Year: 2018

Posted on

How to use your emotions to feel incredibly good

How would you rate your Emotional Wellness on a scale of 1-10?

 

8-10 – my emotions are fairly balanced and even. Sure I am like most women and will feel irritated at times, but I am reliable and stable and think clearly and reasonably most of the time.
5-7 – I tend to go up and down,mostly even, but I can usually bring myself back to normal after a while (food / wine helps). I am more happy than sad, hardly get angry (although sometimes the kids push me to the verge of being a T-Rex), but I think I’m not as bad as others I hear about. I would say I am pretty much middle of the road, and whilst life is okay, I have everything I want, there are still times when I get sad for no reason or get snippy at people. 
3-4 – I am quite up and down most of the time and I get anxious / moody / depressed at periods of time for sure. I drink probably more than I should. I don’t exercise much and I really feel like life is difficult. I definitely eat more than I would like, and it is probably “emotional eating”. I feel sad a lot. And I sometimes wonder why life is so hard. 
1-2 – I can’t handle my emotions going up and down all the time – actually I wish they would go up so I can feel good and confident and excited about life! I have been on anti-depressants for a really long time, I don’t trust myself off them. I have a lot of anxiety and have a psych that I see a lot – this is my saving grace. 

 

It’s true, you may feel overwhelmed by the strength of your emotions at times, but the fact is this society we live in is trying to make you fit a mold of being “even and level”…however a vibrant woman is like a flowing river. Sometimes meandering, sometimes rushing, sometimes there are rapids, and sometimes quiet pools of reflection. Learning to listen to your energy body – both physical and emotional – will help you to break the cycle of the ups and down, and give you a way forward when you are feeling hopeless. 

Learning to listen to and respond to your Physical & Emotional Body

Are you getting a sore neck and shoulders more often than not? Do you have questionable tummy issues? Do you get tension headaches and feel stressed and on edge a lot? Heart Palpitations that are not a “heart problem”?

These are all signs of emotional imbalance…and if left unchecked, will only get worse.

Emotional Wellness & Intelligence means you are aware of your emotions, know what they mean, know what physical symptoms are related to, know why they are there, and how to use them – and you NEVER try to squash them down.
Instead, you tame them and make them work for you.

Your body is a biofeedback system that tells you when something isn’t quite right – so physical symptoms are the window to your emotional body. Learning how to use your physical sensations to gauge your emotional health and achieve mastery over them is a practice, and is an unfolding. It doesn’t happen overnight, and usually it comes after a period of feeling flat, uninspired and lacking zest for life.
When you are in this season it can feel frightening and like you will never return to a life of balance and pleasure and excitement…but be assured, you are standing at the precipice of blossoming, if only you will have the courage to keep moving through…..

Emotions can be affected by:

* food (some foods really affect you in the brain first, and the body later – so you may not even realise what you are eating is directly responsible for your mood.)
* dehydration (most people are chronically dehydrated, increasing your water intake to 2L-3L per day will have an immediate impact – try it!) 
* lack of exercise / or too much (hard core exercise in a stressed-out person is counter productive, and can make your stress levels much worse. If you are a couch potato, then you already know this is no good. Get up. Gently walk around the block…and listen to Tony Robbins – you need to move your ass!)
* hormonal imbalance (which can be thrown out by stress, its a vicious cycle, so get your food and water and exercise on track and watch your cycles…if you aren’t regular with a 4-5 day bleed each month, then see a naturopath, or try doTERRA’s Phytoestrogen supplement. It is a god-send for me.)
* too much stress (and not enough tools to help eradicate it.) Self-help is everywhere. Try a yoga class (yin, not Vinyasa/Power) attend a meditation class, use calming essential oils like doTERRA’s Lavender Peace/Serenity or Peace blends.)
* your environment (empaths know what this means!) The people around you can greatly impact your emotions. Spend time with people who make you feel happy and balanced. Stay away from the drainers, and the ones who are bitchy or who bitch about other people to you.
* physical connection (sensual / non sexual touch works wonders for mood.) Holding hands, cuddling with partner or kids, or having a cuddle with your dog/cat is a great way to increase feel good hormones in your brain/body.Ask your partner for a sensual breast massage using doTERRA’s Whisper blend. And tell him “no sex, just touching” – he will be beside himself! 
* chemicals (drugs, perfumes, skin care, cleaning products). Ever had a cleaning headache from the bathroom cleaners you use? Have you noticed it can instantly it affect your mood, giving you a crappy headache and making you sleepy. The same is true for many perfumes – these are a chemical cocktail of toxins that are just waiting to get into your airways and flood your body thru the blood. They have a HUGE impact on the body. Steer clear and using a Pure-Fume like doTerra’s Whisper blend, or Patchouli or Wild Orange.
* Music (radio, news, podcasts, training vids on You Tube) Listening to people whinging about love-lost is not going to inspire a happy mood. So crank up Bon Jovi and rock that mood out. Or maybe Beyonce is more your thing. And get rid of those talk-back radio stations that are filthy or low-brow and encourage stupidity! Also cut back on the violent and salacious tv shows you insist on binge watching. The same goes for reality “fight-fest” tv. What you watch and listen to will affect your mood, and affect your energy field, and you may not even notice it until it is too late.
* memory – I dare you to open a photo album and walk down memory lane and look at your history. See where you came from, re-live the good times. Do this with your kids. Or play the game “remember when ….?” Kids love to be reminded about fun times together, so do this often. 

The key is to listen with attention to your body and to learn how to nourish and care for her.

Emotions as Guideposts:

Knowing how to use your emotions as guideposts is the sign you are turning into your Wise Woman. She is that part of you that is patient, kind, loving and caring to Self. She isn’t afraid to feel, or express, but she knows why she feels the way she does, and can manage her moods and her ups and down with grace and care. 

Allowing the Wise Woman to come forth:

How long has it been since you sat in stillness and listened to your inner wisdom? Your Wise Woman is that part of yourself. She is gentle, so her wisdom isn’t like a punch in the gut – it is that instinctive “knowing”. Like when you have a newborn bub and she is crying her heart out, and you just know how to soothe her and what she likes.
Or when you have a major life decision to make, and your head wants to keep telling you which way to go, but your “gut” says something else….and you go with the head, knowing full well you should have gone with your gut. That is her. She is your Wise Woman.

The best way to re-introduce yourself to her is to begin a daily ritual of saying “thank you for being here” and acknowledging her in your life. When you ignore your gut instinct, you are essentially ignoring a part of yourself.

Take notice of when you suddenly get a sore tummy out of no-where – what is it trying to tell you?
Notice when you finish a massive day at work and your body is aching everywhere – what is it trying to tell you?
Notice when you feel frustration rising up inside of you – what is it trying to tell you?
Notice when you totally lose your shit at the kids/dog/partner – what is it trying to tell you?

You already know the answer, but you still don’t do anything to change your circumstance. The Wise Woman starts to arise when you begin to “know” and she is in full force when you start to make changes due to the knowing.

Your emotional guidance system was created FOR YOU, not to be AGAINST YOU. So allow the feelings and sensations to rise up – take notice, and ask the question “what do I need?”
And let your Wise Woman guide you. 

 

 

Posted on

Mindset- everything you need to know to get out of crisis

Mindset is the starting point of making any kind of life changes.

In this blog Belle shares her 5 tips for finding a balanced and focused mindset to help up-level your life, and make it one that is extraordinary. You’ll be surprised to learn it isn’t complicated or fancy – just consistent. 

 

Mindset is everything – you can push yourself for a time, but consistent, focused moving towards your goals comes from a very different place than sheer will. A shift in Mindset needs to come from first making a decision that things need to change – an actual conscious decision to live life a certain way – otherwise everything will be haphazard and not have a purpose or meaning attached to it.

You wouldn’t start a business and drop $1M into it without having a plan for the business – right? So why do we tend to approach life with no plan attached?

Call it a goal? A dream? A vision? Call it whatever you want, but if you want to start living life on your terms and begin living the life You want, then you need to have the right mindset to get you there.

Now you could be the kind of woman who loves affirmations. That’s a positive mindset.

Or you could be the kind of woman who likes a set order and structure to follow. That’s an organised mindset.

You might like to just do what feel right in the moment. Honey, that aint no mindset, that’s a habit of laziness.
Let me explain.

Most people say they want their life to be a certain way. They allow themselves to dream big, they get into the good feeling space, and they ride the good feeling wave of imagining themselves having the things they dream about. But if there are no choices, no decisions, no structure and plan in place about how to get there – then there will probably be nothing coming to fruition, unless you are holding on to luck and crossing fingers and toes.

So how do you come to that place when you are so focused, so determined and so committed to making things happen in your life?

The Answer? When the pain of living “this” way get sooooo incredibly unbearable that you simply MUST take yourself in the direction of your dreams.

Most women I work with  only make the moves when they are in crisis. Including me. My past is full of moments like this. I remember a time in my life when I was literally sensitive to every food you can think of. My body was in total crisis, every food – wheat, dairy, soy, salicilates (that’s a ahcemical in EVERY single fruit and vegetable) – I would react to with hives, asthma, body pain, weakness and severe anxiety. Life was a nightmare, cos I had no idea it was the food I was eating making my life so incredibly hard. A friend said to me “what will it take before you stop eating chocolate if you know it makes you bloated and gives you tummy pain when you eat it?” I responded “It would have to give me diarrhoea before I stopped.”
Guess what happened soon after?

Yup. You guessed it. And it was intense. I had to stop taking the train cos I couldn’t last between stations and I have an aversion to public toilets! (ultimate pain right there!)

My life had to get me to a point of incredible pain discomfort before I would make a healthy – wise – choice for my body. (Don’t get me started on how unhealthy my thinking, my abuse of my own body and my blatant disrespect for myself was – I was 29yrs old at the time, and I really needed a mentor to support me but they really didn’t exist back then.)

 

So why not make a decision to re-focus your mindset on the things you really want in life, before it is either too late, or the pain becomes unbearable?

 

Life is whatever you focus on, and if you are focused on set backs, disappointments and regreat, then that’s probably what is in store for you in the future.

Are you ready to change it NOW?

 

Let’s do it…here is my 5 step guide to getting focused on what you want NOW:

1. Focus on changing your physical state. The way you sit / stand when you are sad, ashamed, depressed, anxious is VERY different to how you sit/stand when you are feeling unstoppable.
So whatever you are doing right now….STAND UP….shake your body out ….feet hip distance apart, feet turned out 45 degrees ….put your hands on your hips..…tits out / shoulders back …chin up…..squeeze your butt muscles and breathe deeply 10 times.
Research has shown that 2mins in the “Wonder Woman Power stance” will increase strong feel good chemicals in your brain which will flow to your whole body. You will then feel clearer and more decisive. This is what you want if you are going to change your life!
Do this every morning for a week….and see how you feel.

  1. Focus on the food you eat….and stop those sugary, processed, fat laden foods entering your body. Just for 5 days. And see how you feel. Don’t give up everything you love. But if it is full of sugar, fake as hell, comes with a label where you cant pronounce any ingredient, just avoid it for 5 days. That’s all. Then see how you feel.
  2. Increase water. No, I didn’t say tea/coffee / soft drink…I said water. Plain ol’ water. Aim for a glass every hour while you are awake. Yep, you’ll probably be friends with the God of the Toilet while your bladder gets used to it, but who cares? You are increasing your hydration! No brain ever worked optimally when it was thirsty and weak. Water will help you think more clearly and with more focus.

Do this for a week and see how you feel.

  1. Get in some movement every day. Not 30mins flat out exercise. Not cross-fit. Not a gym session where you almost vomit. Just move. Take the stairs when you’d normally take a lift. Park further away from the station and walk. Take the dog for an extra walk each day. If you are completely sedentary: Do 10 x squats, push ups, ab crunches and tricep dips every 2hrs. If you have a chronic illness just circle your joints, breathe deeply and get your body moving again.

Do this for a week and see how you feel.

  1. meditate. Sit there. Suck it up. Get comfortable with your discomfort. Meditation is not hard, it just feels excruciating at first. Search on YouTube for a meditation that you like the sound of (for improving your golf game, for anxiety, for stress, for sleep – you name it, and its there.)

Or use this one: https://vimeo.com/237005316 password: Meditation

 

If you want an extraordinary life, then you need to take extraordinary action. This is your starting point, and you are the only person who can do it!

Comment how this felt for you, and what you noticed was different in your life.

Posted on

Massage for early signs of pain

 
If you woke up sore, or you got home from work yesterday feeling a bit tense and stiff in your joints, then can I suggest booking a massage QUICKLY?
 
Did you notice that raising your arm up over head is getting harder to do? How about putting on clothes? Or hanging washing on the line? Putting on your bra with difficulty? 
 
This is not “getting old” or just “a bit stiff form the cold weather”. Mild tension and stiffness are early signs that something is out of whack, so getting a remedial massage early on, can save you a whole world of pain if you leave it.
 
Sitting at a desk all day? On your feet all day? Physical labouring? Housework? Gardening?
At some point your body will start to tell you it has had enough…trouble is, you are too busy to pay attention until you are swallowing multiple anti-inflammatories / pain relief / and being forced to take days off work.
 
There IS a better way to handle the physical symptoms as they start to arise. Remedial Massage therapy will get your blood flowing, the joints moving easier, and help stretch your muscles for greater strength and flexibility.
Relaxation massage will help reduce the overall effects of stress in the body and mind. Stress starts in your mind…and then filters to your physical body…including all your organs…isnt that frightening?
 
For all ages, massage is the first answer when mild symptoms arise.
 
Therapeutic massage is not just a luxury, it is the antidote to this busy world. It can help you to breathe more deeply and move more freely…and we all know that doctors “prescribe” rest and “less stress” to most health complaints….
 
So you get a win / win…it feels amazing and has great benefits for you entire body.
Posted on

Postnatal Nutrition

 

 

The postnatal period is possibly the most vulnerable period of a woman’s life.
You’ve just gone through birth (Vaginal or caesarean – there is no easy way out!), you have a tiny human to keep alive that eats, poops and sleeps (in that order), but never actually sleeps long enough for you to get anything done – including sleep much yourself. Your heart is full, but so are your hands, and the thought of waking that beautiful dozy baby to grab a bite to eat – well, you’d rather chop your own arm off at the shoulder than rock, sway and sing (badly!) for another hour to get this darling cherub (who now sounds like a screaming banshee, by the way) back to a blissful sleep.

 

So, right from those early days, you do what most mums do.
You put yourself last.

 

But with the lack of sleep, the stress of looking after this tiny being, the repairing your body needs to do following birth (and sometimes the mental repair from a traumatic birth), & hormonal fluctuations within your body as it tries to adapt to your new reality – mean you have NEVER needed to be more mindful of your nutrition for your own health at any other time in your life.

I feel postnatal nutrition is SO important, irrespective of whether you breastfeed or not.

Obviously breastfeeding mama’s have to ensure they eat well, and enough, to support breast milk production. But in many ways, it is the mothers that wanted to breastfeed but struggle, or are forced into circumstances where breastfeeding has been cut short, that I feel need the most support. Often, they feel a sense of loss, not feeling good enough, and judgement, which can lead to negative feelings that spiral into postnatal anxiety and/ or depression. I know. I was one of them.

We all know the link between diet and mental health. Eating lots of fresh, nutritious food should be included in every new mum’s mental health strategy, as it will provide mothers with the nutrients they need to positively support mental health.

Eating for Mental Health:

The concept of the foods we eat impacting our mental health is not new. Various studies point to changes in behaviour, cognition, and depression & anxiety scores when participants followed a whole food diet vs. an average western diet (which features packaged foods, fast foods, and only minimal fresh produce and quality animal products).

Deficiencies of the B group Vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids, Vitamin D, as well as Zinc and Selenium have been implicated in the development of postnatal depression. Limiting  anti-nutritive foods like processed and fast foods, and increasing fresh fruits and vegetables will help to address these deficiencies.

Focusing on small, frequent meals that contain complex carbohydrates, protein and fats will ensure sustained blood sugar levels, which positively impacts satiety, and regulates moods.  Examples include 2 rice cakes with nut butter, some full fat Greek yoghurt with fruit, nuts & seeds, or a 2 boiled eggs with avocado on crackers.

Foods that provide the nutrients commonly deficient in those with postnatal depression include lean meats, cheese, eggs, yoghurt, leafy greens, avocado, seeds and nuts, and oily fish.

There is also mounting evidence that the gut microbiota is linked to psychiatric conditions including depression and anxiety. A recent study also found that mothers that supplemented with probiotic Lactobacillus Rhamnosus HN001 (6bn CFU  / day for 6 months postnatally) reported significantly lower depression scores, based on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) questionnaire. So definitely worth discussing with your natural health practitioner whether including a probiotic in your daily routine may be beneficial to your mental health.

Eating for Energy Support:

When it comes to nutrients, The B complex vitamins are the energy powerhouses. They are utilised throughout the Krebs cycle (otherwise known as the Citric Acid Cycle) – which is the set of reactions that create energy within our cells.  

The thing to remember about the B group vitamins is that they are synergistic, and are absorbed best when consumed together.

Where can you find these nutrients?

The best sources of most of the B vitamins is animal products – lean meats, poultry, eggs, yoghurt, cheese. B9 (Folate) is high in leafy green vegetables, and many breads are now fortified with folic acid (another form of the nutrient, however some people lack the enzyme to convert folic acid to it’s active form).

Other nutrients to be mindful of with regard to energy:

Magnesium, which is required for energy production, but can also support rest given its action of relaxing both the smooth & skeletal muscle.  Find it in leafy greens like spinach, beets, cacao, pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and bananas.

Iron, which can be depleted post birth due to blood loss.  Iron forms an integral part of haemoglobin, which binds to oxygen within the blood, transporting it around the body for use by the cells. Find it in red meat, and in lesser amounts in leafy green vegetables.

Iodine is required for the production of your thyroid hormones. Your thyroid is responsible for thermoregulation, setting your metabolism, and regulating the activity of all the cells within the body. Find it in Seafood, and to a lesser extent cheese and eggs.  

Coenzyme Q10 creates energy within the mitochondria of each and every cell of the body. Without it, you can expect fatigue, sore joints and muscles, and changes to kidney function, eyesight and cognition.  You can find Coenzyme Q10 in organ meats, beef, sardines, mackerel and peanuts.

Eating to support healthy Bowel Movements

And you thought birth was scary!

I highly recommend women eat a high fibre diet and drink ample water (2L minimum, 3L is better) in the postnatal period for many reasons, but to keep bowel motions soft and easy to pass is one of them. Especially when there has been any tearing or grazing downstairs. 

Generally, 30gm of fibre per day is recommended, as a mix of both soluble and insoluble fibre. 

So what does that look like?

½ cup rolled oats with almonds and banana in the morning, a mixed salad with 2 boiled eggs and ½ an avocado at lunch, an apple and 1 cup air popped popcorn as a snack, and a steak with some sweet potato, broccoli & carrot at dinner (just remember to keep the skin on).

Ensuring healthy gut flora can also help keep things moving along, so I will often prescribe a multi-strain probiotic formulated for the pregnancy & postnatal period.


Should you Supplement?

Short answer – yes.

In general, our soils have been depleted of nutrients by modern farming methods, and as a result our produce contains far less vitamins & minerals than they once did.

Couple that with exhausted new mums, extra energy requirements (for breastfeeding and / or physical repair following birth), but a limited intake of nutritious food, and I believe supplementing is generally required. 

I recommend continuing with a pregnancy multivitamin for the first year of your bub’s life to ensure you are getting the key nutrients required to support mental health, energy production, & repair.

 

Kimberley is available Tues and Wed in the clinic, and at other times via Skype / Zoom.

 

 

 

Kimberley Wright Nutrition

Posted on

Why you need HOPE

(Excerpt taken from Jessie Reimers)

I loved Vanessa Jean’s message of leading with Hope at Convention in Sydney this year in March.

This oil is not just a good smelling oil, it brings with it a message of hope that will set children free.
Add it to your LRP each month. Purchase 2ml vials and decant for samples, gift to others and teach the message of Hope.

THE MISSION AND VISION OF OUR RESCUE
OUR Rescue strives to expose to the world the global epidemic of child sex trafficking. In doing so, they rescue children from slavery and assist law enforcement in the prosecution of trafficking offenders. Rescued children are then placed in safe havens that provide appropriate recovery aftercare. Founded in December of 2013, OUR Rescue is not a government agency, and thus relies 100 percent on donations to continue their work.

Since their inception, OUR Rescue has worked closely with experts in extraction operations and anti-trafficking efforts. These experts include former members of the CIA, Navy SEALs, and special operations forces who coordinate identification and extraction efforts—also sometimes called “jumps.” When these highly skilled teams have pinpointed an area that is known to have child sex trafficking, they then work with local law enforcement to make sure the children are rescued.

A large part of the OUR Rescue project takes place post extraction and is called aftercare. It is here that rescued individuals adjust to their new lives. Jessica Mass, Director of Aftercare, states, “We believe that established, vetted aftercare centers are the experts in their country and we are servants—servants that believe in empowering dreams, vision, and hope for each survivor’s future. United we stand in the fight against human trafficking and the healing process of victims that become thriving survivors.”

THE doTERRA PARTNERSHIP
At a doTERRA Day of Service event, corporate employees assembled humanitarian and school kits for children who were rescued from sex trafficking. Beyond the kits, doTERRA executives knew more could be done. This year, the doTERRA Healing Hands Foundation, donated $250,000 to the OUR Rescue cause, and officially announced a partnership between the two organizations. During the 2016 global convention, the doTERRA Founding Executives presented CEO and founder of OUR Rescue, Tim Ballard, with an additional check for $250,000 to support their aftercare program, making a total donation of $500,000 to The doTERRA Healing Hands Foundation.

doTERRA also announced a new HOPE blend that was developed and donated to OUR Rescue specifically for distribution in high trafficking areas. Its comforting scent is not the only thing that sets this blend apart—included on the label was an 800 hotline number for those children needing help. A 10 mL roll-on blend is now available for Wellness Advocates to purchase and features a newly designed label. All proceeds from the doTERRA Hope Blend will go toward benefitting the doTERRA Healing Hands Foundation.

In July of this year, doTERRA Founding Executive and CEO David Stirling was also able to participate in a jump operation in California where a sting took place. He was able to see firsthand what OUR Rescue is doing and how they work to further their cause. David says, “We partner up with just a few institutions that are doing good things in the world. One of these is OUR. We feel like they fit in with our mission and what we are trying to do, which is bring positive change to the world. We like to help people; we do that in many different ways with our essentials oils already, but this is a way to reach in and hopefully make a dent on this huge issue and rescue a lot of these innocent children.”

“To the children who we pray for daily, we say: Your long night is coming to an end. Hold on. We are on our way. And to those captors and perpetrators, even you monsters who dare offend God’s precious children, we declare to you: Be afraid. We are coming for you.” –OUR

HOPE BLEND
with a new, redesigned label, is available for Wellness Advocates to purchase with all proceeds benefitting the doTERRA Healing Hands Foundation.

OUR RESCUES TO DATE:
2014: 12 JUMPS

2015: 20 JUMPS

2016: 38 JUMPS

600 VICTIMS RESCUED I 250 PERPETRATORS ARRESTED I WORKING IN 13 COUNTRIES

OUR RESCUE FOLLOWS A 6-STEP PROCESS:

1 Assess the feasibility of rescue.

2 Research the location, the children, and the background of those who are running the sex ring.

3 Design a strategy for rescuing the children.

4 Take action.

5 Recover the children.

6 Arrest, try, and convict the perpetrators.

If you would like to open a wholesale account visit: www.mydoterra.com/wisemamaoils (get help with opening an order here)

or contact the person that introduced you to these oils.