My 4 top tips on how to thrive in turbulent times
Becca Crawford
There is no doubt that our world has changed over the past 6 weeks and we have all been impacted in some way, shape or form.
Regardless of your political and social views, the main thing to focus on is HOW WE CAN RESPOND to external events because really that is the only thing we can control.
Crisis creates opportunity so seize this opportunity to do things a little differently and to positively impact your life for the better.
Here are my top 4 tips on how to not only survive but thrive in turbulent times:
Focus on what you CAN control and don’t dwell on the things outside of your control
There are a lot of things outside of our control that can create fear, stress and worry if we dwell upon them. The things that we CAN control include our health and how we respond to external events.
Our health is largely driven by lifestyle factors (called epigenetics) far moreso than our hard coded genes. The 8 epigenetic factors that profoundly influence our health are what we eat, drink, and think, how we move, sleep, and breathe, how much time we spend in nature and sunshine and the deep social connections we have with others. We can largely control these things by making a conscious choice each and every day to break old habits and create new, more fruitful, ones. When it comes to our health, we are in the driver’s seat! And that, my friends, is a truly empowering notion.
Instead of resisting new rules, find ways to work around them eg my in person workshops are now all run via zoom webinar (with the added benefit that my message is now able to reach even more people in the world), my Broth Bar is now only take away instead of dine in (which brings numerous added benefits to the internal workings of a kitchen). The benefits of home schooling for us outweigh the challenges (no alarms, no packing of lunches, and commute times are replaced with sleep ins, play and exercise). There might be opportunities to reinvent yourself in your work or to do something entirely different that truly sets your soul on fire that you otherwise would not have considered.
2. Live more cleanly
No I am not talking about antibacterial products (the vast majority are toxic to your health and to the planet!). I am talking about cleaning up your lifestyle, and in particular your diet and the other lifestyle factors mentioned above.
Ditch all the things that no longer serve you (dietary and environmental toxins and negative fear-based thought patterns).
Replace them with things that nourish you in all areas of your life: nutrient rich food, filtered water, loving positive and inspiring relationships and friendships, moving your body in ways that makes you feel good, basking in sunshine, time in nature, getting lots of deep sleep, taking some deep belly breaths, being positive and having some fun through playing and laughing every single day. And ditch the slew of toxic personal care products and cleaning products that line your kitchen, laundry and bathroom cupboard that are causing havoc on your system and the planet. Healthy swap with non toxic, powerful and cost effective versions. Message me for a list of what I use and recommend.
All these things will raise our vibrational frequency and when our vibration is high, we are physically and emotionally stronger and hence more immune to illness and disease.
Appreciate that humans have lived with pathogenic bacteria and viruses since the beginning of time and we have, and always will, come into contact with all manner of microbes. Whether you get sick has less to do with the microbe itself (the external environmental) and more to do with the internal environment (your immune system) that can fight and defend against it. Exposure to pathogens invigorates your immunity and for people with a well functioning immune system this is a normal and natural part of being human. The issue is that the majority of people in the western world do not have a strong immune system because of an abysmal state of health driven primarily by a junk food diet and other poor lifestyle factors which for too long have been accepted as normal because “there’s a pill for that”. There is not a pill for it. Pills are band-aids at best and come with harmful side effects at worst. There is no such thing as junk food. It’s either food or it’s junk. Junk makes you sick and lowers your immune response. When people start eating real nutrient-dense food and making simple lifestyle factors, many health conditions reverse within a matter of weeks.
If you are confused with where to start with cleaning up your lifestyle or need more guidance to put all the jigsaw puzzle pieces together or want to dive deeper into what a nutrient dense diet for you and your family looks like, consider booking into my next Food as Medicine talk Sat 23 May 9am-2pm that I co-present with Australia’s leading holistic practitioner Marieke Rodenstein – this is an extremely comprehensive talk (and covers ALL of the information I discuss in my one on one private health coaching sessions) and you will walk away armed with all of the tools and resources you need to reclaim and maintain vibrant health.
3. Embrace simplicity
I started stripping away the unnecessary extras in my life well over a decade ago and try to live as simple an existence as I can in the western world. Now is the time to laser focus on what’s really essential in your life and redirect resources to those things only.
At the end of the day the things that really matter to your existence are the 8 Foundations or Pillars of health I mentioned above and the vast majority of them are completely free (sleep, movement, breath, positive mindset, fun/play/connection, time in nature and sunshine). The products that cost money that I choose to spend my resources on are real honest whole food, a good water filter system and a few non toxic personal care products and cleaning products.
Now is the time to learn how to make simple nourishing fuss-free meals with whole food ingredients that are ethically sourced from local farmers. Learn how here.
Breakfast can be as simple as pastured eggs, sauerkraut, sautéed greens and/or a smoothie. 5 minutes to make.
Lunch can be as simple as a salad or veggie sticks teamed with quality protein like left over meat or tinned wild fish or full fat cheese. 5 minutes to make.
Dinner is always meat + veg + bone broth. Learn how to make your own bone broth (a must-have staple in every home) here or buy on-online here. Meat, veg + broth all come together in a casserole or a soup which you can learn to make in my slow cook workshop and bone broth workshop respectively. So whatever combo we are having its always meat + 3 veg + broth. If you have the broth on hand, dinners typically take me less than 10 minutes to throw together.
If the ingredients are nutrient dense the quality really speaks for itself and you don’t need fancy foams and sauces to make it palatable. Real food, ethically sources that is fresh and unprocessed and properly prepared by you at home tastes delicious because nutrients are precisely what gives food its flavour. The more nutrient dense the food is, the most flavoursome it is.
4. Practice gratitude
Be grateful for what you DO have without regard to the things you DON’T have. For most of us in the western world we do live a very remarkably privileged and blessed life. Appreciate all the things you miss that you will one day have again e.g. beach swims, dinner parties, hugs, handshakes, in person gatherings! This will make those things all the more special in the future. I ever heard my daughter the other daughter saying how much she misses her school after begging me at the start of the year to allow her to change schools. Isn’t it interesting how absence makes the heart grow fonder.
“It’s your reaction to adversity, not adversity itself that determines how your life’s story will develop”
Sending much love + light,
Soulla xx