Spekboom: The Next Hot Superfood

River Goddess' Dwelling 

My first introduction to Skepboom was majestic, to say the least.  A goddess woman who lives where 11 rivers cross showed me the light in her surreal valley, here in South Africa.  To be honest, it was her granddaughter whom introduced me to it first, the angel toddler pranced over to the plant in one of their many gardens and said, "Spekboom" in that 'cute as can be' baby voice.  I thought to myself, this is magic, a two year old is teaching me about a plant which was new to me at the time.  She proceeded to pluck a waxy little leaf off, ate it and then passed one over to me for consumption. There we were experiencing the zesty plant together in peace.  After this first taste the river goddess grandmother made a home grown salad, which included much of this Spekboom.  It was amazing, lemon meets rocket meets caucus kind of vibe.  And from then on it was only matter of time till I became obsessed with the little sucker.  Like all river goddesses, this Mama gave me a huge bundle of Spekboom clippings, with easy instructions on how to plant it out.  Leaving the valley I was ready to plant and salad my way with this illustrious plant, never to look back on a life without it. All hail, Spekboom!
   

This plant is a survivor, there are no two ways about it!  It is fire resistant, drought resistant, can live through the hot African summers and the cold African winters.  Not only can it endure the seasons well, but it can even switch gears from a wet climate to a dry climate, Spekboom's adaptability is uncanny.  Once developed, Spekboom will literally grow and carry on with resilience no matter what odds come against it. Furthermore, Spekboom has a super power to capture carbon, and a ton of it!  It has recently become a symbol of carbon emissions here in South Africa, schools and farmers have been on a mission to plant as much of this super plant as possible to help relieve the ecosystem.

Planting Skepboom is too easy.  My river goddess simply clipped off a few branches from her plants and instructed me to simply stick them into the Earth, water them every other day till roots were established then simply allow them to adapt to our corner of the world.  Our plants are doing very well with these simple instructions, and we seem to constantly find more spaces to propagate more and more Spekboom around the property.

As for the nutritional benefits of Spekboom, the river goddess told me that if I eat 2 leaves of Spekboom a day that I will have my daily needs of Vitamin C covered!  Not only does Skpeboom have large amounts of Vitamin C, but it also contains protein, B vitamins, calcium, phosphorus, and iron. No wonder elephants live off of this super food!


Super Hot, Super Food Skepboom Salad Recipe

 Supplies List:

1. 5 Stems of Spekboom
2. 2 Large Tomatoes or 2 Cups of Cherry Tomatoes 
3. 1/2 Head of Red Cabbage
4. 1/2 Cucumber
5. 2 Carrots 
6. 1 Red Pepper 
7. 1 Big Hand Full of Fresh Herbs (Mint, Basil, Coriander, Parsly...or whatever you have in your garden)
8. 1 Lemon
9. 2 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
10. Salt and Pepper 

Instructions:

Dice up tomatoes, red cabbage, cucumber, red pepper and herbs.  Place into a salad bowl.  Peal and grate carrots. Place into salad bowl. Pluck Spekboom leaves off from stems and add to the salad bowl.  Juice lemon and drizzle olive oil over salad, season with salt and pepper. Toss your delicious Spekboom salad and enjoy!


Happy Spekboom-ing!

Lots of Love,

Trish

Girl Got Away : Namibian Wave Porn

Majestic, impalpable, elusive, jupiterious, something you can only see with your own eyes, something you can only feel with your own soul, no camera, no matter how fancy could ever capture Her. Not that She even wants to be captured, or cares for you at all. Like the girl who got away, She doesn't give a shit about you, if you get Her high speed spitting hurl once than consider yourself a very lucky human. Will you get Her again? I highly doubt it! Because She is unruly, She is very hard to get to, and you will spend a fortune to see Her. If you take on the very arduous journey to see Her than you will be frozen and fatigued the whole time in Her presence. She will be seldom and fickle in Her ways, She might even stand you up, but when She grinds with perfection you will become her slave. You will become an addict to Her waiting for your next injection, longing for your next fix...forever. Beware of Her, because She will eat you alive and spit you out and you will remain with the dead carcasses rotting on Her shoreline. Hahaha! Enjoy the free wave porn and give thanks to Mother Nature!

Lots of Love,

Trish

     

21 Days of Yoga

Ever since I was young I was addicted to movement, anything to get my heart pumping, to get the sweat dripping and anything that achieved that 'feel good' high.  I can remember when I found running and I was old enough to run on my own to a near by lake, it's as if the weight of the world was lifted and I could breathe again.  I would go back there anytime I needed it, which as an acne faced teenager was very often.  Like many teenage girls I danced, ballet was my favorite, something about the movement, so graceful and exact.  The best ballerinas making it look so effortless, as if they were feathers precisely floating around the stage.  When in all actuality, it took enormous amounts of strength and balance.  I will always have running, as it is easy to do anywhere I might be, ballet quite different since 'Adult' ballet classes are usually only found in cities, where I am usually rarely found. Thus, yoga.

Burke Lake, Virginia

I did the odd yoga classes through our dance studio growing up, then a few in college but it was only in Hawaii that I found for myself how madly beneficial yoga was for me.  It was as if it combined my teenage ballet classes with my lake runs, yet the movements were done in a small standing space and the lake was in my mind's eye.  Since then yoga and I have had a relationship, on and off, hard and soft, in classes and on my own.

It was 21 days ago that I found myself feeling flat, no even as if the weight of the world was upon me, but almost more like a misty day that wouldn't clear. So there I was, lost in the fog dedicating myself to 21 days of at least 1 hour of yoga per day.  Now after these glorious 21 days I can say I feel fresh like a white cotton sheet whom just finished Sun drying on a warm summer's day. Crisp and unwilted, I was lifted from the grey mist within the first days of my journey and as I am an addicted personalty type, each day seemed to keep on lifting me higher and higher and higher.  People even noticed my high, "You're always so yoga stoned!"

Getting zen-ed out everyday did more than get me high.  Here is a list of the other changes I noticed on my 21 Days of Yoga:

1. Eating:  My useless snacking became limited to obsolete, I found myself eating when I was truly hungry, rather than just eating to eat or eating our of boredom or depression.
2. Hydration:  I drank more water, I even started planning out all my glass water bottles for the day with different infusions, mint, blueberry, lemon, cucumber, heaven! 
3. Skin Health:  My skin noticeably became softer and firmer, nothing like I have had before, forget skin creams just do yoga!
4. Mental Health:  2 out of the 21 days I felt depressed or snappy, and 1 of the days I made a switched and chose happiness with eventual ease. This was an improvement for me!  I was simply feeling more content with well, everything.  
5. Sexual Health:  More love making than usual and more guru positioning and breathing.  Big bonus!  LOL!
6. Weight Loss:  I am not into scales, since my yoga practice builds muscle so I opted to take some measurements instead, just so I could scientifically see if there would be a difference. Overall, I lost 1 Inch on my waist, 1 Inch on my hips and and 1/2 an Inch on each thigh.  I usually simply gage how my skinny jeans are feeling, everyone has them, one pair of pants you know are usual a bit tight, now fit with ease. 
7. Improved Posture:  I feel like I stand, cook, clean, walk, work with a real purpose now!  More upright and proud, which not only feels good but looks much nicer too.    
8. Deep and Dreamy Sleeps:  I am not sure how dreams are linked to yoga, but I am sure there is a connection because I found that I was having more detailed, lengthy dreams during my sleeps.  I also felt much more awake in the mornings, ready to take on the day!
9. Connection to Breath:  I carried the breathing over from my mat to my day, this equated to less stress and more ease in my day to day interactions.  

There's probably many more things that altered inside of me that I am unaware of, the benefits just seem to be endless and outpouring like Marilyn Monroe's champagne. No matter where you are in life, no matter your age, your gender, your flexibility, your strength, even if you are recovering from an injury or depression or whatever, YOU CAN DO YOGA.  This thing that is yoga is just so absolutely beautiful that literally anyone can do it.  And I also like that similar to running you really don't need too much to do it, just a small space, a comfy outfit and you're in yoga business.  Of course, classes, instructions, YouTube tutorials, and books help, especially if you want to improve and learn new postures and spice it up.  This is another beauty of yoga, there's a kind of yoga for everyone, whether you are into fast or slow, Vinyasa or Yin, and everything in between, you will only find out what suits you best if you give it a yoga-go.

Oddly enough, I kept telling myself I was going to rest on the 22nd day but you know what?!  I'm going to class, my big heart already breaks at the thought of tomorrow with out it.

Happy Yoga-ing

Lots of Love,

Trish

Namibian Tidings

Travel, oh I could say so many clichés about you right now, but I won't.  We all know what travel does, how it makes us react, how it teaches us to have graduated and enjoy the simple pleasures of life.  It opens our soul up to true connectivity with old fashioned, eye to eye interaction and heart to heart emotion.  It is quite possibly the best education that money can buy at this point in human history and has arguably always been.  It's what brought your people to the lands they dwell in today. There's an ancient feel to it, exploring the unknown, meeting with odds and mysterious faces.  Yes, I am officially hooked like a heroin addict waiting for the next rush to hit my veins.  

Photo By Dawn Rouse

And so it is.  I found myself with a lover whom also is an addict of the Earth and there we found ourselves moving along together.  He, a wave rider for many years, simultaneously hooked on the great blue abyss, bounces around from shoreline to shoreline finding the bigger and badder wave to plunge himself into.  It was only natural for me to assume the role of the one woman film crew.  So there I was and here I am and ever since then I have been getting my brain massaged by waves of all kinds, hours upon hours of carefully examining each crest, each lip, each spit, extremely medicinal and heavily meditative, it has been a detoxing venture.  Andre calls it sea therapy and yes, it heals us.  I could not ask for better nor be any richer.  And I am not at all talking about money.

Low and behold, travel came a knocking once again to our humble door and it would be Namibia, a place utterly indescribable, a place where there are many different cosmic energy fields aligned to create some kind of freak show display of Mother Earth.  Now, I'm not one to normally go spouting off about energy fields, but trust me, if you have been to this place than you would know that what I am saying is pure fact.

The Earth in Namibia is raw, it's harsh, and for lack of a better term, very National Geographic worthy. Everywhere you look crystals glimmer at you, thousands of flamingos nod at you and billions of sand specks exfoliate you. Change is dramatically apparent in the Earth of Namibia, the sand dunes shift and cover my footprints within hours, salt cures here like large snow sheets, minerals and crystals alike are carefully composed here till found, if ever they are found.  Long and vast landscapes look at you through a single narrow and extremely straight road for miles into infinity. And that's not even getting started on the wave.

There is a wave there, a wave that last for what seems miles down an empty stretch of sand far off the beaten track.  In between sightings of hungry jackals, decomposed seal caucuses and a few other surfers there are no remnants of civilization. This wave is literally the most stunning wave of perfection that you will ever lay your eyes upon. Breaking and barreling for miles, there is a powerful and infinite feeling about witnessing such a glorious creation. And like most glorious things in life, there is a price one has to pay. Imagine the harshest and most chilling wind imaginable paired with morning mist thick as a brick and then a sweltering sun which blisters your lips. Needless to say, it isn't easy, it's not like filming in Durban, bikini suited up, catching a tan....but for some reason it feels more.  Perhaps I am a masochist?!  But really, when travel takes me to the outer edges of the Earth, away from the structures of society, I find my most true and my most authentic peace.  And fuck, it's nice to check in with that from time to time.

So here's to the Earth and this tiny Namibian corner of it, you have replenished my soul with what once was and now is.  I will surly see you and your sparkling crystals again.

And here's to you and your travels, and to whatever allows you to check in with your most true and most authentic peace.

Blessings!

Lots of Love,

Trish

Homemade Raw Chocolate - Very Easy - Very Yummy - Very Sexy - Very Healthy

How sexy is chocolate?  Very sexy.  It got me thinking, let's start using sex to sell it.  Oh wait, the big corporations already beat me to it!  And oh wait, I'm not talking about most of the store bought chocolates available...because those are sooooo not sexy!  I'm talking about RAW chocolate!  If you are too busy to make your own I highly suggest Righteously Raw, a very good plant based company working hard to change the face of chocolate.  So if you want to be sexy, go buy a bar or make this easy recipe yourself at home.  It's the melt in your mouth, or your partners mouth kinda orgasmic delight that will get your magnesium levels balances and your heart pumping.

Oddly enough, when I first encountered raw cacao I was living in Hawaii, in a very odd, very poetic, and very melancholy state.  I went to a local farmer's market and the cacao/coffee farmer gave me some for free and told me, "This will heal your broken heart."  So really cacao goes much further than sex.  It's LOVE, straight to the heartstrings.  Literally, it helps your heart!  So there I was, hooked from this beautiful moment, never looking back at the major name brand chocolates again!

So, enough about sex, love and chocolate.  Here is the recipe and a little video I made to show the method.

Enjoy your raw chocolate, your sex and most importantly, your LOVE!

Lots of love, Trish

Detox Water

Okay, so if you are like me than you have tried many different varieties of home brewed flavored water.  And if not, give it a try for a week and I guarantee that you will become hooked!  I have been infusing my water for the last year now and have found that it is not only amazing in its taste but also curbs my hunger and helps me keep properly hydrated.  Not to mention the long, very long list of health benefits!

After many attempts I have found that my favorite infusion recipe is lemon, cucumber and mint.  It is really very simple, all you must do is prepare your water in the evening, leave it stored in the refrigerator overnight and enjoy your magically infused water that next morning.  I personally do my best to finish off my jug of infused water first thing upon waking up, to ensure my organs get a good start to the day!  After I finish off my jug I usually go ahead and refill it with purified water.  It is recommended to allow the infusion to take place, so let it brew for at least 3 hours till you indulge in your infused water.

Depending on your jug and taste, you can add more or less of the ingredients.  I personally use an old wine carafe so my recipe will be based on using .75 Liters of water.

What you will need:

• 1 Lemon
• 1/2 Cucumber
• 1/4 Cup Mint 

Instructions:

1. Clean lemon, mint and cucumber thoroughly!  
2. Optional:  Peel lemon and cucumber if they are not organic or home grown
3. Thinly slice cucumber and lemon
4. Place in clean glass jug
5. Cover and store in refrigerator for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight  

The benefits of drinking water are endless. Science says that our bodies are roughly 60% water and that the Earth is roughly 70% water. Hence, water is the star, water takes the cake, and water is in fact most essential beverage available.

Water aids digestion, maintains body temperature, energizes muscles, helps in weight loss, promotes clear skin and hair, aids in nutrient absorption, assists your kidneys with waste removal, and on and on and on!

It is recommended that adults consume any where from 9-16 cups of water a day.  This is all dependent on contextual factors, like your weight, activity levels, and the climate you find yourself situated in and so on.  There is a great calculator available here if you would like to find the appropriate amount of water you need to receive all of the benefits.

Hydration Calculator

Lastly, forget the plastic bottles PLEASE!  There's enough waste on this glorious Earth and with the population currently over 7 billion, let's all do something simple to pitch in and get reusable water containers.

Imagine if everyday, every person consumed 1 bottle of water, for 1 week???!!!  That would be 7 billion X 7 days = 49 BILLION plastic bottles! Now that is a shit load of plastic, even all of the recycling plants in the world will not be able to keep up with this, sad but true.

All we can do is our best.  So let's do just that for our bodies, souls and our Earth!

ONE EARTH - ONE RACE - ONE LOVE

Lots of Love, Trish

Coming Soon Mint Tutorial!

Mint - The easiest herb to grow at home, the herb that just keeps on giving!  So give up on buying it and start growing it on your own.  

Lush Henna Caca Brun: Review and How To Tutorial

So it's been a while, a solid, 5 year while since I've made a change to my hair. To be honest I was getting bored, so it came time for a change! Now, what's a green juice sippin' girl to do if she wants to dye her hair? Get a box dye? Ohhh no! Go pay a fortune at a salon? Nah. Then the light bulb flickered on! Nichole,  a natural women I've always looked up to and friend I made while living in Hawaii came straight into my mind. She once told me, years ago about the benefits of henna for hair.

So there I went, researching henna, googling instructions and brands and so on. Here in South Africa there's not a huge amount of health food shops around so I decided to go with Lush and their henna hair dye line. Lush has it's up's and down's. On the up side they have a fresh and minimalist approach to packaging, as not to waste unnecessary cardboard or plastics. They fight against animal testing! Something much desired, who wants to think of sweet puppies getting tortured while you dye your hair?! And for the most part, their products include natural ingredients.  On the down side, there are some upsetting ingredients in their products like sodium lauryl sulfate in their shampoos...which my scalp absolutely hates! Needless to say, the henna line is 98% better for you and for the Earth when comparing the list of ingredients to the rest of the home dye treatments offered up by the beauty industry. The dye comes in a range of four colors, from black to red.  I went with the Caca Brun because ultimately, when it came down to it I wasn't ready to make a drastic change.  Haha!

What you need:

1. Depending on your hair length 1-4 blocks of Lush Henna Dye (I used 3) 
2. A knife to chop and dice henna blocks 
3. 2 Tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar 
4. Fresh Pressed Coffee 
5. Mixing Bowl
6. Vaseline 
7. Hair Bands
8. Saran Wrap
9. Gloves
10. Old Beanie and Old Clothes
11. Lots of Newspaper
12. Time (4 hours at least) 

How to Henna: 

1. Section your hair off so it's easy to dye when you are ready
2. Vaseline your hair line, neck and ears 
3. Place many layers of newspaper onto the surface and ground where you will be applying your henna, with mirror. 
4. Prepare a batch of strong coffee
5. Cut your henna blocks into a fine chop and place in bowl
6. Add 2 Tablespoons of apple cider vinegar 
7. Slowly add your hot coffee to the fine chopped henna, add and mix till you have a yogurt like consistency
8. Go to your newspaper area 
9. Put gloves on
10. Start from the back and work to the front till your hair is fully drenched in henna, use every last bit of henna mix on your head and work your hair into a classy up do
11. Saran Wrap your hair tightly 
12. Clean up any messy bits that got onto your hairline, neck and ears
13. Cover Saran wrapped head with old beanie (Optional, but henna works on heat so this helps keep heat on your henna head) 
14. Wait at least 4 hours till you rinse out
15. Once ready to rinse out apply lots of conditioner over the bathtub or shower area
16. Rinse with hot water, apply more conditioner and rinse out with hot water, repeat a few times till the water runs clear 

Results and Other Tidbits: 

I was pleased with this product and I will use it again.  Although, I found that my hair color only came in gradually, and that it was only three days after the dye job till I had the results I desired.  It was strange, each morning I woke up after the experience my husband told me, "Your hair is even darker today."  I think this kind of dye takes time, so patience is the key.  It was a gradual and natural change, something that suited me perfectly.

It was easy for me to apply, and easy to clean up since I was prepared.  The smell was enjoyable to me and lingered in my hair for days after the application.  My hair is also much nicer, healthier and stronger after this treatment.  The addition of organic, fair trade coco butter in this product really, really conditioned my hair, it was such a wonderful bonus!

I loved this so much that I think of doing this once a month or once every other month simply to rejuvenate my locks and add richness to it that it deserves.  Lastly, I highly recommend setting a free day aside to do this, make it a full on spa day, whip up some home made face masks, sip on some coffee, cozy up to your current book, bask in the sun or just do whatever it is you do that keeps ya chill.

Many thanks Lush!

Lots of Love,
Trish

DIY: Brew Your Own Kombucha

Kombucha - A lightly fermented drink of sweetened black tea, green tea or white tea that comes to life (literally) with a Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast.  Otherwise known as a "SCOBY" or "The Mother," this funny, slimy organism is what converts your tea into a probiotic dream!  It eats up the sugars in its brewing stage and in turn gives you this heavenly beverage. The origins of this probiotic drink were first recorded in 221 BC during the Tsin Dynasty and it was knows as "The Tea of Immortality."

There are countless and countless health claims for Kombucha.  Simply google it! Here are a few benefits from the endless lists:  promoting positive gut bacteria, detoxifying properties, promotes healthy liver functions, prevents iron deficiency,  promotes healthy nervous system functions, aids asthma patients, lubricates joint functioning, lowers cancer rates, strengthens the immune system, aids in weight loss, promotes healthy skin and hair and soooooo on and soooooo forth.  Like I said, google it.  I'm no expert on the science of this stuff but I know for fact that it makes me feel good, I enjoy the taste and it is very easy and very affordable to make at home.  So say goodbye to buying those fancy 5$ bottles of Kombucha at your local health shop and say hello to home brewing!

So here we go.

Kombucha Essentials 

1.  Big GLASS jar, allows for at least 8 cups of water (use glass only)
2.  Rubber Bands
3.  Clean Dishcloths 
3.  Black Tea, Green Tea or White Tea
4.  Organic Sugar
5.  Filtered Water
6.  SCOBY
7.  Glass Storage Bottles


Step 1 : Do you have a SCOBY?

If yes, than skip this step!  There are many SCOBYs available at health food shops and farmer's markets these days, since the stuff is so popular.  If you are SCOBY-less than...

Let's make a SOCBY!

1. Get all Kombucha essentials out PLUS one bottle of original, non flavored Kombucha
2. Brew 4 bags of tea with 4 cups of purified, boiling water, place into your sturdy glass jar, 1 cup of water per 1 bag of preferred tea
3. Add 4 Tablespoons of Organic Sugar into the hot brewing tea
4. Remove tea bags once it has steeped for roughly 10 minutes
5. Cover tea jar with a clean dish cloth, rubber band tightly and store in a cool room
6. Allow tea to cool completely (I usually leave it overnight) 
7. Once tea has cooled add your bottle of original, non flavored Kombucha into your jar
8. Re-cover with a clean dishcloth and rubber band
9. Wait and watch your SCOBY develop, this should take around 2-3 weeks

Step 2 : Brewing Kombucha 

Once your SCOBY is ready for brewing you will find that each new batch of Kombucha you make will produce a baby SCOBY.  Therefore, you can buy more and more glass jars and have a full blown Kombucha production line at home!  Or you can give SCOBYs away to friends who also want to start brewing their own Kombucha.  Once you have one SCOBY it's only a matter of time till you have 10 SCOBYs, they are exponential, the gift that simply keeps on giving!  I tend to be a bit OCD so I will select my best looking SCOBYs and discard any mangled, old or discolored SCOBYs.  And since I am always producing SCOBYs I have a good group to select from for my brewing.  

Let's make Kombucha! 

1. Get all Kombucha essentials out PLUS your SCOBY
2. Measure out your glass jar and find out how many cups it takes.  My jar takes 10 cups so I brew 10 bags of green, black or white tea with 10 cups of water.  (Remember it is a 1 : 1 : 1 ratio.  1 bag of tea : 1 cup of water : 1 tablespoon of sugar)
3. Add organic sugar.  My jar takes 10 cups so I add 10 tablespoons of sugar.
4. Allow tea to steep for roughly 10 minutes
5. Remove tea bags
6. Cover jar with clean dishcloth and rubber band
7. Store in a cool room
8. Allow to completely cool!  (Your SCOBY will die if you add it into the hot tea)
9. Once tea is completely cool add your SCOBY into the jar
10. Cover jar with clean dishcloth and rubber band
11. Allow Kombucha to brew for roughly 7-10 days (If you want it stronger than go longer, if you want it sweeter than go shorter, you can play with the time to see how you like your own Kombucha) 
12. After your Kombucha has brewed remove your SCOBY and safe keep it in a clean jar with a small amount of Kombucha, just to keep it happy while your next batch of tea cools. 
13. Pour your freshly brewed Kombucha into glass storage jars and place straight into the refrigerator! 
14. Enjoy your beautiful Kombucha 

Important Side Notes: 

1. You want to make sure you use green tea, black tea or white tea - herbal teas can throw your brew off since they often have added oils in them.
2. You want to make sure you are using glass! 
3. Keep your jars, brewing stations, dishcloths and any utensils extremely clean as to not allow any mold to grow in your Kombucha.  
4. When you remove your SCOBYs after brewing you want to clean them off by running them under cold water.  If there is discoloration, like black, or green growths on your SCOBY than there is a chance your SCOBY grew some mold.  Discard this batch of Kombucha and the SCOBY.  Store your SCOBY in a clean glass jar with a small amount of fresh Kombucha till your next batch of tea cools.  
5. Adding flavors!  If you fancy flavored Kombucha than cheers to you!  Once your Kombucha has brewed add flavorings.  It is important to add flavors after brewing!  Flavors that I love include organic cranberry concentrate, pureed mango, fresh pressed ginger, fresh pressed lemon juice, and chai seeds are also a wonderful addition.  Really the flavorings and combinations are endless so use your creativity! 
6. This beverage does contain live cultures.  Do not be afraid of the random floater swimming around in your Kombucha.  If you get yucked out by these than you can take a sieve and pour your brewed Kombucha through before pouring into your storage jars. 

Trusting you enjoy your home brewed Kombucha!  I would love to know more about the techniques you use and the flavors you choose to add to your Kombucha, so feel free to comment or send me an email!  

Lots of Love <3

20 Minute Workout: Strength Training - Dance - Yoga

Okay, so sometimes I just get over running.  Don't get me wrong, running is my drug!  However, when running seems dull I find myself dancing around my bedroom in the early hours of the morning, blasting whatever song I am currently obsessed with, and often times these mornings make for some very 'feel good' days.  I practiced a little routine like this one with my sister, Miranda and she inspired me to put it into a video.  So here it is!  I created this fast little workout video that incorporates very basic dance, strength training and yoga to energize your day.  Hoping you enjoy it!

Lots of Love, Trish

An Evolution: After Insanity Remains Love

I have been thinking a lot about love lately.  As you and I know, love is not always easy but it is always fruitful...even if we are unaware of its bounty.  I have struggled with love, spent years of my life obsessed with each moment, each flutter and poured it all into poetry.  As I dedicated my life to poetry I found myself a manic mess, with tattered notebooks full, reading poems to anyone willing to listen, and most probably annoying a few people in my path.  Regardless of how others felt at the time, it felt right and it was honestly all I could do to express myself in a rather mad world.  In retrospect, I can see that I was boiling in a bit of a stew.  A stew of insanity.  Do not get me wrong.  I enjoyed it, would never replace it and will never regret living in my boiling stew.  However, as I grew, as we all do...I learned another side of love.    

Insanity.  A definition that goes a little like this : repeating the same thing over and over and over, expecting different results each time while using the same stupid method one used the first several times and getting the exact, same old, shit results.  Into easy terms, person A goes out for a night out on the town and drives under the influence and gets caught drinking and driving.  Oh shit!  Court, lawyers, regret...so on and so froth.  Person A goes out for a night out on the town and drives under the influence and gets into a minor fender bender.  Oh shit shit!  Court, lawyers, regret, car repair...so on and so forth.  Person A goes out for a night out on the town and drives under the influence and gets into a major car crash and kills women, children and puppies.  OH SHIT SHIT, MAJOR SHIT!  Court, lawyers, regret, jail time, suicide...so on and so forth.  "Why, oh why didn't I just learn?" 

Okay, enough on the insanity rant.  Love that is immature simply loves insanity...the point I was finally getting at!  This is fine.  This is a step that enables one to reach a more mature love, an evolved love, a love that does not lust or want, but a love that only desires good hope and endless blessings.  The past three years of my life have been just that, an evolution of love.  Breaking free from the insanity and moving into clarity, because love that is mature is TRUE love.  

Whether it is poetry, pottery, painting, music, drawing, doodling, blogging or baking, if you are like me, then from time to time you find yourself in a mode of obsession.  This is fine.  Everything is always, reliably temporary.  Things always change.  Adapting to our changes is what can make or break us from succeeding with love. 

Life is short.  We will all die soon.  I don't say this in an alarming way or a negative way, simply in the speck of historical time, our lifetimes are just that, a speck...so what should I do with mine and what will you do with yours?  Make your speck spectacularly filled with true love?  I think so.  

A Natural Path to Healing Acne

I struggled with acne for most of my teenage years and even into adulthood. Needless to say it was not fun but it did teach me to rely on my inner beauty, thus giving me a valuable life lesson.  Along my path with acne I tried many different methods to heal and as I grew closer to a natural path I found that my acne started to heal and finally completely vanished.  Our skin is our body's biggest organ and it absorbs whatever we put onto it!  With this simple information I developed a rule of thumb.  

If I'm not willing to eat it, than I'm not willing to put it on my skin.

With this simple rule in hand my journey for clear skin became simplified to these natural products and lifestyle choices.  Below explains the beauty routine and lifestyle choices that will heal your acne naturally and leave you with flawless glowing skin.  

Flawless Skin Routine: 

1.  Face Wash - Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Bar Soap

2.  Moisturizer - Organic Raw Virgin Coconut Oil with Lavender Essential Oil 

3.  Weekly Mask/Spot Treatment - Aztec Indian Healing Clay with Organic Apple Cider Vinegar

4.  Hydration, Restorative Sleep, Healthy Diet and Daily Exercise

How to use these products safely: 

1.  Wash face 1-2 times a day.

2.  Apply coconut oil to skin with 2 drops lavender oil after ever wash and shower.

3.  Make mud mask weekly with 1 part dried mud to half part purified water and one tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar.  After mixed, apply to skin, leave on till dry and cracked then wash off with warm water.  

Why will these simple and natural products heal your acne? 

1.  Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Soap is 100% pure Castile soap with no sulfates.  The peppermint has a cooling effect that inhibits bacteria growth, reduces testosterone production and reduces inflammation.   

2.  Coconut Oil is full of Lauric acid, this helps replace the protective acid layer on the skin.  It is also full of vitamin E which treats the root cause of acne and clears blockage. 

3.  Lavender Oil has anti-inflammatory properties, reduces swelling and redness and fights the bacteria that causes acne.  

4.  Aztec Indian Healing Clay is made from Botanical clay which draws out impurities from your skin.  You can literally feel it working!  

5.  Apple Cider Vinegar aids detoxification and is also an anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial.  Please note that one should always dilute ACV with purified water.  At least 1 cup of water to 2 tablespoons.

6.  Lifestyle choices will always play a roll in the quality of your skin.  It is recommended to drink plenty purified water, get plenty of restorative sleep, sweat daily, get your heart rate moving and eat clean! 

Lastly, we are all different.  No-ones skin is the same.  What works for one person might not work for another.  It is important to know yourself well enough to know what works for you.  This is what works for me and I found this method through trial and error.  Feel free to try my method out and adjust it to your lifestyle and your skin type.  

Happy healing!  Lots of Love!  

Trish  

Acne Video Tutorial

A Natural Path to Healing Acne