Indrani Perera

poet, publisher & mentor

Category: Natural Health & Beauty

A Blissful Country Day

I have just had the most incredible day of pampering, nurturing, indulgence and relaxing. Last weekend I headed north out of town for a retreat at the stunning Lil Acres in Woodend. It's only a 1.5 hour drive from my place but it feels like a whole other world. There are trees everywhere and the sound of bird song and insect life soothes city ears more attuned to the hum of traffic. I was greeted by Liana Quach of Body Barre Yoga on arrival and she took me to the gorgeous deck you can see in the photos. I could spend all day there just drinking in the view of Mt Macedon. And drinking the green juice she specially made for me from the juice bar. I don't eat fruit so Liana whipped up a cucumber, celery and ginger juice for me. Yummmm.

After everyone had arrived we headed on down past the veggie patch and the chook pen to the studio. This gorgeous light filled room has the most beautiful view of trees and sky. Being surrounded by trees and light is so calming. Liana is a wonderful teacher and manages to bring together many different elements in a cohesive way to nurture mind, body and soul. The day began with Liana giving us each a beautiful peony flower and then reading a gorgeous poem about peonies. I know – poetry and nature right from the start! But wait, it gets better. We each then set our intention for the day with Liana guiding us to be aware and pay attention to energy during the day. She then lit a bundle of white sage and smoked each of us in turn. This part of the day had tingles going up my spine to my crown.

Our first session was pilates and I loved all the exercises and feeling my body lengthen and stretch. I've spent far too much time hunched over craft or a keyboard. The session ended with a beautiful meditation during which Liana came around with peppermint and orange essential oils on her palms. She rubbed her palms together as we sat and meditated and the scents washed over me in a wave. It was wonderful to have my senses engaged while meditating. Especially smell – our oldest sense. We then headed back up to the deck to drink in the view and eat morning tea.

The second session for the day was beautiful flowing yoga. The tree pose was my favourite, especially when Liana told us to grow roots into the earth from our foot planted on the floor. The session ended with yoga nidra or sleep yoga. I'd never heard of it before but it's now my favourite kind of yoga. During nidra yoga you enter the space between awake and asleep and it is so rejuvenating and healing. I was pretty sleep deprived going into Saturday but after the yoga nidra felt like I had caught up on sleep. Which was lucky as I had a delicious home cooked lunch waiting for me on the deck!

Liana and her partner Namdo served the most incredible food. It came straight from the farm to our plates and tasted amazing. I swear I could taste the sun and the love and all the fresh air. They did a beautiful job of catering for all my dietary requirements and altered each dish so I could eat it. I'm so used to going places and having to interrogate the wait staff about the ingredients in each dish and then feeling very awkward for being so fussy. It was so wonderful to know all my dietary requirements were catered for and I could eat whatever was put before me.

For morning tea we ate chia seed puddings topped with coconut cream and mango puree with a goji berry garnish or a nut butter and buckwheat garnish for me. The crunchy buckwheat kernels combined with the creamy coconut was an awesome explosion of texture in my mouth.

Before lunch we snacked on house cured olives (mmmm, my favourite. Sooooo good!), home made salami, cheese and seed crackers. The lunch was filo pastries stuffed with home grown spinach and haloumi for the vegetarians or roast lamb for the carnivores. Each plate came with veggies from the garden including fennel, leek, garlic scrapes and whole broadbeans. If that wasn't enough there were also two green salads. Dessert was a blueberry galette with clotted cream or for me, more olives. Mmmmm.

The servings were generous but I still managed to fit it all in. How could I not? The food was just too good! Every detail for the day was carefully thought out and the exercise planned so we could eat and not feel too full to do pilates or yoga.

After lunch we met the farm animals and then took a walk into the bush. Lil Acres is set on 15 acres and surrounding the house and farm there are beautiful, tall gum trees. We didn't get to meet the black wallaby who lives among the trees but I did see cockatoos and parrots as well as hearing kookaburras. As part of our walk we practiced fox walking and owl eyes both of which I had learnt with Mel Turnbull of Firekeepers.

My favourite part was when Liana had each of us do a mudra of giving and receiving while we breathed out carbon dioxide to a tree and then breathed in oxygen from the same tree. It was amazing to connect with a tree and my breath in this way. I now feel this really deep connection to the trees on her property and an immense sense of gratitude and wonder. I can't wait to try it out on the trees in my neighbourhood.

We ended the day as we began, in the studio. A final meditation, receiving our flowers and then saying our goodbyes. It was the most wonderful day and exactly what I needed. Liana is a phenomenal teacher and any time she holds a retreat, I'm there!

November 15, 2018
A Blissful Country Day

I have just had the most incredible day of pampering, nurturing, indulgence and relaxing. Last weekend I headed north out of town for a retreat at the stunning Lil Acres in Woodend. It's only a 1.5 hour drive from my place but it feels like a whole other world. There are trees everywhere and the sound of bird song and insect life soothes city ears more attuned to the hum of traffic. I was greeted by Liana Quach of Body Barre Yoga on arrival and she took me to the gorgeous deck you can see in the photos. I could spend all day there just drinking in the view of Mt Macedon. And drinking the green juice she specially made for me from the juice bar. I don't eat fruit so Liana whipped up a cucumber, celery and ginger juice for me. Yummmm.

After everyone had arrived we headed on down past the veggie patch and the chook pen to the studio. This gorgeous light filled room has the most beautiful view of trees and sky. Being surrounded by trees and light is so calming. Liana is a wonderful teacher and manages to bring together many different elements in a cohesive way to nurture mind, body and soul. The day began with Liana giving us each a beautiful peony flower and then reading a gorgeous poem about peonies. I know – poetry and nature right from the start! But wait, it gets better. We each then set our intention for the day with Liana guiding us to be aware and pay attention to energy during the day. She then lit a bundle of white sage and smoked each of us in turn. This part of the day had tingles going up my spine to my crown.

Our first session was pilates and I loved all the exercises and feeling my body lengthen and stretch. I've spent far too much time hunched over craft or a keyboard. The session ended with a beautiful meditation during which Liana came around with peppermint and orange essential oils on her palms. She rubbed her palms together as we sat and meditated and the scents washed over me in a wave. It was wonderful to have my senses engaged while meditating. Especially smell – our oldest sense. We then headed back up to the deck to drink in the view and eat morning tea.

The second session for the day was beautiful flowing yoga. The tree pose was my favourite, especially when Liana told us to grow roots into the earth from our foot planted on the floor. The session ended with yoga nidra or sleep yoga. I'd never heard of it before but it's now my favourite kind of yoga. During nidra yoga you enter the space between awake and asleep and it is so rejuvenating and healing. I was pretty sleep deprived going into Saturday but after the yoga nidra felt like I had caught up on sleep. Which was lucky as I had a delicious home cooked lunch waiting for me on the deck!

Liana and her partner Namdo served the most incredible food. It came straight from the farm to our plates and tasted amazing. I swear I could taste the sun and the love and all the fresh air. They did a beautiful job of catering for all my dietary requirements and altered each dish so I could eat it. I'm so used to going places and having to interrogate the wait staff about the ingredients in each dish and then feeling very awkward for being so fussy. It was so wonderful to know all my dietary requirements were catered for and I could eat whatever was put before me.

For morning tea we ate chia seed puddings topped with coconut cream and mango puree with a goji berry garnish or a nut butter and buckwheat garnish for me. The crunchy buckwheat kernels combined with the creamy coconut was an awesome explosion of texture in my mouth.

Before lunch we snacked on house cured olives (mmmm, my favourite. Sooooo good!), home made salami, cheese and seed crackers. The lunch was filo pastries stuffed with home grown spinach and haloumi for the vegetarians or roast lamb for the carnivores. Each plate came with veggies from the garden including fennel, leek, garlic scrapes and whole broadbeans. If that wasn't enough there were also two green salads. Dessert was a blueberry galette with clotted cream or for me, more olives. Mmmmm.

The servings were generous but I still managed to fit it all in. How could I not? The food was just too good! Every detail for the day was carefully thought out and the exercise planned so we could eat and not feel too full to do pilates or yoga.

After lunch we met the farm animals and then took a walk into the bush. Lil Acres is set on 15 acres and surrounding the house and farm there are beautiful, tall gum trees. We didn't get to meet the black wallaby who lives among the trees but I did see cockatoos and parrots as well as hearing kookaburras. As part of our walk we practiced fox walking and owl eyes both of which I had learnt with Mel Turnbull of Firekeepers.

My favourite part was when Liana had each of us do a mudra of giving and receiving while we breathed out carbon dioxide to a tree and then breathed in oxygen from the same tree. It was amazing to connect with a tree and my breath in this way. I now feel this really deep connection to the trees on her property and an immense sense of gratitude and wonder. I can't wait to try it out on the trees in my neighbourhood.

We ended the day as we began, in the studio. A final meditation, receiving our flowers and then saying our goodbyes. It was the most wonderful day and exactly what I needed. Liana is a phenomenal teacher and any time she holds a retreat, I'm there!

November 15, 2018
Homemade Toothpaste Take 2

My first attempt at making and using homemade toothpaste lasted a couple of months and then I got lazy erm, busy. Yep, that's right, busy. I can't make my old toothpaste anymore cos I've run out of the charcoal salt.

I've been eyeing off a toothpaste at my heath food store because it contains no sweetener. Is it just me or is it crazy to be putting sweeteners in the stuff that's supposed to be cleaning our teeth? I haven't bought the toothpaste cos it costs around $40 for a small tub of the stuff. Hello, making your own!

I created the toothpaste using a mixture of diatomaceous earth, bentonite clay, charcoal and coconut oil to act as a binder. I didn't add any essential oils, sweetener or salt my toothpaste. I'm not a huge fan of the current trend of adding essential oil to everything, sweetener in toothpaste drives me crazy and I wasn't sure about salt (I read somewhere it's anti-bacterial and we don't want to kill off the bacteria in our mouths because they are a good thing. Dunno if it's true however!).

Diatomaceous earth is a naturally occurring source of silica, a key ingredient of toothpaste. The silica is abrasive and apparently helps to remove plaque from teeth.

Bentonite clay is composed of ash created by volcanoes and is harvested in France, Italy and the US. From what I read on the inter web, it has negatively charged molecules which bind with the positively charged toxins and draw them out of the body. Worth a go hey?

My dad grew up in Sri Lanka and used charcoal to brush his teeth. He didn't have any cavities until he came to Australia and stopped using charcoal to brush his teeth so I figured adding charcoal would be a good thing.

So, after all of my research into ingredients and creating the toothpaste, what's the verdict you ask? Well, charcoal is VERY black. Yes I know. But it is! It makes your basin go black and the tiles and your mouth and anything else it comes into contact with. Adding the coconut oil means my basin is now stained with a layer of coconut oil and charcoal. Given we brush our teeth twice a day, I've stopped using the toothpaste. I'm going to make it again, only without the coconut oil. I'll keep you posted.

July 3, 2018
Homemade Toothpaste Take 2

My first attempt at making and using homemade toothpaste lasted a couple of months and then I got lazy erm, busy. Yep, that's right, busy. I can't make my old toothpaste anymore cos I've run out of the charcoal salt.

I've been eyeing off a toothpaste at my heath food store because it contains no sweetener. Is it just me or is it crazy to be putting sweeteners in the stuff that's supposed to be cleaning our teeth? I haven't bought the toothpaste cos it costs around $40 for a small tub of the stuff. Hello, making your own!

I created the toothpaste using a mixture of diatomaceous earth, bentonite clay, charcoal and coconut oil to act as a binder. I didn't add any essential oils, sweetener or salt my toothpaste. I'm not a huge fan of the current trend of adding essential oil to everything, sweetener in toothpaste drives me crazy and I wasn't sure about salt (I read somewhere it's anti-bacterial and we don't want to kill off the bacteria in our mouths because they are a good thing. Dunno if it's true however!).

Diatomaceous earth is a naturally occurring source of silica, a key ingredient of toothpaste. The silica is abrasive and apparently helps to remove plaque from teeth.

Bentonite clay is composed of ash created by volcanoes and is harvested in France, Italy and the US. From what I read on the inter web, it has negatively charged molecules which bind with the positively charged toxins and draw them out of the body. Worth a go hey?

My dad grew up in Sri Lanka and used charcoal to brush his teeth. He didn't have any cavities until he came to Australia and stopped using charcoal to brush his teeth so I figured adding charcoal would be a good thing.

So, after all of my research into ingredients and creating the toothpaste, what's the verdict you ask? Well, charcoal is VERY black. Yes I know. But it is! It makes your basin go black and the tiles and your mouth and anything else it comes into contact with. Adding the coconut oil means my basin is now stained with a layer of coconut oil and charcoal. Given we brush our teeth twice a day, I've stopped using the toothpaste. I'm going to make it again, only without the coconut oil. I'll keep you posted.

July 3, 2018
Cayenne Salve

The colder weather has me focused inwards on self care and making things to look after myself. As I get older I'm getting aches and pains in my hands and feet. I suspect they are the beginning of arthritis. Curcumin capsules* are doing the trick for my hands but my feet are still sore.

A friend mentioned she had seen a recipe online for making a cayenne pepper salve and it was good for treating inflammation. It was all I needed to get cooking in the kitchen!

I don't usually post other people's recipe here but I converted this one to metric and cups which I thought would be useful for those folks not speaking imperial measurements.

* (curcumin is the active ingredient in turmeric. I tried using straight tumeric but it asn't powerful enough for my symptoms)

Cayenne Salve Recipe from Learning Herbs

1/2 cup organic olive oil

2 tbsp organic cayenne pepper powder

scant 1/2 cup (57 g) beeswax pellets

clean glass jar

Infusing the oil

Put the cayenne and oil into a clean glass jug.

Place on the top of a double boiler.

Warm the oil (I boiled the water in the bottom of the boule boiler for 10 minutes).

Let sit in the double boiler with the lid on for 20 minutes.

Repeat at least two more times.

Making the salve

Strain the oil through cheesecloth. I didn't have any so the next day I carefully poured the oil off the top. Most of the cayenne pepper had settled on the bottom into a dark brown cake. I threw the cayenne into the bin, I wonder if you could put it in your compost.

Add the beeswax and heat until melted together.

Pour into the clean glass jar.

Note: The first time I had a go at making the recipe, I used fresh cayenne peppers to infuse the oil but they weren't organic and I figured if I was making medicine, it should be organic.

May 29, 2018
Cayenne Salve

The colder weather has me focused inwards on self care and making things to look after myself. As I get older I'm getting aches and pains in my hands and feet. I suspect they are the beginning of arthritis. Curcumin capsules* are doing the trick for my hands but my feet are still sore.

A friend mentioned she had seen a recipe online for making a cayenne pepper salve and it was good for treating inflammation. It was all I needed to get cooking in the kitchen!

I don't usually post other people's recipe here but I converted this one to metric and cups which I thought would be useful for those folks not speaking imperial measurements.

* (curcumin is the active ingredient in turmeric. I tried using straight tumeric but it asn't powerful enough for my symptoms)

Cayenne Salve Recipe from Learning Herbs

1/2 cup organic olive oil

2 tbsp organic cayenne pepper powder

scant 1/2 cup (57 g) beeswax pellets

clean glass jar

Infusing the oil

Put the cayenne and oil into a clean glass jug.

Place on the top of a double boiler.

Warm the oil (I boiled the water in the bottom of the boule boiler for 10 minutes).

Let sit in the double boiler with the lid on for 20 minutes.

Repeat at least two more times.

Making the salve

Strain the oil through cheesecloth. I didn't have any so the next day I carefully poured the oil off the top. Most of the cayenne pepper had settled on the bottom into a dark brown cake. I threw the cayenne into the bin, I wonder if you could put it in your compost.

Add the beeswax and heat until melted together.

Pour into the clean glass jar.

Note: The first time I had a go at making the recipe, I used fresh cayenne peppers to infuse the oil but they weren't organic and I figured if I was making medicine, it should be organic.

May 29, 2018
Hair Cream

On a recent and rare visit to get my hair cut, the hairdresser asked if I used any products. I think from the state of my hair when I walked in, he already knew the answer but was being polite. My hair is thick and these days has a lot of white through it. I've no idea why people always say grey, it's most definitely white! Apparently the white makes it go frizzy. I thought it was because I moved from Sydney to Melbourne where it's drier. Either way a product of some kind will definitely help to tame it.

It got me to thinking I could use a hair cream. Not the one he offered in the salon which I am sure was chock full of toxic chemicals and synthetic ingredients. I couldn't actually read the ingredients cos along with getting lots of white hair, my eye sight is going too! But a natural and organic one that's going to be god for my hair, my skin and my health.

I did some surfing and most recipes used an oil such as coconut, jojoba, argan or avocado with added essential oils. I knew I was after a cream I could run through the ends so I went for a base of coconut oil. This article helped me decide which other oils to add. My choice of ingredients was also influenced by what I already had in my cupboard :o)

Coconut oil has vitamin E and is known to reduce frizz. Jojoba is the oil that is the most similar to hair sebum which means it doesn't mess with your scalp's natural balance. Rosehip oil has vitamin A and is absorbed easily by hair. I remember reading years ago that rosemary essential oil is good for dark hair (chamomile for fair hair) and this article also said it's great for promoting hair growth and inhibiting greys. Gotta be worth a try hey?

Hair Cream

2 tbsp coconut oil

1 tbsp jojoba oil

10 drops (1ml) rosehip oil

15 drops (1ml) rosemary essential oil

In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients together.

Pour carefully into a container.

Label and enjoy frizz free hair!

To use: apply to slightly damp hair. Start at the ends and work your way up.

Note: this recipe made a fairly liquid cream. In the hot weather, the coconut oil will melt making it runny. Next time I'm going to add beeswax to make a more solid hair wax.

December 18, 2017
Hair Cream

On a recent and rare visit to get my hair cut, the hairdresser asked if I used any products. I think from the state of my hair when I walked in, he already knew the answer but was being polite. My hair is thick and these days has a lot of white through it. I've no idea why people always say grey, it's most definitely white! Apparently the white makes it go frizzy. I thought it was because I moved from Sydney to Melbourne where it's drier. Either way a product of some kind will definitely help to tame it.

It got me to thinking I could use a hair cream. Not the one he offered in the salon which I am sure was chock full of toxic chemicals and synthetic ingredients. I couldn't actually read the ingredients cos along with getting lots of white hair, my eye sight is going too! But a natural and organic one that's going to be god for my hair, my skin and my health.

I did some surfing and most recipes used an oil such as coconut, jojoba, argan or avocado with added essential oils. I knew I was after a cream I could run through the ends so I went for a base of coconut oil. This article helped me decide which other oils to add. My choice of ingredients was also influenced by what I already had in my cupboard :o)

Coconut oil has vitamin E and is known to reduce frizz. Jojoba is the oil that is the most similar to hair sebum which means it doesn't mess with your scalp's natural balance. Rosehip oil has vitamin A and is absorbed easily by hair. I remember reading years ago that rosemary essential oil is good for dark hair (chamomile for fair hair) and this article also said it's great for promoting hair growth and inhibiting greys. Gotta be worth a try hey?

Hair Cream

2 tbsp coconut oil

1 tbsp jojoba oil

10 drops (1ml) rosehip oil

15 drops (1ml) rosemary essential oil

In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients together.

Pour carefully into a container.

Label and enjoy frizz free hair!

To use: apply to slightly damp hair. Start at the ends and work your way up.

Note: this recipe made a fairly liquid cream. In the hot weather, the coconut oil will melt making it runny. Next time I'm going to add beeswax to make a more solid hair wax.

December 18, 2017
Homemade Natural Toothpaste

I've been posting lots of yummy sweet recipes recently. It's definitely that time of year! This week, we're still in the kitchen but I thought after all those sweet treats, we ought to do something about cleaning our teeth. So we're going to make our own toothpaste. Again, it's super simple and cheap.

What's better, you'll know exactly what you are putting in your mouth and using to brush your teeth. Some of the ingredients in commercial toothpaste are pretty scary. Did you know that glycerin, which makes the toothpaste creamy and coats the teeth, also prevents re-enamalisation? That means that your cavities can't self-heal. (I didn't even know my cavaties could self-heal until I started looking into alternative toothpastes).

My dad grew up in Sri Lanka and used to brush his teeth with charcoal. When he came to Australia, aged 29, he didn't have a single cavity. He didn't get his first filling till he was 40.!

If you don't feel like making your own toothpaste, rubbing a sage leaf over your teeth and gums will also make them feel polished and clean.

Homemade Toothpaste (makes enough for a month)

2 tbsp baking soda

1 tsp sea salt (I use charcoal activated)

2 tbsp coconut oil

10 drops of essential oil (I like spearmint. Peppermint is also good)

Mix the baking soda and sea salt together well.

Add the coconut and essential oils.

Mix well.

Pop into a lidded container.

To use: wash hands well and scoop out a smidge of paste to pop on your brush.

It definitely tastes different to the sweet toothpaste you buy in the shops. It's salty and the coconut oil texture is almost, but not quite, like that of regular toothpaste. But you do get used to it. After a couple of months, I prefer this to the commercial kind. My daughters (aged 5 and 9) happily use it. And there is no danger of them wanting to swallow this paste!

February 15, 2016
Homemade Lip Balm

I know that I’ve been posting a lot lately about last year’s Christmas craft. (This is the last one, I promise!). I can’t help it because there’s soooo much making goodness that happens around Christmas time. I didn’t post this last year because some of the readers of the blog were getting lip balms in their Christmas stockings.

This recipe comes from Soulemama – she’s a heroine of mine. Blogger, crafter, homesteader, editor and mama to five children and she still finds the time to make the things she needs. Like me, she’s big on the Christmas crafts and giving of handmade gifts.

I love this recipe. It’s all natural and super easy to make. I like to use organic ingredients for this – it makes the gift extra special. My daughters give this gift to their friends and I suspect rather a lot of it gets eaten off the little ones’ lips. It’s tasty! Knowing that it’s organic and natural means I don’t have to worry about how much they’re eating and how much is actually being used as lip balm!

You can get the organic coconut oil and organic honey from the supermarket. I use New Directions Australia for the organic peppermint oil, beeswax beads and aluminium tins. They have everything you could possibly need for making your own beauty products. You’ve been warned – their site is very tempting and dangerous!

You can make this recipe with kids but you have to be careful as it involves boiling water and hot liquids. My girls helped me to wash the tins and very carefully stir the melting mixture on the stove. They also helped with writing and putting on the labels.

Organic Peppermint Lip Balm

8 tbsp organic coconut oil

tbsp organic honey

3 tsbp beeswax

20 drops organic peppermint essential oil

Bring a saucepan of water with lid on to the boil.

While the water is coming to a boil put the coconut oil, honey and beeswax in a glass jug.

When the water has boiled, put the glass jug in the steamer. Put the steamer on top of the boiling water.

Be patient while your mixture melts. You can put the lid on the double boiler to speed things up but everything ends up coated in beeswax which is tricky to clean off. Best to be patient.*

Once it has melted, take the jug off the heat.

Stir in your essential oil.

Pour into your tins.

Once cooled, put on the lids.

Note: I’ve found when making this recipe that I end up with a lot of honey in the last couple of tins I pour out. Not sure why. If you know, please send me an email!

*Like me, if you weren’t patient and need to clean your saucepan, just heat it gently again when empty and wipe off the softened beeswax with a paper towel.

February 1, 2016