what I’m learning and loving: winter 2018
Happy spring! The forecast says snow in the next few days, but the days get longer from here on out, so spring has arrived regardless of what it feels like outside. We have had a really wonderful winter season, despite some big life stuff happening here at home and around us. The older I get, the more it seems like that is the pattern: beauty and pain, all mixed up together, over and over again.
What I’m loving this season
Akamai skincare. I have been using this stuff for about six months and haven’t shared it yet because I wanted to make sure it had staying power. I am obsessed with their natural toothpaste (read the ingredient list!). It is by far and away the best natural, chemical-free toothpaste I have found (including homemade versions I have tried over the years). My teeth feel cleaner and healthier. I’ve always had problems with my gums bleeding, but no more after 6+ months of using this toothpaste. A little goes a loooong way, and I only go through a tube about every four months so the price is reasonable based on how long it lasts and the quality of the ingredients.
Grant and I also both love the “skin fuel.” I use mine as my evening moisturizer and have noticed a big improvement in my skin, especially over this past winter, when I usually get a little blotchy and red with the lack of humidity and cold temps. Maeve gets a little eczema when it gets really cold, and this cleared it right up. Grant uses it to tame his beard. Even with all of us using this, it lasts a long time. We are still on our first bottle after 6+ months of every day use.
I really like the soap too, but it doesn’t have the staying power that the other products do, probably because I use it on my body and hair. I love their tagline that is printed right on the soap: “The less you mess with your skin & hair, the healthier they will be. Rinse more, soap less. Simple. Radical.” We all use far more soap than we need, which dries out our skin and hair, is wasteful, and, ultimately, is typically putting more junk into our ground water.
Try it and let me know what you think!*
The ritual of tea. I did a little reset in January (largely because of this book that I’ll be writing more about), and I didn’t drink any alcohol. Grant and I got back into tea. I tend to go “all in” on something, and then life gets in the way, and I fall out of the habit. Ditching alcohol for the month was a great reminder of how much I enjoy tea, especially the ritual of heating it up, letting it steep, and then enjoying several cups from one batch. We have this tea pot/press, which I love. I enjoy making our own teas from stuff we’ve dried from the previous growing season (lots of dandelion root and echinacea, but I would really like to do more this upcoming season), and I also really love this line of loose leaf teas, as well as this seller via MarketWagon.
Roka Farms‘ microgreens. This one isn’t really fair because I have an inside hook-up: I work with the farmers’ wife, so she brings me microgreens every week at the office. Roka is a hydroponic urban farm, focusing on microgreens and herbs. Microgreens have tons of health benefits, and they have been such a fun addition to our normal salads this time of the year. Like them on Facebook to keep up with where you can find them if you’re local. If you aren’t local, maybe try to find microgreens near you – or better yet, try growing your own (we have this book and hope to try the method at home this year)!
Thrive Causemetics. Embarrassing confession: I had a stressful February and noticed that my one eyebrow was getting REALLY thin in one spot. I did what all normal people do in these situations and Googled it, only to find that losing eyebrow hair is a sign of stress (as well as hypothyroidism, but that is for a future post). I’m not a big makeup person, but my friend Jenny told me to get an eye brow pencil pronto. I came across Thrive Causemetics and loved their ingredients and mission (for every purchase, they donate “one to empower a woman thriving through cancer or domestic violence”), so I tried out their eye brow liner that completely lives up to the hype, and I love this lip stick and this eye liner too. Use this link to get $10 off your first order (and I’ll get a credit with your order too!).
Side note: Since my Googling, I have been rubbing coconut oil on my eyebrows every night, and the hair has grown back! I don’t know if it is because life has settled down or the coconut oil, but I’m planning on sticking with the coconut oil regardless.
Sustainable. Do not let another week go by without watching this documentary. It explains so well so much of why we have decided to live the way we do and how we got here – far better than any other documentary that I’ve seen (and I’ve seen lots of great ones). Watch it, and then let me know what you think!
What I’m learning this season
Yin yoga is some of the answer to what ails me (us?). I completed a yin teaching certification in January up in Fort Wayne, so between the classes and the reading work in preparation, I have been learning LOTS about Chinese medicine, Ayurveda, and the intersection with the traditional hatha yoga practice. To way oversimplify things, yin yoga is characterized by long, steady holds in the postures, which helps strengthen and lengthen our connective tissues (tendons, ligaments, fascia, etc.). Most of our Western yoga practices, as well as what most of us would consider “working out,” are more yang in nature and focus on the larger muscle groups, which are strengthened with shorter, more intense bursts of exertion (think a 100M dash or getting that PR on your deadlift). In our movement practices, we need a balance of yin/yang, just as we do in the rest of our lives according to ancient Chinese medicine. So incorporating a yin yoga practice into the rest of whatever you do for movement (my thoughts on movement versus “working out” here) is essential for our tissues and overall health. BUT my favorite part of a yin yoga practice is the tremendous mental and spiritual benefits that the stillness and quiet affords – and I am finding myself craving that time because so much of our culture is “yang” in nature. Americans especially put efforting and hustling up on a pedestal, but I’m continually learning that persisting down that path leads to burnout, disconnect, and discontent.
P.S. I teach a seasonal yin class the third Friday of every month at Shine Yoga Wellness – come join me and see the benefits for yourself sometime if you’re local!
Our healing is part of healing the world. I honestly can’t remember where this came from – I think it was a friend’s therapist who told her this when she kept beating herself up about not “getting over it,” but Rob Bell often says some variation of this on his podcast. His is more along the lines that the universe is banking on our continued growth and evolution. (Richie talks often about this too – here is an example from just this week.) Either way, I like it, and I think they are saying similar things. Some of the things that we do to show up as our best versions of ourselves – moving every day, eating well, going to bed early, a foot soak, etc. – can seem self-centered (or maybe that’s just me?), but in actuality, when we do what it takes to show up as our best versions of ourselves, that is better for us and everyone around us. Additionally, doing our part to heal old and new wounds plays a part in healing the whole world because when we show up more authentically, it has ripple effects in our homes, communities, and beyond. I actually think this idea of calling any of the stuff we do to care for our own minds and bodies “selfish” has become totally convoluted and wreaks havoc on us individually and culturally, but that is a rant for another post.
Nooroz is the Persian new year and on the same day as the spring equinox. I’m always on the lookout for new reasons to celebrate throughout the year, and I especially love traditional celebrations that are tied to the seasons and/or farming. I love the idea of the beginning of spring being the new year versus January 1st because it seems to make more sense (and, let’s be honest, I’m perpetually in love with fresh starts). Spring is a time of rebirth, it is considered the morning of the year, and it is a time of energy and growth. I love some of the traditions associated with Nooroz, and since I only learned about it this week, I plan on marking my calendar ahead of time to better celebrate next year. I especially love the idea of spring cleaning (your home and heart) in preparation for the coming year.
Leaning into my cycle. I have more to write on this subject, but over the last year, I have been learning more (because of some stuff I’ve heard and read, but also by force, from my body) about how various aspects of my monthly cycle impact me. It is so similar to the entire idea of living seasonally that I’m surprised it hasn’t hit me before now, but I’m grateful to be learning more about it regardless. I think it is important for men to better understand these changes too because they can be better partners or friends when they know what we’re going through. I’m hoping part of this #metoo movement will be a new invitation for women to feel more open to talk about their bodies on their terms, as well as an opportunity for the men in our lives to know and understand us better. We’re all better together, after all.
Creating rituals takes time. I think I’ve mentioned that we practice “no screen Mondays” before, but over the last year or so, our kids don’t even ask to touch a screen on Monday nights. Part of this is because they are actually starting to “get it” in terms of the days of the week, but I realized too that part of it is that it takes lots of consistency, often years of consistency, to create real rituals with staying power. “No screen Monday” has become a fabric of our family life only after years and years of practicing it and sticking to it. This “aha moment” helps me be more patient with other rituals we’re trying to create as a family or rituals I’m trying to create for myself as well.
The magic of retreats. I read Altered Traits, and, while I learned a ton from that book and highly recommend it, what stuck out to me the most was how impactful retreats were to altering our traits in a permanent way, over and above a daily meditation practice. In Altered Traits, the writers review hundreds of the more recent (last thirty years or so) scientific studies on the benefits of meditation and separate fact from fiction of meditation’s actual proven benefits, looking for scientific data to support the development of what they call “altered traits,” not just altered states. Citing numerous studies, the writers enumerate what types of meditation practices create lasting changes to the brain (e.g. more compassion, less reactivity, etc.), specifically noting the outsized effects that retreats have on creating enduring change in our brains and behaviors. I have never been on a purely meditation-based or silent retreat for more than an afternoon, but now I’m trying to figure out how to incorporate more of those into our lives after reading this book.
I would love to hear what you learned and loved this past winter…
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