Healthy Kick-start in Beautiful Queensland

I recently wrote about making baby-steps to improve my health and energy. With perfect timing, I was chosen to take part in the “Healthy Thursday” pop-up event before the Problogger Training Event, held on the Gold Coast last week.

The day started with yoga in the park, right on the beach. I’d caught a midnight horror flight arriving that morning, so it was just what I needed to ease out the kinks from sleeping on a plane (I really should do that after all flights!). The yoga session was given by the lovely Laura from Threedom Wellness. It was the style of yoga I love (hatha/vinyasa), with enough variations to challenge the range of ability levels in the class. It made me want to look harder to find the right yoga instructor here in Perth (I’ve tried a couple of classes, but they weren’t the right fit.)

Yoga also provided a moment of clarity to me. Backbends in yoga represent heading into the unknown/future, and we were asked to set an intention about our future before doing our backbends. Since I was there on a blogging conference, I thought about my goals and direction for my blog. As we moved into position, I settled into a backbend resting on my head, which I thought was challenge enough for this poor Mummy-body. Laura encouraged me to rise up into a full backbend (with her support) and it made me realise that I can go further than I realise and that it’s only myself that’s holding me back. My first real lesson of my trip to PBEvent!

It was then time for a dirty chai (chai tea with a shot of coffee – just what I needed to give me a mid-morning boost after my flight!) at Elk Espresso, followed by a raw foods cooking demonstration at Roar Food (love that name!).

I’ve talked before about wanting to improve my diet. I have one raw foods recipe book and have seen lots of recipes around the blogosphere, but haven’t been brave enough to try the strange combinations. A cooking demonstration helped to see them prepared (and the 10 recipes were all really simple, just requiring a blender or food processor), and more importantly, to taste.

Cashew cream cheese, vegetable pie with nut base, avocado chocolate mousse, raw apple pie and a green smoothie and more – all easy to make, healthy and delicious! I’m going to try them out at home before I share the recipes! (And I recommend a class with Suki and Brendan – they are so open, friendly and funny, it was so much fun!).

Finally, with full bellies, we headed for an afternoon kayaking with Australian Kayaking Adventures in the Gold Coast canals , taking off at Budd’s Beach.

Since my fitness isn’t what it used to be and my last kayaking adventure (when I was 12) involved getting stuck in reeds, I was nervous about this. What a relaxing way to spend an afternoon! Although the waterways are tidal, there was very little current and the paddling was nice and gentle. Steve, our guide, was a very Aussie bloke – laid-back, funny and a great story-teller.

By the end of the day, I was exhausted, but felt so good from this healthy experience. The event taught me that I am capable of so much more than I think I am. I had the best night’s sleep that night, and am motivated to bring that feeling back to my everyday life (although a few days of indulgent food at the Problogger Training Event got in the way!).

I’d like to thank Tourism Queensland for the experience, and also thank my fellow participants Amber from Parenting Fun Everyday, Christine from the Global Goddess, Heather from Heather Smith Small Business and Celeste from Tourism and Events Queensland for making the event so much fun.

Have you ever gone on a mini-health retreat like this? What would you do for your own “Healthy Thursday”?

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