Hasn’t the flu season been dreadful this year!  Just about every family I know has had some or all of it’s members affected – even hospitalised.

We were no exception. For weeks now we’ve been trying to keep our bugs to ourselves, taking care of each other and trying to eat as absolutely well as we can, making lovely soothing brews from the garden too.

Sorry for the silence! I’ve really missed writing and filming, but I had absolutely no energy to sit up, read or focus on an idea. I typically write in the evening. Only now, after 4 weeks, do I feel renewed energy. I no longer feel like I have lead boots walking up my garden path, and I have no desire to lay down on the couch again for a long time!  I can think again, and this weekend I am back to running workshops on the weekends.

I am so excited to feel finally well again. It really is so easy to take your health for granted. This period of illness has made us even more conscious of what goes in the mouths of my family. I thought our diet was really good – well balanced, fresh and local, but over these past few weeks I’ve been on an accidental detox – no gluten, no dairy, no chocolate, no caffeine (yes, I did love my coffee and dark choc!).  I’ve been wanting to do this for a while, but hadn’t managed to find the time.

While I was really ill, the thought of everything but ginger tea made me feel sick. Going off coffee added to my pain. I’m sure it’s what gave me migraines for days. It was hard to tell what was the flu and what was the detox. Either way, I’m glad I did it simultaneously. I was feeling so rotten anyway.

After the second week, all my body craved was freshly squeezed juices, simple vegetable soups, plain steamed vegetables,  raw undressed salad, fresh raw macadamias and herb infusions. Even though I couldn’t tend my garden, the plants provided a diversity of fresh healing food. Now I am feeling better, I’ve committed to stick to this simple diet because I feel so good. I even managed to go out and do some more planting today – eggplants, capsicum, open hearted lettuces, cucumber, more flowers and herbs.

Another great healer has been calm family time in nature, particularly around water – down at the river sitting on rocks with my feet dangling in the fresh cool water, at the lake on a little sailing boat, and on the bay watching whales families migrate south to Antarctica.

And finally, sleep, lots of sleep! I can’t ever remember sleeping so much in a month. I know that the flu hit me hard because I had allowed myself to get run down and exhausted. People tried to tell me, but I felt fine, so I kept going. Even though I live a simple life, I still try to cram as absolutely much into every day because I so love what I do and I have so many things I want to do. Never-the-less, it’s a good wake up call to remember to take better care of myself and energy.  Im not one to dwell on things, but a few times I thought I’d really blown it – adrenal fatigue or something like that. But each day, I am feeling a little bit more ‘normal’… and I’m feeling so enthused to get back into everything (with a little more sleep thrown in!).

Thank you garden, thank you water, thank you to my loving family and friends.

I hope you’ve been keeping well and taking good care of your health. I look forward connecting with you all again over the next weeks.