Our Weekly Cup;
Sourdough Creation, The Power of Presence and Everyday Athletes
It’s been a quiet week in the Good Rising Cacao headquarters, which we welcomed with open arms, enjoying a moment to focus on refining other skills and tightening our daily practises.
If you’re in the southern parts of the world right now, you’ll have the big fluffy blankets out of the cupboards and be beginning to enjoy the rugged up autumn afternoons. Nestle into the warmth and top up your cup of cacao as we mosey along the journey that was a marvellous, slow and relaxing week.
Firstly, thank you to everyone who ordered this week, it was marvellous to see so many returning customers and to receive beautiful messages of support. Knowing that what we have created is impacting so many in such incredible ways gives us a boost of drive and energy beyond comprehension.
The major event going on in our world right now has nothing to do with Cacao and everything to do with Sourdough. What a world we have entered when we decided to create our own Sourdough bread. A magical, deep, confusing and exciting world.
We began by creating our starter, Bethany and my gosh the journey that followed was one of absolute love, care and finding the warmest spot in the house. We live in Frankston, Victoria and for the past 11 days we have barely seen the sun so it’s been a battle to find warmth, a battle that I’m proud to report, we won.
It has taken 15 days for our beautiful Bethany to be strong enough to attempt our first bake. During the past 15 days, we have had her in front of a heater constantly in order to get her to bloom into the bubbly, yeasty live culture we always knew she would be. It has been a journey of feeding, the house smelling like beer which transformed into nail polish remover but today, we have arrived at the sourdough creation station and the excitement has never been higher!!
As I type this, I am on the last 30 minutes of a 2 hour window of stretching and folding my second sourdough dough (let's not talk about the first rock hard potential failure of yesterday, we’re learning) and this dough is feeling like perfection.
For anyone feeling the call to Sourdough - I can not recommend it highly enough. The world has gone absolutely crazy over this ancient practise and everyone’s making it out to be the hardest process ever, its not. It is fun, interesting and so far, a process of trusting ones intuition and following a simple recipe. My favourite part? Talking to Bethany and sending her love, after all, she’s a living organism and love is a universal language.
We hear a lot these days about ‘being present’ but what does that even mean? I have been on a deep dive into awareness and consciousness for many years and feel I’ve made a lot of headway on my journey to mastering myself but up until this week, I don’t feel I’ve ever truly experienced an entire day of being completely present.
When I found myself alone, house to myself, mind, body, energy, spirit and emotions in a state of presence, the day that unfolded was what I can only describe as magic. On paper, this day might look kind of bland but it was the feeling and experience of being in such deep presence that made everything I did magical. I spent most of this day cleaning and cooking in total silence. Being completely present, in a meditative state, everything moved so ease-fully, everything I created worked perfectly, I was perfect, how can we be anything other than perfect? Vacuuming was a sacred task, slicing potatoes was mystical and profound, eating was an immeasurable pleasure.
Of course, I had moments where I slipped out of presence and the immediate chaos that began formulating was incredible feedback. I was made aware in those brief moments that I was in fact allowing my mind to wander from the task at hand. I would bring myself back into presence by asking myself; ‘What is more important than washing these potatoes right now?’ and the answer is simple, nothing. I am exactly where I am meant to be in every moment and there isn’t a thing from my past or in my future (which for the record, does not exist) that could be more important than the task I am undertaking.
I have been consciously working towards this moment with the guidance of Siniša who is not just a business partner but my greatest mentor. His ability to stand in his own energy in any moment and be present within himself is undeniably one of his greatest skills and for anyone fortunate enough to be within his physical field, his greatest gift.
Due to his mastery of presence I have been encouraged to add in to my daily practises silent walks and no talking in the rising after meditation; not until we have both completed our morning practises of stretching, strengthening, journaling, ice bathing, yoga and whatever else feels in alignment. These silent mornings have become a cherished time of the day where I’m alone with my mind, my body, my emotions, my energy and I get to connect into the source of all energy and begin being in a state of presence unlike anything Ive ever experienced.
Being present is the ultimate present for ourselves and the state of being that we all deserve.
To learn from the master in our upcoming course, The Path To Mastery, sign up to receive details as they unfold and to gain first access to apply when we launch.
Trust me, you don’t want to sleep on this opportunity, being guided into my true state of presence allowed me to feel everything and nothing all at once, an experience far beyond what words could ever express.
Those that are following our journey will have noticed that we are beginning to work with some very talented athletes and this week, we want to celebrate the woman who started it all for us - Kelly Hanks.
Kelly is our first Everyday Athlete that we are proud to sponsor and because of her love for Good Rising Cacao, in particular Focus Fuel, together we sparked the beginning of what is now unfolding as one of the greatest experiences for us and many others. A program in which we sponsor and support Everyday Athletes in achieving their goals, building a health conscious community and sharing an alternative to coffee or energy drinks to those that require it most.
Kelly is a self proclaimed Everyday Athlete and her story is one of determination, focus, commitment and joy. Full transparency, Kelly is my beautiful cousin and being the witness to her health journey over the past few years has been profound. Proud doesn’t even come close to how I feel when I receive messages from her about how far she rode or that she has signed up to compete in her first half Ironman.
I would love to give you all the details of how she came to be the everyday athlete that she is right now because trust me, it is a story that will get you up off the couch and running towards your best version but it’s not my story to tell, It’s Kelly’s and we are yet to sit down and hear her share it so you will have to wait.
What
I can share though is that last Sunday, Kelly competed in the Elite Energy triathlon with the intention of ‘getting to know the area’ as it was hosted in the location of the half Ironman she is competing in later this year.
Her event consisted of a 1km Swim, 30km bike ride and an 8km run. With a time of 2 hours, 9 minutes and 44 seconds, Kelly came away with a very impressive 3rd in her age category which came as an unexpected shock to her.
‘I didn’t even know until one of my friends asked me what I got on the swim and that’s when I noticed, I came 3rd!’ Kelly told us when we spoke to her after the event.
Honestly, with the lifestyle she lives, the mindset she possesses and the amount of Focus Fuel she consumes, we’re not shocked by the podium position. A well deserved achievement with many more on the way, that’s our prediction.
Congratulations to our Everyday Athlete and all round incredible woman, Kelly Hanks - fuelled by Focus Fuel and an inspiration to us all.
So, that’s us for this week! Thank you to everyone who has been tuning in, connecting with us and sharing in the joy of this wonderful community. We love you all greatly and are thoroughly enjoying this journey.
We will be launching our first SALE this week so be sure to sign up to the mailing list or follow us on our social media accounts so you don’t miss it!
Have a fabulous week and much love,
Kate & Siniša
