SEASONAL SELF-CARE BLOG
Go Green!
Posted on April 2nd, 2015
Green is the color of Spring, the season of rebirth. As the world bursts to life with young green shoots sprouting from the earth, we too feel an natural internal desire to expand and awaken. Help your body wake up from Winter’s hibernation by increasing your intake of green in all it’s forms. Try adding a daily green juice during the Spring to help clear out congestion and stagnation from Winter’s slumber. Wear Green. As part of your Spring meditation practice, visualize trees resplendent with green leaves, fields of long flowing green grass, sea grass or just the color green. As the weather gets warmer, meditate outside and let your eyes rest on the lush green life all around you.
Eat plenty of green veggies. All the leafy greens especially young tender Spring greens with their young yang energy are delicious and very cleansing for your liver and gallbladder, our spring organs.
Nishanga Bliss, my dear friend and author of Real Food All Year, writes on the benefit of greens and many other tasty recommendations in her fabulous blog Gastronicity.
“Greens were likely one of the most reliable foods of humans during our evolution, as they appear in most climates at least part of the year, therefore our systems run well when we munch on a steady supply. They are a very appropriate food to eat as spring approaches, as they are supportive to liver function. Greens’ natural bitterness stimulates the gallbladder to release bile, aiding in fat and protein digestion, and their high vitamin, mineral and fiber content comes with very few calories.”
Leigh’s green favorite juice!
3 pieces of kale, or few handfuls of young spring mixed greens
parsley
cilantro
1 cucumber
1 celery stalk
1/2 grapefruit
1/2 green apple
1/2 lemon
1/2 daikon radish
ginger
Seaweed Bath
Posted on March 19th, 2015
While doing a spring cleanse can be great for the body and mind, it’s better to do a deeper detox when the weather gets warmer. According to Ayurveda, doing a juice cleanse or fast when the weather is cold outside can be too depleting to the system. Instead, ease into the transition with a seaweed and epsom salt bath.
The skin is the largest organ in your body and because it so porous, it is also a large part of our detoxification process. Seaweed is rich in minerals and vitamin A, C, B12, K and rich in amino acids. It is nourishing for our main winter organ, the kidneys as well as our liver, our spring organ. I usually use Kombu, but kelp and dulse work well too. You can buy it at your health food store or online.
I tend to take these baths regularly, not only when I am on a cleanse. You should try taking a mini trip to the ocean , too!
Seaweed Bath
- Place 2 or 3 large strips of kombu in a large pot filled with water.
- Bring to a boil, simmer for half an hour.
- Pour in entire contents seaweed & all into your bath water along with a 1/2 cup of epson salts or dead sea salts, and your favorite essential oils.
- Soak in bliss for at least 12 minutes.
Tip: For extra nourishment, stroke your skin with the seaweed. Afterward, your skin will be left feeling soft and silky, while your body and mind will feel deeply relaxed and cleansed.