Beauty Products Part 2 – Deodorant

As I have mentioned in my previous article, I have swapped a lot of my beauty products to healthy and homemade substitutes. One of the first things I wanted to change was my deodorant. The standard deodorants/ antiperspirant contain harmful ingredients like aluminium and parabens. Some of the ingredients have been linked to breast cancer and lots of people develop allergies due to deodorants.

I didn’t want to use these standard deodorants/antiperspirants anymore and started looking for alternatives. There are actually some really good and non-harmful deodorants on the market, you find these in some natural shops or on the internet. The only disadvantage is that they are rather expensive.

After a while I found a very good recipe for a natural and homemade deodorant. It is very effective and gentle to your skin and is not expensive at all. Here is the recipe:

¼ cup baking soda

¼ cup corn-starch

4 tbs. coconut oil

¼ tbs. essential oil (optional)

Measure coconut oil, heat up until smooth and liquid. Add baking soda and corn starch, mix thoroughly. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Pour into container to finish cooling.

I use a small bottle for it and scoop it out, then apply to the skin. It lasts all day for me, but you have to be a bit careful with dark clothes when getting dressed.

 

Beauty Products Part 1 – Shampoo

For a while now I have swapped my usual shower gel, hair shampoo, body lotion and deodorant for more natural substitutes. Most of the beauty products available in the stores are full of toxic chemicals that our body absorbs through the skin. I didn’t want to do this to my body anymore and also safe some money, as standard beauty products are not only toxic but also really expensive.

In this small article I want to give some ideas of how to swap your products for more natural and homemade products.

Here we start with hair shampoo:
Most shampoos contain silicones and other substances that make you think your hair is really healthy and shiny. Actually silicon just coats your hair and makes it look smoother and less frizzy but they are not helping the repair process of the hair at all. Other ingredients such as perfume and alcohol damage the hair even more and can irritate the scalp. I tried to leave the shampoo all together and just wash my hair with warm water, but that didn’t work so well.
So I was looking for a natural substance that cleans the hair without damaging it. The best results I achieved with Ghassoul clay. It is very easy to use, makes my hair soft and shiny and doesn’t cost much. I bought one kilogram of Ghassoul clay powder for around 20 Euro and it lasts for 3-4months depending on the frequency of washing your hair.

Instructions for use:
2-3 Tablespoons of Ghassoul clay powder
6 Tablespoons of Water (sometimes more)

Mix Ghassoul and Water together and stir until it is a smooth paste. Apply this paste into your wet hair like hair colour cream – only the hairline, not the lengths. Leave the paste in your hair for 5-10 minutes and then wash it out with warm water. If you want you can wash the lengths with white vinegar at the end, to make it even smoother.

Enjoy your shiny hair!

Yoga and a successful life

In general success means the positive result of determined strive. You plan to pass a test and see it as success, if the defined goal – to pass the test- has been achieved. A successful person is normally described as someone who has a career and earns a lot of money or someone who has created an art piece or someone who has written a bestseller or is a sports champion.
I want to talk about the life success rather than the success people normally talk about. It means more than strive for more money and a great career. Life success is a holistic approach and means success in all areas of our life. It means success that you can feel every day; it is not a goal at the end of a long and hard working live but rather the inner happiness and richness of the everyday life.
There are enormous amounts of myths that say money and spirituality aren’t combinable:

“Money destroys character”

“A rich man will never go to heaven”

“Spirituality and money are no friends” and so on…

It is true that a lot of rich people aren’t very spiritual and a lot of spiritual people aren’t very rich. That doesn’t mean that spirituality and wealth are mutually exclusive though. A lot of religions teach to live without possessions and money as it is seen as a distraction and people may cling to those things too much. Yet it is our mind that makes us attached to something and value it too much – not the thing itself. Meaning that living a poor life without any possessions can leave us being addicted to the pride and the praise we get for living that way. Yoga focuses on the way of living that lets us appreciate what we have but without being depended on it. If you have plenty in your life it is wonderful and you can enjoy it, if there is a lack of possessions or money it won’t change your happiness because it comes from the inside. Yoga teaches us not to cling to things of this world (like money, possessions, property, clothes …) as they won’t give us long lasting happiness. It is important to know that not clinging to things of this world doesn’t mean to reject them completely because that is again a different kind of clinging – clinging to rejection. It is fine to strive for security and a career and money as it is in our nature – it exists in this world. Yet it has to happen without greed, without stealing it of other people and without making our happiness depending on those things.
Yoga’s Philosophy has the concept of Dharma, which means cosmic rule or life task. For us and our everyday life it means our mission, our purpose in life. Everybody is born with natural talents, interests and skills and these talents make everybody’s success in life different. For some it might be to become famous and rich, for others it is to earn money with inventions, for others money might be absolutely unimportant and they want to study and explore things and for some it might be to raise their children.
We all have 2 inner voices, one from the ego and one from the inner wisdom. The egos voice is loud and overpowering whereas the inner wisdoms voice is quite and gentle. Sometimes people can’t hear it at all because the egos voice is too loud. Yoga helps us to listen to our inner wisdoms voice as it teaches us to calm our mind down, to become quiet and listen to our inner voices. The same is meant when people say “follow your heart”. This expression refers to the quiet and gentler voice within us.

The four Purusharthas

1.Artha
Is the desire for material things in our world. It means to strive for security and survival. It covers the housing, clothes, food, money and other essential aspects in our life.

2.Kama
The desire for enjoyment and pleasure. When the materiel base is secure and we have a house, a job, enough food and money then we want to enjoy ourselves. We want tasty food, sexual pleasure, nice music and so on. It is also about being appreciated, having power and influence. After we have had all those things, we might ask ourselves “is that all?”.This often leads to next step:

3.Dharma
Is the desire to fulfil our mission in life, to fulfil our purpose. It means to do what you feel is your real purpose and act within the ethical principles. This leads to a happiness that comes from the inside and is not influenced by external circumstances.

4.Moksha
The desire of freedom. Only when you have lived through the other 3 stages you will be able to hear the inner voice completely and it will come naturally that you want to meditate more. You feel the desire to leave the things of this world behind you and fully open yourself to the real purpose of your life. It may show as more meditation, more quiet time, listening to your heart and follow your path and also in more spirituality.

In our world, most people get trapped in the first 2 stages. It is understandable that younger people are more interested in earning money, building their home, securing their future and enjoy themselves. The older people get, the more they ask themselves what else is there to experience in this life and that often leads naturally to the Dharma.
It is not necessary to reject money or possession to be happy and spiritual, it only depends on how attached you are to it. 🙂

 

A motivational story

“In an oasis, there lived a grumpy and grim man. He was so grim that he couldn’t see anything beautiful without wanting to destroy it. One day he passed a nice young palm tree and it caught the eye of the grim old man. He took a really heavy stone from the ground and placed it on the top of the young palm tree. He put an evil smile on his face and walked away. The young palm tree tried to shake the stone off but it was too heavy. So it spread its roots deeper into the ground and pushed itself against the weight of the stone. It kept spreading its roots deeper and deeper into the ground until it suddenly reached a hidden water source. Therefore the young palm had enough water all the time and grew into a huge and beautiful palm tree. After several years, the grim old man came back to see what had happened to palm tree. He was expecting to find a small crippled palm tree but instead he found a majestic and big palm tree. The palm tree lowered its branches and showed the stone in the middle of it to the old man. The tree said: “Thank you old man for the weight you put on me, it made me stronger and let me grow bigger.” The old man was really ashamed.”
(African tale)

I think we should always remember this nice tale, whenever we feel like someone is putting a stone on us. Don’t give up; try to become stronger and better.

Yoga – feel healthy, happy and energized!

YOGA can improve physical, psychological and energetic health.

If you want to improve:
Your muscle strength
Your blood pressure
Your flexibility
Your skin
Your digestive system
Your posture
Your way of dealing with everyday problems
Your inner strength
Your concentration…
You have to make it happen, and it only takes little steps!

In a private Yoga lesson you can find your very personal way with Yoga and work exactly on your weaker points. You can therefore strengthen yourself and feel energised and healthy. We are made to feel healthy, happy and motivated!
You can make an appointment for a free trial lesson via e-mail:
martinamail@gmx.at
for more information you can also visit my website:
http://www.yogaojas .wix.com/yogaojas

The Importance of Relaxation

In our world people focus on being active, getting things done and communicating with other people – putting the focus on the external world. We try very rarely being silent and communicating with ourselves – putting the focus on the internal world. Humans are made for both aspects and they should both be equally important in our life. If we only focus on the external world and the active part we will soon run out of energy, become less motivated and our immune system will become weaker. It is also not advisable to solely focus on our internal world, but give both sides the same importance and time.

People experience stress more and more and sometimes it is even a constant stress level we experience over a long period of time. Stress is caused by either external factors such as overload of work, tight time schedules, sensory overload, conflicts with the partner, illness and major life changes or internal factors such as perfectionism, black and white thinking and catastrophe thinking. Whatever the reason is, the outcome is always the same – stress.

Stress is a natural reaction of our body to dangerous situations (or seemingly dangerous situations) and is therefore neither good nor bad itself. If we get stressed our body naturally starts reactions to make it possible to fight or flee within seconds (which was important a long time ago J )

• Adrenaline levels rise
• Our heartbeat and breathing becomes faster
• Blood pressure rises to help muscles getting enough blood for a fight or run (flee)
• Our muscles tighten – to make fighting or fleeing possible within seconds
• Blood in our skin is taken away to the “more important” parts of our body – the muscles in our legs and arms. This causes cold hands and feet.
• Not-necessary functions (for the fight or flee time) are shut down to save energy – digestive system slows down, immune system slows down and the ability to heal and recreate shuts down

So for an actual dangerous situation like being attacked by a wild animal or having to flee from a physical attack, all those reactions are very useful and can help us to survive! In our world today, however we don’t have many of these real threats anymore. We get stressed by things that haven’t even happened and by expecting too much from ourselves. This can cause our body to get out of balance. Long term stress can cause digestive problems, high blood pressure, a weak immune system, mood swings, depression, lack of motivation and general tiredness.

It is very important that we learn how to relax and lower our stress levels in order to live a long, healthy and happy life. Relaxation and Meditation Techniques can help to reduce stress that we already have and to become more stress resistant in the future. Practicing regularly will also give you the ability to relax soon after a stressful situation again.

There are multiple Relaxation methods and Meditation Techniques to achieve stress relieve. If you want to know more about it, you can contact me via e-mail for a meditation class or for a private lesson:
martinamail@gmx.at

 

 

How to meditate

Meditation calms your mind, relaxes your body and helps you to focus. In a very stressful and fast and loud environment like ours it is a very useful tool to relax again. It is a simple, effective and convenient way to relax, become grounded again and find inner peace in a hectic and chaotic day-to-day life.
I started to meditate when I was only 15 years old and it seemed really easy and natural to me. Becoming a bit older and moving away from my family and home country I began to realize that in very hectic times it can be hard to meditate and focus. Some easy structured Meditation techniques can help to find your way to meditation even in the busiest and most chaotic times.

1. Prepare yourself
   1. Put some comfortable clothes on
   2. It also is recommended that you wash your hands before meditating (you can just have a nice shower before you meditate – that already relaxes you)
2. Prepare your space
   1. If you have a room for meditating (and Yoga) make sure it is clean and tidy
   2. If you don’t have a room, look for a space in your home that is quiet and warm enough (beside a door is not recommended – cold air can distract)
   3. Put a candle either on the floor or on a nice table
3. Sit tall
   1. Sit on the floor on a (Yoga-)pillow or a (Yoga-)block or just on a mat
   2. If you have problems with your spine you can also sit on a chair, but try to sit up tall
   3. Sit tall – imagine that your sitting bones are pulling towards the floor, a string pulls from the highest point of your head up towards the ceiling, stretching out your spine
   4. Relax your shoulders and put your hands on your lap – palms facing upwards
4. Be silent
   1. Close your eyes and be silent, concentrate on your breathing. Feel how your diaphragm moves up and down and your lungs fill up with air and release this air again
5. Focus and concentrate (establish a Mantra)
   1. Focus on your breathing and try to stay focused, if thoughts come to you, simply acknowledge them, set them aside and return your attention to your breathing or Mantra.
   2. A Mantra is a sound, word or phrase that can be repeated throughout your meditation. Mantras can help you to focus during the meditation; it can also have spiritual benefits. A simple and easy Mantra for beginners can be: I am breathing in, I am breathing out. Another Mantra which is used a lot is SO HAM ( SO- breath in HAM-breath out
6. End the meditation
   1. When you start meditating, try to do it for 3-5 minutes. It really doesn’t have to be long, the more you practice, the longer your meditation will last naturally. To make it easier you can set an alarm so that you don’t need to look at the watch while meditating
   2. When you are finished slowly start moving your fingers and toes, then your arms and legs and when you feel ready open your eyes.
   3. Take a few deep breaths and close your meditation with a ritual. It can be the Namaste greeting gesture or something you choose yourself.
7. Meditate often rather than long
   1. It is very beneficial to meditate every day for a short time (maybe 5 minutes in the morning). So try to find a little time every day instead of meditating for hours one day a week.

I hope this instruction will help you to find your way to Meditation. Please remember that Meditation doesn’t always have to take place in a room, it can be outside, and you can meditate while taking a walk or even on the bus if you want to.

And don’t take it too serious, it is all about enjoyment and happiness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our FOOD and E-Numbers

Have you ever really read the ingredients list of the food you buy in the supermarket?

I am not talking about looking for the calorie or sugar amount in diet products but about the additional ingredients such as flavourings, stabilizers, preservatives and colourings. Of course I know that some of the added ingredients are natural and actually don’t do any harm. However a lot of them are not natural at all and they are put into foods where we don’t expect or want them. For more information on what E-Numbers stand for look up a full list online. It is important to say, that not every E–Number is bad, it is just a way of labelling additives. For example E 300 is actually Vitamin C. So it is important to know which E-Number to look out for if you want to avoid putting chemicals into your body.

A very good list of the different additives can be found here:

http://www.food.gov.uk/policy-advice/additivesbranch/enumberlist

Some very common foods that are labelled as healthy and/or natural but actually contain a lot of additives are:

Tinned or package soups
Cereals
Low calorie foods
Low sugar products
“no added sugar” products
Fruit juices
Margarine
Olives
Chewing gum

And many more…. So check the label before you buy a product if you want to know what you are eating.

Here is one example of a “healthy, no-fat” breakfast milk drink that you apparently should have once a day. See below the ingredients list:

Ingredients:
Yogurt, Water, Skimmed Milk, Dextrose, Stabiliser (pectin), Milk mineral concentrate, Sweetners (aspartame, acesulfame K), L.casei cultures (Lactobacillus casei CNCM I-1518 also called DN 114 001), Vitamin B6, Natural Flavouring,

Here are the two sweeteners from the ingredients list and their side effects:

1.Aspartame

What is in it: Phenylalanine, aspartic acid and methanol.
Reported side effects: Headaches, fibromyalgia, anxiety, memory loss, arthritis, abdominal pain, nausea, depression, heart palpitations, irritable bowel syndrome, seizures, neurological disorders, vision problems, brain tumours and weight gain.
Concerns: Phenylalanine and aspartic acid directly impact brain and central nervous system functions; evidence shows they play a role in mood disorders, memory problems and other neurological illnesses.
Methanol is converted into formaldehyde when metabolized.  Makers of aspartame say methanol and its by-products are quickly excreted.  But research has found measurable amounts of formaldehyde in the livers, kidneys and brains of test subjects after ingestion of aspartame.

2. Acesulfame-K

What’s in it: Acesulfame-K is a potassium salt containing methylene chloride, a known carcinogen.
Reported side effects: Long term exposure to methylene chloride can cause nausea, headaches, mood problems, impairment of the liver and kidneys, problems with eyesight and possibly cancer. Acesulfame-K may contribute to hypoglemica.
Concerns: Of all artificial sweeteners, acesulfame-K has undergone the least scientific scrutiny. Early studies showed a potential link between the sweetener and development of multiple cancers in laboratory animals.

So check before you buy a product!! A good list of how bad certain E-numbers are can be found here:

http://www.earthways.co.uk/enumbers.html

RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR BODY

There is so much we do to get our body into the right shape, to make it work better, to have tanned skin, a flatter stomach, and so on…
The attention we give our body is however more negative than positive – we seem to always try to change it in one way or the other.
Yet it should actually be a loving relationship that we have with our body, as we will definitely spend a lifetime with it. Why can we not just love and accept our body the way it is and appreciate all it does for us every day? Quite like loving your own child, who you wouldn’t want to look different so you can love it more, we should love our body unconditionally. I think it is much more important to appreciate your body the way it is and how it works than trying to change it to make it look healthier – whatever that might be

If we started to appreciate our body and listen to it carefully, we would notice that it is a fascinating machine that tells us exactly what it needs and when.
It tells us when to eat and what, when to drink, when to sleep and rest, when to exercise and when to stop. Our body is even able to tell us who to be friends with and who to avoid, what kind of job we should do and where we should live. If we just listen and learn to love our body for what it is, we will have a much happier and meaningful life filled with joy.

TRY IT – it is so easy

All you need is a little time to concentrate on you and your body and get to know it better! Yoga can help to reconnect with your body. It really is a great tool and you decide how to use it. It helps you become more aware of your body’s posture, alignment and patterns of movement. It makes the body more flexible and helps you relax even in the midst of a stress stricken environment. This is one of the foremost reasons why people want to start Yoga- to feel fitter, be more energetic, and be happier and peaceful.

YOGA and NATURAL REMEDIES for a SORE THROAT

It is the time of the year again when people are getting colds, sore throats and stuffed noses. That’s why I thought I will collect a few really helpful tips to relieve the symptoms of a sore throat and help your body to heal itself.

Note: All remedies mentioned are a collection from various sources.
For a sore throat
You can gargle with salt water. Salt acts as a mild antiseptic, and also draws water out of mucous membranes in the throat, which helps to clear phlegm. Dissolve a half-teaspoon salt in a glass of warm water, gargle and spit out (10 – 30 seconds). Repeat up to four times a day.
Tip: You can also swap salt for baking soda (natural), but don’t swallow it.
You can gargle with strong chamomile tea. If you can, use dried chamomile or organic chamomile tea bags and leave them in the hot water for about 10 min. It is a very good anti-inflammatory and local pain killer.
You can also make a tea from lemon juice and honey. Use a fresh lemon or organic lemon tea bags and add a teaspoon of honey. Honey is proven to have antibacterial and anti fungal properties.  Also, due to the consistency of honey, it is very soothing for sore throats, coughs and bronchial ailments. Drink it (but not too hot).
Tip: If you have ginger, add it to the tea!

Yoga Postures to relieve symptoms of a cold:
Because our immune systems consist of white blood cells that circulate in the blood and organs of the thymus located in the chest (above the heart and the spleen in right upper abdomen) you can help stop the common cold by a shoulder stand to draw blood to your head and throat, which brings more white blood cells to the areas where they are needed and helps relieve sinus congestion.
Shoulder Stand/ Half shoulder stand
Lie down with 2 or 3 folded blankets under your upper body (from your hips to the end of your shoulders plus 10 cm). Your legs and your head shouldn’t be on the blankets at all. Your head should be on the floor and not on the mat if possible as it needs to slide back a little bit while lifting your legs. If your head lies on a sticky mat and can’t slide back this can cause damage to your neck.
Bend your knees and bring your feet towards your sitting bones. Lift your legs up so that your feet are facing towards the ceiling and your legs are straight (as much as possible). Slowly lift up your hips from the mat and bring your legs over and beyond your head. At this point lift your back off the mat and try to straighten your spine and place your arms beside your upper body and your hands as close as possible to your shoulder blades. Then slowly lift up your legs from the floor and straighten them until your feet are facing toward the ceiling again. Support yourself with your arms and shoulders. Make sure no pressure is on your head, your spine is straight and your neck is free (no weight on it). Stay for a few breaths and then slowly come out of the position the same way you went into it.
Attention: If you are not a regular Yoga practiser, don’t start with this full version of the shoulder stand. It can damage your spine and neck!! Try a variation of it (which is just as useful):
Place your mat against a wall (with the short side) and fold the mat so it is the right length to have your upper body on it but the head on the floor. Put 3 folded blankets at the end of the mat (away from the wall), then sit down on your mat beside the wall. Your right hip and right shoulder should touch the wall. Slowly roll into a lying position so that your sitting bones are against the wall, your legs are on the wall straight up and your upper body rests on the mat and blankets. Make sure your head is on the floor and can slide back a little.
Then press your shoulders into the blankets and bend your knees so that your feet are standing on the wall and your legs build a 90 degrees angle. Push your feet into the wall and lift your back from the mat. Push your hips towards you and place your hands on your back for support. Stay in this position for a few breaths. Come out of this position the same way you went into it.
If you don’t know if you are doing it right – check online for instruction videos (Shoulder stand for beginner).
If you don’t feel fit enough to do exercise, try to lie down on your mat in Savasana. This is the relaxation position. Let your feet fall apart and your palms facing upwards. Relax all your muscles and breathe calmly. You can put on some relaxing music or a relaxation tape. Stay as long as it feels comfortable. For a little more backwards movement you can place a blanket under your upper body (like for the shoulder stand).

In general drink plenty (water, herbal teas and even some black tea due to its antioxidants) because it is important that you stay hydrated.

Get a lot of quality rest. Don’t sit on the sofa and watch TV all day. Try to go to bed for an hour during the day and sleep properly. Stop any exercise routine until you feel better and make sure you stay warm (jumper, scarf, and woolly socks).