• Blogging

    Stop Buying Herbal Remedies!

    Your health is the most important gift of your life, it’s too precious to place in the hands of some mass-produced factory-processed herbal product. The fewer kilometres our herbal remedies travel, the better. I’m proud to say that my herbal remedies travel about 12 metres from my garden straight to my body via a health product I just could not live without, Empty Capsules. These things are a life saver to save the least and I’m so glad I found them!

    Nature itself is the best physician. – Hippocrates

    From the day I began using empty capsules to take my homegrown herbal remedies, I’ve felt my body bloom. I have noticed such a change in my general wellbeing and vitality that I cannot ever understand the benefit of buying herbal remedies off the shelf.

    Store-bought herbal remedies are watered down, over-processed mystery substances that have more than likely been sitting on the shelf leaching any goodness they may have once possessed. If you’ve been taking store-bought herbal remedies and wondering why you don’t feel like a shining beacon of health and wellbeing, its’ not your fault. But now is the time to make your own.

    I buy empty capsules in bags of 500. I prefer the plant based capsules, but the gelatin capsules are completely fine. It’s up to your individual preferences and both options are top-notch food-grade products. The empty capsules come in a range of different sizes based on how much you need your capsule to contain, and how big of a capsule you feel like swallowing. I personally find the ‘0’ size to be perfect for me. Each one holds about 500 mg of my herbal mix and I take 2 each day.

    Tending to my garden is one of my favourite things to do. It makes me feel connected to nature. I find that eating straight from my own garden adds to my sense of wellbeing. I know that there are no chemicals used on my garden, I know the love and care that went into growing the produce, and I know that it hasn’t been frozen or left to sit on a shelf for too long. I love to grow turmeric, lemons, ginger, rosemary, lavender, and chamomile (just to name a few). I’m a one-woman apothecary!

    I collect the herbs I want to use for the day, or a few days at a time, and create my own custom powdered blend. I then open an empty capsule and scoop up some of the herbal mix before snapping the capsule shut and sending it down the hatch. It’s the easiest and most satisfying thing I’ve ever done for my health.

    The greatest part about using empty capsules is that I can alter my dosage from day to day and know that I’m giving myself the optimum mix of herbal remedy for my own wellbeing goals. The capsules are so easy to swallow and have no taste. I get all the benefit without any fuss.

    If you’ve been underwhelmed by the effects of store bought herbal remedies, trust me, it’s not you…it’s them. Upgrade your herbal game and make your own at home.

  • Blogging

    Gratitude

    Practicing the art of being thankful opens the door to health and wellbeing. Even Harvard Medical School has conducted studies that support the idea that a slow, grateful life leads to health and wellbeing.

    Keeping your body healthy is an expression of gratitude to the cosmos – the trees, the clouds, everything – Nhat Hanh

    For years I moved through my life without a drop of gratitude, I became so bitter, angry, and stressed with the world that one day my legs stopped working. I simply couldn’t walk. Doctors scratched their heads for weeks while I lay in my hospital bed. At the age of 23, I remember looking at the off-white popcorn ceiling of my hospital room, with no use of my legs, feeling relieved.

    Yes, relieved. I was relieved to have an excuse to stop, rest, and think. My body shut down to get me to slow down. As it turns out, my seething ingratitude and refusal to take care of myself caused me to power through instead of resting when I had the flu. My body reacted to this by sending out an S.O.S. in the form of a lesion on my spine. The doctors eventually diagnosed it as a non-traumatic spinal injury, I thought of it as my wake-up call.

    After 8 weeks, the doctors reduced the inflammation in my spine and I recovered the use of my legs. I walked out of that hospital grateful for every step I could take. I vowed to change my life.

    The next day I began practicing slowing down and being thankful for every little thing. I thanked the kettle for boiling water, I thanked the fridge for keeping the milk cold, I thanked my arms for giving Mr. Ernie warm hugs. I started using my left hand to do things like brush my teeth, this made me slow down and pay attention to the moment. And I thanked my toothbrush for giving me clean, healthy teeth. I must’ve looked quite crazy, but I moved through my life thanking every little thing until I oozed gratitude. I began to look after my body and my mind because thanking everything made me realise that when you have your health, you’ve won the lottery.

    Practicing gratitude incited a complete shift in how I view myself and the world I live in. My health improved and I love caring for this body that I’ve been blessed with. I even find myself thanking my non-traumatic spinal injury, (as weird as that sounds). Without that figurative body slam from the universe, I would never have achieved the health and wellbeing that I’m so thankful for today.

  • Blogging

    The Quest for True Fulfilment

    The Japanese concept of Yugen is something I’ve been feeling for as long as I can remember. I only recently figured out that there was a name for it. Yugen is the word used to describe that feeling of wonder you get when you contemplate the immense hugeness of the universe and how insignificant our day-to-day lives are. When you become consciously aware of the universe, our minuscule place in it, and the sad beauty of human suffering, that is Yugen. It’s like a kind of cosmic vertigo that can come from letting your mind expand to fill the landscape. Yugen is important in the quest for true fulfilment.

    The fulfillment of your positive purpose on earth truly needs your undivided attention.” Edmond Mbiaka

    Part of being happy, healthy, and living well is finding that true fulfilment. It’s as important as brushing your teeth. How long do we get to exist in our physical forms? Maybe 80 years if we’re lucky? There are no dress rehearsals, we need to start living our lives from a place of pure existence, an awareness that life is short and finite.

    A concept that always puts the day-to-day stresses in my life into perspective is to remember this: One day humans will be obliterated from the earth (morbid, I know but stay with me). When that time comes, our religions, our languages, our entire human record will no longer exist. It will be as if it didn’t happen. Does that make you realize that stressing about getting your weekly sales report in on time is a waste of your precious time?
    The only thing we can do that matters in this life is to be kind, help each other, and follow our true passion. Sure, we need to pay our bills, but finding fulfilment is an equally necessary goal.

    At this point, you may be wondering about what may give you that true fulfillment. I can’t even go close to answering that for anyone but myself. But I can offer you a few tips that may help you decide:

    My biggest tip would be to give yourself the chance to listen. Your inner voice is always speaking to you. The true calling and passion of your life is always lingering in the back of your mind. The problem is these days we don’t slow down long enough and turn down the noise low enough to listen to those voices. Every day I sit in silence for at least half an hour. I try to empty my mind and not have any preconceived notions of what I may uncover. Usually if I listen, I can get to know myself and what I want to do with my life. It has nothing to do with society, money, or other people’s opinions. Those things are the opposite of fulfilment.

    For me, I find the most meaning in my life when I spend time working in my herb, fruit, and vegetable garden. Preparing a healthy meal for those I love made entirely from the produce in my garden is one of my life’s most fulfilling activities.

    No one else’s opinion matters but yours. Listen carefully, seek that feeling of Yugen, and you will be well and truly on your quest to finding true fulfilment.

  • Blogging

    The Richmond Net

    A Space to be Thankful

    Saying ‘thank you’ is a pathway to happiness and wellbeing. Even science supports the idea that having a grateful attitude in every small and large aspect of your life can help reduce depression.

    Hi, I am Alex Richmond and I am a former thankless ingrate. Like many of us, the universe was sending signals to me to change my self-destructive ways. I ignored each one. In hindsight, my massive wake-up call was the only way I would listen at the time. It was a hard way to learn the lesson of gratitude and self-care but the universe has her ways. I’ll tell you all about my big signal from the universe to begin looking after my health and wellbeing, right here on The Richmond Net (stay tuned for more blog posts). I’ll also write about the things I love that have helped me be my healthiest self.

    Self-discovery, health, wellbeing, gratitude, and heart. Those are the pillars of the Richmond Net.

    Here are some things I’m thankful for:

    • Early Winter nights in bed snuggling Captain Ernie, my cat.
    • Journaling my thoughts and poems to get closer to my true self.
    • Growing organic fruit and vegetables and visits to the farmer’s market.
    • Yoga on my paddleboard at Henley Beach.
    • Waking early and sitting on the beach.

      The universe speaks to me when I’m on the edge of the sea and the edge of the land at the edge of the day.
      I’ll be here to guide you on your path to health and wellbeing. Without a solid foundation of gratitude, true health will always elude. The simple act of saying ‘thank you’, sheds light on all the positive things in our lives. This simple word, when used with intent, becomes an almighty powerhouse of wellbeing and health.