Wellness Women We Love: Jessica Ainscough – The Wellness Warrior

The world is simply abounding with amazing, wonderful women that are doing so much good! So from now on every Wednesday** I will be interviewing an amazing woman that is sending some serious good juju into our world… because goddamn they should be celebrated!

For anyone who has read this blog for a while you would be aware that there is one woman in particular who inspires my life…

Jessica Ainscough. The Wellness Warrior. Blogger. Health Coach Extraordinaire. Public Speaker. Author. #girlcrush.

She is a bonafide superstar in the health and wellness world and is doing a damn fine job at spreading the message that our bodies can heal themselves. Jess kicked cancers ass via natural therapies, positive psychology and basically just simplifying her life (less stress, getting back to nature).

She also changes my life on a daily basis through her Lifestyle Transformation Guide. I am part of her tribe and while I continue to work through her program I am constantly bolstered by encouraging emails from her, answers to my silly questions and an awesome community to boot. She gave me to tools to get myself healthy. She inspired me to take the step that found me on this path… going in a direction I am finally happy with.

Basically I am unbelievably honoured to have Jessica Ainscough as my inaugural Wellness Women We Love.

Bucket list item… tick.

Thank you for walking onto this virtual stage! Now if you were walking on-stage in real life what tune would you have playing as your theme song?

Dark Fantasy by Kanye West.

What motivated you to take the first step on your wellness journey?

A double kick up the butt from the universe! I was leading a lifestyle that was a tonne of fun, but not good for me in any way. I was working long hours, eating food that came from a microwave, and drinking like a fish four nights a week. When I was 22, my body gave me a huge ultimatum in the form of a terminal cancer diagnosis. With no conventional treatment options available, I had to radically change my lifestyle and commit 100% to healing myself.

What do you do every morning to set up your day for success?

I start my day with a walk up Mt Coolum or a walk by the beach, followed by oil pulling, dry body brushing, and meditation. I finish up my meditation with this mantra: ‘Always speak your truth, always follow your intuitive, always act with love and kindness.’ Then I pick an Angel card to find out what my angels want me to know for the day.

There are so many nutritional untruths floating around out there. What is your favourite myth to debunk?

That being healthy is boring and bland. It’s the most fun thing ever!! Those of us over here on the clean side feel like we’ve been let in on a big secret. I love seeing people’s faces when they taste the food that I eat on a daily basis. Most of the world has no idea about raw desserts, natural sweeteners, the fact that you can make milk and cheese from nuts, and that green smoothies taste incredible.

How do you handle your dietary non-negotiables when you are invited over/out for dinner?

Unless I’m going somewhere that will serve me organic food, I take my own. I pack an esky full of yummy home-made food so that I don’t feel deprived while I watch others eat. I even went to a Thai restaurant recently and took my own coconut curry. I just always call ahead first to make sure it’s okay.

If you had to cook one meal to impress a tough crowd of unhealthy eaters, what would it be?

I would probably make healthy Mexican – spiced beans, guacamole, cashew sour cream, homemade chilli sauce, lots of fresh salads and potatoes cooked in coconut oil and spices. Then for dessert, it would either be raw chocolate brownies or a raw avocado-lime cheesecake.

Do you have any natural products/alternative therapies that you cannot live without?

Coconut oil! I use it for everything – cooking, moisturising, hair mask, make-up remover, sunscreen …

How do you ‘zen-ify’ your home?

First, I make sure my home is always flooded with natural light and air. I have doors and windows open all day. I also have house plants displayed around the place to add to my air quality. I have so many Himalayan salt lamps in my home that the place glows orange at night. These guys neutralise positive ions by emitting negative ones, to create a healthier space (particularly good around electrical items). Plus, I have an oil diffuser going most of the day spitting out beautiful essential oils in scents like peppermint or lavender.

What is your favourite imperfection about yourself and why?

I’m very loud. People are always telling me to use my indoor voice, but I don’t have one. I’m not sure why I like this. It used to be embarrassing, but now I just think it’s funny.

What is one question that everyone should ask themselves?

Am I experiencing joy on a regular basis?

What is the most important decision you make to ensure you are a conscious consumer?

Always buy, eat, apply and clean with 100% natural and certified organic foods and products.

Pretend this is your mountain… what message do you shout to the world?

Be kind to yourself. Do what makes you happy. Eat real food. Drink green juice.

Find Jess

Website

Facebook

Twitter – @jessainscough

Instagram – @jessainscough

**Editors Note: I am aware it is Thursday but I had major technical issues yesterday. In future WWWL will be every Wednesday. Damn interwebs!

IWD 2013 – Wonderful Wellness Women!

Happy International Women’s Day! To tell you the truth I never really got on the whole IWD train… practically every day of the year is ‘Something Day’ and I just thought they were created willy nilly. But I looked into it and found out that IWD has actually been around since 1910, is on the agenda at the UN and is an official holiday in a whole range of countries (including Afghanistan which surprised me). So according to our trusty Wikipedia International Women’s Day is;

A celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women.
A celebration for women’s economic, political and social achievements.

That is something I can totally get on board with! And I’ve decided that in keeping with this blog I wanted to share with you 5 of my wellness heroes. When you have special women inspiring and motivating you they need to be shared…

My Mum

Having become a mum recently myself the love and respect I have for my mum transcended to a whole new level. Mind you, I was also hit with a massive pang of guilt (see years 16 through 21). Back to my mum though, she has been a career mum (and a damn good one at that) and has devoted her life to me and my brother.

Recently, she stepped right out of her comfort zone and embarked on a career of her own (a reasonably scary one involving needles!) and despite some jitters about getting back into the workforce is doing amazingly! She has also assured me for as long as I can remember that the only time I will ever see her running is if a mass murderer is on her tail. Which is why it is particularly impressive that she has recently purchased a treadmill and is training herself on it every morning. She has decided to take her health seriously and is making some major changes accordingly. My mum has always been impressive but seeing her face some pretty major fears has been ultra motivational as well as incredibly satisfying.

I am so proud of you Mother Goose!

Dads pretty awesome too but it isn’t International Man’s Day!
photo courtesy of White Tulip Photography

Jessica Ainscough: Wellness Warrior (Surprise, surprise)

Stuck record much? I can’t sing this girls praises enough. Jessica is a gorgeous young lady who survived a pretty grim cancer prognosis through a natural therapy that focuses on the unlimited potential of our bodies, and their abilities to heal themselves. Since this she has gone on to create The Wellness Warrior website (check it out here) which has achieved a cult like following from people around the world (including moi!).

She has also created the Lifestyle Transformation Guide (see that here) which I was lucky enough to win a scholarship to! This scholarship is slowly but surely leading me towards the life I have always wanted – where I am well, calm and following my dreams with a bit of self love thrown in there too! I will talk more about my journey on Monday… but imagine knowing that you are giving countless numbers of people the key to living life the way they were always meant to. That deserves a round of applause I reckon.

Photo courtesy of http://www.wellnesswarrior.com.au

P.s. If you are living in Sydney, Jessica is going on tour with Earth Events and will be speaking with 3 other amazing girls (Amanda Rootsey, Tara Bliss and Mellissa Ambrosini) on Self Love and Sisterhood. I am so jealous it’s not coming to the west coast but if you are in the position to go, get your ticket here! 

Vegan Sparkles

I dare you to read Bex blog without smiling… c’mon… just look at that face! Not only does she create absolutely delicious food but each post is full of health, happiness and (most importantly) sparkles. While some vegan sites can lean towards dogma, Miss Sparkles is a breath of fresh air who just inspires with her contagiously happy personality and her insanely delicious recipes. And the best is yet to come as she is currently studying at the Institute of Intergrative Nutrition. She also happens to now be a friend of mine and we are hoping to collaborate on some exciting projects this year.

You don’t have to be vegan (I’m not) to love Bex food! Some staples that now reside in my culinary repertoire include this AMAZING healthy, Mint Choc Chip Smoothie (see it here), the Good For Everything Tea (here) and this Quinoa and Mushroom Gravy Shepherds Pie (here). WOW. Must stop dribbling on the keyboard!

Tara Bliss: Such Different Skies

As a renowned (actually… maybe infamous) champagne guzzler, Tara is providing me so much inspiration to change my nasty habit. I have virtually conquered all the demons (sugar, grains, caffeine, dairy) but I still find myself very much craving my Friday night wine. Tara herself is a reformed party girl and she is trying to spread the word that has brought her so much peace. She motivates me with awesome blog posts that really drive home the fact that you don’t need alcohol to feel calm or have fun. And if you want to go further she has also created the aptly titled online program The Party Girl’s Guide To Peace.

She is also an awesome foodie who is very focused on raw and green too. Check out her awesome recipe that featured on The Wellness Warrior here (bit of cross-pollination never hurt anybody). If you want some sassy, spiritual vibes i really recommend giving this blog a read! (see Such Different Skies here).

Jodi Duval: Revital Health

Another Perth local! Jodi is a Naturopath with a list of qualifications as long as your arm included Natural Science, Hypnobirthing and even Colonic Hydro Therapy. She is also a raw chef and raw chocolate entrepreneur and is one of the four co-founders of Revital Health – a team of holistic health coaches. (You can read about all of them here).

Jodi (and the wider Revital team) have a Facebook page (here) which provides me constant inspiration for raw food and general health inspiration and is well worth a look if you are dipping your feet into the world of raw as I am! She also helps run affordable workshops like this upcoming event which i hope to attend (and give you all feedback afterwards). The world needs more people that are helping to inspire and guide them to be the healthiest versions of themselves.

Do you have any wonderful wellness women inspiring you?