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Wholesome ‘Carob Chocolate’ Recipe!

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For those choosing to eat a path of Wholefoods, avoiding excess stimulation to the nervous system, avoiding processed sugars and unhealthy hydrogenated oils, then the prospect of finding some ‘Chocolate’ pleasure to share with your love (or simply your beautiful self!) might seem unnerving.

In Ayurvedic medicine, Chocolate is considered to be heating for the body and easily over-stimulating to the nervous system (brain) which really needs to stay cool, calm & collected! Due to these and some other reasons, Chocolate is not something you will find your Ayurvedic practitioner generally prescribing.

A big part of Ayurveda’s holistic approach is about maintaing balance not become too ‘rigid’ or stuck in one thing or another.

We always have wholesome choices we can make however. When it comes to eating ‘treats’ and things of a ‘Chocolaty’ kind… This is the way I like to do it!

Ingredients:

  • 10 tblsp’s of Coconut oil
  • 3-4 Tbsp’s of Carob powder
  • 1 Tbsp of Tahini/Almond butter or Sunbutter
  • 1/4 tsp of Sea salt
  • Dash of Vanilla essence
  • 1 tsp of Cinnamon powder (In Ayurveda this helps the body digest Sweet foods & improves circulation)
  • Major ingredient, LOVE!

*To set the Chocolate’s you can use an ice-cube tray (one with silicon at the bottom for ease is best!)

 Method:

  1. Melt Coconut oil and pour into a bowl.
  2. Add your Carob to the bowl and mix with your favorite spoon.
  3. Add Tahini, Almond butter or Sunbutter and stir thoroughly. (We want the consistency as smooth as possible!)
  4. Next add the vanilla, cinnamon, salt and stir.
  5. Pour your mix into your chosen chocolate mould or ice cube tray and place the chocolates in the freezer for approx 30mins to allow them to set!

When they are ready to serve, pop out the hearts and enjoy these real – wholefood sweet treats!

An easy peazy, simple, homemade creation that will satisfy your Chocolate taste-buds & leave you feeling balanced and calm after-wards!

*Carob is naturally sweet. This recipe is 100% sugar free and sweetener free as this is how I love to make them 95% of the time! J To make these chocolate treats a little sweeter or for a special occasion, you can add a dash of maple syrup – both delicious and slightly different! J

* Customise your choclates by adding a few Goji berries on top, some currants, desiccated coconut or whatever your tummy, heart and taste-buds desire! Yum! 

With Love!

x Lorien

 

Be Love

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Every day is a day to honour & celebrate LOVE!

Love of yourself, love of your body, love of your spirit, love of your parents, brothers, sisters, friends, partner, husband, wife, teachers, community & last but not least, love of our gorgeous life-giving planet.

You don’t need to wait for things to be ‘perfect’ before you let your love out.

It is love infact that can heal, unite, connect, beautify, nourish & uplift in any or all areas of your life where you consciously choose to ‘Be Love’!

So let it out, share it around, express it, dance it, sing it, eat it, paint it, draw it, speak it, give it! there are many ways to be love & every moment is an opportunity to choose LOVE!

x 

One Year!

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The month of January marks one year since this website was born!

It has been a colourful, adventurous, creative year where fresh opportunities, new connections, friendships, travels, growth, learning, study and sharing of the Wholesome Loving Goodness message has evolved, sprouted forth and expanded.

So grateful for such a fruit-full, nourishing, inspiring year!

Thankyou to the world-wide family out there who have encouraged and nurtured this growth.

We are very inspired for some fresh juicy goodness as we welcome our 2nd year of this organic wholesome loving space of inspiration.

Love love and love!!!

X Lorien

 

Summer Fresh Salad!

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Fresh organic crispy cos lettuce (hydrating & rich in chlorophyll for the blood), Organic home sprouted Moong bean sprouts (protein source, enzymes), fresh organic Coriander (cooling/balances the fire element ‘pitta’ in the body, great for the skin), organic red capsicum (yummy!), Avocado (healthy oils, fats & deliciousness!) and love!

x Yummm!!!

Listen to your heart, it always knows!

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We have all heard the wise words, “Listen to your heart” as an offering of advice at times when we are feeling lost or stuck. Whether it’s from our favourite self-help book, healer, parent, friend or even our own voice within.

There is a reason why this somewhat cliche` message rings true, and continues to do so… timelessly, never going out of fashion. The heart never goes out of fashion.

To truly honour the message being spoken by the heart.To truly listen. To truly honour what is within, guiding and protecting us in our actions and important choices, we need to develop a relationship with ourselves that sets the foundation for being able to LISTEN, to respond… to tap into the wealth of knowledge and wisdom that is waiting for us.

This is where life gets really exciting!

You may like to relate to your heart’s message as your intuition.

To me, a message from the heart is simple and clear. Ussually fairly direct and free from thoughts that arise in the mind.

The heart senses and perceives on very deep levels…. as we begin to honour and listen to its messages to us, our relationship with this knowingness deepens. As we honour this connection, the connection grows stronger.

The thread connecting us to our heart’s message goes from being one strand of cotton to a solid and durable rope that can support and be there during the roughest winds and seas.

It essentially comes back to what many self help books, parents, best friends and mentors may have said many a time…

The most important relationship to have is with yourself…

Before you can truly love another, you must love yourself.

If you are aligned and one with your own being. Your heart, your gut instinct and your minds creativity, then you are a whole complete being who can interact and engage with others and the world in a centred, whole and grounded way. This is power. This is love. Love for yourself and love for others.

x 

Creating with Love

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Love really is the secret ingredient to whatever it is we do in this world.

Whether you are baking a cake, making the bed, talking with another, with the people closest to you in life, with an animal or at work interacting ~ whatever and with whoever the interaction or creation is happening with ~ if you add love to the equation, magic happens!

I am overwhelmed with gratitude and appreciation for the love and beauty experienced during my recent travels to India and the amazing new and exciting directions that are opening up for spreading the message and vision of Wholesome Loving Goodness with the world.

While cooking on a recent Yoga Retreat in the beautiful Byron Bay region of Australia, I found some opportunities to ‘create love’ visually with the food I was preparing for the participants. The experience of cooking for a group of Yogi’s 7 days in a row was heart-opening and inspiring! It was a challenge and so rewarding through the feedback and love that was exchanged within the sharing of the meals as a community.

One bowl of porridge at a time, one wholesome vegetable soup at a time, one lovingly made hot drink at a time… we can start to spread warmth, and wholesome loving home-made goodness that each and everyone of us has the abilitiy to generate in our own kitchens, with who we are and what we love, transformation of our own body, mind’s and spirit’s can begin to take place and have ripple effects that spread into our relationships, family, work and communities. I’m inspired and excited for this journey to continue.

There is so much to share, there are 1,000’s of images from India ranging from food to friendly warm faces. There are stories and experiences that words cannot do justice to. India was a very Wholesome Love Filled adventure! So much gratitude for the journey and so much inspiration for the vision of Wholesome Loving Goodness and service in the world continuing to blossom and flourish in new and exciting ways as we enter into Spring of 2013!

It’s great to be back. I am grateful for all the support, enouragment, love and beauty that I have received since beginning this journey just over one year ago.

With wholesome, loving, goodness and joy!

x Namaste

Lorien

The first day of Spring!

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There is so much beauty within each season and cycle.

Spring in Ayurveda is about melting away the coolness and potential ‘heaviness’ of winter, (Kapha Dosha) in preparation for the intensity of Summer’s warmth!

During this time it can be very balancing to:

  • Eat slightly lighter foods such as warm Vegie Soups and Ayurvedic Kitchari (Rice & Dhal cooked together).
  • Give yourself a little extra rest.
  • Rub warm Sesame or Almond oil into the soles of your feet before bed.
  • Give yourself extra time and space to nourish and ground your body through activities such as Yoga and Chi-Gong/Tai Chi which assist in purifying the bodies energy centres ~ assisting in a smooth seasonal transition!

Spring is beautiful, warmth is in the air!

Happy Spring everyone!

Below is a photo of the first sunrise of Spring that I captured this morning as a momento!

x Love Lorien

 

Beauty-Full Moon Blessings…

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Full moon is such a powerful time to acknowledge the completion of another cycle, celebrate your beauty~your true, inherent, natural, rich, organic, fertile, abundant beauty!We are made primarily of water… The moon governs the waters of life… we can see this through the way the tide at the ocean changes according to the cycle of the moon. We also shift and experience change through a moon cycle, we have our own mental, physical, spiritual, emotional tides.

Full Moon is a special sacred time of the month to give praise to Mother Nature and express gratitude towards her for the gifts and nourishment we receive throughout each month.

‘Chandra’ meaning ‘shining’ in Sanskrit is the word used in the yogic tradition for moon. The moons energy is cooling ~ which is why for fertility in Ayurvedic medicine, cooling herbs and practices are often given to women when they wish to conceive.

“As is the human body, So is the cosmic body. As is the human mind, So is the common mind. As is the microcosm, So is the macrocosm. As is the atom, So is the universe.” ~Upanishads

Cooling, beautiful, nourishing, abundant, powerful, magical, whole, fertile, radiant, glowing full Moon!

x

 

Ginger Water for Digestion

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Ginger water opens the channels known as ‘Srotas’ in Ayurveda, burns up excess toxins known as ‘Ama’ and improves the power of your digestive fire, known as ‘Agni’ in Ayurveda! Yay!

Particularly great during the cooler months of the year when the channels of the body naturally start to contract with the cold environment. Ginger water will balance this and keep things flowing freely.

Ingredients:

  • 1 tsp of Certified Organic (for best results for you & the planet) Dry Ginger powder.
  • 2 cups of purified water

Method:

  1. Boil the Ginger powder and water in your pot.
  2. Allow to cool until a good warm drinking temperature
  3. Serve straight or with 1/2 a tsp of raw, unprocessed sugar known as Jaggery or Rapadura for a dash of wholesome sweetness with your Ginger!

*Freshly grated or sliced Ginger can also be used to warm the body and improve digestion. For the purpose of this remedy, using the powdered Ginger has a stronger effect on warming the tissues of the body and improving digestion.

To healthy, happy free flowing channels and balanced digestion! 

Yum!

x Lorien