Blog
Exploring Woolshed Creek
Something I love to do is travel. I also love photography and want to get better at travel photography. Recently I’ve realised that we live in an amazing, beautiful country (duh!) and I can start working on improving my travel photography even without leaving the country. Something I’ve wanted to do for a long time is getting into hiking. When Dave suggested heading away to a hut recently, I jumped at the chance!
Essential Emotions
How often do we identify with something that isn’t actually part of who we are? I realised that I had been wearing my exhaustion like a coat. Holding it tight, unwilling to totally let go of it, even when it wasn’t actually serving me, it wasn’t actually something I wanted to identify with.
Handing over the Mask
Who are you, no, who are you really? Outside of what you post on social media, outside of that perfect facade you have on at work or in public. Who are you behind the mask? A few years back I was the master mask wearer!
I like to move it move it
I’ve realised just recently that I don’t actually do all that much exercise myself at the moment. While I’m not a total couch potato, I’m not actually where I want to be physically. I want to feel strong and good in my body. I know it will help my energy levels when I do it in a way that honours my body, and I want to be a good example to Benny. I also have a desire to get out exploring some of the incredible hikes around New Zealand and I know I need to be much stronger and have improved cardiovascular fitness to achieve that! So while I’m working out how it will all fit together, and developing the discipline to make movement part of my every day for me, not just when I’m teaching, here are some things I’m keeping in mind…
Living my best life, in Vietnam
Around this time 12 years ago i was winging my way to Vietnam. I was coming up to my 30th birthday and life was looking nothing like I expected it to. Something about 30 make me so aware that life hadn’t gone to plan, and I totally dreaded it, wanted to avoid it and run away. So I bought tickets to Vietnam, and turns out it was the best thing I could have done.
Six immune boosting tips
Your immune system is essential to staying well, and if you have a preschooler in the house like me, you need all the support you can get!! Especially over the winter, but honestly it seems like it is all year round at the moment.
My top 5 tips to go from surviving to thriving this winter
I used to HATE winter! I would dread it and long for the spring to come. Especially the time I spent in England. Getting to work while it was dark, getting home when it was dark, the dark grey days with little hint of the sun. The thing that started getting me not hating winter so much, or even looking forward to it, was learning to snowboard. It gave me something to look forward to. While I know snowboarding is absolutely a luxury that isn’t within reach of many, I learned some important things through that experience. Here are some of the things I learned, that will hopefully help you survive, and even thrive this winter.
Te Whare Tapa Whā
Often times Western medicine has focused on the physical being and the treatment of disease, to the detriment of the other aspects of our being, but te whare tapa whā takes into account other elements that impact our health and wellbeing. It is basically the four walls or pillars of our house, our being. It shows an understanding that when one wall is negatively impacted, the whole house suffers. It is looking at the person as a whole. All walls or pillars in our life need to be strong for us to be our best self. All of these pillars are interlinked, and can affect each other.
Are we crazy?!?!
Are we crazy? Maybe. Depends on how you look at it. Why am I asking this? Well, my husband David and I are in the process of putting our house on the market and buying a caravan to live in full time.
Why I decided to change up my diet
Which brings me to the last six months. I want to look after my body, I want to feel good in it and have energy, but for some reason it felt too hard. A rough nights sleep would leave me craving sugar and fried foods to give me the energy boost to get through the day. Not being organised enough to do the grocery shopping before we were totally out of food meant I often resorted to the lazy options, fried processed food from the freezer. I never felt great afterwards even if they were tasty at the time. I ended up spiraling down a little before the end of the year, eating all the things that don’t benefit me long term, Including dairy milk chocolate which my skin is still paying the price for nearly two month later!
My word for the year… what is yours?
For many years I’ve been fascinated with the concept of minimalism. Not the extremes of it but definitely the concept, and how less things means less stress, less to tidy up and clean, and less decisions to make. However it wars with my desire for nice things. Especially when it comes to toys for Benny! I love a clean and tidy house, but the more things you have the harder it is to maintain that. The more clothes you have the more decisions to make about what to wear.
how to become sleeping beauty
So many things are interrelated when it comes to your health and wellness goals but one of the things I find is critical is sleep! It’s not just the number of hours you spend in bed but also the quality of your sleep that matters. For me when my sleep goes, my eating goes, my exercise goes (well as much as it can at the moment while i’m teaching!), things that bring me joy slip from my life and ultimately my mental health as well as my physical health goes. Stopping the downward spiral can be challenging but SO so rewarding!