Peaceful Daily Blog

Homemade Personal Care Products Part IV: Shampoo

At one point or another in my life (particularly during the large hair epidemic of the 80s), I have used gel, mousse, curl tamer, curl enhancer, curl fixer, straightener, spray, volumizer, texturizer, and sealer. This is in addition to the colors, weaves, rinses, tints, and highlights that I have applied regularly to my hair for decades without thinking twice about the ill affects on me or the environment.  Each day I would wash out these various and sundry chemicals (many of them considerably toxic, see Skin Deep blog) with a shampoo and cream rinse that contained just as many chemicals, including a special chemical whose sole job was to help my body absorb all the other chemicals easily and efficiently.  After dousing my hair and scalp with these chemical cocktails, I would then subject it to curling irons, blowers, diffusers, and heat dryers. It is no small wonder that I still have hair. I was trashing my hair, my body, and the environment at a great cost, literally and figuratively. 

The day I decided to stop all this madness, I went through my bathroom cabinets and removed plastic container after plastic container of oozing, gooey toxins. I placed them in a paper bag and chucked them---not in the trash, mind you, but where they belong: the hazardous waste disposal center. Sometime after this incident I became pregnant, so then I stopped the hair color maddness, too. I became so busy with the little ones that I no longer troubled myself with hair dryers and their ilk, so these last energy and time wasters were also permanently removed from my bathroom shelves. 

My hair was recovering from years of expensive, wasteful, environmentally irresponsible abuse, yet I was still unknowingly exposing myself to chemicals each time I washed my hair. After learning about the chemicals typically found in shampoo (even the natural and organic ones I relied on for years), I set out to make my own products using only the purest, environmentally sound ingredients available. My hair finally and fully recovered from years of abuse and is now naturally shiny, curly, healthy and low maintenance. All this and I get to use the highest grade ingredients available while spending next to nothing per batch.

My favorite shampoo is made from equal parts cosmetic-grade clay (Moroccan clay is my favorite)   and distilled water.  A few drops of essential oil can be added for a variety of therapeutic benefits. Rosemary essential oil, in particular, is a wonderful addition to any hair care product as it is growth-stimulating, nourishing, and great for dandruff prevention and treatment. 

Clay shampoo acts as both a shampoo and a conditioner, thereby eliminating the need for further products for most hair types. The first several times you use it, you may need to wash and rinse a few times in a row to remove the thick build-up of hair products and excess natural oils. Eventually you can train your hair to require less washing, especially as you continue to use gentle, non oil-stripping shampoos regularly, while simultaneously avoiding chemical-laden products, dryers, and irons. As your scalp oils are restored to their natural balance, the “greasies” will no longer occur and you can easily go one or more weeks between washings. I didn't believe this until I tried it, now I'm a convert. Theoretically one could eliminate shampoo all together provided one's hair is cleaned regularly with water and kept chemical-free.  I have tried this approach with both my chemically sensitive children and the proof is truly in the pudding: each has perfectly shiny, happy, healthy-looking hair, just as nature intended.

Coming up-- Homemade Personal Care Products Part V: Conditioners.

Peace,

Annie

Bust Out Your Confidence

Self esteem is a belief –your interpretation of self, not a fact.  It’s YOUR panoramic view of yourself.  You can change the lens at any time.  Go buy yourself that new pair of sunglasses

Start practicing ways to build your confidence and start feeling more poised, brainy, capable and fabulous.  Even if you’re feeling insecure, pretend self assurance.  Stop creating yourself for others and start revealing who you really are.  Here are a few suggestions.

Do something you were afraid to do when you were younger.  Maybe you were told you couldn’t or didn’t have the talent.  Did you want to play softball, learn another language, dye your hair red, wear insanely high heels, plant a garden –even change a tire…You’re ready to make a go of it now.

Peace,

Joan

What I learned from holding a door.

I have this pet peeve: when I hold the door open for someone and they just walk through without saying thank you, I fume.  Most of the time I just have an internal grumble response to the lack of social mores, but sometimes (like a erupting volcano) I will blurt out a “Your  welcome!”

 

This happened the other day and I thought that I needed to write a blog about common courtesy.  I wanted to express that if we were all a little more considerate that the world could be that much better to live in. 

 

As I sat formulating my thoughts, I realized something.  Every time I was snubbed my “Thank You” I was actually getting a lesson.  Sure, manners are important but there is a bigger picture in this.

 

Why was I holding the door in the first place?

 

Ego or altruism?

 

Clearly, I was doing my good deed for ego.  I was wanting the reward or recognition for my kindness.  I was not just doing it for the simple reason of making another’s day a little easier.  See, if I truly had those pure motives, I would not even take note of the lack of validation.

 

See, Altruism is more then merely doing kindness and good will.  It is the thought that one does not exist just for ones self, but exists for the benefit of all man.  The kindness is a result of altruism.

 

So, I must exam if service to others is at the core of who I am...or at the very least, who I want to be.

 

Mother Teresa said, “We can not do great things in this world, only small things with great love.”

 

How fitting for this situation.  Holding a door is such a small thing.  But in that moment, I did not do it with love but with expectation.  Great love would have been fine with no gratitude.

 

Now I am that much more awake, that much more aware.  I am reminded to do things with great love. 

 

Thank you very much to the lady at the gym who did not say thank you.  You have opened my heart a little more.

 

Namaste,

Krissy

 

 

 

'Mum's the Word

This weekend, I heard a very cool statement from one of my teachers and I thought I would share its essence here. To paraphrase, she said that it is not always beneficial to do poses with MAXIMUM effort, but rather to go for the OPTIMUM effort during the asana practice. When we push ourselves to the max at all times, the body will respond in a defensive manner: the breathing will be altered, the nerves begin to fire, muscles and fascia grip and tense up. As I confessed in an earlier post, I sweat a great deal under normal circumstances, but when I push for MAXIMUM effort, the aforementioned changes occur in my body and I am showered with perspiration. Better to find the OPTIMUM effort in a pose: finding a place of resistance and staying there, breathing, allowing the body to acclimate to the sensation. You will know shortly if you can push ahead a bit more, or if you have reached your limit or “edge” in this particular pose. In the OPTIMUM space, the nerves are more serene, the brain is cool and the body does not fight itself, as it may do when pushing to the maximum. There are times, for sure, that you want to approach MAXIMUM effort; just do not live in that mode throughout the whole practice, or you will melt down! Conversely, you do not want to settle just under the bar of the OPTIMUM effort; being lazy or restrained will inhibit the transformation that the asana practice promotes in the body, mind and spirit.

The maximum-optimum effort debate brought to my mind the gunas. According to Hindu philosophy, the manifestation of consciousness has three different qualities, called the gunas: sattva, rajas and tamas. A person’s life, consciousness and spirit can be ascribed one of these attributes. Tamas, briefly, is a quality of delusion, inertia and ignorance. Read: lazy, slothful. One who is Rajasic is active and energetic, but is very tense, unsteady and easily distracted. Sounds sort of like the qualities of ADD. Sattva is the good, pure quality, full of illumination and serenity. Sattva is described as being “near to the divine,” marked by truth, non-violence and tranquility.

Although not exactly correlative, the gunas point toward effort. If one is overdoing the practice with effort, is energetic, he is rajasic; this brings about tension, lack of focus and anger. If one is putting forth no effort, the practice might be called tamasic: lazy, unenlightened, uninspired and deluded. The proper quality for the effort in asana, as in all things is sattva: pure, serene, humble and non-violent. There will most assuredly be moments in a practice that may be tamasic or rajasic; that is human! If we understand the gunas and strive for sattva, however, we will benefit from clarity of purpose that-even when briefly attained-is the ideal quality of our existence.

Peace,

Trent

 

Zucchini Cut to Ribbons, in Thyme

This is a simple side dish that goes with nearly everything. I admit I have made this for dinner when I am solo, which is when I don’t feel like cooking too much or for too long. So satisfying, too!

You can use a mandoline to cut the zucchini or a vegetable peeler. Please use what you have handy, just take care to make the slices of zucchini fairly thin. They cook faster, and take on the “feel” of pasta.

What is optional is how spicy you care to have the dish, and whether you want any grated cheese. I think toasting the breadcrumbs is a nice touch, but again, make it to your personal preference.

Zucchini Cut to Ribbons, in Thyme

Ingredients:

2 large zucchini, cut to ribbons (washed / ends removed)
1 crushed garlic clove
1 tablespoon olive or safflower oil
3 sprigs, or 1 tablespoon, of thyme
½ teaspoon of chili flakes (optional)
1 tablespoon toasted seasoned breadcrumbs
Salt to taste.

Heat your pan and add the oil. Add the garlic clove to perfume the oil, leaving it in the pan no more than one full minute. Remove before the garlic browns too much, or starts to burn. It’s the flavor you want. Add your zucchini ribbons allowing them to brown a bit and break down. I like them a bit soft but with bite. Can you imagine your vegetables al’dente?  Good. This should take three or four minutes on each side.

Turn your zucchini as they brown, adding the chili flakes, thyme and salt.

In another dry pan, place the breadcrumbs and toast lightly over a low flame. Should take less than a minute to have a lovely toasting. You will see it and smell it. Be sure to shake the pan every six seconds or so, to ensure even toasting.

Your zucchini should be plated, or placed in a bowl. Sprinkle with grated cheese and the toasted breadcrumbs. Toss lightly.

Peace,

Elizabeth

Never Quite What it Seems.

Do you ever stop and realize you might not really know someone?  That they are an unfolding mystery who is never fully revealed to you.  Do you ever wonder why we sometimes get so attached to our idea of someone?  Sometimes that mystery is exciting, sometimes it is painful.

 

Sometimes people are here to teach us a lesson other then we thought they were in ours lives for.  Sometimes we have to accept something different then what we hoped for.

 

Below are the lyrics to Over the Rhine’s It’s Never Quite What it Seems.

 

and your face

I do know well

every breath breathes

farewell

it's so still

no soul could tell

but one day

like this

the angels fell

 

and it's never quite what it seems

 

and it bleeds

this setting sun

and my arms ache

from holding on

let it go

this dying light

makes it hard to tell

wrong from right

 

and it's never quite what it seems

 

all the shadows of our doubts

and the light that burns too bright

soon burns out

 

and your face

you do know well

that the race is lost

hold still

'cause the first

shall be the last

those that burn with thirst

will lift their glass

 

and it's never quite what it seems

 

 

Namaste

Krissy

Too Much Love?

The other day, when I was corresponding with some fans of my employer’s website, I second guessed having referred to one of them as a “rockstar” in her field. “Too much?” I’d asked.

“Absolutely not,” Lissa answered. “You can never be over the top when telling someone how wonderful they are. It’s impossible to put too much kindness out into the world. Do you know what a gift it is to be able to give and receive love?”

I thought about that for a second. A gift. As in, a talent. As in, it doesn’t come naturally to most people on this planet. Really? Of course. It’s true. Why else would I have asked if I’d gone over the top by paying a compliment to this wonderful artist?

We call it things like gushing. Undue credit. Ego inflation. We deem it a bad thing. Inappropriate, we label it. Nobody should be made to feel TOO good about themselves.

Huh?

I know. Yet this is what most of us do automatically. Perhaps we all have the capacity to put love out in the world and take it into ourselves (same as we all have the ability to be psychic), but how many of us use it?

Lissa went on to say that she’d never in her life regretted using terms of endearment, giving compliments, pointing out a strength, giving a hug … and when I thought about it, neither have I. If anything, the only thing to regret is not having done such things enough – having withheld a kindness.

It seems silly to say, but … it’s actually kind of okay to tell people outside of our immediate families that we love them, or to touch their arm, or to offer them praise. I count myself among the fortunate few who, by nature or nurture, have developed my own ability to give and receive love – physically, verbally, and spiritually. It was just a remarkable wake-up call to realize that not everyone can just … do this.

Can you try it? Tell someone that you think they’re awesome – even if they haven’t yet transformed the very fabric of society (even though they have – we’re all doing that, all the time. Another subject for another post, though). Compliment them on something they do well, even if they’re not The Best in the World at it. Hand out a “sweetie;” offer a hand or a hug. Smile big at a stranger, for goodness sake. If it feels uncomfortable, ask yourself why.

The worst that can happen is that the recipient will be slightly baffled, not knowing quite what to DO with the love. It may be received like a flower from an airport Krishna: “uh … oh, okay. Yeah, thanks. Wow, it’s ... beautiful! What the hell am I supposed to do with it? What do you expect from me? I am now nervous, so I shall sidle uncomfortably away." Without knowing them, though, I can tell you that that’s exactly what they need, and some part of them will understand it. They don’t need another criticism (“constructive” or otherwise), a corporate-HR-appropriate gesture, or just to be left alone. An iota of your offering will get inside, germinate, start to bloom. Maybe they’ll even pay it forward.

There is nothing in the world to lose. It’s a start at waking up the world to the fact that we are innately harmonious, cooperative, loving beings. Right now, most of us still don’t get it … both in the sense of understanding and also, simply, receiving.

Crack open your heart just a little. Extend acceptance to a fellow human. Imbue our love-starved world with some of that affection juju you’ve got running in rivers and oceans just under the surface of you.

It’s actually impossible to go overboard.

Peace,

Joy

Homemade Personal Care Products Part III: Body Scrubs

A number of years ago I was treated to my first-ever spa experience.  I opted for a ‘body polish’ treatment, where I enjoyed being slathered and scoured with honey, milk, sugar, as well as a veritable smorgasbord of other edible items for just under an hour. When it was over, and after coping with the devastation of it being over, I was forever hooked on exfoliating. It was then and there that I became a certifiable scrub junkie.  I immediately went home and reconstructed the honey-milk-sugar scrub I had just experienced. I then tinkered and dabbled with a number of other concoctions and ingredients over a period of months, until I came up with my own beloved repertoire of body scrub recipes. 

Though there are many ways to exfoliate, or remove dead skin cells, the most gentle way is through the use of body scrubs. Exfoliation enlivens skin by sloughing off the dull, dead outer skin cells to reveal the younger, healthier skin cells underneath. Not only is it great for enlivening your skin, it is great for enlivening your circulation as well as your chi, or life energy. 

Commercially-purchased scrubs are, by far, the most absurdly overpriced skin care items out there. Once more, most contain substandard ingredients,  including chemical stabilizers, preservatives, and fragrances, which are then packed into single-use plastic containers. Remember that honey-milk-sugar scrub at the spa? It sold for $20 per tub and it wasn't even organic. I can make my own scrub using only the highest grade organic ingredients available, custom blend it to meet my skin's ever-changing needs, pack it into a reusable (and aesthetically pleasing) jar,  and all for just under 4 dollars and 8 minutes per container.  The basic body scrub recipe I have come up with is one part oil (coconut, almond, jojoba, et cetera) to three parts sugar or salt.  I found salt to be drying to my sensitive skin, so I prefer sugar, particularly turbinado sugar, with its large golden-brown granules that resist dissolving too quickly during the exfoliation process.  

 My ‘work horse’ body scrub recipe consists of 1 part coconut oil to 2 parts turbinado sugar. I then drizzle in a tablespoon or more of jojoba oil and then top it off with several drops of either lavender or rose essential oil. From this basic recipe, I may add other items as desired: a handful of coffee grounds for circulation stimulation; a tablespoon of honey for skin nourishment; or a sprinkle of flax seeds or crushed almonds when heavier exfoliation is needed. 

My favorite holiday recipe is for a chocolate peppermint sugar scrub. I mix 2 cups of turbinado sugar with 1 cup of coconut oil, then add half a cup of cocoa powder or, if available, cocoa nibs (broken bits of roasted cocoa beans). I then add 10 to 15 drops of peppermint essential oil to impart that wonderful Christmas-conjuring, candy cane smell.  This has been the most popular gift-giving item of all time in our household, especially when packaged in a cobalt jar adorned with a ribbon, a handmade card, and lovingly topped, of course, with a candy cane. 

Looking for another fun, seasonal scrub recipe? Try out this pumpkin pie sugar scrub recipe: mix coconut oil and sugar with a few tablespoons of pumpkin puree (this can be omitted for particularly sensitive skin), add a teaspoon of ginger (crystallized, ground, or fresh), and sprinkle with cinnamon and cloves. This scrub also makes a great gift-giving item when the holidays roll around.

As with all homemade skin care products, it is best to store your body scrub in a dark jar or in a dark place, and  to make up fresh batches every 4 to 6 weeks.  Use your scrub no more than once, maybe twice, a week in order to protect the delicate living skin cells once the outer dead ones are sloughed away. Obligatory safety note: scrubs can make the surface of your tub or shower temporarily slippery, so apply caution and common sense when moving about post-exfoliation. 

Peace,

Annie

Mothers and Daughters

How many times have you said these words,  “I’m fat.  I need to lose weight.  I’m out of shape.  I need to get back on my diet.  I’ll never put on a bathing suit…..” in front of your daughter?

What we may think are harmless comments, like those mentioned above, are words our daughters may be taking to heart.  Words that spark weight concerns, struggles with self esteem and bullying as well as the development of unhealthy eating habits that include extreme dieting. 

As mothers we inherently know and want to be good role models to our children.  But if you’re constantly criticizing yourself, more specifically your body, you may be leading your daughters down a dangerous and unhealthy path.  Research supplied by The National Women’s Health Information Center has shown that daughters are more likely to have ideas about dieting when their mothers diet.  Studies have also shown that mothers who are overly concerned about their looks and weight, raise daughters who become overly concerned about their looks and weight.

Catch yourself before you make negative comments about food, fat, body shape, weight and physical appearance in regards to yourself and others.  Encourage your daughter to do the same.
Tell your daughter how beautiful she is and expand that statement to mean non physical beauty as well.  Compliment her intelligence, her kindness, her athletic ability, her tenacity, her sense of humor, her values, her talents and accomplishments.  Help her to see herself as a multidimensional person whose worth, value and likability extends far beyond her looks.  Share with her what you like about yourself too, what you value in female friendships, how you practice taking care of yourself.

Peace,

Joan

A moment

Ever have a moment where you feel entirely carefree? When, try as you may, you can't think of a single worry, and are excited and looking forward to the next moment, the next day, the next decade? I'm having one of those moments right now. 7:42 p.m. PST, Wednesday, May 20, 2009. I try to record them in a journal when they occur, and thought I'd share this one with you peops. I send this rare and beautiful feeling outward, with a wish that some of this divine-feeling energy will flow to your heart and that you, too, will want to beam it all over the world.
Life so rocks right now.
Peace (and love and glowing rays of setting sun),
Joy