14 Days of Beauty: Day 5, The Tongue

It sounds a bit strange, but today let's focus on the tongue. Upon waking in the morning, your tongue should be scraped before brushing your teeth. It is said that the thick layer upon your tongue in the morning is a build up of toxins in your system. It is important to rid yourself of these toxins.

Smoothies

In trying to take advantage of summer, I am making it a priority to eat lots of raw foods. Today I've been experimenting with smoothies and have had some great results. Here is what I have come up with.

Raw Chocolate Chia Breakfast Smoothie

1 banana
8 oz. almond milk
1 tsp chia seeds (soaked for 15 min.)
1-2 tsp raw cacao powder
ice as desired

Blend all ingredients on high speed in the blender. So de-lish!


Summer Green Smoothie

1 banana
8 oz apple juice (I juiced my own)
4-5 leaves rainbow chard (from my garden!)
1 kiwi
1 pink grapefruit
1 sprig of mint (from my garden too!)
1 tsp bee pollen
1 tsp raw honey
ice as desired

Blend all ingredients on high speed in a blender. The mint gives this smoothie a super refreshing taste. I was really impressed! I had a mini bowl of raw sunflower seeds, raw pepitas, and pecan pieces with this. Very tasty!

14 Days of Beauty: Day 4, The Forehead

Give yourself a forehead massage sometime today. We carry a lot of tension in this area. Massage is a good way to increase circulation and smooth out those worry lines we often create.

Lift the heel of your hand to the center of your forehead, to the space between your eye brows.
Allow all the weight of your head to fall forward into the heel of your hand.
Breathe long and deeply.
Begin making small circular rotations with the heel of your hand on your forehead.
Do this first clockwise and then counter clockwise.

Rub a small amount of essential oil on your temples for an increased relaxation effect.

Chakra

This chakra is known as the "third eye." The color assocation with this chakra is indigo and

relates to self responsibility. We are responsible for our own lives, we have a responsibility to ourselves to follow the our path and we need to trust our intuition. We need to focus on the whole picture and act with knowledge, love and compassion. We must not act upon satifsfaction or ego. This energy connects us to our unconscious self, and creates the experience of being part of the whole universe.

14 Days of Beauty: Day 3, The Face

Avocado nourishing facial mask

Avocados hydrate and nourish the skin. This is deal for dry skin, or for those that live in dry areas. It also can be used for normal skin type. This mask is rich in Vitamin E which restores the skin’s surface while improving the skin’s texture overall.
This mask also contains carrots that are rich in beta-carotene and antioxidants.

Ingredients
1 avocado (peeled, pitted and mashed)
1 carrot (cooked and mashed)
3 tablespoons of honey

Preparation
Combine all the ingredients and apply on the face and neck. Leave on for 15 minutes and rinse well.

14 Days of Beauty, Day 2: The Eyes

Home treatment for puffy eyes

This easy restorative treatment removes puffiness in a short amount of time.

You will need:

- 1 organic potato
- organic cotton facial pads

---or---

- chamomile tea bags

Directions:

1. Grate a potato and collect the juice in a bowl.
2. Apply the potato juice to damp cotton pads.
3. Place over the eye area for about 15 minutes. For extreme problems leave on for 30 minutes.
Chamomile tea bags placed over the eyes in the same manner are also a good alternative.

Drinking about a quart of nettle tea can also help reduce puffy eyes.

When you notice that you have bags under the eyes, it may indicate that your kidneys are under stress or you may be suffering from food allergies. Keep a close eye on the foods you are eating.

14 Days of Beauty

We crave beauty. Whether it be in ourselves, our loved ones, our relationship or in our surroundings. This month, I will give a daily beauty tip. Make it your goal this month to pamper yourself daily, even if it is just for a moment. It is so important that we love ourselves first before we give a part of ourselves to others. Know that YOU are important, beautiful, unique and powerful.

Let's focus on the head: the crown.



Today, take care of your crown by massaging the scalp with jojoba oil or shea butter. This invigorates, while simulating and increasing the blood flow and circulation to this area.



For those of you that enjoy reading about or connecting to your chakras, or main energy centers, this is the crown, the seventh chakra, and the color associated with it is violet. This is the connection to your higher self. Disease can result from an imbalance of energy in this chakra. The violet energy connects us to wisdom and inner strength. It also purifies our thoughts and feelings, giving us inspiration in all of our duties. It develops artistic talent as well as creativity.

Recommended Reading

Here is a list of a few of my favorite books and can be added to your summer reading list.

Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin

The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone

Total Yoga by Tara Fraser

The Conscious Cook by Tal Ronnen

Becoming Vegetarian or Becoming Vegan

Raw Food Cleanse by Penni Shelton

Master Your Metabolism by Jillian Michaels

Happy Reading!