Finding Yourself

In this busy life we live, it is easy to forget about ourselves. You take a look at yourself in the morning and wonder "Who am I? What ever happened to those dreams, those ideals? Why has my life taken this direction"

We get so bogged down with the responsibilities and living the expectations of others. We work. We raise our children. We take care of our homes. We take our place in society. At times, it’s all too much. "What about me?"

OK, we love our children. We want them to have the best in life. We give them everything we can and are willing to sacrifice what we have to. Giving them the best of ourselves is what it all seems to be about. We juggle our responsibilities, our relationships. It is easy to forget to make time for yourself. The dreams, the plans you made years ago, become ancient memories. Put away in a box and forgotten.

Taking the time just to sit and read. To think about yourself. Sometimes even spending times with friends becomes a thing of the past. Time out for exercise is something that easily gives way to other responsibilities. Generally taking care of yourself, falls to the wayside.

Setting aside some daily time for you can be difficult, especially in a busy household and in a busy life. But this is something that will bring you enormous benefit. Even if you sit for just 10 minutes a day. Get up 10 minutes earlier in the morning. Take 10 minutes before you go to bed. Just make time to be by yourself. Find a quiet corner that you can make your own. Make it comfortable. Make it yours. It may be on the floor, with some cushions, or in a chair. It may even be outside in the garden. Have some special things there that make you feel loved and safe.
Candles can be of comfort and add a warm atmosphere. Oil Vapiourisers are lovely and can help to create a relaxing, harmonising environment for you, when you vapourise your oils. Try one of the Sunspirit blends, such as Serenity, Spirituality, Nurture or Harmony blend. Other Essential Oils include Lavender, Orange, Ylang Ylang. Australian Bush Flower Essence may be helpful, such a Space Clearing Mist or Calm and Clear Mist. You may want to take one internally to help mediation such as Meditation Essence or Heartsong essences. Music can greatly enhance your environment and help to place you in a calming mood. Sharing these moments with your pet can also be relaxing.

Get a beautiful notebook. There are some lovely ones available or you could decorate a cheap one note or exercise book to make it more your own You could colour the cover, or stick pictures on it, or cover it with fabric. Whatever you can do to make it beautiful and your own. Of course, a special pen is a must. Add to your special place anything else that makes it your own, photos, flowers, a crystal, an ornament that is special to you, or even a favourite book.

Once you have created your special place. You can create within yourself a space, a mindset. You know that whenever you sit here, that this is your time. This is just for you. You are free to think and to feel. You are free not to think. You can clear your head. Clear your thoughts. You start to find your way back to you. You will soon find, that whenever you go there, you will immediately feel calmed and your mind will quickly clear.

What you do when you come to your special place is up to you. You may like to take time to meditate. It can be hard to start with, but go easy on yourself. Just allow some quiet in your mind for a few minutes. Let every incoming thought to pass through. A few minutes a day is a great way to start.

Writing a journal of your day, or your thoughts and feelings can help to clear your mind and sort through your emotions. You could just start by writing down one blessing you have in your life, that you are thankful for today. Everyday write down another blessing, something you are grateful for. You will soon have a list of many wonderful things and find that you are truly blessed. And in your quiet moments you can give thanks for these blessings.

Write done a thought you had, an idea, a dream. Make a list of your wishes. This helps us to get back in touch with who we are, what we want in life and which directions we want to go in. You could write down your goals. Something you want to achieve during the day, or the next day, during the week and the months ahead. You could just get out some coloured pencils and draw.

The ideas are endless. There are so many things you can do for yourself in just 10 minutes a day. Having a focal point, a place of your own, helps to define that this is your time. Even small children can understand that Mummy is having a few minutes to herself and that this is her special place. Helping your children to create their special place might help them to understand and help them to learn the importance of some time out from the this hectic world. Make sure that their special place is respected as their own, just as you want respect for your own. Don’t ever send them there as a punishment. It is there to enjoy, when they want time for themselves, just as you do. It is a daily treat for us to have this special time on our own. Helping our children to find this freedom can give them something special that may help them through rough times in the future. It is something for them to take into adulthood and to their own familles. Something that will bring them peace.

As we begin to get in touch with our inner self, our dreams and hopes begin to rise. Spending time in meditation and contemplation can help bring them back into our reality. We start to see ways that we can live our dreams.

This is where peace starts. Finding peace within ourselves, takes but a few minutes a day, to connect once again with our Spirit.

Chemicals in Personal Products

A lot of people ask what the fuss is with shampoos and skin care products in regards to Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Propylene Glycol, etc. so I thought it was worth a closer look. when you start researching it, you find 2 completely view points. It seems to be a black and white issue. There are those who say that they are totally safe and no need to be concerned.

Others will say keep away from them at all cost. I was speaking to someone about these types of products the other day and her view point, was with less chemicals, it has to at least be better for the environment. However you look at it, it is interesting to know why all the fuss.

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate is a common ingredient in personal care products, particularly shampoos and toothpaste. Sodium Lauryl Sulfate is also used in industry as an engine degreaser, garage floor cleaner, car wash soaps etc.It is known to be a great cleanser, especially of grease, it's action is corrosive. Clinically it is used for testing as a primary skin irritant.Laboratories use it to irritate skin on test animals and humans so they can test the healing properties of products.
As Sodium Lauryl Sulfate strips away grease, using this is also drying to the skin. It strips away the protective lipids from the surface. Well, this hastens the ageing process of the skin and we don't want that do we?

A study conducted at the University of Georgia Medical College showed that SLS penetrated into the eyes as well as brain, liver, heart, etc, and showed long term retention in the tissues. Obviously this is not good. The long term effects can well be more than skin and eye irritation. Eye development in young children can well be hindered by SLS, as well as other problems such as cataracts in adults.

It is suggested by some reports that SLS is such a caustic cleanser that it actually corrodes the hair follicle and impairs its ability to grow hair.So this may contribute to some hair loss.
Another common ingredient is Propylene Glycol. Propylene Glycol is a petrochemical derivative, a primary irritant and can cause delayed hypersensitivity. If you are prone to allergies and hypersensitive then it would be wise to avoid this one. In industry it is used as an industrial anti-freeze and hydraulic brake fluids. It is used in many cosmetics and may give the skin a smooth feeling. In reality it draws the moisture to itself, not the skin. So may of the creams and lotions used, overtime, are doing the opposite of what we use them for. They are drying out our skin and contributing to wrinkles and ageing.

Some of the reports I have read suggest that these chemicals can cause much more than skin irritation. Once they penetrate the system and after being used continual the are said to be cancerogenic. The good news is it only takes 5 days to remove these products from the system.
There are many other ingredients on the 'suspect list' that are common in our personal care products. Some of these include Aluminium, DEA, Fluoride. Chlorinated organic compounds, Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate and Formaldehyde.

From personal experience, I have always had sensitive skin and have to becareful of what cosmetics, lotions etc I use on my skin. I have been using the Alchemy range now for a couple years. My daughter and I both suffer from Psoriasis, mostly in the scalp, why using Alchemy Shampoo will not cure this, it certainly use lessened the irritation that my daughter was experiencing every time she washed her hair.

One particular experience I had was going to the hairdressers. Of course they used their shampoo. For the next 2 days my scalp was extremely irritated, with burning and itching, a total corrosive feeling. My daughter has very long blonde hair. She recently visited the hairdresser for a trim, of course, taking her Alchemy products. The hairdresser was very impressed. She said she rarely sees hair that healthy, especially when it is so long. Apparently most long hair is dry and damaged. The Alchemy products have allowed my daughter to have beautiful soft healthy long hair.

So regardless of whether the chemical scare is an overkill or not, when you can see the difference of beautiful healthy hair and skin, it speaks for itself.

SLS free products
include the Wild Herbs, Organic Selection, Emma Organics, Baby Organics, Alchemy, Weleda and Mihopharm.