Detox Your Way to Beauty...

Reading food labels and understanding the ingredients of foods that you are putting into your body make a huge difference in your life. And as always, no packaging is the best packaging: Out of the (organic) ground and onto your plate.

What about your skin? Its your largest organ. Although it does not actually breathe, it does detoxify or toxify the body with the products that you choose to put on it! Check out the ingredients of any product in your beauty arsenal at:

http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/

The Environmental Working Group gives you free information about the toxicity level of most products that you may use every day. Lets take a look at an old favorite:

Coppertone Water Babies Sunscreen: "Smells good, its approved for use with babies--must be safe!"

...ITS A TOXIC NIGHTMARE! RATED A 7 on a scale of 0-10 (10 being highest hazard)

The info is free. Its easy. You can access the website on your blackberry BEFORE you buy.

Choose total wellness.

Choose to surround yourself with non-toxic food, products & people. Be well, be sustainable, be in spirit.

Pet Care and Self Care mirrored...

I noticed a commercial last night about 'pet care' or the lack of pet care during economically challenging times. Vets are reporting preventable diseases in pets that might have been avoided if Fido or Fluffy had come in for their regular check-ups.

How is this same "neglect" showing up in our own lives during these challenging times?

'Self-care' is not selfish, but rather self-fulfilling and self-sustaining. Self-care is an art; It requires study, observation and commitment; Committment to practice the art. That's why yoga or meditation or tai chi are each called 'a practice'. They take study, observation and commitment.

As you master the art of taking care of yourself first, you will be able to manage your energy efficiently and intelligently, giving you the increased capacity or band width to live the life that you have dreamed for yourself.

Take care of yourself first. Carpe diem!

Waiting...

I, like many others I know, find myself in these challenging times 'waiting'...Waiting for an answer; waiting for traction; waiting for something to shift. For anyone who knows me, inactivity is not one of my strengths. I am an 'action' person. I get things done; I make things happen. Clearly this is one of the many ways that I have chosen to show-up in the world.

For me, waiting feels like I am doing nothing; Waiting feels like a waste of time; Waiting feels lazy.

I tend to busy myself with other tasks. Always moving. Always checking things off of the endless "To Do" list, until I read this...

" When you're waiting, you're not doing nothing. You're doing the most important something there is. You're allowing your soul to grow up. If you can't be still and wait, you can't become what God created you to be."

I came across this quote in a book called, 'When the Heart Waits' by Susan Monk Kidd.

http://www.suemonkkidd.com/WhenTheHeartWaits/default.aspx

This one quote has provided the re-frame that I am seeking.

Waiting is the work.

And the work means being still. Stopping the "doing" and simply BE-ING.

Being still is the heavy lifting.

And in the stillness, God can be heard.

So in this society of 'quickaholics', I am choosing to slow down and stop doing.

I have undertaken the practice of "active waiting"...

...and letting my soul grow up.

Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS)

"Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS) describes an estimated $209 billion U.S. marketplace for goods and services focused on health, the environment, social justice, personal development and sustainable living. The consumers attracted to this market represent a sizable group in this country. Approximately 19% percent of the adults in the U.S., or 41 million people, are currently considered LOHAS Consumers." http://www.lohas.com/about and http://www.lohas.com/

That's exciting information and speaks to the need in business practice to continuously strive for Conscious Capitalism with a triple bottom line of People, Planet and Profit.

Buying habits and emerging market trends are rapidly changing:

1. People in US Are Changing: They have a strong desire to be self reliant; to conserve resources & prioritize their spending and behaviors towards more purposeful buying decisions
2. People Are Redefining What "Value" Means: a new definition of sophisticated value from companies; a better company overall for society and the planet
3. People Want to Simplify What They Spend Their Money On: They want purity and simplicity
4. People Want A 'Dialogue' with the Company: based on product integrity, authenticity and performance.Transparency and corporate responsibility have become far more important to consumers in a tough economy

Go green or go home!

Be well~