenderness and love noticing how it feels, how it looks, the shapes, texture with interest and appreciation. Rather than trying to find something you don’t want, focus on the healing touch you are giving your body to keep it healthy, happy and nurtured.

5. Balance your Giving with Receiving. Somewhere along our journey of life it seems we have been taught that it’s better to give than to receive. The truth is, we can’t give what we do not have and for someone to give, there must also be someone to receive. Neither is better, but together there is a balance. Notice if you tend to do one more than the other and allow yourself to be open to receive. An energetic part of developing breast cancer is constantly giving to everyone else and leaving nothing left for ones self and not allowing ones self to receiving from others.

6. Reduce or eliminate Soy Products from your Diet. It has been majorly promoted as a health food however soy is not only one of the most highly genetically modified crops but also extremely toxic and can cause an imbalance of hormones contributing to breast cancer. Click Here to read more about the dangers of Soy Consumption from Dr Mercola.

7. Eat Lots of Leafy and Colourful Vegies. Organic or home grown if you can. Vegetables are some of the best whole foods you can eat and especially green leafy and vibrant coloured vegies. Either raw or lightly cooked for best results these are natures gifts and full of health promoting and healing properties, many of which science is yet to discover and that protect you from dis-ease and repair damage within the body. It’s amazing what the body can do if you put the right materials into it!

Also remember to get out and do things that YOU love to do… If we are living in relationships, environments or workplaces we feel are toxic, it’s going to impact on our body… If we don’t express ourselves and stuff it all down, it’s going to get stuck somewhere in the body and the longer you ignore it… The more server a sign and feedback the body will give you that something has got to change.

Listen to your body, Your worth it!

Supported Butterfly Pose (Supta Budha Konasana) is one of my all time favorite restorative yoga
postures. This posture is particularly great for women especially during menstruation or menopause as it opens the hips, pelvis, womb (increasing blood flow and oxygenation to the area) and the heart centre.

I have used this pose so many times since I first experienced it during my yoga teacher training ten years ago and have found it especially useful during times of mental, emotional and physical exhaustion, stress or fatigue. It is a great pose to aid healing and rejuvenation and to open up our heart centre, stretch our digestive organs and open our pelvis and sexual centre (for women, especially great for your womb). At times just doing this one posture has satisfyingly been my entire practice.

Getting into the Pose: Sit on the floor and place bolster (or 2 thick blankets folded
longways) at the base of your spine. Lay back over the bolster with the soles of your feet
together. Place cushions or blankets under your head with the chin tucked in and under your knees so that your hips are supported enough that you can relax completely. If you have an eye cushion you may like to place it over your eyes. Breath deeply and allow yourself to relax.

Enhance your experience by finding a quiet space, setting aside the amount of time you would like to relax in the posture for (anywhere from 5 to 45 minutes) turning off your phone, lighting some candles and playing some nice, gentle, relaxing music or listening to a guided relaxation cd.

Coming out of the Pose: Gradually bring some movement into your fingers and hands, gently move your head from side to side and then very gently and mindfully bring your knees together and roll off your supports onto one side. Lay on your side for a minute and then lay flat on your back for a few minutes (savasana or relaxation pose) before bringing yourself up.

Caution: You should not feel any pain in the pose. If you do please release from the position and seek guidance from a professional yoga teacher before attempting the posture again. This posture also opens up the heart chakra, so it can open our body up to many stored emotions. I recommend allowing the emotions to be released if they do come, however if you feel overwhelmed with these emotions you may like to seek the guidance of an experienced practitioner or book a private session with me.

We will be practicing this yummy restorative yoga postures during our Loving Life Goddess Women’s Retreat Day on the 13th April at the Bamboo Buddha on the Central Coast, NSW. If you’d like to join us on this delicious day of nurturing, celebrating, connecting with and loving you (or give this Retreat Day as a gift to someone), to see details click here.

*Kathy will also be available for a limited number of private one on one Loving Life Goddess sessions during my 2 week visit to the Central Coast, NSW in April 2013 which include any combination of talking, movement, breathwork, yoga, relaxation, loving life goddess guidance cards, energy work and sound releasing depending on what the client most needs.

Sowing even just a little time and energy into creating a healing haven within your own home can have deep, lasting and a powerful effect that flows through into your whole life impacting more than just the time you spend there but flowing over into how you relate at work, your relationships, your productivity and your overall wellbeing.

Personally after floating around for the past couple of years from place to place, doing housesitting here and there, traveling with my business and staying with friends and family in between I’m so excited to be in the process of setting up my own space again as it’s been quite a few years since I’ve had a space to really create as my own little healing haven and home back on the Central Coast of NSW.

I find it such an exciting process and although I really enjoyed both the benefits and drawbacks of my gypsy lifestyle for the past couple of years I fully appreciate the value and impact of having a space where YOU can set the environment.

5 tips to create your home healing haven…

1. Get rid of the clutter. When we stay in one place for an extended period of time it can be easy to hang onto much more than we need or use and thus clutter up our space with new or old ‘stuff’ whether we consider it valueable or junk. It is a very healthy process to regularly go through your home (and or garage) and get rid of what you no longer need or use. Remember you need to get rid of what you don’t want to make room for what you do want before it has space to arrive.

2. Define what you want your space to be. Take some time to go sit somewhere that you feel peaceful and inspired and imagine what you would like your space to be like, what would it feel like, how would you like to feel when you are there, what does that look like to you (colours, spaces, space, pictures, smells etc) and write it down. Keep this as a reference and now start working towards it. Remember a thousand mile journey starts with a single step, just take one little step at a time and you’ll be amazed at how your space evolves as the weeks and months roll on.

3. Create a vision board. Gather a collection of photo’s, images and words that symbolise what it is you want to create in your healing haven and in your life… They could symbolise how you want to feel, things you want to achieve, things you want to do or things you want to have and then create a collage of them on a piece of cardboard, corkboard, a canvas (or even just blue-tack them on your wall or mirror) and hang or place it somewhere that you can take a moment each day to look at it and feel the emotion of having, being or doing those things as if you already have it in your life now.

4. Use colours that make you feel good. Colour has a huge impact on how we feel. Use colours around your home that make you feel good. You may like to use different colours in different rooms if your aim is to set a different mood for yourself in different spaces. It could be as simple as hanging some colourful pieces of fabric around or using some rugs, cushions, candles and paintings to create some warmth or coolness in your home healing haven. Whether you use what you have, buy some new ones or visit your local op shop there is a way to add colour to your home that suits your budget.

5. Make it yours. There is no particular way to do or not to do this, no right or wrong… Simply do it your way and have some fun with it as you create your own home healing haven that celebrates who you are, what you love, what inspires you, the colours that make you feel good and allows your personality to come shining through!

Remember we are also constantly evolving, growing, changing beings so have fun with this and know that your space will also need adjustments and updates every now and then to be in tune with who you are in this moment.

Are you ready to enjoy the benefits and joy of having a healing haven within your own home? Let’s begin!

No big surprise there, with how increasingly disconnected we are becoming from our hearts. Numbing ourselves out to what we feel, who we are and everything that is us… Women of the western world have collectively worked now for quite some time to become equals with men, but not as women, we’ve strived to become men rejecting the qualities and traits that are women, seeing them as weakness or insecurities, and at the same time castrated man for being men and trying to turn them into something else too…

The toll of not being true to who we really are is now being paid as our bodies are showing the price for walking down that path of rejecting our divine essence, our power, our strengths, our truth, our feelings, our intuition, our depths for both women and men.

We are mostly all extremely adaptable. We can do pretty much anything if we put our minds to it, make a decision to do it. But that does not mean we have to, should do or that it is the best thing for us or even for those around us.

We are amazing. Truly amazing. And our differences is part of what makes us so wonderful.

I ask you what is there exciting or special if we were all exactly the same? The truth is not much. We are all created unique, different and magnificent because of that, not in spite of that.

It is the softness of the feminine that can soften the toughness of the masculine. It is not weak or soft to do so. It takes an amazing amount of strength and courage.

So I call to the women and men to reclaim and reconnect to your heart and know in doing so you are not weak, but brave.

For it takes much courage to go into the depths of your being and reconnect within…

In doing so we may also inspire and give courage to each other to allow ourselves into that vulnerable place where our hearts have long been buried, cast aside and locked up in a steal vault in a act of precaution for the fear persecution that some have had drilled into them since they were an infant and passed down through ancestors.

For we are already seeing wide spread throughout our nations the extreme cost not taking this action, how much longer will we wait.

Give your heart a chance. Open to it, feel it, explore it and live life in tune with it, love it and expand with it. Love it and it will surely love you back!

7 ways of connecting with your heart…

1. Dance.
2. Laugh.
3. Cry.
4. Touch.
5. Write.
6. Draw.
7. Get out in nature and breathe.

Of course there are infinite methods you could use to connect with your heart, these are just some of the first ones that come to mind for me. The art is to tune into your own inner whisperings and explore the ways that feel true for YOU. There is no right or wrong, simply let it be an exploration as you journey back into YOU…

Laughter has long been know for being ‘the best medicine’ and an important aspect of tribal bonding and maintaining harmony. Also many of the original tribe leaders, chiefs, spiritual leaders and healers were dancers. Laughter and dance can be used as a path to power, transformation, healing, connection, a rite of passage and a passageway to the divine.

Through Laughter and Dance we connected with others; transformed emotions; generated strength, confidence and power; caressed and healed our bodies; nurtured our minds; released and shifted disease; vented our frustrations; grieved through our movements and sounds; rose up in ecstasy; felt the freedom and liberation of spirit; explored movements; connected with our bodies, our loved ones, pure strangers and the universe; felt our hearts explode wide with joy.

There is no right or wrong way to laugh or dance. Both can be expressions of the heart and soul in some of it’s most radiant, natural and purest forms. Have you noticed how even babies and small children start to laugh and dance at a very young age, often even without anyone teaching them how to do so.

And don’t we all love to laugh and dance? Don’t we want to express and move in ways that celebrate the fullness of who we really are, that Feel Good and Celebrate who we are as individuals?

Sadly in our culture today many of us have learnt to completely restrain ourselves and block all feeling and expression out of our being. This may have been learnt for many different reasons and can often block us from expressing things we deeply yearn to express and release.

Although this may serve us in some instances, over a prolonged period of time the danger is that by trapping expression within it has no way to be released and thus gets lodged and stuck in our bodies which can then lead to toxic poisoning within our bodies and minds.

The thing is, laughter and dance are already within us, all of us.  Our body knows what to do, how to move and what sounds to make if we can just release ourselves from the restrains of the mind long enough to feel into a deeper place of childlike spontaneity and wisdom.

Is it time you reclaimed your freedom of spirit, celebrate YOU and allow yourself to heal in a natural, healthy way that Feels Good and also gives you a great workout?