Cleansing - It's A Wrap

So it's Day 23 since I started my 21 day adventure cleanse and WOOHOO it's done! Let's be honest here, it's not done done. No.. 21 days have passed, but this has had such a great impact on my adrenal stuff that I'm continuing it.

Yep, so that's the answer I am so proud to shout out and share aloud. It works! Well, that was always going to be the case though, yes? Of course eating healthy fruits, tonnes of veggies, & green-ing it up is going to have a good impact on you.

But how do I rate it? Well, in it's simplest definition, each day I wake up and I am not that heavy, exhausted kind of tired I've felt for the last (almost!) 2 years. Each day I'm able to concentrate more than I have been able to in the last many months. To be honest, like I've shared before, it's not an overnight ZING!-kinda-feeling, or that I'm just pumping with energy.

But then out of the blue and for no reason at all, I'll have a really tired day. It's at those moments I realise just how good I was feeling. And I'm happy with that :)

I'm continuing this cleanse, albeit in a modified format. This next 21 days I'm going to focus more more on the 'extras' - more meditation, more walking and moving my body, more ahimsa/non-harming to myself (not just with food, but with life and thoughts).

So there you have it. A new horizon, a new experience, a continued journey. Aren't they the best ones?

xx

Monday Manifesto

Wise & worthy words

Connection, Vulnerability, & 20 mins out of your day

Connection is why we're here. It's what gives purpose and meaning to our lives.

- Brene Brown

I love this woman. Watch this. Read this. Change your life. :)

xo

Daily #Yoga Goals

Yep I've got a big goal setting/vision board fun-shop planned for 11 February, but in the meantime, I'm posting some little 'daily goals' up on twitter for you to enjoy, over today and tomorrow.



A friend of mind did a month long meditation training in India and was given this list as a task to undertake - pick one of the goals each day, and have it as your focus/ themd/ intention.



So beautiful I had to share.

Go and check them out - www.twitter.com/shinyyoga



PS - scroll back a bit through my tweets and you'll also uncover 50 Ways to Cope With Stress. I got such resonance with these tweets! Enjoy xo

Goal Setting, Vision Boards & a Rocking 2012

Here's the flyer for the workshop I'm running on Feb 11. Bookings are open now! You can do it via rozelle@bodymindlife.com OR shinyyoga@gmail.com



Be sure to COME FLY WITH ME! x

Monday Manifesto

Ohh it's a goody :)

More Courageous Cleansing

I'm on DAY 13 friends!!! Can you believe it? So really just a week to go.. although I'm looking to continue it. In what way, shape or form is to be decided and publicly announced, but at this moment it's definitely something to be continued.

I'm feeling much more clear headed, awake, & on it that I have in a while and it's just made me all the more excited to begin my study at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition mid-year.

Check out more guff below about the tummy tales of the 21 Day Adventure Cleanse :)

x

Have you heard about this? Oh it's so beautiful and delish and real and funny and I want to be best friends with this writer...



Go and have a look!! xo

An Open Letter to the Fat Girl I Saw at Hot Yoga in New York City

The Space Story

I have mentioned earlier about my longing for space this year. For time to be free and not to have appointment after appointment after appointment booked in.



I'm glad to say that 2 and a bit weeks in, and so far this year is seeing me hold my ground with space - I've given up teaching 2 classes so I have time to a) sleep, and b) rest. Resting is so important, especially when you're not firing on all engines!



But more than that, I'm finding space in the way of boundaries. I was chatting with my dear best friend this week when she said, "I think people can tell when you're a pushover" or words to that effect. Both she and I are people pleasers, which in itself is not a bad thing. I think making people smile, and being helpful, and generous with spirit to others, is an oh-so-beautiful thing.



But when people pleasing turns us into pushovers, or more aptly, people who will put their own needs behind the needs and desires of others, well that is where the issues arise. That is where we get fatigued and tired for lack of listening to our bodies, and putting our rest first.



That place is where we struggle in relationships, for lack of giving them the priority that both our loved ones AND ourselves deserve.



That place is where we continually say 'yes' to others, in order to be nice to them, but we forget about ourselves, we put ourselves out, and put ourselves 2nd or worse, last.



That place of SPACE and boundaries is a beautifully enriching, nourishing and nurturing place.

But lets's be honest - often it'll be damn uncomfortable at first. We can feel GUILTY when we don't drop everything for others (especially when we've spent our lives doing it). We can feel SHAME for not being able to do everything for everyone like we've always done. We can feel like we're LETTING DOWN others when we recognise that we are worthy, simply by being, not by doing things for them or others.



I mean, it's obvious, isn't it?

If you don't rest, you won't have energy to please other peeps OR yourself. If you don't give yourself time to be, you're just really existing and running from one thing to the next without smelling the roses that are in your everyday moments.



But obvious isn't always easy. Simple, perhaps. Easy, probably not.

Thank god then, that life is all about just making our way through the days, picking up again each morning and starting again. Breathing through it, feeling our feet on the floor, and placing one foot in front of the other. Lucky then, that we just keep going, day at a time.



From me to you, here's hoping you have a year full of SPACE, of BOUNDARIES, of knowing YOU ARE PERFECTLY IMPERFECT, just as you are, and that's all we can ask for :)



xx

Shout Out: Green Flings

One of my beautiful yogi friends has featured me on her hip n' savvy green blog - Green Flings. Please go and check it out :)  It's a great article about how to stay green while doing yoga.



Interesting idea behind lululemon not stocking the organic pants anymore either! Food for thought.



Thanks Lisa xx

Courageous Cleansing - it continues

I'm still cleansing and feeling better by the day. People have started commenting too. That awkward moment when you realise how tired you must have looked a few weeks ago? I'm there ;)

Enjoy x

February Workshop - keep the date free!

I have decided to stick with love. 

Hate is too great a burden to bear. 

~ Martin Luther King Jr

COME and fill your heart and year with L♥VE, Sydney yogis!

My annual goal setting and vision board workshop is happening on 

Saturday 11th February

12noon

It'll be a workshop full of meditation, discussion, inspiration, writing, dreaming BIG and wishing BRIGHT.  More info coming soon but put the details in your diaries/iphones/calendars etc.

Hugs xx

Courageous Cleansing - Week 1 in Review

I'm impressed folks! 

It's been a while since I've done a good cleanse and I'm still here! Still on track, still cooking, cutting, drinking, eating, slurping and falling in love with food all over again.



I remember at the end of last year when my naturopath mentioned to me, "I just want you to get to have a good relationship with food again". It really shocked me, as I'd always had a good vibe with food. I always ate pretty well. But then with the adrenal stuff, feeling tired all the time over a number of years (that's what stress will do!) I shifted. I craved sugar, caffeine and all those yummy, processed, stimulating foods that really are un-yummy to your body.



So with a body physically under stress, and then me fuelling my temple with more stressful 'food', it was a recipe for disaster. A recipe for where I am today. And yes, I want to have a good relationship with food again - and I think this crazy sexy adventure cleanse is helping me get there! Phew :)

Today's menu - using up mango, strawberries, blueberries plus a handful of spinach, water and maca

So here we are, 7 days under my belt. That's me above, saying hi. I'll tell you the truth, I'm a little tired today, but aren't we all sometimes?



The weekend came and I ate mexican. Yep, corn tortillas, beans, heaps of salad, brown rice, avocado, salsa (and yes, sour cream). I thought if I was going to have one takeaway I'd not feel guilty, just enjoy it, but make the best choice of it I could.



Normally I'm pretty lax with my gluten free diet - over the last couple of months I've aimed for 70% GF, but often fallen below that. Not anymore! I'm so happy to share I've not had gluten at all. Well, I know gluten is in loads of sauces and things, so actually I'll be more honest in saying I've had about a 98% gluten free diet.  Break out the sparklers!



On the whole, my energy is up - and even when I'm tired (like today) it's a different kind of tired. It's not a bone tired, dragging myself around. It's a 'I need an early night' but ok kind of tired. And again, that could be because now, on Day 8 of the cleanse, I'm officially caffeine free! Yep, another goal kicked!



Here's a little snap shot of the Grand Adventure so far:

Day 1 (Monday): prepped on the weekend, so have heaps of salads, beans, fish (didn't go vegan this cleanse) and green veggies in my diet. Oh, and stacks of water! 1 coffee today (soy latte), down from the 3 I was having daily in holidays.



Day 2: much of the same. Meditation helps, oh boy does it ever! Noticing the habits I've fallen into - sugar-filled dessert after dinner, be it lollies, ice-cream, whatever! I've also (with my Doctor's permission and guidance) gone down to just half a tablet (from a full tab) in anti-depressant meds today. Weeeeee!



Day 3: Try my first green smoothie today. Belly had a "woah Nelly!" reaction but after one quick visit to the loo (TMI??) I was all back on track. My body is quickly adjusting to this! Also realising how much time I waste watching TV and doing... I don't know! Just wasting time! When I come home, I'm right onto cutting and prepping food for the night, food for the next day. I feel quite conscientious!



Days 4 & 5: much of the same & still on one coffee a day. Still haven't cracked and had takeaway - BIG DEAL for me! Friday night a friend comes over and cooks me dinner - this is when I usually break the GF rule, as people freak out sometimes when they're so used to wheaty-packed dinners! Nope.. GF all the way! It's not that hard, you've just got to be organised! Extra greens in salad is easy too :)



Day 6 (Saturday): Raced off for some exercise in the morning and had a bit of a headache... decided to push through and have NO COFFEE! I also have a nap today, headache gets a bit overwhelming and I have a free day, so again - no guilt! Listening to what my body needs and responding. Oh, and then have mexican. All in balance!



Day 7: Do a huge grocery shop to prepare for the coming week, prepare a few meals so I've got things ready to heat and go (lunches and dinners) and again, NO COFFEE! Actually was preparing myself to start weaning off this week (one day on, one day off) as I normally do when I have a coffee break. But there's only a teeny tiny twinge of headache so I bite the bullet and go without.




Also, could it be true? Am I starting to fall in love with cooking again?

From this...

I think so! I bake veggies, and do a kick-ass marinated dory parcel (dory fillet with ginger, garlic, onion, lemon and dill wrapped in foil and baked till tender) for dinner. I'm impressed with my culinary skills.

to this!!!!

And Week 1 - there you have it! Not just succeeded, but killed, been amazingly awesome, cheerleaders are doing high-kicks kind of wonderful!



Has it all been easy? Hell to the no! It's not. It's yummy, tasty, invigorating, brain-clearing and tops: YES, but it's hard kicking bad habits. Headaches suck, diarrhea  (how do you spell that?) sucks, cravings suck.



But you know what? I had hit a wall. I just couldn't go on with this adrenal & depression stuff. It was time.



Honestly, I am blessed that I am not so-so-sick that I could have a sneaky semi-ok and well thought out mexican takeaway. I am super-star-lucky that I could wean off coffee gently (as gently as it could be) and have half my fruit and veggies non-organic-but-in-my-price-range.



But I'm also damn SICK of being sick, of being exhausted, of having no energy to be my shiny, bright self, of being so down that days can go by when I can't leave bed. I don't want to be on adrenal supplements from my naturopath forever, nor do I want to be on anti-depressants from my doctor forever. If I have to be on them, of course I will. But anything that is in my power to help this stuff? I'm sure as heck going to do my darndest to make it work.



So here we are. Morning of Week 2. Wonder what this week has in store???



x

Monday Manifesto

So bright n' happy :)