I can't I'm...

For three days I've been on an Eating Plan. Now I say eating plan and not diet because there is a difference. I'm focusing on healthy living and not deprivation. Actually all I'm doing is eating low carb (so lots of vege, fruit, seafood) and no bread, potatoes, rice etc and I'm exercising (gives me a wonderful high).

Everytime I'm offered something high carb I notice I usually start with "I can't I'm...and everyone finishes my sentence with "on a diet". NOT. It is an eating plan and I never feel hungry and I feel great and I've lost heaps of weight YAY.

Breakfast Abroad

A Wellington friend is moving house and was worried that she would be without a fridge/freezer in her new home for a few days. I assured her that I'd travelled the world with a backpack, a packet of corn flakes, milk powder and a wooden bowl given to me by a friend from the Philippino headhunter tribe near Sagada. International breakfast!

My Philippina friend, Norma lives in a small shack perched on a hillside surrounded by incredible rice paddy terraces ringed around high steep hills. Like footsteps for giants. We trooped up and down these terraces daily to vist family members in other villages. This was the 1980s and her grandfather still wore traditional garb - a loin cloth and feather headdress. They no longer headhunted I was told but the social structures remained. If someone was wronged they expected a favour (not a head).

I miss Norma.

Jet's Behaviour

Well, happy happy parent didn't last very long. I'm trying a weekend of 'The Incredible Years' Parenting philosophy (I'm taking the advanced course at the moment).

Jet is swearing a lot and unhappy. So lots of GOOD attention coming his way. We'll do lots of fun things together and at the end of the weekend I'll discuss his behaviour with him in a positive way.

I'll also tell him that if he is well behaved during the week(eg. no swearing, and gets ready for school in time)then I'll give him little treats in his lunch box.

I hope he will feel happy and secure after all this.

Wish me luck

P.S. I'll have to discuss with Tashi what he would like to do tooooo.

Green Brekky!

I visited my friend, Peter, to discuss making a recycled shop display. He lives next door to the Botanical Gardens in Wellington and has built himself a small cottage in the bush. As soon as I arrived he asked if I'd had breakfast (I hadn't) and asked me if I would like a green breakfast.

Nowadays 'green' can mean anything - eco-consumer, Green supporter, wind farm proponent, composting toilet enthusiast! But what Peter meant was a 'colour green from the garden' breakfast. Not green eggs and ham!

We walked through his lush veggie garden picking grass, carrot tops, celery, nasturtium flowers, lettuce, kawakawa leaves, and a few greens we weren't sure about! We washed it all, cut it and popped it in a big bowl with organic fruit and a sprinkling of oats.

YUM - that's what GREEN really means.

P.S. that's a photo of me, Jet, Bradley, and Daniel up in the tropical highlands above the Gold Coast, Australia.

Happy Happy Parenting!

I've had an epiphany with my son Jet (6). He has been diagnosed as ADHD but I'm not sure about that one. His behaviour would be classed as poor - low concentration, non-stop swearing, hitting, bullying etc. But in the last couple of days I've really changed my style of parenting and it has worked instantly. He is a new child. I'd like to share some of these changes:

It really starts with happiness. I'm happy and I'm laughing and I'm joking and I'm playing. This is me now. I'm a bit over the top but it's fun. Tashi (8) asked my why I was acting strangely and I just said that I'm going to be super happy from now on. AND I'm praising the boys all the time. I want them to know how wonderful they are and praise their good behaviour.

If there is any inappropriate behaviour or language from the boyz I say "we don't behave/talk like that here" and I walk away. I ignore bad behaviour.

I'm not angry, tired, grizzly, brow-beaten. If I feel angry I don't blow-up, I explain why I'm angry, and there may be time out but I don't lose my cool. At one stage I could feel myself losing it but I held it in (phew, I was proud of that one).

Simple tasks can become games, eg Jet is quite competitive so I time how long it takes to put his shoes on (previously he always refused to put his shoes on himself).

Now we're a team and we do more stuff together. Let's cook together, let's do a quizz together. And I'm modelling good behaviour. If I'm ignored I don't walk away I expect to be heard. We are communicating as a family. YAY

Alisa
www.purecurenz.com

Healing all around us...

It's school holidays and I'm entertainment director right now keeping the kids happy!

Last week I had a stall at the Over 50's Healthy Living Expo. Lots of people interested in our products and I made sure there was plenty of information about each remedy so people weren't just looking at a bottle and had not idea what it was.

One Maori women I spoke with told me an interesting story. She was visiting her Nana and noticed cobwebs around the house so started to remove them. Her grandmother stopped her immediately and said that she used the cobwebs as a remedy. She would roll them together and rub them on a cut or wound as a speed healing remedy!! Incredible. Another friend mentioned this was somehow connected to penicillin.

It did get me thinking that this was a potential research project - interviewing elderly Maori for their healing knowledge to hold for future generations.

I'm a bit behind schedule but have lots of Global Soap products to enter onto the site. Give me a week for this. Also Erin (website designer extraordinaire) is designing a newsletter layout for me so this should be going out next week.

www.purecurenz.com

Gamelan, Gold Coast and Boils...

The children and I have just got back from a week's holiday on the Gold Coast (Australia) with the extended whanau. The Gold Coast is very commercial for my taste but the warm weather was divine. At 7.30am every morning we jumped out of bed and into the pool. One week was not enough.

A few days before the trip I performed with Gamelan Padhang Moncar at Te Papa Museum and Joko, master shadow puppeter. It was very exciting because you never quite know what's going to happen next. I have to call my style of performance 'head down' though because I'm always so intent on my music notations that I hardly have a chance to look up!

In the last newsletter a friend commented on some 'not well thought out' positioning. I had featured Kawakawa cream which is great for skin conditions like boils. A line down from this was the recipe for Baba Ganoush. The mention of boils had put my friend off the Baba Ganoush! Hmmmm

http://www.purecurenz.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=25
Check out the Self Heal tonics and creams based on Suzanne Aubert 19th Century formulas. fortify your immune system, balance hormones, soothe mucous membranes and lots more.

GO GREEN!

Green is everywhere now but I'm joining the GREEN SMOOTHIE revolution. A really great way to eat lots of greens (less carbs) and very delicious because fruit is added for flavour. By Greens I mean DARK GREEN LEAFY VEGETABLES.

"Greens are the primary food group that match human nutritional needs most completely". (p.39)

Greens are high in fiber, Vitamin C, Folate, Vitamin E, Selenium, Sodium, Zinc, Magnesium and much more.

From: 'Green for Life', Victoria Boutenko

Blueberry Pudding:
Blend well -
1 stalk of celery
2 cups fresh blueberries
1 banana
2 cups water
Makes about 1 litre smoothie

10 Fingers:
Blend well -
10 finger bananas
2 handfuls of spinach leaves
2 cups water
Makes about 1 litre smoothie

Minty Thrill
Blen well -
4 ripe pears
4-5 leaves of kale
1/2 bunch of mint
2 cups water
Makes about 1 litre smoothie

GO GREEN!
www.purecurenz.com

SUN

We've had weeks and weeks of rain in Wellington. Great for the environment although not so good for the spirit. Now we have a gorgeous sunny day and all I feel like doing is sunbathing!

This weekend (9-10 August) the Women's Expo is on in the city. I'm going to check out Global Soaps and choose a range for the website with NZ plants/oceania in mind.

I'm really impressed with the Swedish Bitters Face Mask. I've used it as a mask and a wash in the mornings. It has this wonderfully natural feel and smell about it - quite muddy and very cleansing. I'm swerving a bit off track with this product because it does not contain NZ plants but I feel it is a great product and fills a gap in our range. It is not only a face mask - it is good for pimples on the face and body and can be made into a poultice for pressure ulcers.

Check it out: http://www.purecurenz.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=126

Cheers
Alisa

SWEDISH BITTERS

Time's flying. I've joined the ehow website and am writing articles on 'how to...'. The first article teaches a relaxation technique I learnt at acting school. It not only relaxes you but is a wonderful way to approach sleep if stress and anxiety are getting in the way.

I've just added Self Heal Swedish Bitters Facial Scrub to the site. This scrub is not only great for the face it can be made into a poultice for pressure sores - multitasking aye?! I've also added Self Heal Swedish Bitters Tonic too because it is a very popular remedy for assisting healthy immune and digestive systems and it also supports healthy kidney and hormonal function. Check out: www.purecurenz.com on the front page - New Releases for July.

BACK AT HQ

The school holidays have just finished - phew - and I'm back at work. Tashi and Jet had a wonderful holiday especially when we spent a few days at a farm in North Wairarapa. It was a very isolated place which added to the adventure. The farmers really showed the boys what life is like on the farm with rides on tracters, quad bikes and activities like mustering sheep and feeding chickens, pigs, and BULLS.

It was very cold at night and I'm glad my backpacking days are still fresh in my mind because I made sure we were prepared with warm sleeping bags, bush shirts, woolly hats, a torch, gumboots...

Back at Purecurenz HQ I'm marketing like crazy, packing and sending items and ordering in new ranges for the site. Watch out for the very funky and richly soothing Global soaps and naturally healing Trisha's ointments. As always I'm trying to focus on New Zealand plants but most ranges tend to mix native NZ with introduced plants. It's early days yet really because there is very little commercialism of NZ plants and many are wild-collected for the remedies and skincare. And that's great really because you know they are truly natural and Regenerate are totally 100% certified organic.

TRANSITION TOWNS

Climate change and peak oil - the world is changing and we have to change with it. I have joined up with the Transition Towns movement (started in the UK by Rob Hopkins). This is a ground-up community initiated change towards sustainable lives.

My first steps are walking the boys to and from school or catch the local bus. We need to stop relying so much on the car. We will be planting a big vege garden soon. Watch this space!

http://transitiontowns.org/Main/HomePage

"for all those aspects of life that this community needs in order to sustain itself and thrive, how do we significantly increase resilience (to mitigate the effects of Peak Oil) and drastically reduce carbon emissions (to mitigate the effects of Climate Change)?"

PUHA Sonchus oleraceus Sow Thistle

Did you know? Maori chewed gum from the milky sap of the Puha root. Pre-European Maori had very low levels of cancer.

Puha is something of a voyaging plant. The Puha plant (Sonchus oleraceus) that is eaten today as a strong, nutrient-rich green, and utilized as a healing medicinal herb is not actually a native of New Zealand. This Puha is common in Europe and possibly arrived in New Zealand more than 1,000 years ago with Maori in the great migration of waka (canoes) and important chiefs and whanau (family). Native New Zealand Puha is actually Sonchus Kirkii.

Traditionally Puha is a prized food for Maori and it was a surprise to discover it in Europe. This discovery occurred during World War II when a Major from the 28^th Maori Battalion, stationed in Greece, noticed local farmers collecting Puha from their fields. The farmers explained that the plant was an important vegetable for them. Soon Maori 5^th Brigade transport drivers, on their way to Olympus, were purchasing their precious supplies of Puha from the Greek farmers.

Puha (sow thistle) like so many of New Zealand’s medicinal plants has a multitude of therapeutic uses:

· An infusion of the plant can encourage menstruation, and treat diarrhea

· A tonic produced from infusing the leaves and roots can reduce fever

· The stem juice may be taken for constipation

· Puha tonic is also useful as a blood purifier and to treat haemorrhages

· Puha cream treats boils and abscesses on the skin

This is one plant that can be bought at shops and markets and is often growing in our gardens. A few years ago researchers from both Auckland and Otago Universities found that Puha has three times the antioxidant level of blueberries. High-antioxidant foods fight cancer - so that’s a very good reason to plant a few puha in the garden.

HOROPITO - NATURALLY ANTI-FUNGAL

The New Zealand native plant Horopito (Pseudowintera colorata) Pepper Tree possesses anti-fungal properties that are today well-documented by scientific research. The main biologically active chemical constituent of Horopito is the sesquiterpene dialdehyde polygodial 1. This Polygodial has been shown to exhibit fungicidal activity against yeasts and filamentous fungi by damaging the membrane of the fungal cell walls. Horopito is most well known for its action against Candida albicans.

With their great knowledge of New Zealand's native flora Maori traditionally utilised the leaves of Horopito to treat skin problems, skin diseases and oral thrush. The leaves were bruised and steeped in water and this lotion was used on ringworm, wounds, chaffed skin, and even venereal disease. A Horopito decoction was created for sick babies. The leaves were steeped in water and this juice was given to babies to treat Candida alibicans (oral thrush) which was a major cause of infant mortality at that time.

Early European settlers named Horopito the Bushman's Pain Killer and chewed the leaves and seeped them for tea to treat diarrhoea and stomach illnesses. In the 19th Century the French Nun, Mother Suzanne Aubert lived with Maori by the Wanganui River and studied Maori herbal knowledge. She cared for orphans and unwed mothers and supported them with the sale of her natural remedies based on Maori herbal lore. She believed that Horopito was a stronger remedy than Quinine (Quinquina) for chronic stomach illnesses although Quinine was the treatment of the day. Her remedy, Karana, contained Horopito and was successfully used throughout New Zealand in the 19th Century.

Today the Herbal Bush Company, Self Heal, reproduce Karana as a natural remedy for stomach upsets and for those with allergies who are susceptible to sprays and environmental toxins.

This is the link to Karana: http://www.purecurenz.com/
catalog/product_info.php?cPath=25&products_id=51

1. McCallion RF, Cole AL, Walker JR, Blunt JW, Munro MH. Antibiotic substances from New Zealand plants, II: Polygodial, an anti-Candida agent from Pseudowintera colorata. Planta Medica 1982;44:134-38.

EXERCISE AWAY THAT DEPRESSION

SELF HEAL BUSH BITTERS has so many healing qualities. It is particularly useful for depression. We recommend you see a doctor for depression first but there is something else you can do too – exercise.

Depression is more common nowadays than ever – the stresses and anxieties of modern life take their toll on our emotional health. We work long hours, we have huge mortgages, we multi-task, and society pressures us to earn more and spend more. It all encourages feelings of helplessness and depression.

Depression can suck all of your energy, make you feel tired and with a feeling of being stuck in a deep, dark hole.

Exercise is wonderful antidote for depression. It can distract your worried thoughts and lift your spirits. Exercise improves emotional and physical health, and so increases feelings of self-esteem. Any form of exercising could help you eliminate stress and frustrations, and you are more likely to have a good nights sleep.

Set easily achievable goals to start with, for example, get out of bed, get dressed, go outside and walk around the block. Add a bit more each day. If you can build this up to exercising three times a day then you are getting outside and getting air and sunshine throughout the day. Do the type of exercise you enjoy – weights, jogging, yoga, biking, etc. And exercise with others to increase your social interactions and shared experiences.

www.purecurenz.com

HARAKEKE PHORIUM TENAX

New Zealand’s answer to Aloe Vera!

New Zealand Flax is a lowland swamp dweller but is also found throughout New Zealand bush and gardens. For Maori Tohunga (healers) Harakeke has many physical and spiritual healing uses. The leaves of the plant are so strong that they were used traditionally for binding broken bones.

Each part of the plant has a specific purpose – the leaves and roots can be beaten into a poultice, roasted and applied to abscesses in order to draw the toxins to the surface. The gum is a powerful agent and was used to treat burns, scalds, sunburn, and wounds. It was also pushed into holes in molars to treat toothache and applied to the skin to treat ringworm.

Harakeke has an important spiritual role in Maori healing. TheTohunga used the leaves to determine the health of the patient in a very unique way - if the leaf made a screeching sound as it was pulled from the flax clump this signified that the patient would recover.

To check out our popular Self Heal Harakeke Cream for wounds/bites/cuts/rashes that are hard to heal -

http://www.purecurenz.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=34&products_id=60

AID TO BURMA / MYANMAR

The devastating cyclone, Nargis, has destroyed towns, villages, lives in the Irawaddy Delta area of Burma. If you would like to donate money to the Burmese people visit the Red Cross websites:

www.redcross.org.nz
www.redcross.org.uk
www.redcross.org

The dictator generals aren't doing anything to help the people. They have a huge army but it has only been trained to kill.

The Burmese need our help.

GIVE NOW.

QUICK SUSTAINABLE IDEAS

1. Collect your shower water in a fabric collapsible bucket and use the water for the garden. Don't let bathwater go down the plughole. Use a bucket and water the garden - good weight-training exercise too!

2. Don't line the bin with a plastic bag - use newspaper.

3. Don't use plastic bags at the supermarkets - cloth reusable bags only

4. Have long curtains at every window (thermal) - on curtain rail attach a long board so there is no gap above the rail.

5. When you need to travel - run, cycle, walk, bus, train, donkey. Avoid the car.

Rongoa Weekend in Taranaki

I have just spent an amazing 2 days at Te Aroha Marae by the foot of Mount Taranaki. I met Tohunga Olive who is an inspiring and highly respected Kuia. She taught us many aspects of Maori healing like meditation and Romiromi (massage). We were a group of all ages, young and old. I met Maori health practitioners and teachers from all over New Zealand and we talked, ate delicious food, relaxed and massaged.

It was a spiritually enriching weekend and I look forward to visiting Kuia Olive at her home, school and clinic for Traditional maori Rongoa in Nukumaru, South Taranaki.