Wednesday, June 23, 2010

There is nothing like a nice warm shower to let go of any stress and rejuvenate yourself and your spirits if you are having a shocker of a day. There is something about letting the water run all over you that helps to alleviate any stress you may be feeling, not to mention warming you from the inside out.

Enhance Your Mood with Essential Essence

And if you really want to boost your mood, sprinkle a few drops of your favourite essence in the shower (whichever mood you want to create).

Lavender, for example is great at the end of the day to relax, unwind and let go of the mind chatter, and get you ready for a restful night's sleep. In the morning if you want to feel energized or if you are going out for the night and want to boost your energy levels, choose an essence with zest. Lime or Lemongrass should do the trick. Essential essence like Eucalyptus is wonderful when you are trying to literally let go of any congestion you may be experiencing during cold and flu season.

So remember, sometimes when life or the moments in your day get all too stressful, take a break and give yourself a nice refreshing and invigorating shower! Works a treat for kids too!

Alison Nancye :)

Monday, June 7, 2010

My dad called me today to ask how my trip to New York went. Of course I replied... SENSATIONAL!!! It was the trip of a lifetime times 10 I say, UNBELIEVABLE, can't wait to go back... Now let's take this back a step. This is the dad I have only known for a whole seven years and I'm 40 today.. you do the math! (For those of you who don't know 'my story', have a squiz through some of my other blogs to find out more.

Anyway... it was a poignant moment for me. My dad rings me to find out about my recent travels and to tell me that I have inspired him to travel now too. Through me sharing my excitement and journey to have my recent New York adventure, I planted a seed of travel adventure with my dad. He's always wanted to travel to UK apparently, even Scotland and Ireland and Wales he'd love to see too. Oh yeah and to go to Paris for a few days, that would be the trip of a lifetime he tells me. My dad has never owned a passport. If I'm 40 and he's my dad, you do the math... that's a long time, a lifetime infact to never travel outside your own country. He's excited to say the least.

He told me. 'Alison you inspired me. You inspired me to take action on my dreams. I've always dreamed of traveling to UK just never got there. But I went out and bought a whole lot of maps, huge maps to cover the entire loungeroom floor and I just spent the weekend pouring over them'. It doesn't sound like much he tells me, but I got excited just dreaming of all the places I could visit and the things I'd like to do over there. 'When do you think you'd like to go', I ask him? 'This time next year, he says, I've always dreamed of going to Wimbledon and that's the goal I'm aiming for'. He tells me it's really nice to have goals, dreams of things you can plan and look forward to. I can hear the BIG smile in his voice.

My dad gave me such joy to hear the excited little boy voice inside him sharing his travel dreams. And he tells me I inspired him to do it. Him sharing his dreams with me and knowing I made a difference to his day, his life, has certainly made my day today and a whole lot more to follow.

So many of us go through life with unfinished dreams and a longing to do things we've always dreamed of perhaps even since childhood. It's never too late, to engage the inner child and follow your dreams. And remember, when you do, share them with others and create the space for others to share their dreams too.

Alison Nancye :)

Monday, June 7, 2010

I was inspired to create a new 'life-recipe' titled Bucket List as a result of my recent trip to New York. I was talking to a couple who have just found out the husband's work is going to relocate them to London. In a few months they will be packing up their New York things and heading to a brand new life in UK. This move comes as a bitter sweet one for them.

Through further chatting, my friends revealed the things they are going to miss out on as a result of their new move. I realised while talking with them that a lot of us look at life that way. Focussed on what we don't have as apposed to what we can have. We somehow stop our plans and stifle ourselves about what we'd love to do right here right now because we think it's too late.

So I suggested my friends create a 'Bucket List' of all the things they'd love to do in New York before their move to London later in the year. They replied 'what's that?'. I told them to literally list EVERYTHING they would love to do, cheesy tourist stuff and all (even though they are living and working as locals). Their eyes started to flicker with excitement as they said, 'well there is that such and such museum that we keep saying we want to go to but never do get there and there is ...', and so the list goes on.

I think that is the theme for so many of us. We stop our dreams or everyday things we'd love to experience because life gets in the way or we forget how important it is, right here right now, to do what we truly love.

So in the theme of the film 'The Bucket List' staring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, here's some simple steps to get started on your own bucket list while you are alive and kicking.

Ingredients

* Paper & Pen

Cooking Time

10 minutes should do it but feel free to let it simmer a while

Preparation

1. Decide whether this is a list for you to do on your own or with a partner, friend or family member/s.

Instructions

1. On a blank piece of paper, write the date.
2. Choose a period of time for your bucket list to have everything ticked off the list (eg this month, season, year, lifetime, etc.
3. Get dreaming and write anything and everything you would love to do, experience and enjoy during the period of time you have set for yourself. Keep writing and remember no idea is a silly one, just use your heart and instincts to help you decide.
4. Place the list in a prominent position where you can see it and feel inspired by it (my fridge loves these notes :)
5. It's now time to get started on that list and jump in to action and have a ball doing it.
6. Tick off each item on the list when you do it AND celebrate during or after you have completed it.

Variation to this life-recipe:

You can also apply the 'Bucklet List' to 'My Career Bucket List', 'My Relationship Bucket List', 'My Holiday Bucket List' etc... you get the idea :)

Remember this is your one life, right here right now... do everything you would love to taste, savour and devour.

Alison Nancye :)

Share Your Dreams

Wednesday, March 25, 2010

It's been a while since I sent out a newsletter. I took a six month sabbatical to really enjoy the bliss of motherhood fulltime with my gorgeous children before they started school. More recently I have been focussing on promoting my Recipes for Everyday Life book in US and the wider market. It's been a really wonderful ride to find the balance between doing what I love at home as a mum, wife and friend and also and out in the world as a writer.

I really think it takes time once you start on your blissful life path to come into a comfortable groove where you can happily balance family and life's purpose as well as have balance within.

So with that in mind and the kids now in school (daughter in 'big' school and son in pre-school), I finally feel ready to spread my wings and travel and promote my book in the BIG way I have also dreamed it should be shared with the world.

I have had a dream to be on Oprah for the past seven years and I am on a mission to be sitting on that couch with her this year, chewing the fat and sharing my Recipes for Everyday Life book and Food for Thought ideas on how to 'live your best life' as Oprah says. And of course sharing with the Oprah audience, the incredible story of fulfilling my lifelong dream of finding my dad at the age of 33 after a lifetime of never having met or known him. And then there is the incredible continuum to that story that when we create our dreams, a positive ripple effect takes place and it encourages everyone around us to go for their dreams too. I know I most certainly did that for my parents. A year after I found my dad I reconnected my parents at my wedding. It was at my wedding that my parents started on their own quest to create their dream life. They began dating each other, a year later they got engaged and a year later they got married. Finding my dad showed me that we can have incredible dreams fulfilled. It gave me the courage to go for all of my dreams now matter how big or small and encourage everyone around me to go for their dreams too. Finding my dad inspired me to start my life mentoring work and to create my recipe-style life-mentoring book.

I'm 40 this year and I really believe 40 is a great time to ask yourself 'who do I want to be and how do I really want to be spending the next 40 years of my life?' Or at the very least, how do I want to be spending the next 10 years. So with my past 40 years having shaped me for good and for good learning development, I am excited about what lies ahead for this year and all the years that follow.

My husband asked me recently how I would like to celebrate my 40th and I replied, a ticket to New York. Just me doing my thing and promoting my book in US and finally fulfilling that dream of going to New York as a writer. So the ticket is all booked and I head over there in May leaving the kids at home with the hubby. I'm seriously excited about treading the boards of New York and waking up to a city that doesn't sleep instead of being woken up by my very noisy and extremely energetic and enthusiastic children every morning.

I've made the theme of this month's newsletter 'Share Your Dreams' and that's why I'm sharing mine with you. The fulfilled dream of finding my dad and my future dreams to write, work and travel to New York and US regularly, to share a spot with Oprah on her couch, and to genuinely make a positive difference to millions of people all around through my Recipes for Everyday Life book and the other books and work I have in development.

I think so many of us have dreams that we hold on to and refrain from shouting out to the world for a variety of fears and anxieties of what may happen to us and our dreams if we put them out there to the masses. But I believe otherwise, the exact opposite infact. I believe we should shout out to the world with all our heart and and in all our glory what we would most love in our life. But if you do feel a little too nervous at first, start small, start with only encouraging people, tell me if you'd like, simply choose people that genuinely want to see you have your dreams come true. It's really important to share your dreams because that is part of the action process to help make them a reality.

Whatever dreams you would love today, this week, this month, this year, this decade, this lifetime, take the time to dream on them. Use my 3 Dream Life Ingredients to help you cook up the life your dreams. 1) Imagination, 2) Heart, 3) Will. 1) Let your imagination run wild and free and see where it takes you to create a list of dreams you would genuinely love to have in your life. 2) Feel in your heart of heart's what life would be like living the reality of your dreams, 3) Take action on your dreams, and really choose for your dreams to come in to fruition and become an everyday reality.

I wish you all the best creating your dreams this month and year. Remember this is your one life right here right now, whatever you would most love, give your dreams and you a chance of having them come true. And remember to celebrate them when you do!

Alison Nancye :)

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Find that place you love to go... and go there often!

It was almost 20 years ago when I stumbled across the gorgeous Byron Bay. I travelled there with girlfriends, single, on a road trip, ready to party, holiday, hang and meet boys. We got all of the above! What we didn't account for was that elusive Byron Bay vibe. That healing ‘thing’ that is Byron. That 'thing' that draws so many of us in, puts a smile on our face, peace in our heart and helps us chill out about life and the big AND small things in between.

Feel Good Holiday Destination

Over the years that passed, I have continued to be drawn to Byron Bay. Every single time I visit, that same old Byron vibe sweeps over me, no matter what my agenda at the outset. I just feel SO good when I'm there and when I get home.

It had been a few years between visits but after having children, it was as if Byron was calling me. Reminding me I hadn't been there in a while. That I needed to rejuvenate there as much as my family did. I had forgotten how great that place made me feel.

It was the year my daughter turned one and I gave birth to my son that I felt this overwhelming urge to spend the summer there, and we did. That same old Byron vibe was upon me. The whole family felt it.

Healing Holiday

Yet even though I know it’s there, I often forget how great Byron Bay will make me feel. So after a ridiculously stressful December 2009, I was drawn yet again, reminded to visit Byron Bay.

My beautiful family has just spent yet another gorgeous summer holiday in Byron healing, cleansing, regrouping and letting go of the past year’s stress ready and refreshed for the year ahead.

Take A Holiday Break

In short, if you're stressed... take a break. Better still, take a holiday. Find a place that is your Holiday Haven. Whether it is the same destination each year or a new spot that gives you that feel good oozy feeling each time.

Alison Nancye :)