Emotional ties: Natural living guru Jasmine Hemsley

Natural living guru Jasmine Hemsley

The kingfisher was my dad Jack’s favourite bird and I painted this for him for Christmas in 2011. He passed away in 2014. I have something with a kingfisher in every room of my flat, to remind me of him. There is even a toy one in my car.

You see these brightly decorated buses, called jeepneys, all over the Philippines. My mum Vangie is Filipina and she wanted my sister Melissa and me to have Filipino toys growing up to keep us in touch with our heritage.

My granny Rosemary’s sewing box represents my love for making do and mending. My rescue dogs from India, Arjuna and Bheema, are about 20 months old and chew everything, so I tend to darn a lot. I’m craft-driven and love working with my hands.

These strawberry shoes are from the 1980s. I love car boot sales and charity shops and leapt on these at a vintage fair in Brixton, South London. I buy clothes from ethical labels, but only if I know I will wear an item at least 30 times.

Left: I never used the same perfume twice until I found Geranium Pour Monsieur by Frédéric Malle. I’m now on my fourth bottle. I also love to use Ila Spa Glowing Radiance Aroma Roller every day. According to Ayurveda – traditional Indian medicine – it calms my vata dosha body type. I didn’t know that when I started using it. Right: When I learned vedic meditation eight years ago, it got me interested in Ayurveda. In Ayurveda, it is more important to clean your tongue than your teeth. When I’m travelling, I would rather forget my toothbrush than my tongue scraper!

My crystal singing bowls are modern versions of Tibetan singing bowls. They are tuned to frequencies that resonate with and balance different parts of the body. I play them in ‘sound sessions’ for people to experience the benefits. All you do is lie back and relax.

My boyfriend Nick and I got engaged in India last year, ten years after he bought me this vintage eternity ring [on left]. I’m sure the engagement ring is supposed to come first! The stone in my other ring is a chrysoberyl; said to be rarer than a diamond.

I’m known for my bone broth and have made loads in this cast iron cooking pot. One-pot dishes were a big part of my childhood – lamb stews from the British side of my family and tinola, a ginger chicken soup from the Philippines.

These mala meditation beads help me to keep my thoughts and emotions in check. I wear them when I’m travelling, when meditation is even more important for keeping me grounded.