Swathy and Sky

Essential Oils: Good or Bad

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Have you ever bought essential oils in the market? Do you know that there is an FDA regulation which allows the companies to say an essential oil is 100% pure if it has 10% pure oil in it. So, unfortunately, the essential oils available in the market are not at all pure. If you are absolutely sure of the brand you are using, then it is fine for you to use it. But, in case, you are a new user, it is better you do the brand research properly. Today, I would discuss how to create your own essential oil at home but it definitely would not be as strong as the original essential oils.
Take a transparent glass bottle with a screw top. Fill it with your favorite choice of herbs like rose petals, jasmine flowers, lavender flowers, orange peels or any other herbs you like. Fill them up to 3/4th of the glass bottle. Now, pour a base oil like almond oil, coconut oil or any other oil of your choice into the bottle up to half of the bottle. Now, close the bottle using the screw top tightly pressing the herbs in the bottle as much as you can. Put it in direct sun light for three days. Make sure the screw top is closed as tightly as possible. Keep on closing it even more tightly every day. After three days, you can strain the oil and use it anyway you want. Make sure you finish it before a week. So, make small batches every week.
You can also infuse your oils with herbs instead of going for essential oils. This way you will have pleasant smelling oils in the house and reap the benefits of the herbs along with the oils.

Fasting for better Health

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Have you ever tried fasting? I know many people do it for religious reasons. Many people tend to refrain from it also because they can’t stay hungry for a whole day. But, apart from the religious reasons, there are scientific reasons also for holding fasts. Regular or weekly fasts are actually supposed to be really good for your system. If you are one who observes weekly fasts, you might have noticed that your body feels more livelier and you feel good. Your mood gets rejuvenated. This is just one of the effects of fasting.
Regular fasting is good for detoxifying your body. Not eating anything for a whole day helps your body to feel rested especially your digestive system and also helps your body to clean up the toxins and regulate the functioning of other organs of the body like liver, kidneys and other parts. The metabolic process also slows down apparently to give your body a little rest. So, rejuvenation also accompanies the fasting ritual. Other positive effects of fasting include improved immune system, efficient protein production, reduction in body temperature and improves the healing process of the body. So, you can also expect anti-aging effects from fasting too. Due to lack of proper nutrition, the body breaks down the fat reserves in the body so a controlled fasting routine would also help in weight loss. And, it also helps in increasing the life span of the person.
Thus, a weekly observed fast can help to clean your body and make it better. But, a prolonged fast is actually very harmful for the body and all the positive aspects would become negative actually. So, in case you are planning on a crash diet or anything, I would like to warn you that it would not actually help you in anyway. While observing fast, you need not starve your body completely. You can have fresh fruits, fruit juices and other nutritional liquids as they would also fulfill your nutritional  needs for the day. Eating and drinking light fruits and fruit juices will be good for your system. That would include citrus fruits, kiwi, avacado, figs, berries, cherries, litchi, apple, water melon and other light foods. You can also take fresh homemade soups made from spinach, cabbage, carrot, tomato and any other veggies you prefer. I would advise you to avoid heavy fruits and foods like bananas, dairy products, mango, papaya, dry fruits and nuts, any heavy vegetables like potato, chocolates and other junk food too. You should also avoid intake of salt and sugar. Choose a particular day in a week and make it a regular routine to avoid eating any solid food on that day. Some people observe fast by not eating anything in the day time and eating in the evening.

Daily Body Massage to cleanse your body

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Body Massage is one of the oldest ways to detoxify your body. It has been recommended in Ayurveda as one of the best ways to keep your body and skin soft and radiant. It is touted that one should make body massage a daily habit. It helps relieve stress, muscle pains, improves blood circulation, nourishes skin, lose weight and detoxifies your body. A daily massage also helps your body become immune to muscle spasms and sprains and all other kinds of injuries. A warm oil body massage is even better. It helps prevent wrinkles and fine lines and blemishes, not only on your face but also on your body, and helps you take years off your body. It helps make your skin more elastic, firm and flexible preventing any aging signs for a longer time. Oh, the best benefit of daily body massage is that it helps you sleep and also helps get rid of insomnia.

We might want to indulge in spa massage luxuries as frequently as possible but the main hitch comes  as lack of time and money. So, the simplest way is to include a 5 minute daily massage into your daily routine. Of course, the relaxation and soothing effect of a masseuse would be missing but at least you can gain a little benefit than nothing at all. And, you can always ask your spouse or friends to help with it. Making kids walk all over your back is another great way of providing acupressure relief.. Just make sure your kid is below 5  and you can handle the weight otherwise you might end up breaking your back. I have been trying to make the body massage a daily routine for a week and would say that I have found many differences in my body in a week only. My skin has become more radiant, luxuriant and soft. And, it does not get dry skin bouts which I used to get from time to time. The fine lines under my eyes and on my neck have started diminishing. And, I have also done a little experiment by leaving the massage after a week. And, I have also noticed the effects of leaving the daily body massage. The skin is not so soft and smooth and luxuriant and of course, the fine lines and other aging signs are not any more vanishing. So, I have decided to stick on to the daily body massage regime.In case pampering yourself with massage daily seems too much difficult due to reservations on your time, you might consider going for a professional body massage once in a month.  Find out a spa which has professional and trained masseurs. Kerela massage therapists are one of the best available in India so in case you re going for vacation there, reserve a day for their massages. I have heard that it costs anywhere between 15,000 – 30,000 for one sitting. And, a sitting is for around 3-5 hours.

Now, how to massage your body?
  • First dilemma I faced with massaging my body was the time of massage. I, first, thought that body massage after a long day would be the best as it would help me relax. But, soon, I realized that the skin is not clean after all the exposure to sun and dust and pollution in the day. So, I figured a shower at night and massage in the morning would be a better routine.
  • Warm a bowl full of your favorite oil in the morning. Close all the windows and the doors to prevent exposure to cold wind.
  • Divide your body into 6 parts: chest and stomach, back, arms, legs, feet and face and neck. Now, start massaging your body starting from legs and arms. Use long single upward strokes on your arms and legs. Work towards the middle of your body or towards your heart. Use circular motions on your chest and back. You could ask anyone else to massage your back for you because it is not easy to reach your back.
  • Do not forget to massage your feet. This would relax your feet and prevent the skin to turn hard and crack in the heels.
  • While massaging your face and neck, use the facial massage techniques.
  • Keep massaging your body with your palms with even pressure applied from whole of your palm. I know that finger pads provide better results but you might get tired easily while doing self-massages so your might want to stick to using palms. You can spend two to five minutes on each of your body parts and you would get finished in fifteen minutes at max.
  • Wait for half an hour or so before you go for a shower. You can take a sauna or lie in a bath tub full of warm water to help your body absorb oil.
  • After the waiting period, you can take a shower. Just make sure you do not slip on the bathroom floor. You might want to wash your feet before entering the shower.
  • Use a mild soap to wash off the oil. You need not moisturize your body afterward. Or, you can, if you wish.
A tip: Sesame Oil is the best for an oil massage. Sesame oil is the only oil which can get absorbed in the blood stream and removes the toxins from inside. You can also infuse your massage oil with herbs like lavender, jasmine, rose, sage or other herbs. Read this post to know how to infuse oils with herbs.Update: After a hot shower at night, you can devote 10-15 minutes to massage your body. Do not be generous with your oil. Instead use 5 drops of oil for each part of the body.