Foodie Friday…Chia Pudding

In my recent post ‘Why’ I shared with you how I’ve really had to dig deep these past 2 years in processing some really well tucked away childhood memories.  From that experience, as ugly as it was, I’ve learned a whole lot more – about myself and about my health.

Some of those things are…

1. Keep it simple – Sometimes listening to podcasts and reading can be empowering and educational, other times it can be sabotaging!  If it consumes you, you find yourself always looking for an answer from somewhere external, other than within, then from my experience – go back to basics, connect with some real simplicity in your life, learn to say ‘No, Thank You’, shut out some noise, give yourself some space and time and focus on one thing at a time.  Be patient.
2. Stay connected – The greatest gift to yourself is to love you, first – authentically, without judgement.  Easier said than done right!!! I do get that.  With continual practice though, it is possible.  So, staying connected with yourself is an essential tool for self love.  Learning the harmony of seeking outside professional help when needed and then also being real and honest with yourself and doing the inner work – sometimes the best way to resolve this is actually have a real, honest conversation with yourself.
3. Listen to you, your intuition – You know, that little inner voice, that when we take the time, it’s so empowering for us.

 

Point 1 above, ‘Keep it simple’ leads me to my recipe sharing today.  Part of what I’ve done recently is said to myself ‘ok, let’s take it back to basics, keep it simple’ and continue on the path that had me at such optimum health a few years back.  Stop looking for a solution, you already have it!

I know that being the best version of you is more than what you nourish on, it’s also about your state of mind.  What we nourish on though, can either fuel our body or create a toxic environment for us to live.  It’s a choice, right?

Hope you enjoy some time in the kitchen this weekend, nourishing yourself.  Click on the link below to enjoy the chia pudding recipe.  Super easy and yummy!

Chia Seed Pudding

 

Monday Motivation…

Taking some positive vibes through the week, I offer you to ask yourself the question…

• Am I shining?
• Do I hold myself back?
• Am I being authentic?
• What’s one thing I can focus on to shine my light into the world?

Just to keep perspective, this is individual for us all.  It’s not about comparing this with your bestie or perceiving your shining needs to be big…It’s about YOU.

It might be…

• I will sit and listen to the children about their day, rather than trying to cook dinner and listen at the same time;
• I will rise 15 minutes earlier, just once this week and sit, connect with myself and breathe

I think you get the picture 🙂

Feel welcome to pop by this space and share your shining story with us.  Have yourself and awesome week and remember be kind to you xx

 

2018…

Hi There

I’ve recently realised that I have not written a blog post in this space since 2017!!!

Despite writing being something I really love doing.  I find it cleansing for myself and sharing and hopefully empowering for you, with your life and health.

Without a doubt 2017 was the most personally challenging of my adult life.  I’ve been doing some massive emotional cleansing.  I have found this stuff really heavy to clear – It’s been tough going.  Though, as you’ve possibly heard me say previously the emotional cleansing aspect of your health is without a doubt the most empowering, deeply enriching.

The little quote below is a gentle reminder to me, to continue keeping my mind clear.  Hopefully you can draw some positive vibes from this also.

Thanks for receiving this into your social media InBox and I’d be ever so grateful if you would be patient with me as I continue this emotional cleansing and deep personal growth.

I’ve had some ‘aha’ moments recently and really feel a cloud has lifted for me.  I’m choosing to see life differently.

With these changes, I’ll definitely share with you a little more about my personal health challenges of 2017 and other tips, stories, recipes and articles of interest with the focus on health, happiness and freedom.  Never more has ‘Kylies Courage’ been more relevant for me and I wish for that to continue spreading energy.

So many who have befriended, inspired, nurtured educated and supported me. Thank You xo.

Healthy Chats

Gosh, it was a solid few weeks ago now when Gary and I caught up for a chat and a coffee.

Honestly, I didn’t know Gary all that well prior.  We mutually connected as members of a business networking group through The Hills & Districts Chamber of Commerce.

As it happens, Gary has quite an appreciation for his health.  So, with no surprise Gary and I could still be chatting about health – eating, exercise and more.  I think you get just how much fun we were having which is reflected in these pics!

Gary was sharing with me of his experience, embarking on a 28 day challenge – exercise and nutrition regime, together with his wife.  We also chatted about different recipes, his latest smoothie creation, sweeteners and more.

As it turns out Gary and his wife enjoyed the challenge so much, that they have done it twice now.

I also never knew that Gary was a former hockey player and also plays cricket, as do his sons.  I love these kind of new meetings…you just never know what you will learn about someone.

When Gary isn’t chatting about health, you’ll find him as an essential ingredient to business ‘Tradesmen on Time’.  You may have heard of these guys, they sure have some accolades behind them and deservedly so.  We’ve used their services a few times now and their tradies are super polite, on time, reliable, even remove their boots before entering AND clean up any mess they make!  Check them out at http://www.tmot.com.au

Thanks for the great coffee too Gary 🙂

 

 

Everybody has a Story…

Sometimes though, it’s not easy to own our story.  We’d all like to think our story is blossoming with fond childhood memories, family holidays, white picket fences and an abundance of warmth and love.

For some, this may be true…And that’s beautiful.  But what if our story has hurt, shame, pain or other unprocessed emotions attached to it?  What if those emotions are trapped within our body?  Like, seriously who wants to own that story?  Well, the reality is, I hear you say ‘no one’…True, I’m nodding with you, totally agree!  Though, we all do have a journey, we all have a story, whatever that story looks like.

But what if there is a huge learning journey, growth and mountain of personal power to be gained in really owning your own story?  Like healing yourself, from within.

Guess what…It’s actually true.  There is an abundance of empowerment to gain from owning your own personal story.  Now, I didn’t say it’s going to be easy and along the way you’re going to need a few skills to help you…Just to name a few:

• Bravery
• Resilience
• A great support network
• Courage

Own it…it’s yours!

Release what’s holding you back.

Believe in yourself.

Practice self love.

Find peace.

 

 

The skills I mentioned above, together with listening to your own intuition are really going to help you with this next part…

CHOOSING YOUR AUDIENCE

Kinesiology has taught me a lot.  Amongst everything has been the ability to tune in to my body.  To listen to it’s messages.  To not be in so much of a hurry to make a decision that I’m not connected, with myself.

There is a relevance, significance and growth in choosing the audience for your story.  That can mean a big conference, workshop, coffee with a girlfriend, work colleague, family member or the like…you get the picture.

Why, you ask?

Because there are always going to be people who ‘get it’ or they ‘don’t get it’ and either way that’s ok.  But it’s the skills you have that will help you through this.  You see, it’s your resilience in smoothly moving through either of those circumstances.  Especially listening in to your own intuition and choosing your audience BEFORE launching into your story.  You see it can either be a very empowering experience or a negative one.

I missed some signs recently…catching up with a colleague from the Health & Wellness world.  I was open, honest and quite raw in my sharings.  I got a very cold response from my friend sitting opposite and I quickly realised this person was not who I had thought and I shut down.  They were not ready for my personal sharing.  I felt judged and a bit like, pushed to the side.  Unfortunately for me that was a negative experience.

However, there was a lesson for me in all of that.  I’m grateful for not reacting in the moment, sitting back and then speaking about it in a respectful and trusting space, where I could reflect.  You see, I missed the signs…I didn’t listen to my INTUITION!!  You see, earlier that day I had a heavy energy, had already said to my husband that I really didn’t want to go, but still I went.  The message was already there for me…I just didn’t listen!

Unfortunately for me, that happened twice, before on the third occasion I had wised up.  I KNEW, I listened to my own body, it’s messages and intuition.  I definitely didn’t feel in a safe, open and non-judgemental space with this person and I certainly didn’t feel that they would have a respect or ‘get’ my story.   So I politely declined their question when asked more personal details about my story.

You see just because someone is your friend doesn’t mean they will get your story.  Just because they are a practitioner, have a certificate on their wall – doesn’t mean they will get your story.

Perhaps they are not trained in the right area to support you.  Perhaps when you share your story with them, they too have inner work that is not healed…and, by you sharing it actually brings up emotions from their own journey, that remain unresolved for them.  It may not even be conscious for them.

I’m not saying this is a reason to never share your story, but there are valuable lessons for us all in KNOWING.

I believe that as women, we can get better at spreading kindness, at holding a space when it’s needed.  Doing our own inner work and healing.  Which in turn means we grow to be the very best version of ourselves possible…even, beyond our wildest dreams.

This sharing is for me and for you 🙂

For me, I’m so grateful for my health journey and this platform to share with others.  For you, I hope that my sharing reaches you in the empowering and honest manner in which it is intended.

 

 

 

 

A day with a difference…at the racetrack!

If you follow my social media offerings, you’ll know that a day at the racetrack is not a usual day for me.  So, why go??

Many months ago, daughter Georgia, asked if I would go to the Gold Coast 600 V8 Supercars day of racing with she and Dad.  You see it’s Georgia who loves the V8’s!!  For these past few years it’s been a dad/daughter day…this year they asked me to come along.

So, in an effort to support Georgia in her passion and try to have an understanding of just the feeling of what she loves…I said yes.

I guess her love/passion for the V8’s could be likened to that of my love and passion for the tennis.  The only difference being I do play tennis!!  Perhaps Georgia is destined to continue pursuing her passion 🙂

On many occasions in the lead up to the weekend, I had been warned ‘Mum, it’s going to be loud…I mean like REALLY loud’.  Despite the ample pre-warning, I’m not sure that anything could have prepared me for just how LOUD it is, Oh My!!  As we arrived at the racetrack the Porsches were racing and what struck me instantly was indeed the loudness, but it was also the vibration…it just filters through your entire body.

And to put in perspective for you, my usual morning rituals consist of something like a somewhat more gracious start to the day…sunshine on the front deck, reading, coffee, meditation and a late, leisurely breakfast.  We had been up since about 5am with an early morning drive to the Gold Coast from Brisbane and then to arrive to that sound and vibration…I think you get the total contrast of the start to my day.

I went really with no expectations and a mindset to be open to the experience and go with the flow.  As we arrived we did just that and I gotta be honest, it took me a bit to get used to the noise and the vibrations!!  In fact, I think I was watching the final 5 laps of the main race about 4pm that afternoon before I realised I wasn’t reacting to the vibrations anymore, lol!!!

Georgia had very kindly organised a ‘pit lane walk’ for the 3 of us.  In case you haven’t been to this experience before either, it’s where you can walk along the outside of the individual team garages, perhaps chat with some of the team, see the cars and the insides of the garages up close and personal.  And you might even be lucky to capture a happy snap, as Georgia did.  From the pic, I think you can clearly see just who Georgia’s favourite team is…Big smiles from Georgia chatting with ‘Duddo’ aka Mark Dutton, Team Manager.

Honestly, I really did enjoy the pit lane walk.  It provided the opportunity to see the sport closer.  You see, whilst I don’t have a love of motorsports, I do love sport in general.  So from that level, I appreciate the sport that it is.  The absolute precision and commitment it takes.  The mindset and dedication of what’s required to be an elite sportsperson.  A curiosity of mine, if you like.

In addition to the enjoyment of the pit lane walk, I did also enjoy to find a patch of lush green grass where I actually did chill out and capture a few minutes of meditation (well of some sort anyway).  And then of course, as you do, indulge in some hot chips for lunch!!

It’s a buzz of activity with helicopter flights taking off at every other minute, big screens everywhere you look, entertainers, merchandise and so much more.  The dress code is basically anything from thongs and a bikini right through to your Louis Vuitton and a suit!!

 

I did really enjoy this day with a difference.  I’m always open to learning and of course as a Mum always support Georgia.  After all, who knows just where our passion will take us in life.  Be Open and Say Yes to new experiences…adventure awaits.

 

 

Drinks & Nibblies

Oh my goodness, can you actually believe I’m about to say it!!!  With less than 100 days til the 2018 Australian Open starts (apologies if you’re not a tennis fan, lol!!) that means the festive season is really not that far away, pause, gasp 🙂

And for many that means an often busier time of year, with lots of gatherings and social occasions.  This CAN be a challenging time for either over-eating or not eating with what’s healthy for your body.

For me, sure I have a few indulgences at that festive time of year…yes, I’ll definitely be sharing my much enjoyed, clean Christmas Cake recipe again.  But, until then with undoubtedly many invitations to events or hosting your own, you can CHOOSE to keep life on the healthier side.

I’ve actually used this strategy since I began this healthier lifestyle over 6 years ago now.  It works for me…and our family AND means I don’t find myself falling WAY out of rythmn, waking up with foggy heads or having the digestion system too far out of balance.  For me, it just means I continue to feel good and trust me, before I began changing my lifestyle, that wasn’t a healthy or happy place to live!

So, as I do, jumped into the kitchen with notepad and pen and created this Roasted Beetroot Dip recipe…I did this a couple of years ago, but it’s often those ‘favs’ that I find myself coming back to.  Especially when I bought some fresh beetroot at the markets recently!

And having a notepad and pen in the kitchen is how I can share recipes with you guys, otherwise it ends up being a ‘kinda recipe’…I’m sure you get what I mean!

Check out the recipe below, it is super easy!  The longest part of it is roasting the beetroot and let’s face it, pretty much you can put that in the oven and walk away for a good hour.  The smell will remind you 🙂

 

Eat Seasonal!

 

What Active Nation Day 2017 really taught me…

You may recall my blog from last week…Life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, well this is kind of an extension of that sharing.  In case you missed it, here is the link…

https://kyliescourage.wordpress.com/2017/10/08/i-made-a-promise-to-myself/

A couple of weeks ago, sitting at this cute little organic cafe at Samford, having just eaten  a mouth-watering lunch (equally drooling picture below) left my tastebuds dancing…you know that kinda feeling that your body is giving you a hug saying a big ‘THANK YOU’.

 

Quinoa

Sweet Potato

Chickpeas

Mushroom

Sprouts, fresh lime and more…you get the picture!!

 

By this stage, my insides are shining and so is the sun.  Que…mobile phone rings.  For the purpose of this story, I’ll get to the point.  It’s Lorna Jane’s office inviting me to speak at their Active Nation Day event that weekend.  I thank Tahlia, hang up the phone, 3 words – Thank You World.  Feeling = grateful, delighted.

And then, in the blink of an eye, my inner voice says ‘Holy Crap’…and then the negativity starts – what are you going to say, you haven’t done a public speaking gig in a while, time to prepare, what to wear…I paused, breathed, looked out to the sunshine and said ‘STOP’. You will be fine, you’ve got this!  #believe

If you follow my blog or take a browse across any of my social media, I’m certain you will feel my energy of respect, belief and appreciation of Lorna, the beautiful lady herself (authentic comes to mind) AND her activewear brand.

I used to ‘write’ all my public speaking, like right down to a smile.  I learned early on, that whilst it’s great to be prepared for the audience, to know your stuff, to engage, to laugh and so on, to do all that you need to be authentic and that’s when I stopped writing every last word.

Now, I write a few key words (you know, like as a memory jog) and I roll with, connecting with the audience, myself and the occasion. So, that Saturday afternoon I grabbed a notebook and pen and logically thought through what I could share with a few hundred women from my 6 + year health journey…to inspire and empower – to connect and to be real.

I said ‘this is your opportunity to use your voice Kylie’ …a quick mental image of just why I formed Kylies Courage.

 

You see I love public speaking. For me, it’s a platform to share and reach as many people as I can…to inspire, to educate and empower. Ultimately spreading awareness of living a greater life…of health, of reaching your potential, of being the very best version of ourselves possible, to embrace growth, learning, self love, green smoothies or warm ginger tea.

You see, I last spoke at a conference a couple of years ago now, which left me frightened and in a situation where I lost my voice after an incident with 2 very drunk men threatened my personal safety. Thank goodness a lady intervened.  It rocked me, threw me to the curb, shook me up and in terms of public speaking left me feeling without my voice!

At the time, little did I know that this night and my journey of public speaking would take me through the lessons, the tears, the pain, the why and all the highs and lows AND be possibly one of my biggest life lessons.

For me, public speaking has been a huge journey.

 

That incident with those men bought up every little piece of the ugly, confusing and frightening abuse I suffered as a child. To the point, I withdrew, started putting on weight, suffered throat issues, lost all energy, my skin had rashes and on goes the list of challenges.

There were times when I honestly thought that mentally I was losing it!!  I actually felt like screaming at times. I felt ashamed that I founded Kylies Courage from my amazing health journey and yet I found myself in such poor health.  Not to mention the shame that I felt surrounding the abuse.  The abuse that I had been told to tuck away so quietly and deeply for sooo long.  The strain of that became so heavy to carry, too heavy.

I even withdrew from seeing my Kinesiologist who had helped me so much along my journey.  He had helped me achieve some really great stuff – with my health and my life. Ironically it was a chat with him, one day, in a moment of bravery that helped me onto my path of healing.  Now, that’s a whole other story for another day.

Though, as I continue on these new chapters of my journey of life…

• Of healing
• Trying to understand
• Releasing those deep emotions
• Practicing self love
• Regaining my energy, and
• Fine tuning my nourishment

I paused to reflect on the Sunday of Active Nation Day, after what was a beautiful morning of celebration, health, hugs, chats, kindness and more.  I felt an immense, deep gratitude for the gift I had been given…I had my voice again.  To engage in public speaking and to share the story of Kylies Courage.

And yes, my presentation went great, we laughed, we sweated, shared and hopefully empowered a whole group of women to greater health and life.  I hardly even looked at my notes!!

Active Nation Day 2017 gifted me the lessons of…

• Self Love
• Women supporting and encouraging women
• No judgements
• No comparing
• Kindness
• My voice…we all have a voice!

 

Since THAT night, I have learned to really embrace these 3 things.  They have served and supported me (along with loved ones) through what’s been some of the toughest, darkest times – in life and certainly since beginning my health journey 6+ years ago, and they are…

• Never give up
• Believe in you
• Self love

And, Be Courageous…cause sometimes you’re gonna need to get a bit gutsy!

At the time, Lorna Jane’s office actually had no idea of just how significant their invitation was for me to share my journey with those at Active Nation Day.  One thing is for sure, it is a gesture of kindness that I will always remember.  And another significant milestone in my health journey.  Kindness spreads Kindness xx.

 

 

What’s your eating style?

So, so many eating styles and labels out there these days.  It can be challenging to find your very own eating style.  I’ve been asked this question on many occasions, from

• Vegan
• Paleo
• Vegetarian
• Pescetarian
• Fodmap
• And so on goes the list

My response is always the same – ‘I eat the foods that fuel my body best’.  With no label attached!!  I’m not paleo, vegan or any other labels.  I just enjoy a ‘clean eating’ style.  And for me that means eating foods as close to nature as possible, without processing and free of artificial sugars, numbers, additives etc.  So mainly lots of fresh and seasonal fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds.

From very early on in my health journey, I still remember my Kinesiologist referring to food as ‘fuel for our body’.  To nourish our bodies and get the output (aka energy, brain power etc) required to lead the life of our choice, then we need to put the right fuel in.  Mmm, at the time I thought ‘easy concept, I can connect with that’.  And so I rolled on with this.

I guess that’s where my ‘clean eating’ style or ‘SLOW’ eating came from and that’s how I’ve continued to roll.  Not only because it works for my body, but it’s super easy to live an entire lifestyle this way, it’s not a diet…it is a lifestyle.  And yes, even when travelling and holidaying it’s easily adaptable.  And I’ve learned that when I recognise the foods that do fuel my body well, then I thrive at my best and by that I mean as a whole…

• My skin is well nourished
• My moods are happy
• I have great energy to exercise
• My thought patterns are positive
• I see solutions not problems
• I sleep peacefully
• All round, I make much more empowered choices

Of course, I do realise that nourishing is only one element of our entire health & wellbeing.  Balancing nourishment with exercise, together with the processing and releasing of our emotions are just as important.  It’s all about the balance.

As we head into the warmer months of the year, especially here in Brisbane, for me that spells salads and bbqs!  On many occasions previously I’ve mentioned of my enjoyment in visiting local/weekend markets, chatting with growers and suppliers and sourcing quality seasonal produce.  Here is one of my delicious salad recipes and it is a great accompaniment to grilled fish, salmon, organic eye fillet, a boiled egg…whatever your tastebuds desire.

Moroccan Carrot Salad…Enjoy 🙂

 

 

 

 

I made a promise to myself…

Around about some 4 months ago now, I made a promise to myself.

I’ve achieved so much with my health these past 6+ years.  However, with declining energy levels and increasing weight challenging me, we had explored so many aspects of health in an effort to uncover the ‘why’…

• Thyroid
• Stress
• Emotional Baggage
• No sugar
• Low Carb
• Counting Calories

None of this worked…not even drinking rosemary and licorice tonic!!!

So, I cancelled the gym membership, weight sessions, personal training, running etc which I’ve enjoyed so much since about 2011 and made a commitment that I would consistently attend yoga classes.  In an effort to use yoga to help me connect to myself at a deeper level.

Whilst it has been challenging and sure there have been moments when giving up would have been easy.  Honestly, negative thoughts like pulling into the McDonald’s drive thru have entered my mind…Thank goodness I never did!!  I knew it would bring me pain.  I kept going back to ‘there must be an answer, you’ve come so far, just keep going’.

It’s that little inner voice that lives within me…Kylies Courage.

So, what’s happened since I made that promise?  Well, as it turns out yoga, at that time, was one of the best decisions I made.  I stopped counting calories, spending my every waking moment thinking about food, less sugar, low carbs and went back to listening into my body, deeper and deeper.  I guess you could say I stopped obsessing!

If anyone ever tries to tell you that yoga isn’t real exercise, don’t believe them.  I’m telling you it really is!  It has helped me immensely.  I have attended a number of different styles of class…from yin to flow to long slow deep.  With some great yoga teachers and ultimately the different styles have helped me connect in with my spiritual and emotional journey.

Ok, so I am a bit competitive right.  So, as with anything I do I like to feel/see progress.  Otherwise, I start to question my ‘why’.  Well, without a doubt I have experienced progress.  When I first began, at the suggestion of the yoga teacher, even mentioning the words ‘pigeon pose’…I know I would screw up my face, roll my eyes and think ‘oh no’.

However, I persisted!  It was about 8 weeks after I first started and doing yoga class about 2-3 times per week, when I realised that we did pigeon pose.  I didn’t make all the facial expressions and I didn’t feel negative towards it.  Now, by no means am I saying it’s my fav pose…but importantly I could feel progress and actually breathe into pigeon pose.  Listen to my body and learn from those messages.  In between actual yoga class I would also roll my mat out at home and just breathe into some different stretches, whatever I connected with on that given day.

Some of my greatest and deepest learnings these past few months have included…

• Increased flexibility
• More positive thoughts, a greater clarity of mind
• A greater appreciation for my body, ultimately learning self love…more
• A deeper connection with myself, on the inside, a depth of inner peace

I do hope that from my sharing and journey that at the very least this reminds us all to…

• Never, never, never give up
• Believe…always believe in you
• Self Love…I’m not talking green smoothies here, I’m talking about that inner practice of self-acceptance, for you, exactly as you are, with no judgement.  For me, I found it easy to drink the green smoothie, but I realised I wasn’t doing the inner work.

I can assure you..

• From darkness comes light
• From the storm comes blue sky
• From rain comes sunshine and rainbows
• From every challenge comes growth

These words can be easy to say…And, not so easy to connect with and easily feel into.

I formed Kylies Courage as a result of my health journey which I consider to be ongoing, for life.  And I guess these past months of challenge are all a part of that journey.   Though I haven’t always seen it that way!! After all, we need to work through the storm and darkness to see the sunshine and rainbows.

 

Wishing you…

Continued health, deep self-love, greater inner peace and endless happiness xx