Once again I meet you after returning from a series of trips abroad. One of which was my Honeymoon in La Isola De Pantelleria (The island of Pantelleria). Pantelleria is an Italian Island between Sicily and Africa where my husband and I spent seven glorious days and nights and then continued on to Venice for four days, staying at the Danieli hotel overlooking the Grand Canal from our balconies! You can read all about my honeymoon in detail in an upcoming issue of Grace Magazine (due out in February-March /April Issue)-where I will talk about what it was like to truly feel the freedom of non judgment of my body as I sunbathed topless "alla Italiana", as is the custom in Europe, you will also see images depicting the fun I had with fashion on our honeymoon!

Check out photos from our honeymoon.

After our Honeymoon we traveled to Florence and Milan where my husband Andrew worked. From Milan I flew to Majorca for a shoot with a German Catalogue. I then reunited with Andrew in London and drove three hours to Devon on the south east coast of England where we visited Andrew's ninety three year old grandmother who was unable to make it to the wedding.
This was an extension of our honeymoon and a most enjoyable sojourn as this was the first time I met Vera, Andrew's grandmother. She lives in the sweetest small English seaside village called Shaldon. A place where there is a ferry that dates back to 1870.
There is romance to be found in family, and the joy of knowing the history of the one you love.
From England we jetted off to Portugal to visit friends in a small seaside town in the north -San Pedro De Moel. We ate fabulous seafood from the area including barnacles which is a Portuguese delicacy that looks like prehistoric miniature dinosaur feet - quite tasty though!

Needless to say as you can imagine it was quite a month. (I am dying to tell you all about the honeymoon but I am saving it for the fabulous new Grace magazine.) As I wrote in the last Create the Life You Want trusting the Universe is one of the keys to having the life you want.

Traveling as much as I do I have no choice but to trust that everything will be okay in regards to my safety, and the journey in general, or I am in the wrong profession and my life is limited in the way I prefer to live it. You may say to yourself -with all that has happened in the world today how can I truly trust that I will be safe jetting from location to home and back again-well I tell you it is a choice that I have made. The choice is to live in the now moment / the choice is to know that I am divinely directed / the choice is to know that everything happens for a reason. I promise you do one of these three things and you will eliminate quite a bit of worry and anxiety in your life.
Of course this does not mean that I choose with out conscious action.
With that in mind let me explain what I do mean when I say I live in the Now moment -if my thoughts are focused on the past or the future I usually find myself in a state of anxiety, not only can I not do anything about what has happened in the past or what will happen in the future but if I continue to think about the "what if's" and the "should of's" my feelings become disturbed thus creating the anxiety we are all so familiar with. I can only affect change in the NOW -this moment in time. Focused in the NOW MOMENT I am anxiety free and full of possibility. So eliminate the chatter in your mind -the chatter that is in the past and what might/could /should happen in the future. Clear your mind to what is happening right now- where you are at this place in time. Be free to feel the joy that comes from eliminating thoughts of what could have been possible, what could be possible but instead think- what is possible right now.

My choice to know that I am divinely directed and everything happens for a reason comes from my belief that there is a 'Higher Power'(God, the Unmanifested) in the Universe, that works with us all, and that this is all part of our divine selves that exists in each one of us.
I believe we are interconnected and there is good available to every one of us. I trust that the good in the Universe helps direct my life if that is my will.
Trust as I see it is a form of belief when you do not have the facts, therefore when things go differently to what I have planned, on some level I know that there is good to be had or learn't from the event. All we need to do is be aware of what gifts come our way, uninvited on a conscious level however helping us on another level. There have been many instances in my life where this very profound belief has created peace, calm, relief and even feelings of love.
Having been a compulsive overeater and laxative abuser I experienced behavior that is similar to that of any addict unable to stop the need for food in an effort to suppress my feelings (see article in Biography - From Hunger to Happiness) believing in a 'Higher Power' gave me a cushion between the intense need to use food to suppress feelings of despair, anger, frustration, hopelessness- leading me to feelings of comfort, where I felt there was a 'power greater than myself' that I could count on to help me at times when I was unable to help my self. I am now aware from my continued exploration of my true self that I have a 'higher self' as well as guides and angels that assist me daily in my life, if I choose it and I take the action in prayer, meditation or simple acknowledgement.

Therefore when I have to board the next plane or stand in front of a camera I know that if I ask for assistance from the Universe I will be given the strength and courage to move forward to literally take the next step on to the plane or smile with feeling, as a room of 100 people focus on me. We all have our moments of fear/terror- complete all engulfing anguish, not only are you not alone in those moments but these are the times that can lead you to joy and an expansion of your true self that is unlimited.
I urge you to take a deep breath (take a deep breath by putting your hands on your tummy-breathe in through your nose and feel the air expand your tummy outward, as you exhale feel your tummy contract inward. The next breath feel the air fill your tummy and then your chest-this is full deep breathing) the next time you have feelings of despair and ask for guidance/assistance-take two more breaths, become still with your breath, bringing you into the here and now, and listen for the still small voice that is comforting and steady-there you will find freedom.

More to come……

Namaste,
Natalie