by Krista | Sep 11, 2013 | Bits 'n' Bobs
Many of you have asked me what I’ve been doing to get better after a lengthy and chronic illness.
In the weeks to come I’ll share about the changes in diet, supplements, and lifestyle that have made such a huge difference in helping me heal. Our bodies are so different and interesting, and it’s been quite a journey figuring out what is healing specifically for me.
Today I want to share about BodyTalk, something that enabled me to start the healing process about three years ago.
Much like chiropractic heals through the bones and massage through muscles and soft tissue, BodyTalk heals through the energy lines of the body. Although it doesn’t seem like it, our bodies are fairly crackling with energy. (It’s what gives us a mighty good shock when we shuffle across the carpet in winter.) When the energy lines are clear we are healthy, but they get interrupted through trauma, abuse, illness, stress, or other negative things. BodyTalk clears those interruptions and gives you a flat playing field from which to heal in every area of your body. It is gentle, non-invasive, and effective.
“Each system, cell, and atom is in constant communication with each other at all times. Through exposure to the stresses of day-to-day life, however, these lines of communication can become compromised or disconnected, which then leads to a decline in physical, emotional and/or mental well-being. Reconnecting these lines of communication enables the body’s internal mechanisms to function at optimal levels, thus repairing and preventing disease while rapidly accelerating the healing process. In this way, BodyTalk stimulates the body’s innate ability to balance and heal itself on all levels.” – from Body Talk System
When I moved to beautiful Amsterdam in July 2011, I was able to receive BodyTalk from a wonderfully kind and gentle woman, Irma de Jong, at her practice Praktijk voor Reiki en BodyTalk.
She helped me tremendously. With her help I was able to diminish my body’s reaction to triggers, work through panic attacks instead of being incapacitated by them, and instilled courage and confidence where once I’d been filled with fear and insecurity. I was and am so very grateful.
Even after I moved to Australia, Irma continued to stay in touch, checking on me regularly and even setting up long distance sessions to help me through particularly difficult seasons. She is a real luv.
Recently I was able to interview Irma about BodyTalk and her experiences as a recipient and practitioner. I hope you enjoy it!
I loved walking to Irma’s office because the route led me past beautiful ivy-covered buildings and along flower-festooned canals.
How did you learn about the BodyTalk system?
The first time I heard about it was via a friend of mine in the USA, she had gone to a public lecture and received a demonstration session. My friend called to say this was what I had been searching for. At the time, 2002, there were only a few BodyTalk practitioners in the Netherlands, I booked my first session and was sold. The simplicity, the accuracy and the revealing underlying themes were astonishing.
How does it work (in simple terms)?
BodyTalk uses biofeedback to ask the body which parts need better functioning. The priority is directed by the body’s innate wisdom. Gentle tapping is used to help the brain balance and restore while tapping on the heart helps to integrate the whole so it can initiate its own healing process.
Why did you want to learn to practice it?
After I reached the level of Reiki Master, I felt the need to make the work more conscious, especially for the client. Both Reiki and BodyTalk function from the principle that the body is able to heal itself, with BodyTalk you become aware of the source of the issues. This awareness makes the healing take place on several levels of the bodymind. BodyTalk is direct and that’s what I find most appealing.
How has it been helpful to you personally?
In many more ways than I can describe. It has helped me in all levels of my life, physically, spiritually, professionally. Doing this work is the biggest gift in my life, BodyTalk has lead me here, accepting the responsibility and ‘spreading the love’.
What have you seen it do in the lives of your clients?
- Clients have had drastic improvements in their health; to be able to come to a state of well-being where emotional issues could finally be resolved or forgiven.
- Clients have been able to take steps in their lives; to leave or commit to a relationship; to make a career switch or move to another country.
- Clients have learned to change their perspective on life; in order to live life rather than cope. In all of them — be it physical, mental or spiritual — I have seen them become more aware of the role the symptoms play, and ultimately it brings them forward in their own individual process.
Are you able to help people not in Amsterdam?
Yes, I can do the distant sessions and give feedback via Skype. Here I do phone calls, but Skype works, the verbal explanation really helps.
For more information, you can contact Irma any time. She’d love to hear from you and help in any way she can.
Irma de Jong
Praktijk voor Reiki en BodyTalk
Westerdok 382
1013 BH Amsterdam
The Netherlands
http://bodytalksystem.nl/en.html
http://www.facebook.com/BodyTalkNL
Have you found help or healing through holistic options? I’d love to hear about it.
by Krista | Sep 9, 2013 | Bits 'n' Bobs
“We need the tonic of wildness…We can never have enough of nature.”
Henry David Thoreau
This weekend Bear and I loaded up the car with much excitement to head to the Gold Coast for a full day of running errands and a bit of fun.
We got 30 minutes down the road before realizing we’d forgotten the NavSat – essential to our day of gallivanting hither and thither in parts unknown. Grrr. So back we went, picked it up, plugged it in and were on our way.
90 minutes later the low battery warning came on and upon pulling out the plug discovered that the end was missing (how on earth???). Grrr. Thankfully I had my phone with me so I hastily pulled it out and attempted to navigate Bear through the maze of construction blocked streets.
Alas, my phone chose this time to blank the screen every 8 seconds leading to conversations that went something like this: “OK, babe, take your next left…no, bugger, just a sec, wait, wait, OK, yeah, take the next left. Uh, yeah, that one we just passed, hold on, wait, wait, oh bugger!”
Somehow we managed to find an electronics store and popped inside to get a replacement cable. But of course they only just stopped making that version and it would cost $?? to find a new one and they didn’t actually carry them anymore and didn’t have any in stock and really, it would only be a bit more to just buy a new NavSat. Grrr.
Ten minutes later we bustled out with new NavSat in tow, got to the car, and continued on our way.
By this time, as you can imagine, nerves were frayed, tempers rattled, and our blissful jaunt to the coast was a mere memory.
But then a few things happened that restored our rumpled spirits and got our jolly day out back on track.
Firstly: food.
Really, is there anything more restorative than a good meal? I think not.
We got an outside table at one of our favorite Gold Coast haunts: Milan on Main. The weather was exquisite, a balmy 78 degrees F with cool breezes and brilliant sunshine, and as we sipped our freshly squeezed strawberry, passion fruit, and watermelon juices and soaked up all that delicious fresh air, the mayhem of the morning began to dissipate.
By the time our food arrived we were in downright good spirits and could start to laugh about the gong-show we’d just experienced. We visited in between mouthfuls of poached eggs and smoked salmon, savory sausages and roasted tomatoes, crispy hashbrowns and delectable sauces.
Any lingering vexations disappeared completely when we arrived at Main Beach after brunch.
Although I’ve loved every Aussie beach I’ve visited thus far – from Coolangatta to Bribie Island – Main Beach will always have a special place in my heart because it’s the first Aussie beach I visited when I moved to Australia.
It’s also where Bear and I had our first date, the place where I knew that this bloke was the one for me.
Kicking off our shoes we trudged down the sandy slope to the beach and found a spot with ample scope for people watching and more than enough room to stretch out and snooze in the sun.
I confess I had been nervous about going to the beach so soon after being ill for so long. My poor ol’ body isn’t back to fighting strength yet and it shows. But I gave myself a good talking to and reminded myself that me and my wobbly bits have as much right to bask in sunlight and turquoise water as the svelte young things next to me, and I wasn’t going to let one more happy opportunity pass me by while I waited to be skinny enough, pretty enough, enough enough!!
And I’m so glad I didn’t.
Learning anew to see myself with love filled me with love for the parade of bodies I saw around me – the gorgeous old ladies with wrinkly everything, positively beaming as they played in the water with their grandchildren, splendid pot-bellied men spending hours building sandcastles with their kids, muffin topped young moms flirting with their husbands, lithe teenagers doubled over in laughter as they posed for pictures and chased each other through the waves.
It made me so happy to be part of the human race and wish I could tell each person there how beautiful they are, no matter what.
We had a wonderful time, laughing with a neighbor when he nearly decapitated me with his rogue kite, grinning at children shrieking as they ran away from the waves, closing our eyes and snoozing happily as the sun soaked into our bones and melted away the stress of our journey.
It was just what we needed.
We returned home with our first tan lines of the season, clothes full of sand, and happy sighs every time we thought of the beach.
It was a wonderful day after all.
Where’s the last beautiful place you went to relax?
by Krista | Sep 4, 2013 | Bits 'n' Bobs
As much as I love traveling through Italy, meandering through Paris in Autumn is also an unabashed delight.
I especially like it on stormy, overcast afternoons when the skies are dark and brooding and most people are indoors busy working, leaving the streets and parks almost deserted.
It’s my favorite time to wander through empty church yards, finding quiet nooks under sprawling trees to sit and write or stroll along gravelly lanes, happily crunching through mounds of burnished leaves.
The city seems hushed under a blanket of cloud and instead of the shrieks of children and honking of horns people withdraw for solitary walks, sitting alone on benches with books and maps, leaning back quietly lost in thought.
It is a rich solitude, not a sad or lonely one. A time when the cacophony of the world is muffled a bit, giving thoughts free reign to dance and explore and linger wherever they wish.
They are cozy sorts of days that demand wool pashminas and knee high boots, steaming parcels of roasted chestnuts, and diminutive cups of coffee at sidewalk cafes. Days when you can actually see and appreciate the tops of towers and apartment buildings because the glaring sun isn’t blinding you when you look up. The gray is a frame for the beauty of Parisian buildings and bridges, gates and shops, allowing you to notice details often missed when they have to compete with glittering sunlight and brilliant blue skies.
They do my heart good.
Just thinking about them makes me want to fill a notebook with pages of musings and ideas, plans and notions.
And it makes me want a bicycle just like this.
Although I can’t be in Paris today, I can still linger long over a hot cuppa and fill my journal with current dreams and sparks of inspiration.
These days my cuppa is a big white mug full of dandelion mocha.
Brewed like coffee it is made of roasted dandelion root – a wonderful blood purifier and cleanser full of antioxidants, A, C, D, E, & B complex, calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron, zinc, manganese, copper, choline, and boron – a big scoop of raw cocoa and a drizzle of real maple syrup.
I love when healthy things taste marvelous and make you feel warm and happy.
What is your favorite thing to do on an overcast day?
Dandelion Mocha
serves two
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp organic roasted dandelion root
2 Tbsp raw cacao powder
1-2 Tbsp real maple syrup
coconut milk or regular milk if desired
Directions:
- Place dandelion root and cacao powder in 2-cup French press or tea pot and fill with boiling water.
- Let steep to desired strength, give it a good stir to work in the cacao, then pour through strainer into two cups.
- Sweeten and/or add milk and serve immediately.
by Krista | Sep 2, 2013 | Bits 'n' Bobs
It’s a chilly Spring morning and I’m keeping warm with hot cups of dandelion mocha made with roasted dandelion root, real maple syrup, and raw cocoa. Delicious!
I love these cool mornings before the heat of the day sinks down and simmers a heady scent of alyssum, rosemary, and earth. The fields are filling with daisies and tiny purple and yellow flowers and it looks so beautiful when I’m out there with the goats.
Spring feels good.
It’s been a lovely weekend. Bear and I worked on all sorts of projects together: gardening, fence-building and mending, and putting together our new farm blog. Click here if you’d like to take a look. We’re so excited to start selling goats, ducks, and geese and share a deeper glimpse into life on our Aussie farm.
When we weren’t working or taking cuppa breaks on the sunny veranda, we were chuckling at the antics of the baby goats who have progressed from teetering to spirited gamboling over rocks and logs and each other.
Once moment they’ll be standing still like little goat dolls and then with a shiver they’ll be galloping and leaping like crazy marionettes while their mothers placidly munch away on grass and fallen leaves.
The best part is when you pick one up for a cuddle and within moments she falls fast asleep in your arms.
With the warmer weather we’re eating on the sun-drenched veranda again, basking in luscious warmth and scented breezes as we eat and chat.
For breakfast yesterday we had savory potatoes pancakes topped with a zesty sweet corn tomato salad. I don’t usually eat corn since it is genetically modified and difficult to digest, but once in a while I simply crave milky sweet corn and happily give in to that craving. Sweet corn is especially nice in a fresh salad like this with ripe Roma tomatoes and crunchy snow peas.
What did you do this weekend?
PS – The winner of the Wood-Burning Giveaway was Val from More Than Burnt Toast. Your parcel will be shipped this week, Val! 🙂
Potato Pancakes with Sweet Corn Tomato Salad
serves two
Ingredients:
6 potato pancakes (click here for recipe)
2 cobs sweet corn, corn removed with knife
2 Roma tomatoes, cored and diced
handful of snow peas, sliced
1 lemon, juiced, pips removed
2 Tbsp olive oil
small bunch fresh dill, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
sea salt and pepper
Directions:
- Keep pancakes warm while you prepare salad.
- In medium bowl add corn, tomatoes and snow peas.
- In small bowl whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, dill, garlic, salt and pepper until emulsified.
- Pour dressing over vegetables and stir gently until evenly coated.
- Arrange three pancakes on each plate and top with generous scoop of salad.
- Serve immediately.
by Krista | Aug 30, 2013 | Bits 'n' Bobs
It is Spring here in Australia, my favorite time of year for traveling and the time when I get the strongest wanderlust.
It’s the time of year I want to pack my bag full of sundresses and fly to Italy to meet up with dear friends and wander cobbled streets and spend hours in cafes sipping outrageously strong coffee and dining leisurely on meals of roasted artichokes with lemon and mint, seafood studded pasta, and caramel panna cotta.
But this year I’m focusing on strengthening the roots I’ve established here in Australia so I won’t be jetting off to my beloved Italy.
Still, I can dream, and dream I shall!
I’m reading Italian cookbooks and novels and spending many happy hours dreaming my way through Italian picture books of country homes, lavish villas, tumbledown farms, and gorgeous gardens. It’s almost time for my annual viewing of “A Month by the Lake”, “Under the Tuscan Sun” and any other sun-drenched Italian movies I can think of.
I’m loving it.
So today we’re jaunting to the shores of Lago di Orta in Italy’s Piedmont region and finding a shady bench to sit on while we gaze out at beautiful Isola San Giulio and imagine what it must be like to live on such an island in such a wondrous setting.
When we see a water taxi pull up to the dock, we buy tickets and clamber aboard to explore the island for ourselves. Pretty soon we’re bouncing across the waves, the deliciously cool wind buffeting our hair as the occasional splash of water drenches us.
It’s marvelous.
Our boatman gallantly hands us ashore when we get to Isola San Giulio and we all agree to explore on our own, taking whichever paths seem best to us.
It’s a wonderful idea, for this tiny island is a place of peace and reflection and the sort of beauty you want silence to truly appreciate.
There are quiet corners to sit in, shady nooks to rest awhile and contemplate and do a fair bit of daydreaming.
Daydreaming is something I’ve been doing a lot of on these warm, sunny first days of Spring. I know Italy is not idyllic. It has its glitches and mean people and frustrating quirks like any other place. But it also has incredible beauty and wonderful traditions that enrich meals and relationships that I like to incorporate in my life wherever I am.
I’ve been planting lavender and rosemary – herbs that smell of Italy every time the sun hits them – and using the vivid colors often found on shutters and doors to bring a bit of cheer to our Aussie farm.
And I’ve been cooking simple, delicious, and nourishing food like this Lemony White Bean Salad.
This is one of my favorite dishes for it can be used in so many ways. Studded with ripe Roma tomatoes and salty chunks of tuna, it is brightened with a zesty lemon dressing rich with parsley. I like it for breakfast on top of scrambled eggs, all by itself for lunch, or used over toast as bruschetta for a mid-afternoon snack. The zingy lemon is delicious with all that protein, and it keeps me going for hours.
What beloved place do you dream about returning to?
Lemony White Bean Salad
Ingredients:
2 cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
3 Roma tomatoes, cored and diced
1 can tuna, drained
1 lemon, juiced, pips removed
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
one bunch parsley, chopped
sea salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- In medium bowl add beans, tomatoes, and tuna. Set aside.
- In small bowl whisk together remaining ingredients until emulsified into salad dressing.
- Pour dressing over bean mixture and stir gently to combine.
- Best served at room temperature.
by Krista | Aug 27, 2013 | Bits 'n' Bobs
One:
On one of the coldest winter mornings yet, I had to be dropped off early for a doctor’s appointment. It was FREEZING but I was determined to make the best of it so I brewed a big thermos of chamomile tea laced with lemon and maple syrup, brought my favorite mittens (handmade by my very talented friend Marie), two pashminas, a big jacket, and I found the sunniest spot in town – a picnic table glowing in the early morning light. I pulled out a wonderful Italian cookbook and spent a very happy hour reading, sipping, and snuggling down into all my warm things.
Two:
Taking my goats out to the fields and finding the poplar trees that line our drive back-lit wondrously by the late morning sun. Happy sigh.
Three:
Snuggling with this little mite as the sun set over the fields, flooding us with light and warmth while she slept.
Four:
Trekking through brown-gold fields and finding this radiant little orange feather.
Five:
Roasted cabbage “steaks” liberally seasoned with olive oil and lemon pepper.
What are some things that made you smile this week? xo
Roasted Cabbage Steaks
serves a lot of cabbage lovers 😉
Ingredients:
1 green cabbage
olive oil
lemon pepper
sea salt
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 F (200 C).
- Cut cabbge in half and remove core.
- Cut each half into 1-inch thick “steaks” and lay side by side on parchment lined baking sheet.
- Drizzle each steak with olive oil and sprinkle liberally with lemon pepper and sea salt.
- Place in hot oven and roast 30-40 minutes until cabbage is cooked through and browning nicely.
- Serve warm or cold.
