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GO

I have heard of way too many horror stories where travel agents have booked connecting flights with extremely tight timeframes, locked people into a flight leaving from the wrong airport and cases of double bookings at hotels. If I stuff up by not confirming something or checking the details, I have no-one to blame but myself – I like that.

I tend to book my flights directly through an airline’s website. There are a number of “flight deals” websites that can show you the cheapest available flight, but remember to make sure you read the fine print to ensure that if anything changes, you can get a refund or another flight as these are third-party sites that simply liaise with the airlines themselves.

When travelling throughout a continent, my transportation of choice is train; and timetables and fares can usually be found on the web. If you prefer to hire a car, you can do that easily when you get to the airport or book ahead online. Doesn’t the Internet make planning so easy?

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STAY

One of the most time-consuming and frustrating parts of travel planning is sorting out accommodation. I wish I was one of those fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants vagabonds, but I have too many flashes of sleeping in airports and on park benches for that to happen.

Whenever I’m booking accommodation, I always check the reviews and comments on Trip Advisor and/or Booking.com. It’s no longer enough to check the star rating of a hotel or the website of a hostel. I’ve caught bed bugs in a four star hotel and stayed in the cleanest, swishest hostel I’ve ever seen – so you can’t judge accommodation by its cover/description. Check the reviews and see if it’s an ideal place for you.

Another option if you’re looking to book accommodation on the cheap is AirBnB.com. This means that either you get someone’s home to yourself for you stay or someone local may host you  - how cool is that? Two birds, one stone – somewhere to sleep and a potential new friend and guide to the city!

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DO

I have the I don’t wanna miss a thing Aerosmith complex and feel as though I have to know every nook and cranny of a city before I get there. Of course it’s necessary for me to know about every little underground cafe and secret bookstore-come-cabaret venue that is out there! What if I travel halfway across the world and miss the best slice of apple pie in the state? It would be a disaster, trust me.

For recommendations, the web is your oyster. My favourite sites are Fathom, Wanderfly, The Lonely Planet guide books and/or apps and Red Visitor. These sites and sources have a truckload of recommendations from tourists and locals alike. Fathom focuses on interesting articles and stories from around the globe, Wanderfly is an addictive site with personal recommendations using tags and categories, Lonely Planet gives you a good picture of the cities themselves and any main attractions and Red Visitor has some fabulous video interviews with local recs in its city guides.

Don’t forget that some of your favourite bloggers could be chilling out in the cities you’re visiting. Ask them for their favourite spots (and perhaps see if they’d like to catch up over coffee or fondue) or put the call out on social media. Use those social networks of yours to find out some information from people you know and love (they’re bound to have more of an idea of what restaurants you’d love or which shops you’d adore than a stranger does).

Now put together your dream itinerary. You want to have a great collection of places to explore at your disposal, so you can pick and choose what you feel like on a particular day. You don’t want to be searching Google right before dinner time, trying to remember that particular place with the incredible pasta. I tend to gather places and notes on Evernote and then type them out into a Word document which I take with me, but a notebook or phone app would work just as well.

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Do you plan your trips yourself or get someone else to help?

What are your go to travel resources/sites?

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If you enjoyed this post or have an travel-obsessed friend that would love this information, please don’t hesitate to share it via Facebook, Twitter, email or good ol’ fashioned courier pigeon! x 

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THE WEEK THAT WAS

So, my week with minimal sugar went well. I had a few cravings early on, but once I started my day with good fats (avocado I’m looking at you) and keeping myself busy at around 3-4pm which is usually sugary-snack-o’clock, I was surprisingly okay.

The benefits that became very obvious to me were: sleeping better, feeling more clear-headed and able to focus more, no mid-evening energy crashes, less irritable, more satisfied after eating and less bloated.

I also had three people ask if I’d lost weight in the space of about 72 hours. It was bizarre. I do however notice that my face seems a little thinner and that I fit into my jeans more comfortably, which could be because sugar left me feeling quite heavy and bloated.

The verdict? I am going to stay away from added sugar as best I can before we go overseas; in the hope that perhaps I won’t stuff myself when I get to France with pastries and macarons if my body is used to a low-sugar diet. I am too much of a sweet tooth to deny myself everything, but the benefits of significantly cutting back have been well worth saying no to the odd piece of cake.

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Original photo by Rayani Melo

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THIS WEEK

Y’know when the Universe seems to be telling you something and you don’t listen and it seems to scream louder? It seems to happen to me often (perhaps it;s because I ignore the first fifty nudges or suggestions). The loud-and-clear message that has been highlighted recently is that I have to learn to say no more often.

Telling a chronic people-pleaser that she has to learn how to say no is like telling a clown that he has to wear regular sized shoes. It’s just not the done thing, it’s not how we operate. We say yes and then figure out how to keep our promise, even if it means burning the candle at both ends.

My days have steadily been filling up, which is wonderful but I am starting to miss my down time and those few hours I used to have to get my creative juices flowing. Why am I so busy? Because my automatic response is yes. I decided that I would only teach a certain number of students a week, but as soon as another email request comes through, I try to squeeze them in (even if it means skipping lunch). Silly huh?

In this morning’s pre-B-School video by the fabulous Marie Forleo; she urged us to hop on board the No Train because every time you say yes, you’re actually saying no to another opportunity. I had never thought about it in this way before. By saying yes to something I don’t really want to do or a project that doesn’t align with my passion or values, I’m saying no to something that might set my soul on fire. Marie suggests that you train your reflex response to be no and then work from there, rather than automatically going for yes and then having to convince yourself otherwise.

So this week I say no first and then consider my options and hopefully make the right decision for where I am now and where I want to go.

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Are you a people-pleaser?

Or do you have any tips to help saying no any easier?

LIFE

Taking a leap. I enrolled in Marie Forleo’s B-School and I am super excited! It certainly isn’t a cheap program, but I have loved Marie’s free training videos for a long time now and I feel that she;s my kinda business coach. I’ll let you know how I’m going and how I’m putting things into practise while I’m making my way through the program. If you’re jumping on board the program, please leave a comment to say hi and introduce yourself!

Reading marathons. Oh books, how I have missed you. I love reading blogs (and some of you have amazing ones, thanks for leaving comments so I can check them out), but there’s nothing likes cozying up in bed with a hot cup of tea and an enthralling book. Am I right?

Unleashing my inner fighter. I went to a kickboxing training session on Friday and to be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Firstly, we did about 25 minutes of strength work – stretching and working the muscles that we’d be using later in the session which was a workout in itself! Then it was onto the serious part of the session, the boxing and kicking part. I’ve done a fair amount of boxing with my personal trainer but for fitness purposes rather than self-defence, so this was a new mindset for me. I certainly felt empowered at the end of the hour though!

Other:  getting gifts of soup from students, buying travel insurance (feels a little more real now), strong coffee, putting together fresh inspiration boards, ticking things off my to do list, sometimes ignoring my to do list, home cooked meals, text messages from my bestie that make me laugh, giving, becoming more comfortable with the whole not-everyone-will-like-you-and-your-blog thing, receiving sweet testimonials, breakfast butt-kicking sessions and cozy nights in.

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POSTS

I have fallen head over heels with travel website Fathom. This post of the 24 Best Travel Blogs and Websites is a must-bookmark if you’re a travel junkie like me!

5 Steps to Overcome Fear of Failure by Marthe of The Freedom Experiment.

I have a bit of a fascination with people’s daily rituals and routines and was pleased to see A Day in the Life of Yes and Yes pop up in my Google Reader. Plus Sarah is a Virgo and I’m always trying to harness their super-organised skills despite being a flighty Sagittarius.

Jordan from Oh Happy Day shares pictures of her adorable Parisian apartment. Makes me smile (and push down the envy a little).

If you’re a photo app fiend, 10 Ways to Make Your Instagram Photos Pop over at Gala Darling has some great tips and app ideas.

I know you love productivity links, so here’s one: 3 Things to Do to Have a Productive and Fun Week written by Charlie over at Productive Flourishing.

I always love Amy’s Mixed Bag posts on Eat Drink Chic and this one’s a beauty with a collection of candy themed finds.

How did I not know about For the Makers Boxes until now? Such a cute and crafty idea!

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LUSTING AFTER

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The Power Base hair mask by Original Mineral. I’m a huge fan of O & M products and can’t wait to try this.

These hot pink Airvases by Torafu Architects from Mr Kitly would bring a pop of electric colour to any room.

Love this soft, dusky pink Strawberry Soup Bowl on Artis & Grove‘s website. AND they’re made by a Kiwi!

eva q designs make some gorgeous ethereal dresses and the Runaway Love dress is no exception.

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What have you been grinning about this week?

Share your love load!

As I’ve said before, my style aesthetic changes almost on a daily basis. I can be wandering around in comfort classics one day and then dress in cocktail attire with metallics and sky-high heels the next (yes on a weekday, who says you can only wear gorgeous clothes on Friday/Saturday nights?). I love playing with different looks and having pieces that can reflect the mood I’m in whatever that may be.

Here are a few of my favourite catwalk shots from Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Sydney, showcasing some amazing local talent for Spring/Summer 2012.
All images from Fashionising.com (definitely check them out if you want great images from the rest of the collections/shows).

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QUIRKY

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EDGY

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CLASSIC WITH A TWIST

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GLAMOUROUS

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FEMININE

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What look fits most with your current style aesthetic?

Original photo by Jacqueline Riman

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I am in the middle of a big growth spurt at the moment. I wake up in the morning and I know I’ll do something to get me closer to where I want to be. My “inspiration board life”. It’s all kinds of awesome.

One thing that keeps coming up in everything I’m inhaling (and believe me, I am shoveling in a hell if a lot of info right now), is to put your energy into your strengths and passions and remove yourself from the activities that drain that energy.

The first thing I did when this notion fully sank in was write myself a note: “When you earn $2000 in a week, you will hire someone to clean the house the next week”. It made me laugh. Is the first thing I’d like to get rid of in my life the cleaning? Apparently so.

Money is a funny thing. It means different things to different people. I’ve always been in the club that sees money as something that comes and goes and should be used to aid the pursuit of happiness. This is why I had very little money at 19 but had travelled around the UK and Europe for 3 months. Trade off.

It’s true that money can’t buy you happiness, but it can often buy you time. Time is more valuable than we give it credit for (hello procrastination and watching hours of reality TV) and it’s what we all crave when we talk about life balance. What is it that you really want to be spending your time on and what would you happily let go of? Are you like me and have to push away the guilts when you think about delegating to or paying someone to do your “dirty work” or the things you’d rather not do?

Creating time and space to immerse yourself in what you’re passionate about shouldn’t make you feel guilty. Imagine what you could bring to the table, the world if you had the time to prepare, to create, to get it out there!

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What is it that you’d love to spend your time doing and what would you let go of in a second to make it work?

“Act like you know the answer. Its amazing what wisdom might get uncorked”
- Danielle LaPorte

Ever Feel Like Giving Up? by Chris Guillebeau from The Art of Non Conformity

Managing Distraction: How and Why To Ignore Your Inbox by Katherine Ellison

Image by Kim McCray

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“Striving for perfection is the greatest stopper there is. It’s your excuse to yourself for not doing anything. Instead, strive for excellent, doing your best.”
- Laurence Olivier

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Are You Using Your Life’s Energy to Expand or Contract? by Russell Bishop

via Pinterest

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“The pathway to world domination, or whatever it is you want to do, begins with clearly understanding what you want to get out of life.”
- Chris Guillebeau

Gabby Bernstein talking about the fact that you have to WANT to change

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“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”
- Steve Jobs

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via The Maximus Collection

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Do you have any inspiring books, quotes, images or links you’d like to share?

I hope some of these have lit a fire in your belly! Let me know which ones you love.

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]]> http://dreamdelightinspire.com/2012/05/09/motivation-station/feed/ 3 http://dreamdelightinspire.com/2012/05/07/the-week-without-all-the-sugar/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-week-without-all-the-sugar http://dreamdelightinspire.com/2012/05/07/the-week-without-all-the-sugar/#comments Mon, 07 May 2012 10:10:08 +0000 Kimberley http://dreamdelightinspire.com/?p=5083 If you’ve just joined me over here on the blog, these weekly segments are part of a little something I call The 52 Delights Project. Every week I add something new to my day-to-day life in the hope that I’ll come across a few things that make a positive difference to the way I live long-term.

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THE WEEK THAT WAS

After a total of about 2 hours of swilling oil around in my mouth, I can’t say that I’ve noticed a huge difference in the health of my mouth. I think this is one of those daily practises that you have to continue for a period of a few weeks and pay close attention to any slight differences. The traditional Indian technique is also supposed to be able to assist in curing a multitude of common illnesses such as cold and flu, migraines and fevers (as well as improving oral health), so I might keep giving it a go and let you know if I start to feel a little under the weather and what difference it makes if I up it to 3 times a day.

It’s not entirely unpleasant to be honest, so I don’t mind spending the first 20 minutes of my day pottering around while I move the oil around my mouth. Who knows, it could be warding off some pretty awful things as I type!

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Image by Amy Atlas Events (warning: her portfolio page will give you severe cravings!)

THIS WEEK

I am a sucker for almost every sugary treat in the book; brownies, cakes, pastries, desserts, chocolate, lollies, fudge – you name it. So making the decision to go (as close to) sugar-free (as I can) this week wasn’t an easy one. I could hear my brain panicking “But what if we have a really long, stressful day and need to indulge in some ice-cream? Please don’t take that away from us!” I’ll just have to combat stress in a more healthy way then, won’t I?

There has been a lot of talk about sugar and its role in our diets of late and I have a handful of friends that have jumped on the bandwagon of cutting it out completely. I’m a big believer that you should treat food as a way to nourish your body first and foremost but that indulging and enjoying it every now and then is important too. I have absorbed all the research about sugar being highly addictive, draining on the immune system, hard on the liver and know that it converts to fatty acids in no time; and this is why I want to go this week with as little sugar consumption as my willpower will let me.

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Have you given up or significantly cut your sugar intake?

How did it make you feel?

]]> http://dreamdelightinspire.com/2012/05/07/the-week-without-all-the-sugar/feed/ 8 http://dreamdelightinspire.com/2012/05/06/currently-loving-22/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=currently-loving-22 http://dreamdelightinspire.com/2012/05/06/currently-loving-22/#comments Sun, 06 May 2012 10:06:24 +0000 Kimberley http://dreamdelightinspire.com/?p=5075

LIFE

Things are a little wild, crazy and exciting at the moment in my world. I am about to whisk myself off in a new direction for a bit; learning, growing and developing fabulous things. Don’t worry I’ll still be here on the blog and updating you on what I’m up to. Let me get a few ducks lined up first!

So what has been putting huge smiles on my face this week?

Meeting the infamous Lady Smaggle. There are some people that you interact with online that you just know you’re going to love in person and Carly was one of those people for me. We had delicious Mexican tapas at Señoritas (if you’re in Melbourne, definitely check it out), a *cough* few wines, were given matching skull rings at the restaurant and chatted for hours about blogging, friends, career challenges, hobbies – you name it. Awesome.

Setting new bigger and better goals. While on the hunt for a new Moleskine notebook, I found the little beauty above from migoals. It is such a lovely and inspiring goals book and sets everything out so simply, making you really work through the important questions before rushing into the action items. I am in the motivated goal-kicking zone this week and am going to be ticking off a whole lot of tasks, I can tell you!

Cozying up with Sosume gifts. I was lucky enough to be able to give a couple of garments from Sosume‘s range a whirl this week and I can tell you, the fabric is incredible. I have been living in the grey hooded cardigan above all week (and am typing in it right now). Can’t wait to write a little more about their pieces soon to give you a better look!

Other:   karaoke nights with friends, throw-together-and-hope-for-best salad recipe wins, sneaky late night antipasto platters and drinks with T, making time for wonderful friends, giving life everything I’ve got, our heater (it has been seriously cold here this week), beautiful breakfasts, handing over a teeny bit of control to the universe, coconut hot chocolates, laughing over silly YouTube clips, vanilla yoghurt and snuggly scarves.

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POSTS

Love this: Life is Like a Dance, Sometimes You’re Just Spinning by Vienda Maria.

I had a giggle and a stomach grumble while reading A Day in the Life of Yaz’s Tummy over at The Happiness Cocktail.

Gloria of Little White Whale shares a recipe for Mexican Brownies (and they look amazing).

I love reading other people’s lists, especially lists of things they’d like to do/achieve. Here’s one from the lovely Lou Pardi.

Mastin of The Daily Love writes about How to Make Your Life a Living Miracle.

Do You Utilize Your Power of Choice? asks Tara from such.different.skies.

I cannot wait to test out Catherine’s recipe for Courgette Polpettes over on The Spring. Zucchini plus cheese, ummm yes please!

The ever calm and inspiring Gabrielle Bernstein writes for Crazy Sexy Life‘s blog about How to be a Manifesting Maven.

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LUSTING AFTER

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The perfect accessory to dress up any outfit – the Lerida Brushed Gold Cuff Necklace from Mezi

The unique design of these Ronette Heels by Mi Piachi definitely caught my eye

The Gentle Repair White Clay Mask from the clever chickens at Sodashi

Must have dress = Camilla and Marc‘s gorgeous Sweet Leaf Dress

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I’d love you to share a little slice of your world in the comments below – what has been lighting up your life of late?

Anyway, I’ll check in with a progress report and would love to know if you managed to get all the way through April with no slip ups or were more like me and overall did well but had the odd bump along the way.

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Photo by Amanda Mabel

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MOVE

I had a week of bad behaviour on this front when the temperature plummeted and took my motivation with it. I also slipped out of my yoga routine and wow did I feel the change in my mobility and flexibility. With limited time, I think I start to panic that I don’t have enough time to move, but really it only takes 10 minutes to do something worthwhile for your body. I think I’ll do a few stretches right before bed, it’ll help lengthen my muscles from the tension of the day and calm my mind at the same time. What’s your favourite way to get moving if you have a short amount of time?

COOK

With the help of my lovely boyfriend, cooking has been the easiest of the five sectors to continue with. It relieves so much stress knowing that there is a plan and all the ingredients are on hand to prepare a nutritious meal. Over the weekend I made large dishes based on whole grains that served as healthy comfort food over two nights. Leftovers are seriously underrated and I’m definitely going to prepare more than we need when we have the time on the weekend to make Monday and Tuesday dinners quick and simple. Do you rely on leftovers at all?

PREVENT

Well this one gets a gold star now that I’ve seen the dentist and got the green light from her. I have had all the check ups that I need for the next six months and feel pretty chuffed that I can forget about those appointments for a while now. I am thinking of taking a multi-vitamin every morning just to ensure that I’m doing the best I can in terms of preventing anything from bringing down my immune system this winter. Do you take any vitamins? Which do you recommend?

RELAX

As some of you may know, I have two occupations at the moment – I write and do freelance social media project management in the mornings and teach singing in the afternoons/evenings. Unfortunately, things are ramping up on both fronts simultaneously and it’s getting my work-life balance a little out of whack. No complaints here but I really do need to knuckle down and make relaxing a priority. I think I’ll book a massage for tomorrow!

ENJOY

I have been a social butterfly these past couple of weeks, to the point where I am just counting down the hours until Sunday where I am entirely commitment-free. This will be the day that I read for an hour, chat to T over coffee and breakfast, create a new inspiration board for the studio and start brainstorming a few new goals. Me time. As much as I enjoy seeing friends and being around amazing people, it does take a lot of bright and bubbly energy, so sometimes the moments with a quiet, calmer energy are just what the doctor ordered.

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What health changes have you made recently that you have noticed benefits from?

Did you join me on Get Your Glow Back April? Want to kick through May with me too?

THE WEEK THAT WAS

Apart from my calf muscles giving out from wearing high heels every day (after months of ballet flats), my week of reinvention was great. I pulled out summer items and reworked them into my winter wardrobe and avoided my basic top + jeans combo at all costs. It made me remember how many beautiful pieces I have in my closet that aren’t given the air time that they deserve!

There were also a few pieces that I hadn’t worn because something wasn’t quite right. The zipper needing fixing, or the hem needed sewing or a button was missing. These have now been put into a pile to action ASAP – why have I been neglecting these gems just because I was too absent-minded to sew a button on? *sigh*

Before you decide that there’s nothing in your wardrobe that you like anymore, perhaps try a week of reinventing or reworking certain pieces and creating outfits you may not have thought to put together before. It is certainly worth a try to see if you can’t save a little on the credit card bashing that may still follow later.

Image sourced from Foodily

THIS WEEK

You are all going to think that I have lost the plot and jumped off the deep end when I explain this week’s challenge. I saw this post by Jessica from The Wellness Warrior pop up in my Google Reader feed a few days ago and I have to admit, I was intrigued. I am willing to give anything a go once and see how it feels, so this week I am oil pulling.

Jess explains the technique in more detail than I’ll go into here, but effectively it is the process of swirling oil around your mouth for 20 minutes or so, flushing the toxins out with it when you spit it out. I tried it yesterday with some warmed up coconut oil and surprisingly my gag reflex didn’t kick in. I can’t say it’s the most pleasant experience, but if produces any of the benefits (whiter teeth, healthier gums, better sleep etc) I’ll be a happy girl! I’ll let you know how it goes next week.

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Have you ever tried oil pulling?

Is it something you would give a go?