Heal

For as long as I can remember, my menstrual cycle has been a source of pain, fatigue, and emotionality. While I consider this monthly process of the body to be a sacred one, the disruption that it causes due to the pain and fatigue that I experience during this time is at the point of needing to plan events and trips around my cycle, and sometimes needing to cancel events when it arrives. Needless to say, for the majority of my life, I have overall not ‘enjoyed’ my menstrual cycle, and it is something that I have come to dread and feel powerless to the effects of.

Waking up in the morning or winding down from a long day, there is nothing like a good cup of tea. Good quality teas, however, can be expensive and hard to find. What's worse is when you go to reach for a bag, and realize the bag is empty. While most consumers rely on purchasing pre-blended tea bags, you can make your own tea using fresh ingredients already in your kitchen. A little creativity and prep is all it takes to be minutes away from a soothing mug. Here are a few tips to follow when delving into homemade teas.

Premenstrual symptoms are something lots of cis-women go through roughly every month for much of their lives. Some common symptoms include cramps, bloating, increased acne, depression, irritability and tender breasts. Research is still being conducted on why women experience PMS, and some doctors even believe PMS could be hereditary.

Stress. I have yet to meet someone who is not dealing with it. Who of us is not worried about money, our health, or how to juggle all of our time? We all experience stress on a regular basis, and it is unfortunately difficult to avoid in our fast-paced, money-driven Western society. Stress can come in a variety of ways and in different levels of intensity.

The production of molasses was developed in India in approximately 500 B.C.E.  Arab invaders brought the product to Spain, and a century later it came to the West Indies with Christopher Columbus. The British began cultivating sugar cane in Barbados in 1646, and by the end of the century molasses was a commodity. It is not clear when blackstrap molasses was first used for human consumption.

Anxiety is real! I don’t know a person alive who hasn’t had to deal with it at some point in their life. The truth is, some of us don’t deal with it as well as others. I was young when I experienced my first panic attack brought on by high anxiety and I was slightly terrified. I didn’t understand what was going on or why I had no idea something similar to an emotion could cause such a physical effect. I’m not going to lie -- my first few experiences with panic attacks just triggered more of a panic attack and higher anxiety.

It seems that in our society, yawning has become an indicator of “being bored”— or being rude for that matter—when in reality, this is likely far from the truth and is a misunderstanding.

As a retired yoga teacher and massage therapist—and simply a person who has spent countless hours dedicated to learning how to relax and take good care of myself—I feel a particular need and responsibility to write this article as an encouragement to the world at large to yawn as much and as often as possible.

It is said "all diseases begin in the gut," which is why gut health is so important. You see, we all have microbes in our intestines: Trillions of them, to be exact. These microbes metabolize food and make vitamins accessible to us. In other words, they’re essential to our health and immunity. They actually add up to 4 pounds of our body weight and help us fight off “bad” microbes (like the infamous E.coli or tetanus).

Did you know that your oral health is extremely important to your overall health? One oral health practice that is becoming increasingly popular is oil pulling. There is tons of information out there on oil pulling and how to do it properly, but some of it is conflicting information. To clear things up, here is everything you need to know about oil pulling:

What is it?

Do you remember taking those little fruity Flintstones multivitamins? Well, as a child, I ate them because they were pretty darn close to being plain ol’ candy. Now, as an adult, I don’t have to buy any daily vitamins because I’m already buying foods that are great sources of necessary vitamins and minerals. Plus, the best part about adulting is that it gives you the freedom to buy actual candy, if candy is what you crave (don’t we all from time to time?).