Do you feel achy and stiff every morning too? Sometimes I wake up sore because of the way I slept. Certainly diet and age play a part in this physical discomfort too. But oftentimes it’s the result of emotional and mental stress that I experienced days before. If you’re like me, then it’s important for you to relieve this pain as soon as you notice it. You don’t want to carry it into the rest of your day! Check out this Meditative Yoga for Stiffness video which guides you to release tension consciously, mindfully addressing the root of pain and discomfort.
Remember that it’s the approach to your yoga practice that enables it to transform your body, heart, and mind. Please let yourself have a deeper experience and prioritize your breathing, which brings more life to your being.
To prepare for the practice, make sure you’re well hydrated and are wearing comfortable clothes. A sticky mat, two blocks, and a strap are helpful. If you’d like to include acupressure in with your session, you can download my stress-relieving acupressure guide. These acupressure points are also great to use in the evening before bed which can also help avoid stiffness first thing in the morning.
Download the guide for FREE by clicking here:
I hope you enjoyed this guided Meditative Yoga for Stiffness video. Please let me know how it felt for you by leaving a comment here or on YouTube. Also, let me know if you’d like to see more yoga videos in the future, in addition to my other holistic wellness ones. Well wishes to you…
Feeling low? Apathetic? Uninspired? Aromatherapy can be a safe and effective form of natural medicine that will help you feel better quick. Read on and watch the video below to learn which mood lifting essential oils will help you fight the blues and support holistic wellness.
The essential oils mentioned in this post and video are great to use in my stress-relieving self-acupressure guide. It will help you relieve tension, stress, and promote healing in body, heart, and mind. Click below to download for FREE.
Emotions are actually information carrying molecules that bind to cell receptors in the brain and throughout the body. There’s three places where this neurological processing occurs: the mind, the heart and the gut.
Here’s some interesting facts that you may not know:
The great majority of the processing that occurs in the mind is subconscious! And most of the neurological pathways go from the heart to the mind – not the other way around. Also, 90% of the feel-good chemicals like serotonin reside in the gut.
When we’re feeling down, at least one of these areas is not being fed sufficiently. In addition to feeling anxious or depressed, we might also have head tension, confusion, apathy, lack of compassion, and painful, irregular digestion.
Essential oils, similar to emotions, are also information carrying molecules that bind to cell receptors in the brain and throughout the body. They balance the emotional responses in the brain, heart, and gut, allowing us to function better on all levels in life.
It’s simply biochemistry! Though everyone is different, in general these are the essential oils that match up with the emotions we’re trying to create, based on their chemical makeup.
There are four main essential oils and blends that I turn to whenever I’m needing a shift in mood and perspective. These are what I diffuse in my yoga classes and use on clients too, with fabulous results.
The quickest way to affect your mood with essential oils is by smelling them. When we experience an aroma, it’s perceived by the limbic area of the brain which is the oldest part of the brain. It’s also the place where we hold emotions and memories. So this is the place where we need to make a shift.
Experience essential oils aromatically by:
Of course essential oils can’t take away the challenging experiences we face in life. But they do help us respond to grief, anxiety, and stress with grace and with the awareness that the intensity of the feelings will pass.
If you’re experiencing severe depression, it’s wise to seek the help of a medical doctor. Essential oils can always help, but in extreme cases, you’ll likely need more support.
You should also know that there’s a huge difference of quality among essential oils on the market. It’s important that you use a brand you trust. I only use and recommend dōTERRA Essential Oils since their commitment to quality and purity is unmatched in the industry. If you use lower quality essential oils, which are often synthetic or diluted with alcohol, you will not get the same results managing your emotional health.
I hope that you’re feeling more confident about using essential oils for uplifting your mood! I would love to know if you’re already using essential oils for emotional support or if you are eager to try what I’ve shared with you here. Please comment below with the oils that you find most useful. Well wishes to you…
This Winter Solstice meditation is a guided, relaxing mindfulness practice that will help you rest in the Winter darkness and renew your being with light on all levels. It’s also an opportunity to let go of what is no longer serving you, allowing space for focused New Year intention, and a rebirth of ideas to achieve your life goals.
To set up, you’ll want to find a place that is dark and quiet. You may want to light a candle to represent the light inside of you, that creative spark that we’ll be stoking.
Essential oils can help calm your mind and create more focus. For this meditation I’m using Frankincense and Lemongrass. Frankincense helps lessen depressed and anxious feelings which tend to be more pronounced this time of year, prompted by the darkness. Lemongrass helps to clear negativity and uplift your mood. You can place 1 drop of each in your hands with a dollop of carrier oil and anoint your temples, heart space, and soles of the feet.
Have a pen and paper or a journal nearby where you can write down any insight that comes as we sit.
Also, you can briefly use the acupressure points in my free self-acupressure guide to help you relax. As you release tension, you’ll be better able to focus on the meditation process. You can download the guide below.
Come into a comfortable seated position on the floor or on a chair. If you’re using a chair, make sure your feet are fully planted on the ground.
Closing your eyes, take several deep breaths, consciously focusing your mind on the present moment.
Exhale out through the mouth to let go of physical tension. Once you’re feeling settled, allow the mouth to stay closed.
Center your attention by following the movement of the breath. Inhale through the nose. Feel the breath moving through the trachea, filling the lungs, and feel the diaphragm pressing down toward the pelvis, grounding you. Stay energetically grounded as you exhale and feel the breath moving up and out through the nose. Watch the ebb and flow of the breath.
Now see if you can make each part of the breath deeper, and longer. Lengthen the spaces in between breaths, noticing any emotions that come up in the stillness. It’s common to feel fear when empty, the same feeling that many people have in Winter.
We are microcosms of nature and energetic beings animated by breath. Consider this, each breath is keeping you alive. We need both the inhalation AND the exhalation, the life giving breath and the clearing release which creates more space for the next breath.
Now as you continue to breath deeply, let’s see how we can relate to the other aspects of ourselves. What can we let go of? What can we let rest in the darkness or even die away in order to make space for something more new, more healthy, or even more exciting?
Feel the full volume of the body pulsing with breath. Feel it’s fullness, emptiness, and the flow in between. Consider the health of your body and as you ask this question, see what comes up in this space:
“What habits can I let go of that will help my body be more healthy and vibrant?”
Sense the answer in your body.
Now connect in with your heart, your capacity to love and relate to others. Some relationships served a purpose in the past, but are no longer helpful. Ask yourself the following, or change the wording to fit what you would like to create in your heart instead:
“What relationships can I let go of in order to feel more emotionally spacious and loving.”
Watch the movement of the mind…
The mind can be the most challenging to shift. Many people are wired for self-criticism and negativity that their belief systems are very limited. Once your open to changing your beliefs, you have the greatest potential to create more happiness in your life. Ask yourself:
“What habits or beliefs can I let go of, can I let die, in order to experience more clarity of mind?”
Give yourself some time to let any thoughts bubble to the surface in answer to this question.
Letting go of the previous attachments in the body, heart, and mind may get you closer to spiritual connection. To explore further, you can ask yourself:
“What can I let go of to experience a deeper sense of myself, to connect with spirit”
Feel into your wholeness. Notice the warmth inside you, imagining a spark of hope in the heart that grows to a flame, and then to beams of light radiating out of your body in every direction.
Remember that this light sprung from darkness. We needed to let go and experience a symbolic death to some aspects of our lives in order to rebirth new experiences. We needed to visit the past and make peace with it in order to imagine new possibilities for the future.
Return your awareness to the breath moving through the central channel of the body.
Open up your ears to what you hear, notice what you’re tasting, smelling, and feeling against your skin. Finally, gently open your eyes.
Take some time here to make sure your attention is balanced, inside and out. Write down anything that came up for you during this meditation. This is a special time for reflection, but of course this is appropriate to do anytime of the year, not just the Winter Solstice. You can repeat this simple meditation practice whenever you’re feeling stuck and that you need to make a major shift in one layer of your being. When we meditate, we’re tapping into our innate wisdom that’s beyond the mind’s comprehension. It’s this place where we receive the most helpful guidance for living a joyful life.
Did you enjoy this meditation? Do you already meditate? Is it for relaxation or to receive guidance or other motivation? I’d love to know about it in the comments!
You may be wondering how to boost your immunity naturally so you can stay healthy longer and enjoy the things you love! Maybe you’re also tired of getting sick all the time. Pharmaceutical and over-the-counter drugs never get to the root of your illness and have serious side effects. So, natural preventative medicine and home remedies are a more healthy approach.
I help my family and clients increase their health with these 5 tips below. If you follow them, you’ll also have a stronger immune system and be able to prevent infections in your body and in your home!
To strengthen your immune system, you’ll need to prioritize getting plenty of good-quality sleep. When we sleep, our bodies are able to restore strength and re-set cell function. Therefore, it’s one of the most important aspects of boosting immunity.
It’s wise to get to bed by 10:00pm which is when our bodies secrete melatonin, a regulating sleep hormone, naturally. If getting to sleep or staying asleep is a problem for you, you can check out my previous blog posts. Improve your sleep by adjusting your circadian rhythm, using Chinese Medicine, and doing a special Yoga practice for sleep.
Eating a balanced diet will ensure that your body is getting most of the vital nutrients it needs to support immune system function. There’s many opinions on what “balanced” means though.
I’ve found through research and my own wellness journey that it’s best to focus meals around organic vegetables and sustainably sourced protein. The rest of the meal can be filled in with fat and starches. Seasonal fruits make great snacks in between meals. Here’s my suggestions for specific macrobiotic ratios if you need more guidance.
Gut health is the basis for immunity, as beneficial bacteria protect the gut lining and help form a defense against pathogens. A balanced diet supports the gut flora (prebiotics). It’s helpful to include fermented foods too though, which add even more beneficial bacteria to the intestines. Try eating more unsweetened yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi, and pickled vegetables each day. You can drink fermented kombucha, kefir, and beet kvass too, which are so yummy and healthy!
Beet kvass to boost immune health
At the same time, you’ll need to avoid the foods that harm gut health. Sugar, alcohol, conventional foods with herbicides & pesticides, GMO foods, and processed foods made with rancid oils will all kill beneficial bacteria. They’ll feed the “bad” kind of bacteria instead and may even damage the gut lining.
Unfortunately, it’s impossible to get all the nutrients you need for a healthy gut and strong immune system. Even if you’re eating a balanced diet, there’s sure to be some gaps here and there. Malnourishment can impede immune system function.
You’ll want to take a whole food vitamin, antioxidant herbs, an essential fatty-acid blend (especially Omega-3 oils), and a probiotic (since gut health is so easily damaged day-to-day).
Lifelong Vitality Supplements to Support Immune Health
Be sure that you’re choosing supplements that are sustainably sourced and free of fillers. The supplements I use in the picture above also contain essential oils that make them easier to digest and more bioavailable.
Speaking of essential oils, there are so many that can boost your immunity directly. OnGuard is my favorite blend (wild orange, clove, cinnamon, eucalyptus, and rosemary) because it’s so pure, you can use it internally as an immune-boosting supplement.
These essential oils can also be applied, diluted in a carrier oil, to the skin and are readily absorbed into the blood stream where they’re ready to fight any invaders. Diffusing the oils in your home can do the same to prevent the spread of germs in the air.
Stress also damages gut health and prevents you from getting good sleep, so can negatively affect your immunity if you don’t take it seriously. It’s helpful to approach life with a light-hearted attitude, but I know that’s hard to do all the time and stress can’t always be avoided. It can be managed though, so you should take some time during the day to release it. Relieving stress is especially important at night before going to bed so that your body and mind can calm down.
You can download my free stress-relieving acupressure guide here that can help you create a soothing night ritual.
The acupressure points I share in the guide will help you relieve tension and help you fall asleep and stay asleep longer. You can even incorporate relaxing essential oils like Lavender, Frankincense, Cedarwood, and doTERRA’s Serenity blend in the protocol which will enhance your ability to let go of stress.
If you include these tips in your daily ritual, you’ll be giving your immune system the boost it needs. They’ll keep your body stronger than any microorganism attempting to invade it, or your home.
Please let me know how you feel about adopting these tips in the comments! I’d love to hear your own tips for keeping yourself and your family healthy too!
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!
Continue reading or scroll down for my two instructional videos.
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!
Brandy Falcon, L.Ac., E-RYT
