Calm your vata with this delicious recipe from Eat Right for Your Shape.

If vata is your dominant dosha, this Ayurvedic brown rice nori is a deliciously filling and nutrient dense vegetarian meal. Vata is governed by the element of air, which means you'll likely be the kind of person who's always on the go, with a tendency to skip meals or eat irregularly due to your flighty, quirky and impulsive personality. 

Whipping up these nori rolls and packing them for lunch will bring you grounding and nourishment when you're on the go, or busy flitting from task to task.

Conventional sushi that's made on sweet white rice can cause blood sugar chaos for many, so this version favours the wholesome goodness of brown rice, combined with fermented soy in the form of tempeh and tamari and a seed component with the addition of tahini. 

A cute combination of different plant based ingredients creates a more complete protein that'll keep you fuller for longer and ensure a slower, steadier uptake of the carbohydrates in brown rice. 

Containing the sweet (madhura) tastes of ghee, carrots and rice, this dish will provide energy while also grounding vata's nervous and stressed energy. 

The salty (lavana) nature of the tamari and seaweed will also stimulate digestion in vata; bringing some much needed warmth to the body and will help the organs and tissues achieve optimum hydration. 

The addition of cucumber is also a beautifully hydrating ingredient that will add some water to vata's airy and dry emphasis.

Vata's aren't the only ones who can enjoy this meal, and with a few little switches it can be made tailored to your dosha. If you're kapha dominant; you are governed by the elements of water and earth, with a tendency towards weight gain, sluggishness and oily skin. 

For this reason you should omit the avocado and carrot which will aggravate you due to an excess of oil and sweetness.

 If you're a pitta- fiery and hot with robust digestion and an athletic strong build; you should switch the brown rice for quinoa to avoid a fast spike in energy and to achieve more mellowing.

Ingredients:

Makes 4 

• 60 ml (2 fl oz/¼ cup) wheat-free tamari, plus extra to serve
• 1 teaspoon lime juice
• 1 teaspoon ghee, melted
• 65 g (2¼ oz/¼ cup) tahini
• 100 g (3½ oz) tempeh
• 370 g (13 oz/2 cups) cooked brown rice
• 4 nori sheets
• ½ avocado, sliced
• 1 Lebanese (short) cucumber, sliced lengthways into eighths
• ½ carrot, sliced lengthways into thin sticks
• 2 spring onions (scallions), halved lengthways

Method

• Combine the tamari, lime juice, ghee and 1 tablespoon of the tahini in a bowl. Add the tempeh and set aside to marinate for 10 minutes. 
• Remove the tempeh from the marinade. Heat a dry frying pan over medium heat and pan-fry the tempeh until golden
  on both sides. Cut into thin strips and set aside.
• Combine the rice with the remaining tahini. Lay a nori sheet shiny side down on the bench. With wet hands, take a quarter of the rice and press it evenly over the nori sheet, leaving a 3 cm (1¼ inch) border along the top side. Lay a quarter of the tempeh, avocado, cucumber, carrot and spring onion on top. Moisten the top edge of the nori with water and roll up securely. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
• Cut each roll into four pieces and serve with extra tamari.

Looking at your gut health is by far the best way to nudge off a few excess kilos naturally. Click on the video above to learn more.

If you haven’t already tried it or seen it in stores, my Love Your Gut powder, which is all natural and made from naturopathic grade, organic and fresh water diatomaceous earth is the perfect antidote to weight creep and shaking off those extra kilos.

This all natural food grade ingredient will give your gut that little daily spring clean it craves, particularly after a long-winded eating splurge.

It’s not just our cupboards that need a bit of tender loving care, our hard working colons do too!

Diatomaceous earth is the superfine fossilised remains of fresh water diatoms, a natural type of hard-shelled algae. For hundreds of years our ancient ancestors recognised algae as an incredible food source, holding magnificent health benefits. But for some reason it has taken us a long time to reap those benefits.

The wonders of algae lie in the silicon makeup. Silica provides an abundance of health benefits, from boosting hair growth, to easing skin problems such as redness, acne and eczema. Slowing down the degenerative break down of connective tissue, to increasing calcium deposits to bone.

Getting sufficient amounts of this super mineral is essential. However, it’s not all in the mineral composition, diatomaceous earth holds many other benefits as it’s anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-any nasties in the form of parasites. It helps with increased nutrient absorption, better immunity and improved waste removal.


Due to the texture of this natural sediment, it very gently exfoliates the intestine wall, sweeping away all impurities that sit in your gut.

These unwanted toxins block our bodies from absorbing vital nutrients, and therefore decreasing our general well being, energy and happiness.

Once the junk has been removed from your trunk, you will nourish and glow from the inside out.  It’s easy to take and tasteless too without any additives. It's also suitable for vegans and is gluten and GMO free.

Simply add a tablespoon to water, juice or a smoothie twice a day before meals and scroll down for my favourite gut soothing smoothie.

Love Your Gut powder, can be purchased here. Or why not ry my anti-inflammatory blend Golden Gut Blend.

Being a Yoga instructor and a real believer in practicing yoga to improve health, yoga mats are a beloved tool of mine and one I like to use frequently in my weekly yoga teaching.

Cork Leaf Yoga mats are a new breed of mats and made from all natural resources; cork-backed with natural tree rubber and are 100% biodegradable. Eco, self-cleaning, biodegradable, non-slip, and natural, they are all the things you want a yoga mat to be; soft yet supportive and offering a whole host of wonderful attributes. 

The beautiful eco-friendly mat is made entirely from 100% natural cork, and constructed from natural Cork tree means that Cork Leaf mats naturally disinfect. Cork kills all bacteria growing on it, as well as mold, leaving your yoga mat smelling sweet and fragrant after every session of yoga.

Being a member of Carbon Neutral Plant-A-Tree Initiative shows how dedicated and committed Cork Leaf are to giving back and being as environmentally sustainable as possible.

This is a real bonus for me, as I love using equipment that is naturally sourced and working with manufacturers who are doing their bit with our precious planet preservation in mind.  

Although you may be sceptical about the comfort of a cork mat, as soon as you step on the mat, you can feel the slightly spongy support beneath your toes.

Boasting a robust organic build with heavenly comfort, you can feel that this yoga mat is meant to last and will. 

Step forth with the knowledge that you’re helping mother earth whilst you practice and that CORK LEAF is an initiative to help minimise the negative ecological impact of yoga in Australia.

Cork Leaf mats are a great go-to mat to cover all of your natural bases. 

Click here to find out more about a new way of moving. 

The Happy Life is a captivating and easy to navigate book which is in part a mixture of fun and healthy recipes as well as a sweet guide to whole wellness.

Featuring simple, healthy recipes and nutritious meal ideals that contain relaxed ingredients, it’s refreshing to discover a healthy cook book that is devoid of too many strict guidelines.

Although this book oozes Lola’s unique laid-back holistic approach, it's obvious to the reader that she really knows her stuff when it comes to nutrition.

The beautifully crafted recipes are wholesome, cute and scrumptious and the book features stunning photography that captures a sense of wonderment at every turn of the page. 

Not only does Lola demonstrate her health food nerdiness, she also illustrates her desire to strive at the ultimate goal; happiness. Talking through nourishment, mind, body, soul, friendship, intimacy, career and travel you can feel how personable and down-to-earth Lola is in this personal feel good book.

I like her unique approach to creating recipes that not only light up the page, like her gorgeous Salted Caramel and Cinnamon Macadamias, ideal for any movie night, but also the fact that her recipes are super tasty and adaptable for many different food tastes.

For more information about The Happy Life visit here.

It never ceases to amaze me that kids as young as one have an instinctive attraction for junk food. Chocolate. Fries. Cake. Cookies. They just know.  Once they've been exposed to these kinds of foods, they'll often talk about it and ask for them again, and again, and again. Rather than neglecting children of these treats, I like to take up the challenge of offering them these 'naughtier' foods; but better. Better ingredients, and better flavour. 

Pizza is one of the foods that kids just adore- a big, easy to grasp triangle of starchy carbohydrate covered in fatty melted cheese? It's a kids dream, and speaks to their biological instincts for macronutrient dense foods. This is why kids are so obsessed with toast! It’s a quick source of energy that tastes great. 

Unfortunately most pizzas that kids are exposed to at parties or any standard gathering in western culture has possibly come out of a cardboard box housed in the frozen food section of the supermarket. Have you read the ingredients lists on those things? It's like reading a lab report, not a list of foods. 

Another problem with the standard pizza offered to children and adults alike in our modern food culture is the problem of the wheat source. Aside from the fact that many kids have allergies and intolerances to wheat; the modern wheat grain that around ninety percent of the western population eats today was only hybridized in the last few decades.  (more…)