So often we overcommit.

But if you're feeling stressed or tired, doing more is not the answer. Take a step back and re-evaluate what you're doing and what is important to you. Here are my top tips for creating more time and space for you to be you, to say yes to not overcommiting.  

Be ruthless with your to do list. Prioritise and only put what is absolutely necessary. I aim to only put 3 items a day on my to do list. That way I feel great when I tick them all off! (instead of feeling like I somehow failed when all 25 things didn't get done that realistically would probably take me a month to do anyhow...)

Only say yes to the things you really need to do and want to do. Don't people please or do something just because you feel you should. if it doesn't feel right, say no (nicely)

Leave gaps throughout your day to just be. to breathe. or to catch up on the things that you needed to do but didn't get done...

And remember it's ok to change your mind. You're allowed to change your mind. You're allowed to take a step back, question and re-evaluate. 

Be kind to yourself. Do less of what depletes you and say yes to more of the things that energises you.

What are you say yes to right now that doesn't feel in alignment? how can you (gently) choose to say yes to yourself today and to what truly matters?

Have a wonderful day, Love

Today I want to share with you my number one tip for boosting your energy levels, and that is to try The Super Elixir by WelleCo!

The first thing I do every morning (after snuggling Matheo) is to drink a large glass of water with this nourishing mixture of greens.

Although I really try to focus on eating a whole food plant based diet, it is so great to know that I am supplying my body with so many nourishing nutrients first thing in the morning! And after having taken if for just over 2 months, my overall energy, health and vitality has soared! And the fun thing is, you get ph sticks to test your own urines acidity levels so that you can even measure how alkaline your body becomes as you take it. Pretty cool.

So that is my tip to you today, try it out and see how much you love it. And if you want to hear the founder herself, Elle Macpherson talk about all the benefits of The Super Elixir, check out her interview on the MindBodyGreen podcast here.

Oh and the Chocolate Nourishing Protein Powder is absolutely delicious. Try that one too.

Have a great rest of the week, Love

On Monday morning I woke up feeling rushed, frustrated and like I was somehow behind on my very long to do list for today (despite it only being 7am)...

I wanted to just ignore these feelings and push through, despite feeling a huge resistance that only made me more irritable. I wanted to get on with this crappy Monday, feel a little sorry for myself and start afresh tomorrow... 

We all have days like this where things feel well, a little off... But remember that we can, in any given moment, choose to change how we feel! It just takes a little inspired action and a willingness to do so... The key word here being inspired as ignoring these feelings and pushing through will only really create more tension. 

So today I want to share with you the 4 things I did to turn my day right around! that I hope can inspire you the next time you find yourself feeling the way I did on Monday morning. 

1. I stopped for a moment to acknowledge and accept how I was feeling.

2. Then I made a quick list of what I actually needed to focus on today and which things I could simply remove because they weren't urgent. Reminding myself that doing anything with frustrated or pushy energy wouldn't be beneficial anyway and accepting that not everything has to happen today (something I'm currently working on - patience), helps to release some of the pressure. 

3. I went to my favourite yoga class. Sounds idyllic but the resistance I felt as I was going through this Monday morning flow was unbearable at times. I was fighting the need to let go, of surrendering to the present moment and of tuning in to myself and accepting these feelings... It was only towards the end of the class during savasana (relaxation) that I actually felt all these feelings release.

Now I know that not everyone has the same flexibility, but frustration and stress is only stagnated energy in the body and movement moves this energy. So what is something you can do to move your energy while also tuning in to how you're feeling? 15min of stretching while your kids have breakfast or choosing to walk/bike to work with the intention of accepting and letting it all go, can have the same benefit as a morning yoga class. This is perhaps the only place you should push through the resistance of wanting to move your body, but doing so gently could be exactly what you need to help yourself out of the funk. 

4. I simply chose to smile and try to release all need to control whatever happens today. To let things be. To flow with whatever happens instead of pushing and creating more resistance. In doing so, I turned my day around and had the best most productive Monday ever.

Knowing that you can change how you feel in any given moment by taking a few simple action steps like moving your body and shifting your focus, can be extremely empowering. So I hope that your day is wonderful regardless of how it started, and that you choose to smile and be grateful for where you are in this exact moment (or try the steps above to shift your focus to feeling your best today...).

Love

Hi and happy New Year!

I hope you've had a restful and lovely holiday spent with those you love. 

It's a new year and with that often comes New Years resolutions and great expectations to all we are going to be and do. We live in such a fast pace society which is very much yang dominated (going, doing, pushing and working hard), where we give so much of ourselves to everyone and everything we do...
But so often we don't have time, forget or perhaps don't always know how to really nurture the Yin aspect, which is all about resting, restoring and doing the things that fill our own cup. And with the pressure of all the things we "should" be doing to have this seemingly "perfect" life, its no wonder we can feel exhausted, overworked and stressed times...

So let's instead aim to be less busy this year. Less trying to be and do everything perfectly. Less missing out on the present moment because we're too wrapped up in our to do lists and planning the future...
Let's do less of what depletes us and more of what lights us up! Let's be open to more self-kindness. More compassion. More love.
Let's bring awareness to how we are talking to ourselves and focus on taking moments out of our busy day to also rest and care for ourselves.

I believe that when this is our intention, we open ourselves up to actually feeling more joyful, more calm, more energised and happier within ourselves. The small actions we take daily (or lack thereof in some cases), gradually shapes the life we live and how we feel. So let's aim to do less this year by putting less pressure on ourselves, asking for help and accepting it, even if it isn't done exactly like you would do it.

Have a wonderful week. Love

My last blog post this year is to encourage you to spend some time reflecting on the past year and decade that's been, and to set come clear goals and intentions for the year and decade to come. 

We are all so busy moving forward that if we never pause to look back and be proud of what we are doing or let go of the emotional stress that we all experience, then we carry the heavy stuff with us and miss the magic of who and what we truly are.

And if we dont take a moment to re-assess what we are spending our precious time doing or the direction in which we are going, we may wake up one day to find ourselves in a very different place than we perhaps want to be. Only when we have a clear intention or goal for what we really want can we take the small but necessary daily actions to create the exact life we want. 

Make the effort to take some time before new year to ask yourself these questions; (I would recommend writing the answers down twice- one for the past year and once again to cover the past decade). 

Reflection

1. What am I most proud of and grateful for having done/achieved/experienced?
2. and why does this matter? what good has this brought me? 
3. Who am I most grateful for to have in my life?
4. What challenges did I experience and what/how did I learn from them?
5. What do I want to forgive myself (and other people) for? 
6. What (and maybe who) do I want to let go of in order to live my best life moving forward?
7. What limiting beliefs are holding me back from being the person and living the life I really want?
8. What is one word I would use to describe 2019 and the past decade?

Intention

1. What do I want more of and how do I want to feel in 2020? 
2. What are my top 3 most important goals for the next 12 months? 
3. What strengths/habits do I need to work on to achieve these 3 goals? 
4. Imagine your 10 years older, its 2030 and you're giving yourself advice. what would future you say to yourself? (we have so much inner wisdom and intuition and I want you to tap into it). 
5. What is my word for 2020? (that describes want to feel/have/achieve/be)

 I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and remember to take som time to care for yourself. 

Love

As the holidays approach its easy to get wrapped up in long to do lists, purchases and catering to other peoples needs, wants and wishes. But this is an important time to also rest and care for yourself, and to allow time to relax and be present with those you love and with yourself. 

A lovely way to make sure you're taking some time for self-care is to enjoy a relaxing bath (of foot bath if you don't have a bathtub).

Try this cleansing and relaxing bath ritual recipe by adding these ingredients to the bathwater;

• 1 cup of pink Himalaya salt
• 1 tbs of coconut oil
• 5 drops of calming essential oil (such as lavender, chamomile or doterras ready made serenity blend). 
• Fresh rose petals
• A rose quartz or amethyst crystal 

If you have sage or palo Santo, I would also recommend cleansing the room before getting in. 

Soak in the relaxing bath you have created and think loving thoughts about yourself for all the wonderful things that you are and do.

Love 

As the holidays approach and never ending to do lists can take up quite a bit of brain energy, its easy to find yourself feeling overwhelmed...  

Sometimes we may not even realise that we are overwhelmed so symptoms to look for are; being unable to make a descision, doing a million things at once but not actually finishing anything, feeling frazzled, rapid mood swings and snapping at those around you.

We all feel it sometimes so today I want to share the 3 things I do whenever I find myself feeling stressed or overwhelmed...

As busy mamas, it isn't always easy to find the time for self-care. But in this video I demonstrate my own version of the best selling author Stephen Covey's "Big Rocks First" Method. We all have the same amount of hours in a day, but how we utilise those hours can be very different... The big rocks method (in this case smoothie ingredients) shows how when you prioritise the time you have in the right way, no matter how busy you are, you will always have time for self-care... 

Click play and enjoy, Love 

I watched a ted talk this morning by Susan Cain, author of the best selling book Quiet; The power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking. 

She was talking about how our society today, our school systems, the way many work places are run, are all designed to make us more outgoing, more collaborative, more extroverted because we learn as we grow up that taking action, being outgoing, loud and busy is the way to succeed in life. And so people who are naturally more introverted or highly sensitive may feel pushed to be and do more more than what feels natural to them, because if not we somehow believe that we are "failing" or not being or doing enough... 

So if you're an extrovert, fantastic. Be an extrovert and to be honest (although I think everyone needs more Yin in their life to tune-in, relax, nurture and care for themselves), my blog may not quite resonate with you because you may not have the same need for calm in your life. But if you're an introvert or ambivert like me (someone who is social and enjoys being an extrovert but needs a lot of me-time to re-charge), then I want to encourage you to allow yourself the time and space that you need to be you. 

It also go me thinking about how I can better support my son because he is an introvert who enjoys time to just sit and play or read quietly beside us after a long day playing at nursery. Sometimes I feel we "should" be doing this or that because it's expected or what the neighbours or our friends are doing. But he is happy so why would I push him to do something that isn't him? I think that if we can learn to respect our own needs as an individual and as a family, we create much less stress in our lives and we are naturally supporting the truth of who we really are. And as Susan says in her talk, often the greatest insights, ideas and solutions come when we tune in to ourselves, sit with our own thoughts and calm the noise around us... 

So what are you doing today (this could be your job, your hobbies, social settings) that you do because somehow along the way you believed that this is what you "should" be doing? What do you want to do more or less of in your life to support who you really are?

Love & Light

P.S. Here is a link to the Ted Talk if you want to watch something very inspiring; 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0KYU2j0TM4

Today I want to give you a quick tip to help you boost your energy levels! Stomach 36 is THE point to use whenever you're feeling run down, tired and in need of a gentle pick me up. It works by boosting your digestive system which is in charge of transforming your food into energy.

This point is quick and easy to find and great to use when moisturising your legs after your bath or shower. 

How to:

Run your forefinger on the outside of your tibia bone (see photo above). When your finger naturally stops (a little below the knee), the point is just a finger width from your tibia bone. Gently massage or press (holding and releasing every few seconds) to activate the point. Relax and breathe as you do it for a few minutes or for as ever long feels comfortable. 

Happy pressuring mama, 

Love