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Born in Wagga Wagga in 1973, I grew up in Perth, Western Australia, and enjoyed a wonderful childhood with a loving and supportive family.
From an early age I always wanted to be an Airline Pilot. By the time I was 20 years old, I was headed in that direction with my Private Pilots License and Commercial Theory, and had just flown around Australia for a month in a single engine plane with a girl friend who had also just got her license. I was living my dream!
Although we were too young to hire a car, here we were, ‘two chicks in a Mooney’ (as my family liked to call us), allowed to hire a plane and fly wherever we wanted in Australia. It was total freedom.
Not long after I arrived home I became unwell and was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. At that time, the medical profession had no answers for me.
For around four years I was very unwell. My energy level was very low and depleted. At times, I was unable to complete even the simplest of tasks. I tried many alternative health options. This was when my keen interest in the nature of life and health really began.
Out of all the things I tried to improve my health with, the ones that felt the most real to me, like they touched the depth of the dis-ease in me, were massages, meditation (including some retreats) and a 7 day fresh juice cleanse. After completing the juice cleanse I distinctly remember the amazing difference I felt. It sparked something deep inside me that I would never forget.
I love to explore and travel and my life has taken me many places and I have met many people and had a wide variety of experiences. Once my health improved I set off on a trip to Europe which ended up lasting 3 years, and although it did involve a fair bit of drinking, smoking and eating crap, I also got the opportunity to do another 2 week juice detox in Portugal.
I then returned to Perth with a new appreciation for the wonderful country I call home, the clear blue skies and sunshine were a wonderful welcome home! For a short time I had a small massage business before joining my Dad selling real estate in the family business.
I ended up doing this for 5 ½ years. Although I was living a busy and sometimes stressful life working long hours and not always taking very good care of myself, I did manage to have a couple of breaks. I went overseas to health retreats, in Bali and Thailand, did some more cleanses and had a good rest.
After doing these cleanses I would return home feeling very rejuvenated and refreshed. I slowly became more healthy, and more sensitive and aware of what was going on in my body. I stopped eating meat and stopped smoking. After a while I became less and less interested in alcohol, until I finally realised I felt much better without it. I then realised how much easier and naturally changes occurred. It was as though my whole system was reset to a new level of health. I found I was naturally drawn to healthier options.
Doing the cleanses became a fascinating and intriguing journey for me as I began to understand how the health of the digestive system and colon was integral to our overall health and quality of life. Over the years I have done many juice cleanses (in particular with green juice) for up to 3 weeks. I have also done a number of water fasts for up to 7 days.
In 2005, while still selling real estate, I was introduced to Ashtanga yoga. It clicked with me and I began practicing first thing in the morning five days a week with Robert Lucas, a wise and inspiring teacher in Perth. This marked the beginning of a whole new chapter of healing for me. With time, my body began to open up and detox at a deeper level. I also became more aware that what I ate affected my body, mind and spirit on a daily basis.
Not long after that, I came across the idea of eating raw food. Although I had done the juice cleanses and knew the benefits I experienced, it hadn’t occurred to me that we could live exclusively eating a plant-based diet of raw fruit and vegetables, sprouts, nuts, seeds and seaweeds. My insides lit up and went ‘bing, bing, bing, bing, bing’. I had a feeling like everything inside me came into alignment. It deeply resonated with me. The next day I ordered a big box of recipe books and kitchen gadgets and began living on a raw food diet. It felt so right for me.
I began working less and also managed another cleanse overseas, in the Phillippines, as well as some yoga and surfing retreats in Byron Bay and a raw food course as well. This is where I met Susan Famularo. She has many years experience in fasting, eating raw foods, detoxing and practicing yoga. I have appreciated her generosity in sharing her extensive knowledge and experience with me. She is a gorgeous friend and has been a great light to me ever since.
Over time, I have explored many alternative health options and found that eating a live plant-based diet, detoxing my body, practicing yoga and meditation, together with regular massages, helped develop my awareness and understanding of my body’s own self-healing ability. The beach has been my other saving grace. To this day my favourite thing to do is lie in the sun and swim at the magnificent beaches I have on my doorstep.
The time came when my heart was calling me elsewhere and I knew it was time to leave real estate. I went on a 4 month trip to America, spending 3 months working in the kitchen at Gabriel Cousen’s Tree of Life Raw Food Health Retreat in Arizona. I also attended the Raw Food Expo at the Living Light Culinary School in California, then spent two weeks exploring many raw food cafes and restaurants in New York. I even worked for a few nights in the kitchen at Pure Food & Wine, and for a few days at Matthew Kenney’s The Plant. It was fabulous to see and experience what was possible in the world of raw food, as at this time Australia did not have anything like this to offer.
I then spent time in Byron Bay and Perth going deeper into my yoga practice and experimenting, researching, learning and playing with raw food and detoxing.
Early in 2008, I decided to move down south (to the South West of Western Australia), and was lucky enough to find a house that made my heart jump for joy with its expansive views over the land, ocean and trees, sunny aspect and peaceful location. My body breathed a sigh of relief as I settled into my new home.
I continued to delve deeper into my yoga and meditation practice, although this took a new form as I felt a more restorative and flexible approach suited where my life was at. With the amazing beaches so close, spending time there was a big part of my life too, as was spending time in, and enjoying the delights of, my wonderful vege garden. Travels to Perth and Sydney to be with family and friends seemed to come around regularly too.
With the opening of a new yoga school in town which included a vegan café with lots of raw food options, we were also lucky enough to have Fred Bisci (a leader in the raw food world), come to town to give a talk. I spent some quality time with him as he stayed at my place. He has been a big influence on me and it was great to catch up again in 2017 when I stayed the night with him and his family in New York. Fred, who's 87 years old (in 2017), has lots of life experience in this area and an approach that meets people where they are at.
Friends and family started coming to stay and began to take an interest in what I was doing. Many of them came down to live on green juices for a week or so, or eat a diet high in raw and plant-based foods. Perhaps doing some yoga and/or meditation, spending time at the beach, going for lovely walks and just generally chilling, going with the flow and listening to what their body's needed. They enjoyed having a break from the city lifestyle and the opportunity to do a little detoxing and taking it easy. I enjoyed being able to spend quality time with them away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
I began running retreats in my home to give other people this opportunity also. I enjoyed spending quality time with people and sharing the space and my experience, knowledge and resources with them. Walking alongside them as they too discovered the power of taking it easy and letting nature do it's thing.
Through my own experience, I have come to appreciate the simple but profound things that support me to live a life that feels authentic, connected and aligned for me on all levels. I have also come to understand that it is often what we are not doing that can have the greatest effect, particularly when you take the burden off the digestive system to allow the body to heal.
Along with running retreats, I began manufacturing Nut Milk Bags and selling them in shops around Australia.
That sigh of relief my body breathed when I moved down south continued on every day. It was amazing to wake up to the sun rising in the distance, the kangaroos on the property, and the sound of birds singing. Often at home or when I was driving around, I would think to myself how lucky I was to live in such an amazingly beautiful place. It really is like paradise down there.
After 6.5 years, the day came when the owners of the property were ready to move in. A new chapter in my life started and I found myself back in Perth, not knowing what the future held. My family and long time friends are in Perth and I enjoyed settling back into my roots. The magic of down south is still alive in me and it adds a new dimension to my life in the city now.
I continue to do some gentle yoga and meditate most days. After 10 years on an all raw diet, I now have cooked veggies too, as I just felt like it. I love walking and getting out in the fresh air and sunshine.
It took me a while, but it became clear to me I wanted to teach meditation & mindfulness. The underlying foundation of my retreats had always been meditation, as that was the foundation of what helped me get well. All the other aspects of my retreats were a doorway to opening this experience up in people, as I always found it difficult to convey the meditation aspect in words. I also had a fear and block to speaking to larger groups as I had always really felt more comfortable one-on-one, or with just a few people having more of a conversation than delivering a presentation.
I was fortunate to come across Sarah McLean and completed her Meditation & Mindfulness Instructor Certification course in 2017. This included a trip to the US for a fabulous retreat to finish off the course. She really helped me get clearer on how to convey all the wonders I have experienced through my own meditation practice, and was a wealth of knowledge, support and inspiration. She also helped me get over my fear of speaking to larger groups! ... and I'm happy to say that I've been thoroughly enjoying the Meditation & Mindfulness courses and classes I now run.
I'm still a work in progress and life continues to give me opportunities to grow outside my comfort zone. Sometimes it's not easy, but I'm loving the journey and adventure.
As my body, and all levels of my being, have continued to find their natural balance and flow, I am so grateful to have the opportunity to live a lifestyle that resonates with me so deeply. I give thanks that I can do what I love and share that with others.
Jen xx
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'A possibility was born the day you were born and it will live as long as you live.' Marcus Solero
