What does the end of one year and the start of a new year bring up for you?

In the past I would be so hard on myself looking back at the previous year thinking "is this ALL I have achieved?!" And I would wake up on New Year's Day feeling anxious and overwhelmed with everything I wanted to do and achieve in the forthcoming year. If those feelings come up now (and they still do to a degree) I simply sit with them to bring me back into the present. And then I put them into perspective. 

Acknowledge that everything that happened to each of us in 2017 - the good, the bad and the ugly- was all perfect and unfolded exactly as it should to bring us to where we are today. 

Now it's time to shine the light on 2018. A new chapter in our story book of life, waiting for us to write on its blank pages with endless possibilities. 

To create a life that lights you up start by writing a list of how you want to spend your time in 2018. It can be as short or as long as you like but make sure the things on there are those things that really light you up. That's step 1. Stick the list somewhere prominent where you can see it every single day. Step 2 is to find ways to delegate or outsource or kick to the curb the tasks that absorb much of your time that DON'T fall into that list.

I spent some time doing this the last couple days to be absolutely crystal clear on how I want to spend my time adding the most value (to myself and my community) in 2018, acknowledging that some goals will realistically have to wait to 2019. Rome wasn't built in a day. And then I spent time delegating every single task that either I don't absolutely want to do or is not critical for me and me alone to do. 

The path called 2018 that lies ahead may at times be treacherous, undulating, monotonous, spectacular, exhilarating or smooth sailing. But whatever twists and turns it brings, enjoy every step of the journey. While our goals and dreams are dearly important to each of us, my goal is to inject a sense of play and lightness into HOW I execute them and how I respond to the curveballs that life throws at me, to keep the bigger picture in perspective.

Whatever 2018 brings for you, know that a journey of personal growth always brings you one step closer to a life of fulfilment. And if along your path you come to the realisation that you don't like where you're heading, it's ok to start over. You're the artist creating your masterpiece called Life. Make it as delicious as possible in every sense of the word! 

Why you need to be concerned with epigenetics

I recently read this this quote in an article written by Louisa Williams called "The Five Obstacles to Cure: How to Address the Most Common Health Challenges to Optimal Health" featured in a Weston A Price Foundation journal. And it got me thinking a lot about the interplay between genetics and epigenetics and why our focus really needs to be on the latter on a day to day basis. 

Growing up I used to think that the state of our health was determined by our hard coded genes. You were either born lucky with good genes if you had good health,  or if you succumbed at any point to illness or disease we blamed it on our inherited genes. That fatalistic approach to life is not only a cop-out, it's also old science. Modern science tells us that the genes we inherent from our parents only account for a very small fraction of our health and our health is largely influenced and determined by a number of different lifestyle or environmental factors. Certainly we are all born with a health "bank account" of varying degrees (some of us - like super models- more ahead of the 8 ball than others). But whether that health bank account increases or decreases over our lifetime is directly proportional to our investment or expenditure of it via various lifestyle factors such as nutrition, hydration, sleep, movement, breath, stress management, time spent in nature and connecting with others (what I call the 8 foundations of health). These epigenetic factors switch our genes on or off, for better or for worse. They determine how tall, robust from illness, intelligent, and beautiful we become. Welcome to the world of epigenetics. Think of your genes as representing your or your child's potential. Your child might be born with the potential to be 6 foot tall, have an IQ of 200, have a wide dental arch with high cheekbones, and strong bone density. Whether or not those things actually eventuate to become a reality depends on consistent exposure to these 8 lifestyle factors. Are they consistently getting enough nutrients in their food, pure water, lots of sleep and movement, feeling loved and connected, breathing fresh air through their noses etc. If so, they will reach their true potential of their genetic make up. If not, they might only make it to 5 foot 5 inches, have a narrow dental arch (necessitating braces), break bones when falling off the monkey bars, succumb from frequent infections and not be as smart and beautiful as they otherwise would be had they had the full spectrum of nutrients, probiotics and other lifestyle factors in the right doses at critical points of their development. As a parent, isn't this such an awesome responsibility?!?! To give another example, your child might be born with the genes for celiac disease, obesity and /or diabetes. Whether or not those genes will actually express themselves (and hence whether your child will actually develop those conditions) depends entirely on environmental factors: were they eating lots of gluten or refined starches which trigger these conditions? If not, then those conditions will never come to fruition! A terrific analogy is one used by functional medicine guru Chris Kresser who says that genes load the gun but epigenetics pull the trigger. A brilliant book that elaborates on epigenetics (and in particular fascial formation) so beautifully is Deep Nutrition: Why our Genes Need Traditional Foods by Dr Catherine Shanahan (a must-read for all parents). 

When we consistently invest in these epigenetic/ lifestyle factors that I call the 8 foundations of health, our health bank account soars like a profitable investment. When we make poor investment decisions on a daily basis, the bank account dwindles. I went into the red in my 20s hitting rock bottom with a spectacular crash. I trashed my body with a conventional diet, tap water, alcohol, irregular sleep, a sleuth of environmental toxins in both personal care products and cleaning products, long slow steady state exercise which stresses the body, a stressful job, an unhappy relationship and total nature divorcement. The disconnect between my biology and my lifestyle was so profound, I quickly used up ever steric of my inherited health bank account and unravelled into a mess landing in hospital and needing to rebuild myself from the ground up. 

The point is, we are in the drivers seat. We have, to a large degree, control over these environmental factors and hence control over our overall health (which we then pass onto our offspring through their hard coded genes). It's always a choice we make. We can maximise nutrient-density, we can minimise dietary and environmental toxins, we can decide to a large degree how much sleep, movement and exposure to sunshine we get, and we can learn techniques to manage our stress. That, to me, is a truly empowering notion. Which is why it is so rewarding in my health coaching sessions to educate, help and support my clients in minimising the mismatch between our biology and environmental  (epigenetics) factors so we can fire on all 6 cylinders to (finally) function properly and perform our best, to reach our true potential. Vibrant health is within your reach. I'm here to help if you're willing to take the first step. 

The Magic Pill - Special Q&A Screening with Pete Evans

I am so excited to announce that we have organised a screening of Pete Evan's amazing documentary film The Magic Pill.

The Magic Pill follows doctors, patients, scientists, chefs, farmers and journalists from around the globe who are combating illness through a paradigm shift in eating. And this simple change is showing profound promise in improving the health of people, animals and the planet.

Where: Ritz Cinemas Randwick NSW
When: Wednesday 11th October at 6:30pm

There will be a Q&A panel afterwards with Pete Evans, Helen Padarin, Leslie Embersits from MINDD Foundation and myself. Please ask us curly questions! 

All funds raised by this event go towards the Mindd Foundation to ensure that they have the resources needed to empower parents and communities to help children struggling with complex illnesses. With your support MINDD can assist families across Australia access the best evidence-based products and services. 

Please please please share with family and friends! This is an important film that is a must-see by all persons young and old. I hope to see you there!!