A healthy, simple way to take care of dry skin
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Yesterday, I returned home to Colorado. I’ve been gone a long time… but for happy reasons. I love the work I do and the flexibility I have to do it from anywhere, but each day I’m away from Berk and Jez (my cat) I feel a little more empty and now I’m in need of a deep soul refill. I was traveling to teach 90 hours of yoga teacher training over 3 training sessions – with 3 separate groups of women. None of these trainings were on skincare, however, in all three cohorts at least one woman asked me how I keep my body moisturized without using toxic products. It’s a subject that comes up frequently and I’ve written about non-toxic skin care in various ways before, but today I’ll hone in on one aspect. (I’ve also received the suggestion that I lead a retreat where we all make vegan meals and homemade skin care products together, which I’m considering.) Whenever I take a shower, I use oil on my body afterwards. A fancy name for this process is abyhanga, which is a Sanskrit word for self-massage. In the Ayurvedic tradition, (Ayurveda is a 1000s of years old system of traditional medicine from India) you warm the oil and do a whole process when applying it that has more care and detail involved than what I do every day. There are oils you can purchase for this purpose (if you want recommendations, just reply to this email and I’ll share my go-to resources). I do buy oil sometimes, but I mostly make it myself. When making or purchasing oil, you want it to be organic. The whole reason we’re doing this is to keep toxins out of our body. What we put on our skin absorbs into our bloodstream in seconds, so we want anything we put on our body to be as pure as possible. There are many oils to choose from: coconut, almond, avocado, jojoba, sesame seed, hemp seed, grapeseed, sunflower seed, argan, olive… those are a few of the more common ones. You can just go to your regular grocery store and buy organic oil. Food grade oil and cosmetic grade oil are basically the same. It’s important to experiment. What moisturizes well for one person won’t for another and what works for you in the summer may be different than what works for you in the winter. Here’s my basic recipe: 1. Pour 4 oz. of your oil into a glass measuring jug. 2. Use 5-15 drops each of any essential oil you like. 3. Use up to 3 different essential oils (5 drops each), but single blends are great too. 4. Stir well. 5. Pour into a clean 4 oz. dark bottle with a pump or cap. 6. Label with all contents. 7. Store in a dark place away from heat and sunlight to preserve your oil. 8. Your oil will last anywhere from a couple of months to a year (it depends on the oil). That’s it! Every time I shower, after I dry off, I put my oil all over my body. Then I put on a big robe (or old pajamas) and do other things for at least 15 minutes before I get dressed to let the oil fully absorb. Another way to do it is to oil before the shower, let the steam and warm water help the oil absorb (only wash necessary private parts) and then lightly pat dry afterwards. I’ve been doing this for years and I consider it self love. It’s a time that I truly take care of myself each day, do a little breast exam, appreciate my strong, beautiful body and have gratitude for my vibrant health. |