Massage & Bodywork
Wellness Wednesday: Operation Exfoliation
Jun 6th
My weekday mornings are way too crazy to think about exfoliation, so if I can get an hour to myself on a Sunday afternoon, I lock the door and turn my bathroom into a mini spa. In fact, since it’s my only private spot in the house, I’m thinking about having it painted and moving my meditation cushion in there.
xoxo,
Sukey
We all know that when it comes to dry and itchy skin, sometimes lotion just doesn’t cut it and even the fanciest moisturizer is no match for clogged pores.
The solution? Exfoliation. The best way to do it? Yourself.
Our favorite recipe smooths the skin with a sweet ingredient straight from your kitchen cabinets: brown sugar. Just as effective as expensive beauty bar products, the brown sugar exfoliates while the olive oil moisturizes, leaving your face and body soft and supple. Make sure to use organic olive oil—you only want pure goodness for your precious self.
What you need for sweetly smooth skin:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- zest of one lemon or zest of a small orange
Combine all the ingredients and keep your scrub in an airtight glass jar for up to two weeks. Use it in the shower as often as you need to stay smooth; it’s especially good for rough areas like elbows and knees. Once weekly, apply the scrub to your face and neck, using gentle, circular motions and concentrating on the T-zone—your forehead, nose and chin.
For more tips on living well, visit The Well Daily, your ultimate guide for creating health and happiness. Get the best wellness techniques, products, recipes and general goodness byby signing up. Make sure to follow The Well Daily on Twitter and like it on Facebook too!
Wellness Wednesday: Happy Feet
May 29th
I spend a lot of time keeping my feet happy. The balance in my right foot is off and I have an arthritic toe, so If I don’t follow these tips on a regular basis, my feet are miserable!
xoxo,
Sukey
Achey feet? Follow our 3-step plan and show your tootsies some love before flip flop weather hits!
Rise and shine. Elevating your feet whenever you get the chance is the first step to relieving and preventing foot pain. Lie back, relax and put your feet up at a 45 degree angle for 10 to 15 minutes and you’ll feel instantly rejuvenated. Why? Raising your feet switches the flow of blood away from your toes and toward your heart, helping to reduce inflammation and swelling in your lower body.
Wade in the water. Give your feet a proper soak with healing Epsom salts in a basin of warm water. Epsom salts naturally reduce swelling, and as little as 10 minutes of soaking will relax even the most overworked feet.
Apply pressure. Who doesn’t enjoy a foot massage? A good foot rub will get your blood circulating while targeting the thousands of nerve endings in your feet—the perfect excuse to ask your honey to attend to your toes.
For more tips on living well, visit The Well Daily, your ultimate guide for creating health and happiness. Get the best wellness techniques, products, recipes and general goodness by signing up. Make sure to follow The Well Daily on Twitter and like it on Facebook too!
Wellness Wednesday: Treat Your Feet
Mar 7th
Hi friends!
We’re always looking for ways to show our precious feet a little love, but a foot rub that can cure other woes as well? Sounds great to us! If you’ve tried reflexology, give us the inside scoop on your experience.
xoxo,
Sukey
The claim: A reflexology session will rise above your average foot rub to heal your woes as well.
How? Reflexologists apply pressure to targeted areas of the feet and hands that supposedly correspond to specific organs or body parts—massaging the side of your big toe to ease tension in your neck and digging into your baby toe to clear your sinuses. Sound too good to be true? The ancient Egyptians bought it.
This healing art’s been around for millenia and has been used to treat everything from anxiety and insomnia to hormone imbalances and digestive disorders. Most reflexologists maintain that the practice works by breaking up blocked energy in the body, allowing it to flow more freely.
Whether you believe these claims or not, our take is that there’s no harm in trying. At the very least, you’ll get a stress-relieving foot massage out of the deal.
Not ready to put your feet in the hands of a stranger? Start small with the Foot Reflexology App for your iPhone, an interactive map that will teach you the zones of your own feet.
For more tips on living well, visit The Well Daily, your ultimate guide for creating health and happiness. Get the best wellness techniques, products, recipes and general goodness by signing up. Make sure to follow The Well Daily on Twitter and like it on Facebook too!
Wellness Wednesday: Kitchen Cabinet Cures for Dry Skin
Oct 26th
Hello friends,
The transition of the seasons can be harsh on the skin. We’ve got a few kitchen cabinet cures that restore moisture naturally. Try them and let us know what you think!
xoxo,
Sukey
This time of year, dry, itchy skin is par for the course. Soothe your skin with inexpensive, everyday ingredients that can double as natural and effective moisturizers. Try a few for yourself and find your personal favorite.
Oatmeal: Naturally calming to the skin, oatmeal helps lock in moisture, removes dead cells and treats minor irritations. Add a scoop to a warm bath or mix up a face mask with 2 tablespoons of oatmeal, a teaspoon of baking soda, a drop of vanilla and enough warm water to form a paste.
Raw Honey: We’ve touted the benefits of honey before; it practically does it all when it comes to skincare. The live and active enzymes in raw honey act as a mild antiseptic when mixed with warm water, while the alpha hydroxyl acids exfoliate, promote balance in oily skin and increase skin elasticity to prevent wrinkles. Want more? Honey delivers a healthy dose of amino acids to hold in moisture and antioxidants to help reverse skin damage from free radicals.
Avocado: Mash an avocado to slather on the skin as a face mask; the vitamin A will give your face a youthful glow. Likewise, apply avocado oil to your cuticles to soften and revive that skin around the nails that gets so dry in cold weather. Just apply the oil, pull on a pair of gloves and rest your hands under a heating pad for 10 minutes.
Olive, Coconut, Grapeseed and Sesame Oil: Found in many over-the-counter lotions, these oils are rich in vitamin E and essential fatty acids. Avoid the added preservatives and fragrances by using the oil itself as a cleanser in the shower. Just rinse, towel dry as usual and wait about 10 minutes before getting dressed. Olive oil also does wonders for a dry face. Give yourself a mini-facial by massaging it into your skin and draping a warm, damp towel over your face. Leave the towel until it cools, then wipe away any excess oil.
Banana: Next time you eat a banana, don’t throw away that peel; it can do a number on irritations and infections including acne, bug bites, warts, bruises, psoriasis and allergic reactions. Simply rub the inside of the peel on the affected area and feel the soothing effects as the potassium and antioxidants work their magic.
The Well Wisdom: Topical food remedies can be powerful healers for the skin, but don’t ignore the importance of healthy habits that create a glow from the inside out. Start with these tips.
- Drink plenty of fresh water to hydrate.
- Get regular exercise to promote natural oil production.
- Eat fatty fish like wild salmon to prevent aging.
- Use spices like cumin, turmeric and coriander to stimulate digestion, detoxify the skin and reduce inflammation.
For more tips on living well, visit The Well Daily, a website and free daily email for all things yoga, meditation, nutrition and wellness. The Well Daily’s simple mission: be well, do well, live well—for yourself and others. Join thousands of others seeking more health and more joy by following The Well Daily on Twitter and Facebook and by subscribing for your daily dose of wellness.
Wellness Wednesday: Give Your Skin Some Sugar
Aug 24th
Hi friends,
Treat yourself this week with one of my favorite ingredients for skin: honey. These do-it-yourself recipes are simple and inexpensive yet feel luxurious. Enjoy!
xoxo,
Sukey
Honey adds a touch of sugar to your morning tea and helps stave off pollen allergies, but did you know that it can improve your skin? Learn how to sweeten your skincare regimen by adding some honey to your daily routine.
Honey draws out impurities from the pores, so use it to cleanse skin and treat breakouts. It also naturally absorbs and retains moisture, so it’s great for hydrating dry skin or skin that’s had a bit too much sun. Its antioxidant and antimicrobial properties make honey a wholesome rejuvenator for skin as we age and an effective balm to alleviate minor irritations.
To start your honey-infused skin treatments at home, try one of these tricks:
- Mix a teaspoon of raw honey with your usual face cleanser for optimal purification.
- Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of raw honey to a warm bath for a hydrating soak.
- Make a simple honey mask. Just pour two tablespoons of raw honey into a glass and place the glass in a bowl of hot water until the honey is warm. Spread the honey thinly on your face and leave it for 10 to 15 minutes, then wash it off and enjoy a soft, clear complexion.
Cleopatra is said to have bathed in honey and milk, and it’s actually one of the easiest spa treatments to replicate at home. Why shouldn’t we all treat ourselves to the same?
The Well Wisdom: When making your own at-home honey skin solutions, be sure to use raw honey. Heat and pasteurization destroy many of the enzymes in honey, including the ones that give it its antiseptic properties.
For more tips on living well, visit The Well Daily, a website and free daily email for all things yoga, meditation, nutrition and wellness. The Well Daily’s simple mission: be well, do well, live well—for yourself and others. The site’s creators, Sukey Novogratz and Jackie MacLeod, know they are not alone in their quest to breathe more deeply, operate more energetically, live more mindfully and age more gracefully. They pass along the ideas that they love, whether they’re the latest or the most ancient—ideas that open the heart, nurture the body and expand the mind. You can join their circle of friends and everyday people seeking more health and more joy by following them on Twitter and Facebook and by subscribing to The Well Daily.
Wellness Wednesday: 4 Quick and Easy Stress Relievers
Jun 8th
Hello friends,
We at The Well Daily recently asked our go-to holistic expert Dr. Karen Erickson for a few pointers on creating calm. She shared with us simple things we all can do for less stress and more peace. Hope you find them as helpful as we did.
xoxo,
Sukey
Dr. Karen Erickson is the Well Daily’s go-to-expert for all things holistic.
Stress relief does not have to involve a big complicated effort or making an appointment with an expert. There are many simple actions that can turn down the volume in your mind in a matter of minutes. Below are some methods that are fast and simple. You can do them by yourself, anytime and (almost) anywhere.
Alternate Nostril Breathing: Breathe in through the right nostril while closing the left with your ring finger. Then switch and breathe out through the left nostril while closing the right with your thumb. Reverse. Do this for 2 or 3 minutes, and your blood pressure will lower and your body will relax.
Head Hold: Lay the palm of one hand across your forehead and lay the palm of the other hand across the bottom of the skull. Breathe and hold for several minutes. When you release your palms you’ll notice that much of the physical and emotional tension you were holding has been released as well.
Inversions: You don’t have to do a handstand to be inverted. If you have a couple of minutes and a little bit of space and privacy, try lying on the floor with your legs up against the wall. Stay there for two to five minutes and when you stand back up much of the stress you were feeling will be noticeably gone.
Essential Oils: Essential oils are a quick and uncomplicated way to relieve stress, and one of the best ways to use them is to turn them into a ritual. For instance, right before bed take a hotbath or shower. Afterward, when you are completely relaxed and at ease, dab some of the oils onto your skin. If you do this often, you will be anchoring the smell with a profoundly relaxing experience. This will connect that oil to a primitive part of the brain so that when you use the oil in a stressful situation, that part of the brain will know to relax. So, whether the kids are out of control or you are about to walk into a stressful meeting, use your calming oil and your brain will take care of the rest.
For more tips on living well, visit The Well Daily, a website and free daily email for all things yoga, meditation, nutrition and wellness. They have the simple mission to be well, do well, live well—for yourself and others. The site’s creators, Sukey Novogratz and Jackie MacLeod, know they are not alone in their quest to breathe more deeply, operate more energetically, live more mindfully and age more gracefully. They pass along the ideas that they love, whether they’re the latest or the most ancient–ideas that open the heart, nurture the body and expand the mind.
You can join their circle of friends, yogis, gurus, beginners, experts, sages, vegans, vegetarians, conscious carnivores and everyday people seeking more health and more joy, by subscribing to The Well Daily.
Winter Wellness: Self-Care Practice
Feb 1st
Featured Winter Self-Care Practice: Abhyanga
Abhyanga–the ayurvedic oil massage–is an integral part of the daily routine recommended by this healing system (ayurveda is a system of traditional medicine native to India and practiced in other parts of the world as a form of alternative medicine) for overall health and well-being. It is nourishing, pacifies the doshas, relieves fatigue, provides stamina, improves sleep, enhances the complexion and the luster of the skin, promotes longevity and nourishes all parts of the body.
Here are some of the benefits traditionally associated with regular performance of this pleasant daily ritual:
- Increased circulation, especially to nerve endings
- Toning of the muscles and the whole physiology
- Calming of the nerves
- Lubrication of the joints
- Increased mental alertness
- Improved elimination of impurities from the body
- Softer, smoother skin
- Increased levels of stamina through the day
- Better, deeper sleep at night
Abhyanga provides the means for trans-dermal absorption of the healing qualities of the material used in the massage and it helps the skin, which is the largest organ in the body, perform its diverse functions efficiently, whether it is allowing toxins to be released from the body or nourishment to be absorbed by the tissues.
The ayurvedic massage is traditionally performed in the morning, before your bath or shower, to facilitate the release of toxins that may have accumulated during the previous night. You can use sesame oil, an herbalized massage oil or an aroma massage oil.
Use comfortably warm massage oil. Store your massage oil in a plastic flip-top and warm it by holding the container under running hot water for a few minutes. Dip your fingertips into the warm oil and apply it lightly to the entire body. Wait for 4 – 5 minutes to let some of the oil be absorbed by your skin. Then massage the entire body, applying even pressure with the whole hand–palm and fingers.
Apply light pressure on sensitive areas such as the abdomen or the heart. Use more oil and spend more time where nerve endings are concentrated, such as the soles of the feet, palms of the hands and along the base of the fingernails. Circular motions over rounded areas such as your head or joints and straight strokes on straight areas such as your arms and legs work best.
After you’re done, relax for 10 – 15 minutes, letting the oil and the massage do their magic. The longer the oil is on, the deeper it penetrates. During this time you can meditate, read something relaxing or uplifting, or just relax. Dab excess oil off with paper towels, if you like, then follow with a relaxing warm bath or shower. Do not use soap on the body.
Keep checking back for more updates to my Winter Wellness series. Catch up on early posts here.