Wellbeing Journal
HOW STRESS AFFECTS YOUR SKIN (AND WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!)
Nurturing happy, healthy skin begins with using the best products to cleanse, moisturise and rejuvenate – but it doesn’t stop there. The truth is, caring for your skin can be a battle, and stress can be a major factor.None of us are immune to stress. It can sneak up quietly. Other times it charges at us head-on. But how does stress affect your skin?In times of duress, our bodies produce a steroid hormone called cortisol which, aside from the sparking the ‘fight or flight’ mechanism, increases your skin’s natural oil production cycle. This can allow bacteria to breed, resulting in breakouts.When you’re under attack from stress, you need a strategy to help relieve it – the first step is to consult your healthcare practitioner.Next, here’s what else you can do. Listen to your body Stress triggers can be difficult to pin down, especially when you’re busy. If you’re feeling tired, having trouble sleeping, experiencing changes in appetite or finding it hard to focus, ensure you take time out to do the things that make you happy and promote relaxation. This might involve getting back to that book you never finished, catching up with friends or settling in for a well-timed Saturday nap. Maintain your skin care ritual Work stress often scrambles our priorities, so keeping up routines like your skin care ritual can help you feel more balanced. Proper cleansing is also a lovely way to slow down and spend some quality time pampering yourself after a long, hard day. Treat your daily cleansing ritual as an opportunity to indulge in some much deserved you-time, using a cleanser with natural ingredients that’s suited to your skin type and won’t cause irritation.Experience our Rosewater Balancing Mist for a mindful moment during the day. It also contains natural antioxidants ingredients which help keep your skin fresh, hydrated and revitalised. Relax, reflect, rejuvenate While an effective skin care ritual is key to keeping skin clear and healthy, addressing the causes of stress is even more important. Always consult your healthcare professional as a starting point.Identifying situations that make you feel anxious or overwhelmed, recognising but not engaging with present emotions, and gradually changing your response to them can help you better manage stress over time, in positive ways.Recognising the physical and emotional experience of stress when it arises, accepting its presence, and practicing deep, abdominal breathing also helps neutralise anxiety.Talking through issues with an attentive friend or trained professional can help liberate stress and make sense of the big picture. Otherwise, meditation and massage are also great ways to slow down and reconnect with what’s truly important – you and your wellbeing.Stress is a part of modern life, but it doesn’t need to rule yours. What are your tips and tricks for handling stress? We’d love to hear them.*The content displayed on this webpage is intended for informational purposes only and is not to be construed as medical advice. Please discuss mental health issues with your healthcare professional.
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DETOX YOUR SKIN, DETOX YOUR LIFE
Spring is the time of year that evokes thoughts of blooming and renewal, so it’s not surprising that it’s also a popular time for health kicks. Detoxing – which minimises the effects of harmful or undesirable influences on your wellbeing – is high on people’s to-do lists, particularly when it comes to diet, exercise and lifestyle.But detoxing is about more than just upping the juice cleanses and beach runs. There’s detoxing your skin, detoxing your home, detoxing your habits – detoxing your life – with a nurturing, holistic approach to wellness.Because it’s not about cutting out the good stuff. It’s about taking care of you, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, and making sure you have everything you need to live a happy, healthy life.Read on to learn about detoxing your skin, life, and everything in between.Detoxing your skinYour skin detox starts with understanding external aggressors. Pollution is a big one, whether you live in an urban or rural area. Links have been found between exposure to these particulate matter and skin health.On the other end of the spectrum, you have obvious external aggravators like make-up, which is longwearing and has direct access to skin. While cleansing and exfoliating can help remove impurities, a regular skin care ritual provides the solution you need to deeply cleanse and purify.Introducing Purity SpecialistDesigned for detoxingJurlique’s Purity Specialist range is a two-step system specifically formulated remove pollution and product build-up for a gorgeous, glowing complexion. It offers a soothing treatment ritual, giving you time to relax, reconnect and enhance wellbeing as you nurture your skin.Purity Specialist Compress ConcentrateThis potent botanical concentrate blends purifying extracts to help open pores, release impurities and prepare skin for further treatement. Rich antioxidants also help protect skin from pollutants and premature ageing. The concentrate includes:Soap Bark, to cleanse and purifyChamomile, which protects and restores radianceIndian Cress, to protect and toneUse weekly or as needed after your normal cleanser, and before your toning mist.blog-6-supporting-img-623x313-v3Purity Specialist Treatment MaskThis creamy clay mask has natural ingredients to deeply cleanse and absorb impurities for radiant, healthy skin. These include:Kaolin to absorb impuritiesRosemary, which cleanses and protectsApricot Seed, which exfoliates and smoothPeppermint to invigorate and sootheApply after Purity Specialist Compress Concentrate, as it opens pores, making impurities easier to remove. Follow with the rest of your Jurlique skin care ritual.blog-6-supporting-img-623x313-v1Detoxing your lifeWhile waiting for your treatment mask, think about which areas of your life are most in need of detoxing:DietExerciseSleepFamilyRelationshipFriendsHouseFinanceWorkWhat ideas do you have about improving them, particularly for the ones you really care about?For example, if you’d like to detox at home, would a declutter help? Or is it more about crafting a relaxing, restful atmosphere to rejuvenate in? At work, does detoxing involve better time or stress management? Or is it working on more projects that bring you joy, while allowing you to stretch and grow?Asking these questions and being openly curious about discovering answers means you’re not just problem solving, you’re unlocking opportunities (and in ways that inspire you to action).The idea behind detoxing is really about finding your optimal balance, to ensure a happy life experience. If you’ve over-extended in particular areas, the knock-on effect is to no doubt feel under-exposed in others. Returning to your equilibrium – and in ways that satisfy you physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually – is your ultimate path to wellness.1 World Health Organisation (WHO) factsheet, No 313, HYPERLINK “http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs313/en/” Ambient (outdoor) air quality and health, updated March 2014.Shop the Story:Purity Specialist Compress Concentrate | $65Blog-Wellbeing-BlogBanner-purity-concentratePurity Specialist Treatment Mask | $85Blog-Wellbeing-BlogBanner-purity-maskWant more natural skin tips and tricks? Download the Jurlique Skin Care ChallengeDiscover more Jurlique skin care tips by subscribing to our newsletter.Share
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UNDERSTANDING: THINGS HAPPEN FOR YOU AND NOT TO YOU BY VASHTI WHITFIELD
As part of our Jurlique Mindfulness Challenge, executive life coach Vashti Whitfield has created an exclusive four-part series of guest blogs for us. In part four, she explores how actively practicing mindfulness can help you deal with whatever life throws at you.Over the last decade, I dove into – and then out of – the role of ‘wife of a superstar’. I learned very quickly the value of self-worth, which became an absolute necessity as a stay-at-home mum. With too much alone time with two small children in remote countries, I was forced to question and explore the whole concept of life, love and legacy.I also nursed my husband through a tumultuous 18-month cancer journey from “Yay, you’re going to make it!” to “No, you have three months to live”. I transitioned from being married to my best friend for 13 years into being a widow, the single parent of two gorgeous kids, and the sole provider and breadwinner. Oh, and did I mention that I’m also driven by my unwavering commitment to make a difference in people’s lives in any way possible?So believe me when I tell you that I totally get it. I know what it’s like to wake up in the night wondering how I’m going to manage the multiple balls I’m juggling. I understand the insane commitment it takes to be fully present for the people around me when my mind is racing; worrying about something in the future, or regretting something I could have done differently in the past.I had to explore different ways of looking at life to learn how to approach the scale of the life I was asking for – and cope with the mind-bending scenarios life decided to throw back at me. Because regardless of whether life is easy or difficult, it’s how you choose to interpret it that will either make you or break you.Creating the life you wantWhile no two brains are alike, we’re all hardwired to think our way forward, towards what we most desire. This is the part of our brain that, when it’s clear in its intention, is motivated and capable of making almost anything happen.But we are also hardwired – rather cleverly and somewhat annoyingly at times – to detect and protect ourselves against anything that might cause us pain, humiliation or rejection.In order for you to really dive into the potential of a situation and make things happen in your life, it is absolutely critical that you own, choose and understand what you want. This will immediately support you to clarify your level of commitment to your goal, and help expose any underlying fears that might have held you back up to this point.Actively practicing mindfulness is a powerful tool for reconnecting with your most intuitive and capable self (and it’s far more cost-effective than going on holiday). It’s also what the modern-day mind needs to tap into our innate wisdom, and our ability to create, adapt and grow from anything that life throws at us.Through this ongoing curious and non-judgemental enquiry of learning more about ourselves, we are able to live, love, and lead often remarkably inspiring lives.* With thanks to Byron Katie for the quote.Explore the Jurlique Mindfulness Challenge for tips, tools and a step-by-step plan for transitioning from mindful-mess to mindfulness. Download the Jurlique X Vashti Whitfield Mindfulness Challenge here
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TAKING CONTROL OF LIMITING THOUGHTS BY VASHTI WHITFIELD
As part of our Jurlique Mindfulness Challenge, executive life coach Vashti Whitfield has created an exclusive four-part series of guest blogs for us. In part three, she explores how our beliefs lead our minds to work for us – or against us.Have you ever found yourself feeling like you’re doing all the ‘right’ things – setting goals, taking action – but you’re just not getting any traction? It might not be your actions holding you back, but your beliefs.We are all born as perfect blank canvases: impressionable, absorbent, with the ability to become almost anything. And during our earliest years, while our brains and bodies are forming, growing and making sense of the world, we develop an acute awareness of what does and doesn’t feel good – and this has far-reaching effects.How our earliest experiences mould usThink of what happens when a toddler, having just mastered the word “please”, accidentally knocks a glass of juice all over the rug in her eagerness to grab what she’d been given permission to take. And her parents, who are exhausted at the end of yet another stressful work day, lose their temper and shout at her, complaining that she never listens, and couldn’t she just sit still.The little girl – who’d believed that using “please” correctly would be met with praise and adoration – is instead offered a confusing display of anger from her hugely frustrated and tired parents. The determination she set out with and was initially praised for now becomes something negative and unhelpful, as she becomes someone who “never listens and should do what they’re told”.If you’re that toddler, a few weeks of the same message being fed back to you – not to mention the confusion that comes when doing something impressive is met with anger and rejection – will form the beginnings of a very significant belief: that whatever you try to do without being invited will be met with a response that does not feel good.So, boom: you’re not even three years old, and you’ve already loaded a specific belief into the hard drive of your brain – one that will continue to influence everything you do or don’t do moving forward.Of course, this works both ways. If you get on stage at school and sing, and you’re praised and positively acknowledged, you’re 99% more likely to be confident singing in public again. Or if you try something and bomb spectacularly, but still receive encouragement from a loving support structure that challenges you to try again, it will help you build resilience – and form the healthy belief that as long as you try your best, nothing else really matters.Using mindfulness to take controlAssigning meaning to something is a very necessary tool. If we reach for a hot cup of tea and it burns our hand, our brain communicates to us through our pain receptors to tell us that this hurts. And we know for next time how to avoid danger and pain when it comes to hot cups of tea.The problem is that as we grow older and mature, we sometimes forget these past experiences – but we continue to act out the behaviours, habits and structures we put in place to avoid feeling the pain, embarrassment, abandonment, discomfort and hurt they caused. And as we travel through life, we might set goals to achieve something – but if deep down, we don’t believe we’re worthy of it, it becomes far less likely to happen.Unfortunately, we’re often caught living within the confines of a set of beliefs that neither serve us nor support us. But here’s the good news: once you realise that you’re operating from a self-limiting perspective – one that you know is far from how you would like to approach life – you can begin to map a new path.And when you’re courageous enough to acknowledge that what you believe may in fact be nothing more than a confused memory of your past, you can start moving towards what you’d most like to achieve – and learn to let that self-defeating belief and its accompanying behaviour be a thing of the distant past.Explore the Jurlique Mindfulness Challenge for tips, tools and a step-by-step plan for transitioning from mindful-mess to mindfulness. Download the Jurlique X Vashti Whitfield Mindfulness Challenge here
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FINDING YOUR FOCUS BY VASHTI WHITFIELD
As part of our Jurlique Mindfulness Challenge, executive life coach Vashti Whitfield has created an exclusive four-part series of guest blogs for us. In part two, she explores how focusing on what’s important to you can transform the way you experience life.In essence, mindfulness is about bringing your awareness and attention back to what is most important to you. Once you focus on what it is you do want, you can begin to create structures in your day-to-day life to interrupt, remove and retrain any self-limiting beliefs, and reduce any negative thought patterns.If you’re feeling stressed, anxious, disappointed or angry, you may very well be stuck on the negative, fear-based part of your brain. Our goal is get you off that dizzying hamster wheel and into a more empowering place – one that allows you to see, feel and move toward what you most want. That’s when you’ll be mindfully taking responsibility to be more fully satisfied in life.Being able clarify what you most want, define a goal, or even take a moment to clarify how you want to feel about something is all part of your brain’s clever ability to help you move towards what you want. But if you’re overwhelmed by the feelings created by the emotional part of your brain – the part that’s doing its best to protect you from the unknown, or worse still, anything in your past that felt less than great – it becomes very hard for you to see anything else other than a potential problem, threat or hardship.If you’re wondering why some people always manage to achieve so much while seeming so calm and positive, it’s usually because they’re embracing all the support structures they have to clarify and build their vision, goals and plan. It’s more than likely that they’re also surrounding themselves with daily practice and/or people who support and inspire them.Is your glass half empty – or half full?Before we go any further, let’s see if you’re a ‘glass half-empty’ or ‘glass half-full’ thinker, keeping in mind that there’s no judgement here – only tools to build awareness of how you filter your thinking and outlook.When something doesn’t go according to plan, do you: Get caught up in the drama, talk about your problem to anyone and everyone, and feel hurt and grumpy? Press pause and look for the opportunity in the situation? In a challenging situation, are you more likely to: Feel like something or someone has ‘done something’ to you? See it as something you can turn into an opportunity to learn, grow, or think on your feet? Focus: A family case studyI was recently gifted with a wonderful example of the different approaches we take when faced with challenges during a conversation with my kids, Jesse and Indigo, who could not be more different in their attitude towards life.We were supposed to go on a surf trip up the coast, but due to a work deadline, I was forced to postpone. (Being the sole breadwinner means these things happen sometimes.) Overwhelmed by her disappointment, Indi hurled herself to the floor, and began listing all the fabulous places her friends had gone for the holidays.She then began to list all the other missed activities, treats and anything else she could think of that would justify life’s harsh and unjustified treatment of her. She was determined, in case I’d missed the memo, to have me know just how much the situation sucked!Jesse, the head surfer of the family, stood by quietly, and I wouldn’t have known the extent of his disappointment had I not noticed he’d sprung a silent little leak. A single tear rolled down his cheek, but he simply said, “Ok Mum, this sucks more for you than it does for us, because you’ve got to work most of the weekend. What else could we do to make this a fun weekend?”I should add here that in response to my kids’ obvious disappointment, my own head was racing with thoughts like, “You’re such a mean mum…it’s so hard being a single parent and it’s so unfair…how did I get myself in this situation?” As a result, my heart was racing and my stomach was churning.But as their guide and the adult in this difficult situation, I was aware of the need to practice what I preach. That required me to step out of the drama and frustration of the situation and back into the opportunity of it. This is where practicing mindfulness is key. I focused on what was most important to me as my starting point, and used that to anchor myself to teach my kids how to view everything in life as an opportunity.I took a big, deep breath, picked Indi off the floor, sat Jesse down on the seat next to me and said, “We are all frustrated and we are all disappointed. But we all have a choice in how we deal with this. How can we take advantage of being in Sydney for the weekend and that I will have to spend a portion of the weekend working. How can we turn this into something fun?”Indi immediately focused on what she COULD do over what she couldn’t do or have, and it completely shifted her thinking. She was suddenly excited, specific and proactive in calling out her heart’s desire.“Okay, Mum: how about you work until lunch time and then take us ice skating and then to see a movie and then you can carry on working when we’ve gone to bed!”And there, in a shift from one point of focus to another, my little storm cloud of a daughter turned into a ray of sunshine. Although I’m not sure I came out on top, it still seemed to me a win-win situation – because if I wasn’t self-employed and my own boss, the flexibility I have to make these kinds of adjustments wouldn’t exist. At least, that’s how I chose to see it.It’s all about focusAt the heart of my little share is that it’s ALL about where you place your focus. Indi’s brain, in her state of disappointment, was referencing everything she didn’t have. This left her feeling helpless, powerless and frustrated.But by defining something you DO want versus something you don’t, you suddenly insert yourself back in a power position – and back to your rightful place in the driver’s seat. The ensuing release of endorphins will have you feeling excited and clear about what you need to do – and you’ll be motivated to take the steps toward what you most want.Your brain, with the clarity of a specific target point on the horizon, understands that you know exactly where you want to go – even if you don’t quite know how to get there.Explore the Jurlique Mindfulness Challenge for tips, tools and a step-by-step plan for transitioning from mindful-mess to mindfulness. Download the Jurlique X Vashti Whitfield Mindfulness Challenge here
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VASHTI WHITFIELD ON WHAT IS MINDFULNESS?
As part of our Jurlique Mindfulness Challenge, executive life coach and mindfulness expert Vashti Whitfield has created an exclusive four-part series of guest blogs for us. In part one, she explores what it means to be mindful and practice mindfulness.What does practicing mindfulness mean to you? Is it sitting quietly for a couple of minutes, taking the time to feel the breeze on your cheek, or slipping off your shoes and bringing all of your attention to how the ground feels beneath your toes? Or diligently meditating for at least 10 minutes, switching off your mind and washing away the chaos running riot inside your head?However you choose to be mindful, the process of reconnecting to your breath and senses as you actively clear your thoughts can allow you to recognise what your mind is trying to focus on, and scale back the intensity of how you feel about it. By giving yourself this clarity and distance, you are able to view what worried you with a clearer perspective and a calmer mind.When you sit in the silence of the moment, it is far easier to experience the magnitude of stress that our excessive thinking puts on our bodies.Three-minute practice: Rebooting your mindBefore you read any further, I want you to take three minutes to try it for yourself.Think of your mind as a laptop. If you’re anything like me, you’ve got multiple programs, files and documents open. After a while, everything is not only running slower – it’s also becoming a bit of a mess.In this practice, you’re going to close each of these programs or thoughts down. And once your mind is clear, you’ll only reopen the thoughts you REALLY need.Close your eyes, inhale for 5 seconds, then slowly exhale for 10 seconds. Repeat three times. Then sit absolutely still for at least two minutes, concentrating only on your breath and the sounds you can hear around you. Once you open your eyes, notice how you feel.I call this “rebooting”, and I do this exercise multiple times throughout the day. It helps me reduce overwhelming feelings and prioritise my focus. Most importantly, it helps me clarify if I am wasting time thinking about things I cannot predict, control or change.More ways to be mindfulOften when people are doing something creative or active, such as cooking or playing music, they’re able to experience a disconnection from the busyness of their mind. This physical or creative practice can also leave you feeling more calm, clear and inspired.Learning to think and feel through the senses is a remarkably simple and straightforward approach to slowing the mind. This one of the most effective ways to learn to be present in your life, calm your overactive mind, and use the clarity of distance that a moment’s pause can give you to reconnect.The benefits of mindfulnessPeople often use different mindfulness techniques to deal with stress, anxiety, or even insomnia. These practices are hugely beneficial for anyone caught in up in the stress and strain of modern-day living.And those ‘aha’ moments we rely on for inspiration or problem-solving don’t come when we overthink something. They almost always appear when you’ve let go a little and are in a completely different headspace.Think of the times when your best ideas have come to you while you’re in the shower, on holiday, or watching a movie. A daily Mindful Practice is also a wonderful way of bringing more clarity, insight and awareness to your life – along with more of those ‘aha’ moments.Practicing mindfulness dailyThere are two important aspects to consider when we explore the concept of mindfulness. First is the daily and consistent practice of moving out of your head and back into your body. This about letting go of your thoughts, and giving all of your attention to the sensations in your body, your breath, and the stillness of your mind. Then and only then are we able to distance ourselves from the freight train of thoughts our brains are hardwired to create.The second and even more powerful aspect of practising mindfulness is being able to do it when you’re in the midst of your busy life, and not just in the sanctuary of your dedicated practice space. This is when you’re able to actively stop and reflect on what you’re thinking about, explore why you’re thinking about it and whether it’s having a positive impact on you, and then – as an act of will – change your thoughts to better serve you.The key is to start small and do what you can – and most importantly, define your intention for getting started. We often reactively move into doing or trying something and yet fail to set a clear objective or goal around, making it far too easy to let ourselves of the hook for not seeing it though. Be clear and honest with yourself about what you’re really committed to – and write it down.Over the next month, we invite you to cast aside any scepticism and openly explore how being more mindful can vastly improve your quality of life.Explore the Jurlique Mindfulness Challenge for tips, tools and a step-by-step plan for transitioning from mindful-mess to mindfulness. Download the Jurlique X Vashti Whitfield Mindfulness Challenge here
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WHY YOU NEED A MORE PLANT-BASED DIET BY JACQUELINE ALWILL
Jacqueline Alwill’s philosophy at The Brown Paper Bag is about nourishing the body inside and out with a delicious wholefoods and a plant-based diet. Over the course of two weeks, Jacqueline’s Challenge will help you find your inner glow by learning to commit to healthy and wholefoods eating.The plant kingdom has such an incredible abundance of beautiful elements to offer our bodies. For the skin plants can help soothe, hydrate and brighten, and similarly the nutrition they offer our body can help energise, restore and protect. There are so many reasons to include plants in our lives and more than ever we should be basing our diet on plants so we can fuel ourselves with nutrients to thrive.A plant-based diet is not vegan or vegetarian per se, but instead sets the foundation of the diet on plants and builds from there. I encourage people to incorporate a plant-based diet into their lives because it helps transition away from processed and refined food, is sustainable for our earth, and fuels the body with beautiful nutrition. Vitamins, minerals, fibre, carbohydrates, amino acids, phytochemicals, pre and probiotics can all be found in plants. So, let’s chew a few together…Pre and probiotics:Pre and probiotics work as team and are essential for digestion and absorption. When there is not enough of one or the other in the diet, gut health begins to decline. Remember the gut is the seat of our health and poor gut integrity often creates a snowball effect for poor health. Part of an easy solution is to include a little more of both pre and probiotic rich foods in the diet. Prebiotics we find in plants such as onions, asparagus, chickpeas, lentils, beans, slippery elm, guar gum and psyllium, so increasing the intake of these plants supplements an increase probiotic rich foods too. Fermented foods are wonderful way to up probiotics in the diet and miso, cultured (fermented) vegetables, sauerkraut, kimchi, tempeh, tofu and fermented tea known as kombucha will take you there.Thinking of pre and probiotics as a team, we can increase them in our diet with:salads incorporating legumes as a protein source to a delicious alternative for animal sourced proteins dressings incorporating miso and onion an evening drink of kombucha where once there was wine. Plant Proteins:Proteins are made up of amino acids, some of which we must acquire from dietary sources in order to build complete proteins within the body (essential amino acids) and others our bodies can synthesise on their own. These are non-essential amino acids. Both animal tissues and plants can provide us with proteins and combining different foods will give our bodies an adequate supply of protein for growth, development, and repair and to utilize for optimal health.Including a variety of food in the diet will offer our body the protein it needs. However, more commonly, we think only of animal-based proteins. But we can up our protein game very simply with plants! Ingredients and foods such as pumpkin, peas, sesame seeds, seaweed, kidney beans, chickpeas, hemp and chia seeds, almonds, kiwis, blueberries, apples, figs, cacao, watercress, spirulina, sweet potato, mushrooms, cauliflower, quinoa, buckwheat, teff and corn are all wonderfully nourishing and rich in plant based amino acids, both essential and non-essential.Combining these foods is where you truly amp up the game try these simple combinations:sprinkling hemp and chia seeds over fresh fruit such as apples, blueberries and kiwi for breakfastmaking little snack balls with figs, cacao, nuts and seedsincluding quinoa, buckwheat or teff with a meal to accompany where once may have been a wheat based side such as pasta or bread Phytochemicals:Phytochemicals are compounds found in plants that can have powerful effects in preventing disease.Ever wondered what an antioxidant is? Phytochemicals can work as antioxidants; stimulating the actions of different enzymes in the body and reducing the replication of cells that may cause our bodies more harm than good. And they can make an easy and frequent appearance in our diet. Some phytochemical rich plant sources include blueberries, cherries, raspberries, apples and vegetables such as cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage and kale, carrots, garlic, green tea, chilli, capsicum and tomatoes. Try upping your phytochemical quota with: evening desserts of mixed berries and a spoon of yoghurt roasted cauliflower and broccoli as a side green tea where there once was coffee And if greens and plants is what you need, let this green noodle bowl rich in all the good of plants be your plant inspiration for the week…GREEN NOODLE BOWLGF : DF : SFServes 2 2 kale leaves, torn from stems 1 bunch broccolini, trimmed 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed 90g soba noodles 1 silverbeet leaf, trimmed on stalks and roughly torn 1 zucchini, spiralised 1 cucumber, shaved into ribbons 2 tablespoons sauerkraut 1 tablespoon pepitas 2 teaspoons sesame seeds 1 tablespoon micro coriander 1 tablespoon micro garnet 1/2 avocado, sliced Dressing: 1 tablespoon miso 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 teaspoons lemon juice 1 teaspoon honey Bring a medium saucepan of water to the boil. Place the kale leaves, broccolini and asparagus into the water and blanch for 2 minutes. Remove vegetables from the water, place in colander, refresh with cold water and set aside. Bring the water back to the boil, add soba noodles, cook for 4 minutes or as per packet instructions. While the soba noodles are cooking whisk together the salad dressing ingredients. To assemble your greens bowl arrange the greens and soba noodles around the two bowls. Top with sauerkraut, pepitas, sesame seeds, micro herbs and avocado before drizzling the dressing over the top.Discover all of Jacqueline’s recipes and download the full Jurlique by Jacqueline Alwill Wholefoods Challenge hereblog-wellbeing-button-downl-challenge
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SLEEP GOAL: NOURISHED AND PEACEFUL REST BY JACQUELINE ALWILL
Jacqueline Alwill’s philosophy at The Brown Paper Bag is about nourishing the body inside and out with a delicious wholefoods and a plant-based diet. Over the course of two weeks, Jacqueline’s Challenge will help you find your inner glow by learning to commit to healthy and wholefoods eating.If you’ve ever had one night or more of poor sleep, then you can truly appreciate the quality of a good night’s rest. Good sleep can be hard to come but there are a few tricks here and there that may help achieve a restful night and improve overall health and wellbeing as a result.There are two major phases in sleep – REM and non-REM sleep. REM, is the “dreaming sleep” and the early stage of rest whilst non-REM is our “quiet”, deep sleep. When we have a good night of uninterrupted rest, and consequently more non-REM cycles, we wake feeling energised, alert and can function at our best.Different factors may affect an individual’s ability to move into peaceful non-REM sleep. Stress, exercise, stimulants, alcohol and the food we eat all play a part. Within our diet alone, it’s important to consider these key factors…Understanding how we consume… A range of elements play into this so let’s start with the first step. Breakfast. It’s an easy meal to miss and many actually do, or simply don’t feel like breakfast when they wake up. However, the effect of not having breakfast often leads us into eating more in the later stages of the day and reaching for stimulating food and drinks (coffee, energy and soft drinks, sugar). So it plays into an unhealthy cycle… Late breakfasts, necessary caffeine pick-me-ups, later lunches, even later dinners and ultimately later to bed. With this delay comes limited time for our body to digest food appropriately at the right times of day and to produce hormones for digestion when we are sleeping. If you’re a night owl and not hungry in the morning the chances are it’s because your body isn’t being given the opportunity to reproduce vital hormones to keep you charged during the day; digestive hormones being number one.The ideal situation as a regular sleeper or a transitioning night owl is to put your body into a flow of regular eating and sleeping patterns. Rise with the sun, hydrate and nourish, eat 3-5 meals throughout the day, with the last and latest by 8pm, this allows the body to digest and wind down for rest by 10pm. It really has such simplicity, and the beautiful thing is that there are ingredients we can add and subtract from our diet to help take us there.The presence of stimulants… Stimulants have the interim effect of helping us turn “switch on”, they also have a powerful effect on the quality of our sleep. Coffee, tea, energy and soft drinks, tobacco, drugs and alcohol push the body into a longer awakened period. Alcohol, despite being a depressant, forces the liver to work overtime, which can disrupt sleep in the early hours (3 to 4am) of the morning. To reduce these players in the diet focus on halving your intake week-by-week and swapping for more nourishing alternatives as you go. Herbal teas, sparkling water with lemon, orange and lime spritz, and limiting alcohol to 1-2 nights per week at the most will all see your sleep and your health move into flow.Nourishing our rest… The ultimate goal to achieving a nourished and peaceful rest is by supporting the production of our sleep and mood stabilizing hormones and replenishing the adrenals as we rest. Enriching the body’s stores of melatonin and serotonin, both sleep and mood modulating hormones and reducing the levels of cortisol, our primary stress hormones, can be simple with a good night of sleep and foods to support. Bananas, almonds, whole milk and dairy, protein rich food (vegetarian and animal based proteins), oats, chamomile and passionflower tea in the diet will boost the body’s sources of tryptophan, magnesium, essential fats, protein and potassium. These nutrients relax our muscles and body, aid the action of melatonin and serotonin, and help the body wind down into restorative rest.WARM SPROUTS, QUINOA, CAULIFLOWER STEAKS AND HALOUMIGF : SF : VServes 4 1/2 cup raw quinoa 2 tablespoons olive oil 4 spring onions, white part only sliced 1/2 cup mung sprouts 1/2 cup chickpea sprouts 2 stalks celery, finely diced 1/2 cup coriander leaves and stalks pinch chilli flakes Zest of one lemon / approximately 1 tablespoon 1 kale leaf, stalks removed, leaf shredded 1 red apple, cored and cut into strips 1/2 cup walnuts 2 teaspoons cumin 1/2 head cauliflower (400g), sliced crossways into 1.5cm pieces 1 teaspoon paprika 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric 250g haloumi, cut into 8 slices Sea salt and black pepper Dressing: 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 teaspoons honey 3 tablespoons lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric DIRECTIONS Place the quinoa and 1 cup water in small saucepan and bring to the boil. Once boiling, cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes until the majority of the water has been absorbed. Remove from the heat and allow to stand for five minutes before fluffing with a fork. Next heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add in the spring onions, sprouts, celery, coriander stalks, chilli and lemon zest and sauté for 3 minutes. Then place the cooked quinoa, shredded kale, red apple, walnuts, 1 teaspoon of cumin and coriander leaves into the pan. Season well with salt and pepper and saute for a further 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, cover with foil and set aside. SPICE MIX To make the spice mix for the cauliflower steaks combine the cumin, paprika and turmeric in a bowl with a pinch of salt and mix well. Evenly spread the mixture onto one side of each of the cauliflower steaks. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a fry pan on medium heat, place the cauliflower steaks (spice side up) into the pan. Cover with lid and cook for 5 minutes on each side. While cauliflower is cooking heat a few drops of olive oil in a fry pan and cook the haloumi on a high heat for 2 minutes on each side. Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Divide the quinoa and sprout mix across four plates and top with cauliflower steaks, haloumi and a drizzle of salad dressing. Discover all of Jacqueline’s recipes and download the full Wholefoods Challenge hereblog-wellbeing-button-downl-challenge
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SNACKS TO FUEL AND THRIVE BY JACQUELINE ALWILL
Jacqueline Alwill’s philosophy at The Brown Paper Bag is about nourishing the body inside and out with a delicious wholefoods and a plant-based diet. Over the course of two weeks, Jacqueline’s Challenge will help you find your inner glow by learning to commit to healthy and wholefoods eating.What to eat in the mid-afternoon slump? This is probably on of the most common questions regarding energy that comes my way. The morning is productive, boxes are ticked, lunch is done and then three o’clock hits and we subsequently and habitually feel like we’ve hit a wall. There is reason for this. The circadian rhythms, governing wakefulness and sleep, program our bodies to hit downtime between 12-3pm each day. We are physiologically programmed to rest in the afternoon. And whilst in an ideal world we would take twenty and close our eyes for a quick power nap, in reality this isn’t feasible for most. So throughout our day, we need to eat foods to nourish our bodies, rise above the slump and energise throughout the day. The more common picture however, is that instead of reaching for the nourishing pick me up we go for the quick fix… sugar and caffeine. Sound familiar? It’s time then to take a break, make a change and focus on eating to energise.MAKE THE SWAPWe can’t expect to improve energy levels if we’re going to feed our bodies food that causes a spike in blood glucose and/or adrenaline levels and then a rapid fall. This is the result of quick fix foods such as coffee, confectionary and sugary treats. Their effect on the body’s energy is only momentary and if you tune in to your body when you eat them they have a similar effect on mood. If some of the ingredients to your afternoon pick me up involve the likes of the above then it’s time to make the swap to foods to nourish. Scale back and make the swap:from coffee initially to black tea then green, followed in time by herbalform refined confectionary and to fruits and nourishing treats made with nutrients to help you shine from pastries, cakes and sugar laden mouthfuls to protein rich snacks that stabilise energy levels for the remainder of the dayENERGY FOODUse the slump as an opportunity to fuel the change in your eating habits. Think about these nutrients to up the ante when you feel the low.Water: a well hydrated body is a well nourished and energised one. We cannot disregard just how important good hydration is for energy. If you feel tired and lethargic upon waking, water is your first step to flush and hydrate the body. If hunger strikes you at unexpected times, and a less than ideal snack is tempting, then a glass of water is your friend before anything else comes into play. And most certainly if you’ve relied on the quick fixes (caffeine and sugar) to see you through the 3pm slump, then water is going to be your partner in crime to improve energy for the long term. Have faith in this old trick it’s been touted in health for centuries for good reason.Magnesium: This is an incredible mineral for improving energy, not to mention helping us focus and consequently relax when we need to. Magnesium plays a vital role in the reactions that generate and deliver energy to our cells. Augment your diet with these magnesium rich foods such as dark leafy greens, nuts and seeds, quinoa, legumes (beans and lentils) and best of all good quality dark chocolate. Integrate these foods as snacks with: Green juices or smoothies A handful of raw nuts and seeds Quick crunch on vegetable sticks with hummus High quality dark chocolate made without refined sugars B Vitamins: Our friends niacin, thiamin, riboflavin, folate, B6, B12 and pantothenic acid work as a little team within the body to metabolise energy from protein, carbs and fats. Fortunately we find them in abundance in our foods but when we need to up our game and improve energy to see us through our lows then we can hone in on the B snack factor with a few little tricks: Natural yoghurt with crushed almonds, pecans and a serve of fresh fruit Small piece of poached chicken wrapped in spinach with fresh herbs Couple of teaspoons of natural (preservative/additive free) peanut butter spread on a banana Half serve of green salad such as tabouleh Quick boiled or fried egg with chilli and paprika Cacao smoothie with greens Half an avocado with lemon and pepper And if you’re still hungry for inspiration, these wholesome energy rich icy poles are a wonderful in the right direction.RASPBERRY MANGO AND VANILLA ICY POLESMakes 6 small icy polesRaspberry Layer: 1 cup coconut cream 140g mango pieces 1 banana, peeled 1/4 cup raspberries 2 teaspoons honey Mango layer: 1 banana 1/2 cup mango 1 teaspoon vanilla bean To make the raspberry layer combine all of the ingredients in a high powered blender or food processor and blend until combined. Divide the mixture across the base of the icy pole moulds. Tap the moulds against a counter to ensure no air bubbles remain. Make the mango layer by blending all of the ingredients together. Pour the mango mix into the moulds and place a paddle pop stick into each. Place in the freezer to set overnight.Discover all of Jacqueline’s recipes and download the full Wholefoods Challenge hereblog-wellbeing-button-downl-challenge
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