Switch it Up!

The Wood element is all about change and adventure, so the Spring season is a great time to explore something new for a happier, healthier you!  Plan an outing to someplace you've never been to- even if its right in your local area. Experiment with new morning routine, since the Wood time of day is sunrise. Even something as simple as rearranging your furniture or changing your hair style can inspire you with a fresh perspective.

Here are some more quick and easy ways to switch it up this season...

How to do a Castor Oil Pack

Castor Oil packs are one of my favorite home remedies for the Spring!  This simple, affordable  DIY home treatment offers a world of health benefits, but my favorite use is to release emotional or physical congestion.  Castor oil improves elimination and circulation, especially of the lymphatic system, creating the ease and flow that is associated with the Wood Element of Chinese Medicine.

The lymphatic system is the fluid portion of the blood that brings nutrients and oxygen into our cells, and brings waste and toxins out of our cells.  Unlike the blood which is actively pumped by the heart,  the lymph is a passive fluid.  This means it is moved by activity, and when these fluids are stagnant, we experience symptoms such as pain, inflammation, sluggishness or mental fog.

Some cues that it might worth giving a castor oil pack a try are:

*  Feeling physically stagnant (including physical symptoms such as constipation, a delayed menses, or feeling bloated or congested)
* Feeling emotionally stagnant- like there is some area of your life that just isn't flowing
* Feeling frustrated, irritated or depressed
* Frequent deep sighing
* Water retention

Castor oil packs are made with several layers of flannel and cold-pressed castor oil (both of which can be purchased online or from a local health food store), either individually or as a easy to use set.

Here's how to make your own:

Keep Calm & Love Your Body

 

The other day I had a moment of truth.   I was complaining about my hair, how my locks weren't locking the way I expected them to, how frustrated I was, and blah blah blah.  And then I caught my daughter watching me.  She wasn't saying anything, she was just sort of...  studying me...  as she twisted a braid of hair around her finger.  And I could almost hear her saying to herself, "is this how i should feel about me?"

Keep in mind,  I have spent countless hours researching the right books, television shows, and even words to affirm my daughter's fluffy 'fro, her beautiful eyes, her kind heart, her brilliance and creativity.  I promise you, its no easy task with popular media telling young girls at every corner what 'pretty' should be. Girls with kinky hair want curly hair, girls with straight hair want curly hair, girls with fair skin want a tan, girls with dark skin hide from the sun, big girls want to be thin and thin girls want to be thick.  No one is really satisfied with themselves.  (And as Stewart Ewan points out in Captains of Consciousness, consumerism can't really exist in a world where we are all satisfied with ourselves.  But I digress... )

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The point is, in that moment, I had an image of all the times my daughter watched me get dressed, looking for the right undergarment to hide my postpartum belly.   (sidenote:  yes, I know my daughter is now six years old.  but I didn't have this belly before she was born so technically it is a postpartum belly, thank you very much).  I had an image of every time I threw on a wig 'cuz I just didn't feel like being bothered with "the hair", and the countless times she's heard me ask, "does this make me look fat?" 

And I realized, its not just what we say to our daughters about themselves that effects their self esteem. Rather, its what we say about ourselves- to ourselves- that leaves a lasting imprint. 

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