M ichelle Bridges Motherhood Into the Mix
ISSU E 2 O C TO B E R 2 01 5 PHOTOGRAPHY BY: Network Ten
www.blackdoginstitute.org.au
Contents
8. Editor's letter 10.
Michelle Bridges – Motherhood into the mix
12. Couchspiration
10
14.
The perks of pilates
16.
Natural sleep remedies that actually work!
20.
Getting your skin make-up ready
25. Frightened of letting go? How traditional chinese medicine makes for emotional flow 30.
My MS memoir
34. We need a new brain for our future 38.
The future of personalised medicine is here
40.
That imperceptible invader
42.
Dance with your emotions
46. Wear flowers on your face
30 50
49.
Get worthy
50.
Five life lessons from a hula hoop
53.
Find your vocal cords
54.
9 top tips to enhance your love life
56.
Talking about stress
58.
Grief: a personal journey
62.
Detoxing, why not?
64.
Reap the benefits of spending time alone!
66.
Confessions of an emotional eater
68.
How I learnt to ‘work IN’ not ‘work OUT’
70.
Is feminism out-dated?
72.
I am woman.
74.
It’s your thinking not your drinking that is the problem!
76.
Should you have flawless skin?
78. Conscious awareness – A healthy way to deal with stress and anxiety 80. We all need a tribe! 82. Why we women have the last laugh 84.
The natural power of the world’s oldest healthcare
86.
The business of food & success
88. Wiser woman – must know gems
62 98
92.
Mind & body accountability in five steps
94.
Healing the scars of emotional abuse
96.
Tips to combat postnatal depression
98.
Top ten bare necessities for ALL women
101.
Getting your body baby ready
102.
Getting inside insomnia
105.
Age proof yourself
106.
How to create 'me time' moments
108.
Say goodbye to PMS in five steps!
110.
Are you food-wrecked?
112.
You radiate natural beauty
114.
Change: It starts with you
117.
Aerial yoga – do you dare?
118.
The dirt on eating clean
120.
The essence of being a woman
122.
Going au naturel
124.
Let 's get physical
126.
Delicious nourishment
128.
Digital detoxing
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Catherine Plano catherine@iamwomanproject.com.au DEPUTY EDITOR Gianna Lucas gianna@iamwomanproject.com.au CREATIVE DIRECTOR Kym Beaton kym@iamwomanproject.com.au GENERAL ENQUIRIES info@iamwomanmagazine.com.au ADVERTISING & MARKETING advertising@iamwomanmagazine.com.au OUR FABULOUS CONTRIBUTORS Alexandria Page-Robertson Angela Jackson Brenda Chan Carol Parr Catherine Plano Connie Trowbridge Constantina Kottaridis Danni Simpson Diana Saltoun Goltsman Dianne Yoong Donna Sparx Dr. Janet Hall Dr. Jenny Brockis Dr. Marny Lishman Dr. Olga Lavalle Emily Cope Emily Drew Emma Sternberg Fiona McArthur Georgia Foster Geraldine Phua Jan Henderson Jessica Talbot Jo Formosa Karen Chaston
Karen Synnott Kathy Ashton Kemi Nekvapil Kiran Ram Leann Middlemass Meg Thompson Melanie McGrice Michelle Bridges Michelle Powell Michelle Sanchez Mukti Naomi Arnold Nicole Larson Nikki Fogden-Moore Rachael Archer Renae Bressi Sally Thibault Samantha Sargent Sammi Lucas Shirley Mcilvenny Sita Huber Sophie LeFevre Tiffany Mason Vanessa Gray Virginia Bain
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“In striving to maintain a
balanced wellbeing, we must focus our attention on all four of these fundamental components "
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Editor's Letter
CATHERINE PLANO
H
ealth, fitness and nutrition – there’s information around every corner. It’s absolutely fantastic that we all have the opportunity to become more educated about what’s good for us, and what’s not. But for me, the idea of wellbeing goes a little further. I like to think of wellbeing as wholeness. Why? Because there are four pillars of wellness that we need to look at from a holistic point of view: Our spiritual, mental, emotional and physical energies. These energies are all connected and have a direct influence on our overall wellbeing. This is the mind and body connection. In striving to maintain a balanced wellbeing, we must focus our attention on all four of these fundamental components, because one directly impacts or improves the other. The energy in our body directly influences how we feel, think and act. Spiritual Wellness is made up of personal beliefs, moral values and behaviours that transcend a sense of oneness with the universe. Spiritual wellness entails having a firm belief in a higher power – something larger than our human existence. It also espouses having a strong purpose in life and gives compassion to others who are seeking harmony, all whilst balancing our energies with the rest of the world. People attend to their spiritual wellness in different ways: meditating, praying or practicing mindfulness. Whatever you choose, make sure that you make time regularly to pause and just ‘be’. Celebrate you and your energy – your genuine self. Mental Wellness is the ability to process information and perceive reality in an accurate manner. Mental wellness is all about the strength and fitness of our coping resources as well as our ability to manage and control habitual thought patterns. Most of us are mentally active most of the time. In caring for our mental wellness, it’s appropriate that we learn to slow the mind down enough to be purposeful in our approach, to integrate the mind and body, allowing ourselves the opportunity to create mindfulness as we live our lives. Positive psychology is about measuring your happiness of your wellbeing. Mental wellness is about acknowledging your problems, but breaking down negative thoughts so they’re manageable and realistic. It’s about being creative, experimental and open minded, having a sense of curiosity and giving thoughts a different meaning to create the type of life you want to live. Emotional Wellness is being aware of your feelings, emotions, attitudes and behaviours, particularly our habitual emotional patterns which quite often are an experience from our past or childhood. When we are aware of our emotions and have the emotional strength to express them in an appropriate way, we can manage them and learn from them. Emotions should not be suppressed or ignored; they expose themselves for a reason. When they arise, we need to embrace them and dance with them! I am very passionate about emotions and I’ve written an
article in this issue, which examines why we feel how we feel and why we do the things we do. This is important groundwork for improving our emotional wellbeing. Physical wellness Is the body our temple? Yes it is. And we should treat it with the utmost respect. From the food we put into our mouths, to the amount of sleep we get every night, to the amount of time we engage in physical activity to help move stagnant energy around. Physical wellness is about feeling and looking good – connecting with and attuning to our subtle internal energies, which tell us at every moment of every day what the body wants and what it doesn’t. For example, deciding whether or not to eat high fat and low carb, paleo, vegan, naked, Mediterranean … the list goes on. We are all authentic, individual and original and we need to decide for ourselves. The simple way to do this is to tune into ourselves – our bodies soon tell us what’s right for us and what’s not. Over the past four decades we have been bombarded with an artillery of different messages around our health – Doctors say one thing, science says something different. More and more people are questioning this kind of ‘advice’ because it’s both conflicting and confusing. And while information results in education, how your body responds to what you’re doing should be the real decider. I believe that our individual health is as unique as our own DNA, so when it comes to our spiritual, mental, emotional and physical health, inevitably we will all need to do something different to achieve optimal health and performance. We need to set our own goals and make our own choices. And, because our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing are all connected, by doing work with one, we soon see noticeable results in the others too. Physical work, like exercise or yoga improves mood. Counselling exercises to help understand emotional responses trigger wellness in spiritual and mental health. Since these facets make up a large part of who we are, improvements in these areas will be translated into improvements in our work life, our home life, our relationships and our overall contentment and success in life. The aim of this issue is to inform and kick start your thinking and to open up some dialogue with friends and professionals and – perhaps most importantly – yourself, so that you can continue to explore ideas and possibilities for your own journey and start putting them into practice. Here’s to happy wellbeing! With love, Catherine x [IAW]
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Michelle
INTERVIEW BY: CATHERINE PLANO PHOTOGRAPHY BY: NETWORK TEN
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Michelle Bridges is more than just a bundle of energy. She juggles roles as a fitness entrepreneur, company owner/director (of not one but in fact two businesses!), as well as filming for the current season of TEN’s Biggest Loser! Yet she still finds the time to enjoy a fulfilling personal life. When you thought that was all, she will soon be adding motherhood into the mix! So, we’re calling her a dynamo!
Bridges
r e b m e m a s t e i f m e o n c e b Be e h t p a e r d an . y a d to
Motherhood into the mix IAW: Michelle, how do you manage to keep it all going? What’s your secret?
MB: Wow, that's a big question and the reality is that it doesn't boil down to one thing (there's definitely no secret!). Some days you keep going out of necessity. Other times you're able to push yourself just a little harder because people are relying on you. And then there are those days when you need three coffees just to get to the office!! I'm certainly no super woman, but most of the time I am able to keep going because I'm fortunate enough to do something that I truly love, with so much of my inspiration and energy coming from the people I am able to help. I also have a really great team around me and I don't have too many sick days because I maintain my health and fitness, both in the mind and body (people really underestimate the importance of having a healthy mindset and the amount of work it takes to maintain it). IAW: You have been blessed with an amazing career. As you grew your brand, how did you conquer and grow from unforeseen obstacles? What has been your greatest lesson learned?
The greatest lesson I have gained out of all of this (and I'm hoping I'm not the only one saying this), but being a small business owner, I grew through trial and error. So don't be afraid of failure or to really grab an opportunity by the horns because it might only come once – being brave enough to fail and having the smarts to learn from it is how you grow the most. This is how muscle growth works too... they need to tear and repair to get bigger and stronger. IAW: Who has been your greatest influence and why? MB: I'm influenced by all sorts of people, it just depends on what hat I'm wearing at the time and I think this is important because it’s healthy to have different types of people in your life with different perspectives. Of course, friends, family and my partner top the list. IAW: What advice would you give to your younger self? MB: That it's okay to not be perfect straight up. The best that anyone can do is work on being a little bit better than yesterday. In hindsight, this is really what has driven my own journey and wins in life, the commitment towards making small positive changes everyday. [IAW]
Join us
MB: You know what? I do feel really blessed, especially because I get to do what I'm passionate about, but please don't think my career happened by accident or overnight. It’s taken over two decades and in the early years, I was working 7 days a week with 4am starts! About ten years ago was when my business really started to grow wings and I'm certainly no expert, but I had to learn quickly about things like contracts, distribution chains, manufacturing processes and so much more… and absolutely, none of it was perfect the first time!
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