Fasting by Rumi

This beautiful poem by Rumi perfectly describes my love and passion for fasting as a profound spiritual practice… a way to confront all concepts that do not serve the highest good… a way to taste freedom on your tongue and in every cell of your body… a way to be present to Life and all that it gives us in every single moment and every breath we take… Enjoy!

There’s a hidden sweetness
in the stomach’s emptiness.

We are lutes, no more, no less.
If the sound box is stuffed
full of anything, no music.

If the brain and the belly
are burning clean with fasting,
every moment a new song
comes out of the fire.

The fog clears, and a new
energy makes you run up the
steps in front of you.

Be emptier and cry like
reed instruments cry.
Emptier, write secrets with
the reed pen.

When you’re full of food and drink,
Satan sits where your
spirit should, an ugly metal
statue in place of the Kaaba.

When you fast, good habits gather
like friends who want to help.

Fasting is Solomon’s ring.
Don’t give it to some illusion
and lose your power.

But even if you’ve lost all
will and control, they come
back when you fast,
like soldiers appearing out
of the ground, pennants
flying above them.

A table descends to your
tent, Jesus’s table.
Expect to see it, when you
fast, this table spread with
other food better than the
broth of cabbages.

 

Sugar-Free & Dairy-Free Raw Chocolate

Chocolate has a power of many of us that is indescribable, intensely powerful and unforgettable. It’s oh, so sweet sensuousness smoothly satisfies our souls and our cells. I’ve been in love with chocolate in all it’s forms my entire life but recently my desire for anything less than the REAL thing has left me. Once one starts eating REAL chocolate, all else pales in comparison – the milky, sugary, cheap poseurs pretending to be chocolate now taste exactly like that: milky, sugary watered down versions of the Truth.

Chocolate making has been elevated to one of the highest, most exotic art forms on the planet (usually occurring somewhere in Europe) but you CAN take it back to your own kitchen and make incredibly delicious, mouth-watering and yes, HEALTHY chocolate treats to delight your senses!

For me, chocolate making (and eating) is an highly personal experiment – feel free to play around with the amounts of chocolate and cacao butter and coconut oil till you get the perfect taste for you! If you prefer more bitter chocolate, add more cacao powder. If you like it super sweet, add less or more sweetener or dried fruit. You’ll be quite surprised by how quick and easy the art of chocolate making in your own kitchen really is.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup cacao butter – this is the true secret to AMAZING chocolate and it adds a richness that you just can’t get from anything else. It’s expensive but a little goes a long way… (you can also make chocolate purely with coconut oil if you prefer, or to make it more economical, use half coconut oil and half cacao butter)
• 2 Tbsp raw cacao powder
• 1 – 3 Tbsp honey / agave / maple syrup – whatever you like! (One word about agave though – be very careful with the amount you use – it’s easy to put just a drop too much and turn slightly bitter chocolate into overly sweet, sugary tasting chocolate. Add a half tsp at a time and taste test it before adding more!)

Method

1. Melt your cacao butter in a dehydrator if you have one – this keeps the temperature low to preserve all the vital nutrients. If you don’t have a dehydrator, if you grate it finely (cacao butter is quite hard), you may be able to melt it in a small bowl sitting on top of larger bowl filled with boiling water. Or, if time is of the essence and your really craving chocolate like NOW, melt it quickly in a double boiler on the stove top.
2. Mix in your cacao butter and sweetener.
3. Done! Lick the spoon.. pour it into moulds or pretty foils… dip fruit into it… dribble over your lover… use it as fondue… finger-paint with it… whatever you like!
4. The chocolate will take a bit of time to set (depending on temperature and the ratio of coconut oil to cacao butter you’ve used) 20 mins – 45 mins. You can put it in the fridge or freezer to hasten the process

Some variations that I’ve tried (and seriously you are ONLY limited by your own imagination!) are:

• adding a tiny pinch of sea salt (amazing flavour! The salty seems to bring a beautiful, rich balance to the whole bitter / sweet thang)
• mixing cashews / almonds / brazil nuts / macadamias in with it for a crunchy chocolate treat
• sultanas and raisons with nuts for fruit and nut chocolate or just on their own
• dried orange is incredible with dark chocolate
• frozen chocolate covered bananas (coat unfrozen bananas first in the chocolate sauce then freeze them)
• add desiccated coconut for coconut rough
• goji berries – my chewy chocolate favourite!

Now, go! Let deliciousness enter your heart, sweetness soothe your voice and
may your mind melt like chocolate…

100 BEST Ever Health & Longevity Tips!

There are simply ooodles of conflicting, contradicting and confounding ideas and theories on extraordinary health out there today and it can be a little confronting to know the best place to start. If there’s one thing I’ve learned (not only from being a proud owner of a body myself) but from consciously seeking extraordinary health for over 14 years, it’s that there are no hard and fast rules (hence the confusion). Of course, you won’t get many health practitioners arguing with eating more fruit and veggies (hmm… scratch that! There are health paradigms that suggest severely limiting or even completely eliminating all fruit from one’s diet..) or minimising sugar (hmm…scratch that too! Many health practitioners see nothing wrong with refined sugar – it’s seen more as empty calories than the evil demon some make it out to be…) or…um… what was the point I was making again?

Oh yes… got it! A hem.. so in my opinion, these are the 100 BEST EVER things you can do for your health and longevity. Start from where you are now. No rules, just what works for you. Take whatever appeals from the list below and do one thing at a time.

1. drink water, lots of it
2. let go of coffee as a daily drink, let it be occasional instead – it causes nutrient deficiencies and impacts the quality of your digestion
3. work on your emotional health – it is just as important if not more so, than your physical health
4. avoid alcohol – it is a depressant that effects your entire nervous system
5. eat plants, a lot and every day
6. minimise or eliminate gluten, it inflames our intestines
7. eliminate all refined sugar
8. eat real chocolate, raw chocolate often avoiding processed, refined and sugared imitations
9. learn how to be mindful in each moment so you don’t miss out on the magic of life from thinking too much
10. integrate superfoods into your diet regularly
11. stretch when you wake up
12. balance your blood sugar by eating small meals often – this avoids huge energy highs and lows
13. eat seaweed often
14. do less, live more – we are not here on earth to become more and more efficient
15. choose brown rice over white every time
16. go organic if you can
17. shop at an outdoor market rather than a supermarket
18. mix it up and get more variety or exotic fruits, veggies or traditional meals in your diet – most of us wind up eating very similarly to our parents which may (or may not) be a good thing
19. rely on whole foods for your nutrition rather than supplements
20. make love with your partner as much and as often as you can
21. be authentically you in all situations at all times
22. move your body in a way that you enjoy every day (or almost every day)
23. breathe deeply as often as you can
24. eat more nuts and seeds – walnuts, hazelnuts, brazil nuts, macadamia nuts, almonds, pistachios, pecans, sunflower seeds, chia seeds and pepitas
25. think more about what you can ADD to your diet first rather than focusing on what you want to take away – this will minimise feelings of deprivation
26. have saunas regularly – they cleanse our skin and body and promote circulation
27. open the car windows and let fresh air circulate around you often
28. use natural cleaning products in your home
29. don’t put anything on your skin you wouldn’t eat
30. don’t eat anything with ingredients you can’t pronounce
31. minimise as much as possible anything in can, packet, box, carton, jar, plastic, foil or man-made container of any kind
32. eat as early in the evening as possible and  leave at least 2 full hours after eating before going to sleep
33. park as far away from the shops as you can so you exercise incidentally
34. use heat to mimimise pain – hot water bottles and heat packs do an awesome job of releasing tension and promoting healing
35. avoid drinking large amounts of water or other fluid when you eat – it dilutes and hinders the digestion process
36. if drinking milk, drink raw milk in it’s purest form for the most benefit
37. be in nature as much as possible – it reminds us of what’s really important
38. use your food as medicine
39. avoid having electrical wires or mobile phones near your bed when sleeping
40. eat fermented foods – they contain beneficial bacteria for our gut
41. take a little break from food every now and then, fast or cleanse to heal your body
42. don’t eat anything your grandmother wouldn’t recognise as food
43. eat as much junk food as you like as long as you make it yourself
44. eat as much fresh, raw fruits and veggies as you can every day
45. eliminate trans fatty acids completely from your diet (this will be easy if following tip number 31)
46. take time to stop, slow down and breathe several times throughout your day
47. get direct sunlight on your body every day if you can
48. learn how to breathe correctly, using your entire body for more energy, focus and clarity of thought
49. avoid fizzy drinks of all kinds – they contain phosphorus which depletes our calcium levels and makes our bodies acidic
50. stop dieting to lose weight – dieting fails 85% – 97% of the time
51. humans are the only animals that drink their calories as adults – ask yourself it it’s really working for us and opt for water or herbal teas of sugar-filled beverages
52. minimise or remove completely toxic relationships from your life and mind
53. move toward self-love and give attention often to your relationship with yourself
54. when eating melon, eat it alone or leave it alone
55. eliminate white flour and white sugar from your food – they are dead foods that give nothing to your body
56. ask your yourself, honestly, what it would take to change some destructive habits in your life
57. when eating anything, slow down and chew each mouthful thoroughly for the best digestion and assimilation possible
58. when eating, eat what your body tells you it wants
59. when eating, eat only when you are hungry
60. when eating, stop when you’ve had just enough
61. have a meat-free Monday or another day each week without meat or meat products
62. learn to listen to the signs, signals and symptoms your body gives you every day
63. read, as often as you can, it feeds your mind and soul
64. dance, as often as you can, it feeds your heart and soul
65. sing, as often as you can, it feeds your heart, soul, mind and body
66. learn something, anything new and on a regular basis
67. create a beautiful, nurturing environment in your home
68. if you don’t have a passion, find one, something that has no purpose whatsoever apart from the pleasure it brings you
69. do exercise regularly that opens and lengthens your body rather than repetitive movements that contract and constrict your muscles
70. eat breakfast every day
71. choose steaming over frying or baking
72. make movement part of your relationship – a daily walk with your partner deepens your connection and strengthens your body
73. make sure nothing in your fridge, freezer or cupboard contains MSG – it’s highly addictive and tricks our brain into thinking the food is more nutritious than it actually is (again, this will be effortless if you follow tip number 31)
74. go for fresh juices with veggies
75. try wheatgrass shots the next time you need a pick-me-up
76. eat chillies – they stimulate the release of feel-good endorphins in the brain
77. get involved in your community in some way – have a reason to get up in the morning that’s bigger than just your and your family
78. afternoon snoozes transform our energy and our experience of our day
79. create something, anything – a beautiful meal, music, art, anything
80. drink a glass of warm water with half a lemon squeezed into every morning, first thing – it cleanses and stimulates your body
81. cook with coconut oil – it is stable at high temperatures and protects our heart
82. sprinkle olive oil on your greens – the greens make the essential fatty acids in olive oil more available for your body to absorb
83. don’t donate money, donate your time instead – you’ll get far more internal reward this way
84. for women, spending time with other women releases the stress-reducing oxytocin
85. for men, spending time alone increases their ability to deal with stress
86. laugh, as much, as loudly and as often as you can
87. cry when you need to, it releases stress
88. look for natural remedies before pharmaceutical ones – they have no side effects and are extremely effective
89. get a massage regularly – it feels bloody good and promotes circulation and immune system function
90. eat sprouts, lots of them!
91. choose to educate yourself about your incredible body
92. use physical barriers like hats and long-sleeve shirts for sun protection rather than chemical barriers like sunscreen
93. choose movement that stimulates the body and the mind (rather than just the mind)
94. immerse your body in water as often as you can – the ocean… a rock pool… the bath…
95. sleep as much as you can every night
96. sleep on the right side of your body – it takes pressure off your heart
97. seek out a health practitioner who listens and makes you feel good about your body
98. seek out a health practitioner who’s ultimate goal is for you to become your own doctor
99. acknowledge and celebrate your body often – it does amazing things every moment of every day
100. always, always remember, everything in moderation, including moderation! Grin.

Anything I’ve missed?
Got some more extraordinary health tips to add of your own?

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Nice and Nummy Nori Rolls

Hmm… seaweed. Not a topic to be taken lightly for those of us who’ve grown up without the benefit of regular Asian influences on our dinner table. Many of us only know it as that slightly slimy green stuff that comes wrapped around sushi. Unless however, you love cooking delicious traditional Japanese or Chinese food it can be difficult to know how to integrate the magic of algae into our bellies. I like to use it as a replacement for the traditional sandwich myself and as a whole food, it packs in far more medicinal and nutritional punch than bread ever can (no matter how much it’s been fortified, unprocessed or farmed organically).

In a nutshell, eating seaweed regularly will:

1. Keep your mind sharp
2. Preserve and enhances your eyesight
3. Improve your gum health
4. Strengthens your teeth
5. Maintains healthy thyroid function
6. Helps ease colds and other respiratory problems
7. Prevent allergies and infections
8. Strengthen your immune system
9. Fight “roaming” free radicals in your body
10. Reduce your cancer risk
11. Stunts tumor growth
12. Dramatically improve your energy
13. Enhance cell regeneration and retard aging
14. Lower blood pressure and improve your blood circulation
15. Nurture healthy heart vessels
16. Normalise your cholesterol levels
17. Supports bone health and joint function
18. Give you beautiful nails, skin and healthy hair
19. Fuel weight loss naturally
20. Aid digestion and waste removal from your body
21. Promote liver health
22. Detoxify heavy metals and pollutants
23. Maintain your natural equilibrium by balancing pH levels and alkalising oyur entire body
24. Supports your kidney health
25. Aid in the health of your prostate gland (if you have one)

Phew! What are you waiting for?

For this recipe, you don’t need any rice or rice wine, no cooking and no extra special ingredients. Just a sheet of nori and away you go!  But before you launch into nori rolling, be aware that the sheets smell somewhat, well… seaweedy, different to anything else in our diets, a very particular scent that may surprise you at first. Persevere. You”ll soon be munching away enjoying your vibrantly healthy lunch not even noticing!

Ingredients

• salad stuff, whatever you’ve got on hand. I like zucchini strips, rocket, carrot strips and coriander.
• a bit of salty something – olives are good as are sun dried tomatoes. You can even use umeboshi plums which are dried and salted with a very yummy and distinctive flavour. You may even like to use some kind of spread like hummus or wasabi or pesto – no rules, just whatever inspires you!

Method

1. Grab your nori sheet. Lay out your filling neatly onto one third of it. You may need to experiment with amounts of stuffing as too much salad stuff will fall out or not wrap very well. If you’re using hummus or a wet spread of some kind, lay down your salad stuffing first because if it’s placed directly on the nori sheet, the seaweed will get very soggy rather quickly. You don’t need one of those fancy bamboo mats to roll your nori “sandwich”. They’re great for neat and tidy nori rolls with rice as the main ingredient, but unnecessary for our version.
2. Roll away…
3. Munch on!

5 Reasons Why Meat Free Monday Rocks!

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while now you’ll know that I consider myself to be more an agent of personal revolution than social change but every now and then, a cause comes along that captures my heart and creates little ripples of excitement from my belly to my toes… It’s Meat Free Monday! A very cool environmental campaign to raise awareness of the global impact that producing and consuming animals has for us humans. Created and supported by Sir Paul McCartney, this fledgling movement CAN make a BIG difference for you, your children, your children’s children and the world! Here’s my top 5 reasons why:

1. Meat Free Monday is easy!

This campaign is not asking us to march through the streets waving signs of protest, it’s not asking us to get out there and door knock or proselytise to our neighbours, it’s not asking us to wear a particular kind of clothing, join a club or organisation or advertise our actions in any way, shape or form. Meat Free Monday is not asking for any huge commitment – we don’t have to become a vegan, vegetarian or animal activist (unless we want to) and we don’t need to prepare anything or educate ourselves more unless we’re motivated to. It’s a simple and personal revolution of the highest kind – just avoid eating meat and meat products one day each week.

2. Meat Free Monday can save you money!

Did you know you can feed a family of four for under $5? Yes, $5!!! Have you ever tried? Meat of any kind is not cheap, it racks up our shopping bill faster than almost anything else and certified organic meat is hugely pricey and out of reach for many of us on a regular basis. Consider low-cost lentils for lunch…. beans for budgeting… rice for price… pulses for pennies… chick peas for change… Go meat-less for your mortgage!

3. Meat Free Monday can improve your health!

We’re all familiar with how foods high in saturated animal fat with little fruit and veg can impact negatively on the size of our waistbands and the health of our hearts so meat free Monday is great way to encourage more variety, flavour and experimentation in our diets. There’s a whole world of exotic fruits, vegetables, nuts, sprouts, legumes, herbs and spices just waiting for us to stumble upon them so they can share their nutrient rich bounty of health with us! Many of us grew up on the standard meat and 3 veg and (let’s face it) sticking to this without question can demonstrate a bit of a lack of imagination and adventure as well as cause us to repeat the illnesses and chronic conditions in our family history. If you have trouble even considering a meal that doesn’t revolve around meat, why not use this as an opportunity to mix it up a bit? We may discover our bodies and bowels actually thrive on less heavy protein in our diet.

4. Meat Free Monday can save our only planet!

Consider this:

• Livestock produces more global warming and pollution than all the cars and trucks in the world combined.
• Countless acres of rainforest have been destroyed to create land for cattle grazing.
• Livestock production is the #1 cause of soil erosion in the world. Without a healthy topsoil, we can’t grow the crops that are necessary to feed people.
• Meat production is heavily reliant on pesticides, which are toxic both to people, the planet and other animals.
• Livestock is the leading contributor to water pollution by Nitrogen, Phosphorous, pesticides and antibiotics
• the production of one calorie of animal protein requires more than 10 times the amount of fossil fuels to produce and get to our plates as one calorie of plant protein. Our fossil fuel supply will not last forever.

There’s much, much more to add but this Meat Free Monday video says it better than I can…

5. Meat Free Monday is universal & accessible to all!

This movement, like any movement is first and foremost a movement of the mind. It encourages us to intelligently look at the information we have available, to understand the reality of environmental destruction and sustainability of our planet and to take responsibility in some small way for the fact that we are HERE, together. Meat Free Monday also captures our heart and humanity – we can be involved in something bigger than ourselves, something that affects us all without having to subscribe to a particular doctrine or be religious (unless we want to). That means that meat free Monday is open to all regardless of culture, conditioning, gender, geography, age, beliefs and bias. You choose your level of commitment. Do you make the decisions about what to feed your family or leave it up to them? Do you spread this message out in your community or make it a private practice? Meat Free Monday is truly universal and meets you wherever you are right now in your life.

Have I inspired you just a little?
Why not make this your way of contributing to the greater good
and get on your feet for no meat once a week!
How else can Meat Free Mondays change the world?
Share your thoughts below!

For more info, visit Support Meat Free Monday and Meatless Monday

The 5 Best Ways To Raise Healthy Eaters

As adults, feeding ourselves beautiful food all the time time can be difficult in our busy lives but when it comes to our children, we often discover motivation we didn’t know we had! The following guidelines and ideas combine what we know about nutrition and good eating habits with the basic principles of mindful and intuitive eating. There is much information available around making sure your child gets their daily requirement of this or that nutrient for optimal development and that is important however a sense of celebration and love at the kitchen table are just as vital to the heath and happiness of our children.

1.    Always have HEAPS of variety in the foods you eat

• This is the best way to make sure your children get the nutrients they need. Don’t give up if your child refuses to eat something – keep trying and keep looking. Why not bring home a different exotic fruit or vegetable each week – discover mangosteens or Chinese snake beans together or the joys of star fruit!
• Serve your kids platters of food – lots of variety in bite-sized amounts (think carrot sticks, celery, apple slices etc…). Let them choose what they want to eat from an array of healthy choices.
• Give your child more raw food – they may not eat pumpkin cooked but may love a bit of grated pumpkin over some lettuce – you never know till you try! The more uncooked food you can encourage your kids to eat, the more nutrients they will get into them. Think about the following living foods and how you can incorporate more of them into your diets – zucchini, cabbage, olives, avocado, capsicum, rocket, leeks, baby spinach…. whatever you like!

2.    Create a fascination with food

• How can you make a game out of food? Get your kids to count how many seeds are on a strawberry for example. Teach your kids how to peel a brussel sprout or to suck the juice out of a persimmon (this will keep them busy for hours!)
• Get them growing some food – sprouts are a great place to start then move on to herbs in pots or planting a lemon tree. This encourages responsibility and a wonder of the process of where our food comes from – the earth, the sun and the cycles of the seasons.
• Rename the food something cool and exciting (think dinosaur trees for broccoli or magic pancake sprinkles for LSA mix). Make food as fun as you possibly can and be creative!

3.    Never, ever, ever use food as a reward or a punishment

• Don’t be hard on yourself if you’ve done this in the past. Instead, have a look at how you may use food now in your life. This is an insightful learning experience that will teach you a lot about food and the way you view it. From this you will be better equipped to make a wiser choice the next time your child is screaming for a Happy Meal or you want to get them to do something.
• For rewards, use: physical affection and hugs, time, special trips, gifts that aren’t food and activities to reward your kids
• Try not to fuss or worry over food – if your child says they’re not hungry, don’t make a big deal out of it – they’ll eat when they’re ready.

4.    Don’t let your kids eat or feed them when they’re upset

• All children really crave is reassurance – that they’re OK and you’re OK and that the world’s OK. Before all else, tell them and show them this with words, hugs, physical affection and time. Eating when upset damages digestion and creates emotional attachment to food.

5.    Minimise all refined sugar as much as possible

• Sugar is highly addictive and contributes to the development of degenerative diseases. Ask yourself if it is really necessary and see what substitutes you can use – fresh dates are nature’s chocolate and who needs sugar when we’ve got custard apples and other amazing fruit? Your kids will never get hooked on natural sugar with it’s accompanying vitamins and minerals.
• Don’t get stuck on the sugar thing though – it’s really hard to raise kids sugar-free when it’s all around them whenever they leave the house and research proves consistently that children who are restricted in their eating tend to overindulge when they get the opportunity. It’s all about balance and moderation and perhaps most of all, not making a big deal out of sugar – simply ensuring that the majority of what you feed your child is nourishing and sustaining food.

What you do now sets your kids up for a lifetime of eating in the best way possible for their health. Start from wherever you are, it’s never too late to begin. Make changes slowly and remember, food is meant to be enjoyed and celebrated always – HOW you feed your kids is in the long run, much more important that WHAT you feed them.

What strategies have you discovered work for you and your family?
Got any interesting food anecdotes from your own childhood?
What do you think is most important when it comes to raising healthy eaters?

My Magical Superfood Hot Chocolate

What could be yummier and more nourishing for our heart, body and soul than hot chocolate? It’s my current number one comfort food (especially when made with love and SUPERfoods!).

Mmmm…. hot chocolate….

My spin on this traditional drink is somewhat unconventional (but if you’re reading this, I trust that you also, are somewhat unconventional) and I’ve come across nothing finer for a mid-afternoon pick-me-up or a chilly morning heart-starter (this version of hot chocolate equals INSTANT ENERGY – drinking it after 4.00 pm is not advised if you want to sleep that evening!). Raw chocolate (cacao) with all of it’s nutrients intact increases blood flow to the brain and enhances brain function and the dried and powdered root vegetable Maca of South America, increases blood oxygen levels.

After consuming this drink you will feel hugged, soothed, comforted, snuggled, uplifted, tingly, clear, fascinated, free and present – with no side effects and no come-down. You will feel more alive, more awake, more focused, more invigorated, more powerful, more sensual, more stimulated, more inspired and more in love with life itself.  You will feel in control yet relaxed, determined yet open, ecstatic yet grounded, passionate yet purposeful. You will feel (even if just for one fleeting moment) more like YOUR MAGNIFICENT SELF.

Ingredients

• 1 tsp raw chocolate powder (cacao)
• 1 tsp maca powder
• pinch of cinnamon or nutmeg (you can even serve the hot chocolate with a whole stick of cinnamon in the cup)
• sweeten to taste with whatever your heart desires (I like honey or maple syrup myself but agave, sugar or stevia work well too. Maca also has a bit of natural sweetness so your tastebuds may be quite satisfied as is.)
• generous splash of coconut milk (or use any kind of milk you like – cow, soy, oat and rice)

Method

1. Combine all ingredients in a large, perfect sized mug that feels good to hold with both hands
2. Pour boiling water into the mug.
3. Add milk, sweeten to taste and stir (long handled teaspoons make the experience all the more decadent and effortless)

Finally… (and this is the most important part) stop for a moment, let go,
breathe deeply and feel the magic!

Cutting Through The Nutrition Confusion

The Way Food’s MEANT To Be!

I’m absolutely fascinated by original medicine and how food’s been used for millennia. Not “natural” or “alternative” or “complementary” medicine, but original medicine – how the healing arts have been used throughout time, the way medicine and food are meant to be. After all, medicine in it’s current form has only been perfected (?) over the last 200 years or so and proper nutrition has only been promoted on a global scale over the last 50 years or so – a mere drop in the ocean of anecdotal proof and evidence based health and healing for humans.

For thousands upon thousands of years, original medicine has its place in all traditional cultures from the popular Chinese medicine to the Ayurveda of India and the comprehensive medicinal knowledge of all Aboriginal people on earth. We even find threads of original medicine running faintly through old wives tales, folklore and the medicine of our grandmothers and great grandmothers. These original medicines, regardless of where they originate from in the world, have several things in common:

1. The utmost respect for the ability of the body to heal itself
2. The use of food as medicine and other potent plants found in the immediate local environment to heal
3. An awareness of the interconnectedness of life, a life-force or energy that flows through our bodies, through the universe and through the healer. There’s a knowledge and trust in something bigger – a perfection in the divine plan
4. An adherence to the natural cycles of the planet and seasons – a sense of the rhythm and flow of life
5. Original medicine’s followers do not die of chronic, lifestyle diseases

When it comes to food and the way we eat original medicine journey takes us off the beaten track a little, past what mainstream medicine and the media have taught us to believe and beyond it into realms of human potential and possibility.

In our quest for health we begin quite simply, by having an understanding that certain food is either “good” for us or “bad” for us, either contributes to the health of our body, creates chronic disease or makes us fat. We make our decisions based on what our parents taught us and on what is commonly known i.e. sugar rots our teeth, vegetables are good, fat is bad, reduce calories to reduce weight, eat your brussel sprouts etc… etc…

Further along the path once we’ve got a bit more knowledge and experience under our belts, we start to look at food by ticking off a mental checklist - does it have this or that ingredient in it? Too much of something else? Is it preservative free, gluten free, fat free, dairy free, MSG free? Is it organic, fresh, environmentally friendly, bio-dynamic and natural? What’s the quantity of omega 3 or omega 6? Has it been refrigerated or cooked for too long? Does it suit my blood type? How expensive is it? Who grew it? Where does it come from? Can we buy it in bulk using recycled brown paper bags?

And later still, we drop these questions and return to simplicity. An awareness that right diet while affected by food choices, food amounts, food quality and food preservation has much more to do with our inner state of being than anything else. We begin to ask the question: how does it feel in my body? We begin to rely on our own internal guidance about what’s right for us to eat rather than on ever-changing expert opinion.

Original medicine is not about bowing down and worshiping at the holy altar of the perfect diet. There are thousands upon thousands of books all speaking of the way humans are meant to eat for optimal health, nutrition and weight loss. Often these books promise the solution but we wind up more confused than ever about what’s right for us. Not that the information they contain is false or based on wrong science, on the contrary this information shows an incredible depth of comprehension of the chemistry and functioning of our body. More like they’re missing the point all forms of original medicine knew so well – that the answer lies within each of us right now. This is an essential part of the food and correct diet puzzle and it’s often overlooked and ignored to our peril and the detriment of our health.

Eating well, using the principles of whole food nutrition and being extraordinarily healthy is not only an external solution based on changing this or cutting out certain foods, it’s also about returning to what we already know, what our ancestors knew and practiced and rediscovering a sense of magic, connection and gratitude in our lives.

What original medicine principles do you practice in your daily life?
Do you know how your grandparents or great grandparents looked after their health? What does “original medicine” mean to you?

Green Leafy Herb Salad

Most of us have heard before that we need to eat lots and lots of green leafy vegetables – they’re awesome for our livers, our digestion, full of antioxidants, calcium, omega 3 essential fatty acids and anti-aging stuff.  The darker in colour our leafy greens are, the better and when eaten daily have a huge effect on cancer prevention, heart health and our skin quality. In several studies, green vegetables with leaves (over other fruits and vegies) have even been shown to significantly reduce our risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes – not only because of all the good stuff they contain but because people who make it important enough to eat their greens regularly tend to have a much healthier diet and lifestyle overall.

Usually the first green leafies that come to mind are the common ones: spinach, silverbeet, baby spinach, bok choy, pak choy and kale. But what about more exotic leaves like collard greens, rocket, watercress, swiss chard and dandelion? How about fresh herbs like basil, parsley, coriander, chives, sage and mint? This recipe is a delightful addition to any passionate green leafy advocates menu! Careful though.. it may cause you to go into olfactory overload…

Ingredients

• Any 3 fresh and raw, green leafy herbs of your choosing – I like mint, coriander and basil together but parsley and sage are also good (although a little tough to chew for some)
• Something salty – I like a few perfect olives but capers are good too as well as sun-dried tomatoes

Method
Pull apart the herbs into big chunks – only cut them into tiny pieces if you want to. I prefer to leave the leaves large and whole as it adds more variety to the mix of flavours, tastes, textures and smells. This can take a little time, especially if you’re using coriander or parsley because both of these herbs have quite tough stems and I like to pull the leaves off the stalks first. For me, this is always an enjoyable and meditative process and it smells REALLY good too (I often bury my nose in my hands to saturate myself in the aroma of fresh yumminess and have bizarre salivating fantasies of diving into bathtubs filled with mint…).

Chuck all your big herby leaves in a bowl, toss around and scatter with a light sprinkling of your choice of salty something – the salty something really compliments the bitter taste of the herbs when eaten this way.

Serve, smell with your nose and entire being and enjoy this tasty way of getting your greens into you!

Slow Cooker Dahl

If you’ve been investigating my recipes for a little while now, you’ve probably become aware that at this point in my life, I’m rather lazy. Incredibly so in fact. I don’t particularly indulge in the creative process of cooking and tend to rush through it thinking of all the other things I’d rather be doing (perhaps in the future in another time and place, when my mind is a calm, serene, open expansiveness of love I’ll get into it more?). Because of this, I tend to make things that are disgustingly quick, easy and of course, healthy. (Please, God. Don’t let me be the only one on earth who finds cooking a bit of a pain in the proverbial! Sigh. One day… when I have a live in, organic gourmet vegan chef who will delicately feed me ripe, juicy grapes one by one, permacultured in my own backyard…)

My mum (thank you Mum!) gave me her crock pot recently and it’s true, I’m in LOOOOOOOOVE! Chucking stuff in a big pot and pressing “GO” just fills me with a sense of lightness, freedom and copious congratulations over what an AWESOME wife and cook I am. Grin. So here is my latest offering! Enjoy!

Ingredients

• I cup of red lentils
• 3 cups of water
• any kind of vegies you want – carrots, tatoes, pumpkin – cut into BIG chunks (you can even add leafy greens but I wouldn’t put them in till about 20 minutes before the slow cooker time is up or they’ll go to mushy)
• I tsp (level or heaped, depending on how spicy you like things) of the following:
  chilli powder (or 2 fresh chillies cut in half)
  ginger powder (again, fresh here is always best!)
  cumin powder
  tumeric (fresh tumeric is amazing! You can use it for heaps of other very cool things too like colds and flus, breathing difficulties and digestive stuff. It’s been shown in several studies now to have a very good effect on many kinds of cancer – particularly prostrate and inflammatory bowel disease.)
• one large white or brown onion
• salt to taste (don’t be afraid of salt – it makes stuff taste GOOD! Most folk I know underuse salt when they cook Indian so it never tastes quite like it does in the restaurants. Salt is the key! Use a good quality sea salt.)

Method

1. Chop the onion up and fry it in a pan along with the powdered spices (don’t fry the fresh ones – just add them to the dahl in chunks of your liking). Fry it till the onion’s transparent and you can smell all that yummyness in the air. Coconut oil is the best oil to use for cooking but do shop around a bit – some brands have a really strong taste that can impact the end result. I’m using Elaeis Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil at the moment and I love it!
2. Chuck all the other ingredients (bar the leafy greens) in your slow cooker. You can add more water if you want more of a traditional dahl soupy texture.
3. Set it on low, go about your day and come back 6 – 8 hours later
4. A bit before you’re ready to eat, bung on some rice and away you go! A very nourishing meal without the rice though.
5. Mmmmm… ladle out into bowls and sprinkle with something green – coriander is perfect but shallots are just as good! You can even add a little sour yoghurt if that suits you for the true Indian flavour combo…

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