Healthy Holistic Homesteading for The Visionary Woman by Gina Lazenby

You have a vision. For the world. For your life. For your self.

It’s important to have this as it pulls you forward every day. This vision informs all your decisions and plans. It makes your life worthwhile. It is the very inspiration that powers you through each day.

And along the way, as the world changes, your ideas change and the your vision may adjust too. But whatever is going on in this crazy world, you are living a purpose-filled life and feeling that what you are doing is making a difference. And if that is not the case, then I am sure that is an aspiration for you…. to feel that you are contributing to the greater good and shining your light in the world.

That has always been the undercurrent of my life. Moving forward, taking on tasks and roles that make a difference in other people’s lives…. sharing what I know that can be of service.

And as much as I want to get out there and shine and do meaningful actions … I have to remember to take care of myself. So I can sometimes have this perverse pull between being selfless and doing what is important for the greater good, and having to step back and selfishly taking care of me.

Have you ever found yourself in that place of deep commitment to a cause or venture that you know is making a difference, then finding that somewhere along the way you got out of balance, a bit lost … maybe even burned out?

I have been there a few times. I can remember the stress meltdown of studying for school final exams with no mentor support but the big shift happened for me about 30 years ago when the only place I could be to have support for managing my stress overload was hospital. That crisis was also a hidden gift of transformation as I returned to work a different person with an appetite for spiritual and personal growth. Life was never the same again and each year since I have acquired more and more tools to help me manage the balance between self-realisation and self-protection.

At the core of my own process of self care is the art of coming home. I am filled with visions for how the world needs to change and for what might be possible .. and what my role could be in contributing to a new world order. And what I realised long ago is that, none of it is possible without my foundation of home being absolutely secure and well-ordered.

As I advance through my years, the role of my home becomes more central to my life and endeavours. There was a time, long ago, when home was somewhere I dashed out of every morning then commuted back to at the end of a long, hard day, perhaps with a take-away dinner in my hand. That was a time when all of my energy went into my work and none of it went into my home life. Crazy. Unbalanced .. and of course, that is how I ended up in hospital.

So now, the ratios of work and home are very different and yes .. sometimes they get out of balance, but not for long. Home is central to my life and the foundation on which my work is made possible. In the future, I see home as being even more important than it is now …. for everyone. The global pandemic showed us that most work that happened in offices can happen at home and children can be schooled there. Spare bedrooms were re-purposed as were dining rooms but in the future, we might need to look at how we design homes around our flexible, multi-faceted lives rather than squeezing those lives into the boxes that were designed decades ago.

The older I get the more I recognise and value the need to nourish myself. And with care responsibilities for a vulnerable friend and elderly parents, I have daily reminders of the toll stress can take and how the aging process can rob me of a good later life.

Self-nourishment is key to any success in your work and life.

Here are some of the ways that I nourish my mind, body and soul.

Calm mind, calm life: Mindful practices and deep breathing help keep stress at bay. I arrange spaces during the day, between busyness, which are just for me. Garden time, looking out the window, reading a good book …….. they all take me out of my production schedule mindset.

Positive thoughts: I have small signs around the house with words that give me a nudge when I forget. I coach myself on the power of slowness having been a speed merchant for most of my life. My favourite sign is ENJOY EVERY MOMENT. I have three of them in different rooms!

The Kitchen is my headquarters of nourishment: I plan my food seasonally so my meals change at least every quarter. During the summer and late summer energy month of September, I enjoy the bounty of fruit and cooler meals. Now I’m getting ready for autumnal menus that will feature more root vegetables and pumpkin soups and stews. I have created space in my kitchen for more storage of dried herbs, herbal tinctures and mushrooms, especially those that provide powerful nutrition to my brain (like Reishi, Chaga and Lions Mane). I use them in everything.

Nutrient-rich: I plan my menus ahead so that I don’t get caught out having to rustle up last-minute meals. Bone broth has become a staple in my kitchen and virtually every day I use a broth made from organic chicken, wild fish, beef or pork to make breakfast porridge also to cook veg, make soups and casseroles. Fermenting is part of my kitchen routine so there is always space for foods like kimchi, kefir and sourdough that are growing and in the process of transformation (it’s actually quite a good metaphor).

Herbs: I’ve been studying the power of herbs and plant medicine, and use them extensively in teas and cooking. My rose garden is now part flower beds, part wild pasture, with space created for fruit tree grove and vegetable patch by the removal of a concrete path. In fact, I have researched the medicinal potential of the weeds that grow so prolifically in my garden and instead of pulling them out, I make them into teas and broths.

Powerful and deep sleep: there was once a time when I would catch up on the day’s tasks that were left undone in the evening. That exposes me to extra electrical energy and light which diminishes the melatonin levels that regulate my sleep. When the day is done, it’s done and my evenings at home are about winding down, going to bed earlier, ending the day with meditation, drinking calming herbs (chamomile and chrysanthemum flower), slipping on my eye mask and dropping into as long a sleep as I can. My magnetic mattress pad and comforter with far infrared light reflecting fibres add to nourishment overnight and support my body’s healing capacities.

Daily compass: I keep myself moving in the right direction with a daily assessment, in both the evening and morning, of what I have to do to keep in the direction of moving toward my goals. A self-assessment of the priorities that I can manage to handle is key. How do I allocate my resources of energy and time to cover all my responsibilities?

All work and no play make Jill a dull girl!: Never mind Jack being dulled by work, us girls have to carve out time that does not involve work responsibilities or home care.

Sometimes on a busy day I am tempted to postpone a lunch date with a friend then I counsel myself on the need for relaxation and I remind myself that I need my fun for my whole self-care.

Time for joy: even if you enjoy your work and totally love what you contribute to the world, you still need to create moments for joy. Find a place, time and activity that allows you to leave all else behind and immerse yourself.

Recharge those batteries then come back to your routine renewed.

Gina Lazenby

Healthy Living Activist, Feng Shui Expert

Gina’s beautiful hilltop home in the Yorkshire Dales, featured on many TV programmes and the inspiration for her Healthy Home book, is now let as a retreat house to facilitators of yoga, transformation work and wellness. It’s also a special place to hire for family gatherings and celebrations.

She has always understood the management and care of a home as a highly feminine skill set. Her work in the last twenty years has been in the exploration of the changing nature of gender roles and the value of home-making in our lives. Her feng shui skill set enabled her to teach hundreds of students the value of aligning your home for success and wellness. She has also produced and presented a radio series called ‘The Rise of the Feminine’ exploring the shift in values in the world and the unique contribution of women.

Gina is a veteran conference speaker and has led gatherings for women entrepreneurs all over the globe. Most recently, she has taken on the role of global host for Conscious Café, a consciousness-raising initiative, and hosts the northern community group based in Skipton. Gina is a born organiser and has created thousands of events since she was a small child and led birthday parties for her reluctant toddler brother. You can join her online or in-person at one of the many gatherings she creates around her passions of conscious conversation, feminine leadership, wholefood cooking, Feng Shui, living well and wisdom. Her Healthy Home podcast is about to be launched from the Retreat House with tips for making your home the foundation of your abundance and health.

Gina has spent most of her life at the leading edge of new ideas. She started out in the world of hospitality and her groundbreaking work in tourism marketing was recognised with a number of industry awards. Responding to her own life crisis took Gina into the emerging human potential movement and in the early 1990s, she again broke new ground by launching London’s first centre for personal transformation.

Her passion for self-care and living well at home became the seed for her interest in feng shui and she was instrumental in creating the popularity of this eastern philosophy in the west. In 1995 she created the world’s first professional training program in feng shui going on to write three bestselling books.

Gina has circled back to her hospitality roots and now offers her home that inspired her books as the Healthy Home Retreat. The 750-year-old original property near Skipton in the Yorkshire Dales has been restored and extended according to the principles she expounds. She often leads programs there herself for women around the themes of wellness (personal nourishment) and wisdom (handling life transition). Watch the video and see how beautiful this venue could be for your own gathering or retreat in nature.