Abigail O’Neill on living a more self-sufficient and enchanting lifestyle
A move to Byron Bay almost 30 years ago was the catalyst to living a more organic lifestyle for Abigail. Magical waterfalls, health food stores, and an abundance of nature led the activist and model to create a more captivating existence. She sat down with us to discuss living closer to the earth, raising her three children and finding confidence in your own skin.
What do you love most about being based in the coastal area of Byron Bay?
This is our home, a love filled space we created so long ago together. We’ve lived near Byron Bay for almost 30 years now, seeking to create a more self sufficient, close to Earth organic lifestyle. We raised our now grown up children here in the hinterland, the more country- rainforest side of the Byron region! It’s enchanting. Combined it’s been a magical experience of lots of nature, organic gardening, wonderful health food stores and healthy yet delicious restaurants, waterfalls, and amazing surfing beaches. We’ve seen it change a lot and become this truly world class place of connection to our Australian cities too! I also really love the grass roots vibe of the people who've live and work here for decades now, and the newcomers who are embracing that. Together I can feel a strong synchronicity for caring for ourselves deeply beginning with our own bodies, and then seeing those choices make the difference in more natural industries, and how that all works together to restore ourselves and our beautiful Planet, it’s ecosystems and wildlife. You can see some of the highlight nature themed moments from the last 10 years via my Instagram under the hashtag #AbisEnchantedLife.
You exude a sense of confidence in your own skin! Do you have any rituals that help you achieve this state of being?
Oh so many rituals indeed! One day I’ll either release a beauty book or a beauty range so everyone can have all of them!! One of my favourites to make me feel all myself again after a busy time, is to exfoliate my entire body with sea salt blend I make myself! I share this a lot under my #AbisBeautyBible hashtag, it’s called the “SALT GLOW” and it really works to revitalise and have me glowing again all over! The recipe is 50/50 pure sea salt and epsom or magnesium salts mixed together. You can use Celtic salt in place of the plain sea salt, extra rich in beauty minerals but a lot more expensive if you can afford it. I then add a few drops of any essential oils I’m feeling drawn to at the time, such as lavender, peppermint, lemongrass, for an uplifting aromatherapy experience, but you can even just use it as it is. The beautifications then begin with a couple of minutes warm shower, to relax and warm up the entire body, then I turn the shower down to a trickle and using handfuls of the salt, vigorously rub and scrub each part until my skin is glowing pink! When my whole body is tingling and glowy I rinse all the salt away again under a warm shower, finishing the ritual with a cold blast. Feels soo amazing! I towel rub dry, then moisturise my body completely with a good cold pressed organic oil, such as coconut or olive, avocado or any I feel captivated by in the moment. The whole process takes only ten minutes or less and you literally feel like you’ve been to the day spa! I do this at least once a week, to remove dead skin cells, open the pores and the skin becomes so beautiful silky smooth, you’ll love it!
“The wellness principles I’ve referred to often, so simple, but so life changing, and I learned them in my early teens. The '8 laws of health’. Nutrition, Exercise, Water, Sunshine, Temperance, Air, Rest, Trust. Whenever I’m not feeling so great, I stop and think, oh! Which of my 8 health guidelines have I missed today?”
Have you had any epiphanies lately? (big or small?!)
I’m a currently a walking epiphany! Ah! My life is a continual evolvement of so many manifestations realised, and so many yet to come! But just one, I would say lately has been to trust the process of transition in all of that. Transition is the emergence from one epiphany to another. This too is profound in my experience, but only as I remember the Source of my greatest inspiration, healing and blessing, Nature, and the Light and Love that has guided my life to this point.
What are your daily wellbeing non-negotiables?
My absolute daily wellbeing non-negotiables are the wellness principles I’ve referred to often, so simple, but so life changing, and I learned them in my early teens. The '8 laws of health’. Nutrition, Exercise, Water, Sunshine, Temperance, Air, Rest, Trust. Whenever I’m not feeling so great, I stop and think, oh! Which of my 8 health guidelines have I missed today? I add that one back in and it really works to bring me back into balance. Simplicity is so powerful, of course an entire chapter could be written on each one of these ‘laws' but by many years of practice, intuition, lots of self discipline, openness to spend time reading for my best health, and for that of my family, these have been the main guide stay of my life, and even my happiness!
Where is your favourite place to retreat to?
Home, when no one is home. Only me and the sound of Nature all around. We’ve made our home feel like a retreat. There’s a small rainforest remnant, and I love gardening and beekeeping on our property too. My amazing hubby even managed to complete my own personal ‘day spa’ with steam room and plunge pool a couple of years back it’s been such a long time dream of mine.
“I restore myself when I am alone” a famous quote I think by Marilyn Monroe, and I can relate! I am so busy these days between juggling my trips for work which have been most weeks this year, and our home life of nurturing my family, that it’s rare that I find a day where it’s just my own time. When I do I like to spend time in nature, the sunshine, enjoy hydrotherapy, and just BE nurturing my body with all the natural vibrant abundance I can. If I get two in a row, then I also love to swim in wild water somewhere too!
As a mother of 3, what life lessons has motherhood taught you?
I began my motherhood journey when I was only 19, and we’d had our three children by the time I was 24. My youngest is now 23, our eldest 28 and I couldn’t have done anything better with my life, although, the challenges are real, varied, incomprehensible to anyone who hasn’t experienced it. You just grow so much, you have to, for better or worse in all and all it’s the biggest character overhaul ever, and you learn more about life and love than you ever thought possible. You learn wisdom too, and respect for everyone. Everyone is precious, everyone has so much going on, everyone is someones mum, sister, daughter or grandmother and vica versa! Speaking of which, I’ll be a grand mumma next year as well!
You have a wonderfully abundant fruit and vegetable garden. How did you learn how to grow such beautiful produce?
So much trial and error! I’m honestly so blessed here to have amazing rich red soil, and I think that counts for a lot, the trees just burst forth, the vegetables spring up like crazy, although we do get a lot of pests, so I am always taking care of the plants organically without chemicals using things like neem, or companion planting etc. There’s so much to aspire too, I really am still only practicing even now, my Portuguese mother from Madaira taught me to garden like I cook, free-style! It’s really so fun learning as you go!
You have spent a long period of time in the modeling industry, what changes towards body acceptance have you noticed during that time?
Absolutely massive changes! Healthy and self acceptance I feel, is definitely the new black. It’s becoming more and more mainstream, y’know diverse beauty, age less beauty (beauty undefined by age that is) and beauty of every imaginable expression! I love it! It’s like fashion is throwing a huge party and everyone's invited!
What are your favourite skin and healthcare products?
I’m ever on the lookout for beautiful cold pressed organic oils, packaged in glass for my skin. I adore essential oils too and usually add them in myself and most skin oils I find don’t use enough of the ingredients I personally want for my skin, such as frankincense oil, for instance, so I add that one into my favourite cold pressed oil at the time. I also love any supplements such as chlorella, spirulina, medicinal mushrooms, herbs and pure herbal formulations, I really would love to have a wellness brand too, but for now I often mix my own herbs as I require them for what I’m feeling I need at the time. I love superfoods too, like cacao, which is why I wrote Model Chocolate almost 10 years ago now, also goji berries seaweeds, bee pollen, olives, capers, nuts and seeds, and all the beautiful vibrant fruits and vegetables from nature. If I can’t grow it - which lately I’ve been away in cities far from home so I haven’t grown so much - I buy it from farmers markets or health food stores for maximum potency, vitamins and minerals. You can also see some of the kinds of superfood rich meals I enjoy at #AbiEatsInspo.
Do you have any mentors that have influenced your lifestyle approach?
I’ve loved a lot of the original health pioneers and collected their books, such as Paavo Airola, Jensen, Kloss, and there are so many more, but I just love reading health books! As I’ve journeyed the last 3+ decades of my life I’ve encountered many personal health obstacles, and in those times I’ve sought out various health books usually by fairly alternate authors on each particular topic, and that’s how I’ve navigated working with my body to re-align with nature and heal itself, I have a very strong sense of autonomy from this lifelong experience, the body is truly trumps, genetics loads the gun, but lifestyle pulls the trigger.
What book have you read that left a lasting impression?
Ooh I don’t know if I could choose only one! I just have soo many in my possession that I keep going back to, and I have even just now ordered a couple more online for some specific family needs. Right now I’m reading the Hormone Repair Manual by Lara Briden as I’m heading towards menopause, strongly in my peri-menopausal phase and definitely not symptom free, and so it’s one of a few on the topic I’ve been reading in this time of my life. So blessed we are to have access to such wonderful wellness information, and a lot of transformative lifestyle advice based on holistic, natural therapies, I love all that.
When did you last belly laugh?
I think you’ve caught me out there! Definitely going to work on this one! It’s been a big week. I think I was with my daughter, she’s just so amazingly funny and clever all at once and always gets me laughing! Actually my husband is pretty hilarious, such an Irish sense of humour, and our boys too definitely can make me laugh!
What is your favourite quote or words to live by?
"You are nature too” - I don’t know if I read that somewhere when I was 13 or made it up as I’ve said it for so long now, but we really are like the plants, animals and systems that make up our beautiful natural world, we need all the sunshine, rest, fresh air, hydration, and joy that we can possibly fill our days with to be in balance, in sync with our Earth, it's when we feel our best, have clarity for what’s really precious to us in this beautiful life. It’s when we can be inspired and invincible to live out our dreams too with authenticity. Without our health we lose all, with it we can almost touch the sky, and the Earth and all it’s creatures seem to chime in to celebrate with us! We are NATURE too!
Photography by Isabel Sasse
Interview by Anna Harding
