Monthly Archives: June 2025

Is the microbiota—the trillions of bacteria and yeast that live with the intestinal flora of your gastrointestinal system—on its way to becoming our best wellness ally?

Thanks to fairly recent research into gene sequencing, we now have a better understanding of this astonishing bacterial population living within our gut. According to André Burckel, a French scientist and pharmacist-biologist, the microbiota can “send messages to the brain, with an impact on neurotransmitters which then act on mood.”

We’re in a period of increase gut health awareness, but it can also be pretty overwhelming to know where to start to nurture your microbiome. Should you really be on a super-push for protein? Are probiotics the answer? Or prebiotics?

The signs of an unhappy gut range from bloating and lethargy to insomnia, reduced immunity, depression, and constipation. When your gut isn’t best pleased, it’s throwing the rest of your body off. So how can we optimise our microbiota? Below, three simple rules for having a healthy gut.

Focus on the right foods

Directly influencing mood, sleep, and both the locomotor (musculoskeletal) and circulatory systems, as well as the body’s defense system, the effects of microbiota extend far beyond the intestines and their impact on digestion. You have to take the utmost care of it to feel good and keep a healthy gut.

In his book The Burckel Diet, for Microbiota Health, Burckel recommends incorporating five key components into your daily diet. First, resistant starches like wheat, beans, or bananas to nourish the good intestinal bacteria. Secondly, beta-glucans, a type of soluble fiber that naturally occurs in things like oats and barley, and which increase the number of good bacteria, kills the bad, and lowers cholesterol levels at the same time.

Then, Burckel suggests fructans, which are a type of carbohydrate that naturally occurs in certain cereals, legumes, and fruit and vegetables like asparagus, chicory, and melon, all which help balance the microbiota. He also emphasises the importance of fibre—like kale, figs, or almonds, which increases gut diversity and is used by your gut bacteria to create short-chain fatty acids—good for brain health and metabolism. Finally, polyphenols, found in plant foods like dates, tea, spices, and cocoa, which can act like a prebiotic and benefit gut bacteria, or can be converted by the gut bacteria into beneficial fatty acids.

Eat raw

It’s a fact: Our hectic, stressed lifestyles, combined with an industrialised diet and reliance on antibiotics, put the functioning of the microbiota to the test. We now know that intestinal dysbiosis can lead to autoimmune pathologies, degenerative diseases, and even depression…The good news? We can take preventative measures, and optimize the functioning of our microbiota with the help of dietary prebiotics—another unsung hero of gut health.

Power Crystal: Black tourmaline, for protection and grounding.

Clarity sets in, and you can finally see your way out of the maze. Leo, courage is what you need to find your way through. There’s a quiet awakening unfolding within you which feels like a call to step into your next chapter with clarity, intuition, and grace. You’re being guided to speak from truth, not fear, and to trust the vision forming in your inner world, even if it hasn’t fully taken shape yet. This is a moment to align your thoughts with your soul’s wisdom. Let your inner knowing lead, even when logic wants proof. Meditate, journal, or simply jot down instinctual steps that come to you to begin your journey.

Power Crystal: Labradorite, to take swift, aligned action.

Tender and delicate – that is you this month, Virgo. When you feel like you are walking on thin ice, ask yourself if it feels good to go slow and gentle on yourself. Your reluctant response will be –yes. Accept this amazing opportunity to enfold the vastness of life in your slender arms by opening your heart to the most intricate weaves it has to offer. This month, you realise that when you come from a space of peace, even the mightiest storms pass by like the cool ocean breeze. It all starts in a fraction of a moment, but it moves into something bigger almost instantly. This fragility you have claimed, nurture it unrelentingly. In stillness, your heart will remember how to breathe again.

Power Crystal: Nuummite, for healing shadows and stepping into your wholeness.

Let’s get brutally honest, Libra. What are you holding onto? What are you creeping away from, and what are you trying to shove under the rug? Will you simply stop and listen? You were born with the knowing that nothing is wrong with you, and now you simply need to revert back to that mode where every shortcoming was simply a part of your personality, without any moral labels attached to it, just like your strengths. You picked up concepts of flaws and imperfections as you moved along the way, but tell me, did it really help you, or did it only keep you back? Just like Mama Earth, it is time to accept your oceans as equally important and beautiful as your deserts. They all make you You. As long as you have your heart in the right place, you are invincible, okay?

Cosmic tip: You are your own sacred sanctuary.

You have waited long enough for this moment, Taurus. A new broth may be brewing, and you may have been wondering whether to stir this cauldron or not, whether to add your special spice mix to this pot or not and whether this broth is even meant for you or not. Here is the clarity you need – be it a relationship, a career opportunity or both – this fresh start is meant for you. You may not be ready to fully jump in, but try testing the waters with the best you’ve got. Only when you give something an honest shot, minus the baggage of ‘failed’ dreams or expectations, will you be able to truly, objectively assess what it contributes to your life. It may just be the wishbone you’ve been waiting for.

Cosmic tip: Breathe your way into this. And remember -YSKB: Your Soul Knows Best.

You may have been moving through life with a certain bitter pill that you may be finding hard to swallow. And Gemini, as heart-wrenching as it may feel, your angels are here to remind you that you have the option to spit it out. If anything feels too heavy to carry, you have a choice not to carry it. Gone is the era when you needed to carry so much upon your shoulders. Here is the time where you can choose freedom, and you know, you will choose it responsibly. Take your time to heal, take your time to let go, take your time to move on, take your time to accept things objectively, but once you’ve done this, step into your breezy, witty, most creative self and live life once again.

Cosmic tip: You are not being tested, you are being planted.

How much will you handle all by yourself, Cancer? Will you just ask for help, shorten that never-ending list and ask your brain to hit snooze for just a moment? What about marianting in the pleasure that surrounds you – that quiet moment with yourself, the sound of raindrops as you sip on your morning coffee, that fleeting snuggle with your pet, those endless innocent stories your children are full of, that passionate kiss your share with your partner – these are the moments that make up your now. Yes, future thinking has its own space, but so does your present moment. Today, your angels ask you to hand over all your stress to them and open up to all the blessings they send your way. P.S. Also, drop your shoulders and the weight they carry.