natural beauty Archives - Peace of Mind Wellness • Skin & Body Care

The Importance of Self Care and How I Learned the Hard Way

March 19, 2014 by Wendei Leave a Comment

I know what you’re thinking… “Self care? I’m working 60 hours a week, I have to take my kids to all their activities, I have to get my taxes done, take my mom to her doctor’s appointment, I don’t even have time to eat, let alone take CARE of myself!”

But here’s the deal… just like the old adage about putting on your oxygen mask first on an airplane, the same applies to every day life. If you don’t take care of yourself first, I promise you there will come a day where you won’t be able to get out of bed, let alone take care of anyone else in your world.

How do I know this? Because it’s happened to me more than once. Yeah, yeah, I’m sure you think that when I don’t have clients, I’m laying on my comfy massage bed with my face under the steamer taking a nice little nap. I wish! The truth is I’m doing inventory, booking appointments, ordering products, doing my taxes, making doctor’s appointments for my kids and a myriad of other things that would make your head spin. The ONLY way I’m able to survive my very over scheduled life is to TAKE CARE OF ME!

These days, taking care of me looks like this. Pilates twice a week with the fabulous Jamie Rutt. Yoga twice a week with the amazing Julie Buckner or at her studio InYoga. Eating healthy (for me this meant giving up gluten and sugar), getting enough sleep, and committing to a spa visit (not my own) once a month. It also means committing to my home skin care program: Washing my face twice a day and apply my layers of serums so that I can keep looking younger than the 50 years my body has been on this earth.

I’ve heard from people that they consider getting massages and facials a luxury. “My birthday is in June so I’ll treat myself then.” These are the same people who are getting in car accidents, getting sick all the time, suffering from back and joint pain, and not being able to sleep at night.

I’ve gone through periods in my life where I didn’t take care of myself, and boy, did I suffer. The most recent time was this past six months. I literally took care of everyone in my life except me. As a result, my fibromyalgia symptoms came back, I couldn’t fall asleep at night and worse, I got chronic daily migraine headaches. I even got in a little car accident because my brain was going a million miles a minute and caused $3600 worth of damage to my very patient husband’s car. But the headaches were what finally got my attention.

I knew what it was. I preach self care to my clients every day that I’m in the spa. But I wasn’t taking care of ME. I’m proud to say that after getting back to my own commitment to self care, I’m now headache free, sleeping well, not hitting cars and am so much more productive at work. I’m also a better and more loving wife and mom.

I challenge you to start putting yourself first. One of my favorite quotes is by the Jewish scholar Rabbi Hillel who wrote, “If I am not for myself then who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, then what am I? And if not now, when?”

So call us or book an appointment online today to take care of yourself.

Because if not now, when?

With peace & gratitude,

Wendei

Do You Really Need to Wash Your Face?

February 18, 2014 by Wendei Leave a Comment

I get this question a lot. Or, more often this: “I just wash my face with water… do I really need a cleanser?”

My new analogy is this: If you were at a fabulous restaurant and ate a delicious meal and then discovered that the dishes were never washed with soap, they were only rinsed off with water, what would you think? Would ever go back to that restaurant again? Would you even be able to hold down the terrific meal you just ate off that gross plate?

We live in a city filled with smog. Even on a clear day we’re exposed to car exhausts, dust from construction, people that may still have a cold or virus kissing us, etc. We touch our face more than we’d like to admit… more than we think we do. After touching food, papers, countertops, other people’s bodies, the dog that just rolled around in dirt, etc. You get the point.

Sorry to gross you out, but the truth is that most people aren’t washing their face properly, so here are some simple tips:

1) Use a cleanser designed for your face. Not Ivory soap, not Dove body wash or face oil–which seems to be the new hot thing. Oil doesn’t break down oil. Use a facial cleanser that’s pH balanced for your skin, meaning it’s a little more acidic than your skin so that it can break up oils and slough off dead skin cells.

2) Work the cleanser in for at least a minute or two. I know it sounds frivolous, but we don’t brush our teeth in 20 seconds. Just like most of us have learned the two minute rule for our teeth, the same applies to our face.

3) Use a wash cloth to remove the cleanser. Just splashing water on your face isn’t going to remove all the cleanser and you’ll be left with residue from your soap along with dead skin cells and dirt that didn’t come off with the water.

4) Use a toner. I used to think this wasn’t an important step, but I’ve changed my mind. Especially after realizing that most people just don’t know how to wash their face properly. There are toners for all different skin types. The best way to use a toner is to apply it with a folded up four by four square of gauze and don’t be afraid to use a little pressure. Keep applying until the gauze is clean.

5) Make sure you repeat the above steps morning AND night.

Come by the studio and we’ll be happy to help you choose the perfect cleanser and toner for your skin issues.

Happy cleansing!!!