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Day 21: Dejunk that drawer!

“The first step in crafting the life you want is to get rid of everything you don’t.”― Joshua Becker

We all have that drawer.  You know the one.  I call it the homeless drawer, you probably know it as ‘the junk drawer’. It’s the one where you put ALL the things you’re not quite sure what to do with.  All the miscellaneous junk ends up in this drawer, it gets (over)full and then you go searching for a lighter (that you swear you put in there last year) to light your daughter’s birthday candles and you have to (embarrassingly) pull out all that crap stuff out onto the counter in front of everyone to find it.  {Or so I’ve heard.}

I hate this drawer (and this about the only four-letter word I don’t like to use).  So I decided to stop creating space for one in my house.  Full disclosure: Because I have three young children, when I find something odd, I have a spot where I keep it for about a week.  If no one claims or asks for it, then out it goes.  A great example:  I found this weird rubber thing that looked kind of like a connected ‘x’ and ‘o’ in my car last week.  I had NO idea what it was, but instead of tossing it, (which honestly is my first inclination) I stuck it in my little spot.  Well thank goodness because Monday morning when my daughter was filling up her water bottle for school it wasn’t latching properly.  She says, “oh I need the little rubber thing I left in the dirty floor of the car.  Ahhhhh, it was the thingy that keeps the water from leaking out.  Hallelujah I kept that or I’d be shelling out another 16 bucks at Target for a new one right now. {Shew}

So you can’t mindlessly toss everything, but what you can do is mindfully find a home for everything that is hiding inside your junk drawer.  If it doesn’t have a home, then most likely it doesn’t belong inside your home.  Simple as that.  All those pens and glue sticks and post it notes and AAA batteries (who knows if they’re even good ones) and screws and marker lids and pennies and paper clips…they need to hit the road back to where they came from.  Unless, of course, you’d like your drawer to be part of your command center and then definitely keep the pens and post its, etc.  But go through the pens and make sure they work, find a little box to put them in, tidy the drawer up and make a commitment to keep it that way.  (This is the one place in the house which needs constant clutter maintenance.  Because we’ve all become accustomed to having a junk drawer, it can clutter back up in the blink of an eye). But at a minimum create a purpose for the drawer.  Give it a title…announce it to your family, whatever.  Just make it serve you in a way other than a clutter catcher.

The great thing about de-cluttering is it creates a domino effect. Once you see how clean and amazing that one drawer or counter top or shelf looks (and subsequently makes you feel) it creates momentum and you want to keep it up.  So start with the junk drawer in your kitchen, then move on to the next drawer and so on.  Just keep moving. Soon you’ll have a nice filled up donation box to bless someone with AND drawers you aren’t scared to open. 

Light and Love,

♥k

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Day 20: Meditate!

“The quieter you become, the more you can hear.” – Baba Ram Dass

I’ve heard it said that prayer is talking to God and meditation is listening for the answers.  I started my meditation practice about four years ago, 11 days before my mom passed away from cancer.  I had absolutely no clue what I was doing, I just felt led to start.  And so I did. I even meditated in the hospital room holding my mom’s hand while she was in a coma.  {This was an experience I’ll blog about later, it was so amazing.}  I truly believe mediation is what helped me get through the days and weeks (and maybe even years) following the loss of my mother.  The stillness and the quieting of the mind are supreme gifts.  I think it’s the only time during my day when I am still.  (And sometimes even though my body is still my mind is running all over the place and I have to remind it that we are being still and quiet).  Every thing after my meditation practice is motion and noise and lists and kids and texts and…you get the idea, you probably have a similar day.   But those 20 minutes every morning in silence, with just my breath and the stillness, are pure bliss.

But beyond bliss, there are proven health benefits to incorporating a daily meditation practice into your life. I saw one article that listed 76 {wow}, but I’ll just list a few:

  • Reduces stress
  • Improves sleep
  • Helps control anxiety
  • Decreases blood pressure
  • Reduces age-related memory loss
  • Improves concentration
  • Increases your compassion
  • Helps regulate emotions

There are lots of apps available to help you begin your meditation practice.  I usually do a guided mediation, but there are also unguided, with relaxing music or no music at all.  You kind of have to find what works for you.  The Headspace app is a great place to start.  They have a free trial that walks you  through how to begin…perfect if you’re a newbie like I was. Calm is another great app for beginners. It even has “sleep stories” which are similar to bedtime stories, designed to help you sleep better at night.  {yessss!}  My recommendation is to find a nice quiet spot where you won’t be interrupted  (I used to meditate in my walk-in closet because it was the only place I could hide from my kids) and just start.  Even if you can just sit for 5 minutes, it’s a start.  Soon you’ll be saying namaste every day!

Light and Love,

♥k

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Day 19: Gratitude is an attitude!

“Gratitude leads to greatness. It can literally turn what you have into more than enough, jobs into joy, chaos into order, uncertainty into clarity, and bring peace to an otherwise chaotic day.” — Marc Chernoff

Gratitude.  It’s a powerful daily tool that most of us overlook.  If you are searching for more, or different or better than what you have now, the way to find it is by being grateful for what you already have.  It’s free,  takes just a moment or two and  has 7 (scientifically proven) health benefits. These include:

  • Improved self-esteem
  • Increased mental strength
  • Improved psychological health
  • Improved physical health
  • Better sleep
  • Enhanced empathy and aggression reduction
  • Opens doors for new relationships

I know these are all things I want more of in my life.  And what do we know is the key for getting more? That’s right…being grateful for what we have right now!  But how do we go about creating time for gratitude in our lives? I’ve tried multiple ways to make a practice of gratitude stick in my own life. Journals, writing on little scraps and putting them in a jar, saying three things I’m grateful for when I wake up, etc.  But nothing stuck.  {Although maybe one of these could work for you.}  What finally helped me to find time to express my gratitude daily was eating.

Every day, before I eat, I take a moment and say (in my head, usually) what I’m grateful for.  It’s become a cue for me.  Eating=gratitude.  It’s kind of like saying grace, but slightly upgraded because I’m not just giving thanks for my food, although sometimes it’s definitely what I’m thankful for. {I’m looking at you fresh, local tomatoes.}  Mainly I’m saying “grace” for the other things in and around my life.  Eating has worked like a charm to trigger gratitude for me and maybe it can for you, too.

Light and Love,

♥k

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Day 18: Shop-free Saturday

“We don’t buy things with money.  We buy them with hours from our lives.” – Joshua Becker

Did you know there is something known as Buy Nothing Day?  I didn’t, until about two minutes ago when I was looking for a quote for today’s post.  BND is (basically) an international consumerism rebellion that occurs every year on Black Friday.  I like the idea of it {obviously} since today’s challenge is all about not shopping for a day. 

The true intent of this post is awareness…of how much time we spend actively, and more importantly, inactively shopping.  Active shopping, by my own (made-up) definition, is going into a physical store and browsing, whether you ultimately purchase something or not.  This is an American past-time that has largely been replaced by what I call inactive shopping.  Inactive shopping is a tricky thing.  We aren’t even aware of how many hours we are spending doing it.  (Hours of our life we will never get back, btw).

The quote above is referencing to the fact that items we purchase don’t just cost us their purchase price, they cost us hours of our lives…hours spent maintaining, cleaning, storing and moving (potentially multiple times) the items we purchase.  This is VERY true but it isn’t what I’m talking about today. The problem is bigger.  We are now shopping online.  A lot.  And not just purchasing (although there’s definitely a lot of that going on). {Thanks Amazon Prime}.  We are clicking and reading and debating and looking for the best price and placing things in our carts and saving them for later and signing up for newsletters so we can know about the latest deals and scrolling and clicking and grocery shopping and perusing Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist and going WAY down the Internet rabbit hole and oh my gosh what time is it? I need to make dinner and let me go online to look for a Chinese restaurant that delivers and oh I love those chairs in the pics on their website and I bet I can find some on Wayfair and oh look at those cute ones on Pinterest and it goes on and on and on. Hours lost.  All for what!? I can’t even remember what I first started looking for…my brain is exhausted. {Shew}

So what I’m asking is that you take a day. One day. Each week.  And shut this insanity down.  Don’t shop.  Not in a store. Not with your mouse.  (I realize this weekend may not be a good choice for you, because a lot of you are doing Back to School shopping, so pick another day and make it happen).  And stay aware of how many times you are tempted to click on something you might potentially purchase.  I think we’ll all be surprised how often it happens.

Light and Love,

♥k

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Day 17: Brush…your skin!

“Love your skin.  It lives, breathes and represents you.”- Boldijarre Koronczay

Riding in on the toxin removing coat tails of Day 16 is another one of my absolute favorite things: dry skin brushing (aka dry body brushing).  Our skin is our largest organ with one third of toxins being excreted through it. Most of us (ahem, women) tend to focus on our face when we think about our skin’s health.  Dry skin brushing is super easy, brushes are inexpensive and it takes about 5 minutes (or less, once you get the hang of it).  I started doing it about 5 months ago, and I’m addicted.

What the heck is dry skin brushing?  It’s a (hopefully, daily) practice that removes toxins and dead skin cells from the surface of your skin while stimulating your lymphatic system.  Some people even report it has reduced their cellulite. {yay!} The basic steps are:

  • Obtain a brush made from natural (not synthetic) bristles. One with a long handle works best to reach those unreachable spots on your back.  They can be found at most health food stores, big-box stores and Amazon.  My long handled one came from a local “crunchy” store, but I also use this one.
  • Get buck naked and stand in the shower or tub, so you don’t have to clean up what you’re about to brush off {bleh}), since you’ll be bathing afterwards.
  • Starting with the bottoms of your feet, brush using long, short or circular strokes, but always firm ones. The most important thing to know is you want to work towards your heart.  So from the feet up to the heart and then from neck down to your heart.  Take extra care (less pressure) with sensitive areas like your ta-tas and armpits.  If you’re a visual learner there are tons of tutorials on YouTube. Maybe I’ll even make one soon. {eeeek}
  • Brush each section 3-5 times, overlapping a bit as you go.  It may tingle the first few times, but eventually your skin will get used to it.  Your skin may turn a bit pink, but don’t use such strong pressure that you hurt yourself.  Tingling is okay, pain is not.
  • Once you’ve brushed your whole body, take your shower.  Some people like to alternate between hot and cold water temps during their shower to increase circulation, but I’m not crazy a fan of cold showers, even for a moment. {brrrr}
  • Make sure you clean your brush regularly, about every two weeks (in my case), and make sure it dries well.

That’s it…dry skin brushing.  Try it, I think you might just love it as much as I do.  I know when I occasionally forget, because a child has run off with my brush {ugh}, I can feel a difference in my skin. t’s that amazing.

Light and Love,

♥k

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Day 16: Stop blocking your pits!

“Success is a great deodorant. It takes away all your past smells.” -Elizabeth Taylor 

I hear ya Liz…but seriously, what about our current smells?!  We all need a little help with that sometimes, right?!  We’ve all heard that the aluminum in antiperspirant is not good  for us. Of course, as with most things health (especially when large corporations are affected), there’s is some debate about this.  My feeling about it is this:  whether any of the (negative) claims about antiperspirants are true or not, there’s one thing that IS true…we are meant to sweat.  Sweating is one way we get toxins out of our systems.  This brings me to a little side topic I have to share because I had NO CLUE.  Pigs. Don’t. Sweat.  {What!?!?} This means any toxins that come from whatever (maybe actual) crap they’re fed stays in their tissues (and then we eat it).  This is, in my opinion, THE most important reason to make sure you know where your pork comes from.  Local farmers feed their animals well.  Factory farmers…who knows!?

Okay, back to deodorant.   Antiperspirants block the ducts in your armpits that release perspiration.  Deodorants eliminate the odors that are released during the break down of bacteria in your sweat.  What we traditionally refer to as “deodorant” is a combination of antiperspirant and deodorant. A lot of the time I choose not to wear deodorant…it’s kind of amazing when you stop wearing it for awhile, your body adapts and you don’t really need it.  That said, there are times {hello summer humidity} when it’s pretty necessary to wear deodorant in order to maintain my friendships.  On these occasions I want to make sure whatever I’m putting on my pits is in no way going to harm my body. The good news is that there are more and more brands that are paying attention and making their “deodorants” just that, deodorant.  The not so great news is you may have to go through several to find one that you like and works for you.  My ultimate fave is by a company called Native. It contains no aluminum, no parabens AND no talc.   For summer, I’ve been loving their coconut & vanilla scent.  Reminds me of the beach!

The bottom line here is we need to sweat.  Our bodies are designed to function optimally when we do.  Embrace your sweat, upgrade your deodorant and kick that antiperspirant to the curb.

Light and Love,

♥k

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Say Ahhhhh!

“Our oral health is a reflection of the physiological, social and psychological factors that are essential to our quality of life.” – Unknown

Today is known around social media platforms as #WellnessWednesday. Over at my house I call it WooWoo Wednesday!! (This means I’ve got something up my sleeve that a lot of you may see as weird).  Today’s WooWoo is tongue scraping.  If you are one who is already scraping your tongue, then… WooHoo for being WooWoo!! {high five}

Why tongue scraping? Oral bacteria is directly related to gut bacteria (Day 13). You can have mouth dysbiosis just like gut dysbiosis.  {Yes! I get to use that word again!!}  Our oral microbiome is the entry point to our gut microbiome.  In traditional medicine practice all these things are treated separately (i.e., the dentist for oral health, GI doctor for gut health, etc), but the body is all connected.  Your tongue/mouth can be an indicator of what is going on inside your body.  My acupuncturist,  a Chinese Medicine practitioner, looks at my tongue every time I visit her.  (Side note: my tongue’s appearance has changed since I started seeing her.  It’s super interesting…if you’re a health nerd like me, anyway.) But I, probably much like you before today, had never thought much about my tongue’s appearance prior to that.

Most dentists recommend you brush your tongue with your toothbrush. This is great advice, it’s just the wrong tool for the job.  The soft bristles of your toothbrush are designed to get debris off hard surfaces (like your teeth…and your shower tiles). A hard edge, ideally metal, is better designed to get debris off of your tongue. This is the tongue scraper I use daily…it’s made of copper (Ayurvedic medicine recommends using copper because it’s naturally antimicrobial).  I do this first thing in the morning on an empty stomach (before I take my probiotic).  I swipe the tongue scraper down my tongue about  7 times.  (I rinse the scraper in between each swipe because…wellllll you’ll see).  This all takes less than a minute. Then I rinse my mouth, take my probiotic, and brush my teeth.  Some people, in a pinch, will use the edge of a spoon to scrape their tongue.  (You could do this until you get an actual tongue scraper). Word of warning: once you do this and actually SEE what comes off your tongue, you’ll want to continue every day. It’s disgusting…I was shocked the first time.

There’s lots of debate {shocker} about whether scraping gets rid of bad breath.  After seeing what comes off, I’d be surprised if it didn’t help at least a little bit. {Ewwww}  But there’s definitely no debate that getting rid of that coating of mucous {there, I said it} helps your taste buds work better…which means your food tastes better! {Score!}

So go ahead and try it today (or tomorrow morning, FIRST THING) with a spoon.  I bet you’ll be adding a scraper to your cart sooner rather than later!

Light and Love,

♥k

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Upgrade your cleaners!

Contributing to clean air is everyone’s responsibility. – Steve Owens

I’m not sure if you heard about it, but a jury just awarded a terminally ill man 289 million dollars this week. The jurors agreed with his claim, that Monsanto’s product Roundup (which Monsanto still claims is safe), caused his cancer.  By the way, there are tons of similar lawsuits against Monsanto in the pipeline, but this guy’s was pushed to the top because of his short life expectancy.  I pray that this is just the first in a long line of judgments where these huge companies are hit where it hurts….their bottom line.  Unfortunately,  it’s the only way they’re going to stop using the toxic chemicals they’re putting in products we use.  Another way to hit ’em where it counts is to STOP BUYING THEIR PRODUCTS.  It’s time that we started paying attention to what is in the things we bring into our homes.

A good place to start? Household cleaning products.  These products have added fragrances in addition to chemicals like phtalates, triclosan, ammonia and PERC (to name just a few).  It’s estimated that the average home contains over 63 synthetic chemicals. {Woah!} The EPA has said that indoor air pollution is two to five times as bad as outdoor pollution.  And we are spending more and more time indoors.  Laundry detergent and fabric softeners are some of the worst.  I know,  I know…you LOVE the smell of your Tide or your Gain (or whatever your fave smell is).  I get it…but here’s the thing…those “smells” are synthetic and they ARE NOT good for you, your family or the environment.  Clean isn’t supposed to have a smell, it’s supposed to be neutral.  We’ve been brainwashed since the days of PineSol  to think clean had a smell.  Note about dryer sheets: I stopped using them before my oldest (who is almost 9) was born.  I was (pleasantly) surprised my laundry dried just fine, and without static.  If you are adamant you need something for static, wool dryer balls are amazing.  I love to add some lavender essential oils to them for my daughters’ pajamas and lemongrass for our towels. {Heaven!}

My recommendation is to start small. Upgrade to a less toxic cleaner as you run out of whatever you’re currently using.  Baby steps.  It doesn’t have to happen overnight. The EWG (Environmental Working Group) has a great website where you can see their top rated green cleaners…they even have them listed according to category so you can go right to what you’re looking for.  I’ve also just recently started using an app called Think Dirty. You simply scan the barcode of an item and it will show you it’s rating, as well as lists all the ingredients, highlighting ones that are “dirty”.  (This is really eye opening to do with products you are currently using throughout your home).  I think it’s smart to use a third party because labels are hard to ready since companies are known to use things on their labels to make them appear more “green”…it’s called greenwashing.

The key take away here is:  knowledge is power.  Take a little time to research what you are bringing into your home. It’s 2018 and we can no longer use ignorance as an excuse.  I’ll be sharing some of my DIY cleaners that are super easy to make (and affordable) soon!!

Light and Love,

♥k

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Day 13: Clean up…your gut!!

“Gut health is the key to overall health.”— Kris Carr

The gut is considered the body’s second brain.  It’s THAT amazing!! And much like the brain, it’s not completely understood.  More and more research is showing that gut health directly impacts (our actual) brain health.  Leaky gut, scientifically known as  intestinal hyperpermeability, is all the rage on the interwebs.  But it’s not just the latest fad, it’s messing with our bodies and our brains, big time.

Our gut health is, by and large, determined by the levels of bacteria in our gut.  Basically there needs to be a certain balance of “good” AND “bad” bacteria in there, and when this ratio gets out of whack we end up with what’s called dysbiosis.  It’s a fancy word that means there’s too many bad bacteria and not enough good bacteria.  This is thought to be caused by processed and sugar laden foods, antibiotics and (sometimes unknown to us) food sensitivities.

Ideally we should remove the foods that we are eating that are causing us to destroy our guts.  But this is sometimes easier said than done, especially if you fall into the category of having a food sensitivity you don’t know about.  Enter the probiotic.   Probiotics help restore the balance when we are in gut dysbiosis. {It’s such a neat word, I can’t help myself!} The probiotic, in simple words,  throws in a whole bunch of “good” bacteria to level the playing field against all the “bad” bacteria floating around in your gut after you’ve done some damage.  {Sounds fun, huh?}  I take a probiotic every morning on an empty stomach.  There is some debate about whether the empty stomach part is actually necessary. There’s also debate about whether the probiotic needs to be encaspsulated {mine is} to make it past the acids in your stomach…certain strains of bacteria are tough enough to defend themselves from breaking down until they make it to where they need to go.  My advice is do some research and not buy whatever happens to be sitting on the shelf at your local store. {There’s a lot, btw}  It pays to know what you’re spending your money on.

There are other ways to clean up your gut, too.  Aside from the obvious elimination of sugar and processed foods {wink, wink}.  Adding fermented foods to your diet is one way. (I add organic sauerkraut to my daily salad). I also really enjoyed this article about how dogs can be beneficial to healing our guts. {Another reason to love puppy kisses!}  I remember our pediatrician telling me once about how farmers (and their families) traditionally didn’t get as sick as the rest of us, because they were constantly exposed to all the dirt and germs from the animals. {Makes sense, right?}  I totally felt better about not mopping my floors as often after that visit!  {Thanks Dr. R!!}

So clean up your gut…it could be as simple as cleaning up your diet. But if that seems just too big a pill to swallow {I love puns} then my suggestion is go get a probiotic!!

Light and Love,

♥k

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Day 12: Make a DATE!

“Look at your 5 closest friends. Those five friends are who you are. If you don’t like who you are, then you know what you have to do…”- Will Smith

The principle goes something like you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.  Think about this for a moment…think about the five people closest to you (not just geographically close, but emotionally close counts as well), if you feel closely connected to them, but they live across the country, they are still considered “close”. These five people can be coworkers, other moms in your mommy group, as well as your family and friends.   All of these people can affect your health, your career, your life choices…Wow!  Now, obviously, some of these people we can’t get rid of….you can’t choose who your boss hires, for example, or banish crazy Aunt Edna, but you can choose to make closer connections to the people you DO want to be more like.  Enter today’s challenge…

Make a date!! Let’s all make a weekly date with the healthiest person (or people) we know.  Or maybe it’s someone who isn’t in your immediate circle of friends, but you’d like them to be (especially now that you know they can positively impact your life).  They say to never be the smartest person in the room,  but I’d like to take that a step further and say never be the healthiest person in the room.  Go and make a date with that person so you can get some of what they’re putting out!  This date doesn’t have to be in person if they live far away…make use of all this technology and have a FaceTime date or use a web conferencing platform (like Zoom) to get several of your friends together at once.   Make a date with a friend to take a walk every week (this is what I’m currently doing…which means I’m connecting AND I’m getting Day 10 taken care of at the same time). {yesssss!}.  Maybe go to a friend’s church with them if you’re wanting to expand your spiritual practice.  The options are endless.

The point is to spend some time every week with people who are living the way you want to live.  Your health, your finances, your everything is impacted by those you spend time and connection with.  I stumbled on this recent article where the author says it’s even BIGGER than the 5…it expands to people we don’t even know…that a friend of a friend of a friend’s choices can impact us. {woah, what?!} I’m going to take a moment to wrap my head around that…while you go and make that date!

Light and Love,

♥k