How to make amazing things happen...

There is no particular point to this post, these are just some words wanting to escape from my brain, prompted by a conversation with a friend. Forgive me if it's a little incoherent.

There is endless controversy surrounding 'The Secret,' and the notion that if you put something out into the universe, you will receive it. Do you believe in this idea? More and more, my answer to that question is a resounding yes.

What prompted this reflection was a discussion with one of the most amazing souls I know (who I'm sure she is reading this from the other side of the world). She (who I will refer to as C), is my self-confessed biggest fan, and has always believed in everything I've done and made me feel as though anything I want to pursue is worth exploring. C says to me 'I really think anything is possible for you.' My immediate response goes something along the lines of, 'anything is possible for me, because people like you believe me.'

Fast forward a few hours and I realise... I am making things happen. It's an incredible feeling to have people believe in you, but perhaps this creates a false sense of confidence in people? Maybe this creates a false expectation that without changes things can fall into place? At the end of the day, we need to fully, wholly, with every cell in our bodies believe in ourselves and whatever our cause is because nobody else will get our success into motion. I am solely responsible for all the great happenings in my life right now.

How does this tie into 'The Secret?' The surer I have been that I'm responsible for all the great things I am making happen, the more positivity I have unintentionally put out into the universe. Some of the greatest human beings I have ever had the privilege of knowing have come into my life since I started feeling and acting like a great human. Like attracts like, so of course if I'm radiating positive energy, positive people and situations will start manifesting their way into my life. New, inspiring people open the door for exciting new opportunities and where these possibilities could escalate to are limitless. Following my conversation with C, a prospect I have been visualising, thinking about, working towards, essentially 'putting out into the universe' for months got the green light. I can't put it down to merely coincidence.

So I am making things happen in my life... but you need goals, you need to set intentions to build your success path. We'll touch on that in my next post.

I can't wait to share everything that is coming up in the next 6 months. If you wholeheartedly believe in yourself, believe in your actions and support your cause whilst maintaining a positive outlook you will start to make amazing things happen. 

What amazing things do you want to make happen in your life?

bianca xx

Tune of the week:

Ásgeir / King and Cross

My Food Philosophy: Holistic Health

La Boqueria Market, Barcelona / June 2013
'Let food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be food.' - Hippocrates 

I’ve rewritten this post a couple of times over – careful not to overshare but wanting to be honest.

I have had a turbulent relationship with food, my weight and self-esteem. Rewind three years ago, and I was still a teenager riddled with anxieties about her body and plagued with low self-esteem. I was caught in a vicious cycle from approximately age 13, where I would (always secretly) diet, lose weight, plateau, eat my feelings, regain weight. Counting calories (and then later diet pills, laxatives, starvation) consumed my thoughts.

Every year I took at least a couple months off school, because I was always sick. My immune system was essentially non-existent, my skin was sallow and pale,  I would break out into acne and rashes, my mind was foggy and worst of all were the terrible mood swings I suffered. It became impossible for me to escape my emotions, I hated what I saw in the mirror and I hated myself.

All of this, I attribute to my then-diet. My diet was highly processed. I was uneducated in nutrition, and misled by advertising to believe that products labelled diet/low-fat/low-sugar/low-calorie were healthy. In the context of a product, out of a box, off the shelf, with a label - these terms are not synonymous with health. Just as fast food is artificial, these foods are loaded with artificial sweeteners, sodium, food preservatives, colouring, flavouring. There was nothing nutritious about the food I was eating, and the condition of my body and health fully reflected this.

Present day, I eat a nutrient rich, plant based diet. My diet is not always perfect, but I am very conscious about making good food decisions and focus on eating whole foods. I used to focus on the quantity of the calories I was consuming, now I focus on the quality. I have no doubts that the chemicals in the foods I used to eat played absolute havoc with my clarity of mind and emotions. (Not to mention I was always starving – how can any positive thoughts find room in a brain that can only think about when it will be allowed to eat again!) I have made a ritual of eating, and I have become so mindful of this that I can almost feel the cells in my body being nourished with every mouthful. Food is no longer my enemy, and I can enjoy it.

I never deprive myself of food - the eternal sadness which used to consume me (potentially also chemical imbalance in my brain) have disappeared, I am motived and full of energy, I have clarity of mind, my skin glows, my eyes sparkle, I’m never sick and I have lost around 10 kilos – all of which has stayed off, regardless of how much I eat. The countless changes and benefits that my body has undergone since adopting this lifestyle and since altering my relationship with food, have been so extreme that I could never go back to my old diet, and return to that starved and undernourished girl. Food is literally my medicine and has healed me of all my previous ailments.

Make no mistake – while I mention that I did lose weight, I am in no way advocating this as some quick-fix weight loss solution. This is a holistic health lifestyle approach that first and foremost seeks to nourish the body therefore increasing vitality, and serving to prevent illness (rather than curing illness with medication.) It requires far more time, commitment and dedication than microwaving Jenny Craig meals but it is a lifestyle that I have adhered to because of the way it’s made me feel. It has completely changed my outlook on life and the way I value myself, so the decision to stick with it has not been based solely on the way it’s made me look.

It’s important to me that I share my experiences and spread the knowledge which I have acquired along the way. A misconception exists that ‘diet’ products are healthy, but in reality these products are void of any nutrition and are literally poisoning our body and minds. I believe if the food industries weren’t controlled by the government, people would receive a more sound education in nutrition, and effectively, with this deeper understanding, would cease to be misled by food advertising.

I wish for people to see their self-worth and value their bodies. I hope for people to invest more time in their health, so here on out, I will post at least one entry per week outlining tips for wellbeing, reviewing health products I’ve tried or recipes which make up the staples of my diet.

Leaving On A Jet Plane

8:30pm sunset in Mykonos, July 2012 #nofilter

I blinked and somehow my Europe 2013 trip has snuck up on me.

In just 7 sleeps I will be boarding my (budget) flight to Singapore to commence my three (?) month journey. I'm very unprepared for this trip - both mentally and physically. I booked most flights and accommodation for the trip up until mid-August, but at this point I don't even have a potential date to return home. My money is still all in Australian dollars and I haven't bought my travel insurance. I started packing, but after 6 outfits I threw in the towel. I haven't been working out so my body is definitely not beach ready. And mentally? Well. Emotionally, I am on the road to nowhere. I have spent the past few months in an emotional rut, unsure of what I want, who I want and whether the goals I am working towards are still relevant to my interests, so to just up and leave right now feels a bit like running away.

I will be spending a number of weeks away by myself, and I intend to spend this time really rigorously soul searching. I think to reboot my personal growth it's important to get back in touch with my spirituality and work on mindfulness and meditation. A secluded beach in Tellaro, Italy is obviously the only place I will be able to successfully achieve this ;) I intend to spend a couple of weeks before the journey home in a quiet town off the Mediterranean coast where I can journal, fully realise my strengths and fears, reassess the current path my life is on and devise a 5 year plan for myself.

I am so grateful to the universe for providing me the means to spend so much time travelling over these past two years. I feel like the least I can do now is utilise the opportunity to improve myself to the best possible version of myself. I can't wait to share my journey with you all (although probably don't expect to hear from me more than once a week.)

Sending ALL of the love and happiness to you all xxxxxx

Decluttering Your Way to Self-Improvement

More often than not, our external environment is a reflection of our internal state. If we live in mess and clutter, this is an indication that our mind and spirit are misaligned and are in a state of chaos.
Stagnant energy is a result of clutter - negative energy which traps you in the past, preventing you from attaining your goals and progressing towards a satisfying future.

We often disassociate ourselves from the word 'clutter,' as we have become conditioned to affiliate clutter with hoarders and collectors. This is not the case, clutter is not just physical but also emotional excess which weighs down our mental state. Holding onto mementos from past friendships and relationships, old clothes which you no longer fit into, trinkets that gather dust on your window sills  - this sort of clutter prevents the movement of positive vibrations around you.

We may convince ourselves that hiding our clutter in boxes under the bed or at the back of our wardrobes is clearing space and effective, but why are we holding onto these objects 'just in case.' The energy still looms because we know the clutter is still there. See how often your reach into one of these boxes over a four week period - any objects that you fish out you can find a prominent home for - everything else should be eliminated. A clear living space = a clear, serene state of mind.

By all means it is important to 'decorate' and 'beautify' our surroundings, but material objects are not necessarily conducive to self-fulfillment and 'meaningful' objects that remind of us negative experiences are sure to repress the best version of ourselves. Our surroundings should inspire us to dream and to accomplish these dreams, but they should also serve us as a retreat to reflect on our self-improvement.