Tag Archives: aromatherapy | holistic | aromatherapy training | aromatherapy diffuse | health |

Your Skin and Summer Sun

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) just published their 2014 guide to safe sunscreens. They reviewed over 2000 sunscreens and over 257 brands. They found more than 75% of the sunscreens contained toxic chemicals that can increase your risk of cancer and other health issues. That’s alarming in and of itself! It’s important to remember that what you are lathering on your body is going into your body. Those chemicals are penetrating the barrier and entering into the cells. Think about your babies and children and all the chemicals you are putting on their heads and bodies with those baby products!

Here’s a fact that should scare you and tell you how far behind the US is to the European countries. Sunscreens haven’t been regulated since 1978 in the US, and the SPF factor only tells you how effective a sunscreen is against UVB rays which cause sunburn. I recently learned that the higher SPF really doesn’t protect more as opposed to a lower SPF. The difference is only a few minutes longer in the sun before having to reapply.

In truth, the sun doesn’t cause cancer, it is essential for your health. Without the sun, most plants couldn’t grow and we would perish from lack of Vitamin D3. It’s recommended that we get 20 minutes of direct sunlight everyday if possible. It boosts the immune system, helps fight cancer and improves the moods.

A recent study published in Environmental Science Technology has also shown the common sunscreen ingredients oxybenzone, methoxycinnamate, and PABA are estrogenic chemicals linked to cancer. That’s right, I read the labels on not only my food products, but on anything I’m putting on or near my body, and you should too! If your sunscreen contains any of these chemicals I’d throw it away right now! Some ingredients may absorb into the blood, release free radicals in sunlight, act like estrogen, disrupt hormones (huge for those of us in perimenopause or menopause), cause allergic reactions (some severe), cause skin irritation or rash. Para amino benzoic acid, Octyl salicyclate, Oxybenzone, Cinoxate, Dioxybenzone, Phenylbenzimidazole, Homosalate, Menthyl anthranilate, Octocrylene, Methoxycinnamate, and last but most dangerous is Parabens. Stay clear of these ingredients!

There are two types of sunscreen, non-mineral and mineral, and some that are both. The non- mineral penetrate the skin and are potentially disruptive to hormones. Mineral contain zinc or titanium. This type does not breakdown in sunlight, and are usually not absorbed so as not to disrupt the body’s hormones, non-allergenic and more effective at blocking the UVA rays. I highly recommend this type especially for babies and children.

The best sunscreen is a hat and a shirt. No chemicals for the skin to absorb, no questions about whether the product works and no bogus claims like “sunblock.” (No conventional product blocks out all rays. Which is why the FDA is trying to ban the term.) But I also use my own made with zinc and essential oils, Kiss My Face SPF 30 and Melaleuca Mineral SPF 30.

So, let’s recap:

Get 20+ minutes of sunshine daily
Cover up with light clothing before you get burnt
Wear natural sunscreen if you’re going to stay out for a long period of time, reapply often
Eat a diet high in anti-oxidants to protect your skin
If you get burnt, use a mixture of aloe, coconut oil and vitamin E on your skin or a natural after sun product free of chemicals. Essential oils are a must for my home and family!

I help people overcome their limiting beliefs that are keeping them stuck, broke and unhealthy to create balance, time freedom and health in their lives!

Find me at www.livinglifeholistic.com or emailsusano@livinglifeholistic.com

Your Health and Your Wealth

It’s been awhile since my husband and I took a couple of classes for getting debt free. We first attended Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey through our church. That was a lot of information to absorb and navigate. We still use a lot of what we learned in that class and take the refresher course every other year. And since we paid for the first class the refresher courses are free! We also did War On Debt by Dani Johnson. This was especially helpful to me the nerd (if you don’t know what that means take Dave’s course) as I had a hard time finding the extra money without another source or job. What I learned in War on Debt was to look right at my pantry, refrigerator (2nd or 3rd refrigerator) and grocery bill. Ouch! We were throwing our cash in the garbage can and had way too much food.

I did the assessment and found that we could live on our pantry for about four months with very little added. I had no idea. This was such an “AHA” moment to us. I had never used a meal planner or a list to shop. So I was shopping from memory. Hello, I have been through menopause and I think I lost some of those memory cells. I digress here. My point is that I found over $400-$500 per month just in my pantry and food shopping. That doesn’t include what I found when we did a complete assessment for our financial health. It was staggering what we letting go out the door! Do you want to be debt free but don’t know where to start?

When was the last time you took inventory of your financial health? Do you realize how closely your financial health is to your physical health? The stress from being in debt and not able to make your bills or having to make a decision on whether to pay a bill or buy food can be taking a major toll on how long you live in this lifetime! I help people overcome their limiting beliefs that are keeping them stuck, broke and unhealthy to create a life with balance, time freedom and health. You can find me at www.livinglifeholistic.com or via email susano@livinglifeholistic.com

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Menopause is a New Season

A team of researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania has found that moderate to severe hot flashes continue, on average, for nearly 5 years after , and more than a third of women experience moderate/severe hot flashes for 10 years or more after menopause. Hot flashes are episodes of intense radiating heat experienced by many women around the time of menopause. They can result in discomfort, embarrassment, and disruption of sleep. Changing hormone levels are believed to cause hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms such as insomnia, fatigue, memory and concentration problems, anxiety, irritability, and joint and muscle pain. The study evaluated 255 women in the Penn Ovarian Aging Study who reached natural menopause over a 16-year period (1996-2012). The results indicate that 80 percent (203) reported moderate/severe hot flashes, 17 percent (44) had only mild hot flashes, and three percent (8) reported no hot flashes.

I can attest to this through personal experience. I started peri-menopause at age 38 and went through menopause at age 44. I decided not to use HRT, bio-identicals, or anti-depressants or sleeping aids. I changed my diet to low glycemic, exercise regularly, drink plenty of water, use high quality supplements and did my research. Yes, it was hard. But in the end I feel my body is so much healthier for using natural medicines such as essential oils, herbs, paleo and low glycemic food plans, and learning how to quiet the chaos in a more natural way. It’s a choice for us women so make sure you do your research before you leap…it can be a life changer!

Aromotherapy

Aromatherapy

Responding to stress is something people naturally do to help regulate the body—but staying in a constant state of stress will eventually have negative health effects. Cortisol, also called the stress hormone, is part of the body’s natural response to stress, but when released at high levels, or when is it not allowed to disperse due to chronic stress, it can decrease immunity, bone density and overall quality of life. The body cannot manage long periods of constant stress without producing inflammation in the body as well.

Practicing consistent balance in self-care to support the body’s natural relaxation response and to keep our body’s cortisol levels balanced and healthy is essential for long-term wellness. A healthy lifestyle practice helps us to manage stress before it becomes constant. Aromatherapy is one effective method we can use to stop stress from taking root in the body.

Aromatherapy triggers the relaxation response, necessary for balance. The relaxation response can be triggered by doing something you like, such as deep breathing, walking, and massage. Triggering the relaxation response has many health benefits, including healthy cortisol levels and decreased heart rate, decreased blood pressure, improved digestion and normalized blood sugar levels.

That’s why it is important to make time for yourself every day, even if that means stolen moments here and there, such as while the kids are sleeping, in the car, washing dishes or even doing laundry. Aromatherapy is flexible and portable, and it provides a lot of diversity.
Consider using essential oils as part of your everyday health routine.

To support everyday use, try inhalation of single essential oils, or, if you have more time, creating a personal blend of essential oils. Both methods have therapeutic properties. If you choose inhalation, select essential oils with a pleasant association. Diffuse calming, yet uplifting aromas like Citrus or Bergamot Citrus and inhale deeply. If you choose to make a blend, select essential oil with relaxing and/or uplifting properties. Anise, basil, clary sage, geranium, grapefruit, lavender, nutmeg, petitgrain, rose, rosemary, sweet orange, tangerine, and ylang ylang are especially useful for simple, stress-reducing blends.