wrapped in berry love

Smoothies… oh how I love to *eat smoothies.  Everyone is always asking me for recipes but, honestly, I’m so freestyle I hardly ever remember exactly what goes in… but for you sweet ones, I’m going to try!

Every morning I wake up (I would love to say without my alarm but alas, the life of a morning teaching yoga teacher who has not yet learnt to go to bed before 9.30pm  does not make this possible…yet!), I have a good sloosh and gargle with coconut or sesame oil and then have a jar of warm spring water with ACV (apple cider vinegar).   ACV is a prebiotic and a good aid for detoxing, controlling blood sugar levels and lots, lots more.

Then comes the yoga, the meditation, the journaling…  and when the tummy grumbles I know it’s green juice and smoothie time!

Here are my 5 rules of thumb for making awesome smoothies that your body will love:

1. Keep the fructose and sweet aspect low – now, this doesn’t do much for taste but it will help set your body on a non sweet path for the day rather than getting it amped on sugar and fruit and popping your taste buds on the sweet train.
2. Boost the fat content by adding nuts, coconut oil, coconut, avocado (for example).  Our brain needs fat to function and our body uses fat as a clean energy source so please do not be afraid of F.A.T…. It’s the best!!
3. Add some weird stuff – as smoothies are well blended,  you can get in some super nourishing extras that taste pretty funky on their own.  I like to add seaweed, spirulina, chlorella, tumeric, cayenne pepper and a whole host of other nutritional boosters.
4. Add some greens – once whipped together with the good stuff you won’t even notice the kale or spinach you threw in at the last minute.
5. Add good spring or filtered water – first thing in the morning our body is begging for rehydration and your smoothie will do just that.

BERRY CACAO SMOOTHIE:

• a handful of organic frozen berries – jammed packed with antioxidants
• a good dash of chai seeds
• shaved coconut
• half a frozen banana (if you feel you need a bit more sweet)
• tsp of coconut oil
• pinch tumeric for its anti-inflammatory qualities
• pinch of cayenne pepper to boost the metabolism
• tsp spirulina / or chorella or both
• tbs maca powder
• pinch of Himalayan pink salt
• a small handful of cashews
• tbs of raw cacao for a little chocolate decadence
• a tsp of bee pollen
• a little dulse seaweed
• some kale leave (removing the stalks as they are a bit tough)
• cup or so of spring or filtered water

Pop it all in the blender and WHIZZ it up into a delicious breakfast drink that will keep you feeling full until past lunch time (providing there is enough fat in it).

Happy smoothie making my dears… I promise to keep posting radical recipes as I create them.

AND  - I would love to hear your ideas.  Tell me your favourite smoothie creation – I’d love to try it!

*eat was not an error – these babies are so think you have to devour them with a spoon.  Savouring every mouthful and giving heartfelt thanks… infusing every bite with high vibes, love, light and gratitude!

The spinning wheels of life… and starting over… again

From spinning wheels of death (on my computer who recently went to tech-heaven) to discussions of starting over at last night’s Wakeup Project with Danielle Laporte, I’m feeling really connected to the cyclic nature of our existence.

As the days become cooler and the sun’s visits become more fleeting and I begin to wonder what on earth I wore last year to stay warm (why does this concept elude me every year?) I am feeling tuned into the energy of transition, of change, of evolution and the impermanence of every moment.  We are in a constant state of rhythm and cycle, wrapped up in the gentle movement of the Universe; the orbit of the planets, the turn of Gaia’s seasons, the flow of the tides and the dawning of each day.

Our human experience is also cyclical… we are conceived as a tiny spark of creative energy, nurtured in the womb, we break free into our human existence and our journey of self remembrance begins.  We feel our way through lessons, stumbling from time to time, falling in love, falling out of love, falling in love again but this time with ourselves, creating families of our own, finding a sense maturity… and then losing it again… we get a little slower, we tire, we grow older, our eyes get a little watery, a little blurry, things take on a rose tinted hue.  We have tea, and sit, sharing our lessons and stories with our children… and their children…  and then we transition back to the home of Spirit… our physical body returning to the Earth… and so we begin again… the wheel of life spins on…

Today I lost a family member, my grandmother.  She was 3 weeks shy of her 90th b’day and lived long and rich life.  I remember her best in the garden, she grew flowers like nobodies business and she was so loving to her treasured cats.  I remember staying with her on the farm in NZ and collecting the milk from the end of the driveway, licking the cream from the top, probably finding a hedgehog on my journey and bringing it back inside (much to her dismay).  I’m pleased for her that she is now on a new journey, leaving behind the ailments of her final weeks, reunited with Da (my late grandpa) and the her pussy cats Muffin and Kit.  I hope she feels free and is embracing her homecoming.  We send her all our love and light to shine the way.

On the other side of the globe my  beloved’s sister is on the brink of giving birth to a new niece or nephew… and so we flow on.

One comes and one goes – the wheel of life never stops turning.  

Danielle Laporte, who I was lucky enough to meet last night, gave a beautiful and timely analogy of starting over that I would like to share.  I’m sure you are familiar of the usual caterpillar story and its metamorphosis into a butterfly, but I bet you didn’t know that whilst the  caterpillar is in its chrysalis its body literally turns into a liquid state… it turns into soup.  There is nothing to hold onto, no spine, no identity … and this is where themagic happens… this is the space of alchemy.  

In the words of Joseph Campbell, ‘the hero enters the darkest part of the forest where no-one else has gone before’ so in other words we must travel our journey of self realisation alone, then the next part of the phrase is like this ‘ …the hero enters a fluidly ambiguous landscape’.   That would be thesoup.  In this space, we don’t know who we are and we are yearning to know who we are again… this is where the fear lives, the ebb before the flow.  We want find our spine again, a familiar tree, a lamppost, something to hold on to… but that is not what the soup is all about.  In these moment’s we must ask ourself… ‘are you willing to not recognise who you will become when you get to the other side…’ because baby… it’s transformation time and sh*t ain’t ever going to be the same again… that’s the soup.. .that’s the death… that’s the magic… and we must lean into the uncertainty as that is where our answers lie.  

Big love to Danielle for your guidance and inspiration.. you came to me in a perfect moment just like all my other lessons.

One more Danielle-ism as it feel right… when you are moving out of the soup in your new incarnation, starting a new cycle a fresh, decide to rise!  ‘On the other side of deciding to rise is illumination, ecstasy, insight.  And the angel of your strength is there waiting, smiling, applauding, with a goblet of endorphins for you. Drink up. When you transcend circumstances you get special privileges. You get evidence that you are indeed amazing, and irrefutable proof that what your heart and mind choose is what matters. And you get the deep knowing that life wants you to win.

Decide to rise. Lean in. Listen up. Closely.

It’s your soul speaking and she says,
Get UP! I need you. I want you. I am you. Choose me.
Lean in. Listen up. Closely.

Decide to rise.’

My beautiful Mum was here with me when we heard the news about Nana and for this I’m ever grateful.  Today feels quite surreal.  Not bad, not good, just odd like time has stopped… I don’t really know how to feel about death.  It doesn’t feel like an ending… just a weird transition… I guess it’s just a little soupy… and so… I listen, I write, I process, I swim in soupy waters, weathering the fluid storm…

And as my spine starts to form vertebra by vertebra…

I decide to rise.

x

Relax… nothing is under control!

I need to confess something… something that may not come across in your facebook feed.

Starting your own business is HARD!  Way harder than I ever anticipated.  All that incredible drive and time management ability (sorting the big rocks from the sand) that I though I possessed has somehow evaporated into the ether since fully landing in the world of self employment….and it has been a sobering experience.  There’s nothing like feeling in a mess with your business to bring on the all too familiar feelings of self doubt, comparison to others and fears (specifically about 3D things like money).   Now I’m a big one for positivity and creating dreams, and I get how the law of abundance works but I’ll tell you something for free — it’s goddam hard to feelawesome.. free… in the FLOW… in your CREATIVE POWER… with BOUNDLESS ABUNDANCE when you are doubled over with FEAR and SELF DOUBT.

I like to think of myself as a channel (or a garden hose for a more tangible example).  As channels (or hoses), we need to stay in a relaxed and open state for the energy to flow through us, but when we panic and freak out it’s like putting a kink in the hose or building a dam in the river of creativity.  The same vibe can be applied if we are straining too hard to achieve something – you know those moments that you feel like you are literally pushing shit up hill… no matter how much energy you throw at a project it just doesn’t get easier..? Again, same deal… hello disrupted flow.  The same can be seen in  our bodies in our yoga asana practice.  When we move with awareness, connected to breath, feeling our way, everything aligns with ease and grace (well, more or less) but we we push to hard we have this handy inbuilt stretch reflex that literally stops the flow (kinks the hose).  Our psoas muscle is another classic example of needing to find a state of ease and relaxation to feel safe enough to let go.  If you push and prod the delicate psoas (which connects our spine to our legs and keeps us upright)  it will curl up like a caterpillar in an act of protection…. Just like that, the flow is stopped, pooling in our belly for storage as tension or to get ready for fight or flight.

So what I have observed over the past weeks of feeling stuck, behind and overwhelmed was my increasing need to hold on and controleverything to the nth degree.  I created a pattern of stuck-ness that I couldn’t see a way out of.  Chasing my own tail and feeling incapable and helpless… and in the moment I thought WTF?  How the hell did I get here…? I was so on fire, I was kicking ass, I was in the flow… now nothing but MESS? Where did all the creative juice go?

 And then, as per usual, when he head isn’t listening the body takes over and I got sick.  Not mega sick but enough to force me to surrender, take of moment to realise that it was ok to just be BE… to BE COOL.  I’m not 100% sure of the exact moment when I finally put down my weapons of self deprecation, stuck my hands in the air and called PEACE but from that magical moment things started to happen again, little signs started appearing through the fog of overwhelm that had really been there all along but I had been so caught up in my own shit storm of drama that I wasn’t open to receiving them.  From a meeting with a client whose words and stories held such perfect lessons for me, to the class I taught for school kids that reminded me that I need to be creating a school program, and the wish that I’d put out there for some more plants for the house and then happened to be gifted two beautiful succulents by a man on the street (coincidence? I don’t think so!!)…

The Universe is providing us gifts every minute (for every single one of us), and it is our job to be open and receptive to the magic.  Through rituals like a maintaining a clean diet, daily meditation and movement, mindfulness, journaling and practicing gratitude we slowly start to peel away the layers of distraction, of old stuff and allow ourselves to open ours hearts to our truth and to our higher purpose…

So from this moment forth I’m doing a little experiment in energy and flow.  I’m setting myself a challenge to stay out of my head, to truly live this OPEN HEART LIFE I’m so passionate about.  Transforming the pushing intoallowing, the worry into the trusting.  Already just one week in I feel a huge sense of relief.

RELAX, NOTHING IS UNDER CONTROL.  So please take a breath, sit back, smell the roses and enjoy the ride!  This is supposed to be fun!

SJ xx

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I would love to catch up with you for a FREE chat about your health, hope and dreams – first consult is on me so reach out at hello@sarahjaneperman.com

I also have a number of retreats coming up soon – IBIZA, WALES and BALI.