Do you Facebook for your business?
Many people say you can’t have a business without it these day.

Copyright © 2012 Create the Life. All Rights Reserved. This article may not be used without the prior written consent from the author. See below for more details…

DO YOU WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this text copy in its entirety:

Attention All Service-Based Businesses… Are you marketing your business with Heart?
Get your FREE Marketing with Heart Guide now. If your passion is your business, then you need this comprehensive guide. Our fail-safe marketing strategies will help you to grow your business AND attract more clients without compromising your integrity. Learn the secrets to marketing your business with heart. Get your FREE guide & complimentary coaching session now, click here.

lots of great responses from my eZine article last month…….. hope you enjoy it!

Gay

These 7 patterns can absolutely stop us in our tracks.

The first step is to identify what is stopping you, then next to break the pattern.

The first and the one that can keep us on the brink of our next step (sometimes for years) is called the Dweller on the Threshold’ This is all about being stuck. When we are in this pattern we become caught in beliefs like: ‘Something or someone is preventing me from moving forward’ or ‘Nothing feels possible’. When we are stuck we are in the way of our own self, our little personality is stopping the True Self from stepping forward.

To move out of this position we have to commit to the bigger plan of our life. It is time to stop being small and start trusting in our True Self and the journey we are on.
The next pattern is Illusion. In this pattern we are cheating ourself and are caught in the illusion of reality instead of seeing reality. We are fooling ourself, taking action without really knowing what we are doing, following blindly and judging instead of using our powers of discernment. We become identified with an idea, an opinion and information instead of being clear about what we want, being honest about where we are and making a choice based on truth.
In Uncertainty fear becomes our controller. Instead we need to step up and take responsibility and dare to see. We must develop the courage to use our inner senses and break old patterns such as fight or flight and a lack of decision and action.
The pattern of Inertia is apparent when we are hiding from our self, becoming too busy or procrastinating. The route out of this pattern is to simply see the essentials and act accordingly. We can choose to do it with pain (moaning and groaning) or with goodwill – my suggestion is to use the goodwill track! Feels much easier.
The next pattern is Blindness. When we are caught in this trap we are not daring to see. We become overly identified with our beliefs. It looks right not to do things and we become stuck in ’I am right, I know it’ (in otherwise we are closed). The way out is to be open, see ourself face to face. We can then free ourself from telling ourselves those little lies based on beliefs that were created to keep us small.
I love Glamour, well not really, but it does make me laugh. This always reminds me of the teen ager who spends hours in front of the mirror, forgetting about everyone else. This is the narcissistic place, we fall in love with ourself which (when overdone) ultimately creates greater separation with others. We miss seeing others light and instead always put ourselves first. The way out of this is to develop altruistic thinking and a service mentality so we can enjoy allowing others to go first.
And finally we have Ignorance. This is the really tricky one because we simply don’t know what we don’t know. We assume we already know all that we need and we have not opened up to the ability to sense our Inner Wisdom that will alert us to the fact that something is missing.
The reality is we will all fall into these holes more than once in our journey, but recognizing them is the first step out.
If you want any help stepping out of your hole kinesiology can help! Feel free to give me a ring 0418 795 135.

All the best, Gay

Copyright © 2011 Create the Life. All Rights Reserved. This article may not be used without the prior written consent from the author. See below for more details…

DO YOU WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this text copy in its entirety:

Attention All Service-Based Businesses… Are you marketing your business with Heart?
Get your FREE Marketing with Heart Guide now. If your passion is your business, then you need this comprehensive guide. Our fail-safe marketing strategies will help you to grow your business AND attract more clients without compromising your integrity. Learn the secrets to marketing your business with heart. Get your FREE guide & complimentary coaching session now, click here.

This tale has been retold many, many times like any good folktale.
Here are a couple of versions….

A man named Sei Weng owned a beautiful mare which was praised far and wide. One day this beautiful horse disappeared. The people of his village offered sympathy to Sei Weng for his great misfortune. Sei Weng said simply, “That’s the way it is.”

A few days later the lost mare returned, followed by a beautiful wild stallion. The village congratulated Sei Weng for his good fortune. He said, “That’s the way it is.”

Some time later, Sei Weng’s only son, while riding the stallion, fell off and broke his leg. The village people once again expressed their sympathy at Sei Weng’s misfortune. Sei Weng again said, “That’s the way it is.”

Soon thereafter, war broke out and all the young men of the village except Sei Weng’s lame son were drafted and were killed in battle. The village people were amazed as Sei Weng’s good luck. His son was the only young man left alive in the village. But Sei Weng kept his same attitude: despite all the turmoil, gains and losses, he gave the same reply, “That’s the way it is.”

Chin-Ning Chu, in “The Asian Mind Game: unlocking the hidden agenda of the Asian business culture — a westerner’s survival manual,” New York:Macmillan Publishing Company(1991)

and another

A man who lived on the northern frontier of China was skilled in interpreting events. One day, for no reason, his horse ran away to the nomads across the border. Everyone tried to console him, but his father said, “What makes you so sure this isn’t a blessing?”

Some months later his horse returned, bringing a splendid nomad stallion. Everyone congratulated him, but his father said, “What makes you so sure this isn’t a disaster?”

Their household was richer by a fine horse, which his son loved to ride. One day he fell and broke his hip. Everyone tried to console him, but his father said, “What makes you so sure this isn’t a blessing?”

A year later the nomads came in force across the border, and every able-bodied man took his bow and went into battle. The Chinese frontiersmen lost nine of every ten men. Only because the son was lame did the father and son survive to take care of each other.

Truly, blessing turns to disaster, and disaster to blessing: the changes have no end, nor can the mystery be fathomed.

The Lost Horse, Chinese Folktale.
As told by Ellen J. Langer, in” The Power of Mindful Learning,” Reading, Mass: Addison-Wesley (1997).

This article was written by Gay Landeta with the intention of helping you to Create the Life you Want to Live! All rights reserved 2011.

I have a confession to make. I have been suffering from inertia for a few weeks now.

I thought it was just end of year tiredness or boredom or something but I have to accept it is just old fashioned inertia. Can’t be stuffed. All I feel like doing is sleeping! True, I have had early mornings with puppy plus puppy responsibility on top of work so rest is welcome but I do have a couple of things that must get done and they haven’t been. Sleep keeps claiming me!

Don’t get me wrong, sleeping is great and with our super busy life often taking time out, doing nothing and just chilling is not only essential to our physical health but to our emotional and spiritual as well. But sometimes slowing down grinds us to a halt and our resistance to move seems insurmountable. Inertia takes over.

Inertia is not useful and is considered to be one of the 7 blocks on our spiritual path. It is a way we hide from our trueself. Being able to see what needs to happen – not what should, nor what we want but what NEEDS to happen  – and then taking action is fundamental to our growth.

But sometimes shifting forward feels almost impossible. Here are my top tips in identifying and overcoming the dreaded inertia. Work towards answering yes to each before proceeding to the next step. The process of doing so may well help you to find an edge to your comfort zone, something you could explore but haven’t yet had the impetus to do so. Choosing to do so will help you grow. Even if you choose not to you will at least ensure YOU are in charge not your comfort zone!

(I have assumed that you have some goals or intentions that you are not doing. If not you can go to my blog for this article on goal setting to create yours and THEN work through your inertia. Although you might find with the right goals your inertia disappears!)

1. Is this the ‘Right’ thing to do?

This is a fundamental question because we spend so much time doing what we ‘should’ or ‘ought’ to. ‘Should’ tends to take away our feelings of being in charge. Change it to you could do this and make sure you have a 100% commitment to it and to accepting the consequences that may arise from it.

Regardless of whether it is doing the dishes, writing an ezine, finishing an assignment or starting a meditation practice there are consequences for doing as well as not doing it. Sometimes what stops us is a lack of acceptance of the consequences. Think about both the positive and the negative; the loss of time and energy vs the clean house, the feeling of success, the connection to our deeper nature… all of these will have ramifications and may even ignite old issues that need to be resolved. Recognising these is often enough to shift them and open the door to moving forward.

It is also true that sometimes we just have an obligation to do something. By reconciling and accepting the consequences BEFORE committing we can avoid the feelings of resentment that so often make it difficult to enjoy a simple act of service for another.

In these cases, it is often the loss of time, energy or what we would rather be doing that we may resent. One way to avoid that is to make sure that what we are committing to is in alignment with our values. For example for a parent it may be the commitment to the value of health that spurs them to making a healthy dinner instead of resorting to Maccas, for me,  getting this eZine out (even if late!) is part of my commitment to my values of reliability and service. If you don’t know your values you check out my article to figure our your own personal values.

2. Is this the Right thing to do right now, is this your current priority?

Very often we get caught in red herrings and time wasting stuff that is really not important to do right now. Are we really doing the most important thing we need to do right now. Sometimes having a sleep really is the next most important thing but on other occasions it is just an avoidance of the necessary. Ensure that this really is the essential next thing to do by taking time to listen deeply.

3. Then give it a go and see how it feels…

Reaffirm to yourself why you are doing this and then make a commitment to do whatever it is for a period of time. Make it short if you are really caught in inertia, maybe 10 or 15 minutes.  Once you start how does it feel? Often once you get going the shift in the energy is often enough to carry you through to completion, on other occasions it still seems a major struggle.

If you are struggling it may not be yet in perfect Universal time. For example usually when I start the eZine it just writes itself. Other times I need to take a break and come back to it and when I do it flows once again. Do your best to work with the flow to prevent struggle but be aware inertia will slow you to begin with and put up a bit of a struggle of its own. Keep going long enough to know that any struggle is part of it not being the ‘right time’ as opposed to general inertia.

At this point if it is still not working then stop. Wait. Wait even longer. And then wait a little more. Wait past the ‘should’ and ‘ought to’ point, wait well past the boredom point. Once you get past that wait even longer till you are full of the fire to move.

You could try this…. this was a piece of advice I read recently to someone who was suffering from the early effects of adrenal fatigue (exhaustion) which, untreated, certainly can lead to inertia: Go to bed right after work on Friday night. Do not get up aside from eating until Sunday noon. You may not read, watch TV or use any electronic items, you must just lie there asleep or with your eyes closed for the full time. The person who received and acted on this advice said they felt incredible when they re-emerged into the world.

Good luck and love to hear how you get through your inertia!

This article was written by Gay Landeta with the intention of helping you to Create the Life you Want to Live! All rights reserved 2011.

Surely once we have mastery over ourselves we have inner leadership?

Perhaps not. Inner leadership is not so much about managing ourselves as leading ourselves.

Managing is about doing what is necessary today to get to where you want to go.

Leading is about creating the vision.

Inner leadership is about finding that quiet place within, amongst all the clamouring of all the voices and determining what it is that you are really wanting. Once found and aligned with it creates a sense of peace in our life that can be sorely wanted in these crazy times.

Outer Leadership, on the other hand, is about being driven by what others think, what others want for us, what we think we should have or think or do. Essentially Outer Leadership is about being driven by factors that are external to who we truly are and what our purpose for being is.

If you are finding yourself focusing on these external things you have just been distracted. Our true purpose is very unlikely to be a owning a nice new car, or a lovely house. Those things could be seen as an important part of managing and supporting ourselves so we can achieve our vision and be living our purpose, but they are not the purpose itself.

Getting clear about the big picture and separating it away from the management of our lives can stop us limiting ourselves by our ego desires. We can stop trying to figure out how to make something happen and just allow our-self to dream. Dreams can create reality when they align with our highest.

In trying to figure out what our highest callings we have to let go of our cultural and family conditioning. Our society puts a myriad of expectations on us including a picture of success equals a certain type of job, a flash car, a big house, the requisite number of happy children and exotic holidays. It is oh so easy to buy into this and use these as ideals that lead us.

Instead to get to our True Vision we need to allow ourself to dream of what is important to us in our heart of hearts. And then step up to make them happen.

Lets play….

Which of these values are important to you and why:

Authenticity

Serenity

Compassion

Service

Just is

Beauty

Right Relationships

Truth

Joy

Gratitude

(you can add in any more you can think of)

Now, when you start dreaming of what your purpose may be gather the values that you hold dear and see how they fit into that vision.

Or simply gather the values together and see how that looks in the bigger picture of your life. Start to manage yourself  to achieve more of that and you may find your purpose finds you.

This article was written by Gay Landeta with the intention of helping you to Create the Life you Want to Live! All rights reserved 2011.

They help us to develop the quality of observation of the self.

The ability to observe the self in a detached yet connected manner is an important step in our evolution as a human being. The ability to observe the emotions, thoughts, feelings and sensations of our daily existence is something that can be cultivated to help us become less attached to our daily dramas and less caught in the stories of our life.

In spiritual traditions meditation is used to learn to observe the self. The process of regularly sitting with the thoughts, feelings and sensations that drive our human existence without being caught within them creates a calm yet focused mind and allows us ultimately to access more of our intelligence. Research shows regular meditators have a more developed frontal lobe, the area of critical reasoning, than non meditators.

How can astrology and profiling be used in a similar manner? By using the information attained to help to detach from the drama of life instead of excuse our behaviour.

The more we step away from the situation, the clearer the best and most appropriate response becomes. Offering advice or support to a friend is often easier than giving it to ourselves because we have a bigger perspective and less emotional attachment to the outcome.

As we become the observer we start to develop a bigger perspective. As we learn more about ourselves, through a profiling system, astrology or similar, we see patterns emerge of who we are and can learn to navigate our behaviour in a different manner.

For example in my life I do my best to focus my perfectionism to aim for excellence while listening for the clues that I am falling into nit picking. My stubbornness supports the persistence that is needed to be a successful business owner and I am getting better at seeing when I am hitting my head against the concrete wall! And my sensitivity helps me to tune in to others but learning how to manage it and see the bigger picture was the key to being able to work effectively and not become overwhelmed.

So, while I don’t agree with becoming slavish about anything, I do suggest experiment with using any information that rings true with you, whether astrology or numerology or Disc profiling or Myers Briggs to help you to see yourself from a greater perspective and refocus out dated behaviour into a new and improved version.

This month I invite you to explore some patterns of behaviour. Sit with them, perhaps in meditation, and observe how they impact in your life, positively and negatively.

Once you see clearly how this is impacting start to make some conscious choices of other, more appropriate ways of reacting.

This article was written by Gay Landeta with the intention of helping you to Create the Life you Want to Live! All rights reserved 2011.

Often we wake up to old patterns that aren’t working for us anymore. We recognize that they are not useful and want to change but can’t. It can feel extremely frustrating to keep battling patterns we know are dysfunctional.

How to get out of them? First step, recognize the pattern in its entirety and how it has been useful. No matter how dysfunctional the behaviour, it was a defense mechanism that once upon a time worked. (Or at least was better than any other options.) Forgive yourself for being human!

Next decide what new behaviour could work and experiment with implementation. You will probably find it works for a little bit until you fall into the habit of the old behaviour. Again forgive yourself for being human.
Think it through a bit more, recognize the complexity of the pattern, maybe talk to some impartial outsiders to help you figure out a few more tactics and let go of a bit of baggage and have another go.

It will probably work a bit better this time. Or at least until you get stressed. Frustration or overwhelm hits and you might just pull out the old habit because at least it used to sort of work. And wham there you are again. Forgive yourself yet again for being human.

Maybe have another chat with your impartial support, dig a bit deeper and unpack a bit more of the old baggage, learn a few new techniques for dealing with stress, frustration and overwhelm and keep on keeping on practicing the new habits – until one day you notice they are your normal way of being.

Lets explore this in action, let’s say your old behaviour is screaming at or offering the silent treatment to the kids or your partner when they won’t help. (This is a pretty generic behaviour and one most people would prefer not to do.)

First recognize it probably worked the first time or two. They were surprised or responded to the implied threat so it became a pattern of (hoped for) success. Now power battles are beginning to take place (either all out war or passive non-listening). It is not working.

You want to substitute a more measured response but the pattern is an old one. You try but end up in the old pattern most of the time anyway.

Your new pattern is to speak your needs calmly and factor in reasonable consequences, ie you won’t do laundry that is not in the washing basket or you can’t make dinner until the kitchen is tidy. Make sure they know (with love and respect) what these consequences are. No one can read your mind!

Start practicing your new habits and be aware of the feelings that come up. Unpack the baggage and do the work on them. For example who’s problem is it if you are afraid of what others will think when your loved ones leave the house in dirty clothes or eat toast for dinner? Yours.

What about if they are disappointed and angry because they have nothing to wear that is clean or don’t have time to eat before they go out? It is theirs.

Practice seeing the whole issue, letting it go and allowing it just to be. And forgive yourself and them for being human.

Keep on practicing and one day you will find those clothes in the dirty basket and the kitchen clean. Without asking.

Here is a poem you may like…

AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN FIVE CHAPTERS
by Portia Nelson

1) I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk
I fall in.
I am lost…
I am hopeless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

2) I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I’m in the same place.
But it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

3) I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in…it’s a habit
My eyes are open; I know where I am;
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

4) I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

5) I walk down another street.

This article was written by Gay Landeta with the intention of helping you to Create the Life you Want to Live! All rights reserved 2011.

These soul mate relationships can be very intense, painful and even harder to let go of than the perfect love match. I once heard these challenging soul mate lovers called the ‘Dark Lover’…. And ohhh, don’t they feel like that?! Very often we feel as intensely the pull towards them as the repelling away.

So what do I mean by the ‘the dark side’? As soon as I mention this I immediately see Darth Vader. And to be truthful, he is part of this archetype.

The dark side is our shadow. It is often the part of us that we don’t particularly like or even want to acknowledge. We often try to overcome this aspect of ourselves and even can consider it a character flaw. However there is wisdom within it once explored – but also danger if we misuse it.

For example for all us Virgo’s out there – yes I am coming out as a Virgo – we can be super critical and judgmental. And, by the way, what you may hear coming out of the mouth of a Virgo is probably only a quarter of what is going on within. So that critical nature may become the ‘dark side’.

Kept hidden and hated, it could become expressed as ever increasing criticism. Acknowledged and transformed, it becomes the ability to discern – which is part of the higher purpose for a Virgo.

So  how does the shadow relate to our ‘Dark Lover’? Well, here we are, trotting along with our life, doing our absolute best to hide that yuck bit. And we meet our Dark Lover. Oh, so very attractive. They are all we are not and yet exactly the same. We feel complete with them. They have rescued us, or so we hope.  Or maybe we wanted to rescue them….

But, therein lies the downfall (kind of like for Darth Vader I guess). We are rescued / rescuing instead of being responsible for ourSelf and our own journey.

And so the relationship goes, often developing into incredibly painful love/hate, messy emotional or even physical violence and other unpleasant messiness, the drama triangle in full tilt.
But, once we can get a perspective on a difficult relationship (and we can’t do this while we are still in pain), rather than spending time trying to understand them or us or trying to figure out who did what to whom, we can just settle into recognizing what we have learned in the relationship.

Not the backward gift (never to love again… that men / women are really totally untrustworthy…  to never share again, etc) but the true gift, for example the gift of inner strength or re-aligning with our True Self or of listening to our inner wisdom or one of million other magical learnings that those challenging relationships can bring.

And once we recognize the gift we can forgive and release the other with the highest kind of universal love (instead of the hormone driven extravaganza it may have started with).

May the Force be with you. : )

This article was written by Gay Landeta with the intention of helping you to Create the Life you Want to Live! All rights reserved 2011.

Neuroscience shows us that the stages of relationship are governed by chemicals in the brain. We start with good old lust, this is when we draw on our basic sex hormones, Estrogen and Testosterone.

We move onto attraction which requires appropriate levels of Dopamine (involved in addiction also!) Seratonin and  Adrenaline.  (think about that racing heart when s/he rings!)

Finally we have the attachment stage which is the area that is still not well understood. It seems Oxytocin, the mother or cuddle hormone, appears to be the lead hormone here.

No wonder, once in a relationship, we can lose our best intentions and become caught. With all those hormones and chemicals running rampant it can be difficult to stay connected to reality, especially if we also believe the myths of relationship. We end up bound into something that might not be the best for us – or our mate.

So before starting out in a relationship think about some of the myths of relationship, bust them and get set up for success, here are 5 that came to my mind …..

1. There is only one for me…. In actual fact we have many potential mates. For example I recently read an article that suggested the best number of potential mates to pick from is 9. Less than that and you might miss the perfect being, more than that and you will just end up confused!

2. We have to be attracted immediately to make it work …. You can actually make attraction and connection happen with almost anyone! New York psychologist, Professor Arthur Arun, had strangers spend an hour and a half talking about the intimate details of their lives and then 4 minutes silently looking into each other’s eyes. Many felt deeply attracted afterwards and 2 couples went on to marry!

3. Love can conquer all (for all us romance idealists out there!) …. Sorry but no. In fact hanging around in something that is really no good just becomes a habit. And the longer we stay, and the blurrier our intentions for a relationship are, the harder it is to leave. Better to make sure you know what you want BEFORE you get into relationship and have all those hormones and chemicals clouding reality.

NB Questions to ask yourself … Do I know what my deal beakers are? What are the values that I hold as important in relationship and what are my no-go zones? Now write these down so any incompatibility will become apparent sooner rather than later making it easier to call it quits.

4. I have to stay for the kids, the family, my parents, our financial future etc… Is that really true? Is this bad relationship really serving you AND your partner, or are you both stuck in a hole where no one can escape? Maybe starting a new life is not only good for you but also good modeling for your children.

But then again, perhaps it is your old patterning and issues breaking you apart. This is the time to get some counselling to get clear about the situation. Relationship counseling (together) is often very useful as well. This is also the time when that earlier list is very useful! And remember, if it is a lack of connection that is leading you to question your relationship try making time to look into each other’s eyes. (Remember – 4 minutes and strangers are attracted!) Might be just what you need to recognise your lover once again.

5. This might be the best that there is…… maybe that is true, maybe not. You are the only one who can judge that. Perhaps you are expecting too much. But maybe you are expecting to little! Does your one and only generally satisfy you? Total bliss is an impossible dream, especially the longer we stay in relationship. But the good MUST outweigh the bad. Substantially.

So what do you need to be ready for a great relationship?

*Feel good about yourself. Have boundaries in place and know what you are looking for. Write down a list!

*Make sure you feel truly worthy of a relationship, we are all fundamentally both flawed and magnificent!

*Appreciate the differences in us all. The more acceptance you have of your own self, the more you can accept another. And the more acceptance you have of your own self, the less likely you will settle for someone that doesn’t make you happy.

*And, if your relationship starts going haywire and you value it get counselling early, bad communication is one of the main reasons for relationship breakdown.

If you need a bit of relationship support give us a ring on 07 3255 0099 – a few sessions may be all you need to get you on your way to Creating the Life you want to Live!

© Gay landeta 2011 : all rights reserved.

Enjoy!

Simple Tips to Optimizing your Nutrition Without Compromising the Yum Factor!

by Gay Landeta

There are many small ways you can improve your diet, here are a few I find work well for me and my clients. Try them and see what works for you, even small changes can have big results!

1. Listen to your body

Listen to what your body calls for. But learn to listen deeply, for example not to the call for a sugary treat but to what that could mean. Energy, comfort, low blood sugar, an endorphin hit; what is really being asked here? How can you respond to that in the most healthful way?

2. Try new foods

Lots of us don’t like new tastes. Did you know it takes up to 15 tastes of a new food to start to enjoy it?

Kids, in particular are notorious for being difficult. I had two boys, one loved the most exotic food, the other hated everything. By the time he was 7, I was over it. We made a deal that he would try 1 mouthful of everything and I would cook one thing he liked in each meal.

He gradually expanded his likes and by 10 was a varied eater. He had also discovered his favourite food in the world, Mount Everest Soup from the Tibetan Kitchen which, at 22, he still has at least once a fortnight.

He often laughs at what we would have missed out on had I kept pandering to his hatred of anything spicy, peppery, or with meat, vegetables, beans, herbs, or if it was to hot or cold, or a yucky texture…

3. Organic and Local

Organic is great! I always feel much better when I eat organic, but also consider the distance the food has travelled. Local fresh is also good. Try farmers markets, and ask if it really is the farmer’s produce. People like Farmer Ian at Coorparoo Markets (find him at facebook!) grows the veggies himself or knows the person who does.

Be especially aware of food brought in from overseas, whether frozen or fresh. Other countries have very different standards and the food may have more additives or be less clean. And that is aside from the giant carbon footprint. Saying that, I do like Aldi who are committed to no additives in any of their food.

4. Healthy Vegetarian and Vegan diets

If you choose no meat (and this is a valid choice; my grandmother, a vegetarian for 50 years, still cycled 20 miles to pick pecans at 80) please make sure you don’t just take meat out of your diet. It does supply essential vitamins and minerals so you need to replace these.

Don’t rely on soy and gluten convenience foods for your protein and always combine your non animal protein sources (grains, beans, etc) to ensure you get the complete chain of amino acids. Be aware that the more you exclude from your diet the more vigilant you must be in what you eat. Make every mouthful count. Include whey or protein powder and eggs in your diet if you can.

5. Add boosters to your diet

There are lots of vitamin, mineral and protein packed foods and food supplements. Many we already eat, or could easily eat every day.

Some of my favourites include Tahini, pumpkin (pepitas) and sunflower seeds, Flaxseed oil, Cider Vinegar, parsley and other herbs, nuts, cruciferous veggies, eggs, spirulina, green powders and â€^~super foods. Have a look at my blog post http://gaylandeta.com.au/booster-for-your-body/ for ideas on how to use these.

A great way to find out how to boost your diet is to ask your local health food store. I often send people over to Nereda Wills and the staff at Sun and Earth on Brunswick Street, New Farm for a bit of booster education. She does food tours in the shop and has a 15% off day on the 2nd Friday of the Month, plus 10% off on every saturday for Club members : http://www.sunandearth.com.au/

6. Consider the wisdom of Chinese Traditional Medicine

I love TCM and have used their food wisdom many times to support my health. For instance I solved my 3yr olds constant loose stools with a weekend diet of congee.

I have posted a great article by Rod Williams on my blog http://gaylandeta.com.au/spleen-energy-support-get-more-energy/ If you are feeling tired or having trouble with energy have a look.

I hope you enjoy these ideas, and please, if you are experiencing ongoing physical dis-ease such as fatigue or digestion issues or any unexplained health concerns make sure you see you do check with a doctor to rule out any other factors.

© Gay landeta 2011 : all rights reserved.