October News – On Barcelona, Bali & A Hawaiian Health Secret

Greetings from sunny Bali,

October has been a busy month! I have been travelling for most of it – seeing new clients, running Private Retreats and now I am in Bali for a three weeks. So this month I thought I would send you something different – an update on my adventures, and plans and opportunities for the next few months, plus an article on a Hawaiian way to pamper yourself at home.

After some weeks on the road in Europe I am now combining work and slow time in the beautiful village of Ubud, up in the hills of Bali, where I’ve been juice fasting while I work on designing my exciting new website – Healing the Deep. (More news on that very soon!) With all that has been on I am sorry I have filmed no blogs for the last two weeks – they will be coming you way weekly again from now!

Barcelona
Early this month I visited Barcelona for the first time. What a lovely city and region! I went there to work with one of my Private VIP clients on a 3 month program, and we went to a lovely centre up in the hills for her private retreat, and after she organised a pop-up 3 day clinic of new clients in Barcelona for me. (I will be doing more of these pop-up clinics in different places around Europe this coming year. Contact me if you are interested in me coming to your city!)

It was great to meet some of the interesting people living there, and I will be back. So if seeing me in Barcelona sounds tempting to you sometime, then I’ll be there again next February. Drop me a line if you would like to find out more.

Bali

After a few days back in the UK to sort and pack I headed off the the southern hemisphere for three months. I’m in Bali till mid November, on to Australia for 6 weeks and then back to Bali again for the first 2 weeks of January before returning to wintery England in mid January.

During my three weeks in Bali I’m joining an entrepreneur conference with Roger Hamilton with amazing business people and innovators from around the world, catching up on online work and then taking some slow relaxing time off for me. Here I have also met many Europeans are enjoying a little tropical warmth before the winter fully arrives in the north. I even caught up with some Irish friends of mine as our trips overlapped by a day. They were loving their first visit here and looking so relaxed and tanned after just two weeks in the islands.

Ubud is a unique place as a new culture has grown up alongside and blended with the traditional Balinese relaxed, artistic and sacred approach to life. This new culture is about a healthy, mindful and entreprenureal approach to life, so there are yoga classes and natural spas everywhere, along with wonderful organic juice bars and cafes offering a combination of Balinese traditional dishes together with green salads with fresh coconut meat and fabulous raw food. It certainly is a lovely place to work from for part of the year, so many people spend a few months here from the West.

I have been staying in a great Air BnB house here (Mantra Villa) with a communal kitchen and living area, a lovely pool, good wifi, the sounds of roosters from the fields around and great like-minded people staying here. We have fresh organic juices delivered each day, so a short 5 day juice fast has been easy, and delicious. I am feeling great after it!

I know how easy it is to become caught up in the busyness of life in the West, to find it hard to take slow time out for oneself. I happens to me too. For as much as I love my work, all the people I see in Europe and elsewhere and the travel I do there, I also have to remember to balance it with time out just for me like I m having here. When we take slow time, time for ourselves it can help bring everything back into balance, into flow. So how are you doing? Have you been able to find some slow time for yourself recently? Even just having a total day out at home can make a world of difference.

Here in Bali – apart from visiting my Balinese friends and going to local temples and ceremonies with them, being pampered in some wonderful traditional spas, meeting new friends and enjoying working in this beautiful climate and relaxing place – I am also offering an exciting opportunity of two places for people to join me here for a Private 2 or 3 Day Healing the Deep Retreat in the first half of January.

However, one place has a just filled as I write this email! … Could the other place be just what you have been looking for?

If you would like to find out more about this opportunity, just reply to this email and we can arrange a time for a call so you can discover all one of these private retreats includes, and the difference it could make for your life. Maybe it could be your time to come to Bali…

A Hawaiian Smooth Skin Secret

As I’m in Bali, where they really understand the benefits of natural shrubs, massages and baths, and have many amazing spas in beautiful tropical garden settings, I thought I would share an article about a smooth skin technique that I learn from another culture who knows how to take care of their bodies – the Hawaiians. I discovered this when I lived on a yacht there many years ago. Later a journalist interviewed me for this article in the magazine Australian Natural Health before I left Australia to move Europe.

Dry skin brushing

How to help your whole body become more healthy in just a few minutes each day? Dry skin brushing is the secret and it has long been a part of Ayurveda’s cleansing philosophies. Ayurveda is a 5000-year-old science originating in India and is believed by many to be the oldest healing science.

How does it work? Your skin is an organ of elimination, just like your kidneys, liver and colon. It’s the largest organ of your body and it’s estimated that one-third of your body’s daily impurities are excreted through the skin. Dry skin brushing helps keep the pores clear and the skin active to assist the body in this cleansing process. If your skin becomes inactive, its ability to remove excess toxins is impaired. This places extra stress on other organs and on your body in general.

As we age, our bodies become less effective in shedding outer layers of dead skin cells. This build-up of dead skin can result in a thick, dry and somewhat leathery look, which is often common with more mature skin. As well as exfoliating this outer layer, dry skin brushing also stimulates the sweat and oil glands, providing more moisture for the skin. It also helps keep young skin fresh, vibrant and free of breakouts.

Because your body breathes and absorbs essential nutrients through your skin, regular dry brushing will leave your skin clear of excess debris so it’s free to absorb oxygen and other nutrients into your body. It also stimulates your body from the outside in. It works to cleanse the whole system and is an effective treatment for many ailments. Accumulated waste products in the body are known to contribute to many illnesses as well as premature ageing. Dry skin brushing also increases blood circulation, which helps to contribute to healthier muscle tone and better distribution of fat deposits, also known to many as cellulite.

40-year-old Cassandra Haughton James, AcuEnergetics practitioner and owner of The Natural Alchemist shop in Sydney, believes that the secret to her supple and healthy skin comes from consistent dry skin brushing coupled with the use of natural oils. Cassandra was introduced to the art of dry skin brushing almost 20 years ago while living in Hawaii and has been hooked ever since. She dry skin brushes several times a week before showering and applies natural oils to her skin afterwards.

“Water hydrates the skin and the oils feed it,” she explains. “Dry skin brushing removes the dead skin and allows the body to breathe. It leaves the skin open to absorb the oils which are applied while the skin is still slightly damp, leaving a fine film of oil on the surface.” Oil on its own can dry out your skin, so it’s important to dry skin brush, then have a shower, then apply the oil to gain the most benefit. In addition, dry skin brushing is believed to stimulate the lymphatic system by aiding the flow of lymph fluid throughout the body. The lymphatic system plays a vital role in elimination, helping to move toxins through the body.

It also contributes to the strength of the body’s immune system by producing certain white blood cells and generating antibodies. The lymph system doesn’t rely on an automatic ‘pumping device’ like the cardiovascular system and it depends on the movement of muscles to keep it working. There are many lymph nodes situated at different places in the body but the inner thighs and armpits hold the greatest number, so it can be helpful to pay extra attention to these areas when brushing. The lymph system flows towards the heart so it’s important to brush in the same flow as the lymphatic system.

Benefits of dry skin brushing

• Removes dead layers of skin and other outer impurities.
• Stimulates and increases blood circulation.
• Helps release fatty deposits under your skin’s surface.
• Assists the eliminative capacity of your body’s organs.
• Rejuvenates your cells.
• Strengthens your immune system.
• Increases muscle tone.
• Improves skin texture.
• Helps prevent premature ageing.

Step-by-step guide to dry skin brushing

1. It’s best to dry brush first thing in the morning before you shower. Start with light pressure until you’re used to the sensation, then move on to firmer strokes.

2. Use a natural bristled brush, a loofah or a soft exfoliating glove.

3. Start with the soles of your feet, use swift upward strokes and brush from the feet, up the legs, working towards your heart.

4. Once you’ve covered your lower body, move to your hands and work up your arms toward your heart in the same manner.

5. Next (using a long handle brush or get your partner to help out), brush your back.

6. Last, work on your abdomen (moving in a clockwise direction to follow the movement of the colon), chest and neck. It’s best to avoid your face as most people’s facial skin is too sensitive.

7. Brush for about three-to-five minutes until your skin is rosy and slightly tingly.

8. Always shower after you dry brush to wash off the dead skin.

9. Keep a separate dry brush for every member of the family, and be sure to periodically wash it.

NOTE: Avoid on broken or sensitive skin and take care to brush lightly over cellulite areas. – By N.H. Australian Natural Health magazine

And Beyond, to Australia

From tropical heat to early summer warmth of Australia. In mid November I fly on to Sydney where I will be till 28 December, catching up with family and friends, and giving some sessions and running a couple of Private Retreats. While there I will be dividing my time between Sydney and the beautiful wild south coast area of Bermagui, where some of my family recently moved. (I will film some blogs there to share this wild and lovely area with you!)

Are you in Australia, and been thinking about doing some work with me? Then do connect and we can have a chat, explore what difference physically or emotionally you would like to make in your life, and see if this could be the right time for you to clear that issue…

I hope you enjoy yourself this month wherever you are on this beautiful blue planet!