A Dash of Spice issue February 2016 by A Dash of Spice

a dash of

SPICE |February 2016|

Spain:One step at a time

Becoming the Exception

content: Feature: And life loved her right back The Coach

Interests and Hobbies

Fashion & Beauty

Food & Drink

Money Mine

Seeds of Inspiration

Health & Fitness

Living

Travel

Q&A

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editor’s note: As I put together this issue, I am humbled by how much love I’ve been getting from all over the world. Thank you so much for all your emails and kind words and please b e patient if I haven’t replied your email. In the past few weeks I’ve spoken to so many dynamic women from all over the world and the furthest was probably M innesota. While I se tin my light-‐cotton dress in the warm tropics, Cassi was dealing with loads of snow. Same moment, but what different worlds. This journey so far has b een an exciting one. Reading all your stories, I’m just amazed at some of the challenges each and every one of you have had in your life and how with great courage and determination you have overcome them. As we move to February, I h ope you’ve been having a great year so far. January has been a roller-‐coaster ride for me (and I promise I’ll give you details another day) but I’m thankful for all the trials and tribulations, as after reading all your stories, I know I can only emerge stronger than before. So if you have a story you’d like to share and inspire women, we’d like to hear from you. Drop us an email at magazine@oneasiacoach.com and b e part of the spicy family. Wishing you a blessed and joyous 2016. Begin again; Live again; Love again.

“Many think faith is how you think. But, I’m here to tell you that faith is all about what you do. Faith is a verb.”

With more than 20 years of experience teaching, training, designing, developing, and managing high-‐end learning solutions and programs and 15 years experience developing high-‐performance teams, Carla Downing has a well-‐ established record of results. Her company, Downing Interactive helps organizations of all sizes improve the performance of their employees using innovative eLearning solutions.

Carla's leadership approach combines her exceptional communication skills as well as her experience as an athlete, a member of the military, and several years teaching in higher education. She knows h ow to facilitate excellence and h er outcomes, solutions, and teams regularly surpass expectations. Carla holds an M S. Ed in Workforce Education & Development, and a doctorate in Curriculum & Instruction (Instructional Design/Technology) from Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

becoming the exception: by Carla Downing When I was a little girl I used to hear adults say that time passes faster as we get older. This seemed ridiculous to me as a child. After all, time is time; and clocks and calendars work the same no matter our age, right? Wrong! I’m now only a year from being 50 years old and I can tell you that time does indeed seem to move faster as we age. M onths go by like weeks and the seasons seem to roll around faster with each decade. I have jokingly said in recent years that it feels like I’m living in dog years and racking up 7 years of life for every year lived. On some days this feels like a wonderful gift that allows me to move forward through life lessons more quickly. On other days it feels like life is dragging by while I try to figure out which way is up. Whichever type of day I’m h aving I find myself circling around to feelings of joy and gratitude. I’m grateful because I’ve managed to squeeze a lot of life into these 49 years. Lots of up and downs. Lots of lessons. Lots of tears and lots of laughter. Through it all, I have found my way to a set of circumstances that I feel proud to call my life. Right now, my life is a unique combination of managing four generations and building a business that allows me to share my expertise. When I’m not busy enjoying time with my husband, sons, daughter-‐in-‐ law, grandkids, and extended family; my professional energy is focused on building my business, volunteering in local schools, and seeing the world when opportunity for travel arises.

c a r l a t h e n a n d n o w : People who know me now have no idea that I have lived through spousal abuse, homelessness, poverty, as well as other assorted situations resulting from low self-‐esteem, poor choices I’ve made all on my own and occasionally the poor choices of others. All people see is the woman I am today; the woman who learned from her mistakes and chose to change. I can’t share in a single article how I went about making the changes necessary to go from where I was to where I am today. But, I can share the TOP SIX things that I h ad to learn before I could make those changes. Or to word it differently—the lessons I learned that brought about the changes required to achieve the life I wanted for my family and I.

The Four Generations: My husband and I help care for my parents; manage our household, which includes our 13-year old son; we provide help to my older son and his wife while they are working and in school; and we help with their kids, our grandkids. 6

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m y t o p 6 l i f e l e s s o n s : 1. NEVER Spend Time On Regret As I stated, I’ve been through some tough situations in life. And while I could spend my time lamenting youth lost or mistakes made; a while b ack I made a conscious choice to live my life focused on my dreams and intentions rather than regret. Any time spent on regret is wasted. If you want to build a good life there is no room for wasted time. Each and every day should b e well invested in order to take you closer to your goals. No regret. 2. Focus On Being Your Best You Many people spend their time trying to prove that they are worthy of acceptance, love, happiness, promotion, or money. I think it’s better for me to pursue my life being the best possible version of myself possible. I don’ t compete with others and I don’t focus on having certain things. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy having nice things—they just aren’t the goal or focus anymore. I realized a while back that if I’m focused on being the best version of me that I can be I am much happier. It’s confusing to some people because they assume because of my perceived success that I am very competitive. But rather than compete with others I choose to focus on the things that make be a better person; a better wife; a better mother, a better business woman and so on than I was last month or last year. Being the best Carla I can be has proven to be a much better way of achieving success than competing with others. 3. Becoming Is the Key Becoming is a way of achieving that is powerful beyond belief. Becoming is the next step after you are good at being your b est you rather than competing with others. It’s not a tough way of operating; nothing I’m sharing here in this list of lessons is hard, but it is a powerful way of operating. Here are some tips for operating in this manner as well as examples of what it means to use becoming as the key to your ideal life. •

•

I needed a life that allowed me to have flexible hours, so I transitioned from having a career in which I was leading a team to becoming a business owner. I wanted to travel more extensively, so I am studying to become multilingual.

Carla and her husband

•

I wanted to be a better wife, mother, and grandmother; so I rearranged my life to become more available (more time, more emotional bandwidth, more healthful living). I wanted to do work I enjoyed, so I chose to get the education and experience required to become an expert in my field.

Too many people focus on what they want rather than what it takes to achieve what they want. Figure out what you want. Then determine what you have to become to achieve what you want.

”

4. Think Of Faith As A Verb No matter what your beliefs, religion, or philosophy—practice your faith. Now, I don’t mean this is the traditional manner in which this phrase is used. When I say practice your faith I mean it in a much more practical

manner—put your faith into practice. Think of faith as a verb and DO it. I mentioned that I manage four generations. That’s the only way I know to label what I do. My husband and I help care for my parents; manage our household, which includes our 13-‐year old son; we provide help to my son and h is wife while they are working and in school; and we help with their kids, our grandkids. In addition, my husband has a 1.5-‐hour commute to his job (each way). One day I faced the realization that I needed complete flexibility over my schedule if I was going to h ave a career and b e able to help my family. At the time, I was making a six-‐figure salary and leading a team of very talented people. I had no idea how I was going to go about changing my life to be what I needed but I knew it had to happen if I wanted to be healthy and do all of these other things. That very day I started filtering every decision I had to make through that realization. I started positioning myself in any and every way possible so that one day I would be well positioned. I had no guarantees that I would achieve this. I had never seen a family member pursue anything like this. But I knew what I needed and more powerfully—what I wanted. So, I decided to use my faith and begin aligning actions to my thoughts. 5. Do One Thing A Day Some of you have probably noticed that many items on this list are action oriented. It’s true; I’m a big fan of taking responsibility for the life you want to live and making it happen. Doing one thing a day is a great strategy for building your ideal life. One Thing A Day is all about consistency. Once you decide what you want your life to look like, you need to do something each day toward making that happen. It doesn’t have to be a huge something—just something that moves you a step closer to your goal. This will keep you focused on your goal from day to day and make you feel good about your progress. It’s amazing how these little steps add u p to significant progress.

Carla and her son

6. Call Do Overs As Often As You Need To Do So Remember playing games as a kid and being able to call do overs when you messed up and wanted to start over? Well even as an adult, when you mess up, or p erform p oorly, or want to redirect your life, don’t ever hesitate to call do overs! It’s still your right to do so. As kids we readily accept this as an option and call do overs regularly as we play and build and learn. We say, “hey I messed up and I want to start over again and do a better job.” But, somehow as we age we assume the loss of this right. I’m here to tell you that every year, every quarter, every month, every week, every day, every hour, every minute, every breath is a chance to start over. Don’t settle for an average outcome when you can call do overs and improve your performance. Anyone over the age of 30 will tell you that life is one big challenge after another. How we handle those challenges is the difference between living as most do, or being an exception to the rule. About 20 years ago I chose to become an exception. While no one’s life is p erfect, I can truly say that I’m living the life I want. There are many more lessons I could share with you. But, these six are a great start to building the life you want and being able to continue building through the different seasons of life so that once you find happiness you can live there long term.

f: https://www.facebook.com/downinginteractive/timeline e::carla@downinginteractive.com w::http://www.downinginteractive.com/

the coach: A frantic email with the subject that reads “OMG!! I Have No Pictures Of Myself” is the last thing an editor wants to hear but these were the very words that were the inspiration for this month’s article. My biggest d ilemma when I get such and email or very few workable photos is, “how am I going to tell me creative team that we don’t have a picture for the cover of this month’s issue?” Thanking the Gods of Technology & Social Media (I’m sure there is one), I become an FB CSI as I pry into the Facebook photo history, scrutinising all the pictures (which can come up to a grand total of 5000 per edition). After this recent email, I started thinking about what this writer said that she has always been the one in the family, capturing the moments of her family’s life being their “witness” but not vice versa. spot is – for some strange reason it’s almost always on their bed or lap-‐top! As I pry their photo book, looking for a solo picture, I have little to choose from. Hidden among the 100s of photo, one will emerge as a potential, but alas, there’ll be an arm or ear missing! S ometimes I see so little of the person but more of the beach, sky or even the beach towel and h at. I know that there has been so much flak floating around online about how people are becoming more narcissistic and taking pictures of themselves and posting them on social media. So women shy away form taking pictures of themselves, to not appear self-‐centred or worse, shallow! But taking pictures of their children, husband, grandkids, dogs or cats, now that’s okay because it’s for someone else. My work as the FB photo CSI detective reveals so much about women. Through their pictures I see their lives – their daily the antics their little kids or grandkids get up to, the birthday celebration for mum, dad, husband, or boyfriend. I even know their routines, where the cat’s favourite

And if there is someone who knows about getting flak for taking p ictures of the self, is none other than moi. My nephews and nieces shudder everytime I whip out my mobile phone, rolling their eyes and exclaiming, “oh no! not again!” or “Seriously, must you take that picture???????” The adults are less expressive but their silence says it all. They don’t get it, the need to take so many pictures of me – me eating, me sitting, me exercising, me drinking wine, me picking flowers. How can one b e so focused on me? Well, I’m always looking at people so how is it wrong

The adults are less expressive but their silence says it all.

witness your life Gonna have a little chat with husband being a witness to my life like I am for his.

”

Words of a Contributor

for me to want to see me for a change? Hey, I don’t walk with a mirror attached to me. I see more of you then I see of me. So yes, I like taking photos of myself and while I’m living and experiencing life, in this fast paced world, I sometimes forget. So a picture b rings me to a time in the past – mostly happy memories but sometimes not. But hey, I have those memories. So go ahead and witness your life; if no one else does, there is a timer function on your

Rachpal has designed an online coaching programme for women in transition. For a FREE CONSULTATION, write to her at more@oneasiacoach.com or visit her website at www.oneasiacoach.com

interests/hobbies:

spice up your life

the art of henna…… by Primal Shergill Being the only child, I’ve always been taught to be independent and to work towards my dreams. The moment I have I grew to appreciate the simplest of things, especially those that are handmade, as it gives a personalised touch. something in mind, I would be determined to achieve it. And so I wanted to live my passion in a way where people would recognize my work. Though my field of study was related to science, art has always b een a big p art of me. I’m told that as a child, I would doodle every now and then and create things, it could be anything like cards, friendship bands or beadwork. I always had this mindset that if someone else is able to do it or make it, why not me? And with that, I grew to appreciate the simplest of things, especially those that are h andmade, as it gives a personalised touch.

the lure of henna art Like any other girl, whenever it came to Diwali or any festive occasion, I would rush to get in line to get my h enna done. And I would always admire the way those artists would create all those lovely designs. However, one trip to Jaipur brought a deeper level of appreciation and love for h enna art, where I came across a handicapped man drawing henna so p atiently and beautifully despite his limitations. That was when I decided that I wanted to learn this art that was so rich in culture. I had feeling in me that words cannot explain; I finally found my passion – my love for creating through henna art.

from passion to business As I was still at school, henna art was just a hobby I dabbled in during my free time. I would d oodle designs every now and then. I had a p ool of happy guinea pigs in my family who bravely allowed me to experiment my designs on them. I never really saw it as a business but my family and friends urged me to give it a thought. One day it clicked! “Yes, I have an education and will be working in time to come, but that’s what everyone does. And so what makes me different? Just working and leading a routine lifestyle isn’t going to b e something that I would look forward to. I’ve got to do more to survive n ot just financially but also survive in the outside world. I want to be different, I want to achieve, I wanted to be remembered for my work as an artist, I want to grow and learn, to discover myself and face downfalls and rise from there, to see how far I can strive”. With that Henna Cottage was born.

I grew to appreciate the simplest of things, especially those that are handmade, as it gives a personalised touch.

” i’m a business owner!! Suddenly it dawned upon me that I had started my very first b usiness and I knew absolutely nothing about how to run a business. After all, I was at University studying science and not even in a business course! How am I going to market myself? How much should I charge? I am blessed with family and friends who by word-‐of-‐mouth, shared my new venture (yes, nothing beats the word-‐of-‐mouth marketing I tell you). Then of course we have social media was another great marketing and eventually my pool of clients grew over the years. It’s been almost four years now and I’m confident enough to say that seizing every opportunity -‐ be it b ig or small and facing every challenge that has come along my way has brought me this far. Henna art made me realize that there aren’t any limitations when it comes to art and what we do. With that, I didn’t just stop at body art. I embraced creativity by going a step further and started doing henna designs on candles, cards, bookmarks, frames, cakes, pots or anything that inspired me. What an exciting n ew world I was exposed working in bazaars, taking p art in henna d esign competitions and even hosting events! The best thing about henna art has been meeting different people from all walks of life, especially women who are about to start a new journey and chapter in their lives. There’s really something so beautiful about this art, where you lose yourself in an art piece and stain your hands, just to beautify someone else’s. Over time, I realized that creating designs with my hands was indeed a gift that no one could ever take away from me. I was taught many valuable lessons on this journey, lessons no amount of money could have taught me.

But of course, starting off on this venture was not smooth sailing. There were lots of things to consider and many tough decisions that I had to make, a different ballgame. I had to ensure that there was professionalism, consistency, time management and resource management. Most importantly, was whether was I prepared to take it up a project and run it even on short notice.

” 12

My passion for henna art never got in the way of my studies; in fact it was a form of relaxation as I turned to drawing whenever I was stressed with assignments. This was my outlet that allowed me to express myself freely and energized me. I would always find myself holding a pen and doodling during my free time or in the middle of lectures.

”

my message for young artists As a young artist, I have worked towards living my passion and if there’s one thing I’ve ever learnt it would be that anyone can achieve anything and really anything if you have the desire to. There is no shortcut to success, you will need to make it happen and there is n o other satisfaction greater than watching your dreams turn into reality. The beginning will always be tough (you can bet on that), along the way you’ll come across different kinds of people, challenges will always be there but if there’s desire and passion, then trust me, you’re half way there. And those hurdles add value to your story. Start somewhere and appreciate small beginnings for you never know where it will lead you.

” 14

Anyone with a passion strong enough can do wonders. Honestly, it’s really not hard living your passion; all you need are the key ingredients patience, commitment, drive, determination and most of all humility.

”

Hi, I’m Primal S hergill, 24 years old and a henna artist for the past 4 years. I recently graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Pharmaceutical Management. Besides doing h enna art for weddings I also do henna designs on candles, cards and even cakes. Follow these links to get in touch with me. Facebook FanPage : www.facebook.com/HennaCottage Instagram: Henna Cottage Email: primalshergill@gmail.com

fashion/beauty:

glitter and glam

Flawless in F I V E minutes By

Harmanpreet Kaur

One of the pet peeves of all women when putting on m ake-‐up is getting the foundation right. Some of you tell me that you hate looking like you’re heading off to be a cast in an opera! Then there is always the problem of the foundation getting “cakey” or creasing up on around your eyes or your smile lines. Then comes the blusher – sometimes its too dark, sometimes it’s too much. The of course there is the ongoing saga on whether to do the Kim K contouring or not! Let me share my 3 basic steps to having that flawless look and all that in FIVE minutes or less.

STEP 1: I know it can be such a chore looking for a right foundation to give you a good coverage .Just the idea of applying foundation can put any one off. Well, fret not it does not have to b e this tedious. My all time favourite is Mary Kay CC Cream (CC means colour correcting) •

Lightweight coverage for a natural-‐, flawless-‐looking complexion.

•

Easy out-‐the-‐door option without that “made-‐up” look.

•

Minimal shades cover a wide range of skin tones.

•

Suitable for all skin types.

How to apply: • • • •

Just one squirt (cos it comes in a fabulous pump tube) Then use your finger and dab little spots all over your face Then either with your fingers or a make-‐up sponge, just blend all over your face Done in 2 minutes

STEP 2: Now to have a little bit of the DIVA look, all you need is a light blush. Nothing too loud, cos remember, you’re not part of the stage opera. M y favourite is Mary Kay® Cream Blush. Cranberry and Sheer Bliss are great shades as they give you the fresh look, just perks up your face. How to apply: • • • • •

Swipe your finger over it (cos it’s a cream blush) Smile and tap the blush to the apples of your cheek It will look a little bright but just tap and gently blend If you feel that it is too much, you can use a make-‐up sponge to lightly dab away the excess 2 minutes and you’re done

STEP 3: Finally for the fresh out of the shower look, I dab on Mary Kay® NouriShine™ Lip Gloss to the lips. It smoothens, softens and the best part of all, never feels sticky. My favourite shades are Pink Parfait and Fancy Nancy. How to apply: • • •

Dab it directly to the lips You can also apply it over a lipstick Done in 30 seconds

Hi, I’m Harmanpreet Kaur, 38 years old, a career woman and entrepreneur, married and a mother to a bubbly little b oy. Like many of you, I’m juggling many roles, which include a full-‐time job, an independent Mary Kay Beauty Consultant and managing my own online Indian accessories business, Treasure Trove. ` For more on beauty tips with Mary Kay, follow me on https://www.instagram.com/mk_sangsaara Check out accessories at https://www.facebook.com/treasure.trove.948

food and drink:

spice, dice and splash

FABULICIOUS MEALS ON HEELS

I get asked all the time, “How do you manage to cook with your busy schedule?” It’s been years now, but that is the common question I get asked all the time. My family and friends know that I ABSOLUTELY love to cook and I’d rather eat food prepared at home than to have a take-‐away. That’s h ow Fabulicious M eals on Heels was born four years ago. I decided that food preparation should not be a chore and a woman should be able to sashay into her kitchen with her 6-‐inch h eels on prepare not just a healthy and delicious meal but one that looks like it was from a gourmet deli. In this month’s issue I’ll share two foods that are often perceived as snacks and starters that can actually be main meals. Just innovate and break the rules.

Rachpal Kaur Tulsi 19

Lasagne in A Skillet (Over the Stove, no Bake) Ingredients: 2 cans of chopped tomatoes 2 tablespoons tomato paste one big onion, chopped 10 cloves of garlic, chopped 5 small red chillies, chopped OR 2 teaspoons red chilli flakes 500 g minced chicken (optional) 200 g cheddar cheese 200 g mozzarella cheese 100 g parmesan cheese Enough oil to cover the base of the skillet generously Salt & Oregano to your liking 6 Lasagne sheets Method: • Soak the lasagne sheets in hot water for 10 minutes. Then cut each sheet into 3 equal parts. This makes it easier to do layering as most skillets are round. Soaking helps to speed the cooking process when you’re busy. • While that is soaking, heat the oil in the skillet and sauté the garlic and onions. Use a heavy base skillet so that the sauce doesn’t stick after the layering process – the equivalent to baking. • Add the minced chicken and stir till cook. Usually about 10 minutes. • Add the tomatoes, chillies and salt and cook till the sauce thickens and oil surfaces. Layering: • Remove ¾ of the sauce from the skillet. • Spread the remaining sauce evenly on the base. • Layer with 6 segments of lasagne sheets (look at main picture, the extreme left). • Then put another ¼ of the sauce, sprinkle the cheddar and mozzarella cheeses and the sheets and repeat till you’re left with a sauce layer. • Sprinkle the remaining cheeses. • Cover the skillet with a heavy lid and cook over medium hear for 20 to 25 minutes.

Variation: • You can use any meat in place of chicken. • For a vegetarian version, you can add chopped zucchinis and carrots. • I haven’t tried it with a cream sauce, so if you do and it’s successful, let me know. We’ll share it on this page. Serves: • This serves as a light meal for six people or a main meal for 4 very hungry people. • I just had to add I love this recipe cos the cheese is not hard and chewy like when you bake the lasagne. Accompaniment: Roasted Vegetable Salad 1 red capsicum 1 green capsicum 1 yellow capsicum 2 medium sized b rinjals/eggplants/aubergines 1 medium sized onion 1 tablespoon cooking oil 2 tablespoons olive oil Salt & Oregano to taste Method: • You can roast the vegetables in the oven or air-‐fryer for 10-‐15 minutes on medium heat. • You can also do a quick roast in a frying pan. • I usually start with eggplants and then I add in all the rest. • Sprinkle some salt and oregano. • Drizzle the olive oil. • Serve with lasagne.

money mine:

common cents

YOU SPENT $700 on WHAT??? Yes, that was my first question when I found out that a student had bought a Mont Blanc pen for $780! Are you crazy? Why would you spend so much on a pen? Okay, so you’re student and take lots of n otes in class. I’ve been a student too and I took perfectly good notes with my pen that cost me no more than 50 cents which, in today’s context would cost about $1.50. In fact. I’ve not had to buy a pen in years as I collect p ens from the h otels I stay at on my travels or during seminars. So I cannot fathom how a full-‐time student could spend that much money on a pen!

priorities and consequences: The two biggest issues for me are priorities and lack of consideration for the long-‐term consequences. As a 20-‐year old full time student, there are many d ifferent expenses that one has – books, printing notes, binding reports for projects. In addition to school related costs, there are other living expenses like meals, medical and in some cases, rent. And what about insurance? If she had saved that money for a year, she could have u sed it to pay towards an endowment policy for which she could see the returns in 10 or 15 years. In the past few years that I’ve been a coach, what I’ve observed is that both men and women whether old or young make rash decisions when it comes to that little extra money that they have put aside. Call me conservative b ut unless you earn more than $100,000 a year, have no loans to pay off, have your own property and h ave at least one year emergency savings, you have no business spending so much money on buying luxury items.

status symbol: Sadly, more often than not, buying that luxury item is a symbol of status. People confuse their sense of worth through the things they own. Time to re-‐think that model. It’s time to have a new conversation with yourself. The expensive or luxury things you own don’t define you as a person. It is pointless having expensive things surrounding you when the inner pain persists and puts you in bigger financial dire straits. So the next time you’re spending on something beyond your means, stop and ask yourself, “What’s the inner conversation of lack that I’m having?”

health and fitness:

live life to the fullest

Your Body’s Whispers My dream since childhood of living in Australia had finally happened. Our new house was built and we were settling our children and us into our new life. We went to the bank one day and were asked if we would like to see a financial advisor as we had money that could be working for us. Over the coming weeks we saw the financial advisor quite a few times and based on his p rofessional advice we ended up p utting our money in the stock market and because of the tax benefits suggested by him, we borrowed a huge amount of money to put in there as well. From corporate work in London to a part time job but it was proving much harder for my husband to find work but the advisor told u s that we would be making enough money each month from the stock market and it would take the pressure off of my husband looking for work. Who could have predicted the 2008 global financial crisis? Long story short, the money we invested plummeted and over the next few months we started to realise we were in big trouble. This went on for months and we started receiving letters from the

bank telling us that if we didn’t make payments towards the loan we could lose our home. This situation was affecting us very badly, I was really worried about my husband’s state of mind and he would also get terrible tension headaches. We had gone from being very financially secure to potentially losing everything.

I felt it was my fault as I had been the one who had wanted to move to Australia and my husband had left an excellent job in the UK so we could emigrate and now, he couldn’t get work.

”

I would lie awake at night for hours feeling the energy building in my chest and filling my body with anger and fear. I never got up, I just got used to lying there, angry, agitated and scared. I was irritable, emotional and I couldn’t think straight. We didn’t tell any of our family or friends what was going on, we just kept it between us. Thankfully, over the year, we got out of the financial situation that we were in.

the body whisperer: I started learning about Law of Attraction and my spiritual journey h ad begun and during this journey I met this amazing dog called Ella. Ella was a Seeing Eye dog and had just had her toe amputated due to cancer and she could no longer work. We were told she probably had 3 weeks to live and my heart melted. I asked if we could keep her and I did healing courses and studied a variety of healing modalities and practised on her. She was my perfect patient and her health started to improve. She had a sparkle in h er eye and more energy again and that was in 2011 and she is still with us today. Whilst practicing with Ella my h usband had an accident; a corrugated iron slid off a chicken coop we were dismantling and went through a vein and artery in the crease of his arm. Luckily the person we were with was an emergency nurse at our local hospital and he saved his life. He had to have stitches inside and out and when we got home I asked him if I could practice my healing techniques on him. During the session the heat from my hands got intense and he asked me to stop. Over the next few weeks I did some more sessions on him and the scar that looked awful became so tiny we could hardly see it. Going through what happened to us I realised that everything that happens to us in life is a story and how the energy from that story can b uild in our body and create chronic pain, disease or stress within us. When we let go of the story, the pain and disease is released and our body can become h ealthy again. I am sure

that if I had not taken the opportunity to start on this spiritual path when I did and let go of the fear and anger of losing our money, the energy within me would have caused an illness or disease. Working as a Body Whisperer I know your body is talking to you all the time through your thoughts, feelings or pain and most of the time it is not heard. Your b ody is like your very own tarot reader and gives you answers to situations you are facing. Fears frustration, rejection and overwhelm are another thing that can keep you stuck and doing what you truly want to be doing, but by learning how to deal with these emotions quickly you can do what you love without them holding you back. It is not an easy journey I admit but learning what I have and d oing healings and teaching like I do now is a massive difference to where I used to be like suffering alone and attracting more and more situations that kept that feeling of loneliness inside me. I am still learning everyday how to improve and not let my fears run my life b ut I know we have all come here together to learn and grow and h elp each other with the gifts and skills we have. We are unique and can make a difference in our world and that’s why I love what I do. I love helping people who have got lost on their p ath and need help to get back on it. Their body is showing them that they have blocks and fears holding them back. The time to start is now. Don’t wait another day to make a difference. You don’t n eed to b e superwoman or have everything perfect. You just need to get clear on what your path is so that you can go ahead and show the way for others.

Hello, I’m Anne Harris, a Body Whisperer and I believe that you don’t always need to keep taking medication to h eal. The reason the pain is there is because you need to remove the blockage, change your thoughts and what you are d oing, so your b ody stops telling you that you are not living the life you are meant too. You can follow me on social media or drop me an email if you’d like to learn more and work with me.

f: https://www.facebook.com/ann.harris.Buderim?fref=ts e: ann@opulentsouls.com w: www.opulentsouls.com 23

Quick Guide to 3 Common Ailments by Ann Harris Here is a quick guide if you suffer from headaches, fatigue or digestive issues. There is a lot more information than this for each symptom and it depends on your individual circumstances with what your body is trying to express.

Headaches

Headaches are caused if you are feeling stressed, overwhelmed or tired. Maybe you’re thinking too much, being judgmental of yourself and others and not trusting what is happening around you. You may feel limited or restricted in what you want to do or maybe you are looking after others so you don’t have to look after yourself and what you really want. You may doubt what your capable of and h ave a fear of failing. You may want to appear that you are successful but things that happened in the past where you didn't achieve exactly what you wanted have left you feeling powerless. Maybe you are always trying to push hard to achieve many things and you feel like you are not good enough.

Digestive problems / Indigestion are generally caused if you have trouble trying to let go of past or current events. Maybe you feel like you don’t have any strength in a situation or are critical of yourself or the situation. M aybe you didn’t receive much love when you were younger and you are holding onto anger, resentment or rejection. You may find it very h ard to forgive yourself and others. You might be opinionated or insecure and have u nrealistic expectations.

Fatigue 24

Digestive Problems/ Indigestion

Fatigue can b e caused by your body always thinking it needs to be on guard and therefore any rest you get goes straight to keeping your body in fight or flight mode and so you never feel refreshed and energised. You may be stressed and overworking. Fatigue can also be caused because of being disappointed and overwhelmed or using it as an excuse because you don’t have very good boundaries and can’t easily say No.

seeds of inspiration:

where women inspire women

living:

living simply to simply live

In old days books were written by men of letters and read by the public. Nowadays books are written by the public and read by nobody. Oscar Wilde

simply read We’re all wired up, alas, the wrong way. Strapped with mobile devices and internet everywhere we go. On the train, in the buses, on our couch, at the dinner table or even when we’re out with friends, we’ve all b een culprits of being on some mobile device. We read snippets of news, gossip, advise columns as we go about our day. Snippets, that’s the keyword. We no longer have the p atience for a long sentence, paragraph or anything that takes more than 2 minutes. Reading something online for 5 minutes feels like one is reading a whole chapter by Charles Dickens! But this quick acquisition and bombardment of information overstimulates our sensory system and is a major cause of stress and slows down our thinking process. We no longer appreciate the poetic sentence that transferred us to another realm or the intricate web the writer spun or the rich characters each author fondly created. Look at your bookshelf, go to the library or the second-‐hand bookshop; pick a few storybooks. Even if it’s a children’s book. Just for a few minutes everyday, let your soul fill with the author’s words and your imagination.

travel :

the spicy route

Seville – beautiful garden in the Royal Palace

Getting the boot to Spain by Melissa Viswani I caught the travel bug when I was ten. My family had taken the coach up the Malaysian Peninsula to Southern Thailand for a two-‐week holiday. I remember the various experiences, the food we ate, the p eople we met and that left a deep impression in me. Most importantly, it was an escape from everyday life at home. By the time I flew on an airplane at fifteen, I knew I wanted to travel and experience the world. And by the time I started working, it became almost a compulsory annual exercise to go somewhere new, somewhere I could escape for a while and come back all refreshed. For our annual June holiday last year, dear husband and I had planned a trip to Southern Spain. Just six weeks leading up to the trip, I fell and fractured one of the metatarsal bones in my left foot. The doctor ordered for my leg to be wrapped in a cast and for me to rest. At my follow-‐up review, a couple of weeks later, I told him that I needed that cast off as I was going on a holiday. The doctor asked, ‘So where are you going for your holiday?’ I answered, ‘Andalusia in South of Spain.’ He replied, ‘Andalusia is beautiful but you will need to walk a lot. I don’t think you can with your fractured foot. I can write a letter to the airline company so you can get a refund for the air ticket.’ I exclaimed in exasperation, ‘NO! Its just a hairline fracture! And I don’t want a refund. I want a holiday.’

to andalusia we shall go: The doctor must have heard the plea of desperation in the voice of this intrepid traveller and prescribed a walking boot.

”

Dear husband and I also made sure that our itinerary was well-‐planned to avoid as much uncertainty as possible. And off we went to the Andalusia in Southern Spain. As the doctor said, there was a lot of walking to be done. The walking boot definitely got me a lot of stares. But it also got some sympathy and some little concessions here and there. I soon became very comfortable with it. I would not regret making the decision to just go! A little history about why Andalusia is special. The Moors ruled parts of Andalusia for about seven centuries and we can see the legacy in the form of the interesting art and architecture in the various cities.

chilling in sevilla: Seville or Sevilla is the capital of Andalusia. It’s a laidback city with lots of friendly people and was definitely our favourite leg of the trip. Its really easy to get to the main attractions in Seville, even with a walking boot. One of these is the huge Seville Cathedral b uilt in the Gothic style. It is the third largest cathedral in the world and also contains the tomb of Spanish explorer, Christopher Columbus. Just about ten minutes of walk away from the city centre is the popular tourist destination, the Plaza de España. Dear husband and I spent quite a few hours enjoying the tiled fountains, pavilions and benches all made in the Moorish style and the Spanish summer sunshine. Seville is also home to the Flamenco and bull-‐fighting. The fiery, sensual, rhythmic dance mesmerized us. It was a passionate p erformance by a pair of dancers with the musicians on the Spanish guitar. We got to sit at the front row and those were the best seats in the small auditorium, thanks to my walking boot.

After the performance the beautiful female dancer conducted a simple dance lessons for the viewers, which we sadly had to miss because of my leg. We however gave bull-‐fighting a miss, although dear husband really wanted to catch some action! When I found out that the bull gets killed after the fight, I refused to watch the fight. But for those who are really interested, bull-‐fighting only takes place at certain weeks of the year so its essential to check that first before visiting. As this was our first stop in the trip, we were hungry for good and authentic Spanish tapas! Information from friendly hotel staff and internet research brought us to Eslava Tapas. We were to return to Eslava for many meals during our short stay in Seville. Some of our favourite dishes were the juicy and plump deep-‐fried anchovies and the flavourful pork cheeks. A lot of locals come for the really economically priced tapas and the good service.

the pretty alleys of cordoba: The Spanish cities are very well connected by the rail system. Within an hour’s train ride, we reached Cordoba. Islamic armies invaded this city in the 8th century and today we get to enjoy the remnants of Islamic influences through its architecture. I simply loved the pretty alleys. There was a photo opportunity at every turn! The highlight of this small city has to be the M ezquita. It is rather apt that its referred to as the Mosque-‐Cathedral of Cordoba because what used to be a mosque is today a cathedral. There are symbols of both religions which I found really fascinating. The giant cream and red arches adds the individuality to the building. The royal palace is another must-‐visit in Cordoba and what is most memorable about the palace were the beautifully manicured gardens. And we would see such gardens in most of the palaces in Andalusia.

Alhambra – view of the city

the fortress at granada: Our next stop was Granada. We found the food prices to be steeper and we didn’t feel as laidback here as in Seville. But if you wanted to visit the Alhambra (which is a must if you go to Andalusia), the red one and the Moorish palace and fortress, it is essential to come to Granada. Some tips to get to the Alhambra -‐ -‐

-‐

Book your tickets online. If you didn’t manage to do so, go very early and q ueue up for your tickets. There is a shuttle service that goes up to the fortress at regular intervals. Enquire with your hotel about this b us stop to get the shuttle u p the hill. Use your credit card to buy the tickets from the ticket machines, instead of at the counters. No one was queueing at the machines. We only found out about these machines after queueing for about half an hour!

We got an overview of the whole city from the top of the hill. This site is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most significant sites showcasing Islamic architecture in the country. We spent more than three hours wandering around the complex, admiring the gorgeous gardens, the various buildings, decorated and latticed columns, ceilings and walls, and fountains. The Alhambra has inspired music, poetry, art and we definitely saw why that was so.

idyllic seaside city of malaga: The last pit-‐stop on our trip in Andalusia was Malaga. This is a seaside city and also where we would take our flight back home. We were only expecting to visit the Costa Del Sol at Malaga but were pleasantly surprised to discover the numerous art museums and that the master of cubism, Pablo Picasso, was born in Malaga! We thoroughly enjoyed the Museo Picasso Malaga and would recommend it as a must-‐visit. Other museums to visit, which we didn’t have time to, would be Centre Pompidou and the Centre of Contemporary Art.

Seville – Plaza de Espana

There are b uses that run down the whole stretch of the coast, also known as Costa Del Sol. We had to check with the hotel staff on where to get off at as there are various stops along the whole stretch where people are allowed to swim. Summer was indeed in full swing. Beach chairs dotted the whole stretch of the beach and families had come fully prepared with coolers for drinks, food and other paraphernalia. If you are lucky, you can also see women sunbathing topless to get an even tan! The locals must not have seen anyone with a walking boot coming to the beach as I got a lot of curious looks. My boot got sandy so I removed it and limped slowly to the shore. I remember feeling the cool Mediterranean water as I submerged d eeper into the water. I smiled as I thought back to the wonderful experiences in the trip. At that moment, I was thankful that I could escape to amazing Andalusia despite the fracture. A travel junkie whose idea of a tranquil experience is jumping out of a plane at 12,000ft in Queenstown or greeting the sunrise in a hot air balloon over the mystical chimneys in Cappadocia, Turkey, Melissa has always lived to travel. Her favourite writers, Pico Iyer and Pau Theroux have inspired her to envision life beyond the shores of the tiny red dot and after her own travel article appeared in “Sports and Travel Magazine” she has been fascinated about capturing her experiences. A published author of a children’s book, The Missing Mouse, Melissa’s love for writing and travel is an overriding passion that leads her to her m any adventures.

Follow Melissa on Instagram @bookwormmelly. Malaga Beach

Q & A: Q

in the hot seed

This week’s question is inspired by many busy women I’ve met in the past few months who have the following dilemma : I want to entertain my friends at my h ome b ut I get tired h aving to do all the p reparation and cleaning after. Would it be rude if I suggested a pot luck? Should I expect them to help with the cleaning up?

I love entertaining family and friends at home and I definitely can relate to this situation. I love cooking so I use this time to try out new recipes but the preparation can be tiring. So is it rude to suggest pot-‐luck? Well, not really. Of course, if it is the first time you are inviting someone to your place, it would seem awkward to suggest a pot-‐luck. However, with regular visitors it is perfectly fine to suggest a pot-‐luck and even rotate the homes where the gathering is to be held so that everyone gets a chance to be a guest or host. Sometimes your guests might ask if they could bring something. Even if you say no, they will bring something. So why don’t you let them know if you do need something? I’m hopeless at preparing desserts so if asked, I will usually tell them to bring a dessert, which could be a tub of ice-‐cream or chocolates. Expecting your guests to clean up seems a little unreasonable. If you wanted to host someone to your home, then you need to be prepared that it comes as a package deal. But most guests will offer to help in one way or another. The problem is most hosts decline the offer for help. So if your guests offer to help, accept it. I know I have some very delicate plates and glasses which belonged to my Mum and are precious to me. I either put those aside to handle them myself or I let them know. So far none of my guests have been offended when I tell them the significance of a glass or plate. I think we need to relax a little not put too much pressure on what’s right or wrong. As long as you’re sincere, I’m sure your guests will understand. If you have a question on a life or work transition, write to us at magazine@oneasiacoach.com and we will feature your questions and reply on this page.

â&#x20AC;ŚI specialise in Transitional Transformation Coaching for women in transition; to smoothen the transition period, to give clarity and equip you with skills to move effortlessly to the next phase. My coaching philosophy is to take you from being a blunt tool to the sharpest tool in the shedâ&#x20AC;Ś Rachpal Kaur Tulsi

+ Reigniting Personal Belief; Reclaiming lorem ipsumPersonal Power RachpalAddress] [Street Kaur Tulsi [City], [State][Postal Code] Consultant/Coach [Web Address] www.oneasiacoach.com