2022 October – Issue 04

As we make our way toward warm and dry summer days, this month’s edition of The Valley Hub News focuses on all things Health and Wellness.

From food and beauty products to specialised practitioners, this month's edition of The Valley Hub E-newsletter has something for everyone. If you'd like to hear more from those featured, check out the ‘Tune In’ section of our website for an intriguing podcast episode with Hannah from The Body Blu Print and Tamara from Soulitude Health. If you have a story you'd like to share, reach out at info@thevalleyhub.com.au

From Country

Giinagay, exciting news for The Valley Hub

This month we are excited to feature our very own, Dakota Cook and Joeli Bula.

Joeli and Dakota have secured part-time community development trainee positions with The Valley Hub. These youth-identified positions, along with the development of The Valley Hub project, have been made possible through the Bushfire Local Economic Relief Fund. 

With support from a local social enterprise, Shoretrack, Joeli and Dakota have been participating in The Valley Hub`s youth mentorship program alongside The Valley Hub Aboriginal Project Officer and Mentor, Brody Simon. The pair will be learning about podcasts and other media production, interviewing local people for this very e-newsletter, and assisting in creating stories that reflect the rich diversity of services, businesses, and knowledge the Nambucca Valley has to offer. Additionally, Joeli and Dakota will learn about web development and maintenance, networking, alongside building and managing a social enterprise. 

Joeli and Dakota will soon be pounding the pavement, connecting with local businesses and services to gauge how The Valley Hub can support them. If you see them out and about, give them a holla and a hi-5!

*Photo provided by Shoretrack

 

Valley Feature

Hannah from The Body Bluprint is passionate about helping women understand their fertility and improving their overall body literacy.

Born and raised on the Coffs Coast, Hannah is a proud mumma to two beautiful children. Hannah had her own struggles falling pregnant undergoing intrusive surgeries and procedures, including IVF, before falling pregnant naturally after learning about the Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) and addressing fertility barriers. Hannah now spends her time supporting women of all stages of their lives to navigate menstrual health and fertility, “my experience with infertility ultimately shaped my career and is why I work in this space” she notes. 

Hannah says she regularly found herself informally supporting women she knew to understand their bodies and quickly realised that there was a gaping hole in the area of women`s body literacy, “I decided to become an Accredited Fertility Awareness Educator because I feel, as women, we deserve better”, says Hannah. She reiterates that women should be made aware that they have options that extend beyond hormonal birth control and medical devices, “options that allow women to understand and live in sync with their bodies”. 

Hannah now works with women one on one and in group coaching programs through her business, ‘The Body Bluprint’. “We were born with all the tools we need to control our reproductive health; we just haven’t been passed this knowledge”, states Hannah, her passion evident. Her work doesn’t stop there though, Hannah says a large part of her work is supporting women to advocate for themselves and seek any additional medical care they require outside of the Fertility Awareness Method. 

For Hannah, part of this advocative work is educating younger women earlier in their menstrual lives. Planning to expand her work into the adolescent space, Hannah`s greatest desire is for women of all ages to have access to uncensored and factual information around their fertility options in order to make informed choices, “I want to support girls around the world to have a better understanding of their bodies than my generation and those before me”, finishes Hannah. 

Connect with Hannah at The Body Blu Print here:

The Body Bluprint

https://thebodybluprint.com.au

https://www.facebook.com/TheBodyBluprint

https://www.instagram.com/thebodybluprint_/?hl=en

 

Our stories

Heidi is a familiar face to locals, one that exudes peace uncommon to a busy world.

Attributing this to a turn of events in her personal life, she recalls an about-face whereby she decided to chase after spiritual growth. Heidi now accompanies others on their journey to do the same. 

Creating her business, Within Waratah Wellness, Heidi has supported locals to explore their personal experiences and beliefs through a range of modalities including Hypnotherapy, Reiki, Transformational Coaching, and Timeline Therapy. With a practical and instinctual approach, Heidi has supported individuals to address addictions, trauma, anxiety, and depression. Heidi`s dynamic approach has enabled her to develop personalised programs such as ‘I love you week’, an online wellness retreat attended both locally and nationally.  

Heidi has worked with a broad range of people, including supporting parents to work with their children. This collation of experience is obvious, as she explains how individuals can experience anxiety in a range of different ways. Heidi takes care to identify the source and particular manifestation of the unease or trauma and sets about designing an appropriate remedial pathway.  It is evident that Heidi is interested not only in the welfare of people but also in how her therapeutic systems work at a structural level to support their growth. 

Every day is different for Heidi, but one thing remains consistent, “through the process of allowing people to talk about their experiences, I am able to witness the creation of a better version of self”. The ‘self’ that Heidi has herself cultivated, has deep value and she feels a profound privilege to be able to share her approach to healing with her community. 

You can find Heidi at her space in Valla, Divine Soul Centre in Nambucca Heads, or at Ishara Centre in Macksville. For more information, visit Heidi at: 

Within Waratah Wellness

https://withinwaratahwellness.com.au

https://www.facebook.com/withinwaratahwellness/

 

 

Love your local

Cheryl and Paul Kirwan from Rivervewe Dairy may just have the most well loved sheep in Macksville.

Raising Dorper sheep on a farm near Taylors Arm, Cheryl and Paul pivoted to dairy sheep when circumstances led them to scale down to a smaller farm in town. With Paul working full-time as a science teacher and Cheryl as a food scientist, they decided to start their own micro-dairy and Rivervewe was born. 

Now both working full time on the farm, Cheryl and Paul are passionate about the quality of life their animals receive. They know each animal intimately and are able to attest to their quirks and personalities, as well as their lineage. Their flock can be found pasturing the well-manicured property, interrupted only by their brood of rescue chickens. Cheryl quips “we only milk the ewes for about five months of the year and give our girls a rest after that”. 

Currently, Cheryl produces Rivervewe`s artisan soaps and beauty products from leftover milk and whey. Having perfected their Yoghurt, Haloumi, Labneh, and Feta cheese production, the couple has now turned their sites to establishing a cheesery to continue their minimal waste process. This process, Cheryl states, has not been simple, “in our industry, small businesses are met with the same expectations as big businesses, the same costs and the same processes”. Positively, Cheryl and Paul reiterate that the process has enabled them to connect with other locals in the same industry and share ideas.

With delights such as macadamia sea-salt and turmeric sheep milk soap, to coffee lip balm and chamomile moisturiser, you can find Rivervewe`s artisan products online at:

Rivervewe

https://www.instagram.com/rivervewesheepdairy/?hl=en

http://rivervewe.com.au,or at Galleria CC in Macksville. 

 

 

Spotlight on

Emmy Korn moved to Australia from Sweden in 2007 and set her sights on studying nutrition.

Image provided by Food in Focus Nutrition

Previously a professional chef, for Emmy, food has always been an important part of life, “Food in Focus Nutrition is about bringing real food into people’s lives again”, she says. Emmy`s desire is to assist people in creating healthy eating habits and to cherish the abundance of great produce Australia has to offer.

After traveling the world and moving to Australia, Emmy observed that food choices were making people sick, “obesity rates are climbing and so are diseases like diabetes type two”. She set about establishing her business, working with individuals and groups through evidence-based practice to bring awareness to food as medicine and disease prevention.

For Emmy, every day is different. “I run hands-on nutrition workshops and facilitate group seminars, most days I`m creating fact sheets to use in workshops, planning recipes, and often I`m studying”. While working towards broadening her services to NDIS participants, Emmy is currently studying IBS management and the Low FODMAP diet with the GI Institute.

The practitioner is passionate about creating new and delicious recipes, “I can see mussels one day in the shop and instantly want to cook and eat them”, Emmy`s favorite foods to cook, however, are those fresh in season and locally grown.

Connect with Emmy here:

https://www.foodinfocusnutrition.com/about.html https://www.facebook.com/foodinfocusnutrition/ https://instagram.com/foodinfocusnutrition?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Inside knowledge

La Casa Youth Services

La Casa Youth Service is a free early and brief intervention service for young people requiring social and mental health support. Comprised of a multidisciplinary team of youth workers, peer support workers, and psychologists, the service provides counseling and therapy services, connection to other services, supported access to relevant telehealth services, and social connectedness groups.  

The team at La Casa aims to create an accessible and safe space for young people in the Nambucca Valley, gearing their social support groups and activities to feedback from young people and their families. Additionally, the team endeavors to create awareness and advocacy within the Nambucca Valley community around how we can support young people to live their healthiest and happiest lives. 

Currently, La Casa Youth Service is based at the Youthie in Nambucca, in addition to Nambucca and Macksville Highschools on a fortnightly basis with an additional art group every Tuesday afternoon, and a queer group every third Monday afternoon. 

Connect with La Casa Youth Services here:

Facebook:

La Casa Youth Services

https://www.thevalleyhub.com.au/listing/la-casa-youth-services/

https://www.facebook.com/LaCasaYouthService101

 

 

 

What's on in the Valley

Here are a handful of events and programs coming up in October 2022 and beyond.

Oct 2022: Highlight events

For more information about the above events or for a list of what else is happening around the Nambucca Valley head to The Valley Hubs calendar of events. You can also request to add upcoming events here.

Let the games begin

Set your brain to our monthly trivia quest.

The answers will be shared next month – let us know how you fared.

OCTOBER Questions:

  1. What colour is the tongue of a giraffe?
  2. What is the nationality of Picasso?
  3. Which country hosted the 2004 summer Olympics?
  4. What is a female sheep called?
  5. In what country did nail polish originate?
  6. What colour are the stars on the American flag?
  7. What is Oology the study of?

 

Valley publications

Stay in touch with other Valley publications available.

The Valley Hub acknowledges Gumbaynggirr country, the Ancestors, Elders and Traditional Custodians of the Valley in which we live and work. We thank them for their care of country through time and acknowledge and respect their continuing connection to land, waters and culture.

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