Healthy Lifestyle

Benefits of a Himalayan Salt Lamp

/ embracingspirit / Leave a comment

The Gentle Glow: Benefits of a Himalayan Salt Lamp

There’s something soothing about the soft, warm glow of a Himalayan salt lamp. More than just a beautiful addition to your space, these lamps are believed to offer subtle wellness benefits that support both body and mind. From purifying the air to promoting a sense of calm, they create an atmosphere that feels like a breath of fresh air for your soul.

Himalayan salt lamps are said to release negative ions, which may help counteract the effects of modern life—like screen time, stress, and stagnant energy in our living spaces. Whether you place one in your bedroom for restful sleep or keep one on your desk for focus and clarity, this simple tool can bring a little more peace and balance into your daily routine.

In this post, we’ll explore the many benefits of Himalayan salt lamps and how you can use them to create a cozy, supportive sanctuary at home.

How many of you have Himalayan Salt lamps?

I actually have seven around my house. Not only do I love the warm ambiance their glow creates, but the benefits are so amazing.

Benefits of Himalayan Salt Lamps

  • Cleanses & Deodorizes the Air
  • Reduces Allergy & Asthma Symptoms
  • Increases Energy Levels
  • Better Sleep
  • Improves Mood & Concentration
  • Reduces Static Electricity In the Air
  • Neutralizes Electromagnetic Radiation
  • Reduces symptoms of disorders like rheumatism and arthritis
  • Increased relaxation & calmness

How does it work?

WebMD explains some of the benefits of negative ions:

“Generally speaking, negative ions increase the flow of oxygen to the brain; resulting in higher alertness, decreased drowsiness, and more mental energy,” says Pierce J. Howard, PhD, author of The Owners Manual for the Brain: Everyday Applications from Mind Brain Research and director of research at the Center for Applied Cognitive Sciences in Charlotte, N.C.“They also may protect against germs in the air, resulting in decreased irritation due to inhaling various particles that make you sneeze, cough, or have a throat irritation.”

And for a whopping one in three of us who are sensitive to their effects, negative ions can make us feel like we are walking on air. You are one of them if you feel instantly refreshed the moment you open a window and breathe in fresh, humid air.

Ready to go get one? (Or two, or seven) ? I really like this one.

If you love my content and want more tools for mindfulness & movement, check out my digital products on Buy Me a Coffee! Your support helps me continue creating. 

Looking for the tools and products I swear by? Visit my Amazon storefront for a handpicked collection of my favorite finds—from kitchen gadgets to wellness essentials. Click here to explore and shop my must-haves.

If you would love to be part of my essential oil community and are ready to start using pure essential oils, shop here or email me for a free 1:1 consultation.

Understanding the Language of Your Brain: Anxiety, Stress, and Neurons

/ embracingspirit / Leave a comment

Understanding the Language of Your Brain: Anxiety, Stress, and Neurons

Have you ever felt caught in a cycle of worry or overwhelm and wondered what’s really happening inside your brain? To better understand anxiety and stress, it helps to learn the basic language your brain and body use to communicate. Words like neurotransmitters, neurons, and synapses might sound complex at first, but they hold the key to understanding why we feel what we feel—and how we can begin to find calm again.

In this post, we’ll break down the essential vocabulary around anxiety and stress in simple, clear terms. From the way neurons fire messages to how stress hormones influence our mood, you’ll gain insight into the inner workings of your nervous system. Knowledge is power—and learning about your brain can be the first step in soothing it.Tired of worrying and having anxiety run your life?

By the way, our life expectancy is down again for the THIRD year in a row. The last time this happened was 1915-1918, during World War One. We are killing our selves with our stressful lives.

The limbic system is the emotional control center of the brain. It processes your sense of smell and deals with three key functions, emotions, memories and arousal (stimulation).

Here is a quick vocab lesson:

Neuron: (also called neurone or nerve cell) is a cell that carries electrical impulses. Neurons are the basic units of the nervous system. There are up to 100 billion in the brain and they can send information from the brain to the rest of the body.

Neuropeptides: small protein like molecules used by neurons to communicate with each other.

Neuropeptides stimulate hundreds of activities in the body including food intake, learning taste smell and memory.

Receptor: a cell usually a neuron which receives stimuli from neuropeptides.

Neurotransmitter: sends information between neurons, via a neuropeptide by crossing synapse. They are chemical messengers.

Now this is what happens in the brain.

There is an outside stimulus of some sort (I call them circumstances) and the brain has a chain reaction that is set off quicker then we can realize- you have a thought, and that thought is actually converted into a neuropeptide that is sent to the cells in the body, literally changing the chemistry of every cell in you body and causing a physiological response based on the neuropeptides released. So in a very real way, your thinking becomes part of you on a cellular level. The different neuropeptides that are sent are what we feel as emotion in the body and the physiological response.

Smell is so powerful because the olfactory bulb gives smells a direct passage into the limbic system, where they imprint with emotional responses we have to that outside stimuli.

They become part of the memory of the thought/emotional response to a circumstance. The more we think a thought and have an emotional response, the more the memory, or neuropathway is strengthened in our brain.

That is why emotions can trigger such strong responses in us. Essential Oils, in my research, work different ways in the body and brain to effect emotions. First, they can interact with the limbic system and the amygdala, which plays a major role in storing and releasing emotional trauma. When you smell an oil, it can clear receptors in the cells, detoxing emotion. Citrus oils are great at clearing receptors in the cells, which means they can help with emotional detox on a cellular level. Oils can also help to disrupt thought patterns and help establish new ones (new neuropathways).

Personal example, when my thoughts would start spiraling and I’d start having anxious feelings, I would stop, smell serenity and repeat thoughts that my brain could believe (this is really important) that helped me change the response in my body. Ex. “I am in my home, I am safe.” My brain starts to recognize the pattern of smelling an oil and having a positive thought pattern and “chemical response” in my body.

Our bodies are synergistic.

Emotions happen on a cellular level, just as physical health is on a cellular level. When we use an oil, we will have a physical and an emotional component because they are inseperable in the body. Oils that cause emotional responses are having specific effects either in the limbic system or in the cells of the body.

Learn more about the basics of essential oils here.

Let’s talk.

If you love my content and want more tools for mindfulness & movement, check out my digital products on Buy Me a Coffee! Your support helps me continue creating. 

Looking for the tools and products I swear by? Visit my Amazon storefront for a handpicked collection of my favorite finds—from kitchen gadgets to wellness essentials. Click here to explore and shop my must-haves.

If you would love to be part of my essential oil community and are ready to start using pure essential oils, shop here or email me for a free 1:1 consultation.

Preparing the Soil

/ embracingspirit / 3 Comments

I think of early March as a time to prepare for growth. To toil the ground and prepare ourselves for deep growth.  I also love spring and the symbolism it represents.  It is during the spring time that we often think of beginnings, newness, and growth.  For some, this is a great time to begin to cultivate your “soil” to soon plant seeds of intention. One way to do this is to write down anything in your life you wish to increase–friendships, health, abundance or joy, are just a few ideas.  Be clear with your visions as this brings life to your “seeds”.

Next, it is so important to prepare your inner “soil” by eliminating and removing the old and now transpired blossoms of last year.  The memories of past that have come and go and no longer as vibrant as they were just a few short months ago. When we invest time in preparing ourselves for a season of growth (no matter what time of year, really) we must start with cleaning up the areas so that we are open to allow space for growth. When we spend time doing this we are investing time into right now.  We are dirtying our hands with the fertile soil that awaits.

As you do this, become aware of the subtle changes in Nature during this time of the year.  You might see the peeking of crocus bulbs emerging from the hardened winter ground.  Watch as the trees begin to grow tiny nubs that will soon break into full leaves.  Listen as the birds start to make song in the early mornings and the air has a scent of newness.  Use all of your senses to experience what is happening around you.

As we connect with Nature we also connect with ourselves. We realize that we too, are ever-changing and growing beings.  We can set the seeds of intention and begin to nurture and cultivate what we wish to have grown in our lives.

This month in my classes we will be exploring cleansing postures to eliminate the old and make space for new.  We will also be looking at ways our bodies can twist and unwind to come fully into the now.

Here is to growing, less pain, more joy and flourishing!  Happy Spring and while you are preparing your soul for growth it is never a bad idea to get your hands dirty in Mother Earth, either.

Learn more about this powerful process in this short video! 

If you love my content and want more tools for mindfulness & movement, check out my digital products on Buy Me a Coffee! Your support helps me continue creating. 

Looking for the tools and products I swear by? Visit my Amazon storefront for a handpicked collection of my favorite finds—from kitchen gadgets to wellness essentials. Click here to explore and shop my must-haves.

If you would love to be part of my essential oil community and are ready to start using pure essential oils, shop here or email me for a free 1:1 consultation.

Cooling Balance: An Essential Oil Blend for Pitta Dosha

/ embracingspirit / 2 Comments

Cooling Balance: An Essential Oil Blend for Pitta Dosha

Pitta dosha, governed by the elements of fire and water, gives us drive, focus, and a passionate zest for life. But when Pitta becomes excessive—especially in the heat of summer or during stressful times—it can lead to irritability, impatience, and an overheated body and mind.

This calming essential oil blend is designed to soothe and balance Pitta’s fiery energy. With cooling, sweet, and grounding aromas, it helps you restore inner harmony, release tension, and invite a sense of ease and flow. Perfect for moments when you need to cool the flames and reconnect with your natural state of balance.

I finally figured out why I have so much heat (inflammation) in my body. I have a really hard time this time of year and I remembered a few days ago that historically the time that is summer turning to fall is sooooo hard on me because of my Ayurvedic dosha Pitta. (Ayurveda is the sister science to yoga that looks at body constitution). I seem to burning on fire inside and outside, and interestingly bugs and insects are obsessed with me.  They must sense my inner fire and want some.

The last few weeks have been really hard with a constant inner burning.  My joints are on fire, my belly is boiling, I have a burning in my stomach no matter what I eat, my temper is a tiny bit shorter and I am overall just hot.

I have started to implement eating more cucumbers, taking cooler showers and baths, drinking cool water, spending time with blues and greens, meditating on cool water imagery and just doing what I know to do. I also created a lovely and pitta-dosha calming blend—it’s all the lovely cool florals; rose, jasmine, neroli, lavender, helichrysum, geranium and sandalwood. Plus, I added some peppermint for a topical cooling sensation. I added turquoise to amplify it’s cooling properties and bring in the cool vibes of turquoise.  I apply this to my neck, chest and spine a few times a day.

If you’d like to know more about your dosha, let’s chat. I have some great resources and can do a quick assessment. Also, be sure to check out this free ebook for reference to essential oils.

Follow me for more goodness!

If you love my content and want more tools for mindfulness & movement, check out my digital products on Buy Me a Coffee! Your support helps me continue creating. 

Looking for the tools and products I swear by? Visit my Amazon storefront for a handpicked collection of my favorite finds—from kitchen gadgets to wellness essentials. Click here to explore and shop my must-haves.

If you would love to be part of my essential oil community and are ready to start using pure essential oils, shop here or email me for a free 1:1 consultation.