Healthy Body, Happy Planet

I feel like I have used this image of Joel before, but if I was better at any of the photo-editing apps I would cross out the word food and replace it with body care products for this blog. Although organic food is pretty important too!!!

Someone suggested that I write about my favorite natural body care products. Whoever it was, thank you for this great idea. If you are not already aware, most of the "normal" body care products that are found in grocery and drug stores are full of toxic chemicals, and are detrimental to both your health and the health of the earth. Many are also lab tested on animals.

I have tried many variations of organic and natural products and some were awesome and others were downright terrible and didn't do what they claimed to do. Some are expensive too. However, I have found quite a few products that I enjoy using and find fairly affordable...and I feel good about the ingredients and manufacturing ethics too!

So I did a mini photo shoot of some of them and I'll tell you why I love them. (You may have to do a little research to see if these products are available in your country or if they can be shipped to you.)

Want a super natural smile? I thought that I had found the best natural toothpaste 6 years ago. I used the same one for a loooong time. Then when we were on our roadtrip to the USA in the fall, we ran out of our toothpaste in the final week, so we had to choose a new one. Wow! The Auromere Ayurvedic herbal toothpastes have blown the old one out of the water! We have tried the minty and mint-free (more like a licorice flavor) versions and both are awesome. The base is natural chalk, which is mildly abrasive and leaves your teeth squeaky clean! Available at many health food stores in USA and Canada.

http://www.auromere.com/Dental_Care-Toothpaste.html

How about natural shampoo and conditioner? I have tried a crazy number of these. Always looking for the one that will keep my hair healthiest. (And it's fun to try new scents too.) Well there is a man named Patrick Curelle in Vancouver who created this unscented line of hair care that is super natural. I use their unscented body lotion too. I was once told by a store clerk that I could eat it because it's so natural. But he didn't think I should try. The fun thing about this unscented line is that I use essential oils to add the aromas that I love. Patchouli-orange lotion! Mmmmm. (Couldn't find a website for this.)

What about wounds?

We bought our first jar of "magic green cream" at a Rocky Mountain music festival two summers ago. Cloud 9 Naturally is a super cool small company based in Red Deer, Alberta that invented this super-salve. We have used their Organic Comfort salve on sunburn, burns, acne, cuts, scrapes, mosquito bites, rashes, chafing, blisters and more. (I also heard that it's awesome for diaper rash.) It has some kind of magical healing properties in its herbal blend. One jar goes a long way!!! (But we always keep a backup.)

 Order straight from their new improved website:

http://www.cloud9naturally.com

Fresh armpits. We all want them. Well, I have done my fair share of research when it comes to pit sticks. Anything with aluminum-based ingredients (read your labels!) is a recipe for high levels of toxicity in your body. Throw those sticks away today!!!  Do your body a huge favor and opt to use natural deodorants. Anti-perspirants are also not good. We are designed to sweat. It's one of the ways that our bodies rid themselves of toxins. Our skin is our largest organ. Let's not stop it from doing its job. So. No surprise. I have tried many of the natural deodorants out there and many of them are useless. We then discovered Herban Cowboy natural body care products. They have quite an array of choices for women and awesome ones for men! We love the Blossom scent for ladies and the Fire scent for men. Ps. They are vegan certified too!

http://www.herbancowboy.com/

Put your best face forward. 

I personally go with the motto "less is more" when it comes to body care. Especially on my face. When my eyes feel a bit tired or puffy, I dab on a tiny spot of rich, blue Azulene Eye Cream by Earth Science, and a light swipe of the fragrance-free Almond-Aloe Moisturizer on the rest of my face (by the same company). It's light and available scented or unscented. So fresh. 

http://earthsciencenaturals.com/

An Essential Oil. 

Tea tree oil is a miracle ingredient for any medicine cabinet. I remember when my mom was part of the melaleuca products craze of the 90's.  (It's in the Latin name for tea tree.) So I developed a slight aversion to the tea tree aroma after every product in our home smelled like it. I have had to retrain myself to love it. Ok, tolerate it. There are many brands and most of them are great.

I use a dab of tea tree oil on acne when it's first showing itself. It acts as an antibacterial (which also makes it great to add to cleaning products) and also dries up the area to help it heal more quickly. 

Last year, we both contracted a bizarre rash from what we are guessing was either a swimming pool or a hot tub. After visiting a doctor, we were told it was Molluscum Contagiosum. He said there is no known cure. It looked like tiny fluid-filled blisters on our abdomen areas. As we learned, it can spread very quickly! The doctor told us to google it. ???  He also said that he could freeze them off with liquid nitrogen or we could buy a do-it-yourself skin-tag removal kit from a drug store and burn them off ourselves. We tried that. Don't try that. So painful and leaves scarring. We decided to take matters into our own hands with our knowledge of essential oils. If left unchecked, this rash can spread over most of your body and cause itch and discomfort (not to mention embarrassment).  We read that it could take up to two years to heal on its own. Yikes!!! So we used a sterile needle and slowly and patiently we pierced the bubbles (being super careful not to spread or touch the fluid inside!) and immediately applied a generous amount of tea tree oil to each spot with a cotton swab. We did this for weeks until there were no signs of them left. Yes, it takes patience and perseverance. It worked like a charm. If you or anyone you know has this rash, please share this knowledge. It will save them time and suffering. 

Have anxiety about something?

It happens to everyone sometimes. I remember the day that I first tried Bach Rescue Remedy for air travel. It made me feel at ease after just a few minutes. I felt my body and mind relax enough so that the uncomfortable idea of air travel wasn't such a big deal. A groomer also used it on my cat so she would calm down enough to shave her matted fur patches off. It made her so calm and limp as a noodle. I have also seen it work well to help restless adults and children to get a better night's sleep. It's a unique blend of flower essences and it comes in a spray, liquid dropper, cream and in gummy pastilles. It's so great. 

http://www.bachflower.com/rescue-remedy-information/

Ok. I think that's enough to fill everyone's brains for today. Check your local health food stores and if they don't carry these super products, you could nicely request that they carry some of them. 

Here is a link to a source for some of these products and it appears that they ship to much of the planet. That being said, it's always best to try to find things locally first.   :)

http://www.finlandiapharmacyonline.com

Loosen the Reins.

It's that funny time between Christmas and the New Year and things feel a bit slow and unplanned. It's kind of a holiday free-for-all where lounging in pj's 'till noon and eating weird leftovers for breakfast is totally acceptable.

I admit. I have been trying to force things along to get to the next stop on our journey. Where will we go next? What's around the next corner? As far as I can tell, we are still on a road trip - Just back on Canadian soil. Living out of our suitcase, skipping around to visit friends and family all over Vancouver Island is wonderful. But... we all have our limits. I'm ready for some solitude.

It just dawned on me that there is a very good reason that I'm hanging out on a sofa in Lantzville, sipping a coffee while our car is getting poked and prodded by a pair of jolly reunited cousins in greasy coveralls. A perfect pause to write a blog post.

We had a very un-traditional Christmas season. Not surprising, eh? We stayed with some pals who harvested their own 12' tree from the woods, hauled it home and a team of 5 of us decorated it to the nines. I have opted out of chopping down trees to enjoy a brief period of holiday cheer for my entire life, opting instead for decorating mini living potted trees or the occasional artificial tree. So this was a first for me. I must say, we had a lot of fun. I'm feeling inclined to go plant a tree though...no, seriously.

Later that week, we helped gift-wrap a bunch of (someone else's) gifts for our friends to bring back to northern Alberta. Also a rare occasion for me. Also lots of fun. I slowly transitioned away from giving people "stuff" several years ago (ok..except for the mix CDs that I passed out last year). Instead, for several years, I opted to purchase "living gifts" from Ten Thousand Villages, a fair trade chain of retailers. These gifts range from school supplies to seeds to milk cows and goats. They go to villages in developing countries who need a meal more than any of us need a new iPad or diamond earrings. Less stuff, more love. 

It's not about how much we spend on a gift or if it was equivalent to what someone else gave or what we received. Eventually, I realized that I didn't really have to spend any money on anything for anyone. I am convinced that the people who know me well, know that they are special to me and don't need a sparkly greeting card or a trinket to know that I'm thinking of them - every month of the year. 

When I asked what their favorite part of Christmas was, two little boys didn't hesitate one moment to say that it was "when grandma took us skiing and we stayed at a cool hotel with a pool!"  It wasn't the Legos. Or the cool shoes. Or the skateboards. Or the gift cards. Or the money. It was the memories. They will never wear out, be out of style, need replacing, upgrading or repairs. Even kids don't "need" stuff.

On Christmas Eve, we were super grateful to be included in a family get-together with some good friends and their new wee babe, and a handful of their family members. We all collaborated to make an awesome Christmas dinner. While their family shared a fun gift exchange, I enjoyed capturing the events on our friend's lovely camera. Baby's first Christmas is pretty special. I was a bit rusty since my photography school days 10 years ago, but I found my groove and snapped away.

On Christmas Day, we met up with some cousins and took a long hike up a mountain.  I was wearing a dress and leggings under my jacket and was told it would be a "little stroll". I laughed at the top after an extremely muddy, steep one-hour climb to the top, as I thought about the time wasted on styling my hair all fancy that morning (which I seldom bother doing). It was sweat-drenched and wild from the adventure. We then took a wrong trail back down the mountain and deep in the thick forest of the northwest, it gets awfully dark, awfully quickly. We eventually found our car at the base (thank goodness for smartphone flashlights...yes, they are handy!) and decided we should try to make this a yearly Christmas tradition. Good times can come from unexpected events. So...then we did the same thing on Boxing Day!!! In a different park. With more people. And a baby. And two Labradors. With extra smartphone flashlights. It was Not on purpose. But it was an equally fun and memorable adventure in the dark woods.

(Note to self: If I had tried to plan the week surrounding Christmas, those things would likely never have happened.)

 

Which is my lead-in to...

This time of year is great for reflecting on what memories and experiences we have been gifted with (the good, the bad and the ugly) and to learn from our mistakes aka "misreading the signs" that are always right in front of our noses. 

Sometimes we try to force things to happen the way we think they should and despite repeated blatant "no's" from the universe, we keep on trying. Pushing. Forcing. Controlling. 

One of my goals for 2014 is to stop trying to direct the details of life. I have been well aware of the "green lights" and the "red lights" (oooh sounds Christmasy) of life for years and yet... I still find myself feeling upset because things failed to materialize the way that I pictured them. How self-centered is that? Hmmmm. 

Could you use a little loosening of the reins? Maybe a lot of loosening? Yeah. Me too. 2014 is now officially known as the Year of the Loose Reins.

Life knows what to do without us micromanaging it. It's got millions of years of experience under it's saddle!

Let's see where life takes us. 

Sit back and enjoy the ride.