Breaking Down Your Skin care Whys...

Hello lovelies! How was last week? Awesome I’m hoping!

So in keeping with our monthly theme of Breaking Down to Break Through, today I want to talk to you about breaking down your skincare whys in order to break through what’s keeping you from them! Like how I did that there? ;-).

You all know that holistic skincare is a huge passion of mine. The reason is multi-fold and has a lot to do with the whys of skincare.

Our skin, especially on our face commands a lot of our attention and for good reason. It’s the most un-hideable part of our body and the FIRST thing that most people see when meeting us for the first time. Therefore, our skin is a major part of our first impressions and as such, a major part of our internal self-esteem as well. Imagine what it feels like meeting someone new with a big pimple on your face? I don’t know many people that wouldn’t be at least slightly preoccupied with that and feeling some kind of way.

I know this firsthand. When your face is full of blemishes, acne scars and breakouts, and dark circles under your eyes, it’s really hard to put your best self forward! It’s really easy to cower, to melt into the background, to be meek, and to try to be unseen. It’s really easy to hate on yourself, to have a bleak outlook on everything, and to give up trying to have better. I know because I’ve been there. I’ve allowed myself to be stopped in my own tracks by my own self because of the low self-esteem my mess up skin caused me.

And I’ve also been witness to the growing esteem in myself as I began to learn how to take better care of my skin and actually do it and see the results.

And that’s why Holistic Skincare gets me so jazzed. It’s because just by the simple act of improving your skin, you can improve your life by leaps and bounds.

That may sound like an exaggeration but humor me for a bit.

We imagined having blemished, inflamed skin. Now imagine having glowing, radiant skin. Imagine how confident you’d feel. Imagine meeting that new person now. Imagine how vibrant your smile would be, how easily you would rise up and meet their eyes and welcome them to take a full good look at you. No cowering, no hiding, no meekness, no trying to be unseen.

Feels pretty good right? And holistic skincare is what gets you there and what got me there. Holistic skincare means approaching your skin’s healing from not just one level. It means addressing it on multiple levels, bringing all of the variables into play that affect it, the most important one being your mind. (We’ll talk about that more in a later post). It also means creating a skin care plan and regimen for you that is long lasting and about healing, not just quick fixes.

This is one of the areas that I’m here to help you out with ladies and gents. Holistic skin care is something you can learn and put into practice too and I’m happy to be your guide :-).

This Tuesday, I’m hosting a special FREE Webinar (think of it as a class you can attend over the internet!) on the 5 Steps to Gorgeous, Radiant Skin. I’m going to give you my BEST TIPS – things you can start implementing right after the webinar is over! These are the steps I use and that I’ve recommended to every single client I’ve had as an esthetician. I definitely want to share them with you so be sure to sign up here. That way you’ll receive the special link so that you can tune in on Tuesday.

As always, let me know if you have any questions at all in the comments below. What’s your biggest skin care issue right now? Let me know in the comments and I’ll make a point to address it in a future post!

Thanks for being you ;-)

Breaking Down to Break Through...

So I've been contemplating what I wanted to focus on this month in terms of themes. I think themes really help to keep things cohesive and they help us to learn and integrate information so much better. When our mind has something to tether it to, it seems to stick. 

So in my search for what theme to go with this month, I thought about the new moon that just came through our sky yesterday and all of its astrological implications and I thought about my own astrological guidance this month and that's all brought me to the theme of Breaking down to Break Through. 

April is that kind of month in general right? Things are in blossom mode all around us. They are "breaking through". And if you focus on nature for instance, The whole season of Winter was a breakdown and in order to jump start activity and motion in April, there has to be an intentional break through. Breaking through the ground. Breaking through the surface. Breaking through the barriers to the light on the other side. 

So let's talk about that. Let's think about it in terms of our goal setting first. Most of us went about setting goals at the beginning of the year. If you've been following along with me since the beginning of the blog, you know that I walked us through this process with the #7daysforme Challenge and set some intentions for myself as well. 

Well now my dear friends, it's time to break through with those! We're here at April.

The time is now! If you've been holding back, take the reins and drive it forward!!! 

Check in with yourself. What haven't you done yet? What plans are you sitting on that are just waiting for some action? Let's talk about the DOING and no more of the PLANNING. Take whatever step you are at now and GO. GO. GO. You'll always have time to refine, to make it better, to regroup. But you'll never get to *that* point if you don't get past *this* point. Trust me, I have ample personal life examples to prove that to you and I'm sure you've got a good handful in your own life as well ;-). 

And I'm not just preaching - I'm taking my own advice too. For instance, I've been sitting on this program I'm creating for way too long. I've been fussing over the information page and worrying about the order of the content and so on and so forth. All just stalemates keeping me from DOING. And that's just one of the projects I've been sitting on. 

Trust me, in these next few weeks, I'm taking action. And you are going to see it in my results :D. Be on the lookout for the skincare program I've been working on FINALLY being ready for you. My next plan is the skincare for dancers ebook FINALLY being available. And my very own line of herbal teas. Yes my friends it's time. What is it time for in YOUR life?

HERBAL ALLY for This Time of HIGH FOCUS

One of my favorite herbs for focus is Peppermint. This herb is absolutely wonderful for so many things and so you are going to hear me talk about it a lot :-). Here's why you need to make a bunch of cups this month ;-).

Peppermint Tea

• helps clear the mind and ease tension
• soothes indigestion and stomach complaints so those won't hold you back
• increases focus and concentration
• relaxes yet stimulates - perfect combo ;-).

Lessons Learned from Telling a Different Story

So my lovely friends, I have a story to tell! First let me preface this story with the reminder that my theme word for this year is COURAGE.

It’s beautiful and sometimes scary that when you ask the Universe for something with your whole heart, it shows up all around you.

I made a statement at the beginning of the year that I would approach each thing that I did with Courage.  That courage would take me through to the other side where the awesome thing that you could only dream about on this side, lived in plain commonplace eyesight.

Since that decree, the Universe has been throwing all kinds of scenarios at me to help me practice and this Thursday I had yet another opportunity. This has to do with my local Whole Foods.

How many of you know that my makeup line used to be stocked there? Yes, for about a year – maybe two - Whole Foods sold Etniq Mineral Cosmetics (that was the name of it back then.).

Can I tell you what a dream come true this was? I don’t think I can express it in enough ways to make you fully understand but I will try. Whole Foods was a beacon of all the things that were right in the world at that time to me. When I lived back home in Chicago, Whole Foods is what kept me and my quirky health habits in gear – it was my refuge – the place I could go where everyone ‘got’ me, where there were a bunch of mes, where I felt amongst kin :-).

In my practicing esthetics years, I even taught classes and did holistic skincare consultations at the Whole Foods in OakPark, IL. It just felt like my kind of place.

So retailing in Whole Foods was something like the biggest deal that could ever happen to me. Here was someplace that I held in the highest regard – validating that something of mine that I created was worthy.

So you can probably imagine how devastating of a blow having my products dropped from Whole Foods was. I remember the day that I got the call – I believe I sat in my car and cried for a good 30 minutes. Just imagine the worst combination of shame, disappointment, resentment, and sadness you can. Now triple that at least. That’s about how bad it felt.

The shame was the worst. The feeling of being an absolute and complete failure and publicly at that was impossible to shake at that time. I had a hard time even being in public for fear that someone would ask how my products were doing at Whole Foods and that I’d have to tell them they weren’t there anymore. No matter what story I came up with to tell them why, in my head, they would always figure out the “truth” that I was just a failure set up and waiting to happen.

Can you believe that this is what I thought about myself? Can you believe that I still find these feelings poking around me from time to time? And I’m sure I’m not the only one right ;-).

Back to the story though, I eventually got over the immediate feelings of embarrassment but my last frontier was being able to go to Whole Foods again. For a good year and a half, I wasn’t able to. I felt like all of the employees who saw me and remembered me would be shaking their heads sadly at me, thereby augmenting my shame. Even when the Whole Foods moved to a brand new building and started serving my beloved pizza – I still couldn’t go. There were a few exceptions where I *had* to go but for the most part Whole Foods was a no Leah zone.

And then this Thursday rolls around and I happen to be in the area and I happen to be having a stellar day. It’s lunch time, I’ve just come out of the other store in the lot and I’m hungry. Since my aim is to always avoid fast food, I think of some other options and boom, Whole Foods is there – with my beloved pizza. And you know what, I say Leah, it’s time. It’s time to let this fear go and tell a different story.

So I bop into Whole Foods holding my head high, leisurely check out some lotion (in the same section as the makeup mind you). I even CHECK OUT the makeup and gather some display and labeling tips for my own line. I don’t hide for fear of seeing any employees that might recognize me. I soak in the vibe and the energy of Whole Foods (it’s still mostly good) and I go pick up my pizza, grab some good iced tea, and head to check out.

No alarms went off. No one pointed me out and said ‘That’s that girl that failed here. Her products suck.’ No one asked how I had the courage to come shopping after being ‘let go’. No one awkwardly said hi. And even if they did, I probably wasn’t going to die from it.

I didn’t have to slink out and I didn’t have to take a moment and recompose myself in the car :-). It really was all good.

So really, this was mostly a share, but in that share I hope I inspired you to take a look at your own life. Do you have a story about something that is holding you back? Maybe it’s time to let it go and tell a different story.

And go get your freakin’ pizza already! :-P..(had to!).

Excited about Natural Medicine!

Hey there lovelies! 

I am so hoping that you've been enjoying this last week or so. My life has been filled with lots of activity - all of it leading to positive things for sure. I want to tell you all about it so today's post is going to be a hodge podge :). 

I'm sitting here on a Sunday after having enjoyed an absolutely lovely me-focused Easter day. Yes, I could have gotten caught up in feeling some kind of way about not having a family gathering to go to BUT I also could redirect that energy to feeling super grateful for having a day all to myself with no agenda. And yep, that's what I did :). The weather was so lovely and my backyard was the perfect place to veg out, web surf and read. I spent a little time at the grocery store with all of the other people not at Easter dinner, lol, and then spent the rest of the day hanging out on my couch with my Real Simple, Vegetarian Times, and Clean Eating Magazines :-D. I’ve been on a magazine kick lately and these 3 are probably my favorites – so inspiring. I’ve definitely realized the value of surrounding yourself with who you want to be and what you want to be about ;-).

One other thing I did today was listen to parts of an awesome podcast from the Natural Medicine Summit that just ended this past week. This was a virtual event put on by Dr. Michael Murray, a leading authority in the world of natural medicine. I was able to catch a couple of the interviews and oh my, it was so invigorating! It’s been a while since I’ve been to a public educational event on natural medicine – even virtually, it felt awesome to be listening to conversations about how nature provides every single thing we need for optimal health. It really is the truth.

There is one concept introduced by Mike Adams, the editor of NaturalNews.com that I’m going to explore more and report on for you. It’s the idea of defensive eating. What this means is that when you eat something not necessarily healthy for you, that you also eat a food that can counter the negative effects of the negative food. It’s a concept that feels intuitively already known but intellectually not really spelled out in this way. I think it’s brilliant and makes so much sense for the world that we live in today. So definitely look out for what more I find out about this – looking forward to sharing it with you!

I’m not sure how long the encore videos will be available, but I suggest popping over to this link and checking them out while you still can. These are the top 3 interviews from the summit and I can definitely see why.

Another thing that Mike Adams spoke about was growing your own food. I’m so committed to this and each year I do a better and better job. We’re headed back into that season of planning and planting so be on the lookout for me sharing my steps and encouraging you to take your own ;-).

Alrighty friends, this post is getting long so instead of jamming all of my reflection into today, I will instead give you a reading break and come back with more very soon :-).

Until then lovelies!

Best and brightest!

NEW CLASS ALERT!: Spring Detox: Mind, Body, Spirit Renewal!

NEW CLASS ALERT!: Spring Detox: Mind, Body, Spirit Renewal!

Hello lovelies!

I’m hoping that your week has started off well and that you are enjoying beautiful weather wherever you are :). Here in Little Rock it is GORGEOUS! I’m talking 80 degree weather over here :-)! Needless to say I am happy about that.

What I’m also happy about is that I’ve just put the finishing touches on the first course I’ve been working on for you and it is ready to go!

When I was deciding on what would be best to focus on right now, after asking you all’s opinions and combining that with my own intuition, I kept thinking about the season we are moving into Spring.

When I think of Spring I think of renewal, rejuvenation, and refreshment. I think about priming my mind, body, and spirit to get them back in gear and repaired from any neglect, misuse, or damage from Winter (because Winter’s can be harsh). I also see it as a time to fortify myself for the next few seasons to come (Summer, Fall and back into Winter).

So with all of that in mind, I created the Spring Detox: Mind, Body and Spirit Renewal Mini-E Course!

I’m excited about it! In the course, which will be done all online via Google Hangouts, we will cover in detail which body systems are involved in detoxing. We’ll discuss the herbal remedies I recommend for toning and healing these systems. And last but not at all least, I’ll share with you natural beauty and health rituals and methods that can help to renew your spirit and refresh your mind as well.  

The course is over 3 days beginning next Monday. Each session will be an hour long and will be recorded and the replay made available to you. You’ll have hands out for each class that will help you remember what you’ve learned and more importantly *incorporate* what you’ve learned into your everyday life. And your investment is just $49 for all of this!

If you want to check out some more information about the course, feel free to watch my video about it below and/or email me with any questions you have. If you are ready to get started then click on over to here and get registered! I'm excited to get started with you next week! 

Until then! 

Stay positively in love with yourself ;-). 

Self-Care All Day

Have you ever had a day where the most you wanted to do was stare into space? Maybe a few other things but mostly just that. Just retreat and relax. I’m here to tell you to take it. Go ahead and take that time. Go ahead and honor yourself and your innate intuition. It’s there for a reason ;-).

I’m in a space like that right now. All I’ve wanted to do for the majority of the day is nada. I’ve wanted to ebb and flow with whatever suited my fancy. Nap if need be. Read if so inspired. Write if I feel like it. Or just do nothing at all. Not even on purpose thinking.

I’ve been semi successful :). What it’s showing me though is how much I need to honor my own mind and tune into my own requirements.

And not feel bad about that. There is the key – not feel bad about it.

It’s so easy to feel bad about what you need and in turn not get/give yourself what you need. And where does that get you? Pooped, on edge, ready to scream at your cell phone for not cutting on when I PUSH THE POWER BUTTON! Oh, oh my bad :D. See that was me today when I went out to do my only to-do on my list for today. Even that small commitment outside of myself set me on edge and made me have to count to 10 to not bash my lovely phone into the steering wheel :).

Now I don’t tell you this for you to start worrying about my sanity or potential violent streaks, lol. No, I’m sharing this to show you how important today was for me and how even though I did ease off of my to-do list on purpose for the day, when I pushed myself instead of giving in to the entire day, I quickly realized I wasn’t all the way renewed – even though I felt like “ok Leah, you’ve had enough time.” The reality is that I didn’t. And that I needed more time. And that that was ok.

So if you find yourself having a day like I did today…make yourself the most important thing. And don’t feel bad about that. A coach/friend of mine gave me a mantra a few days ago “I serve. I deserve.” I KNOW you all serve. No doubt about it. Remind yourself that you deserve too ;-).

P.S. Here's a little on purpose self-care you can indulge in today. Passion flower tea is a 'wonderherb' for stress and anxiety. It's known to calm the nerves and even help you sleep better. The beautiful thing is that you can now easily find it at your grocery store in a number of calming tea blends by well known  brands. I will almost always encourage you to use Traditional Medicinals brand if you are not buying loose herbs and this case is no different. Traiditional Medicinals has a blend called Cup of Calm that features a good helping of Passion Flower. Treat yourself to a cup or two :-).  

Dealing with this Allergy Season!

Hey loves! How has it been? Let's just say I've had a FULL two weeks. Really full. Lots of life. Lots of stuff. But that's the stuff of life right? It's not about what is happening, it's about how you are handling it :). And I've been handling it well, with my beauty and wellness rituals in tow :-D. 

In addition to all of the 'life stuff', I have been working on my first program for you all! I'm really excited about it :). I'm still working out all of the details, but it's going to have all the juicy bits about wellness and holistic beauty AND the steps to make it an easy add to your life. It's going to be kinda stellar, kinda fab, kinda amazing ;-). 

Moving on though, last week I was still dealing with major allergy ick. I talk about it in the video but basically, it was annoying at the least, lol. I used my bag of natural remedy tricks though and I can happily say that *this* week, I'm feeling 100 times better - woohoo! 

So, grab some coffee or lunch and hit play :). Let me know if you've been using any of these remedies as of late OR what you have been doing to knock out the allergies in the comments! 

Until next time! 

Can you explain the hold Beyonce has on the world?

By I_Am..._Tour_11.jpg: idrewukderivative work: Lucas Secret - This file was derived from:  I Am... Tour 11.jpg, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20657330

Hey lovely ones :). Hope it's been a blessed week so far. So I'm sure you've seen all of the buzz around Beyonce' over these past few days right? How could you miss it? Everyone in the world, literally, is in love with her all over again - doe-eyed and mouth gaping in awe of her awesomeness! I'm not hating, I'm just stating :-D. 

What *is it* about this lady?? I have to admit, I'm not really a Beyonce' fanatic. I do appreciate a lot of her songs and they do get my "rah rah" going when I need to be pumped up. They make me want to pop my head back, signify and silently but fiercely walk off the set, lol. (mind you, there is no set :-P).  

And when I saw the video for FORMATION, her newest song, I have to admit again, it sold me. I promptly messaged my sister (who is a little force to be reckoned with herself) and reminded her that just like Beyonce' works hard, see what's she wants and grinds til she gets it (paraphrasing from the song), she can do that same thing. And be just as fierce in the process.

But what is it about Beyonce's fierceness that is so compelling, so attractive. I had to really think about this, because again, I'm not a Beyonce' fanatic. I even kind of roll my eyes and think "seriously??" when I see Beyonce' addicts singing her praises as though she is the second coming...seriously, they do :-P. 

But then it hit me, I think the reason is because she embodies the epitome of self love and even self care.  Stay with me here...

How so?

Let's think about self-love...

She is unapologetically herself. Her image says I AM the boss chick. I GET to make the decisions. I am SO worthy and shame on you if you don't see that.  She talks in almost every song about how awesome she is and not just because of some one dimensional reason, but because she chooses to be. She's done the work to own it and she's given herself PERMISSION to be bad ass period. And she has no problem nurturing and indulging herself in her bad ass-ness. She has no problem claiming her awesomeness and whatever she thinks should come with that. What's more, she has no problem (her image persona at least) with what any other person thinks about it. 

And self care?

Every video you see, Beyonce' is encased in beauty, surrounded by luxury and extravagance. From her outfits to her choice of sets, you always get the sense that she is a queen and that as a queen, she will always demand the best for herself and demand it in whatever form she deems relevant and worthy at the time. That is serious self-care. 

I mean you just can't deny these facts right? 

I think THIS is the reason that so many are in awe of her. Her image touches a core in all of us, that place that knows the secret that we deserve the absolute best. That we deserve a Beyonce' Class life too. 

I think that many live vicariously through her, even subconsciously, because they are afraid to live the way Beyonce' lives - claiming your worth anywhere and everywhere for everyone to see ;-).  Instead, it's much easier to dream and fantasize about someone else's life that you idolize in the process. 

It's so good to see this right? We here are the ones that want our own Beyonce' class life or as one of my mentor's says "our own First Class Life"!  It's good to notice what it is in another that we appreciate and then look for that same thing in ourselves (and create it if it's not there ;-)). 

So, as for me, I'm grateful for Beyonce' and I can finally feel ok with that lol. She gets me fired up and reminds me that I have my own First Class, World Class life to get to living.  If I were you, I'd let her be that for me too ;-).