Do you find yourself exhausted, yet you feel like you’ve not done much, to be feeling so exhausted?

Do you ever wonder, could it be because you haven’t spent enough time doing what lights your soul up?

Lately I’ve been finding myself more exhausted that usual, for no real ‘reason’.

I didnt put two and two together until recently, when I asked a dear friend if she had been creating. I know she loves to create. I know she also pushes herself beyond her limits in all other aspects of her life.

I know this. Because I am her, she is me.

Little did I know in asking this simple yet effective question, I too was about to start creating again.

We spend so much time seeking things outside of us. When all we need to do is go within, go back to our own walls of confinement and where we are neglecting ourselves.

We are programmed and conditioned to work hard and play later. But do we ever make time to play? I mean really play. To do what we love. What brings us back home to ourselves, to our natural state of joy.

I’m guilty for trying to be perfect in all the roles in my life, by the end of the day there can be a sour taste left in my mouth. A bitterness I cannot put my finger on and I snap myself out of it. How can I feel so unhappy when I’ve accomplished so much?

But that’s just the thing, maybe the magic isn’t found in the achievements.

Maybe the magic is in the in-between. The moments doing what we love. So that we feel fulfilled and satisfied, knowing that our wants and needs are worthy of being nurtured.

So my question is, where can you bring more joy to your life? What is something you have been meaning to do more of, but haven’t had time.

What would happen if you made time? Do you think you might smile again? Do you think you might sleep better? Do you think you might treat your neighbour with more kindness?

The next time you’re giving someone advice, I invite you to think about the advice you’re given and how in fact is that advice relevant for you right now too.

The world is your mirror.

I’ve said it before and I’ve said it again. We’re all here just walking each other home.

So I thank you, my beautiful friend. Go do more of what you love and I too will do the same.

Janna x

What does love mean to you?

For me, it’s to love always, in all ways.

Love to me is not a person. Love is a feeling.

A feeling that can be found. It’s there when we are open to giving and receiving unconditional love, to each and every thing around us.

I believe that’s the love that will always win.

I want to share this story from the other day, where the magic in the gift of giving unfolded in front of my very eyes. Where three strangers worked together, from the centre of their own hearts, to help someone else.

A lady kindly offered to pay for my apple turnover at the bakery when I was unable to pay, as they only accept cash. I thanked her and explained the apple turnover was not for me, but the homeless lady sitting at the front of the shops.

The lady working chimed in and said “oh what the hell, make it $2!” We all stood there grinning at each other sheepishly, knowing how good it felt that we had all worked together, for a combined outcome of getting that apple turnover paid for and into the hands of the lady outside.

As I approached her, she excitedly asked what it was. And I’ll never forget the childlike joy in her eyes when she found out it was an apple turnover. “Yummy. They are my favourite!” She exclaimed.

My intention for sharing this feel good story with you, is to show the power love alone can have. And when that love is combined, its power increases tenfold.

When people can work together in the name of love, anything is possible.

Love is contagious.

Love makes the world to around.

All we need is love.

I once heard that expectation is the root cause of all suffering. At the time (and up until recently) I begged to differ.

However, the more I live and learn, the more I realise how much we truly can become prisoner to our own camp.

We go into each day, event, situation, time, or place, carrying with us in one way or another, an expectation. And low and behold when things don’t go to plan, we lose it.

But was it ever ours to begin with, or was that just a story we made up in our head.

How can we know what we truly want, before it even happens. What does it matter if people, places, situations or things don’t turn out to be exactly what we wanted. What if they turn out better.

Sure, we can focus on all the what if’s and should be’s. But do we miss out on all the could be’s, because we are so fixated on how we think things should go.

They say to change your life, to change your mind.

Could the answer really lie in letting go of expectation?

I’m often asked what the biggest gamechanger has been on my road back to health and happiness. The answer was (and still is) hard to come to terms with.

That answer being – Nourishing Fats. Yes you heard it right!

Nourishing Fats have changed my life.

Sure, the physical, mental and emotional aspects have contributed to my overall well-being. But nothing truly changed for me, until I added nourishing fats and animal products back into my diet.

Coming from being strict vegan and having not consumed meat or dairy for years, to finding that to be my answer, was one of the hardest pills I’ve ever had to swallow.

But it’s a lesson I’ll learn over and over again. Just how vital nourishing fats are for our brains and health. Especially that of the soluble vitamin B, which can ONLY be found in animal products.

I’m sure you can imagine the push and pull, going from one extreme to the other. But that’s me. What has worked for me. And what makes me feel best.

Now you may ask, what exactly is a nourishing fat. Avocado, coconut oil, nuts, olive oil?

No. I’m talking real fats. Animal fats.

You know that feeling when you crave animal fats? Then the feelings you get during and after consuming said foods? The feelings you get when you think of those foods? I’m sure we’ve all felt this before.

Have you ever wondered if nourishing fats could actually be good for you and are supposed to make us feel love,warm, happy and satisfied?

There is a lot of valid research out there on the importance of Nourishing Fats in ones diet. What I’m sharing is based on my own experience and findings. And while its worked for me, we are all bioindividual and what works for one, may not work for another.

Give your body what it wants and needs. I’m not talking about those sugar or pizza cravings. I’m talking real foods. Whole foods. Listen to your body when you eat certain foods. How do they make you feel?

We get to choose what we consume. Because it makes us feel good. Because we are not made from a textbook. And we get to question beliefs that certain foods are bad or wrong, when in fact they could be what our brain and body needs most.

Listen to your body, you know best x

Have you ever wondered how some people can pick themselves up, over and over again. Growing stronger from every challenge. And it’s like nothing can stop them?

In the face of fear, they are courageous. They make quick, risky decisions and give everything their all. And if they are knocked down, they get back up again, finding another way.

When there’s a will, there’s a way. When you find the way, act on it. Act on it and you may succeed. Or fail. But either way, you’ve turned a problem into a challenge and in turn are learning valuable lessons along the way.

When you are faced with fear, do you delve into what actions you may have taken, or not, that have lead you to feel such a way? And do you ask yourself what can you do right now to fix or change it?

Sure, its easy when times get tough or when our minds get clouded, to just throw it all in the too hard basket. And continue to bury our heads in the sand. Or can we stand up tall, courageous and look fear in the eye and say. Show me what you’ve got.

We all have a choice. To grow and evolve. Or to keep living in the same way, because we feel safe and comfortable. What about daring to do something different. To step out of your comfort zone. To leave behind what’s wrong or right. To take the damn leap. For if you don’t, how will you ever know? How will you ever know anything, if you don’t even try.

The more we exercise these muscles the more ingrained it becomes within us to be brave, to make bold decisions. To stop looking and blaming everything outside of us for what’s going on inside and doing something about it.

What have you got to lose. Go for it. And see just how capable you really are x

Because the short road ahead would be unrealistic.

The long road is the way back. To yourself. Your health. Your happiness.

You may be wondering where to find the road back…

You pave the way!

Where were you when you felt your happiest and healthiest?

What were you doing?

Who were you with?

When was the last time you did these things?

What are you doing in your life right now that aligns with any, or all of the above?

You may find you’re just out of alignment and had forgotten who you are…

Find and put back together the pieces of yourself that you’ve lost along the way!

Enjoy the journey. The unravelling x

When I was little, my grandparents would write poems in cards or post them to me in the mail.

And it stuck with me, the impact words can have when life is challenging, or when you need a little pick me up.

I recently stumbled upon one of my all time favourite poems in an old book Courage and Confidence. An anthology by one of my grandmas favourite authors, Norman Vincent Peale.

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,

When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,

When the funds are low and the debts are high,

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit,

Rest if you must,

But don’t you quit,

Life is queer with its twists and turns,

As every one of us sometimes learns,

And many a failure turns about

When he might have won had he stuck it out.

Don’t give up though the pace seems slow –

You may succeed with another blow!

Success is failure turned inside out –

The silver tint of the clouds of doubt

And you never can tell just how close you are,

It may be near when it seems so far.

So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit –

It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit – Author unknown

While we can’t stop trouble from arising, we can arm ourselves with tools and resources to meet it when it does.

Seeking wisdom from words helps me handle things in a more constructive manner and I hope this poem can help you too!

Don’t quit x

This is based on my own personal experience. And while I believe there is a time and place for everything, it’s always good to step back and see the bigger picture.

Have you ever wondered, when you are undertaking healing practices, where your precious energy goes and at what cost?

Healing is usually done for the greater good. With intention for a desired outcome, to change the current state of being.

But whatever happened to having trust, faith, letting things (including healing) run their course to unfold naturally?

“Que sera sera, what will be will be”

In my experience, healing can sometimes be draining and take you away from the present moment. Away fom what’s right in front of you. Precious time you cannot get back.

Some questions you may start to ask:

Is where I am today, and are the actions I’m taking (or not taking), leading me to a better tomorrow?

Or am I still stuck?

Am I doing all the things, yet I’m still sick and tired?

Is everything still turning to shit around me, despite my trying to change the outcome?

Yes? Snap back, to reality!

All we have is the here and now, what’s right in front of us.

Let live a little. Have some fun. Even if it hurts along the way. Its all part of it.

What will be will be x

To Grandmas ways.

Now, what do I mean Grandmas ways?

Do I mean dressing like her? Being a hairdresser like her? Nope. I mean, how did she live to 94? What did she eat? How did she manage to get through 94 years of life with minimal to no disease? No anxiety about the past, present or future. How did she maintain such youthful looks?

She was the happiest woman in town. She had soft, supple, glowing skin. She was enthusiastic and inspired. She enjoyed music, baking and cooking. She enjoyed, reading, writing and would spend hours reciting poetry. She was active and spent most of her days outside.

My Grandma was quite literally the happiest and healthiest person I ever knew. I am sure there are a myriad of reasons for this. Yet my Poppa was the same. Healthy as pie up until his 92nd year of life. He was active and running the farm. He was one of the happiest, funniest and wisest men.

You opened their fridge and would see meat, eggs, whole chickens, butter and cream. You opened the pantry to find teabags, flour, sugar and oats.

People in this day and age would wonder, but how did they survive, what did they live on? And I truly believe in this particular story, the proof is in the pudding. They lived a simple life. A life of love. Simplicity. Properly prepared and cooked seasonal foods. Wholesome foods, to give their bodies what they needed.

On my own health journey I’ve come to discover that the people before us were onto something. They grew their own vegetables, fermented and pickled food (grains, nuts, seeds, fruit, vegetables, dairy), they boiled fruits down and they consumed raw dairy and animal fats.

They were the happiest and healthiest people I’ve ever seen in my entire life and if my grandparents have taught me anything, its to simply enjoy the simple things in life. The rest is just noise. Enjoy the people around you, music and literature, spend your days connecting with friends and loved ones. And enjoy traditional, cultured foods that speak to the heart.

Who remembers their grandparents warm hearty foods? The smell of broths and fresh baking wafting from the kitchen through the house? The love put into everything made. Thats how it is supposed to be. It isnt supposed to be hard. Its as hard as we make it.

This iconic couple were and always will be, #couplegoals. Not only for me but everyone who was blessed to have their lives touched by the Sibleys from Gundaroo. I would do anything to sit in their loungeroom one more time, lights off, curled up in front of the crackling fire and listen to their uplifiting stories and words. I would give anything to hold their hands just one more time.

So, heres to you grandma and poppa. And to all the people who came before us. To all that you were, and all that still are. I will do everything I can to honour and cherish the lives that you have lived. You’ve inspired me to be the best and healthiest version of me so I can journey along this long road back to happiness. And so it is.