What would Louise do?

Last week I had a great coaching session with the lovely Kath Newland at New You Coaching.

I walked in there curious to see where it would take me, because I figured I'm pretty happy with my life at the moment!

Anyway, in chatting to Kath, I said that while yes I am happy with how life is progressing, I guess I am missing a piece of the puzzle...

Inspiration.

I'm definitely enjoying the work I'm doing. I love that it's not full-time (ha ha!), its flexible and fits around my life and I can do it from my own home. I really like being able to help others by using my writing powers for good and I love the different people I'm meeting. Some of their products and skills are incredible and I'm stoked I now know about them!

And I'm feeling rather content with my personal life.

With the perfect bloke by my side for 10 years, an awesome bunch of family and friends, great health, a funny little pooch to hang out with each day and a little one to welcome into our family in less than 3 months time.

Aaahhhhhhh!

But what it's time for me to include again is more of what lights me up inside.

And part of that is getting a few different ideas underway and putting the wheels in motion to start a new business that's more geared around what inspires me...ooohhhh...but more on that later!!

When Kath asked what's holding me back, all I could really come up with was just starting!

So in amongst a bunch of great ideas and strategies, one question Kath asked me was who could I model my actions on?

Who could inspire me?

Instant though - Louise Hay!

She's built her empire in the mind-body/new age arena, but not solely for financial gain - because she's passionate about helping others.

So Kath then suggested if I'm thinking about something to do with my new business (or life in general I guess) I could ask myself...

What would Louise do?

I was able to apply it instantly and get results - it lifted me out of my own head and helped me see life from a different perspective.

And I realised that I've also got a bunch of great examples around me that I can use for 'What would...do?'

There's Tania at BizEez.

Tania's grown a part-time project into a thriving business doing what she loves..and it only keeps getting bigger for her!

There's my soul sister Kylie.

She hosts Wellbeing Workshops each Friday to introduce the 5 year olds at her school to meditation, yoga and affirmations - I love how open and confident she is about sharing her passions!

There's my Grandma and Nanna. 

Grandma kept it simple and said thank you many, many times a day for everything in her life...and my Nanna was an expert at making lemonade out of life's lemons and always figured that there was someone worse off than herself (keeps life in perspective!).

Not to mention my family.

My fabulous husband and the McEachen 5 all live by do what makes you happy.

And I know if I thought about it - there'd be excellent models scattered all throughout my life!

It's been a great week since meeting Kath, because it's gotten me recharged about following my passions and life purpose.

And most importantly, doing that by just starting to bring it back into my life a little bit at a time.

I'm going to print this photo of Louise & I out and stick it on my wall to remind me to ask myself when I need a bit of help to move forward...

What would Louise do?

So now the question is...to help you move forward with something in your life, or just to put a different slant on things...

Who can be your model?

Our incredible disappearing act!

Geez, what happened to the other half of you?


Have you lost weight?


Have you lost more weight?


Wow you're looking great - what have you been doing?

These are some of the comments both Nathan and I have been getting over the last 6 or so months.

So what's our secret? It's just one simple word...

Ayurveda.

And the big thing is - it's not just about the weight.

Yes that's the obvious external change...me losing 13kgs and Nathan losing 17kgs is definitely  noticeable...but this has been a much bigger transformation than that!

Going back almost 10 months now to July 9 - a day after my 28th birthday - I had my first appointment with a local Ayurvedia practitioner at Aspects of Healing.

People have asked why Ayurveda, and all I can say is that it jumped out so many times I finally had to do something about it!

So anyway, after a bunch of questions, my pulse being taken and sticking out my tongue, I was given the simple verdict...

I'm a Pitta-Kapha, with a Kapha imbalance.

And the explanations that followed from there absolutely hit the nail on the head!

When out of balance, a Kapha is essentially slow and lethargic, in every sense of the word.

It's the heaviest of the 3 constitutions, which translates into a heavy digestion in both mind and body.

From holding onto ideas and procrastinating, to being lazy and a couch potato in general when out of whack.

And boy did I have all of the symptoms in spades!

So just what is Ayurveda?

Well I can tell you what it's not.

It's not a fad diet, it's not about pigeon holing every person into the same category, it's not about shakes or meal replacements, and it's not about fanatical exercise.

Of course, if any or all of the above work for you, then good for you, but they've always meant nothing to me, and if anything, I think they all encourage eating disorders and self-esteem issues!

Anyway, off of the soapbox and back to Ayurveda.

It's an Indian approach to food and lifestyle and means the 'science of life'. It's all about living life to keep yourself in balance - body, mind and soul.

It's probably best to Google it for the precise explanation - but to put it in simple terms, when you're born, you're one or a mix of the 3 main types - Kapha, Pitta and Vata.

Then, depending on how you live your life, you'll either balance or imbalance your natural constitution.

Obviously the aim is to balance!

And as I said, it's more than just food - it's a true lifestyle.

I find that I'm really drawn to ancient and indigenous approaches, and so it's no surprise this really resonates with me, having been around for over 5,000 years.

It's amazing how much they knew without the wonders of modern science!

So back to what's changed...

I think the simplest way to sum it up is that I'm digesting life so much better! 

From a body perspective - cutting out wheat made a massive difference. And yes, this ex-pasta addict is now clean and loving it!

No wheat, dairy or red meat, and avoiding any sweet, sour or salty foods, means my body is no longer doing a whole bunch of work just to digest what I've eaten.

So I've got so much more energy right throughout the day - gone is the 3 o'clock chocolate/sugar craving!

This also makes a huge difference from a mind perspective. I'm so much more alert and often brimming with new ideas.

And I've noticed how more and more, I'm happy to move through ideas and change my beliefs so much more readily if they're not working for me.

Not to say that works perfectly all the time! There's still a few I hold onto...but I'm working on them!

And from a spirit perspective, I've also adopted new practices that really complement my life.

I'm still working on integrating meditation into my life, but pretty much each morning now I get up between 5 and 530 and do yoga to kick off my day. (And yes I know, I was the person who said that I didn't even know the hour of 5 existed!)

All in all, I feel sooooooo much better.

As does Nathan. We're both trying our best to keep living by this because it just makes sense for us.

Has it all been smooth sailing?

No of course not! Week 3-6 was an absolute killer - I went through so much of a battle with my ego who was trying to convince me that everything I had been doing was perfectly fine, and why should I change.

Fortunately I won the battle, and kept moving through that!

There have been other challenges along the way, and of late, I've decided to test a few things out, seemingly to just remind myself of why I don't eat certain things now.

Ie - chocolate!

Surely one little bit can't be that bad.

But then, like today I ate a Caramello Koala and remember why I don't eat chocolate now - it makes me feel gross, bloated and in general my body doesn't like it! (Sorry Mum, I don't mean to blaspheme, but chocolate and I are no longer friends!!!)

Actually, that's probably been the biggest thing to come out of all of this.

I've realised just how sensitive my body is, and the concrete link from it to my mind and spirit.

I haven't got the layers of crap covering it up anymore!

A great example is how I can now instantly see how sugar makes me go on edge - now I understand how much food would have contributed to my being at my peak with anxiety.

And while this has meant cutting out a lot of foods that used to bring me plenty of comfort, it's all been worth it (something I need to remind myself of at the moment!).

Phew that was an essay. And it's not even the half of it really!

Of course, no "before & after" is complete without photo evidence!

So here we go....I didn't have the 'glazed pork' photos handy of us about 5 years ago (when we were red, shiny and puffy!), but here's us looking well rounded in the Grampians in December 09 (you can't see it, but Nathan's tummy is just as rounded as mine!)...

And one from my best friend's wedding in October 10, only 3 months into our transformation...we've come even further since, but this is a favourite photo of mine!

Actually one last one - this is me at the wedding loving that fact that for the first time in my life, I had a flatter stomach than Lucy!!! Believe me, she's famous for it! And fair enough she had a pretty good excuse, but I'm still counting it - I wasn't even sucking in!

Anyway, if you've been searching for a food and lifestyle approach to apply to your life then I can highly, highly, highly recommend Ayurveda.

Particularly if you want one that helps you lose the layers on all levels of your being.

Nathan and I are fabulous examples of just how well it can work.

You can see the difference in our eyes alone - they sparkle with energy and life now, rather than the dull gleam of old.

In short - we love Ayurveda!

The plot thickens...

Wow...what a day...what a weekend...what a fortnight!! 

The lessons and kerplunk moments are coming thick and fast for me at the moment (you know the ones when the penny doesn't just drop, they hit the ground with a thud!).

I started writing this last week, but didn't get the chance to actually hit post...could've partially been me wanting my ducks in a row before I posted it, ie wanting to be 'cured' of my chest infection entirely.

But as it turns out this lovely chesty business had a bit more to teach me than I'd first thought!

I got to a point last week when I thought - wow would you just go away.

But as I'm learning more and more, my body is a sensitive apparatus nowadays.

When I'm out of balance, be it mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually - it quickly shows itself...and doesn't go away until the imbalance is fixed, consciously or subconsciously.

Not that I jump right to it and fix things at the slightest inkling, but in cases such as this, I didn't really have the choice. It was a little too obvious for me to ignore and hoping it'd just go away wasn't working!

So finally last week I went 'right body, clearly I still haven't learnt the lesson, otherwise you would be feeling better by now - so let's have it!'

Without further ado, here's some of the things I've learn this last few weeks...I say some, because this is really only a snippet!

Despite having a lot of colour in my life...I can be a bit black and white

Which is kind of funny seeing as I'm a Collingwood supporter!

I can be very logical, cause and effect - which serves me well in a lot of instances.

But where it doesn't serve me is when I get into judgment mode - making something right or wrong and  only looking at the surface to make a fairly snap judgment rather than looking deeper, or taking a step back to see the trees and the forest.

Kind of funny seeing as I'm all about getting to the cause of things, not just treating the symptom!

Take this illness for instance...I instantly jumped to the conclusion that I'd been thinking the 'wrong' thoughts that I just need to fix and then voila, it'd be all good (a habit I'd been running with for a while, I think it's perfectionism in disguise!).

So off I went to my Mind-Body bibles - aka Louise Hay's You Can Heal Your Life, and Inna Segal's The Secret Language of Your Body.

I read the symptoms, went yep - I tick all those boxes (not for the first time I might add, I've had chesty goodness before!). So now I'll stick my affirmations up, fix my thoughts and it'll all be ok.

What I've only just realised though that I forgot the crucial element - affirmations don't make things happen, they make things welcome. 

So me saying the 'right' words alone wasn't going to fix it - but it did bring about the elements I needed to look at. And in turn the healing.

Oh - KERPLUNK!!!!

That's freakin' hilarious - I literally only just realised that! Ha - I almost know Louise's book back the front and I am a massive mind-body head...but I'd forgotten that key element!!!!

Affirmations and thoughts in general are the beginning - not the be all and end all!

Aaah - this is what I love about life - the unfurling and discovering new gems!

Wow. Anyway, here's a few things that have contributed to me breathing clearer and having a much lighter chest...

1. I need to rest - and that's ok! 
• Nathan had said to me a week or so prior to me getting sick that I need to just take a week off for myself, but I said I couldn't. Well apparently I could when forced to!
• While I love to be on the go and doing things, it can be detrimental to my health when there's too much go and no stop.
2. Time to simplify my life. 
• Part of the mind-body symptom for an Upper Respiratory Cold is 'Too much going on at once' and boy have I had that in spades! An ongoing lesson for me is simplifying my life rather than attempting to do seventeen things at once, and not achieving any of them. 
• Essentially I need to give up the need to be superwoman - while I do look great in a cape, I'm not so down with the knickers over tights! 
3. I had too much Kapha going on...
• I'll explain this further this week when I finally do a blog on Ayurveda and it's amazing effect on my life! But essentially, I had been eating foods and doing things that caused a build up of Kapha in my body, aka mucus. Bleurgh.
4. I needed to get [more than] a few things off of my chest...
• Something that has happened progressively these last few weeks. Feeling better for it too!

And now for my personal favourite...

It's time to let my guard down.

I was lying in bed two Tuesdays ago after listening to week 1 of Dr Susan Bernstein's Reinvent your Role online course (all about getting more out of your work or figuring out where to next - highly recommend it!).

At any rate, as part of that session, she'd spoken about describing the Sensations in your body...then getting to the Emotion...then the Thought (or getting SET for short). 

As I mentioned before, I'd been going straight to the thought and then how I can fix it - ha! So anyway, I thought I'd give this a crack, because I had a very noticeable sensation to try it out on...

I felt like I had a brick on my chest so I thought ok, what does this actually feel like.

It's tight...restrictive...heavy. It's also feels like my heart's in a cage or armour or shell of some sort. Yeah that's it, a shell. But it's soft underneath.

And a second later I almost burst out laughing (but didn't because Nathan was sleeping!)...because I'm a Cancer...so yep it's time to shed my little crabby shell!

I'll split this particular topic into a few posts over the coming weeks - otherwise this is going to be a bit of an epic.

(Ha ha - I just walked out to the kitchen as this song lyric was played 'I've got nothing to hide'! True that!)

So to finish up - here's my favourite quote I've heard of late that I think sums up this post and my last few weeks perfectly...

"Your body never lies, but your mind seldom tells the truth."

And I'd add - don't try and tell your body that it's wrong, it's just a waste of time!

Oops I did it again...

Ha ha if you now have Britney Spears in your head, but it seemed the most appropriate title!

So what have I done again? I've manifested the symptoms of a chest infection and sore throat.

And how did I manage that?

Because I've had 'too much to do and not enough time to do it'...I haven't had any time to rest...I've got so much to do and I don't know what to do next...I just want to get this done and it's taking forever, so I can't start something else...my to-do list has been weighing heavily on me...

Recognise some of these?

I'm a big believer in the mind-body connection...in fact it's the integral part of my life's work to be a healer.

At any rate, the crux of it what the mind-body connection means to me - my words and thoughts create my world.

And I've got a cracking example of that from this week!

I started feeling a bit chesty and throaty last week, to which I thought and said 'oh here we go, this always happens when I've got too much going on in my world and I get a bit overwhelmed by it'. 

I really wanted to have the day off on Friday, but didn't! 

So on Saturday, I thought nope, had enough of this and started turning my thoughts around. And instantly felt better!

But here I am on Monday, still with the symptoms...I think partly because I really wanted to have a day off! Instead of marching on with me affirmations and releasing this...I think I kept it going so I wouldn't have to go to work today!!!

Or because part of me wanted justification...'see I have had a lot going on - I'm sick because of it'

No I'm not - I'm sick because of the thoughts I've chosen to think about my last week or so! 

There's often plenty of different things going on in my life, but I'm not a walking chest infection. Hence why this is such a classic version of Dr Mona Lisa's saying 'you don't need to remove anything from your life, just your interpretation.'

I've got the bin out ready!!!

The first thing to remove is my self-fulfilling prophecies - 'I always get this when I'm tired and have too much on.' That and 'Don't worry, I'm not contagious, this is my own special brand.'

Then there's the standards I create for myself...

• I have to use all of my time "well"
• I have to get it all done
• I have to do it all now
• This is taking too long
• I should have had this done before now

Then there's the sayings...

• I'm so busy (this is a post in itself that I'll get to another day!)
• I've got too much to do, and not enough time
• There's not enough hours in the day
• I just don't feel like I'm getting anywhere

Urrrggghhh - I feel worse just reading back over all of this! 

Turning it all around now into affirmations that help to keep me healthy...

• I am happy and healthy.
• I allow my body to return to it's natural state of great health.
• I always have more than enough time to do everything I need to do.
• I'm surrounded by help and support.
• Everything happens in the perfect Divine order.
• I'm always in the right place at the right time, doing the right thing.
• I allow my mind to relax and be at peace.
• I live in the now and take life one step at a time.
• I am safe. All is well in my world.

Ahhh, that's feeling better!

I'll get on to affirmations more another day, but essentially they're based on thinking thoughts that make you feel good. 

Some people scoff at affirmations or ask why would you bother? 

I defy anyone to say that their main motivator isn't to be happy. So when I've got a choice to purposely think a thought that makes me feel good/happy, I choose that every day of the week! 

I forget sometimes that I do have that choice, but as soon as I remember, I'm on the bandwagon well and truly.

Ok, well back to rest and recovery...or should I say removal and replacement. Out with the old negative thoughts, in with the new, happy and healthy ones!

Happy Monday!