Our skin is a reflection of the body’s inner harmony. As I’ve already shared in Natural Secrets for Beautiful Clear Skin much of our skin’s appearance has to do with how well hydrated we are, how balanced our diet is, and how well we’re avoiding and eliminating toxins. However, it’s also possible to experience holistic health by treating the outside of the skin too. I love to combine 2 ancient Ayurvedic practices for the skin that create systemic benefits. This morning skin care routine will nourish your whole body, boost your energy, and improve your mood!
Morning time (between 3-7am) is related to the Lung and Large Intestine organs, according to Chinese Medicine, which is also related to the skin. So it’s important to nourish the skin at this time to bring balance to those organs. The opposite is also true, that this is the best time to do a deep breathing practice and stimulate bowel movements to support clear, healthy skin.
Working with the skin can be both invigorating and calming, which is a wonderful way to start the day. Taking the time to connect with yourself with touch – a powerful form of self-love – is also a huge aspect of achieving holistic health.
Combining the Ayurvedic rituals of Dry Skin Brushing (Garshana) and Ayurvedic Oil Massage (Abhyanga) in the morning will jump start your body to work at it’s finest while also connecting to your heart and loving nature.
Dry Skin Brushing and Ayurvedic Oil Massage share these benefits:
Dry Skin Brushing exfoliates the skin and unclogs pores. Then the skin can absorb nutrients and health-b00sting elements from the carrier and essential oils used in the Ayurvedic Oil Massage.
Before getting to this morning skin care protocol, you may want to download my FREE stress-relieving self-acupressure guide that you can use in the evening, sandwiching your day with self-love!
This routine is very soothing for the body, heart, and mind. The ancient ritual of anointing your body with oil can be deeply spiritual as well, helping you connect with your inner Goddess.
The oil also helps protect your skin as it’s moisturized and should be used instead of any conventional lotions that are filled with preservatives and other toxic substances.
I hope you can make time for this skin care routine every morning! Please let me know how it works for you, in the comments.
If you haven’t done so already, you’ll want to get my stress-relieving self-acupressure guide that will help you relieve tension, boost your energy, and improve your sleep in less than 10 minutes! You can add this protocol at the end of your day.
When it comes to managing modern health challenges like chronic stress, anxiety, and inflammatory conditions, it’s best to take a natural approach. People now realize how dangerous it can be to become dependent on pain killers and mood-altering drugs. Cannabidiol (CBD), is a popular natural solution, but the lesser-known Copaiba essential oil is even better in my opinion. Here’s why I think it’s a clear winner when people are considering Copaiba essential oil vs. CBD for holistic health.
The endocannabinoid system has only been studied in depth over the last decade. Scientists discovered that there’s a nexus of cannabinoid receptors on cells throughout the entire body that interact with cannabinoids and can be key in managing disease. So far, they recognize two types of receptors.
CB1 receptors reside in the brain and link with Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive chemical derived from the Cannabis sativa plant. This explains the “high” that someone experiences when they use it.
CB2 receptors cover cells everywhere else in the body. They receive two cannabinoids: Cannabidiol (CBD) which is also derived from Cannabis sativa and beta-caryophyllene which is largely present in Copaiba essential oil (also in black pepper, clove, melissa, and rosemary essential oils, but in a smaller amount) . CB2 receptors support the nervous, cardiovascular, digestive, and immune systems and are responsible for healthy inflammatory response.
CB2 activation does not create a psychoactive experience like CB1 receptors, so one becomes very relaxed but not “high”.
Many of our health issues these days are due to stress, or too much time spent in a sympathetic nervous system state (flight or flight) as opposed to the parasympathetic state (rest and digest). We also have issues with lowered immunity or auto-immunity. Then there’s pain and inflammation that have many causes. CBD and beta-caryophyllene from Copaiba essential oil both create beneficial systemic effects that help manage symptoms of these health challenges and increase our body’s capacity to heal.
One of the reasons Copaiba sets itself apart from CBD is that it’s cannabinoid binds directly to CB2 receptors! Beta-caryophyllene is quickly available for the body and has a long half-life, meaning it lasts long in the body.
CBD, on the other hand, binds indirectly after several internal processes, which means it takes longer to provide symptom relief. The longer activation cascade of CBD also make dosage confusing because the amount of CBD that’s activated is not always consistent. CBD has a shorter half-life than Copaiba’s beta-caryophyllene
Generally, a smaller amount of high-quality Copaiba essential oil is needed for beneficial effects compared to CBD. You get what you pay for in both industries. But even the more expensive therapeutic-grade brands are still a less expensive option than CBD because of the dose difference.
Exciting research shows that Copaiba essential oil can help with many health challenges!
Check out these studies to learn more:
Here’s some ideas of how you can use Copaiba essential oil for holistic health at home.
Place a few drops in a water diffuser to relax your mood. It blends well aromatically with Lavender, Douglas Fir, Frankincense, Peppermint, Clary Sage, and many other essential oils.
Combine 3-5 drops of Copaiba with 1 oz. of carrier oil like Fractionated Coconut Oil and massage into target areas of the body.
Another fabulous benefit of Copaiba is that it enhances the effects of other essential oils. Try these powerful combinations:
Take 1-2 drops of therapeutic-grade Copaiba essential oil under tongue or in a vegetable capsule with olive oil to access all of it’s health benefits.
Have you used Copaiba essential oil? Please share your experience in the comments! I’d especially love to hear if you’ve been able to compare it to CBD. Which do you prefer? Well wishes to you…
When you think about strength training (or weight lifting), images of body builders or over-enthusiastic CrossFit athletes may come to mind. For women especially, it may seem that this type of training is not how you’d like to achieve overall wellness. However, once you recognize that there are many different approaches and surprising benefits of strength training, you may quickly change your mind!
It has taken me a lifetime to realize that this is one of the best ways for me to care for my body and mind, and has made me confront some stubborn beliefs that I know others hold as well. Here’s a helpful list of reasons why I’ve been lifting weights as my main form of exercise lately and why I think you should too!
A slower metabolism is what we blame for the pesky weight gain that many of us experience as we age.
There are many reasons why metabolism decreases and our bodies become less efficient at burning calories and stored energy (fat), and why it’s different from person to person. Yes, genes play a role to some degree, but it’s small. Diet and lifestyle patterns influence our metabolic rate much more.
Extended periods of stress, high carbohydrate diets, eating too many processed foods, inactivity, and being exposed to environmental toxins can all lower your metabolic rate, increase fat stores, and exacerbate certain diseases like diabetes and hypothyroidism.
This is good news though, because it means that we’re not a victim to our metabolic rate and are capable of controlling it (and prevent certain diseases)! Exercising regularly is essential to regulating metabolism, especially resistance exercises.
With cardio exercises like running, cycling, or swimming, your metabolism is increased during the activity, but quickly moves down to it’s resting rate.
Lifting weights, on the other hand, can keep your metabolism revving for several hours and even days after you finish! The reason for this is that strength training challenges your body so much that it needs greater time to recover. But as long as your careful with form and you don’t harm your joints, this is a good stress that actually makes you not only stronger, but more efficient with burning fat as energy.
A few months ago in a tennis clinic, I pulled a muscle for the first time in my life. My calf muscle snapped and spasmed after I made a simple lunge for the ball. It made me realize that even though I consider myself fairly active, I apparently had a muscular imbalance that left my calf vulnerable.
That’s the point where I really started spending more time in the gym doing heavy squats and weighted lunges to condition my leg muscles equally. As an outcall Acupuncturist (hauling a massage table around town) and Yoga Instructor, strength training is ensuring that my body will be able to last as I care for others in the community.
Whether you need to keep your body conditioned for your job or sport, it’s still essential you build muscle as you age since sarcopenia is inevitable. In addition to eating more protein, as advocated by Functional medicine practitioner Gabrielle Lyon, lifting weights will also help you maintain muscle mass. You’ll spend more time enjoying fun activities and less time worrying that you’ll fall and decline in health.
Like all forms of exercise, strength training releases endorphins which can drastically improve our mood. However, there are studies that now show resistance training is actually more effective than aerobic exercise in supporting the management of mental-emotional issues such as anxiety, which is a growing concern in our country.
What do you think of people who lift weights? Do you make assumptions about their interests, intelligence, and sexual preference? I’m calling this out because I know for a fact that many people have unkind thoughts and weird assumptions about other people that they feel threatened by.
I wrote about my body image issues and other people’s assumptions in How To Be Thankful For Your Body As It Is. This is the main reason why I’d always been afraid to do a lot of weight training. I was already short and stocky – not the “ideal” body shape for a woman – and I didn’t want to move even further away from being “feminine”. I’m over it now though. This is not something I believe anymore!
Women, if you want to be a stronger force in the world, I feel like tapping into your physical strength will help you feel even more powerful. Gone are the days where we need to be soft-spoken, demure, and feel like we need to look smaller than men. Let’s be strong alongside men!
All bodies are beautiful whether we’re large or small. Strength is more about function, the body’s ability to confront challenges. I may look bigger than most as I find the perfect about of strength to sustain my fun & active life.
I’m not afraid to look strong! Are you?
As you start your strength training journey, you’ll need to overcome a few things I already mentioned:
Once you get over these though, a new degree of confidence is going to emerge. You’ll feel that you’re not only more physically capable to play sports, carry heavy objects, and such, but that your stronger inside.
Strengthening your body will also strengthen your character. It will strengthen your resolve to stick to a program for your benefit and for the people who rely on you.
You’ll become a confident role model for those you share your life with.
Are you interested in strength training but don’t know where to start?
Getting personal training at the gym is a good place to begin to make sure you’re doing the exercises correctly.
Once you become accustomed to dumbbells, barbells, cables, and kettle balls, you may want to start looking at magazines and videos for inspiration. Right now I’m loving the content on YouTube from MegSquats, BodyBuilding.com, and Kat Musni Fitness.
I hope learning these benefits of strength training has peaked your interest in giving it a try!
Do you incorporate strength training into your exercise program? How has it worked for you? Please let us know in the comments!
Want to release stress, dissolve tension, and spark your creative juices? Float therapy in a sensory deprivation tank can bring you all of that as well as deep peace of mind! I highly recommend it and here’s why…
Float therapy has been popularized by athletes, celebrities, and other influencers who want to condition both their bodies and their minds. This is something we all can be striving for though!
Yes, there are several modalities that can do that too: the mindful movement of Yoga, the energetics of Taichi or Qigong, skilled massage, and of course Meditation. However, these methods are not attractive or accessible for everyone (like my dear husband!). I believe floating is a happy medium, where most people can experience peace without feeling like they need to learn special skills.
I had a vague idea of what floating was when Anna from Insight Float invited me to try out their services. I knew it involved two of my favorite things – water and relaxation – so of course I quickly accepted!
When booking my appointment on the website, I learned that Insight Float has two different sized tanks. Each of them provide two very different experiences. Rumi, the larger, custom-made one, is best for pregnant women and athletic recovery. Lilly Pad, the standard tank, is best for people who want to feel more grounded and is best for those experiencing anxiety. I decided to book Rumi, just to make sure I had enough space to move.
At my appointment, I was warmly welcomed by Sarah. She gave me a thorough 10 minute orientation about the floating experience that quickly turned my fear into fascination.
The float tanks are filled with 10 inches of body-temperature water, in which 1200 lbs. of epsom salts have been dissolved. The salt water matches the pressure inside the body, allowing one to float and feel perfectly balanced.
I entered the water with nothing on. My legs effortlessly floated up, allowing me to rest back suspended by the warm water. I had brought in a floating light, but turned it off after a few minutes once I started relaxing.
The sound of my breath was amplified in the silent space. I stretched out my inhalations and doubled the length of my exhalations, making a conscious effort to let go of tension.
I became distracted as I started noticing pain in my upper back and neck. With my arms above my head, the tightness in between my shoulder blades quickly dissolved, but the pain in my neck became more pronounced and pinpointed. For about 10 minutes I fidgeted, massaged, and wondered if I’d ever get comfortable (not unlike my struggle with seated meditation!)
There was a shift when I realized I was spending too much time focusing on discomfort. I was saying to myself, “this would be perfect if only I didn’t have this pain in my neck.” Once I acknowledge this, I went back to my breath, knowing that I could still appreciate this simple moment regardless of tension. I don’t know how much time had passed, but when I brought awareness back to my neck, there was no more pain!
From that moment on, which was about 30 minutes into my session, I slipped into the deepest meditation since before I had my son (back when I’d go on silent 5-day retreats!).
Soft music ended my session. As I sat up, I almost started to cry. I had tapped into something really big here, not just for myself, but for my family, friends, and clients. I wanted everyone to know about this therapy and it’s possibilities for healing!
I felt grounded, clear, and confident for days after my first float therapy session. There are even more benefits of floating than what I experienced though! Here’s a list of possible effects that sensory deprivation in a float tank can create:
What do you think? Are you up for trying float therapy too? I’d love to hear about your experience once you do! Please let us all know in the comments.
Well wishes to you…
Are you wondering how it’s possible to survive without coffee?
Perhaps you’ve been dragging since the time change. Or maybe you have a hard time getting going throughout the whole year without loads of coffee. You probably need another boost of caffeine to beat the afternoon slump. If all this is true, it’s likely you’ve also developed a coffee habit you can’t break without getting headaches or other withdrawal symptoms.
If you’re wanting to be your healthiest possible, it’s worthwhile getting to the root cause of your fatigue. You can survive without coffee if you explore natural energy boosting solutions instead.
When we experience fatigue after a time change, or anytime really, what we really need is to go to bed early and get up early. This is easier said than done for most of us though. Look back on Natural Sleep Remedies, Part 1: Finding Your Rhythm to learn how to get your sleep back on track, especially for getting yourself to sleep early.
What I’m most interested in offering you here are ways to perk up your energy during the day without stimulants. Why the concern?
There are conflicting studies about the benefits of caffeine in coffee. Some say that it reduces your risk of cancer, Parkinson’s disease, Type 2 Diabetes, and heart disease. These diseases are also avoidable if you eat a balanced, organic whole food diet though, so I’m more concerned with the negative impacts of coffee and other stimulants on our health.
Everyone knows that we live in a stressful, fast-paced society. Stimulants activate the sympathetic nervous system and ask the body to secrete more cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones have a very negative impact on our health longterm by lowering immunity, creating internal inflammation, causing weight gain and creating depressed feelings.
Diuretic, dehydrates the body
Can cause stomachache, GI issues
Creates nervous energy, agitation
Considered “hot” in Chinese Medicine, can create health imbalances over time
Can cause insomnia
I know how it feels to be ruled by caffeine. There was a time when I needed it to get me to school in the morning and to function at work throughout the rest of the afternoon and evening.
This stimulant was covering up my main health issue though. I simply was not getting enough sleep and had disrupted my circadian rhythm severely. When I decided to wean off of it, it took awhile to readjust, but I managed. Now I just use natures cues and some healthy alternatives to help me greet the day instead.
Humans are diurnal creatures and we are ruled by the life-giving power of the sun. The sun naturally picks up our energy and brightens our mood. Also, when we receive sufficient sun exposure early in the day, our pineal gland secretes melatonin earlier at night, helping us to fall asleep easier, initiating a healthy circadian rhythm.
Getting enough movement circulates your blood and energy, increases metabolism, and perks up your mood. Just be careful not to overdo it and create a stress response. If you exercise early in the morning in the sunshine, then you’re maximizing your ability to perk up during the day and reset your sleep clock at night.
Everyone knows that the breathing practices in yoga can help one become calm and feel more embodied. Did you know that there are some breathing practices that are actually stimulating? Kapalabhati (skull shining) breath is the best option to try. I made a video of it a few years ago. You can view it here!
Diffusing essential oils, experiencing them aromatically, is the quickest way to effect your mood. Citrus and mint oils are especially effective in perking up your energy. There is a big difference in quality among brands though, and some are more effective than others. Please see my essential oil page for my suggestions and let me know if you need help deciding which oils are best for you.
There are several Western and Eastern herbs that improve your energy without stimulating the sympathetic nervous system and adding stress to the body. Look for adaptogens like cordyceps, American ginseng (more cooling than Eastern ginseng), and ashwaganda which actually help the body adapt to stress while improving cellular function. This herbal blend is my absolute favorite!
So say you just love the ritual of drinking coffee in the morning. What do you drink instead? You can try:
Decaffeinated coffee (if you need coffee taste but no caffeine)
Green tea (small amounts of caffeine unless you buy decaffeinated)
Barley tea (be aware it contains gluten)
Rooibos (my favorite with coconut milk)
Kombucha (highly nutritious and feeds your cells, thereby picking up your energy!)
Experiment with these solutions over a relaxed weekend so you don’t have to worry about getting anywhere on-time. Remember, it’s important that you allow yourself to get tired at night and listen to it’s cues to fall asleep by 10pm. Eventually, you’ll find your natural rhythm that’s aligned with the movement of the sun.
Living in harmony with nature is the key to good health. You can survive without coffee! I know it’s possible for you, if you try!
Are you trying to break your coffee habit? Why, and what’s working for you? Please let us know in the comments!
Brandy Falcon, L.Ac., E-RYT