Innocence of Yester Year Seems Out of Place

I have just seen a little girl learning to ride her bike. The scene was at once extremely familiar, and yet as I watched her, I realised how the little girl on her bike seemed totally out of context to the surroundings that she found herself in.

Let me explain further. You see, the scruffy little one must have been about 12 years old. She was decked out in a long, thick, soft pink coat that was a few sizes too big for her and reached past her knees, threatening to get caught in all those parts of the bike that seem hungry to grab a hold of just such a tempting morsel of clothing. She had a pudding bowl haircut, very unlike the styled cuts I see on youngsters these days. Barefoot and standing up on the pedals of her over sized single speed postman bike, she was struggling against the friction of the road and the large tyres, the concentration etched on her face.

Balancing on those pedals and being out of the saddle while trying to get enough momentum to keep the bike upright could not have been easy, but her natural instincts – so seldom called into play for most youngsters – had her leaning slightly forward to keep her centre of gravity. This meant carrying a lot of her weight on her arms which were splayed out wide to grab hold of the over sized handle bars of cold shiny curved steel, her small hands white-knuckled around the plastic grooved grips that were worn smooth over the many years of previous riders steering the bike all about town.

There was a slight wobble to this whole scenario, but not like you normally see with a youngster learning to ride today where they can sommer put their feet down to stop a fall. I should think this little ragamuffin had simply grabbed the only bike available to her, or as in the olden days, she had managed to get her hands on a big’ bike - so much more alluring and exciting than a children’s bicycle. No bright yellow easy-to-ride prissy little bikes for this tough nut. She was gritting it out on this old iron horse, that concentrated expression showing brief glimpses of pure joy before slipping back into the more earnest work of staying upright.

This image was one of days gone by for me and I have not seen this type of riding for a long time. It was a nostalgic surreal few seconds that was initially so calm and natural and then when I came back from my reminiscing, it looked so incredibly out of place. As if I was on a movie set or back in a small Karoo town and not the city bowl of Cape Town.

The story of the Clif Bar...

Imagine waking up one morning in your tiny apartment somewhere in Canada (actually you're living in your parents garage, sorry!), packing a water bottle and a few energy bars into a bag, grabbing your bicycle and heading out for a 175 mile bike ride with your best friend. After a few hours your stomach starts to rumble and you start nibbling away at those energy bars you cleverly bought with. You eat and you eat but your body just isn't satisfied - you're still hungry, still lacking nutrients to get you through the rest of the ride, and worst of all you're left with a horrible after taste in your mouth that you just can't stomach another bite. Then it dawns on you 'I could make a better bar than this'. For the rest of the ride you ponder over your quest to make the ultimate energy bar. You end up spending every free moment you have experimenting in the kitchen with your patient mother, and two years later you have it... You've finally perfected a great tasting, organic, nutrient rich, appetite-filling energy bar (did I mention it tastes delicious).

Nineteen years later, the founder and owner of Clif Bar & Company, you find your products hitting the shores of South Africa, quite an accomplishment for someone who lived in a garage!! (I'm sure you’d living much more comfortably now!)

Wellness Warehouse now has these delicious, organic bars in store just for you! Look out for these bars and other organic treats when you are next in store. It’s not everyday that you find great tasting ‘health’ bars which are genuinely healthy and certified organic. There’s a Clif Bar for everyone and for every occasion: We have the shot Blocks to provide energy to the performance athletes; the Clif Mojo for an alternative trail mix; the Luna bars and cookies especially formulated for women to provide them with energy and support them through the day; the Z bars for kids to provide them with great tasting nutrition while they play and grow; the Builder’s Bars to provide 20g of soy and nut proteins for those gym fanatics who need to rebuild and recover muscle mass; the Nectar bars for those who want to make sure they are getting their daily fruit and nut servings in each day; the Raw Revolution bars to satisfy those choosing to follow a more raw-food diet these bars are made up of raw organic live food (and they taste good); and lastly we have the Clif Bar, the original nutritious, energy bar, for everyone!

Try them, your body will thank you!

Wellness warehouse caters for food intolerances and other dietary needs!

More and more people are finding themselves intolerant to one if not two or more foods. The first trick is finding out which foods are causing a reactions, as most of us suffer from delayed food allergies (affecting a whopping 45% of the population), and not immediate food allergies (only 1.5% of the population suffers from this type of reaction!).

How do we know if we are reacting to certain foods? Symptoms usually show between 2 hours to 2 days after eating that particular food, and range from bloating, gas, constipation or diarrhoea, inability to loose or put on weight, skin disorders, chronic headaches, wheezing, sinusitis, asthma, and ulcerative colitis, among others. One usually finds that the food one craves are the exact foods that one is intolerant too. Keeping a food diary, writing down what you ate and when as well as what symptoms you experience and when, is one way to help you identify problematic foods as one will often begin to see a pattern after a week or so.

If you think you are intolerant to a food, try avoiding it for 3 months, and at the same time rotating the other foods in your diet. If you are unsure of what foods to avoid, start with wheat, oats, rye, barley (all gluten containing grains), as well as milk, cheese, yoghurt, cream and other dairy products. Most reactions after hearing this is 'what is there left to eat?'. The Wellness Warehouse has made food intolerances and other special dietary needs easy as we stock a wide range of wheat, gluten, dairy, soy, sugar, nut and even yeast free foods and flour mixes. From cereals, breads, muffins, biscuits, crackers, rusks to pasta's, pizza bases, cake/pancake/waffle and other mixes. For the lactose intolerant we have a variety of soy milk, oat milk, lactose-free dairy milk and milk-alternative powders (rice, soy, quinoa, oat), and goats cheese. Soon we will be adding fresh goats milk and yoghurt to our list.

Feel free to come chat to me or any of the food market staff for more assistance with your dietary needs and intolerances.

10 Rituals of Radiant Living

Happy Spring time!
This is always my favourite time of year...the feeling that summer is around the corner and that there is a full season of sunshine to look forward to.

At this time of year I start to feel super-alive again and ready for new beginnings. It is also a wonderful time to reflect and Spring clean my life.

My special way of ‘Spring cleaning’ my own life is to follow my 10 Rituals of Radiant Living.

I was inspired by Robin S. Sharma’s book – ‘The monk who sold his Ferrari’.
In this wonderful story the main character says “Once you get yourself together, your world will be ok. Once you master your mind, body and character, happiness and abundance will flow into your life almost magically. But you must spend some time daily working on yourself... by incorporating the techniques into your routine such that they become habits; you are bound to reach a state of perfect health, limitless energy, lasting happiness and peace of mind.”

The 10 rituals of Radiant living that I follow are:

Ritual of early awakening
Rise with the sun! It is so much easier now that Cape Town weather is changing and that it is getting lighter so much earlier. By waking up early and getting enough sleep I start my day well. It is important to have good quality sleep and feel refreshed and alive as soon as I open my eyes.

Ritual of solitude
Explore the healing power of silence in a peaceful environment. This is my meditation time and my time to connect with myself, and create inner harmony. I love doing this in nature if I can.

Ritual of physicality
Taking time everyday to nourish the temple of my body through exercise is extremely important for me. I choose Yoga… any style of Yoga. I love Yoga! I also love being in nature so any exercise I can do outdoors I enjoy – walking, hiking, learning to surf, cycling…as long as I am outside.

Ritual of proper breathing
Breathing is something that is supposed to come naturally but it is amazing how deep, full breathing is something that I have to focus on constantly. I enjoy doing my ritual of ‘proper’ breathing when I am doing my Yoga sessions. The classes I do often include Pranayama (breathing techniques) which clear my mind and bring me back to balance and calmness.

Ritual of live nourishment
Eat live foods. Not food that is ‘alive’ but food that is rich in nutrients and vital energy. Food that is as natural as possible and that has had the natural interaction of sun, air, soil and water. Being a vegetarian is important to me not only from an animal side of things and because it is the best thing for the environment but mainly because it is healthy for me.

Ritual of abundant knowledge
Reading and learning something inspiring everyday is a great pick-me-up. I don’t read just anything. I choose to stay away from newspapers, TV and media. I fill my mind with knowledge that will improve the quality of my life. Books are a wonderful way to keep me in a beautiful space and learn more about who I am and the world around me.

Ritual of living my life purpose with passion
Listening to my heart and acting from that space of integrity, love and compassion in all that I do is what brings me inner peace and harmony. I love what I do. I live my life purpose and I am passionate about my work…even if it was not my job I would still be radiating enthusiasm.

Ritual of simplicity & 'being'
Aiming to make my life as simple as possible… taking out all of life’s complications, not wasting my time or somebody else’s and spending my time ‘being’ and experiencing, rather than doing.

Ritual of time out & having some fun
Taking some time out of the day for myself – having a bath by candle light, going off for a massage, or even going on a shopping spree. Just spending some quality time with me and taking time out from the world. Also not being so hard on myself and taking life so seriously is very important to remember. Having fun and being passionate about life is an important part of keeping radiant.

Ritual of personal reflection & gratitude
At the end of the day it is wonderful to reflect on my day. Stopping and acknowledging the moments when somebody paid me a compliment, gave me a gift or pearls of their wisdom. Reflecting on my thoughts during the day and noticing if they were mainly positive?
The only way to improve tomorrow is to reflect and be grateful for today.
It is a lovely feeling drifting off to sleep and going through the list of why I feel grateful.

So these are my 10 Rituals for Radiant living.
If you would like to live a radiant life why don’t you do a bit of a 'Spring clean' and come up with 10 rituals for yourself to implement into your day.
You never know, you may inspire yourself and the world around you.


“I trust the process of life.
There is a rhythm and flow to Life, and I am part of it.
Life supports me and brings to me only good and positive experiences.
I trust the process of Life to bring me my highest good.”
Louise L. Hay