Heath & Emma

♥ First up, briefly tell us a little bit about yourself!

Hi, I’m Em – I’m a 22 year old uni student and co-owner of The Raw Kitchen. The key aim of the The Raw Kitchen is to share and teach people about not only the incredible benefits of including raw living foods into our diets, but also how delicious they can be!

We currently run a raw food and smoothie bar down at The Fremantle Markets, where we also stock a wide variety of products, books, and appliances. We run raw food workshops and events and now have a RAW catering trailer out on the roads also hitting the local festivals and events!

♥ Tell us about your daily beauty routine.

Fast and simple due to necessity! In the mornings I rinse my face with fresh water, while my evening shower is my main opportunity to cleanse my face and body using a natural, organic body wash or soap. I’m not too fussy with anything beyond chemical-free ingredients so I alternate between brands like Suki and Natural Instincts that offer great value, affordable hair and body products.

♥ What’s the one beauty treatment you can’t live without? And your favourite place to have it done?

I’m not sure if a massage technically classes as a beauty treatment, but this is certainly the one indulgence I pick first every time! Perth’s best kept secret has got be the training colleges – I’ve had many a wonderful massage from students at Endeavour College of Natural Health for $20-$30!

♥ Who do you trust with your hair in Perth, and why?

I very rarely get my hair cut professionally – in fact I quite enjoy snipping away at my ends on my balcony!

♥ Favourite budget / at home beauty treatment?

Coconut oil and/or cacao butter – these natural oils are such amazing moisturisers! I use them on my body, hair, lips and face (as well as in my food!) and they leave you feeling so beautiful and soft and without any fear or additives or chemicals, just pure, natural goodness.

♥ Your three, absolutely cannot live without, favourite products?

– Good quality essential oils for when I feel like wearing a scent
– Mineral makeup – I’ve tried a few, currently I’m using an Australian brand – Claytime.
– Neem Leaf Extract – excellent for irritations, blemishes, itches. (ED: Neem leaf is also an ingredient in some La Mer products!)

Em lives on lots of whole, fresh, raw foods to keep her looking lovely!

♥ Do you have any secret tips you use to keep looking / feeling great?

As the saying goes, it’s about what you put inside your body and I’ve certainly found this to be true. Plenty of clean, pure water, ensuring the largest part of my diet is fresh, raw, living wholefoods, daily movement, and daily activities that I love.

♥ What beauty treatment/ wellbeing activity would you love to try but haven’t yet? (Due to time, money, scared etc!)

A facial from Cherry Blossoms Organic Beauty Salon in Subiaco – they use the most divine, high quality organic products from Europe.

An example of some chia porridge!

♥ Describe a typical day of eating for you.

Breakfast is often light – either a smoothie, juice, fruit, a salad, chia porridge or similar.

For lunch/dinner we very rarely go without a big salad packed with greens, sprouts, avocado, seaweeds and then whatever other veg is in season and colourful!

For snacks I might have some flax crackers and dip or vege sticks, nuts, nori rolls, fruit, or a blended soup.

And of course desserts! At the moment I’m really into frozen berries and mango, but I’m fortunate to live in a house where there is often some wonderful raw creations being experimented with so there’s often something delicious in the freezer to finish the day.

♥ Describe your fitness routine.

Time is of the essence so I have to try to fit exercise into my day wherever I can. This often means walking/riding to uni, early morning walks, walks to the shops, stretches on the bedroom floor…and just in the last few weeks my partner and I have started attending classes as casuals at the local gym which has offered a great bit of variety and motivation.

♥ Do you take part in any alternative therapies or take supplements? If so, discuss.

We alternate a large range of different superfoods and minerals in our smoothies and daily intake. Seaweeds (spirulina, chlorella, modifilan etc) are something I make sure to get in one way or another everyday. Chia is another being such an excellent source of omega 3s, calcium and more. As far as alternative therapies go, I’m lucky that my partner Heath is a naturopath so he takes care of my health needs!

Emma & Heath can be found at their food stall, The Raw Kitchen, at the Fremantle Markets on the weekends! x

Any questions please leave them below!!

Be well,

xoxo

I’m always looking for new and exciting ways to balance my mind and body, chill out and de-stress in general. I’ve tried comedy nights, virtual reality therapy, ongoing yoga, sublime massage and more…!

Suffice to say that when Helen Walker from Walker Wellness contacted me to trial the ancient art of reiki , I was very keen to test out its supposed relaxing qualities, and funnily enough I just so happened to have it done on the day I had a job interview!

For those who don’t know:

“Reiki is a natural form of healing therapy. It uses non-invasive gentle touch. This form of therapy aims to increase energy levels and promote relaxation and wellbeing.”

For more detailed information I have found this to be an excellent & simple resource: Reiki @ Better Health Channel.

My session started with the gorgeous Helen answering any questions I had, then popping on some relaxing music and asking me to lie on my back, I was then covered with towels (very comfy!) and the reiki began.

Over the next hour and a half her hands moved lightly over my body, starting from the head, and stopping at various points to help release the energy stored in these places!

Throughout the experience I felt deeply relaxed and nearly fell asleep a few times (which never happens to me during treatments).

Afterwards I was advised to increase my water intake, the same as after a massage, and to note any changes I felt within myself.

I felt very relaxed and went in and smashed the job interview, funnily enough the woman interviewing me was a big fan of reiki too!

If you are looking for an alternative treatment that has been conclusively proven to assist with stress reduction and relaxation then I would definitely recommend giving reiki a go, especially with Helen, as she has a beautiful energy and is extremely passionate and knowledgeable about the practice.

Walker Wellness … for a healthy body, mind and spirit; naturally, safely, effectively.
Combined Therapies
Tel/Fax: 9293 7247
Mob: 0400 999 785

Be well,

Annette

xoxo

Megan Larsen, Sodashi Founder

The lovely people from Sodashi invited me along to their day spa meet and greet event at Bodhi J with Megan Larsen (founder) two weeks ago and I want to do a little re-cap because it was a gorgeous night!

Tickets to the event were $50, redeemable on product purchase, and included an array of mini-treatments, personal consultations with Megan herself, delicious snacks in the form of mini quiches and pumpkin soup shots, obligatory champers & juices, the chance to win a facial AND the best part of all… GOODIE BAGS!!!

I was lucky enough to experience two of the three mini-treatments on offer.

First up, in one of the most relaxing feeling spa rooms I’ve had the delight of experiencing, I had my chakras balanced!

Chakras

The purpose of it is to balance out the energy centers in the body, apparently my heart chakra was out and I’m a bit lonely at the moment, oh no! After the balancing was done (which involved special oils and much ushering of bad energy away from my body), I instantly felt like bursting into tears!

It was really strange, I’ve had similar experiences before with energy therapy too so I think there is some weight to it, just need to experiment some more with it and see how I go!

Sodashi Chakra Balancing Kit RRP $330

The second treat I received was a lush mini foot-facial, which is a facial for the feet, not a facial done with feet! I’ve never actually had a pedicure (quelle horreur) and this was absolutely DIVINE! My feet felt so soft and relaxed afterwards, I’ve been missing out all these years!

From my mingling and chatting to the guests, it’s safe to say that the people who use Sodashi are in fact as lovely as the people that work there!

The prize was drawn and we all received our exciting Goodie Bags, which consisted of:

♥ 1 x full size Rejuvenating Face Mist – I love this product, it smells divine and feels so fresh on the skin, I have to say that sometimes I spritz it around my apartment because it smells so good!

♥ Travel size Eye & Lip Cleanser

♥ Travel size Enlivening Body Lotion

♥ $20 Bodhi J Spa Voucher.

Loved them all!

I left with balanced chakras, soft feet, a swag full of loot & a head full of knowledge about the brand. A very successful evening! I would recommend everyone to check out day spa events, as they are super informative and you usually recoup any cost in the form of samples, nibbles, drinks & treatments, so it’s totally worth it!

Have you ever been to a day spa event?

Had a pumpkin soup shot? (T’was delish!)

Be well,

Annette

xoxo

I have a little confession to make…..I am a pilates addict. It all started about 6 months ago when I started to have some trouble with my lower back so a friend with a similar problem recommended Pilates, I signed up and haven’t looked back.

Pilates for the uninitiated is a full body workout that uses precise movement, control, technique and strength. Pilates works from the inside out, giving you a greater understanding of your body. The focal point of each workout is on the core which is your abdominals, lower back and waist to give you strength, flexibility and lean muscle tone. The emphasis is on lengthening and aligning muscles rather than bulking and shortening.

I signed up for a beginner’s course with Pilates Fitness Institute of WA or PFIWA. The classes are one hour lessons twice a week for four weeks, or once a week for an hour and a half for six weeks. All equipment is provided you just need to bring a towel and bottle of water. PFIWA have three locations in Perth; South Perth, Canning Vale and Myaree. The beginner technique class is a prerequisite before commencing any other class.

The class sizes are small, and the instructors are friendly and non-intimidating, they are always available to help you if you have any concerns. There is no age or fitness barrier and variations of each exercise are given for higher or lower levels of fitness or injury.

Initially I was pretty worried as my balance and flexibility is not the greatest, but it’s amazing after just a few short weeks how much I improved. When I started doing the standing spine roll (where you stand, feet should width apart and slowly peel each vertebrae down until can touch the floor with your hands) I couldn’t touch the floor, in fact I was no where near it. Now I can put my whole hands palm down on the floor.

You too can be this hot if you do pilates! (May or may not be an exaggeration)

After finishing the beginners course PFIWA offers several different hour long classes that you can do, which are:
– Full Body Sculpt
– Lower Body Sculpt
– Fitball
– Stretch and Core Balance
– Power and Sculpt
– Basic Sculpt

I walk out of each class refreshed, revitalised and realigned!

Pilates Fitness Institute of WA have locations in Myaree, Canning Vale and South Perth.

Cost : Beginners Technique Class $185
Contact: http://www.pfiwa.com.au for more information.

Review by Hannah, pilates lover and all ’round excellent lass.

Be well,

xoxo

Heath Daly & Emma Gilbert

On Sunday I attended a public lecture (Cost: $15) held at La Tropicana cafe in Fremantle, it’s a lovely setting for a talk and holds a mish-mash of chairs, cushions & health interested folk.

Heath Daly, our charismatic host, runs The Raw Kitchen Cafe & Smoothie Shop in the Freo markets, as well as being a practicing naturopath, homeopath & former lecturer at the Australian College of Natural Medicine! We’re in good hands here.

As is the case when you stumble upon someone with a profound passion for something, I found myself effortlessly absorbing everything Heath had to say as he passed on his knowledge during our captivating and inspiring, yet never evangelical, hour and a half lecture.

These were the topics covered:

– The mineral deficiency causing a major public health concern in Australia (Iodine!)
– Raw seaweed and why it’s the number 1 supplement for the modern age
– The single best way to increase energy (and it isn’t a supplement or exercise!) (Sleep 10 hours a night, go with your circadian rhythms ie. wake up before the sun, sleep before midnight)
– The best immune booster known to science (Vitamin D / sunshine!)
– The power of groups – Introducing the Detox Train (This will be covered more in the next lecture)

The other big tip he gave us was to drink 2 glasses of water ever morning upon waking to clear out toxins & refresh the brain. I did that this morning and I have to say I do feel more ‘alert’ than usual, but of course I’ll do it for a few days to see if I really notice a difference 🙂

I seriously enjoyed Heath’s lecture and so did the other 30 or so attendees from what I could tell!

There will be many future lectures & I’ll definitely be there. If you are interested please contact heathdaly@gmail.com for more info & upcoming session dates 🙂

Be well,

Annette

xoxo