THE SUPER FOOD SMOOTHIE REVOLUTION: YOUR STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE

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There have been a couple of times in my life, where I have made the commitment to forgo my delicious morning coffee and completely kick the habit. And every time that my coffee sabatical has been a success, there has been one key thing that has made it a work - the super food smoothie.

I have weaned myself off my coffee addiction several times through the use of nutrient rich, super food packed, alkazing and super tasty smoothies. I cannot emphasise how much it helps.

Sometimes, there comes a day, where you have to let go. You have to let go of something you really love because you know the benefits will be worth it. For me, my coffee 'situation' is no different. 

I made the decision last weekend that the amped-up, highly energised and mentally frantic state that coffee put me in was simply no longer serving me. I decided I needed to make a change. So, I stocked up on my pack of supplies and as of Monday the replacing-coffee-with-super food-smoothie process began!!

SO, WHAT IS A SUPER FOOD SMOOTHIE?

There is no set definition or rule about what a super food smoothie must contain. The one key component is that it must be bursting with nutrients. I would also say that they need to have an alkalising effect on the body. Most smoothies you get these days which are loaded with milk and sugar are really not that nutritious, and also create a very acidic state in the body. 

Generally you will not include dairy in a good old fashioned super food smoothie. Instead, the base may be water, nut milk or coconut water. The smoothies will also have a base of fruits or leafy greens for the high mineral content, nutrients, antioxidants and enzymes. Then, on top of that you can add in some 'super foods' which are extremely nutrient dense and high in health benefits.

When I make them I tend not to follow a recipe, I just throw everything in and see how it tastes. But generally some of my favourite ingredients include;

+ Avocado

+ Kale or baby spinach

+ Almonds

+ Sunwarrior vanilla protein powder

+ Blueberries

+ Spirulina

+ Coconut water

+ Maca

+ Chia seeds

+ Cinnamon

+ Raw cacao powder

+ Coconut meat


HOW TO MAKE A SUPER FOOD SMOOTHIE

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The combinations are endless, so let me share some recipes with you. Check out these amazing creations, and beautiful images from some other super inspiring, smoothie loving ladies.

Please note: I did endeavour to take photos of my very own super food smoothie. However, the images of my thick browney-green liquid taken in dim lighting at 6am just could not do my delicious smoothie justice. So, I am leaving the photo taking with the professionals! Cool?

The Glowing Green Smoothie

By Linda Wagner at Nutrition to Invigorate Mind, Body + Spirit

INGREDIENTS

+ 1-2 bananas

+ 1/2 cup frozen peaches

+ 1/2 cup frozen mango

+ A couple of handfuls of spinach

+ Water

+ Ice if desired

The Raw Chocolate Milkshake Miracle

By Sarah at My New Roots

INGREDIENTS

+ 1/4 cup hemp seeds (or use soaked almonds, cashews, sunflower seeds etc)

+ 2 heaping tbsp of raw cacao powder

+ 1 avocado

+ 1 very large frozen banana or 2 small ones

+ 2 tbsp raw honey, agave or maple syrup

+ Dash sea salt

+ 3/4 - 1 cup water

+ 4 ice cubes

The Cinnamon Cherry Blast

From Gena at Choosing Raw

INGREDIENTS

+ 1 small banana (or 1/2 large) frozen

+ 3/4 cup frozen or pitted cherries

+ 1/2 tbsp coconut butter

+ 2 tsp cinnamon

+ 1 cup almond milk

+ 3-4 ice cubes

Alkaline Green Smoothie

By The Alkaline Sisters

INGREDIENTS

+ 6" piece of cucumber

+ 3 medium kale leaves

+ 5 stems fresh mint

+ 3 stems fresh parsley

+ 1" fresh ginger

+ 1 avocado

+ 1 cup coconut water

+ Fresh juice of one lime

+ 1-2 tsp udo's oil

+ 1-2 tbsp hemp seeds

+ 2-3 drops stevia or a tsp agave

The Strawberry Kale Smoothie

From Michelle at Health Food Lover

INGREDIENTS

+ Handful (or more) of fresh uncooked kale

+ 6-10 strawberries

+ 1 banana

+ Water

+ 1 tbsp cold pressed flax oil

+ 1 tbsp lecithin granules

+ 1 tsp crush or whole almonds for garnish

The Bee Pollen Smoothie

By Sarah at My New Roots

INGREDIENTS

+ 1 cup of nut milk (or other milk)

+ 1 cup frozen blueberries (frozen are fine)

+ 1 frozen banana in 3-4 chunks

+ 1 medjool date, pitted (optional)

+ 1 hunk fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

+ 1 tsp bee pollen

The Avocolada Smoothie

By Robyn at Girl on Raw 

(originally by Matthew Kenney's Raw Food, Real World)

INGREDIENTS

+ 1 ripe avocado

+ 3 cups diced pineapple

+ 2 cups coconut water

+ 3 tbps agave nectar or 2 packets of stevia

+ 3 tbps lime juice

+ 1 tbsp coconut butter or oil

+ 2 tsp vanilla extract

+ Pinch of salt

The Blueberry Superfood Smoothie

By Linda Wagner at Nutrition to Invigorate Mind, Body + Spirit

INGREDIENTS

+ 1.5 frozen banana's

+ 1/2 bag frozen blueberries

+ 1 tbsp coconut powder

+ 1 tbsp chia seeds

+ 1 tsp spirulina

+ 1 tsp maca powder

+ Vanilla stevia to taste

+ Enough water to blend, approx 1/2 cup

So, please feel free to leave a comment + tell me...

+ What is your favourite super food smoothie recipe?

+ What benefits have you experienced from drinking super food smoothies?

THE ART OF TRUE CHANGE

The topic of change is one that I have written about extensively in this blog. I have written about both external and internal change, transformation, evolution and healing in previous posts. 

External vs. Internal Change
To me, external change is about altering what is around you in your life- you may change jobs, change homes, change your relationship, change your income, change your body etc. It is our ability to make something different around us. This type of change excites me and I think I am slightly addicted to it. I love the freshness of a new environment or a new opportunity. I am very visual and I love it when things look different. It makes me feel alive and relieves the restlessness I often feel when things stay the same for too long. I have become quite a master at this form of change and I love throwing myself out of my comfort zone and in to the deep end to see if I will sink or swim.

On the other hand, internal change is about a shift that we make inside us. It involves changing our thoughts, our perceptions, our beliefs, our feelings. Basically we change who we are and who we are being. While I find this type of change equally as exciting and also quite fascinating, at the same time I find it extremely challenging.

True change
True change comes from the inside. Our society is very focused on external change and quick fixes. For example, if you are having trouble with your weight or with food, most people would go down the path of a quick external fix. They may go on a crash diet, exercise excessively or even go to lengths such as plastic surgery to change this outer problem. Few people would attempt to change this problem from the inside out, as this is a much more challenging path.

This would involve you having to find the courage to look at your self and your problem square on. It would mean finding the underlying cause of the problem which may actually be quite painful and could very well involve deep dark feelings of loneliness, emptiness, self loathing and rejection. Then you would have to explore these feelings and find a way to heal them. For most people it is much easier to just take action to change the outer effect. The problem with this type of change is that nothing actually really changes at all. The problem is still there and very often resurfaces again until the person is willing to look deep inside and do the inner work to heal.

My Inner Changes
I am writing about this today, as I am wanting to commit to some deep inner change at the moment. I want to change the person that I am. I have made lots of external changes over the past few years, but there are some big goals that I am wanting to achieve and I know deep down that in order to create those outer results I am going to have to do some inner change work.

If you have followed by blog since its conception, you would know that I have been doing a lot of inner work over the past year. I have healed and transformed many fears, limiting beliefs, childhood hurts, self destructive patterns, and have really worked on finding my truth. But of course there is still much to be done. So, I want to share with you what I am going to be working on.

True change comes from having the courage to face the truth and the willingness to do something about it, so here I go. The changes I am focusing on are primarily internal shifts, but part of me wanting to do this comes from the knowing that once I make the inner change, the outer world around me will naturally change too.

I want more inner peace
Why do I find this so hard? Because life just tends to get in the way. I very often wake up with the intention to be more peaceful but by the time I rush to get ready, make my lunch, fight my way on to public transport, get to work, and sit at my computer while shovelling in breakfast at my desk, my inner peace has pretty much gone out the window. I want to remember to breathe, to be centered, to feel relaxed and at ease with life, and to just allow things to flow.

I want to be more self loving
All I need to do is look in the mirror and the self critical chatter begins. My level of self acceptance seems to be so conditional and is therefore terribly unstable. One minute I am singing my praises, the next I am beating up on myself for doing something wrong. I just want to accept myself just as I am, no questions asked. I want to feel that I am beautiful and perfect just as I am. I want to love, adore and accept myself and speak to my self in kind and supportive ways.

I want to face my fears
I am very good at running away from that which scares me. I tend to be quite aware of where fear blocks me from doing what I want in life, yet I am not that great at doing anything about it. I procrastinate on doing things that scare me and rather than facing the fear when it comes up I suppress it, run away from it or do something to distract myself from it (like eat). I want the courage to face that which scares me. I want to see my fears for what they really are - thoughts! Really they are not real, they are very often just worst case scenarios that I make up in my head. I want to face these fears, work through them and heal them once and for all.

I want to be more present
My beautiful friend Sabrina wrote a post on this recently, and it was a friendly reminder for how un-present I have been lately. I want to revel in each moment, soak up its deliciousness, open my eyes to what is right in front of me NOW, and enjoy the blissfulness of simply being alive. Rather than dredging up and replaying old stories, or over planning and stressing about the future, I simply want to be. I want to just be in the now and enjoy it.

I want to believe in my self
Self doubt is one of my biggest problems. It can tear me down in a second. One minute I am charging forth toward my goals, and then before I even realise it that nasty voice of self doubt has rushed in to cut me down. "Who are you to do that/have that/be that?" it says. "As if you will ever be able to have what you want". My voice of self doubt has the ability to stop me in my tracks. Instead I want to be self supportive, and as I mentioned in a previous post, I want to be my own cheerleader. I want to coach myself along, tell myself that "I can" and believe that I am capable of doing anything I desire.

I want to nourish my self
Food is both my friend and my foe. Sometimes I use it to nourish me, and support me. Other times I simply try to fuel myself with whatever stimulant I can find to push past the fatigue that I feel. I want to nourish myself with food, with loving thoughts, with supportive actions and with deep breaths. I want to fill myself up with goodness and listen to my body when it tells me what it wants.

I want balance
I have a track record of being a bit of an extremist. I am an all or nothing type of girl. Instead I want balance. I want balance between rest and activity. I want balance in the foods I eat. I want balance between my alone time and my time with others. I want balance in the way I exercise. I want balance between work and play. I want balance between spending and saving. I want balance between giving and receiving. I want to be balanced in my emotions, my reactions and the way I see the world.

I want to be kinder to others
Sometimes I think really mean thoughts about others, especially strangers. If they bump me on the street, cut me off in traffic or do something I don't like, my mind goes in to a rampage of abusive thoughts. Sometimes I also think mean thoughts about people I know, such as my family or my work colleagues. I can be critical, judgemental, rude and bitchy. Instead I want to be kind. I want to accept others and refrain from judgement. I wish to treat others the way I want to be treated. I wish to forgive those who I feel have done me wrong. I want to send love and blessings to all those who cross my path. I want to be compassionate, and to remember that we are all in this together and each of us are simply doing the best we can.

I want to do the things that I know are good for me
I always have a long list of things that I want to do more of because they are good for me, yet somehow they never seem to become a priority. I want to exercise more. I want to meditate daily. I want to get my ass to yoga class. I want to eat nourishing foods. I want to write more. I want to drink vegetable juice. I want to make these things a priority. I want to make my wellness, my happiness and ME the most important thing. I want to no longer procrastinate on doing those things that I know are great for me.

So.... apologies for the long post! If you made it to the end and you wish to leave a comment about what inner changes you would like to make in your life, I would love to hear it

THE ART OF CONSCIOUS LIVING

Over the past few months I have felt very drawn to retreat, re-cooperate and slow down. While my mind wanted me to be out doing things, I could not seem to muster the motivation or energy. All I wanted to do was be alone and do things that nourished me. However, the tide has now turned. Suddenly I am being called to action. I have a strong doing energy now pulling at me. All I want to do is be out in the world taking action, achieving things, getting things done and creating results.

The challenge I now face is how do I live in this high energy, action focused state without losing the balance, serenity, and self care I have been cultivating?

Being vs. Doing
The Universe is governed by polarities and by contrast. We have hot and cold, fast and slow, inner and outer. It is important to learn how to balance your outward action time with inner reflection time. We must find that balance between face paced living and the need to slow down. We need to learn how to balance and integrate our being-ness to doing-ness

I think after long periods of intense doing, we are often called to come back to the simplicity of just being. On the other hand, after long periods of rest and regeneration our bodies then call us to once again wake up and get out in to the world to use the new energy that has been brought forth in us.

I have loved the quiet time I have had recently. It has allowed me to calm my mind and to refocus. I have been able to take care of my body and reconnect with my soul. I have felt nurtured, safe and comforted. While this is a lovely place to be in, it is not a long term option. I am being called to step out in to the world now, and my challenge is to bring everything I have learnt recently with me.

I think the lesson that is here to learn in this experience is how to integrate being and doing together. I tend to be an all or nothing person. I am either very inward focused and I tend to lose my desire to take any outer action at all, or I am very action focused and my whole sense of inner connection goes out the window.

At the moment, in this action phase, I sometimes feel like I am not even in my body. I am not even consciously aware of what is going on inside of me. The outward results that I need to achieve in the world take precedence over my inner state. I will do things that compromise my inner state purely to achieve that outer result. I will push myself to go to the gym even when I am tried. I will not take a break to eat lunch at work even though my body is telling me it is hungry. I will force myself to get up early and do things before I go to work even when I am tired. I will push past emotions wanting acknowledgement or my intuition which needs listening too.

So, after some quiet pondering, I think I have reached a solution. I have decided that one of the key things that will help me through this intense time, is to live more consciously

Conscious Living
To me, being conscious in life means being aware and present to everything that is going on inside and out of you. It means being conscious in a moment to moment sense of your thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, intuitions, actions and your general being-ness. It is also being aware of what is going around you, what is coming in to your life and what you are doing in response to it. In this way of living there is clarity, authenticity, alignment, truth, mindfulness, calmness and a strong sense of inner power.

My concern about our world today is that we are all so disconnected from ourselves. Our minds are constantly zipping all over the place and I am sure that many of us would have no idea what thoughts actually cross our mind in a daily basis. Much of what drives us is unconscious which means that life ends up running on auto pilot. We are driven by our habits and our programming. Who we are is actually outside our control, because we are not taking the time to slow down and actually become conscious of what is happening in our heads.

Become More Conscious 
So, here are some ideas I have had about how I can become more conscious in my life. It can be easy to forget to do these things, but with the right intention it is possible. These tools can be integrated in to your daily life, to assist with a balance between inner awareness and outer action:

• Become conscious of your breathing: Reconnect with your breath several times through the day. You may be sitting in your car, at your desk or on the bus. Remind yourself to breathe. Take a few deep breaths and pay attention to the feeling of air coming in to your body and your lungs filling up.
• Pay attention to your eating: Be aware of the food choices you are making. When you eat, feel the sensations of chewing. You can even try counting the number of times you chew. Savour the flavour of each mouthful. Taste the individual flavours of each bite. Breathe when you eat. Notice the sensation of food in your stomach and stop eating when you feel full
• Notice what is coming in to your life: Begin to pay attention to the way people respond to you, the types of experiences you attract to your life, and how you react to them.
• Acknowledge your feelings: Check in with your self several times through the day, and ask yourself how you are feeling. Is there something bothering you that you are not acknowledging? Is there a niggling sadness or sense of frustration that is pulling at you? Allow yourself to feel that emotion, where it is present in your body and what thoughts arise in you when you feel it.
• Do a body scan: Guide your mind through your body and search for discomfort or tightness. Bring your attention to any areas of physical tension. Allow yourself to feel that tension, and if possible do a little stretch or massage it to begin to help release it.
• Listen to your body: Next time you feel sick, or have pain, or get a headache, do not just rush to get a painkiller to make it go away. Ask yourself, what is my body trying to communicate to me? Pain is the tool that your body uses to draw your attention to something you need to know.
• Listen out for your intuition: As you pay more attention to what is going on inside you, you will have a greater connection with your intuition. Notice any gut instincts you get, or any thing that tug at you or catches your attention. When you intuition proves right, acknowledge it and notice how it was that it communicated to you.
• Record aspects of your life: keep a spending journal or a food diary. The act of having to record your actions and bring your attention to what you are doing will play a huge role in helping you become more conscious.
• Meditate: Take time to sit either at the end of each day or in the morning. Even if you only sit for 5 minutes it can still be beneficial. Take a moment to sit and close your eyes. Notice your breathing. Pay attention to the thoughts flowing in and out of your mind. Get present to your body and really feel it. Take 5 minutes to just sit with yourself and notice if anything comes up for you. Use this time to reconnect with yourself and to become more conscious of how you are thinking, feeling and being.