First up, briefly tell us a bit about yourself and what you do!
I’ve been a journalist for The West Australian for nine years now, working across entertainment, arts and more recently all things lifestyle and wellness. I really love to champion local people doing cool things, and am always on the hunt for the latest phenomena and trends to test out.
Outside work, I have a keen interest in spirituality and I’m now a registered yoga teacher after completing my 200-hour vinyasa yoga teacher training with The Yoga Vine. I’m planning to further deepen these learnings in 2021 with yin and breathwork courses and I can’t wait to share my passion with others.
What time do you wake up most days and how many hours of sleep do you aim for?
Getting at least eight hours of sleep is a non-negotiable for me, and hugely affects my focus and creativity. I have a personal alarm clock in the form of my four-year-old daughter, who often wakes me up between 6-7am.
What’s your morning routine to set you up for a great day?
Establishing a really solid morning routine is still in progress for me! When I’m in a good rhythm, I brush my teeth, drink a big glass of water, meditate and read before Winter wakes up. This makes such a huge difference to my day. I love the framework set out in The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod, which also includes journaling, a form of exercise like yoga, affirmations and visualisation, so it’s a goal of mine to incorporate more of these elements into my everyday morning routine this year.
Describe a typical day of eating for you.
After a long and difficult path to healing my relationship with food, I’ve found that intuitive eating works best for my body. That usually ends up being some form of intermittent fasting until around 11am, but if I am hungry I will eat before that. My diet is 99 per cent vegan and I focus on packing as much nourishment into my meals as I can so they are dense and full of vitamins. Lots of vegetables, hummus, hemp seeds, homemade bliss balls, sourdough bread, smoothie bowls, legumes and some tofu are all staples for me – but I love chocolate and a good burger in equal measure! I have one-two coffees per day with macadamia or oat milk, and recently have become addicted to ceremonial cacao from The Cacao Collective.
Tell us about your daily beauty routine! What are your non-negotiables for looking and feeling your best?
I’m sure many mums can relate when I say I sometimes cut corners when it comes to my skincare routine! But the products I swear by are Fancy Face oil cleanser, Exfoliating Swipeys and Face Hero from Go-To, serums from The Ordinary and good old Cetaphil cleanser in the shower. Last year one of my goals was to wear sunscreen every day, and my favourite is Queen Screen from Ultra Violette.
It’s really important to me to use brands that don’t test on animals and use vegan ingredients as much as possible. I’ve swapped a lot of my beauty products because of this, and my favourite brands are Too Faced (Born This Way concealer and foundation, Better Than Sex mascara), Mecca Max (glow sticks and palettes) and Hourglass (eyebrow pencil).
Do you take any supplements, vitamins or special wellness elixirs? If so, we’d love to know!
Currently, I take iron, magnesium, a probiotic and Blackmores Sugar Balance.
What are your top 3 wellness non-negotiables?
1. Yoga classes as many days of the week as I can manage – the practise has such a profound impact on my mood, how I feel in my body and overall wellness.
2. Fresh air, sunshine and nature – they are all free, instant mood boosters and we are so lucky to have them in abundance here in Perth.
3. Sleep – without it, nothing else is possible.
Your absolute favourite healthy cafe in Perth is?
Flora and Fauna in Northbridge or Manna Wholefoods in South Fremantle.
What’s your fitness routine & favourite way to get sweaty and where’s your go-to?
I firmly believe that the best exercise is the kind you enjoy. For me, that’s yoga and I take classes depending on how I feel that day – a mix of vinyasa, hatha, slow flow, yin and restorative. My favourite studios are Soft Yoga, Beyond Being, Nature of Self, Mudra, Yab Yum, Vital Beat and Cntre Space. Otherwise, I love walking and getting out on hiking trails. When I am doing both yoga and walking regularly I find that’s all I need to feel strong, flexible and well in my body.strong, flexible and well in my body.
If you could only wear one brand of activewear for the rest of your life it would be…
Lululemon, the Align pants are the comfiest around.
What’s the one beauty or wellness treatment you can’t live without? And your favourite place to have it done?
Massages are definitely my guilty pleasure and something I will splurge on every so often. BODHI’s new Cottesloe retreat is gorgeous and so serene. I also recently discovered Heartwood and their facial was the best I’ve ever experienced, they use local sandalwood in their products and have lots of unique touches, like their playlists and post-treatment bliss balls.
Are you into any woo-woo wellness trends?
Yes, big time! This is my happy place. I get my tarot read once a year and it’s always been eerily accurate, and also have a deck at home. There are crystals all around my house, I use palo santo and white sage to cleanse the air and adore incense and candles. This past year I have tried a range of alternative healing methods, from reiki to breathwork, sound healing, acupuncture, chanting, group meditation and plant medicine and loved them all for different reasons. It’s an area I hope to expand my own learnings in as I feel intuitively drawn to natural and mystical practises.
What’s your dream wellness vacay?
Past trips to Bali have always been wonderful for the amazing yoga and wellness offerings there. Also the vegan food is out of this world!
But until the international borders re-open, there are so many local business and yoga studios running wellness retreats. I am going on one soon led by Anna Balston and I can’t wait – it’s the perfect counteractive for the soul.
And lastly… do you have any top secret tips you use to keep looking / feeling great?
It sounds cliche, but meditation and yoga are the ultimate tools for self-awareness and compassion. The more we can learn to cultivate acceptance and love within ourselves, the easier it is to live in alignment with our values and optimum health. Also recognising that we are all different has been huge in my personal wellness journey. I gravitate towards enjoyment with everything I do now – whether that’s food, movement or other health practises – and that’s made a huge impact on the way I move through life.
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