Nourished & Nurtured; Food Alchemy

Alchemy is considered the predecessor of modern chemistry, a process of transforming ordinary materials such as a base metal into something of true merit like Gold. Shakti Grace is the visionary and driving force behind the heart centred space, Nourished & Nurtured is here to help us understand more about the power of alchemy and what Nourished & Nurtured can do for us all at home.

Shakti, welcome back to the Raw Blend Family and congratulations on the relaunch of your brand and your new image with Nourished & Nurtured. The website looks amazing and we are super excited to hear all about this space. Can you tell us what Nourished & Nurtured is all about and what motivated this shift from the Holistic Chef to Nourished & Nurtured?

Thank you so much Raw Blend for the opportunity to hang out today, and thank you for your kind words about the new website. I am so happy and grateful with what has been created. At this juncture I have to really honour my amazing designer and photographer, Corina of CD2S Creative. Corina was a legend to work with, and really kept me grounded and focused and also really supported the vision.

The shift from The Holistic Chef entity to a different way of presenting my offerings has been in process for a few years or so. I follow the prompts of Spirit and was being guided to create a foundation/not for profit to house the essence of this work. Once that was done, and the name was created, the home for the newly developing range and new look to the existing product had somewhere to live so to speak. Then we could start to anchor it.

What excites me about being the custodian of this foundation is that it is a new way of being in business in the current corporate paradigm and it shifts the offerings to a more heart centred approach. Of course my intention is for the foundations’ mission to be successful and to honour this mission, but it isn’t just about bottom line and IPO, it is about offering the most authentic, pure, products and services I can possibly envision.

So to answer the last part of the question, Nourished + Nurtured is about exactly that, high quality products and services to support you, nourish you and nurture you. I identify this as something so needed in the world at this time. It is that feeling, that we hope to invoke on the website. You know that feeling of being wrapped up in a lovely shawl or blanket, sipping something that soothes you and offering you a moment to take a breath, when we can translate a feeling and offer tangible things to take you there, that is a mission accomplished.

I love that, you are providing people with something to support their health both physically and emotionally. Your line of products is called Alchemy, which I think is really interesting, for those of us who don’t know, what is Alchemy?

Alchemy was part of the original branding of Shakti’s Superfood Blend, along with the words Love + Vitality that I created in 2010. So this is language that is important to me. For me Alchemy is creating from individual ingredients or energies something that when combined in a certain way will create something else far superior, or more energetically valuable. I feel in nature, in the ancient traditions, in cooking, in mindfulness even, this is the essence of Alchemy. As a shamanic practitioner I offer this example – the alchemy (coming together) of the elements of fire, earth, water, air and ether in a native American sweat lodge ceremony creates this far more potent experience that just fire, earth, water, air and ether all independently present. While valuable elements when you bring them together in this ancient way, healing, magic and transformation occurs.

So translate that to bringing together ingredients in the products, or meals, or holistic retreats, all amazing independently then they come together in these formulas, meals and healing spaces to create magic and I trust, Transformation.

It also brings the energy of the ancient Alchemists, we all really are alchemists, always bringing things together and creating a new.

On your website you speak about High Frequency Food, what is High Frequency food?

Again to me this is a language I have wanted to bring to my work and products more publicly for a long time, but I know for some it may seem a little woo woo.  To explain the food idea is to explain the frequency aspect. Really it is physics, maybe more quantum than mainstream. We are all energy, vibrating at different frequencies. When we are happy, in joy, content, peaceful, in love and clear, our vibration is high or in other words we are vibrating at a higher frequency. This is our aim, to be in this place, this state of being as often as possible. Of course we dip in and out of this and we can be in lower frequency, envy, jealousy, sadness, frustration, depletion etc. and that is ok too, we are learning.

The high frequency food aspect was confirmed to me when I had Shakti’s Superfood Blend®; now Alchemy Supergreens, tested shamanically and utilising other energy testing methods. The practitioner advised that indeed as I anticipated the Supergreens were very high frequency. Supported by the knowledge that the inclusion in the formula of WA Bee Pollen holding a frequency signature, and from the results of clients for many years, for me this information rang true. To create formulas that I know are as clean and pure as possible, and house them in a truly appropriate home in the Miron Glass means the frequency is available for you. This food will support your frequency and I trust elevate you and transform you with diligent use.

Why should we be eating this way and how does it enhance our life?

High Frequency Food and Living meaning working towards those higher frequency states that enhance our life with the as mentioned previously, diligence. This takes effort and application. If we utilise these products in the Alchemy range regularly and while we need that support, it stands to reason the effects will be felt. If we eat good clean food, supplements etc. only sometimes then it probably won’t make much difference. If we endeavour to do our best to support ourselves as much as we can via clean food, food prepared mindfully, and via clean supplemental products and activities, especially in nature it is a great recipe, a great Alchemy for our life. We are not seeking perfection, we are seeking to do our best, and when we slip to be gentle with ourselves and others and then do our best again. I have always taught this approach, it is the teaching to me from my elders in the shamanic paths, in the yogic paths all the roads are leading to the same approach. Do your best with what you have available to you. The Nourished + Nurtured Foundation offers some of these elements to you in an easy to embody ways.

It took you a long time to create Alchemy and bring it to us. It’s something you are truly passionate about and you live and breathe what you teach. Why is this range so important to you?

Firstly, I am a fallible human, not in anyway perfect or seeking perfection. I have good days and bad days and many aspects of myself that require greater attention and focus, and for me it is a journey. I have been through some pretty intense traumas in my own life, so I take my journey with that perspective of where I have been and where I am now…it is an evolution, and for my personal spiritual approach it is a journey of the lifetime. SO to the question of the importance to me of Alchemy and these offerings,  I Feel I have answered this in my rambling style previously.

I will mention again though, the mission of the Foundation which in essence is and always has been my personal mission. To assist as many people on this planet as I can to feel more alive, more vital, more in joy, grounded, aware and in love with themselves and others as possible. The Alchemy range can support this, as also can the other services.

So with all of this information, how can the Alchemy range work for me?

I offer as with everything out there competing for our attention with the potential to transform our lives, If it resonates with you what is on offer, try it out. Work with the products diligently, be aware of your state of mind from moment to moment, and notice the impact of the powders and tea on your system. If you are diligent and aware the results will be clear.  The potentials on offer are that you may feel clearer in your mind and more focused. Your skin, eyes, and hair can become brighter and clearer. Your digestive system may be regulated and supported (I have some clients that have had results from serious digestive issues from the products that nothing else has supported). Your energy may increase markedly, and you may sleep more soundly. With functional foods we can make no absolute claims, and everyone has different systems, but I have done my best to create products that meet most peoples needs, and will support most people. They are designed to be easy to use, no fuss. Pure. Clean. Simple.

It sounds amazing! Talk us through each of the new products in your alchemy range.

The range is created to take you through your day, from morning to night. Though each product can be used independently and can be used at anytime. The Supergreens and Cacao Elixir may for some be activating so before 5pm is best for an ease into bedtime.  A breakthrough is that finally I am able to offer the range in Miron Glass, Ultra Violette glass which protects the integrity of the products, and supports the frequency within. The glass is designed to be re-used by refilling with the pouches, so it is also a sustainable option for the planet.

• Alchemy Vitality Elixir is created with the main ingredient of MSM a biological form of sulfur an ingredient I have been contemplating working with for many years. Supported by Rosehip as a Vitamin C co factor and supported by Mucuna (L Dopa), Aloe Extract, Cinnamon + Lime. Some of the potential benefits of this formula are to reduce inflammation, aid the flexibility of joints, promote collagen synthesis, flush the liver, and improve your mood. This is Vitality.

• Alchemy Supergreeens is for me the most optimum way to achieve plant based support and phytonutrients in easy an easy to digest and clean tasting form.

Created with potent amounts of Spirulina, Broken Cell Chorella, West Australian Bee Pollen, and a harmonious formula of the 5 supporting cast Wheatgrass, Barleygrass, Maca, Mesquite and Chia. No added sweeteners or fillers. Regular use can support energy levels, detoxification pathways, clearer eyes, skin and most importantly a healthier gut.

• Alchemy Cacao Elixir is an adaptogenic, heart opening and smooth tasting formula. The stars are Reishi a medicinal mushroom utilised and loved in Eastern medicine for its aiding of our life force or Jing and Cacao, a long prized food in Aztec + Mayan cultures. The supporting cast of Maca, Mesquite, Rose + Coconut Nectar Crystals bring an overall clean and inviting blend to you that can be utilised in many ways. Some of the potential benefits of this formula are to tonify the whole system, and offer anti-inflammatory, and adrenal support.

• Alchemy Soothing Tisane is a flow promoting, soothing tea infusion of the most beautiful herbal medicines we love. It is a wonderful tasting blend to wind down at the end of the day, but can also be served anytime to calm the senses and the taste buds. I combined some of my absolutely favourite herbal medicines in Tulsi, Nettle, Peppermint + Rose. One of my favourite things about this tisane is it can be used as the base for smoothies and tonics for the other products.

I know it’s almost impossible but if you could only select ONE product from your Alchemy range for us to have what is your favourite?

Always my heart will be most connected to the product that this all started with in 2010, Alchemy Supergreens. All the new formulas spring forth from that inspiration. The Alchemy Supergreens I would say is the mother of the other products, and will always be my baby and a great achievement in it’s birthing.

You are also offering Food Alchemy meal packs for people at home. Can you explain to us how this program works?

This is a pop up service, run usually in the cooler months when slow cooked foods are more appropriate. This is a service of clean plant based meals and is provided locally on the Central Coast of NSW, and limited Sydney area. I am a Holistic Chef and food alchemist first, so cooking is very important to me. I had identified a few years ago that while there are home delivery services many of them were paleo based and some people simply are not going down that road. While I am not a strictly plant based eater, I respect those that have those needs.

When the service is running I create a menu that includes a soup, a stew type main, a special slab of a usually a raw morsel OR a small loaf of a fermented bread, plus add ons.

I utilise infusion of herbal teas, optimally prepared legumes, ancient grains and pulses and creative morsels. It is all eco packaged or in glass and as organic as I can access.

Client feedback is that they feel a difference from this preparation and intention, and that they truly feel nourished and nurtured.

I feel blessed to be of service in this way.

Shakti, the mission of the Nourished & Nurtured Foundation is to provide nutritious, clean, high frequency supplements, and nutritional programs to the planet and to support others to live a healthy and vital awareness life to be the best possible versions of themselves. What advice can you give to us in order to achieve this?

One of the greatest gifts we can offer ourselves is to do our best compassionately and with empathy, without placing pressure or unreasonable expectations on ourselves. Be gentle with yourself and others where you can, and if for some reason you aren’t able to stay in that centre, still be be gentle on yourself. Whether it’s eating, fitness, engaging others, raising your children, working with others, following your purpose and passion.

So how to support this ethos? You all know this, we all know this, we are wise creatures.

Go outside, be physical, connect to nature, connect to other humans when you can and be with yourself for periods also. Eat clean and in a way that serves you not the latest fad, eat mindfully, give thanks for all you have available to you, love each other.

In closing, if all of that includes utilising the Alchemy range or any of the services or attending a holistic retreat, then I would be honoured to support you with a weaving of all that is on offer from Nourished and Nurtured.

Blessings of a most vital and wondrous life, always.

Thank you so much for offering me the opportunity to share this with your readers today, I am so very grateful.

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