Enjoy your summer, but don’t forget to avoid the harmful effects of the sun!

• Always wear sunscreen, preferably mineral based.
• Avoid sun in the middle of the day, from about 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The ultraviolet rays, which cause sunburn, are strongest during this time.
• Wear protective clothing.
• Wear sunglasses that filter UV light.
• Eat lots of apples, cocoa and green tea- antioxidant foods high in catechins which also protect the skin from UV damage.

 

Enjoy the articles below!

Embracing Feminine Energy in an Overtly Masculine World

It’s not your fault if you’re feeling out of balance. And by balance, think of your propensity to experience more masculine energy then its sister, the feminine.

Here’s why. Society is set and founded on the patriarchy. Even the Declaration of Independence, the foundation of the United States, is based on your “forefathers,” not mothers. History books highlight brilliant men who made incredible discoveries and changed the world, yet often miss women who also added incredible value. Religious texts are similar; it’s hard to find any women of power mentioned.

Words and phrases are predominantly masculine. You’re commended when you “have balls,” but if you are being a coward or overbearing, you might be called a “pussy.”

Incorporate the Masculine and the Feminine

There is nothing inherently wrong with the masculine. The truth is that human beings are designed to have both masculine and feminine qualities and attributes. You need and crave them both. When in balance, both of these energies create an alchemy of divine connection, abundance, health, and joy that is otherworldly.

Women and businesswomen, in particular, are conditioned to do life from an overly pronounced masculine focus. American culture is set up to emphasize and celebrate a masculine way of life—productivity, achievement, action, and doing.

Before going into what it means to embrace and add the feminine back for a restoration of balance and well-being, first you need to understand what the masculine represents.

Understand Masculine Energy

Masculine energy in its pure form is associated with taking action, doing, accomplishing, making things happen, being productive and efficient, setting and achieving goals, having purpose and power, using sexual energy as fuel to create, and actively manifesting from a place of action. The energetic area, or chakra, associated with the masculine is the solar plexus (located by your belly button).

When the masculine is in overdrive, which is how much of the culture operates today, the focus shifts to hyper-competition, avoiding emotions, winning at all costs, stepping over others to accomplish goals, putting others down to look better, power struggles, degrading the feminine and women in general, ego, and a mindset of “me” vs. “them.”

Can you relate? Maybe you’re a male reading this who was taught to not express and feel emotions, yet rather to be logical and push down anything that could get in the way of feeling too much. If that describes you, you were taught to detach from and neglect the feminine.

Perhaps you are a female in the corporate world who has had to navigate the confusing and often turbulent waters of a predominantly masculine culture, such as making sure you are not overtly emotional at work or dressed too sexually permissive, or too focused on your children and family and their needs.

Now that you have had a chance to get the feeling flavor of the masculine, let’s take a voyage over to the land of the feminine.

Understand Feminine Energy

Assuming that you have the potential and need to experience both of these energies, see how you might be able to take some of these ideas and incorporate them into your life. It’s time to wake up and come out of the overly focused patriarchal slumber and remember that you are a whole being meant to experience the feminine as well as the masculine—a full balance of your energy, peace, and well-being.

Here are the top 10 things to know about the feminine side of your being:

1. The feminine is about community, connection, companionship, and co-creating. For example, as you shine, you allow others to shine. There is room for all to shine and radiate, and by uplifting one another you co-create a world that works for everyone. Notice the lens you are using your relationships, be it with a spouse, sibling, parent or colleague. Are you collaborative? Not needing to be right or wrong? Open without being controlling?
2. Power is created from going within—take advantage of stillness, intuition, listening, feeling, inspiration, being with emotions, sensual movement, having faith, and allowing yourself to be guided. Authority is found from within and through a deep connection to your highest self.
3. The feminine is about a state of being, not doing. Most people “do” life from a place of forced action. In this realm, it’s about getting into a state of being and from that place you create a magical life. For example, you meditate in the morning and decide to be connected to love, kindness, and compassion. This way of being will guide you throughout your day and help you to manifest positive interactions, opportunities, and authentic connections.
4. The feminine energy is about receiving, allowing, going within, tapping into your divine wisdom, and empowering others.
5. You are encouraged to move through all emotions, meaning physically moving through them and allowing yourself to feel, reveal, heal, and turn in and on to your own power.
6. This energy is about being present in a very grounded way to the moment, to the gifts and lessons that have brought you to the present, finding grace and wisdom in the silence, deep listening and being receptive.
7. The feminine is also about pleasure being a birthright. You don’t have to earn it; all are worthy of sensual pleasure. This is not necessarily just about sexual pleasure, although it can encompass that, too. Rather it’s about finding pleasure through your senses of smell, touch, taste, hearing, and sight. The challenge is to value this experience and prioritize it just as you would setting goals or answering emails.
8. Beauty of all forms is cherished in the feminine—appreciation of beauty, be it a flower, tree, humanity, art, material goods, and the natural world lives in the feminine domain.
9. Prosperity and abundance are a human right for all beings. The feminine is about sharing abundance and knowing there is always enough for everyone.
10. Self-loveleads to more love for others. The feminine is about loving your true essence and seeing that divine spark in others. For example, for those who practice yoga or meditate might use the word namaste. Namaste in Sanskrit means, “The divine spark in I, honors the divine spark in you.”

How to Connect to Your Feminine Energy

Let’s make this practical. Here’s how to unleash the energy within you and connect to the feminine:

• Connect with nature: Make it a practice to connect with nature, be it a walk through a garden, sitting by flowers, standing barefoot on the grass, or reading by a tree.
• Decision-making: When making decisions, connect first to the feminine energy of being; use your intuition and inspiration to tap into the wisdom within. What part of your body do you resonate with and connect with when making a decision? Start learning the wisdom of your own body and where you feel different emotions and decisions.
• Community: Don’t go it alone. Join or become part of a community where there is mutual support of one another (this can be an online or virtual community, support group, mastermind, on the phone, or in person).
• Rituals: Create a sacred space, altar, or special place to get quiet and go within. Spend time with yourself daily in the morning or evening where you can meditate or perhaps pray, journal, reflect, move, and dance.
• Water: Using water for healing and renewal has been used in many ancient communities, religions, and practices. All human beings start out engulfed in the healing waters in utero within their mother’s womb. Connect to this feminine healing quality by taking luxurious baths, longer showers with beautiful scents, floating pods, or in a pool or hot tub where you can relax and rejuvenate.
• Sensuality and sexuality: The feminine is about experiencing pleasure, receiving, taking time to be in the moment, and forming deep connections.
• Appreciation and gratitude: Pay attention to your bounty, to all that you can appreciate from something as small as the food on your table, your heart that is beating on your behalf, or the car that drove you to work. What you appreciate, appreciates. Gratitudebegets more opportunities for deeper gratitude. Watch your life be filled with more ease, calm, peace, and sweetness.

The energy area, or chakra, associated with the feminine is the second sacral chakra located in your womb area. This is the place of creation, sensuality, birthing new possibilities, and receiving pleasure.

To experience more feminine energy, you can start with a 30-day feminine energy challenge where you ask yourself these questions;

1. How can I honor both my feminine and masculine energy in this situation or event?
2. What are ways to tap deeper into my feminine energy resources?

Consciously add more feminine energy to your life and experience the totality of wholeness that comes from the balance of including both the feminine and masculine.

By Julie Reisler

 

Ayurveda’s Skincare Secrets that Will Change Your Beauty Routine

Ayurveda has been talking about the concept of beauty from within for 5,000 years. It’s message in a nutshell: How you nourish yourself on the inside is what will be reflected on the outside. In light of this, it makes sense that the way Ayurveda approaches skincare is rooted in good overall health. In fact, some of the modern skincare practices that we see today are derived from this ancient science.

Skin, according to Ayurveda, plays a crucial role for two main reasons. It’s very important that we experience the world through all five senses, and skin is the largest sense organ in the body. Even though it is not used as extensively as the eyes or the tongue, it is still the largest. If the skin isn’t properly cared for, then your understanding of your surroundings you will not be complete.

Skin is also an organ that excretes waste material, i.e., sweat. Perspiration happens when toxins need to be eliminated in a timely fashion from the body, and the skin is responsible for that. For both of these reasons it’s crucial to place special attention into caring for your skin.

How Your Dosha Impacts Your Skin

 You may already be familiar with the idea that there are three forces in the body, vata (wind), pitta (fire), and kapha (water). You may also remember that each person has a dominant dosha, or body type, that can be seen in a person’s skin appearance. Of course, this can vary, but when someone is at their healthiest, this is, generally, what their skin will be like depending on their body type.

Vatas tend to have dry, rough skin.
Pittas tend to have redder, delicate, and oily skin.
Kaphas tend to have normal skin that’s well-nourished and moist.

Vata regulates the gut on the inside, and is also seen in the skin on the outside. Because of this, skin is used as one of the organs that indicates how vata is working in the body. If the skin is dry, cracked, or discolored, then vata is increased and health can be compromised. This is important because vata controls every part of the body, including the other doshas, pitta and kapha. If vata can be controlled, then the rest of the body can automatically reach homeostasis.

Skin sensation is made possible by vata, but pitta is responsible for generating and secreting sweat. Pitta is also responsible for healthy color and complexion. In order to control vata and pitta in the body, Ayurveda uses the skin, so treatments meant to influence vata and pitta may be applied directly to the skin.

The Best Foods for Clear Skin

 

Diet, undoubtedly, plays a role in skin health. The word twak means “skin” in Sanskrit, and is the derivative of a specific action called twachya. Twachya is anything that you do or ingest that’s beneficial for the skin. Following general Ayurvedic diet principles is a good method of boosting skin health. Also, here are some specific foods and herbs that your outer layer will love:

• Astringent and bitter foods, like mung beans and amalaki (Indian gooseberries), turmeric, and cumin seeds are thought to firm and tighten the skin.
• Anything that’s moist, either with water or oil, is considered to be great for the skin because of its lubricating qualities. Examples include ghee, grapes, almonds, flax, and hemp seeds.
• Shatavari is a rejuvenative Ayurvedic herb is commonly used to boost skin health.
• Sprinkling food with Himalayan salt can be beneficial for the skin.
• Drinking licorice tea is recommended from time to time to promote skin health.

Try these All-Natural Topical Treatments

These days, face masks are a common cosmetic treatment. It might surprise you to know that Ayurveda has been using them for thousands of years. All those years ago, people knew that the skin is a surface for absorption. It’s only recently that this has been accepted into Western medicine.

Thirty years ago, when I would tell people that the skin absorbs everything, they would laugh at me because it was considered to be just a barrier. But now we know that it’s a living organ that absorbs and processes everything. In Ayurveda, we use all kinds of pastes and oils to reduce pain, redness, numbness, and more.

When it comes to beauty purposes, there is a completely dedicated category of treatments for healthy skin. Oils, pastes, and scrubs are used to smooth, clarify, lighten, and darken skin. That’s right, Ayurveda introduced the world to self-tanning.

If you’re interested in getting started with Ayurvedic skincare, one of the best things you can do is incorporate an oil into your daily beauty routine. Some of the most popular oils are:

• Almond oil is recommended for all skin types.
• Saffron oil, also known as kumkumadi, is recommended for all skin types.
• Sesame oil is recommended for vata
• Coconut oil is recommended for pitta

The next step would be to introduce a face mask. Here’s a homemade Ayurvedic skin treatment that you can try on your own, using everyday household ingredients.

A Homemade Ayurvedic Face Mask

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon rice flour
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• A pinch of turmeric
• A pinch of cloves
• 1 ½ teaspoon honey
• Enough water or rosewater (for aroma) to make the mixture into a thick paste
• ½ inch of lemon or orange peel, grated (optional)

Directions

1. Mix the following together, then apply as a mask on the face and allow to dry for 30 to 60 minutes.
   2. Rinse with water. This gentle nourishing mask rejuvenates the skin and helps to neutralize the irritants that harm the skin.

By Dr. Jayagopal Parla

 

Can Money Buy You Happiness?

Have you ever thought: If only I had (fill in blank), then I would be happy. Whether it’s a bigger house, nicer car or heftier paycheck, it’s easy to think that something or more of something will make you happier once you obtain it. But can money really buy you happiness?

Researchers have been asking this question for decades. Fortunately, their findings provide a great amount of insight on the subject, even though they’ve yet to agree on a single answer to this age-old money and happiness question.

In 2010, researchers at Princeton University surveyed 1,000 people and found that self-reported emotional well-being increased with a higher salary—but only up to $75,000 per year. No further effects on happiness were found past that amount. Other studies, however, suggest it isn’t the income or dollar amount that boosts happiness, but rather how the money is spent. Here are three ways you can spend your money to help increase your happiness.

Buy Life Experiences versus Material Items

Purchasing life experiences, rather than material things, can increase your satisfaction and happiness. Experiences can meet many of your psychological needs and contribute to your well-being, more than, say, a designer purse or the latest iPhone. Experiences shape your identity, help you grow and develop, and connect you to others with something you can’t buy—time.

People sometimes underestimate the value of experiences, missing out on opportunities that could enhance their well-being. Of those who already think experiences are more important than things, many continue to purchase material goods over experiences. A 2014 study at San Francisco State University found that participants who made a material purchase thought the purchase was the best use of their money, yet still rated life experiences with friends and family as making them happier.

So why are people quicker to buy an item rather than an experience?

Material purchases are tangible. You may think material possessions and purchases last longer. Material things leave tangible reminders of the purchase, while experiences simply leave memories. However, when you really think about it, memories may leave a more lasting impact than a collection of things.

You may feel momentary euphoria. While you may experience a sense of satisfaction and pleasure after spending money on tangible things, those euphoric feelings are pretty fleeting. Spending habits for material items fail to provide lasting satisfaction is because you are quick to adapt to them, eventually becoming bored and finding yourself fixated on something bigger and better. For example, consumers will excitedly wait in line for hours, sometimes even days, to purchase Apple’s newest technological device. However, enjoyment is often short lived as newer models are consistently released, deeming their original purchases outdated. Note: Researchers believe you may be less likely to quickly adapt to new things if you practice gratitude—e.g., keep a gratitude journal or express feelings of gratitude to others.

You want to impress others. Wanting to keep up with the Joneses can lead to unnecessary purchases and ultimately hinder your happiness. Consumer culture says you need to have whatever your neighbor has (only bigger and better) if you truly want to be successful and happy. As most can attest to, the comparison game never fails to bring about feelings of defeat, insecurity, and general unhappiness.

Interestingly, spending money on an experience solely to impress others produces a similar effect. The motivation behind why people spend money on a life experience is just as important as the experience itself, according to research published in the Journal of Happiness Studies in 2014. The study surveyed 241 participants to determine whether the motivation for choosing to buy life experience predicted psychological well-being. They found that those who opted to buy a life experience because it aligned with their interests and values reported a greater sense of well-being and fulfillment, while those who chose life experience to impress others felt less competent and connected to others.

Buy For Others

While society promotes the notion that personal purchases equate satisfaction and well-being, research indicates the opposite to be true: Spending money on others, instead of yourself, appears to boost happiness.

In a 2008 study published in Science, researchers had participants rate their level of happiness before giving them an envelope of cash. Half of the participants were told to spend the money on themselves, while the other half were instructed to donate the money or purchase a gift for someone else. Those who spent the money on others reported higher levels of satisfaction, while those who bought for themselves weren’t any happier than they were when the study began.

Researchers note the importance of consistently giving to others. Happiness felt after spending cash on others once or twice is temporary, but when you make it a habit, the positive feelings that follow are more likely to stay.

Seek Financial Security and Reduce Debt

One thing most researchers can agree on is that basic needs should be met above all else. It’s also important to obtain financial security, or, in other words, live within your means. According to a 2014 article in the Wall Street Journal, spending more money than you bring in is a recipe for unhappiness, regardless of what you spend it on.

Financial security is important to establish, particularly for when challenging situations arise. A 2015 study published in Social Psychological and Personality Science found that while money doesn’t necessarily increase happiness, it does decrease sadness. The authors suspect that when faced with a problem, wealthier people feel more in control than poorer people since they are better equipped financially to handle adversity.

Another challenge many consumers face is paying off debts. Whether it’s student loans, credit card debt, or unpaid medical bills, debt can hinder your ability to be happy. While building up savings is important, researchers believe paying off debts should be the first and foremost priority. They arguethat while life experiences are important, people shouldn’t max out credit cards to make it happen, as the stress that inevitably ensues will be greater than any enjoyment from the experience itself. On the bright side, however, paying off a massive debt can bring happiness, improve health, and spark numerous psychological benefits.

By Emily Holland

 

Bitter Melon Potato Curry

Ingredients

 

• 4 cups potatoes, chopped
• 1 medium bitter melon, deseeded and chopped
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons curry powder, *See notes about curry powder
• 1 sprig fresh thyme, or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• cilantro leaves, for garnish

Instructions (8 servings)

 

1. Wash bitter melon, cut in half, discard seeds and soft tissues, then chop into small pieces. Add salt and set aside for 5 minutes(this helps remove bitterness). Rinse bitter melon pieces, drain and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a large saucepan. Saute onion and garlic until onion is soft, about 4 minutes. Add Curry powder or turmeric, coriander, cumin, cardamom. Stir in bitter melon pieces, potatoes and stir to coat.

Add coconut milk, water, thyme, bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover saucepan, cook for 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Stir in sea salt and remove from heat. Garnish with cilantro