Hi everyone, just a quick update on where I’m at and what I’m looking forward to on the blog next year. I can’t believe I’ll be back home in Brisbane in just five days!
I have some huge plans for the blog next year. I’ll be adding a shopping cart and selling some of the products I use and recommend so they’re accessible to everyone, no matter where you live. And starting January I’ll be experimenting with The Body Ecology Diet using myself as a guinea pig. So I’ll be posting a lot about the diet, and how it’s affecting my mind, body and of course – skin.
Last week I stayed in a lazy seaside town in Greece called Vouliagmeni, which is just south of Athens. I chose this town in particular for its healing lake, and was lucky enough to spend the week just around the corner from it.
The magical Lake Vouliagmeni
Lake Vouliagmeni used to be a cave. It collapsed during an earthquake in the middle ages to form one of the most beautiful natural lakes I’ve ever seen. But it’s not really a lake, it’s more of a healing spa because the water is so special. The water is reported to have many healing properties and is noted to help conditions such as eczema and dermatological diseases, neuralgia, headaches, disfiguring arthritis, chronic gynecological diseases, lumbago, sciatica among many others. And since we’re talking about dermatological diseases, I’ll count acne in that.
Because Vouliagmeni lake is only 50 cm above sea level, it’s constantly overflowing and being replenished by warm springs beneath it. So despite the fact that it was almost winter in Greece and outside the air was quite cool, the warm springs kept the water temperature of Vouliagmeni lake at around 23°C.
The day I had a swim in the lake the water felt cold but not much different to that first swim in the ocean in summer. The first thing I noticed when I put my feet in was these tiny little black fish. They come up and kissed my feet when I stood still for too long which sounds creepy but it wasn’t, it just tickled! I took this photo of the fish kissing my travel buddies feet. And no, the bottom of the lake is not steel, but they do provide a few man-made stairs to make it easier to get in and out of the lake.
When I finally built up enough courage to dunk my entire body (including my head) into the lake, it felt more like I was in the ocean because the water was so salty. I wasn’t prepared for how salty it was but it makes sense considering the high healing mineral content of the water.
I’m very envious of the Vouliagmeni residents who live close to this lake. I used to love swimming laps in my local pool in Australia but I knew the high chlorine content of the water in public pools was doing me more harm than good so I stopped. Vouliagmeni lake is longer than 50 meters so perfect for a few slow laps, and there are many people every day doing just that. This to me seems like the ultimate healthy exercise, swimming laps in a healing lake.
Me in the lake!
The deck and banana lounges beside the lake
Throughout my travels in Europe I’ve discovered that nothing is free, and Vouliagmeni lake is no exception. It costs €8 for visitors, and €5 for locals to swim in the lake. In return you get a nice sundeck with banana loungers, showers, change rooms and a small cafe. I also counted three resident cats that seem to permanently live there which are absolutely gorgeous. I had a good time playing with a couple of very lovely kittens.
So am I healed? I’m not so sure about that. But I’m certain regular swimming in the water would do wonders for your health. I did leave the lake feeling happy and energetic and felt quite good for the remainder of the day.
If you’re ever in Athens I highly recommend you take a trip to Vouliagmeni to visit the lake. You can get there by tram from Athens city centre which takes about 1 hour, or a taxi from Athens airport to Vouliagmeni is less than a 30 minute drive and taxis in Greece are affordable.
I was brought up to believe the sun is dangerous and will give me skin cancer so throughout my life I’ve made a conscious effort to stay out of it. I remember beach holidays with my family when I was young, and how my mother would never let us step out onto the beach between the hours of 9am and 4pm. And we still had to cover our entire bodies with 30+ sunblock, zinc over our nose and wear a hat.
Me at the US Open trying to avoid the sun, this was the only shady spot I could find!
But recently I’ve come across some intriguing research which claims that many of us are vitamin D deficient because the only way to get enough daily vitamin D is by standing out in the sun, without sunblock on. And I guess we’re also so deficient because we’re all so afraid of the sun.
My history with the “evil” sun
If you live in Australia like me then you’ll be familiar with the “slip, slop, slap” campaign. We’re educated in school to be sun smart, taught to slip on a shirt, slop on sunscreen and slap on a hat whenever we go outside. TV advertisements and news shows like 60 Minutes scare us by displaying horrifying images of the worst cases of extreme skin cancers and melanomas. Australia really does make the sun out to be something quite evil and dangerous.
Even just earlier this year I went for a skin cancer check-up in Brisbane and was scolded by the doctor for not wearing long trousers, long sleeves and a wide brimmed hat whenever I step outside the doors of my home during daylight hours. He told me that I should be covering myself with sunblock head to toe when I get out of the shower in the morning.
I’m a red head with pale skin so I’m already in the highest danger category. My grandmother had a melanoma, and my grandfather, mother and uncle have all had minor skin cancers removed. My mum even had a cluster of skin cancers recently on her upper lip. So it’s in my family too. However, it is important to note that they all sunbaked in their youth (something I’ve never done), with my grandma even slathering herself with oil and cooking herself each day until she was as brown as possible. Continue reading →
It’s a little lame, but I love advent calendars. Especially chocolate advent calendars so I was delighted when I found this Divine 70% dark chocolate fair trade (that’s a mouthful!) advent calender in Wholefoods in London.
The calender only contains 85g of chocolate so spread out over 24 days I won’t be eating much refined sugar at all. It’s a good option if you don’t want to binge on too much sugar, and you can always share.
Each day up until Christmas opens up to a small heart shape 70% dark chocolate with a Christmas message. I would have preferred a different Christmas themed shape on each day, but the heart is my favorite chocolate shape so I’m not complaining.
Why Divine chocolate is better
It’s not that Divine chocolate is healthier, because it isn’t – it still contains refined sugar. It’s better because they’re one of the few fair trade chocolate manufacturers.
What does that mean?
It means that when Divine buys the cacao bean off the farmers in Ghana, West Africa, they offer them a fair and reliable price which means the farmers can plan for a better future. And the cooperative in Africa co-owns the cacao farms with Divine which means they can equally share in the profits too. So each Divine product that you buy, is helping the cacao farmers in West Africa.
With the money recieved in profits, the farmers can sink water wells, build schools, arrange healthcare and fund other real improvements to their living standards. The kind of stuff we take for granted in the developed world.
When I was reading up about Divine today on their website and looking at the pictures of the village and the farmers, it made me stop and think how self centered and vain I can sometimes be worrying about every tiny blackhead or minute mark on my skin. It’s a huge world out there and I’m very lucky to have what I have. Today I’m very grateful for loving organizations like Divine popping up who are inspired enough to go that one step further and reach out and help others instead of just helping themselves.
Wow, that’s a very Christmas moment. I guess the advent calendar has done it’s job!
Next time you’re browsing the chocolate aisle in Wholefoods or your local health store, check out Divine if it’s in store. Even if you don’t care about the ethical stuff, it’s one tasty chocolate! (But buy the dark, it’s not as bad for your health ..)
The day I had a swim in the lake the water felt cold but not much different to that first swim in the ocean in summer. The first thing I noticed when I put my feet in was these tiny little black fish. They come up and kissed my feet when I stood still for too long which sounds creepy but it wasn’t, it just tickled! I took this photo of the fish kissing my travel buddies feet. And no, the bottom of the lake is not steel, but they do provide a few man-made stairs to make it easier to get in and out of the lake.
If you live in Australia like me then you’ll be familiar with the “slip, slop, slap” campaign. We’re educated in school to be sun smart, taught to slip on a shirt, slop on sunscreen and slap on a hat whenever we go outside. TV advertisements and news shows like 60 Minutes scare us by displaying horrifying images of the worst cases of extreme skin cancers and melanomas. Australia really does make the sun out to be something quite evil and dangerous.
It’s a little lame, but I love advent calendars. Especially chocolate advent calendars so I was delighted when I found this Divine 70% dark chocolate fair trade (that’s a mouthful!) advent calender in Wholefoods in London.
It means that when Divine buys the cacao bean off the farmers in Ghana, West Africa, they offer them a fair and reliable price which means the farmers can plan for a better future. And the cooperative in Africa co-owns the cacao farms with Divine which means they can equally share in the profits too. So each Divine product that you buy, is helping the cacao farmers in West Africa.
