GRATITUDE + CONSCIOUS LIVING Page 6 of 26
Do What You Love interview – Dr. Christiane Northrup
Throughout May the Do What You Love team has enjoyed listening to the most fascinating talks by leading experts in health, wellness, spirituality, and relationships at The Hay House World Summit 2016.
Given that our theme this month is ‘Never too old to do what you love’ we were especially interested to hear what visionary pioneer and New York Times best-selling author Dr. Christiane Northrup had to say in her talk: Changing the Conversation: Get Out of the Cage of Age. Packed with insights and advice on how to change the way we think about growing older, and tips for getting acquainted with our ageless selves, Dr. Northrup’s lesson was so inspiring that we just had to interview her to find out more. Enjoy! ~ Rachel
1. How did your upbringing spark your passion for women’s health and wellness?
I was brought up in a wellness oriented household. And also on an farm where we raised black angus cattle, chicken, and organic vegetables. We also had a farm pond stocked with trout and bass. My father, a holistic dentist, believed in living foods for healing. My mother made yogurt and my father took it to his patients who were on antibiotics. He also told us not to worry too much about germs. And said, “Let the earth pass through you. Then you will be immune to everything.” His brother and sister were medical doctors. And their lifestyles and philosophies were in sharp contrast to those I grew up with. My father also signed out of the hospital against medical advice when I was interviewing in medical schools. The doctors had mis diagnosed him. He did not have a heart attack. He had pericarditis. He healed at home despite having fluid two thirds of the way up his lung fields. This was a huge lesson for me. Doctors don’t know everything. And nature often heals us. (more…)
Life According to Mr K: When good people go and we are left behind
A tribute to my friend Glen
When you strip away everything that doesn’t really matter, you are left with people. Family. Friends. Other humans. Connections between us, some deep and long, some fleeting but remarkable. And every now and then, if you are really lucky, you get a friendship that is both deep and remarkable, which changes you forever, which fills your life with laughter and stories, and makes you a better person for knowing the other. That’s how it was with my friend Glen.
Five weeks ago Glen passed away, aged 39, and the world is a sadder place for it. But in writing about him, and writing a tribute to him, I am determined to find something I can hold onto, a fragment of goodness and hope that I can carry with me in the years ahead, as I grow older, and as his tiny daughter grows up.
I have put off writing this particular post for a while. I guess it was because deep down I thought writing it would mean that I have accepted that one of my dearest friends has left us. Even as I write this I get a shiver all over my body. I still don’t want it to be true.
Tea with a Lord and other Sunday stories
It’s not every Sunday afternoon that I take tea with a real life Lord, but that’s what happened yesterday. Oscar-winning film producer Lord David Puttnam was the President of UNICEF UK when I worked there a decade or so ago, and he became a great mentor and a friend. He’s one of those people who makes you think anything is possible, every time you talk to him.
David is an impressive man on so many levels – before his work in education and international development, he spent thirty years as an independent producer of award-winning films including The Mission, The Killing Fields, Chariots of Fire, Bugsy Malone and Memphis Belle. His films have won ten Oscars, 25 Baftas and the Palme D’Or at Cannes. He also has more honorary degrees than I can keep track of.
But the thing that made him such a shining light for me wasn’t actually any of that. It was his deep-rooted commitment to furthering human potential. We worked together on one huge project which brought sporting opportunities to over 12 million children across the world. Together with David Bull, the inspirational Chief Executive of UNICEF UK, we pitched it to the government and a host of sporting bigwigs. We then spent several years building a complex partnership to make it happen, and its legacy lives on. Time and again in the process we came up against brick walls, but instead of banging his head against them, Lord Puttnam always kept the end in mind, and found a way round or over, or reconstructed the wall completely.
What I have learned from him: Keep your eye on the prize. Fight for what you believe in. Don’t let bureaucracy stand in the way of big, brilliant ideas.
Will you thrive in your third act?
Within this generation, an extra 30 years have been added to our life expectancy — and these years aren’t just a footnote. In this inspiring TED Talk, Jane Fonda asks how we can re-imagine this new phase — the third act — of our lives…
Why getting older means getting better
Is the best really yet to come? Definitely! We love these articles in The Huffington Post about why life gets better with age…
- Getting Older Does Not Suck by Amy Selwin
- 7 Awesome Things About Getting Old by Jane Watson
- What Is Your Emotional Age? by Ellen Dolgen
- Here’s Scientific Proof That Life Gets Better As You Get Older by Carolyn Gregoire
What a difference eleven days makes
Before I boarded a plane to Costa Rica 11 days ago I was wired, stressed out and, frankly, knackered. Eleven days later, following some dreamy time alone in paradise, primarily to write but also to slow down, get quiet, unplug, reconnect, soak in some sunshine, do yoga and eat well, I feel like a different person. Of course a tan always helps, but the thing I can’t help noticing is the inch-long ever-present furrow above my brow has completely disappeared. In just 11 days. My skin is clearer, my eyes are brighter, and I have lost at least half a stone in weight. What a difference eleven days makes.
We know it makes a difference when we are good to ourselves. When we make an effort to make time for the things we love, to make space for nothing, or for something. And yet day after day, week after week, we push on, ignoring the impulse to rest and rejuvenate. What is wrong with us?!
This time was a real gift. While I was away it was my 39th birthday, and I cannot think of a better way to begin the last year of my thirties. It was a wrench to be away from family, and I am sure Mr K has changed more than his fair share of nappies this past week or so, but I know I am going home a better version of myself.
It also helped that I was taken care of so very well.
And while here I had one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life. You’ll have to wait until the book comes out to read about that, but I know it was only possible because I was here, ready, open.
It’s not easy to find the time and money to get on a plane and fly to Costa Rica. You have to call in a lot of favours, plan ahead and perhaps even work more before leaving to enable that time away. But it is so worth it!
This week I urge you to gift yourself some time, even just 20 minutes for a walk, or an hour for a yoga class, or perhaps a day to paint or go and explore somewhere.
And if this has really struck a chord with you, and you need some real time away, in nature, you might want to consider doing something impulsive and booking yourself a plane to Italy next week. My friend Andres Roberts of Way of Nature UK is co-leading a retreat in the Tuscan countryside called ‘Let go and relax’.
I was supposed to be going myself, but a bereavement has meant I cannot be there at this time. So there is a spare place, and Andres has kindly said someone in the Do What You Love community can have it at 15% off. This amazing retreat includes a 24 hour solo in the forest, which I know will be transformational. If you think this is for you, just drop Andres a line and he’ll make it happen.
Whatever you do with your YOU time this week, soak it up, and then plan some more.
Pura vida,
Beth
PS All this month on the blog we are discovering how it’s never too old to do what you love. If you missed it, here’s an interview with Nick Christian, who wrote his first book aged 70.
Conscious Living and Sustainability: The Capacity to Endure
This is a guest post from Claire Le Hur who is cycling to China with her fiancé Stuart Block. The couple will start their journey in East Africa where they will follow new ‘silk roads’ charting the journey of key natural resources as part of an exciting new education project. Claire will be riding a bamboo bike, built by an African social enterprise and Stuart will ride a tandem, keeping the back seat free for those they meet en route. They will also be raising money and awareness for two great educational charities. Find out more about Claire’s big adventure here.
Our endurance challenge has opened our eyes to the ubiquitous issues of drought and deforestation and the importance of doing our bit to help protect the Earth’s natural ecosystems and contribute to sustainability.
Here are a few of some of the small sustainable enterprises that we have encountered on this trip…
On my 39th
I want to take a moment to be grateful today, for this day, my 39th birthday which I am spending in a beautiful yoga spa in the Costa Rican jungle and on a white sand beach at the edge of the Pacific Ocean.
I have spent most this week working on my book, which will be on the shelves this time next year. I came here eleven days ago with a rough structure and an inch-high stack of notes. I now have nearly 30,000 words of a first draft to send to my editor. It’s still a long way off the final version, but it’s in a completely different place to the day I landed, and I am so grateful for this time.
I couldn’t have done it without the incredible care of the staff here at the Costa Rica Yoga Spa. They couldn’t have done more to make me feel at home, and give me space to write and write.
Dream a little dream
