I know, I know, how cliché right!? To be totally honest, I’m done with this year and can’t wait to move on to the next. Let me start by reflecting back on this year, if there is one thing I’ve learned this year it is to let go of things that no longer serve me, so don’t expect long rants about how crappy of a year it was, no, I’d rather highlight the good moments I’ve had this year.
This year has thought me many things, I like to start each year with an intention and this year one of my main intentions has been growth. I’ve outgrown the cocoon that I build for myself, my walls had to be torn down in order for me to grow. You can imagine how much resistance I felt, now multiply that times ten! Now if there is one thing my yoga practice and therapy has thought me is that by embracing this resistance we can actually grow and become stronger.
Now I’m happy to say that I actually feel like I grew as a person, and I couldn’t have done this without the amazing people who shared their love with me this year, and also the odd few haters.
This year I registered myself for a yoga teacher training, which will start next year! I can’t even begin to express how excited this makes me, and I’ll share every step of the way!
I’ve continued with my therapy even though there were many times it was just too much! I started my therapy thinking it would be a quick fix, I couldn’t be more wrong. But breaking down time and time again has thought me that every time you overcome this, you’ve built a stronger foundation. Something that I’m not sure I could have achieved without guidance.
I sang in front of a group of almost 30 people, whom I also had to serve food! fun fact: I almost passed out. I cooked two different soups, two types of muffins, croutons and brought some bread. Being able to share my food makes me so incredibly happy, but at the same time knowing so many people would taste my food also made me incredibly nervous. This might have been the moment I really realised how much I had grown, since if I’d had to do something like this a year ago I would have literally has a major panic attack and probably would have passed out. But I met my resistance with shaky hands, a light had and a racing heart, and embraced it no matter how difficult.
I’ve been able to share my plant-based recipes with over 10k people instagram! Although it has never been about getting tons of followers, I can’t deny it’s very exciting to share with so many people. My goal is to share delicious vegan recipes and a bit more about my lifestyle, hoping to inspire others.
And last but not least, I’ve been able to open myself up, being able to share with all of you. My ability to share my passions and life with all of you is something I’m truly grateful for.
Now lets talk about my new intention, healing. The past few years I’ve almost literally been torn into pieces and even though I grew a lot this year I didn’t focus too much on actually healing my body, mind and soul from all the havoc caused by stress and an unhealthy lifestyle. It’s funny because I started this vegan lifestyle to become more healthy, now let me tell you this, I’ve figured out that being vegan doesn’t necessarily mean being healthy! I mean many wines are still vegan, so…
My body has been giving me clear signs that it needs a reboot, especially through my eczema, which doesn’t seem to be going away. After doing some research I’ve come to different conclusions, one says to eat zero sugars, while the other says to simply eat less fat. So I decided to see what will work for me and start by cutting out wheat, excess sugars, alcohol and added oils. This means that you can expect more “clean” recipes coming your way. I’ll also do little detox’s here and there and once I feel I’ve hit the reboot button I might indulge every now and then, time will tell, all I do know is that starting tomorrow my “diet” will drastically change.
Not only my body need detoxification though, cause I’m body mind and soul, I’ll also focus on a more holistic and healing lifestyle. I’ll invest more time and energy in my yoga practice and will also stick with my therapy. Since I’m about 90% sure my eczema is besides diet also stressed related I’ll put great emphasis on living a low stress lifestyle. And most important of all I’ll practice to love unconditionally, which being honest, isn’t always that simple! How I will manage to accomplice all this is what I will be sharing with all of you. Next year we’ll go beyond the kitchen, and don’t worry, every journey has to be accompanied with delicious food!
I’d like to invite you to walk this path of healing, together with me. With all the things happening in the world right now we could all use a little bit of love and healing. I can’t wait to share this light with you and invite you to share your’s with me. For now I’m wishing you a blessed new year, let’s work toward creating a healthy and loving planet, we can do this!
One Love,
A.J.
Love you! <3
Love you too ??