Wellness Influencer Interview: Tara Bliss

Please tell us a little about your business, yourself and how you got to where you are now in the wellness industry…

I guess the first thing I feel compelled to share here is that I don’t actually see myself as part of the wellness industry. My life and business have been and is the constant ‘result’ and unravelling of following my curiosities, following the energy, riding the wave of inspiration. All my adolescence and early twenties, I was a go hard or go home kinda girl - always keeping myself busy, burnt out and high as a kite. My body and mind reached breaking point at 24, and I finally began listening to those inner nudges that whispered it was time for me to face myself and embrace healing and well-being. Upon devoting to that decision and all its wonderful consequences, I became a life-coach (almost by accident), a strategic interventionist, and my writing began to thrive. My book High: A Party Girl’s Guide to Peace was (self-)published last November and has inspired thousands of girls to go within rather than reach for drink and drug. I also sell and educate folks on the power of essential oils, teach kundalini yoga (a practice that allowed me to fall in love with my Self), and six months ago, my husband and I launched Let Us Feed You Organics - an organic meal delivery business servicing Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

That’s my journey in a snapshot. If you wrap that all in a bow, it certainly looks as though I’m a player in the wellness industry, but really, I just continue to follow that surge of inspiration, wherever that leads me (it’s always evolving and changing), and if I helps people embrace wellness along the way, that’s a pretty groovy cherry on top.

What does ‘living naturally’ mean to you?

It means living closely to the Earth, which is becoming increasingly important to me.

Right now, that looks like:

• Supporting myself and our customers with all-organic meals. (Important: I’m certainly not a purist - there’s always a little room for the odd Grilld burger or cup of gelato!)
• Living an essential oil lifestyle
• Being in awe of nature. The more I love her, adore and see the beauty in her, the more I want to take care of her and tread her earth lightly.

But to me, living naturally also describes states of being on the interior. It means practicing self-compassion and self-patience.

What does a typical day in the wellness world look like for you?

Well, in my world, ain’t no such thing as typical. I tend to compartmentalise entire days into themes.

• Monday is a loose day off with a little admin.
• Tuesday I teach kundalini classes and make a few calls.
• Wednesday, I write (blog posts, newsletter, etc), and work on the food business before settling in for an evening of team calls.
• Thursday is spent focusing on whichever business needs a little attention.
• Friday is a creative day where I work on upcoming projects, events, speaking gigs.
• Saturday I normally have something fun and groovy to attend.
• Sunday I deliver organic meals to our customers.

In an amongst that, I create a pocket of time for my morning kundalini yoga practice. I take our dog Layla to the beach for a run and swim, and we generally have a one hour nap when we get home. Ideally, I’m sound asleep by 8:30pm so I can rise early and enjoy a sunrise.

What are your top 3 tips for staying fit and healthy?

1. Pranayam - breath practices that control the flow of prana (life force). Pranayam is a huge component of Kundalini Yoga, and I swear it’s responsible for that ‘glow’ which so often radiates from a Kundalini Yogi. Learning to breathe properly is so crucial, especially in this day,age and time. There are specific ways to breathe that can balance your hormones, calm your nervous system, enhance your intuition and give you energy. I freaking love breathing!
2. Eat real food. Stop eating when you’re full.
3. Enjoy the elements and the nature. I used to be someone that needed to head to a class to exercise. These days I get my movement in by simply playing with my dog and living pretty actively. I’m a huge advocate of incidental exercise.

In a nutshell, what’s your food philosophy?

I really subscribe to the whole #JERF movement: Just Eat Real Food. After years of switching diets and food philosophies (ayuveda, veganism, paleo, etc), I’ve landed at a very basic and rounded space where I’m simply all about digging food that is whole, organic (if possible) and delightful. PS: My husband is a chef. Blessed is too little a word!

What do you do to ‘reset’ the balance button when life gets a bit hectic?

Put it this way, whenever life has ‘gotten’ hectic, it’s most likely the result of me abandoning my personal practice. When I remain committed to myself, to my morning sadhana, my life unutterably flows. So for me it’s all about coming back to what has been tried and tested; the basics. We can complicate this a lot and often think to ourselves: What can I do to rid myself of this overwhelm and stress once and for all? The things is: it doesn’t really work like that. Overwhelm and stress are merely messengers - they are RESULTS - of decisions you’ve been making, thoughts you’ve been thinking. So personally, I make my way back by asking myself: ‘What can I say ‘no’ to right now so I can create some room in my psyche?’ AND ‘What do I NEED right now?’ (The answer is usually solitude or stillness) And then I do the thing and all is well in the world. It really can be that simple.

We’re all about balance around here…What’s your biggest indulgence?

Haha! Previously mentioned Grilld burger and cup of gelato!

What healthy snacks might we find on your desk or in your handbag?

I used to be a major snacker, but these days, no so much! Don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely known for making a quick trip to the organic grocer for a kombucha and raw salted caramel chocolate.  Also, I LOVE leftovers.

Can you share with us your top two pieces of advice for people wanting to start a career in the wellness industry?

1. Do this because you feel compelled to do this for YOURSELF, first and foremost, not because you want to save the world. Something I’ve been contemplating lately is Elizabeth Gilbert’s message in her latest book, Big Magic. She tells an incredible story in the book of her response when people come to her sharing that they just want to help people. Her response?‘Oh. Please don’t.’ Which I think was a beautiful and brave thing for her to share, and I really support this message. Do something because you love it, because you adore it, because it brings you alive, and then trust that if it does those things, it will bring other people alive in the process.

2. Quit waiting to be a perfect model of wellness before starting a career in it.

Gosh. I hear this so much.

‘I’m a fraud. I’m a health coach but I still get sugar cravings.’ ‘How can I be a life coach if I still argue with my husband a lot?’ Etc. This is called life, folks, and that old saying rings true here: ‘We teach what we most need to learn.’ I am ex-party girl who used to get out of my mind most nights of the week. These days, I teach people about mindfulness and the power of personal devotion. I teach it for a reason, because it’s my own very personal big life lesson that I’ll be circulating back to until the end of time. I’m a writer who burdens myself with chronic bouts of procrastination. It friggen sucks, but it teaches me about the power of resilience and persistence when I can beat it. I’m an advocate of organic eating who sometimes eats Grilld and gelato (just in case we haven’t got that dialled down just yet!). I think we need to be kinder to ourselves, and rather than try and create a stifling box that we feel we need to squeeze into in order to approve of ourselves, we need to burn the box, and breathe, and consciously align our action with our intentions, rather that allow our psyche to fall into a slumber of self-sabotage. And if you do sabotage? Who cares?! Learn from it and get on with your life.

Do you have a favourite affirmation or quote you remind yourself of when life throws you a few challenges?

At the moment, I simply keep reminding myself of two of my Core Desired Feelings. AWE and ALLOW.They bring me right back into a vibrational space of lightness.

What are your goals and aspirations for the coming year?

I have a pretty ginormous goal in my essential oils business - I’d like to help six women on my team hit six-figures (because supporting women in freeing themselves financially is a DREAM!) But other than that, I want to feed as many people organic food and teach as many people kundalini yoga as I can, all while spending as many happy and playful hours with my puppy and my husband as I can. Although life has gotten fuller of late, it’s also paradoxically become much simpler, which, again, is a dream.