 My journey to living a simple natural life started about five years ago. I'd started a blog sharing my simple switches from store-bought chemical-filled products to homemade natural DIY alternatives. As I learnt more and more about the toxic load our bodies deal with on a day-to-day basis, just from simply living in our modern-day world, I'd started researching ways to reduce these unnecessary toxins on the body naturally, and became more and more fascinated by holistic natural health remedies to everyday ailments. I also learnt about nutrition and how the diet can play a huge role on our overall health. I tried out many, many different eating plans along the way. I went from a micronutrient-rich diet to dairy-free and gluten-free, to veganism, to now eating a vegetarian, low-carb, high-fat diet with little fish now and then. When I was living at home, my dad and I built our own veggie patch in the back garden to grow all kinds of organic vegetables, herbs and flowers to use in our cooking to reduce the amount of pesticide-laden produce we were buying at the store. Since last year, I've been living out of home where I moved up the coast to live by the beach. I don't have an organic garden to grow my own veggies anymore, so I'm in the process of sourcing seeds and pots to start my own small garden at my new place. Our backyard is a lot smaller, so I'm going to grow our herbs and veggies in pot plants to begin with. We already have a few pumpkins growing, which self-seeded from when I spread out our compost in the backyard. Until the garden is fully established, I try and buy as much of my groceries as I can afford from my local organic farmers market. I have so much variety and I always find some new and exotic food there. I mostly buy apples and leafy greens from the markets, as well as pasture-raised eggs, because that's what will mostly fit in my weekly food budget. I try and support local farmers as much as possible, and I really enjoy the markets as I get to talk to the growers and get tips for how to best grow certain fruits and vegetables organically. Over the five years, I've managed to swap out all my skin care, hair care, and body care products that I would usually buy from the shops to using my own homemade or natural already made versions. Now this didn't happen all at once, but gradually over time. I started with my shampoo and conditioner, then moved to skincare, then soaps, toothpaste, and so on. That's also one of the reasons why I started this YouTube channel to share natural alternatives to chemical-filled products sold at the store. I've recently transitioned to a plastic-free lifestyle too, as I've been learning about the extent of plastic pollution on our planet, as well as on our own health from microplastics. I buy any dry goods I need in glass jars and paper bags from my local bulk food store, and then make almost all my food from scratch. I'm very blessed to have the time and resources to do this, as I know not everyone has this luxury. Some of my most recent recipes I've made have been Nutella, coconut yoghurt, and fermented dill pickles. All the recipes and homemade natural products that I make can be found on my website if you're wanting to make some of your own products and food items too. The biggest change for me was the change in my attitude to realizing I had so much already, and saw that there was very little I needed to live well. I found connecting myself back to nature by gardening, hiking, spending more time in the ocean, helped ground me and fill me with more life than if I were to simply focus on earning more and more money. When I go into nature, it reminds me that we are all connected, and I'm filled with a sense of peace, even if it is only for a moment. I'm reminded that everything I do has an impact on everything around me. Every action we take is full of purpose, so I try and be as purposeful as I can when making small decisions like where I buy my clothes, food, and how I also dispose of those things. I compost as much as possible, and I donate or recycle as much clothing as I can that I no longer need or can use. My favorite places to buy my clothes are from the op shops or thrift stores, as I believe it gives clothing a second life. My journey to a natural organic lifestyle still continues, and my goal is to try and leave as little footprint as possible on this planet while I'm here. I'd love to have my own self-sustainable garden one day, and to even live off the grid for a while. My journey has been a collection of little steps, and will continue to be as I move forward. I believe the most sustainable changes we can make are those small actions that we take daily, as they soon become just another part of how we live our lives. I've found there's a richness in life when you live a little more simply. Rather than the constant pressure of needing more, more, more, I've come to realize that there is only so much we can buy, though big companies will tell us otherwise. Everything I've learned about natural health, nutrition, holistic remedies, plastic-free living has been shared to me by others. You learn so much around you can be utilized for your health and well-being. One of my favorite bloggers, Wellness Mama, who I've been following for years, shared on her blog about the health benefits of calendula, which I then grew and used in my calendula cream. Catherine Nelson, the creator of the website iPad Plastics, and who's commonly known on Instagram as Plastic-Free Mermaid, was the inspiration for me to go plastic-free. She's been living a plastic-free lifestyle for over a decade, and this showed me that it's not only possible to avoid plastics, but it can be easy to do. Something I didn't think was possible in our modern-day world before this. I hope to do the same by showing others there's other ways to live our lives, not just what we've been conditioned to think. I try and live my life with nature instead of against as best I can. When living more simply, more naturally, more sustainably, I've found that I utilize more things that before I would have deemed weren't important. I made some homemade Nutella because I had leftover hazelnuts, and I was like, what do I make with them? I thought, Nutella. So this is my vegan Nutella. It's so good. Nutella toast for breakfast? No. I grew lavender to make my own tincture, essential oil, and tea with. I've planted coriander or cilantro, which is a wonderful detoxifier for the body. And I've started making my own flaxseed meal fresh, as I learnt that flaxseeds actually oxidise very quickly when ground. So if the meal isn't used within a few minutes of grinding, it can oxidise and become unhealthy for us to consume. So you find different ways of utilising and changing things around you. I find living a simple, natural life means I'm always preparing, and I find joy in all these little preparations. I've become more aware of what I have in the house and what things I can make from that. I look up tutorials online and different how-to videos and blog posts for when I need a little help to make something. So I just finished making some dill pickles, which I've cut up cucumber and just popped them into some brine, and they'll be fermenting for about a few weeks until they become pickles that you see in the jars. So I'm very excited. I just started doing this as a way to reduce the amount of sugars and things that I'm eating because I find that the store-bought ones tend to come with a bit more sugar or other additives and things that I don't really want in the products that I'm buying. So just making my own means that I know exactly what's in it, and I can change up the spices to change up the flavour of the brine, however I like, which is really exciting. So this will be fermenting now for about like two, three weeks, and then I can use them. They keep sealed for up to a year, and then once you open the peels and use them, they keep in the fridge for a few weeks. Thank you so much for watching. Remember, we're all on our own journey, and that's amazing. I hope you enjoyed my video today, sharing a little of my day-to-day life in how I live a simple, natural life. I hope to see you again soon. Take care. Bye.