New Year,
Same Radiant You

While we're not huge on resolutions, we are fans of an annual reset. Here's how our Co-Founder Eileen is starting the year fresh:

Skin Reset

After indulging in all the (sugar, dairy, drinks 🙈) things over the Holiday season, I bring the Detox Scrub and Activated Charcoal bar back into my shower routine to clear skin and restore balance. 

The increase of inflammatory foods (like that dairy, sugar, and wine) in our diets and the disruptions to our daily rhythm that happens around the holidays can stress our skin and lymphatic systems. For me, the inevitable result is a pimple or two on my body and a dull appearance to skin with extra poofy-ness around my eyes.

The Activated Charcoal and dead sea salt help my body process the aftermath and before I know it, restore balance and hydration to my skin. If you're feeling the need to support your skin in this way, you can find our Activated Charcoal Detox Scrub here and Activated Charcoal Soap here.

Sunrise Outside

If you can get over the initial "Awe, heck no!" gut respose, you'll reap all of the incredible benefits of catching the sunrise each day including boosting mood and improving sleep by supporting your circadian rhythm and giving you a natural (and free!) dose of red light therapy. You might even start craving your sunrise moments like I have! Here's what you need to know:

The natural light of the sunrise helps regulate the body's circadian rhythm, making it easier to wake up and start the day feeling refreshed and even boots your ability to create melatonin for better sleep, but there's a caveat - these benefits only come from watching the sunrise outside. It's not a problem if it's cloudy, or there are buildings or trees blocking your direct view, the light will still reach you, as long as you're outside. Unfortunately most windows block the rays that interact with receptors in our skin and eyes to help reset our internal clock and support hormone production. The good news that being outside in nature has been shown to have a positive effect on mental and physical health too. I go one step further (there's a reason my kids call me "crazy earth mom" and take my sunrise barefoot in the grass while I do a few standing yoga stretches (triangle, peaceful warrior, extended side angle).

Before starting this practice at the beginning of January, I had been waking up in the middle of the night with a racing mind, unable to fall back asleep for over a month. A friend suggested that I look into sunrise and breakfast within 30 min of waking (I had been intermittent fasting and eating is another way to reinforce circadian rhythm). Within a week of starting my sunrise viewing, the nighttime waking had stopped! Now, 4 weeks in, when a kiddo wakes me up at night I can fall right back to sleep. Could it be a placebo effect? Sure, and I'm fine with that. In addition to catching better zzzs, it feels so good and helps me start the day with less background anxiety, feeling more connected to nature. It's a win!

If I've piqued your interest, why not get started with even just one minute of sunrise each day and go from there! The time of sunrise in your location is usually shown in the weather app on your phone (scroll to the bottom, below the 10 day forecast, where the UV index is), or you can download an app like dminder to find your sunrise and sunset (also a great source of red light) times as well as help calculate how long you can safely stay outside in the sun each day.

2023 Intention Setting

I know, we said no resolutions and I promise you, intentions are not just a trendier word for the annual guilt trips we've all been pressured to give ourselves!

Setting intentions is a powerful practice that can help you gain clarity around what you want to prioritize in your life and why. This focalizing effect can help us make changes in our lives that align with our most deeply felt values by inspiring action that lights us up and supports our wellbeing.

If you feel called to the practice, we love this free guided intention setting workshop by Kristen Lasanti on Insight Timer (my fave meditation app!).