You are beautiful!
Your eyes soften their gaze to take in another person’s soul!
Your smile harmonizes with the stars that light up the night sky!
These few sentences are felt by the cells in our body; cells that are nurtured not only by the food you eat, the water you drink, the sleep and rest you need but also the thoughts and feelings that create your life. The power of positive thought is remarkable when it comes to healing the body and creating an environment of self-love.
Self-love comes in many shapes and forms. Cooking for yourself and your family and using foods that are local, organic and biodynamic is a wonderful expression of love. I’d like to offer another thought: when you are eating in harmony with nature, you are naturally supported. Your energy comes alive, your skin smooth and clear. By choosing foods that are high in antioxidants with anti-inflammatory properties, you naturally treat yourself with love, compassion and care, and you send those same healing energies into your inner world where they can work to soothe and heal your mind, body, skin and soul from life’s daily stressors.
The plant kingdom is here to support, they offer themselves up in selfless service. It is with great reverence to the miracle of all life that I offer up these suggestions to help keep your beauty ageless!
A wintry sunset walk is amazing for both the physical and mental body.
- Spend time in nature. Get to know her different expressions of mood, whether it be a forest, ocean, lake, a grassy lawn, snowy drift or fragrant rose garden. A 30 minute walk has the power to transform your inner world and outer beauty.
- Eat unprocessed plant foods. Especially fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and healthy fats like avocado, flax, pumpkin, walnut, olive and coconut. Fresh foods that have been grown biodynamically or organically retain their life energies even after harvest. Those life energies infuse your body when you eat these foods. Helpful antioxidants are found in berries and brightly colored fruits like kiwis, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries. Seeds and nuts have well known anti-inflammatory properties as well as minerals that form the building blocks of healthy skin and hair. Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, kale and radishes are loaded with skin beautifying compounds. These natural phytonutrients boost the body’s natural detoxification enzymes to combat and repair cell damage, reducing inflammation and bolstering immune response.
- Cook with fresh herbs and citrus. Herbs are loaded with polyphenols, plant compounds that have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Citrus is amazing for vitamin C and fiber, not to mention how refreshing it is when added to drinks or salad dressings.
- Drink plenty of water. Adding lemon to your water or small amounts of apple cider vinegar are great for detoxing and stimulating the digestion. Whenever you drink water, consider expressing love and gratitude silently into the water before you drink. Do the same when you bathe or shower.
- Drink green tea. Green tea is infused with a potent portfolio of age-defying antioxidants. Because it is one of the more minimally processed teas, it offers the most antioxidant polyphenols, including a specific catechin believed to inhibit cancer and also beautify the skin.
- Dance or do a rhythmic exercise like ballroom, tango, 5 Rhythms, tai chi, chi gong, yoga and tennis. All harmonious movements help to strengthen your etheric body, overall health and beauty.
- Seek out therapeutic massage, healing touch, reiki, acupuncture, reflexology. Many of these practices are forms of ancient healing based on the perception that life energy flows through the physical body along distinct pathways or meridians. Receiving a treatment aims to open up these pathways so that energy can flow freely and effortlessly, allowing the bodies to do their best work in regenerating and creating new youthful growth.
- Listen to music that makes you happy. As everyone knows, music can change our life condition in seconds! Over a year ago, I purchased a Music of the Plants device, a magical machine from Damanhur, Italy that turns the electrical pulses of a plant into musical notes. I use the music of the plants to help center me and provide calm. For more about this, click here.
- Take deep breaths. Do you ever find yourself at your desk or in the grocery store and you notice that you haven't been actively breathing? It happens to me all the time, realizing that I'm holding my breath. The cells in your body need air to remain at their peak level of health! Deep breathing also helps in calming temporary anxiety and gives the body a moment to slow down and remain present.
- Use skin care products made of pure plant substances, preferably grown biodynamically or organically. I first got into making skincare products when I realized that organic, thoughtfully sourced skin products were not so easy to come by. One of my favorites is Skin Healer, which can be used for literally everything - cuts, burns, rashes, pimples, dry skin & lips.
Taking the time to care for yourself is investing in your long-term health. There are days when going to a dance class or buying a slightly more expensive skincare product (because it's made with ingredients you can actually pronounce) can feel indulgent. In supporting your physical body, you are also supporting your emotional body. The effort that you've put into your physical and mental health will radiate outward - and it doesn't just stop with you! The happiness and calm that you can begin to cultivate extends outward to others.
For more about nourishing your inner & outer beauty, join Laura and Kerstin Florian, luxury, organic skincare brand in a talk about The Power of Plants on Tuesday Jan. 16th 2018. For more info and to register, click here.
