Be the radiant, positive, full of energy person you were meant to be and above all be healthy and thrive. Here are a few tips to help you achieve a healthier and happier life. There is no rush, they do not all have to be taken up at the same time, little changes can make a big difference over time.
5 self-care Tips
Keep Your Skin Moist
With coconut oil, shea butter NOT vaseline = which is petroleum jelly as it’s made of OIL = which is BAD for your skin
Bathe to soothe body and mind
Use olive oil, Epsom salts, oatmeal – not just water alone. Use Hot water to soothe your adrenal glands and distress.
Ultraviolet light
Get sunlight – drink carrot and beet juice before to boost your beta-carotene to improve the integrity of your skin. Supplement with vitamin d in months with less sun.
Quit smoking
Worsens symptoms – it aids inflammation and is an irritant. Boosts free radical damage.
Detox
Get rid of food – intolerances, and foods that cause inflammation as well as chemicals and personal care products that cause more harm than good.
Keep Your Skin Moist
We are bombarded every day with products that are supposed to keep our skin feeling soft, smooth and young. However, a great deal of these products is filled with a lot of junk – my favorite being water! If the first ingredient in your cream is water, think again. Your skin is hydrophobic – meaning it repels water- however it loves oil and soaks it right up! Water, although technically a strange thing to use to moisturize your skin is not the worst ingredient in creams, if you cannot understand what you are putting on your skin or if the ingredient list is too long, think again and choose something natural.
Applying natural oils to your skin is the best way to go about having soft, smooth and healthy young-looking skin. Coconut oil, almond oil, shea butter are all great for hydrating skin and they don’t have any strange fillers. You can go a step further and add a few drops of your favorite essential oil to liven up your all-natural cream.
Here are some steps to healthy holistic skincare.
- Dry brushing your skin before you shower or apply a cream. This stimulates and moves your lymphatic system – waking you up, providing your body with nutrients, removing waste and eliminating stretch marks as well as smoothing skin in the process.
- Drink plenty of water. This is super important, as many of us go about life dehydrated. Adding ginger, lime or lemon and mint is a great way to make water more alkaline and add some anti-inflammatory agents into your diet.
- If you don’t need to do not wear makeup – it’s as easy as that, let your skin breath.
- Wash your face with a natural product that will clean your face without stripping away too much of your skin’s natural oils. I love using Skin Essence Organics Pure Gentle Facial Cleanser.
Best Creams for your Skin
LUSH: I am in love with Lush’s Massage Bars. They are solid natural butter and essential oil blends that are easy to apply and great to travel with. If you want something that is already premade and easy to apply and use I strongly suggest these bars. From Dusk till Dawn is a great one to start off with. Lush’s Body Butters for the shower is also great as the exfoliate and moisturize!
The Honest Co.: The Organic Healing Balm is one I carry on my person and have on my bedside table. It is Great to use, especially during the winter months. Sometimes you may need to massage the tube before use as the oils may settle at the bottom.
Maiga: I always have a Lavender Shea Butter on hand from them, as you never know when you will get a burn or a scar (lavender works great for both). It is smooth and absorbs well into the skin and with four ingredients you cannot go wrong!
Bathe To Soothe Body and Mind
Baths are so wonderful, they are relaxing, revitalizing and healing. If you add the right ingredients to your bath it can work wonders for your body and mind – even if done but once a week.
Hot baths, or at a temperature that you can handle are very beneficial for healing and strengthening worn-out adrenal glands. Done for a duration of 15 to 20 minutes can make a world of difference, especially when it comes to stress management (This can also be done by placing a hot water bottle over the adrenal glands while you rest).
Combining a hot bath with a detox is a great way to add extra benefits to the body. If this is done after a very intense workout or run or yoga practices to a point where you are sweating – the results will be better. To your hot bath add the following;
- 2 tbsp of powdered organic ginger
- 1 cup of sea salt
- 1 cup of non-aluminum baking soda
Or
- 2 tbsp of powdered organic ginger
- 1 cup of Epsom salt
- 2 cups of non-aluminum baking soda
Adding Oils to one’s bath is a great way to moisturize the body and provided added relief. The use of essential oils is very beneficial – such as rosemary which aids in increasing circulation, moving the lymphatic system and stimulating the body, lavender which aids in calming and relaxing the mind and body after a long day of work or perhaps orange or mandarin which brightens one’s mood and awakens the senses. Before adding in essential oils it is important to combine it with a carrier oil or Epsom salt. Bath carrier oils can be olive oil, almond oil or coconut oil.
Oatmeal is beneficial for reducing inflammation on the skin. Adding a cup of oats, as well as 1-2 cups of steeped chamomile tea can bring down swelling, irritation, and redness. Make sure to moisturize the skin as soon as you leave the bath.
Ultraviolet Light
Vitamin d which the skin makes from sunlight or ultraviolet light is necessary for the production and maintenance of strong hair, nails, and healthy skin. When you coat your skin with SPF creams to block ultraviolet light it drastically diminishes the amount of vitamin d that the body can produce. What you can do so as to get the benefits from the sun and leave the rest is to naturally boost your beta-carotene intake so ask to strengthen the integrity of the skin (after sunbathing it is also very strongly recommended to apply aloe vera to the skin).
Vitamin A or beta-carotene is fat-soluble, which means it is stored in the body. It is naturally found in the tissues of plants and animals. It stimulates the growth of the base layer of skin cells as well as membranes, aids in diminishing and preventing acne, as well as other inflammatory skin conditions such as psoriasis and ichthyosis and aids in maintaining the structural integrity of mucosal membranes and ensuring their proper lubrication.
An easy way to get Vitamin A into your diet is Carrot juice. I like to do a combination of carrot (10-12), apple (1), Mandarin (4-5) and ginger (as big of a chunk as you can handle). Not only is it high in Vitamin A, but this juice is a great antioxidant, it boosts the immune system, aiding in reducing inflammation and healing the gut.
In the winter month make sure you supplement with vitamin d. My partner and I take it along with our adrenal tonic in the morning, however, you can always add some to your wonderful Carrot Juice for an added beneficial boost. If you are feeling groggy and notice that your hair is falling out during the winter more so than the summer it is a good indication that you are low in Vitamin A.
Smoking and Oral Health
Smoking destroys the gastrointestinal system, so when healing it, you want to begin with the mouth as it is the beginning of the gastrointestinal tract. Oil pulling with coconut oil which is very beneficial against gingivitis (melt it and swish in mouth for 5-10 minutes/daily) is also very beneficial for individuals who smoke or are quitting. The irritation that smoking places on the body are also placed in the month. Coconut oil gives strength back to gums, reducing gingivitis, bleeding and preventing the loss of teeth. Using a herbal mouthwash is another great way to strengthen the gums and teeth and reduce the negative effects that smoking leaves on one’s oral health.
Because smoking brings about a great deal of inflammation and toxicity to the body, increasing cell death and aging, it is important to support and boost the body’s defenses. Vitamin C is an incredibly beneficial supplement to take on a daily base, as is Niacin. The two supplements together work wonders for individuals who are looking to quit smoking. The niacin (not niacinamide) produces a flush in the body that aids in the removal of toxins and diminishes cravings for nicotine. Vitamin C boosts the immune system, aids in flushing toxins and provides the body with support during a time of great distress.
Detoxing Your Body
When the body is overweighted with toxins and its organs are not working optimally one will not feel their best. It is important to cleanse the body on an annual basis as well as to partake in a healthy clean diet every day. The best times of the year to cleanse are during the fall and springtime.
Easy steps to clean up one’s diet and aid the body in its natural detoxification process is to make sure that all organs are working as they should and that any foods that cause irritation or are allergens are removed from the diet.
Food Intolerance
- antibodies (Ab): aka immunoglobulins is a large Y shaped protein produced by B cells that are used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects such as bacteria and viruses and food particles
- they flag the food and whenever it returns to the body it flares up your insides.
How food intolerances appear on the skin
- wrinkles under the eyes
- rashes
- hives
- eczema
- hair loss
Healing the gut with herbs
slippery elm/marshmallow (demulcents) – healing and soothing pain
comfrey infusion (stop bleeding)
Licorice root tea (increases the number and quality of mucous cells)
