In part 1 of this series, I focused on how to make lasting lifestyle changes. This is a key ingredient to living a healthy, holistic lifestyle, which encompasses your belief, body and bliss (aka mind, body and soul).

Now I’m going to share with you exactly what I do and the areas I focus on to live this lifestyle that keeps me feeling healthy, happy, challenged, creative, fulfilled and connected.

Areas I focus on to live a healthy, holistic lifestyle:

Relationships – this includes my partner, friends and family. Something that was missing in my life for quite some time (as most of you reading this would know), was being in a loving relationship. Start here if you’d like to read about my journey. I’m now engaged and in a loving relationship with a gorgeous man named Gav (insert BIG grin).

After living away from home for 13 years, 3 years ago I made the decision to move back home to Perth to be closer to my family…the pull in my heart was impossible to ignore. Gav and I live about 10 minutes away from both of our immediate families which is lovely (and perfect for when we have our first bambino!).

Re-connecting with my old school buddies has been beautiful – they’re my soul-sisters and always will be. I love them all to the moon and back and cherish our 20+ year friendship.

They live a very different lifestyle to me though, as they’re all married with small children. I must admit it’s been a bit of a challenge broadening my social circle plus staying connected with my close friends in Melbourne, Sydney and New York. Something I’ve made a conscious effort to do this year, is to call my friends more often. My besties in Melbourne always visit me in Perth once a year, and I go to Melbourne once a year too. This helps to keep the connection and friendship strong.

Body – this includes movement, nutrition, health and body image. Taking pride in my body and having a great level of self-care has most definitely been a journey. I’ve always been relatively fit & image conscious as becoming a model at the age of 16 kinda forces you to be! I struggled with body image issues though from the pressure of being unrealistically thin and constantly being in competition with other women (I was also an actress from the age of 12). Ironically, since I’ve been out of the industry my health, fitness and body image has been its best! But I can thank getting into the health, fitness & wellness industry for that.

For me, the most impacting lifestyle changes was letting go of the ‘low-fat’ myth, and eating a wholefood diet similar to the Paleo Diet but with a bit more flexibility; plus learning how to train myself properly with a balance of weights, yoga and intervals…this I’ve learnt is the perfect combo for me (we’re all different) to keep me strong yet lean and feminine.

I’ve also healed my body and overcome candida and other digestive issues through alternative therapies.

To get me on the path to wellness, I’ve tried just about every alternative therapy under the sun! My favourites being: kinesiology, reiki, float tank therapy, Chinese medicine and naturopathy. I’ve healed my body holistically through meditation, self-love & self-care, life coaching, chakra cleansing, yoga & weight training, journalling, crystal healing & swapping a high carb/low fat diet to predominantly paleo and nourishing wholefoods & superfoods.

This new passion uncovered deeper desires to be of service and while my love of arts has never faded, my decision to channel my energy into holistic health led to yet another dream fulfilled: love & lifestyle coaching.

Mindset – as mentioned above, to get me on the path to wellness I’ve healed my mind through meditation, self-love practices, life coaching and journalling. Through studying life coaching at the Beautiful You Academy and holistic lifestyle coaching level 1 at the CHEK Institute, I’ve learnt some pretty cool techniques for keeping my mind and my client’s minds in a healthy state.

This includes the practices above plus having a morning routine, taking time for myself in nature (especially at the beach), writing in my gratitude journal at night and reminding myself of my awesomeness!

Community & connection – having a sense of community and belonging I believe is a Universal need. One of things I love so much about having a blog and being a coach, is all the likeminded women I’ve been able to connect with. Perth is really starting to forge a path in the health + wellness industry which is fabulous, but this industry has also opened up so many lovely connections and communities in other cities.

I personally feel as though I’d love to connect with more likeminded women face-to-face, and so one of the ways I’m going to do this is by running workshops (details to come!) and also attending more workshops.  I also have plans of participating in a Kundalini yoga course soon which I’m excited about.

Passion & purpose – as you’ve probably guessed, I’ve been on a bit of a journey to find my passion and purpose. I’ve dived deeply and passionately into three careers: performance & modelling, personal training & health coaching, and now love & lifestyle coaching. All three of these careers have given my so much substance and experience that has lead me to authentically develop my unique suite of coaching services that I now offer. 

To get me to this happy place of living with purpose & passion, I’ve had to do LOADS of work on myself and ask myself some powerful (and sometimes uncomfortable) questions. Through doing this I’ve really nutted-out the things in life that fill me up with energy and joy.

Personal growth/ spirituality – to get to where I am in my life and overcome the not-so-glittering moments that we all endure as humans, I’ve been on a journey of self-enquiry and a process of transformation. This, I believe, never ends but there’s lots of expansion, growth and fulfillment to experience along the way. To read more about my journey and guide you with yours, my eBook ‘Falling In Love Again: a toolkit for transforming you, your life and your relationships’ is a fantastic read with loads of tools and tips for transformation. Click here to download your copy.

Play/ fun/ creativity – this also includes hobbies and holidays. A big part of my healthy, holistic lifestyle includes time for play, fun and holidays. The work I do can be quite insular so it’s very important I give myself time and space to mix with people, have fun and let my hair down!

Gav brings so much playfulness to our relationship. He’s one of those very loud, gregarious and naturally witty people. He makes me laugh daily and he really brings out my silly side which I love. We enjoy going out for dinner once a week and out for brekky every Sunday. In summer, we love hanging at the beach and doing outdoor activities and catching up with friends. We also love our weekend trips away to Margaret River or Dunsborough.

I always go to the Farmers Markets every Saturday morning and often meet up with other wellness bloggers there too which is beautiful.

I definitely feel that I’ve been extremely work focused the last 12 months, and probably haven’t set aside enough time to explore some other fun and creative pursuits of mine. Three things I’d really love to do are an art class, photography course and I’d love to take up salsa dancing again. I’d also LOVE to do more travelling. Europe has been calling my name for quite some time, but I’ve been happy with our interstate trips and holiday’s to Bali (who doesn’t love Bali!).

What are some things you’d love to do for play, fun and creativity? Let me know in the comments below!

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So there you have it gorgeous people! Lots of info and links there for you to devour! Remember, to make lasting lifestyle changes begin with baby steps. Write out your intentions and how you’d like to feel in each of these areas, work with a coach, chat to your friends and partner about the lifestyle you’d love to create for yourself, and have FUN.

It’s definitely a journey and one I’m still proudly on. Enjoy.