Hi, my loves.
Welcome back to Lavendaire.
Here on this channel, we've talked a lot about self-care and healthy habits.
And by now I'm pretty sure you know all about the basics,
the most important things you should do,
like drinking more water, exercising regularly, and meditating.
Today, I wanna introduce some new practices and habits you can try
for your self care and holistic health.
Not saying to skip the basics,
but sometimes we just wanna try something new
and change things up.
This video is sponsored by Renew Life’s Women's Care Probiotic.
I'll share more on that later.
Let's get into the 8 holistic wellness habits you should try.
Habit #1: try adding a face massage to your daily routine.
This is good for releasing tension from your face muscles,
draining limb fluids and increasing circulation.
Start by applying a moisturizer and oil to your skin.
You wanna make sure there's enough slips
so that you can glide across your skin
without tugging your skin too much.
We'll start with the brow area.
Close your eyes and squeeze your eyebrow
at the inner part, center, and the outer part of your eyebrow.
Do this 3 times while breathing deeply.
Next, with the flat side of your index finger,
massage your brow outwards like this.
We often forget how much tension we hold in our brow and eye area,
especially if you spend most of your day looking at a screen like me.
When I do this massage, I feel the little knots in my brow.
Again, I recommend closing your eyes & breathing through this
as you release tension in this area.
You can even do a little wiggle at your temples,
both as a massage and to help with lymphatic drainage.
Next, use your knuckles to massage these points around your eye.
We're essentially spot massaging the orbital bone.
Explore how different areas feel when massaged,
and you might realize how tired your eyes have been,
and how much stress you hold in this area.
Another part of our face that we hold tension in is our jaw.
A lot of us unknowingly clench our jaw
when we're feeling anxious.
Some of us even do it in our sleep.
Here you're just using your thumb and index finger
to glide from your chin to the back of your jaw.
I don't know about you,
but I also noticed some small knots along my jaw
when I started doing this exercise.
After a few weeks though, they've definitely gone down.
I also enjoy massaging the back of my jaw in this area around the ear lobes.
Remember to keep breathing and releasing tension with each exhale.
After these face massages,
to promote draining your limb fluid,
apply light pressure down the side of your face
and down the sides of your neck.
If you want a little puffing and facelift,
you can massage your cheeks upwards like this.
Starting from the bottom corner of your mouth up to your temples.
I do about 10 times on each side,
And again, bringing it down for a lymphatic drainage when you're done.
You can do these massages in the morning or evening.
I typically do them in the evening
at the end of my skincare routine,
since it helps relieve stress at the end of the day.
Habit #2: try making healthy teas for yourself.
Instead of reaching for your typical coffee or store bought tea,
try making a concoction using real nutrient packed ingredients.
Learn about different plants and their benefits.
There are tons of what people call super foods or adaptogens,
basically plants with known health benefits.
An easy way is to squeeze some lemon into your hot water or tea for an added vitamin C boost.
Today. I'm making a tea with honey, ginger, and goji berries.
Each of these ingredients has its own health benefits.
Plus, I love the cozy, sweet, and soothing blend that this creates.
Start with ingredients that you know and enjoy,
and go from there.
There's a whole world to explore with plants and their benefits.
Habit #3: nurture your gut health.
Your gut plays a big role in your immune system,
so maintaining a healthy balance is essential.
This is where probiotics come in.
Thank you to Renew Life for sponsoring this video.
Renew Life’s Women's Care is a probiotic made for women by women.
It's the no. 1 women's probiotic
formulated specifically for a woman's microbiome.
Not only does it support your digestive and immune health,
but it also helps with female specific issues
like urinary and vaginal health,
helping to maintain healthy pH and yeast levels,
which is super important.
This probiotic has 25 billion life cultures from 12 probiotic strains.
I take one capsule every morning on an empty stomach
as part of my morning routine and keep the bottle in the fridge
to help keep the bacteria alive longer.
I love taking Renew Life to help support my gut health
and I know my body will thank me in the long run.
If you wanna learn more about Renew Life's Women's Care Probiotic,
check out the link in the description below
Habit #4: whole body tapping.
This is a holistic healing practice that I've been doing for the past year.
On a physical level, tapping helps increase blood flow and circulation to an area
and helps release tension.
On an energetic level,
this helps unblock stuck energy or emotions
that may have stagnated in an area.
First, make your hands into fists
and tap the area 2 inches below your belly button.
This is the lower part of your gut, your second chakra.
Take deep belly breaths and exhale out through your mouth.
In Eastern wellness, this area is known as your core
that powers the energy of your physical body,
so you should always keep this area warm.
Tapping here brings circulation and energy to this area
and you'll feel this area getting warmer.
Next, try tapping your solar plexus or third chakra.
Your solar plexus is the soft area below the bottom of your rib cage.
Around here.
You can use the palm side of your fist to tap
since this area is more sensitive.
When you're tapping,
the more pain or sensitivity you feel,
the more you hold tension or stuck energy in that area.
The solar plexus is typically very sensitive
because this is where we hold a lot of our emotions.
Be aware of what emotions may come up,
breathe through it and release all of it on your exhales.
Next is chest tapping.
Your chest is what's within this range.
This area relates to your heart chakra or fourth chakra.
Again, use the palm side of your fist
and tap this area freely while breathing deeply.
Pay attention to the areas that feel more tense or sensitive,
areas that feel like they need to be focused on more.
Feel free to make an audible noise while you exhale
and imagine stagnant energy being released
and healing happening in this area.
Next, you can move on to your shoulders.
With shoulder tapping, you can either do a fist
or open up your palms.
This is one of my favorites because I have very tense shoulders.
We tend to hold a lot of stress and anxiety in our shoulders,
so this is great for becoming aware of your body
and working to release that tension physically, emotionally, and energetically.
Following that, feel free to continue tapping everywhere else on your body.
Your back, your arms, your legs, your butt,
wherever you feel called to.
This is called whole body tapping for a reason.
With this, you'll become more aware of where you hold tension, stress, emotions, and even trauma in your body
so you can begin to release and heal.
Habit #5: start eating mindfully.
Mindful eating means being present with your food
and being relaxed while you eat.
This means not eating on the go, or eating while distracted,
whether you're watching TV or scrolling your phone.
If you eat while your mind is focused on something else,
you tend to eat more because you're less in tune with your body's response
that's telling you that you're full.
You're so busy that you can't hear what your body's telling you.
Instead, start eating mindfully by focusing only on your food
and enjoying the sensorial experience of eating.
Eat while you're relaxed rather than eating while you're stressed or in a rush
so that your body can digest properly.
I'm curious to know what are your eating habits?
Do you practice mindful eating
or do you eat while multitasking and doing something else?
No shame because I totally do this, too.
Comment down below because I really wanna know.
Habit #6: try dry brushing.
Dry brushing is an Ayurvedic practice
where you take a dry brush with natural fiber bristles
and brush your entire body's skin in a specific motion.
Dry brushing is said to stimulate the lymphatic system,
exfoliate the skin, increase circulation,
and help the body rid itself of toxins.
It might seem weird at first, but after trying it,
you'll notice how rejuvenating this feels.
The key is to start out your feet and move up your body,
brushing in a short upwards motion, and using a light pressure.
It shouldn't feel painful, but more like a gentle scratch.
After you brush both legs,
you can work your way up from your midsection,
and brush towards your heart.
Then, you can start at your hands
and brush up your arms as well.
Don't brush your face.
After dry brushing, you can take a shower
to wash off the dead skin.
Habit #7: abhyanga or self-oil massage.
This is another practice from Ayurveda,
where you give yourself a full body oil massage.
Similar to applying body lotion but with oils,
like coconut oil or sesame oil.
This is a practice where you give your body love.
It's not only a wellness practice.
It's a practice of self love.
Abhyanga is said to increase circulation,
decrease the effects of aging,
calm the nerves, and more.
You can do this for 15 to 20 minutes, a couple times a week.
Habit #8: gentle or yin yoga.
I'm referring to the practice of slow, gentle, or deep stretching, and yoga.
There are actually three similar-but-distinct types of yoga that you can explore:
(1) gentle, (2) restorative, and (3) yin yoga.
The idea is to find a practice that helps you slow down
and find deep relaxation physically and mentally,
so that you can activate your body's healing mode--
the parasympathetic nervous system
Each day comes with its fair share of stresses,
and we hold emotional and physical tension in our bodies.
Sometimes in areas we're not even aware of.
Creating space for a slower yoga or stretching routine
is the self care you need to reset your body
and allow yourself to heal.
If you don't know where to start,'
you can follow my 20 minute relaxing stretch routine video,
linked here and down below.
I hope you found an idea here that inspired you to try something new.
You deserve to take care of yourself.
You deserve full health and wellness.
You deserve to shine as your brightest self.
Please subscribe and give this video a thumbs up if you like it.
Sending you so much love.
Bye.