Join us on a Sunday afternoon for a CELEBRATION of Acrobatic Yoga, Spirit-lifting live music, and Soul-nourishing Mexican wholefood!

Acrobatic Yoga is a delightful artform that anyone with an open mind and adventurous spirit can partake in.

Having recently completed 4 weeks of Acrobatic Yoga workshops, Sam & Casey wish to share with you the gifts of this practice, in the spirit of trust, playfulness, mutual support and community!

Green Smoothie Yoga & Nutrition and Try Less, Be More in collaboration with The Living Well Studio extend their invitation to the wider community to enjoy all things inverted, balanced and FUN!

Your ticket to this fun-filled EXTRAVAGANZA includes:

• 2.5 Hour ACROBATIC YOGA Workshop – safe practice & integration of ALL facets of Acrobatic Yoga covered during the 4 weeks of workshops… PLUS new moves, transitions, counterbalances, rotations and MORE! All levels welcome and catered for, come as a beginner to find out what all the fuss is about, or as an experienced “base or flyer” ready to expand your repertoir and your imagination!
• Live music by Frankie & the Moon, artist of “Dreams” – check out Frankie’s talent and our acro moves here: http://youtu.be/ML0FP4wss2c
• Wholefood MEXICAN cuisine – after the workshop enjoy a hearty healthy Mexican meal prepared with love by experienced wholefoods chef Palasis Cooney!
• Lucky Draw Prize by lululemon athletica – you have to be in it to win it!

Tickets

$50.00

Bookings essential, as places are places limited to 30!

Book online here

Looking forward to flying and feasting with you!

Tap into a well of inner strength and vibrancy after a one-day mini yoga and soul-food retreat in the Northern Gold Coast Hinterlands, wellness retreat hub. At this unique retreat, Green Smoothie Yoga & Nutrition is able to fuse our passions for food and love of yoga into one life-changing event, at a cost the fraction of the usual price of the individual components making up the retreat.

Location

Green Smoothie Yoga & Nutrition Retreat, Maudsland

Date

Sunday 3 June, 2012

Time

8:30 am – 5:00 pm

Value

• 2 Hr Specially designed Warming Winter Yoga Class (Value $50)
• Spicy Detox Juices and Cleansing morning Tea (Value $22)
• Vibrant Nutrition Seminar (Value $58)
• Interactive Healthy Cooking Class (Value $52)
• Delicious Vegetarian Lunch & Dessert (Value $35)
• 1 Hr Soothing & Restorative Yoga Nidra Class w/Mini Head, Neck, Shoulder & Foot Massage (Value $35)
• Warming Afternoon Tea – Chai, Gluten Free Treats (Value $17)
• Yoga Philosophy, Journey Circle, Meditation (Value $25)

Total Value – $295.00

Special Price – $160 pp Early bird

($180 pp if booked after Friday 25  May)

Numbers limited to a maximum of 8 people to assure individualised attention and a uniquely calming experience for each participant.

Contact us at casey@greensmoothieyoga.com or phone 0432 618 279 to book your place for this beautiful day of self-care and body love that will leave you warm, nourished and on a natural high!

Just to give you a peek at what we’ll be getting up to at the Acrobatic Yoga Workshop Series, starting Thursday March 22nd, 2012 on the Gold Coast.

If you like what you see and want to be a part, click here  to find out times, location and other information you may need to attend any or all of the workshops!

with Sam Foster from Try Less Be More
& Casey Conroy from Green Smoothie Yoga & Nutrition
In collaboration with The Living Well Studio…

Thurs Evenings
March 22 & 29, April 5 & 12

6:30- 8:30 pm

Only $20 pp per workshop

We are excited to invite you to take to the mats and experience the ecstatic sensation of flight, for this unique series of four uplifting workshops…

Embrace the opportunity to push past the limitations of an individual practice and experience the nurturing sense of community that yoga can bring.
No partner is necessary, come and join us and make new friends!

Each multi-level class intelligently weaves together elements from a masala of liberating traditions:

• Vinyasa Flow
• Acrobatic Partner Yoga
• Restorative & Dynamic Flying
• Circus Acrobalance – stacks, flags, thigh stands, levers, lifts & more!
• Contact Improv – dance form that builds trust, flow & creativity
• Shiatsu, KaHuna & Thai Massage traditions
• Pranayama & Deep Relaxation

Delight in the process of advancing your physical faculties beyond your wildest dreams!
Experience the trust, surrender and community this kind of practice brings.

Develop a limitless mindset & discover the freedom of defying gravity facilitated by your fellow yogis.
These workshops will develop in you the courage to be free and the lightness to be open, regardless of experience level.

For only $20 per class this is an *extremely* affordable opportunity to learn multiple modalities from highly experienced practitioners in a safe setting – not to be missed!

Come to all, some or just one of the 4 workshops… it is up to you! They will all be different and build on gains from the previous week, but all levels will be catered for.

Your teachers

Sam Foster is a trained stuntsman experienced in acrobatic, aerial and circus arts, as well as yoga. He brings contact improv to the mix, an amazing post-modern dance form that enhances your acrobatic flying experience! His safe and nurturing style allows you to progress confidently with ease.

Casey Conroy is an integrative health practitioner trained in acrobatic yoga, acrobalance and aerial arts including flying trapeze and aerial silks. She also loves slacklining, KaHuna flying and dynamic, creative vinyasa flow! Her playful style will keep you motivated and excited to keep learning more!

Both yoga teachers are also fully qualified massage therapists, bringing an intuitive and supportive touch to your acrobatic yoga learning experience.

Come fly with us, and never look at your yoga practice the same way again!! ♥
 

To visit the event Facebook page, click here
 

To secure your place at any or all of the workshops, please email casey@greensmoothieyoga.com

Bookings click HERE

Click here to take survey and enter the draw to win a free conscious cooking class!

2012 brings a new year of conscious cooking classes! We are cooking up a batch of delicious new classes for the year and you have the chance to attend one for FREE! Here’s why…

I’m setting up an integrated nutrition practice to kick off in April this year. As a dietitian I provide Medicare, DVA and private health fund rebates for consultations, however I differ from other dietitians in that I blend clinical and holistic approaches to give you the best chance of achieving your optimal level of health! 

My goal is to bring a complementary light to clinical dietetics, using natural therapies backed by a growing body of evidence, and applied in safe, practical and revolutionary ways to improve wellbeing and inner peace. 

Your health is your most valuable asset. Without optimal health you can’t enjoy your career, wealth, relationships and the plethora of experiences life has to offer as fully nor as consciously.

Everyone knows nutrition is key to health. But when people want nutritional advice, it’s not always straightforward who to ask. There are nutritionists, naturopaths and dietitians. There’s also that guy at the gym or health food store selling supplements.

Let’s not forget GPs, pharmacists, Traditional chinese medicine practitioners, herbalists, raw food coaches, personal trainers, and other people working in the health industry that, qualified or not, are all privy to handing out nutritional advice.

What to choose… Medical or Holistic?

In the world of nutrition, my experience has been that the approaches used by nutrition professionals tend to fall under one of two labels: mainstream science and naturopathic. Alternative, holistic, complementary and natural are terms used interchangably with the naturopathic approach.

Those who practise in line with mainstream medical science use the objective evidence-base as a foundation for their entire approach. This is the realm of dietitians, who in addition to their qualification in human nutrition, have undertaken training including substantial theory and professional practice in clinical nutrition, medical nutrition therapy and food service management. Dietitians are trained to use both food and artificial supplementation to correct medically diagnosed diseases and carefully calculated deficiencies in patients.

On the other hand, a naturopath‘s approach to nutrition tends to be more “holistic”, and encourages minimal use of surgery and unnecessary drugs. The ideology focuses on naturally-occurring substances, minimally-invasive methods, and encouragement of natural healing. Naturopathic treatments range from standard evidence-based treatments, to homeopathy and other practices sometimes characterised unfavourably by the medical profession as pseudoscience.

Naturopaths who also call themselves nutritionists are generally less conservative in their approach to nutrition than dietitians, in that they may use unconventional diagnostic tools, and prescribe vitamin mega-doses, nutrient supplements and strict diets which are not accepted by mainstream medical and nutritional science.

As the burden of chronic disease expands, it is predicted that consumer demand for both medical nutrition professionals and alternative/naturopathic/holistic therapies will continue to grow. Although the public still largely trusts dietitians and often turns to them for the Medicare reimbursement advantage they provide, more and more consumers are digging into their own pockets and reaching out for alternative nutritional therapists. The body of scientific evidence for many alternative therapies is also growing.

The need for a new paradigm

Integrative medicine is a term used by a growing body of health practitioners and is defined as the best possible combination of conventional medicine and natural therapies to meet each client’s needs. Due to increased consumer demand, more Australian GPs, physiotherapists and other allied health professionals are currently undertaking or have already completed further study in alternative modalities on top of their base of clinical or hospital-based studies.

Integrative Nutrition, the combining of clinical western approaches with alternative (frequently eastern) dietary modalities, is not currently a widely-available option to Australians looking for something beyond a purely clinical or a purely naturopathic approach.

So far in Australia, naturopath/nutritionists and accredited practising dietitians have tended to oppose each other in both their capacity and approach to nutritional therapy. In the United States there is a growing trend towards integrated nutrition professionals, in the same line as doctors, physiotherapists and other allied health practitioners. Such an integrated service specifically for nutrition and offered by an APD is a very young concept in Australia.

My Vision

As an Accredited Practising Dietitian and Accredited Nutritionist, I have a clinical background and apply evidence-based principles which many clients still depend on for safety and peace of mind. I have also undertaken studies and have practical experience in natural nutrition, raw food therapy, Ayurveda, Chinese nutritional medicine, Yoga, and Ka Huna Bodywork.

To my knowledge, I am the only Australian APD to take an active interest in alternative modalities and decide to integrate them into an evidence-based practice. There are a number of prominent nutritionists who apply an integrated or “wholefoods” approach but as a dietitian my goal is to bring a complementary light to clinical dietetics, using natural therapies backed by a growing body of evidence, and applied in safe, practical and revolutionary ways to improve wellbeing and inner peace. 

I want more people in this country to have access to integrated services through Medicare and health fund rebates, rather than having to fork out the entire consultation fee from their own pockets just for the privilege of accessing naturopathic and traditional nutritional wisdom.

Considering the workforce shortage in private dietetics addressing the needs of patients in the early stages of chronic disease, the increasing burden of chronic disease, growing consumer demand for alternative approaches to health, and the positive feedback I’ve received from a prototype service, I feel the need for an integrated approach to nutrition in this country is not only necessary but is pressing.

I would love to hear your comments as I work to make my vision a reality and set up one of the first integrated nutrition private practices in Australia. If you wish to be a part of this nutritional revolution and discover the benefits it may have for you, drop me an email at casey@greensmoothieyoga.com. I’d love to hear your thoughts, ideas and opinions as I develop a new nutritional model for the 21st century.

Finding a nutrition professional wasn’t always an issue – once upon a time we didn’t seek out help with our diet unless there was a problem like diabetes. That’s all changed in the last three decades – partly because science knows more about how food affects our health, but also because of big changes in the food supply itself.

Global changes in climate and lifestyle factors have been linked to increasing food intolerances and allergies. Rapidly advancing food technologies and having more choices in food than we ever had before has raised more consumer questions than ever. The plethora of often conflicting nutritional information out there means some of us are over nourished – or nourished by the wrong things.

We often go looking for help as a result – but who to turn to? The most commonly consulted health professionals for nutritional advice are dietitians, general practitioners, nutritionists and naturopaths. Of these, formal training in nutrition can range from zero to four or more years at university. GPs have minimal formal training in nutrition and nowadays refer patients requiring nutritional therapy to dietitians.

An extremely brief summary

Nutritionists may or may not have any university qualifications in human nutrition. Accredited Nutritionists are qualified to use food and nutrition to prevent health problems, and Dietitians use food and nutrition to manage or treat, as well as prevent health problems. Naturopaths may include nutrition among other complementary modalities in their practice. Only Accredited Practising Dietitians are covered by Medicare. There is much more to this story, so read on if you want all the juicy details…

What’s the difference? The down and dirty

Accredited Practising Dietitians…

(who sometimes call themselves nutritionists) are accredited by the Dietitians’ Association of Australia (DAA). To qualify as an APD takes a minimum of four years’ university study in nutrition and dietetics, and ongoing additional training each year to maintain accreditation.

It’s the dietetics qualification that separates a dietitian from someone with a degree in nutrition science alone. In addition to or as part of their qualification in human nutrition, a dietitian has undertaken substantial theory and professional practice in clinical nutrition, medical nutrition therapy and food service management.

Obesity, high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, gastro intestinal problems like Irritable Bowel Syndrome, insulin resistance, PCOS, diabetes, food intolerance, coeliac disease and allergies are some of the most common reasons for seeing a dietitian. Dietitians also work with people who are perfectly well but seeking expert advice in sports nutrition, vegetarian eating and stages of the lifecycle such as pregnancy.

In short, dietitians can work with you to treat or manage disease using nutrition, as well as prevent disease and maintain a healthy diet.

APDs are recognised by Medicare. This means you may be eligible for a Medicare, Department of Veterans’ Affairs or private health fund rebate on services.   

If you have a health problem that can be improved by diet – e.g. you’re at risk of heart disease or diabetes – you may be eligible for a rebate for up to five sessions with a dietitian under what’s called an Enhanced Health Care plan.

Nutritionists…

may be qualified nutrition scientists or biochemists or may not have any university qualifications in human nutrition at all. There is no government regulation for the term nutritionist.

The term Accredited Nutritionist can be used by members of the DAA who are also Accredited Practising Dietitians. Therefore, in Australia, all dietitians are considered to be nutritionists however, nutritionists without a dietetics qualification cannot take on the specialised role of a dietitian. ANs generally work with patients to prevent chronic disease and encourage everyday healthy eating.

Because Nutritionists are not qualified in medical nutrition therapy as dietitians are, they are not recognised by Medicare, so no Medicare, DVA or private health fund rebates are available on services rendered by a nutritionist.

Naturopaths…

are complementary and alternative health practitioners who often also call themselves nutritionists. They have varying lengths of training in nutrition, and their training is not strictly evidence-based, sometimes falling outside “accepted” nutrition and dietetic practice.

Naturopathic philosophy favours a holistic approach, and, like conventional medicine seeks to find the least invasive measures necessary for symptom improvement or resolution, encouraging minimal use of surgery and unnecessary drugs. The ideology focuses on naturally-occurring substances, minimally-invasive methods, and encouragement of natural healing.

Naturopathy comprises many different treatment modalities of varying degrees of acceptance by the conventional medical community; these treatments range from standard evidence-based treatments, to homeopathy and other practices sometimes characterised unfavourably by the medical profession as pseudoscience.

Naturopaths who also call themselves Nutritionists are generally less conservative in their approach to nutrition, in that they may use unconventional diagnostic tools, and prescribe vitamin mega-doses, nutrient supplements and strict diets which are not accepted by mainstream medical and nutritional science.

There is no state licensure in Australia for Naturopaths, rather the industry is self-regulated. There is no protection of title, meaning that technically anyone can practise as a naturopath. The only way to obtain insurance for professional  indemnity or public liability is by joining a professional association, which can only be achieved by having completed an accredited course and gaining professional certification. Currently the only registered modalities of natural medicine in Australia are those relating to Chinese medicine, and only in Victoria.

In summary, Nutritionists may or may not have any university qualifications in human nutrition. Accredited Nutritionists are qualified to use food and nutrition to prevent health problems, and Dietitians use food and nutrition to manage or treat, as well as prevent health problems. Naturopaths may include nutrition among other complementary modalities in their practice. Only Accredited Practising Dietitians are covered by Medicare.

Integrated Nutrition – the best of both worlds

I offer another choice for the modern, health-conscious individual seeking person nutritional advice:  integrated nutrition. As an Accredited Practising Dietitian and Accredited Nutritionist, I have a clinical background and apply evidence-based principles which many clients still depend on for safety and peace of mind. I have also undertaken studies and have practical experience in natural nutritional therapy, raw food, Ayurveda, Chinese nutritional medicine, Yoga, and Ka Huna Bodywork. For more information on integrated nutrition and what I do, click here.

Check out the Lesson Plans tab on the right for more videos!

Acrobatic yoga fun from Koh Tao, Thailand with bendy friends Ea and Gunnar. For more yoga videos, check out the Lesson Plans tab on the right :)