Slow down in five: Essentials.

Modern society constantly praise the art of "being busy". In fact, having free time in most occasions make us feel we should be doing more, and make us even question our worth. We have the meaning of productivity and being productive, achieving the most under the shortest period of time, as a reference of how successful we are.

But we forget we are only humans.

We get tired and fatigued, our body aches, sometimes we don't even sleep or eat enough, and sometimes we eat a lot too. All of these are just ways our mind is telling us hey, slow down. There is no point in exhausting our mind and body to achieve our goals if we are not going to be able to enjoy later on. Our bodies are temples, and physical representations are often the way our bodies have to tell us there is something we are neglecting and needs our attention. So here are five essentials that have health and spiritual benefits to be more in sync with our bodies and our minds.

Let's start with candles: we all love them. There is something about lighting your favorite scented candle that changes your mood automatically, right? Aromatherapy allows us to feel calm, and at peace with ourselves and our surroundings. A part of living a healthy lifestyle is self care and taking care of our mind, and lighting candles enhances our atmosphere and our sense of well-being. If you practice meditation, focusing on the flame of the candle is a good exercise for concentration and prevent the mind from distracting.

Burning sage is a very spiritual practice. It is often used to enhance intuition, clarity of the mind, and get rid of negative energy. Going further into that, sage is purifying thanks to its antibacterial properties, keeping infectious bacterias, fungi and viruses at bay. Burning sage also may helps soothing stress, anxiety or depression. White sage is rich in compounds that activate certain receptors in our brain that are responsible for reducing stress, elevating mood levels, and sometimes even alleviating pain. For its aromatherapy properties, it improves your quality of sleep as well. It gets rid of the bad, and welcomes newer, fresher and more positive energy.

Sometimes I wish I lived right in front of the beach, and could take all the salty water in. There is something very special about salty water, it washes all the bad off. I remember hearing from my grandparents that salty water would cure everything. Sea salt water detoxifies because of the sodium, a mineral that will help the body remove all the toxins and by-products of metabolism through the lymph system. Also aids relaxation because it is one of the most effective ways to relax and calm our nerves, literally. It help us sleep better, soothes aches, relax muscles and relieve the pain in joints because it enhances blood circulation. Another benefit is having antibacterial effect on the skin, improving conditions like acne, eczema or dermatitis. It has anti-aging and anti-wrinkles properties, deep cleanses and whitens. If you don't have the luxury of having the beach in front of your house, or it is incredibly cold all year long like in San Francisco, having warm sea salt baths will also do the trick.

Herbal teas are another natural solution to relieve stress and anxiety. Four of my favorites are Peppermint tea is a natural muscle relaxant, Chamomile tea aids your sleep, relaxes your muscles and reduces irritability. The third one is Lemon Balm tea. It has a natural mint flavor with a hint of lemon, it reduces our cortisol leves and relaxes the body without causing drowsiness. And last but not least, Green tea. Although it contains caffeine, it is adaptogenic in nature so it keeps you alert yet calm enough.

Last essential is breathe. Not so often do we focus on how we breathe every day, moment to moment-- and it actually affects our lifestyle. A shift in our breathe is the fastest and easies way to change how we feel under certain circumstances, stress, nervousness, anxiety, sleep depravedness, you name it. Breathing is the most powerful healing technology, and we can practice it anywhere. When we are under any stressful situation, our body goes into "emergency response" and we-panic. Our breathe gets shortened, we experience confusion, nauseas, dizziness, a lump in the throat...sounds familiar? Shifting our breathing rate and pattern stimulates our parasympathetic response, our own equally powerful and opposite "relaxation response". BOOM! So, one great calming exercise when we are feeling anxious or panicky is the following:

"Gently and slowly, take a long breath in through your nose, hold it to the count of three, then release slowly, relaxing the muscles in your face, jaw, shoulders and stomach"

Overall, we are the only ones with the power to decide how things affect us, our bodies and our lifestyle. Being more aware of our well-being will take us further than the "hustle".

As always, find my favorites below.
Thank you for reading beautiful,
Xoxo,
Esther.