Today, we invite Alice da Montanha: artist, herbalist, mother, and woman deeply connected to Nature. With roots in the earth and her heart in creation, she shares with us her rituals of well-being, intuitive eating, and vision of natural beauty.
Prepare yourself for a reading experience that inspires body, mind, and spirit — and reminds us that living authentically also means taking care of our beauty.
Who am I?
I'm Alice, an artist, herbalist, mother, and woman. Aspiring spagyric practitioner and farmer!
Currently navigating the seas of ecological and regenerative entrepreneurship.
I believe in the manifestation of dreams and I dream of a Healthy Planet, where the human species finally realizes and accepts itself as part of Nature.
TO BE
Zodiac sign: Taurus , ascendant and Moon in Virgo.
Season: Autumn
One color: Green
A book : The Practice of Wilderness, Gary Snyder
A film: My Neighbor Totoro, Hayao Miyazaki
A song: The Girl of Peace, Creature
A podcast: The freebirth Society
An object: Earrings
Favorite place in the world: The cool river in the hot summer.
TO CREATE
Who and what inspires you? Mother Earth, my children, my partner, my parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents.
What else do you want to create? So much! Not knowing exactly where to begin, I'll venture to mention our farm and all the wonderful projects we have there!
How to maintain creativity? Well, I think my biggest challenge has been containing my creativity and managing to focus! I believe that as the wonderful beings we are, creativity overflows. Many times it's just the mechanical routines and lethargy that make us seem less creative, but we are, we are creative beings and we just have to allow life and creativity to express themselves through us.
TO LIVE
First thing to do when I wake up: Ideally, a nice warm drink of water with lemon and salt and a yoga session on the mat at home. But I can't always do that, and that's okay. Sometimes the first thing is to wake the little ones up with kisses to help them get dressed, have breakfast, and go to school!
How to relax at the end of the day: A walk through the farm, savoring the twilight, with the dogs, cats, and children as company.
A place to switch off: To switch off, I have a spot among the oak trees that is my favorite place.
Favorite physical exercise: Hiking in the woods
How do I relieve stress? Drawing or painting are my meditations.
A woman who inspires you: All the women in my family, from my great-grandmothers whom I had the privilege of knowing, my grandmothers (I inherited the name Alice from my paternal grandmother), to my mother and my mother-in-law. I like to look at them, thanking them for everything they have done and continue to do so that my children and I can be here now.
NOURISH
My ideal diet is ... a plate with zero processed foods inspired by ancestral diets, especially from the area where I live and which is a large part of my heritage.
What you should always have in the refrigerator: bone broth, lacto-fermented vegetables.
Dinner-saving recipe: omelet with our chicken and steamed vegetables.
Favorite drink: Mint infusion with rosehip berries
Favorite snack: Savory: raw cheese with truffles; sweet: energy balls filled with fig and almond.
Favorite restaurant: A Quelha, in Amarante
Favorite cookbooks: Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon, but I must also mention an excellent book by Maria de Lourdes Modesto, Cozinha Tradicional Portuguesa (Traditional Portuguese Cuisine).
TO CARE
Beauty icon: As a teenager I had a life-size poster of Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's.
But after that, I focused deeply on the image of Portuguese rural women, from those in Minho to those in Ribatejo. The strength and life in their expressions, the hands of my grandmother Alice, hands of work, hands of love. The life in Maria Luisa (a shepherdess from the Serra, beautiful with her headscarf), the delicacy of my grandmother Emília, always so kind and well-groomed. Beauty can come from so many places, it's hard to choose just one!
An essential piece of clothing: A scarf around the neck.
What's always in your beauty routine: A refreshing and astringent water.
Favorite MPL'beauty product: Cucumber water
How do you feel most beautiful? It really depends, and I feel it's a long process of acceptance and appreciation.
Learn more about Alice on her Instagram and check out her website.
