Cuckoo for Coconut Oil

I’ve been playing mad-scientist again and concocting more magical potions, this time it’s with coconut oil.

My sis has been singing the praises of coconut oil for years, but it’s only been recently that I myself have began looking more into all of its wonderful health and beauty benefits.  And many there are!

To save me from typing it all out and rambling on too much, please just read this article by Dr. Mercola about the Countless Coconut Oil Uses and Health Benefits, it’s very informative and interesting.   And you may also like to pay a visit to MissHappySpiritsKitchen, a fellow WordPress blogger (and lovely person) who wrote a nice little post about coconut oil earlier last month.

But before you go, look at the pretties I made…

Coconut oil deodorant, body scrub, and eye cream, all of which are amazing!  The deodorant freaks me out at how well it works and the body scrub leaves my skin so unbelievably smooth and silky, seriously… wow!   And I scented both of them with lavender essential oil so you know they smell completely divine!   ♥

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I’m also still on my adventures of experimenting with other herbal remedies too.  I made an absolutely fabulous face toner the other day and it’s made a world of difference in the overall appearance of not only my skin, but my daughter’s as well.   She came into my room the other morning and her face was glowing!  It looked like she was wearing makeup, her skin tone was so even and polished looking, it was crazy!  And here’s the kicker… it only contains 3 ingredients ~ witch hazel, crushed comfrey leaves (made into a tea), and patchouli essential oil.  So basic, and yet so marvelous!

This adorable little gal has a great video about all the beauty uses of coconut oil…

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Yep, I’m cuckoo for coconut oil!  And with the long, cold (and skin drying) winter weather ahead, I’m going to be taking full advantage of nature’s perfect moisturizer ~ coconut oil!  Try it, you’ll like it.  😀

Peace & love…

“For all its internal health benefits, pure coconut oil is also a wonderful all-natural “anti-aging” moisturizer when applied topically. When absorbed into your skin and connective tissues, coconut oil helps to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles by helping to keep your connective tissues strong and supple. It also helps exfoliate the outer layer of dead skin cells, making your skin smoother.

Physiologist and biochemist Ray Peat, Ph.D. considers coconut oil an antioxidant, due to its stability and resistance to oxidation and free radical formation. Besides that, coconut oil also has potent antimicrobial activity. (About 50 percent of the fat in coconut oil is lauric acid that your body converts into monolaurin, which has anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-protozoa properties. Capric acid, another coconut fatty acid present in smaller amounts, also has antimicrobial activity.)

All of these features make it a good choice for skin applications. Coconut oil is perhaps one of the most useful ingredients you can keep in your house. A previous article by Delicious Obsessions lists no less than 122 creative uses for this household staple, including 21 DIY coconut oil skin care recipes. For example, you can use it as a base for body scrubs, homemade deodorant, toothpaste, hand and body cream, lip balm—even bug repellent.”

Herbal Adventures

For many years I have believed in the medicinal and therapeutic benefits of herbs, and I rather like/prefer the idea of using natural remedies as a way to promote health and wellness.

One herb in particular that I know I’ve mentioned on numerous occasions how much I love is lavender.  Although it is said to have oodles of healing benefits, I just love it for the scent and the color of it, and for the way it makes me feel.  ♥   Yeah, no scientific studies or research by “experts” needs to be done on lavender to prove to me that it helps calm and soothe the senses.  Mmm…

But aside from lavender there are many other herbs that provide equally beneficial healing properties for a wide range of ailments, not to mention culinary pleasures as well.  I know I’m a bit of a nature freak, but seriously how cool is it that everything we could possibly need for health and wellness in life can be found somewhere on this beautiful earth of ours?

Unfortunately, a lot of the age-old knowledge for natural remedies has gotten a bit lost in this era of “modern” medicine.  But herbal medicine is making a comeback, albeit as an “alternative” type of therapy.  The thing with herbalism is that it  works best when practiced holistically, meaning with the intent to bring healing to the entire body to get at the source of physical and emotional imbalance, rather than just treating the symptoms.  So it often requires one to examine other areas such as diet, lifestyle, and mental attitude, taking into consideration the role that these factors also play in keeping you healthy or contributing to disease.  Plus, it’s a process, in many cases the healing actions of herbs take place over a period of time, so one doesn’t get immediate results like those that can be found in taking a pill.  But the long-term results of herbal medicine is often a much deeper healing, and for many people it’s well worth the wait.

Anyway, the reason I bring all of this up is because I’ve been playing “mad-scientist” here concocting some herbal remedies, and I’ve been having a lot of fun with it.  There is some degree of caution to take when working with herbs and one cannot go about things completely blind.  There is a science within herbalism just as with anything else, so I’ve been reading up on it quite a bit.  It all started with bringing my herbs inside to try and winter them over, and morphed from there because of my recent health concerns.

I was at the second-hand store last week with my family, and as per usual I ended up in the used books section.  I have a tendency to get lost and completely absorbed amidst the books, so I try to resist wandering over to that part of the store.  😉

I hadn’t been specifically looking for any, but I found a few herb books…

When I got home I went in search of other herb books that I knew I had packed away somewhere.  Some of which included a huge Atlas of Herbal Medicine, dozens of Herbal Companion Magazines that I had a subscription to years ago, as well as a couple of aromatherapy books.

I’ve been scouring over them all ever since and needless to say, my interest in herbalism has been renewed.  I’m thinking that I might have to force encourage my sister to get back to working on the Master of Herbalism Program that she began a few years ago at the Midwest School of Herbal Studies, so that I can pick her brain, she can be my Obi-Wan Kenobi of all things herbal.   😉

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Peace & love…

Grounded

I just finished watching this interesting documentary and had to share it.  It is well worth the watch.  I happened upon it through a daily email newsletter I subscribe to from Mercola.com, a natural health information website.

The title of the email caught my attention because it said “How to have thinner blood and lower inflammation,” and if you read my post from yesterday you know I’m having a few health concerns about some heart palpitations I’ve been experiencing over the past week.

But once I clicked the link and started reading I got much more than I bargained for!  Click <here> to read this interesting article by Dr. Mercola where he writes about a few of the health benefits of “Grounding” or “Earthing,” including helping to relieve chronic pain, reduce inflammation, improve sleep, thin your blood, and enhance well-being.

And definitely take the time to watch this documentary…

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Being such a nature freak, all of this was right “up my alley” and I fully intend on going outside as soon as I click “Publish” to go and walk barefoot in my garden ~ even though it’s only 40 degrees out today!  😀

Here’s to good health!  Peace and love…

In Health News Today…

I’m on my way to the doctor this morning.  Apparently I’ve worked myself into a bit of a health issue here by not managing my stress well enough, in addition to not taking care of myself by eating well.  At least this is my diagnoses.  I’ve been experiencing heart palpitations for the past week.  I blame that blasted garage sale that I’ve been gearing up for and which finally came to a head last weekend.  That thing had been hanging over me like a dark cloud for the past year.  I should be awash with relief right now instead of sitting here with heart palpitations.  Ugh.

So now I have to go to the doctor.  I don’t really care for most doctors, it seems all they want to do is cut you open or medicate you, and I’m not so keen on either.  Not to mention I don’t have any health insurance at the moment so I’m sure it’s going to cost me a pretty penny, and my pennies are ever so dwindling over here.  I’m angry with myself for not taking better care of my health.  I know all the proper ways of doing so, and I do make an effort, but I think my brain gets in the way sometimes, darn thing is always thinking an’ stuff.  😉  But my brain can’t take all the blame, I have had quite a number of external circumstances going on here that have been very difficult to deal with.

I’m just hoping they don’t find anything seriously wrong with me today.  I reeeally don’t need to add health problems to my plate.   I’m sure they’ll want to put me on some sort of blood pressure meds as it’s been quite high whenever I’ve checked it.  Twice now I’ve avoided having to go on medications for blood pressure by simply modifying my lifestyle a bit, and I hope that will be the case again, but I’m feeling tempted to take the meds in the meantime while I work on making things more manageable, because these darn palpitations are freaking scary.  It happens mostly at night when I’m going to bed, making it difficult to sleep, and oh how I do love my sleep.  I try deep breathing and douse myself in lavender oils, and that helps a little, but not enough.

Well I better get a move on here and try to fix up this drowsy-looking face of mine, don’t want the doc to think I’m worse off than I really am by showing up with my “just crawled out of bed look.”  😉  Wish me luck and please do send some healing thoughts and prayers my way.

And while you do, here’s a pretty butterfly to look at…

I snapped this the other day and was so pleased to finally see a Monarch in my garden.  ♥

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Peace and love…