My Year in Review: 2013

I have big massive things planned for this year. I use 'planned' loosely as nothing at all is planned; I simply have utmost faith in the Universe that 2014 is going to be amazing, and everything will fall perfectly into place.

I know I'm going to get to the end of this year and be proud of where I'm at, but I also know I wouldn't be there if 2013 didn't happen exactly the way it did. I believe everything happens for a reason and every situation is setting you up for the future. So I want to give thanks to 2013 for the year that it was. For the love, laughter and lessons it brought me, and for the journey it's sending me on this year.

Below are some of my highlights of twenty thirteen.

Wedded Bliss
Getting married in November 2012, I spent the majority of 2013 in my first year of marriage. Every day is amazing when you spend it with your best friend/soul mate/husband who loves and supports you unconditionally. Waking up to his face every day means that I always start my day with a grateful heart. He is such a blessing in my life and I loved spending the last year as his wife.

We were lucky enough to spend our one year wedding anniversary in the gorgeous romantic town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany, where we toured with the Night Watchman, ate in a 1000 year old restaurant and roamed the wall that surrounds the city. It was such a perfect place to celebrate our one year of wedded bliss.

Passion
In 2013 I feel as though I found my passion; health and wellness and sharing it with others. For quite a few years I've been interested in holistic health and wellness but never thought to do anything with it. I had read about the Institute of Integrative Nutrition a number of years ago and midway through 2013, with a sign from the universe, I heard about it again and enrolled.

I'm now midway through my course where I'll end up a Holistic Health Coach and I couldn't be more excited to be on this journey.

The Launch of The Pursuit of Wellness
Studying at IIN didn't just feed my interest, it fuelled my passion. Wanting to share everything I learn with everyone, I created The Pursuit of Wellness; a little spot where I hope visitors will be inspired to make changes to their life to live a more healthy and happy life.

The Pursuit of Wellness gets me out of my comfort zone so not only do I hope people learn something by visiting, I'm learning too.

Learnings
Speaking of learning, in 2013 I received a big lesson from the universe and I'm so thankful for it. I realised my health was something I've often taken for granted and had the reminder that it's far harder to recover from ill health than it is to look after yourself.

This lesson was huge for me and was really the catalyst behind major changes in my life. My health and body is now a priority and I want to give it the attention it needs.

Cleansing 
My less than ideal health in mid 2013 was a blessing because I realised before it was too late that I can improve it. I was so exhausted that I couldn't get out of bed and I occasionally had to sit in the shower.

I am a perfectionist so not being able to 'do it all' was a struggle for me. Another sign from the universe later and I took a chance on a nutritional cleanse. Six months later I'm still on it, and while I'll do a review on it within the next few months, I can say without a doubt, it is what allowed me to go back to me. I sleep better, have more energy and feel happy knowing that for once I'm focusing my efforts into looking after myself by giving my body the complete nutrition it needs.

Vision into Reality
In October this year my husband and I embarked on a four week, five country adventure. Our trip saw us visit Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, Germany and Poland and there are no words to express the complete and utter gratitude I feel for this trip.

Travelling to Europe for the first time with my husband was so incredibly special; from our bike rides around a small Swiss town, celebrating our one year wedding anniversary in the most romantic town in Germany to staying in the most amazing hotels, it was unforgettable.

The photo on my vision board

On our travels through Switzerland we visited the capital Bern. On my vision board was a photo of a bridge in Bern and I was lucky enough to get a photo of that exact spot.

Bern was so special because not only is it a beautiful historic town, it was a reminder that we can achieve anything we set our minds to, and now I'm excited to see what 2014 will bring.

Swimming with Dolphins
During our stay at The Atlantis Resort at the Palms in Dubai, my husband and I went swimming with the dolphins at the water park connected to the resort. I've swam with dolphins in the wild before but being able to swim up close and touch these incredible creatures was a dream come true.

We had around half an hour of swimming and learning and I tried to savour every moment. I have so much love for dolphins that to be so close to them was so special, and sharing it with my husband made it even more perfect.

Round Up!
2013 will always be so freaking special to me. It was filled with SO much love and laughter with my husband, family and friends, that I feel so blessed. The memories I share with them all are without a doubt the absolute highlight of my year. Day trips, weekends away, concerts, pool swims, sleep overs, movie nights, dinners; 2013, you were such a massive year and I'm gratefully overflowing with love.

So filled to the brim with love, gratitude, strength and motivation, I know 2014 is going to be amazing, and I thank 2013 for lining it all up.

What is your highlight of 2013? What are you most looking forward to in 2014?

Health & Wellness Inspired Gift Guide

When they said 'it's the most wonderful time of the year', they weren't lying. Sure Christmas decorations are out in shops the week after Easter, and I start listening to Christmas carols earlier than it's socially acceptable (do I even stop?) but the month of December has a special little buzz about it which I love.

I love Christmas for the nights after a big lunch when we sit down and play board games as a family. I love it for the Christmas Eve's when we'd drive around the neighbourhood to see all the houses decorated in lights. I love it for the food, laughter and memories with my beautiful family.

With two weeks to go until Santa's arrival and my love of this time of year, you'd think that I'd be wrapping the last of my presents and putting them under the Christmas tree while sipping my hot chocolate and listing to Christmas carols, wouldn't you? Well you'd be right about one thing - '...Dashing through the snow, on a one horse open sleigh, o'er the fields we go, laughing all the way... ' - but I'm not wrapping presents or drinking hot chocolate.

So if you're still looking to finalise, or in my case, start your present shopping, or you need to provide some ideas of what your family and friends can get you, I've put together some of my favourite ideas to do with health, wellness and spiritual growth.

Spirited and Spirited 2014 Companion
$39

Written by the inspirational Rachel MacDonald and Tara Bliss, these books are at the top of my wish list because they are divine in every sense of the word; from the design and the words, to the positive changes that the readers have experienced thanks to this amazing duo. If someone needs a bit of spirit in their life and wants to make 2014 their year, get them these life guides.

Source

Inspirational Paperweight
$79.40

Along with the solid pewter word 'Be...', this paperweight comes with a number of cards printed with positive qualities, such as 'reliable', 'thankful', and 'honest'. This makes a beautiful gift as it's a reminder to the recipient of all of their amazing qualities, as well as being a catalyst for spiritual growth.

Source

NMB Diary 2014
$39.99

We often have great intentions for the New Year with resolutions but with this diary, there are no excuses. This diary will not only keep track of your daily routine, but it's also filled with recipe ideas, inspiring quotes, at-home workouts and goal setting pages, which is sure to help make 2014 a success.

Source

Notox Box
From $25

Order a one, three or six month subscription to the Notox Box and receive a box filled with 5-10 healthy & eco products every month. The goodies include a range of natural, organic & eco products such as health food, organic food, super-foods, natural skincare & make up, and eco-friendly home & lifestyle products. The Notox Box is a great way to try out a number of products without the huge cost.

Source

Magazine Subscription
From $49 a year

Another gift that gives all year through is a magazine subscription. Providing health and wellness advice each time it arrives in the mailbox, this gift is sure to provide inspiration all year through.

Source

Happy shopping or happy receiving. No one said you couldn't buy yourself presents, right?

What are you hoping to receive this year or what are you most excited to give?

Review: Coconut Oil

If someone asked you to have a cocktail of chemicals, what would you say? In most cases, I'm confident the answer would be no.

So now I pose another question; what do you put on your skin on a daily basis? If you use perfume, moisturiser, nail polish or body wash, it's highly likely you've had a mini cocktail of chemicals without even realising it.

Our skin is our largest organ so what we put on it, can be absorbed into our bloodstream. Now think of the ingredients in your beauty and hygiene products, and whether you said no to the first question.

We've been brought up in a society which told us it was normal and okay to have lead in our lipsticks, but if what I'm putting on my skin is just as important as what I put inside me, and I wouldn't voluntarily eat lead, then I don't think I should be using it in my beauty products either.

I'm so passionate about wellness because I realised quickly that a good diet and active lifestyle didn't mean I was healthy. To propel me further on my pursuit of wellness, I've made a conscious decision to start using organic beauty products and my favourite at the moment would have to be coconut oil. Not only can coconut oil be used in cooking, but it's the most amazing moisturiser I've found.

Source

Benefits of Coconut Oil

I'm not sure what I love most about coconut oil because the benefits and uses of it are endless (resources at end of post), but I've reviewed coconut oil as a moisturiser replacement in three main categories.

Health. Softness. Smell. 

My initial decision to start using coconut oil was based on my health. Nothing vain about it. Knowing that many other moisturisers on the market are petroleum based and that we're yet to determine the long term impacts of these ingredients, I no longer wanted that on, or in, my body. I can't see an immediate impact on my health of using an organic product, but I also wouldn't see an immediate impact of using beauty products with a cocktail of chemicals, and I never want to. So in terms of the health benefits associated with coconut oil, this gets a big tick.

While I can't see health improvements, I can definitely see improvements in the look and feel of my skin. Previously when I'd moisturise in the morning, my skin would absorb it like a dehydrated marathon runner. By evening it was like I'd never moisturised and my skin was back to its lacklustre self. Since moisturising with coconut oil my skin has never been softer. Even on days when I run out of time and don't moisturise, my skin is softer which shows it's genuinely more hydrated overall. Tick.

Source

Now for the smell. I use Niugini Organics coconut oil and it has the most divine smell. There is nothing artificial about it and it's not a sickly coconut smell. It's love. It's nice to have a natural fragrance for once and while it isn't super strong, I think you could go without perfume. Another tick because it's less chemicals on your body.

Another good thing about coconut oil is that you only need a small amount so it will last a looong time. The oil will often solidify in the container so you just scoop out a 20c piece amount and the heat from your body will cause it to liquify. While it doesn't completely absorb into your skin immediately, I find it's best to start out with a small amount and build up so you don't end up with too much on.

If coconut oil was any other moisturiser on the market it would get a tick for being organic, providing results and smelling amazing; but coconut oil isn't any other moisturiser. It's good for you, and good for the environment.

For more information on the endless uses and benefits of coconut oil, I suggest you read:

• Coconut Research
• 101 Uses for Coconut Oil
• Your Ultimate Guide to Coconut Oil - Benefits, Types & Uses 

Have you made the switch to coconut oil?

I'm On My Way

Source

Tonight I took my notebook, my iPad and myself to bed with a headache I've had for five days (we've become quite close :)), ready to study. As a health coach in training, and a human, I'm well aware that I should listen to my body and I should have given myself the night off. I don’t know whether it’s my love for the course I'm studying, my general passion for health and wellness or my need to always be doing something, but either way, I refused to rest.

I recently removed all social media from my phone so with my iPad in hand ready to study, I decided to have a quick look be sucked in the vortex of social media. Facebook. Instragram. Twitter. Then an hour later I found myself still watching YouTube videos from a Tweet I’d seen (you got me good ‘Recommended Videos’).

I could technically call tonight’s activities ‘research’ because the videos were from one of the most down to earth and inspiring wellness junkies I've come across, but more than that, it left me with such a fire in my belly that I got out of bed and told my husband just how excited I was.

I feel like my goals have shifted SO much since my New Years Eve resolutions that I honestly don’t know where I’ll end up, or where I’ll want to end up. Day to day I make small changes to benefit my health, and small changes to benefit my future, and it causes my priorities to shift.

And I couldn't be more excited.

Source

Tonight for me is a small representation of life. Sometimes we want to do things, yet life has other plans. It doesn't necessarily mean you took a step back; it just means you took a detour to an even more amazing spot. Another spot to learn and grow. You don't need to know everything now; you just need to take advantage of everything that you come across on your journey.

With that in mind, I'm not sure if I’ll call tonight a win for the universe because I didn't study, or a win for me because I am more inspired, motivated and committed than ever, but I'm on my way universe. I don’t know where I'm going or how I’ll get there, but I'm on my way.

Has not getting what you wanted brought an even greater blessing to your life?

What's Your Ideal Life?

When you imagine your future, what do you see? Who are you? And where are you? What is the weather like? Now that you can see it, can you feel it?

I believe in the power of positive thinking and the law of attraction which is why I try to live a life with as much positivity and gratitude as possible. Aside from the fact living life this way is far more fun, it can also bring even more positivity and abundance to your life. Win-win right?

This is why I'm a huge fan of vision boards, particularly for creating your ideal life.

A vision board is usually a collection of images and affirmation that represent your ambitions and desires. It can be focused on your life or on a particular event, such as a wedding. Your vision board should represent your hopes and dreams and it should show your ideal life. No limits necessary.

Why Create a Vision Board

According to the Law of Attraction, what we think about most, or feel most, comes true, and having a vision board makes it a lot easier to visualise yourself in a particular situation and therefore it’s easier to ‘feel’ yourself there. Say for example, I wanted to go to Venice (which while you’re listening Universe, I totally do!), while I can try to imagine myself in a gondola in Venice, if I have a photo of a gondola in a Venice canal, and look at it daily, then I can really begin to see and feel myself there.

Imagine Your Ideal Life

The first step to creating a vision board is to really think about what you want in your life. Think on the deepest level; what are your unspoken ambitions? What would you buy if money were no object? Write it down.

Pick Your Images or Let Them Pick You

When I created my vision board I did so by searching the things I wanted on the Internet based on what I thought I needed as part of ‘my ideal life’. While I kept searching until I found the exact photo of what I wanted, the more authentic and deeper way to create a vision board is to let the images pick you.

The recommended way of letting images ‘pick you’ is to flick through magazines until you feel something positive from the image. The image might be so random you question why you’d possibly have a reaction to it, but if you feel something, then rip it out and set it aside.

If you’re like me and don’t particularly want to spend $50 on magazines and not find an image of a Holistic Health Coach on a private jet for example (I did say no limits necessary!), then searching the internet and printing them works perfectly fine (although I did not find my aforementioned image on there either). It just means the next step is more important.

Your vision board can be anything you want. Anything. Whether it's inspirational quotes, a mock-up of a LinkedIn profile with your dream job title, a photo of your dream house or a bed of comfy blankets; the only boundary is your imagination.

Review & Relate

I thought I was perfectly happy with my images considering I searched the internet for hours to find each and every one of them, but because they didn't ‘pick me’ it was more important than ‘normal’ to do a review and see if I still related to them. After my review, which was actually done as I laminated them to save time, I found that I no longer felt a connection to some - quotes didn't resonate with me and ‘things’ didn't belong. My focus and feelings had shifted so I removed those images because if I don't feel anything for it, I certainly don't want to be attracting it to my ideal life.

Whether you search the internet or rip out images from your magazines, before you stick your images onto your vision before it’s good to have another look over them and make sure they still have a place in your ideal life.

Stick ‘Em Up

Once you’re happy with your collection of images it’s time to stick them up! You can paste them in a journal you can flick through, stick them on a cork board behind your desk or on poster paper on your bedroom wall. Find what works for you, because the spot you stick it and how you do it can be as individual as your ideal life.

My vision board takes pride of place on the back of my ensuite door which works perfectly for me because it’s private and I don’t have to worry about people wondering why I have so many photos of Olivia Palmero, and the shower is the only place in the house I'm still long enough to actually go through them all. I individually stuck all of my images with Blu-Tac which allows me to easily add and remove as my priorities change (or things come into my life).

Review Part 2
Many people say that once you create your vision board you don’t necessarily have to look at it again. By putting your wishes out to the universe it will manifest it for you. Even if this is the case, I still review my vision board daily. It helps that it’s on the back of my ensuite door so I can look at it during my morning dry body brushing, but it also connects me back to my images, serves as a reminder of where I'm heading and provides support when I need it.

My vision board isn't just my ideal life with material things. In fact, my vision board has more inspirational quotes than anything and I find that I will be drawn to particular quotes on particular days. 

So what’s your vision?

Go to a quiet place, and imagine your ideal life. What is in it? Where are you? Who are you? Begin to connect with your deepest desires. Then set the bar higher. Do not limit yourself and let your imagination run wild.

Once you've finished your vision board it’s important to truly believe and feel that this is your life. A good way to do this is to include a photo of yourself in the middle of your board. A photo that was taken when you looked and felt happy. You will begin to connect this emotion with the other images in your vision board, and the Law of Attraction will be at work.  

By feeling happy, gratitude, positivity and abundance, the Law of Attraction will provide. And even if it didn't, you would still feel happy, gratitude, positivity and abundance, so what do you have to lose?

Whether it’s the world in alignment that’s bringing you the things on your vision board, or the fact you have a constant reminder of what you really truly want, so you subconsciously work towards it, vision boards have had too much success to completely ignore them.

So what is your ideal life?

I attract everything that is for my highest good.