Africa Grace: Keys To Natural Living - May 2015.

A lovely blue skied not too chilly Saturday, towards the end of May found me spending the day...yes the whole day...in the renowned Maboneng Precinct in Joburg. The morning was filled with motivational and inspirational talks around healthy living including superfoods for physical health, relationship health, financial health and creating green living spaces. (the afternoon was filled with all things hair and body, details of which will follow in the next post).

The beloved Karabo of Afro Amour chaired the event whilst beloved Margaret of Me Time Events played the perfect host catering to our every need.

Charlotte Steenekamp of Africa Grace and Better4Life kicked off the proceedings giving us details of the healthy living habits she has adapted and why. I made sure I bought some of her Moringa Leaf Powder as well as her a Energy Leaf Tea Blend (and some of her yummy healthy chocolate and some bath salts and and and yes she has some good products).
A few key points I took away:

• You don't have to take supplements if you make food your medicine.
• 75% Raw food is always best
• Don't eat too much cashew nuts as they can shut or stop certain functions in the body
• Look at your life and find ONE thing that you can change (too often we try to change a number of things and end up not changing at all).

Karabo and Charlotte giving away a prize

Sheila Wise Rowe, Christian Life Coach and Counselor, Co-founder of Rebecca's Well and Co-Author of the forth coming book entitled 'The Well of Life', beautifully reminded us about the importance of maintaining healthy relationships. Sheila also had some lovely jewelry on sale at the event and I made sure I got a few pieces.
Some points I took away included:

• Stop and take time to think about the relationships we have.
• Mutual Respect is core to a relationship
• Communication is also core and entails very open and honest communication. 
• Values - where one does not feel threatened because their values differ. A good relationship looks at how the individuals compromise and talk about meeting each others values. 
• Compromise and negotiation
• We need to be intentional - write down what relationship we want. Make a commitment to making any changes ourselves for the better of that relationship.
• We need to be clear - if we want something different we are going to have to change or be someone different without losing the essence of who we are: 'What are some things that I need to have in place, that I need to change in me to help change my relationships'? For example we can show and speak our gratitude of the other person in the relationship- appreciate more.

Sheila giving her talk

A very wise and knowledgeable Cobus van der Merwe, a Wealth Manager at PSG Wealth, gave us a talk on money management and financial healthy.
Some points I took away included:

• We have needs that need to be fulfilled such as certainty, significance, love and connection, growth, contribution/making a difference. When we don't have balance we will try and find something to satisfy the one need where we are lacking or focusing on.
• Truth Number One - All six basic needs above need to be looked after - for a fulfilled life
• Truth Number Two - money is not a need - it is a resource
• Truth Number Three - money cannot supply all the basic needs above (it has its own purpose).
• Truth Number Four - money is not evil - its the person using the money that is good or evil. Money is neutral.
• We rule over money/resources with time, experience and desire.
• There are certain principles and rules about money that we need to know before budgeting:
  1) Start with how much you will give away - sow the seed first - law of giving.
  2) How much will you save. Determine your needs and your wants and split them between basic needs and wants. Always ask what is your basic need - don't buy 'wants' until you have proven that you can stick to the budget and then reward yourself with the 'want'. This links into the Maslow hierarchy of needs as well.

Cobus telling it like it is

The morning ended off with a brief talk from Taryn who spoke about plants, plant life and urban gardening.
When looking at natural living, plants can play a significant part in improving ones well-being or living area, the four benefits of plants include:

1. Plants come with their own psychology and the effects on mind and space can be quite magical
2. Aesthetics - their look and feel in addition to look and feel around them
3. Food - a good source of nutrition
4. Ecology - they draw other life to them, for example birds. 

Taryn expressing her love for plants

See the wealth of knowledge one obtained in one Saturday morning. These certainly were keys to a healthy way of life and healthier living.

Where does hair come into all of this...well ....natural living will certainly assist in healthy natural hair. From what we eat to even how we spend money for example on hair products. Trying to get 200% healthy hair with product and technique alone will never really achieve the health we want, we need to help the hair from within our bodies as well. I enjoyed the event and hope to implement some of these keys into my own living not just for the better of my life, relationships and money but also for the better of my hair (o:

Listen to your body!