Surrey Homes | SH43 | May 2018 | Restoration & New Build supplement inside

Wellbeing
Natural Wisdom
Which one piece of seasonal wisdom
helps you in May?
We are so connected to the elements,
our mental and physical health aligns
very closely with what is going on in
the great outdoors and when we don’t
physically spend time in nature we can
feel a little bit ‘out of sorts’. So getting
out into our natural habitat can help
to ground us and allow us to embody
the seasons a little more. As the weather
starts to warms up, my essential is to
get outside in bare feet and feel my toes
in the earth. May is always one of my
favourite months for walking because
the bluebells are out and seeing the
carpet of colour in the woods is magical.
Which self-care ritual do you never
skimp on?
Rather than one big practice, I tend to
break it up into smaller elements that
are easy to fit in no matter what. I am
a great believer in emotional self-care
and I don’t go a day without writing in
my gratitude journal. This helps me feel
naturally abundant and ‘full’ no matter
what challenges I may be facing. There
is always something to be grateful for.
May’s mood booster
We grow calendula on our allotment
plot. It takes so easily and spreads like
wild, amber fire. Every year, I collect
the flowers at their prime, dry them
out and then add the papery petals
to jars of cold-pressed sunflower oil,
leaving them for months on a sunny
sill, where they infuse. Once strained
and bottled, the oil can be used for
sore, dry, irritated patches on skin, or
taken internally, to calm skin from
within. Now is a good time to plant
calendula – you’ll reap the harvest for
months to come if you do.
Lauren Barber is a yoga and meditation teacher and writer who lives in
Hildenborough with her husband and dog Pickle. When she isn’t teaching a class
at Kingdom in Penshurst, she loves walking in the local countryside, meditating in
her home studio and sharing her wellbeing experiences via her website
What’s cooking in your kitchen
this month?
After a winter of comforting, warming
foods I am thoroughly enjoying
getting back into creating lovely
colourful, crunchy salads again. The
more beautiful vibrant vegetables
I can fit in the better. Right now
I am enjoying mixing up my own
hummus in a variety of flavours such
as beetroot, lemon and coriander and
roasted red pepper.
Share one book that taught you
something amazing about life.
Wild Power by Alexandra Pope. This
book’s subtitle is ‘Discover the magic
of your menstrual cycle and awaken
the feminine path to power’ which
may be a little daunting for some,
but it describes in detail the way a
woman’s menstrual cycle works from
a physical and emotional point of
view and brought me so much clarity
around my own feminine cycles. Once
we understand the cyclical nature of
ourselves as women we can connect to
a much healthier and more balanced
way of finding optimal wellbeing.
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What brings a smile to your face?
Being out in nature with my dog.
Even when the weather is dreary and
I feel like staying indoors, having a
dog makes sure you get outside no
matter what. A sunrise walk in the
springtime puts a joyful bounce in
my step.
What is the best treatment you’ve
had locally?
I recently had a healing treatment
with Kelley Swan, who uses a
combination of energy work, Thai
yoga massage and acupressure, along
with her years of experience as a yoga
teacher. She helped me release a lot
of physical and emotional tension
in my shoulders and jaw. Having
spent many years with a lot of upper
body tension from anxiety and stress,
I am still unravelling the physical
effects and I felt incredible after the
treatment. laurenbarber.co
livinggrace.space
Eminé says:
Enjoy hot choc
Hot chocolate is often seen as an unhealthy
indulgence, but cocoa is in fact one of our most
nutritious raw ingredients, for both health-salving and
spirit-lifting properties. And when the steaming cup
in question brims with polyphenol-rich raw cacao,
the most nutritious form of cocoa, it is an incredible
source of immune-boosting antioxidants and trace
minerals. My most recent find is Made
by Noble’s Himalayan Salted Cacao, £29
(harveynichols.com). An unusual blend of
beetroot, maca, cinnamon and richest cacao
powder, it blends a treat with any milk.
The slow stirring of the velvet-thick powder
with milk in the pan brings a sense of coca’s
ceremonial pleasure. Sweeten it up with
maple syrup, or brown sugar if you wish.
Savour!