Shampoo Experiment - First 2 Weeks
Well I have made it through the first two weeks of using a shampoo of my own creation. I must say it has been a rather interesting. At first, I wondered if I had bitten off just a bit more than I could chew. I'll be honest, the first week I really wasn't sure because my hair had a weird sort of texture to it and I wasn't quite sure that this whole create my own shampoo thing was my best idea. However, I was determined to stick to it. Everything I have read does say there is an adjustment period as your scalp gets used to not having its natural oils stripped from it everyday. That adjustment period can be a week to as long 3, even 4, weeks from some of the articles I read.
A Few Setbacks
There have been a few errors in judgement along the way. After the first week I decided I need to get my hair cut because I had let the layers grow out only to discover that there was a reason I had them cut into my hair in the first place. (Definitely not one of my better ideas letting those layers grown out!) The people at the salon were really good about me not letting them shampoo my hair but I did let them condition it and put product on it and what a freaking disaster, if I do say so myself. By the end of the day my hair was one big oily mess!! I hated the way my hair felt.
My second error in judgement came this past Wednesday night when I decided my hair was in need of a deep conditioning treatment so I decided to use coconut oil. It took me washing my hair 3 days in a row to get that mess out of my hair completely. I have been wanting to shampoo my hair less not more so needless to say this was a few steps back in the plan. Talk about bad hair days. Thankfully my hair is long enough that I can just pull it back but still. Not a great choice. I think if you have really thick coarse hair, that method could work but it certainly is not the best choice for my hair. Next time I might try olive oil or jojoba.
A Few Tweaks
Half way through the first week it occurred to me that I probably needed to come up with a formula specific to my specific situation, oily scalp. The recipe suggested olive oil could be left out if you have oily scalp but I found I needed to add a small amount of olive oil to my shampoo because my hair was feeling a bit dry and it did help. I doubled the recipe and it lasted me roughly two weeks. I also just used herbs I had on hand. Yesterday I had to make a new batch so I was more deliberate in choosing the herbs. I chose herbs specifically for dark hair and oily hair. This blend has calendula, nettle, rosemary, lavender, horsetail, marshmallow root and burdock root. I did use this mix to shampoo my hair this morning and I have to say I am liking it much more than the first mix
I will say that I am noticing my hair changing for the better, one is that it is thicker with more body. Another is that even though it still does get oily within 24 hours, that seems to be improving as time goes on. Who knows, maybe in time I will be able to wash my hair every other day instead of every day. If anything I am happy to know what is in my shampoo and there is great satisfaction in being able to create it with my own hands.
Next blog: my thoughts on hair color and a little bit more about why I am creating my own shampoo among other things.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Saturday, September 1, 2012
The Shampoo Experiment
I don't know any female who isn't on the hunt for the perfect shampoo. They keys to a good shampoo for most of us is it has to smell good, work up a good lather and make your hair feel fabulous. The downside to shampoo is that if you read the ingredients it can often seem to be the product of a mad scientist's experiment. You kind of need a chemical textbook to understand. It can also be worrisome to think about what exactly those chemicals are and what they do to the body.
In our overly saturated chemical environment it can seem an uphill battle to avoid chemicals completely. However, you can find ways to cut down on that chemical load and making your own shampoo is one way to do just that! It is surprisingly easy to create and the benefits endless. There is an initial cost to obtaining ingredients but they are easily found at the store and online. A few ingredients and you have a shampoo that is chemical free and cheaper than what you buy in the store.
This is a link to the recipe I followed: http://mountainroseblog.com/herbal-hair-care/. Read through the comments too, I found it really helpful to read others suggestions, questions and answers. I used a combination of dried calendula flowers, dried lavender and some fresh rosemary from the bush in our backyard. I used lavender essential oil as a preservative for it's anti-bacterial properties and I had it easily on hand. Remember there are no preservatives in this so you probably don't want to make a huge batch unless you are going to add an essential oil with anti-bacterial properties or keep in the fridge.
My next blog I will go into how I my own experience is going using my homemade shampoo and other thoughts about going chemical free!
Friday, August 31, 2012
Forgiving Ourselves - Easier Said Than Done
From the WordPress Blog Musings, Rants and Raves 10/23/2011
One thing I have learned over the years is that often times our problem is not so much other people or circumstances but ourselves. Not exactly an earthshattering revelation but one that I often conveinently forget. I was reminded this morning that our perspective and emotions about ourselves set the tone for how we deal with life and that it can keep us from creating the life we want.
The situation in my life that always seems to stymie me to paralysis is my finances. Now let me just say how ironic this is. It is ironic because I am an accountant by trade. I make my living essentially reconciling bank accounts, paying the company bills, etc. So this irony isn't lost on me. It seems no matter what I do, things just don't seem to get better, if anything they either get worse or just stay the same. It is something that can keep me up at night and make me a knot of nerves and adds to my stress level. Let me just say here as a woman in perimenopause, stress is the last thing I need.
Today as I was thinking about this in the shower (I get a lot of great ideas in the shower), I had one of those lightbulb moments. I finally made a connection that I guess should be obvious but was a real revelation for me. I realized that I am so ashamed of my financial situation it makes it difficult to even look at my finances with anything close to a rational perspective. When I looked up shame in on merriam-webster.com one of the definitions hit a chord with me. It said that shame is "a painful emotion caused by the consciousness of guilt....." Wow! Knowing how damaging guilt can be, no wonder my money issues seem like a wall I just can't seem to scale. I also realized part of letting go of the shame and this mindset of guilt is forgiving myself.
We all know forgiveness is the key to moving forward in our life and yet how often we find it easier to forgive others than we do ourselves. We hold ourselves to a higher standard than other people. I know I could easily forgive someone else messing up my finances but not so much forgive myself for the same thing. There is something about this insight that makes me sad in a way. Sad because I realize how harsh I have judged myself in this area of my life. Sad because I know I would never judge another person that way. So, now I begin the work of forgiving myself, not sure exactly what that will look like. However, I do believe knowledge is power or I should say, empowerment.
What about you? Is there an area in your life where shame is blocking you from healing and wholeness? Are you ready to forgive yourself? My prayer is that you are. Life is too short to live in shame.
Namaste.
One thing I have learned over the years is that often times our problem is not so much other people or circumstances but ourselves. Not exactly an earthshattering revelation but one that I often conveinently forget. I was reminded this morning that our perspective and emotions about ourselves set the tone for how we deal with life and that it can keep us from creating the life we want.
The situation in my life that always seems to stymie me to paralysis is my finances. Now let me just say how ironic this is. It is ironic because I am an accountant by trade. I make my living essentially reconciling bank accounts, paying the company bills, etc. So this irony isn't lost on me. It seems no matter what I do, things just don't seem to get better, if anything they either get worse or just stay the same. It is something that can keep me up at night and make me a knot of nerves and adds to my stress level. Let me just say here as a woman in perimenopause, stress is the last thing I need.
Today as I was thinking about this in the shower (I get a lot of great ideas in the shower), I had one of those lightbulb moments. I finally made a connection that I guess should be obvious but was a real revelation for me. I realized that I am so ashamed of my financial situation it makes it difficult to even look at my finances with anything close to a rational perspective. When I looked up shame in on merriam-webster.com one of the definitions hit a chord with me. It said that shame is "a painful emotion caused by the consciousness of guilt....." Wow! Knowing how damaging guilt can be, no wonder my money issues seem like a wall I just can't seem to scale. I also realized part of letting go of the shame and this mindset of guilt is forgiving myself.
We all know forgiveness is the key to moving forward in our life and yet how often we find it easier to forgive others than we do ourselves. We hold ourselves to a higher standard than other people. I know I could easily forgive someone else messing up my finances but not so much forgive myself for the same thing. There is something about this insight that makes me sad in a way. Sad because I realize how harsh I have judged myself in this area of my life. Sad because I know I would never judge another person that way. So, now I begin the work of forgiving myself, not sure exactly what that will look like. However, I do believe knowledge is power or I should say, empowerment.
What about you? Is there an area in your life where shame is blocking you from healing and wholeness? Are you ready to forgive yourself? My prayer is that you are. Life is too short to live in shame.
Namaste.
An Unexpected Gift
From the WordPress Blog Musings, Rants and Raves 10/5/2011
Sometimes life takes rather interesting turns. The unexpected comes and surprises us with a gift. Such is what happened to me about a month ago. I had a chance to find out if I had really forgiven someone. Not just forgive them but invite them back into my life. Forgiveness is a beautiful thing but it isn’t always easy. My theory is that it may be less complicated to forgive someone you have no chance of seeing again because there is no risk of being hurt again. Since they are not coming back into your life, you don’t have to make the choice of letting them back in so, essentially, there is no risk. However, it is a trickier matter when they do come back into your life and you decide to let them back in.
After all, aren’t you in a very real sense risking being hurt again to let them back in?
That is the situation I found myself in about a month ago. It all started with a letter. A simple letter filled with a heartfelt apology. Now the letter didn’t request contact, in fact it stated quite clearly they had no expectation of contact. They were making the effort to make amends, no matter the outcome. So much went through my mind reading that letter, the most surprising thing was whatever anger, hurt I thought I still had was gone. I didn’t hold it against them anymore. Somewhere along the way, I had let go of the past hurt and moved forward. My heart cracked open and all I could feel was joy. My spirit felt lighter and I couldn’t grab pen and paper fast enough. In that moment, I had only vague memory of the pain but could only remember the gifts and benefits that the friendship had brought into my life.
All this isn’t to say that I didn’t have a doubt or two in the back of my mind. I didn’t make the choice to let this person back in to my life unconsciously. It is just that when measuring the pros and cons, the pros far outweighed any doubt I may have had. It was also a reminder that life is like the spiral I talked about in my previous blog. Here we are on another turn of the spiral. A new opportunity to bring all the wisdom and gifts from our previous turn on the spiral forward with the intention of creating something better, deeper and stronger than before.
Yes, there is always the risk. The risk of being hurt again, the risk of having it fall apart. In my experience though, it is only when I risk what may be dear to me, that I fully reap the rewards. Sometimes the risk pays off and sometimes it doesn’t. I think the big difference is what I have mentioned in previous blogs, awareness. I go into this with eyes wide open and with my heart wide open too. That was a state of being I had no awareness of previously. I am looking forward to see what difference it makes as I go forward on this part of the journey. Every turn on the spiral teaches a lesson, offers its own unique wisdom. The only job any of us has is to simply allow ourselves the journey.
Sometimes life takes rather interesting turns. The unexpected comes and surprises us with a gift. Such is what happened to me about a month ago. I had a chance to find out if I had really forgiven someone. Not just forgive them but invite them back into my life. Forgiveness is a beautiful thing but it isn’t always easy. My theory is that it may be less complicated to forgive someone you have no chance of seeing again because there is no risk of being hurt again. Since they are not coming back into your life, you don’t have to make the choice of letting them back in so, essentially, there is no risk. However, it is a trickier matter when they do come back into your life and you decide to let them back in.
After all, aren’t you in a very real sense risking being hurt again to let them back in?
That is the situation I found myself in about a month ago. It all started with a letter. A simple letter filled with a heartfelt apology. Now the letter didn’t request contact, in fact it stated quite clearly they had no expectation of contact. They were making the effort to make amends, no matter the outcome. So much went through my mind reading that letter, the most surprising thing was whatever anger, hurt I thought I still had was gone. I didn’t hold it against them anymore. Somewhere along the way, I had let go of the past hurt and moved forward. My heart cracked open and all I could feel was joy. My spirit felt lighter and I couldn’t grab pen and paper fast enough. In that moment, I had only vague memory of the pain but could only remember the gifts and benefits that the friendship had brought into my life.
All this isn’t to say that I didn’t have a doubt or two in the back of my mind. I didn’t make the choice to let this person back in to my life unconsciously. It is just that when measuring the pros and cons, the pros far outweighed any doubt I may have had. It was also a reminder that life is like the spiral I talked about in my previous blog. Here we are on another turn of the spiral. A new opportunity to bring all the wisdom and gifts from our previous turn on the spiral forward with the intention of creating something better, deeper and stronger than before.
Yes, there is always the risk. The risk of being hurt again, the risk of having it fall apart. In my experience though, it is only when I risk what may be dear to me, that I fully reap the rewards. Sometimes the risk pays off and sometimes it doesn’t. I think the big difference is what I have mentioned in previous blogs, awareness. I go into this with eyes wide open and with my heart wide open too. That was a state of being I had no awareness of previously. I am looking forward to see what difference it makes as I go forward on this part of the journey. Every turn on the spiral teaches a lesson, offers its own unique wisdom. The only job any of us has is to simply allow ourselves the journey.
Life is a Spiral Not a Straight Line, Part 2
From the WordPress Blog Musings, Rants and Raves 6/27/2011
To summarize where we left off, I wrote about how the image of the spiral gave me a whole new perspective on where I found myself in my life and a perspective on the past. A sense of relief that there was a purpose to why I felt drawn back to a spiritual tradition that often time left me feeling frustrated and confused. The image of the spiral shows me that there is no such thing as moving backwards, you can only move along the spiral in cyclical motion.
A spiral is circular but the circles are cyclical in nature. In a spiral you never repeat a circle, you simply wind up at the same point but in a new circle that is connected to all the others. The cycles continue to turn. They don't ever disconnect form each other. The spiral continues to move in circular motion.
When life is like a spiral, what may seem like a repeat of a past mistake is really a new cycle, a new opportunity. In this new cycle, you bring with you all the experiences and lessons of the previous cycles. All that wisdom is available to you if you choose to use it. Let me explain it in this way, anytime we come across what we may perceive as a repeat of a past mistake, it is a new opportunity to experience that event in a new way. We can choose to do what we did last time or we can choose to do something new, something different. We always have a choice.
In our humanness we often perceive things in a more linear way. We forget that there is a much bigger picture that we fit into. The spiral teaches us that there is something much deeper and larger at work. We are in constant motion, we move around the spiral that is our life. The events that seemingly repeat are the opportunity to put into practice all that we learn along the way. We can let go of the perception of the past, the perception of making mistakes and embrace the ability to choose how we experience the current cycle we find ourselves in. We can do this because we know that no matter what happens we will always have the opportunity to do things differently at another point along the spiral.
So in this cycle where I find myself drawn back to a place I thought I left behind. I realize that I never really left it behind. I brought the wisdom from the previous cycles with me that I can now use however I choose, I can do that experience the same way I did before, if that is my choice. There is no shame in going through an experience over and over if we consciously choose to. For we never really repeat the experience in the same way even though that may be our perception. However, I can also choose to form a new experience using the lessons from the past, knowing that the cycle of the spiral will bring me back to this point in the future providing yet another opportunity to create my life.
So the next time you feel like you are repeating a past experience, pause for a moment and call up the image of the spiral. What are you choosing? What do you feel called to do? Whether to "repeat" the experience or go through it in a different way is not so much the issue, only do so consciously, with awareness. Knowing that whatever your choice, you will have the opportunity again in another cycle on the wheel.
Namaste
To summarize where we left off, I wrote about how the image of the spiral gave me a whole new perspective on where I found myself in my life and a perspective on the past. A sense of relief that there was a purpose to why I felt drawn back to a spiritual tradition that often time left me feeling frustrated and confused. The image of the spiral shows me that there is no such thing as moving backwards, you can only move along the spiral in cyclical motion.
A spiral is circular but the circles are cyclical in nature. In a spiral you never repeat a circle, you simply wind up at the same point but in a new circle that is connected to all the others. The cycles continue to turn. They don't ever disconnect form each other. The spiral continues to move in circular motion.
When life is like a spiral, what may seem like a repeat of a past mistake is really a new cycle, a new opportunity. In this new cycle, you bring with you all the experiences and lessons of the previous cycles. All that wisdom is available to you if you choose to use it. Let me explain it in this way, anytime we come across what we may perceive as a repeat of a past mistake, it is a new opportunity to experience that event in a new way. We can choose to do what we did last time or we can choose to do something new, something different. We always have a choice.
In our humanness we often perceive things in a more linear way. We forget that there is a much bigger picture that we fit into. The spiral teaches us that there is something much deeper and larger at work. We are in constant motion, we move around the spiral that is our life. The events that seemingly repeat are the opportunity to put into practice all that we learn along the way. We can let go of the perception of the past, the perception of making mistakes and embrace the ability to choose how we experience the current cycle we find ourselves in. We can do this because we know that no matter what happens we will always have the opportunity to do things differently at another point along the spiral.
So in this cycle where I find myself drawn back to a place I thought I left behind. I realize that I never really left it behind. I brought the wisdom from the previous cycles with me that I can now use however I choose, I can do that experience the same way I did before, if that is my choice. There is no shame in going through an experience over and over if we consciously choose to. For we never really repeat the experience in the same way even though that may be our perception. However, I can also choose to form a new experience using the lessons from the past, knowing that the cycle of the spiral will bring me back to this point in the future providing yet another opportunity to create my life.
So the next time you feel like you are repeating a past experience, pause for a moment and call up the image of the spiral. What are you choosing? What do you feel called to do? Whether to "repeat" the experience or go through it in a different way is not so much the issue, only do so consciously, with awareness. Knowing that whatever your choice, you will have the opportunity again in another cycle on the wheel.
Namaste
Life Is a Spiral, Not a Straight Line, Part 1
From the WordPress Blog Musings, Rants and Raves 6/23/2011
I am not the most prolific blogger, in case you couldn’t tell. As usual, life has a way to getting in the way of good intentions. I have been pondering this idea of life being a spiral for a while now. Like most ideas for my blogs, this thought really came to me as a bit of an epiphany. It’s like you are out mowing the lawn one day and get this fantastic insight into achieving world peace or something. Ok, my blog is not going to bring about world peace, but if it does bring a bit of peace to your own soul or at least give you some food for thought, I think that makes the effort to blog worth it.
It wasn’t long ago that I was feeling frustrated and angry at myself. My sense, at the time, was that I was repeating an old pattern. As I have said in one of my previous blogs, I come from a very traditional religious background. Back in 2008 I had a massive paradigm shift. I was sitting in church one day when a voice in my head (loudly) said, “I can’t do this anymore.” I left the church with no real plans to return. Let me just be clear, I left church but not God. If anything, leaving church made me more determined in defining what “God” is for me and how it fits into the big picture of my life. The fact of the matter is I have done this many times before. Throughout my late teens into my adult years there was this underlying sense that I was missing something, there was some thing out there that I needed to find that would make my life make sense. I would get a break from it for awhile, throw myself into church but then I would feel this restlessness take hold.
I would drift away from church, then come back months or years later. I would follow this pattern over and over. Each time I would come back and think if I just tried harder, had a bit more faith, this thing that drove me in and out of church would go away but it never really did. This last time felt different though. I honestly never pictured myself going back. Going back would be a step back not forward. Imagine my surprise a few months ago when that old sense of restlessness took hold and I found myself being drawn back to church. It felt overwhelming, like a wave that I was drowning in. I missed the people, the sense of community, I missed the “culture” of church, I missed the music, the bible study, all of it. Even though it often left me feeling empty and frustrated, there was a longing for it. I was not happy about it. I was taking a step backwards. How did I get here? Why was this happening? On a lovely Saturday morning as I was mowing the lawn, I had what is properly known as the light bulb moment.
At that moment I saw an image of a spiral. In that moment, I realized that I could not take a step back even if I wanted to. I could not take a step back because there was nothing to step back to. I was walking the spiral and each ring of the spiral simply meant a new cycle. I could literally feel my energy shift and for the first time in weeks, I could take a deep breath. In those few moments in my backyard, the image of the spiral changed my whole perspective about my past and the future. I also realized that there are not “mistakes” in life, only opportunities.
Yes, I am leaving you hanging and I apologize about that, but this is a blog not an online novel. That and I do actually have a day job. I am pretty sure blogging does not qualify as a reason to ask for a day off.
I will post part 2 tomorrow night so until then my friends.
Namaste
I am not the most prolific blogger, in case you couldn’t tell. As usual, life has a way to getting in the way of good intentions. I have been pondering this idea of life being a spiral for a while now. Like most ideas for my blogs, this thought really came to me as a bit of an epiphany. It’s like you are out mowing the lawn one day and get this fantastic insight into achieving world peace or something. Ok, my blog is not going to bring about world peace, but if it does bring a bit of peace to your own soul or at least give you some food for thought, I think that makes the effort to blog worth it.
It wasn’t long ago that I was feeling frustrated and angry at myself. My sense, at the time, was that I was repeating an old pattern. As I have said in one of my previous blogs, I come from a very traditional religious background. Back in 2008 I had a massive paradigm shift. I was sitting in church one day when a voice in my head (loudly) said, “I can’t do this anymore.” I left the church with no real plans to return. Let me just be clear, I left church but not God. If anything, leaving church made me more determined in defining what “God” is for me and how it fits into the big picture of my life. The fact of the matter is I have done this many times before. Throughout my late teens into my adult years there was this underlying sense that I was missing something, there was some thing out there that I needed to find that would make my life make sense. I would get a break from it for awhile, throw myself into church but then I would feel this restlessness take hold.
I would drift away from church, then come back months or years later. I would follow this pattern over and over. Each time I would come back and think if I just tried harder, had a bit more faith, this thing that drove me in and out of church would go away but it never really did. This last time felt different though. I honestly never pictured myself going back. Going back would be a step back not forward. Imagine my surprise a few months ago when that old sense of restlessness took hold and I found myself being drawn back to church. It felt overwhelming, like a wave that I was drowning in. I missed the people, the sense of community, I missed the “culture” of church, I missed the music, the bible study, all of it. Even though it often left me feeling empty and frustrated, there was a longing for it. I was not happy about it. I was taking a step backwards. How did I get here? Why was this happening? On a lovely Saturday morning as I was mowing the lawn, I had what is properly known as the light bulb moment.
At that moment I saw an image of a spiral. In that moment, I realized that I could not take a step back even if I wanted to. I could not take a step back because there was nothing to step back to. I was walking the spiral and each ring of the spiral simply meant a new cycle. I could literally feel my energy shift and for the first time in weeks, I could take a deep breath. In those few moments in my backyard, the image of the spiral changed my whole perspective about my past and the future. I also realized that there are not “mistakes” in life, only opportunities.
Yes, I am leaving you hanging and I apologize about that, but this is a blog not an online novel. That and I do actually have a day job. I am pretty sure blogging does not qualify as a reason to ask for a day off.
I will post part 2 tomorrow night so until then my friends.
Namaste
We Always Have A Choice
From the WordPress Blog Musings, Rants and Raves 3/11/2011
As
human beings we have the potential to disentangle ourselves from old
habits, and the potential to love and care about each other. We have the
capacity to wake up and live consciously, but, you may have noticed, we
also have a strong inclination to stay asleep. It's as if we are always
at a crossroad, continuously choosing which way to go. Moment by moment
we can choose to go toward further clarity and happiness or toward
confusion and pain...
Taking
the leap involves making a commitment to ourselves and to the earth
itself--making a commitment to let go of old grudges, to not avoid
people and situations and emotions that make us feel uneasy, to not
cling to our fears, our closedmindedness, our hardheartedness, our
hesitation. Now is the time to develop trust in our basic goodness and
the basic goodness of our sisters and brothers on this earth; a time to
develop confidence in our ability to drop our old ways of staying stuck
and to choose wisely. We could do that right here and right now.
- Pema Chodron, "Taking the Leap"
The
above quote found its way to me through a newsletter I received in my
inbox this morning. It was a good reminder for me because I have found
myself slipping into that whole "victim" mentality that says we have no
control over our circumstance, our thoughts, our emotions. Deep down
most of us know this is not true, we always have a choice.
We
can choose to see the events in our lives as an experience to be
learned from even when it involves great physical or emotional pain. The
lesson sometimes takes to time to unfold and the wisdom time to take
hold but we do find our way there eventually. We can also choose the
opposite of that and see things as random occurances with little to no
meaning for us, keeping ourselves in the mode of victim. Victim of
ourselves or a vengeful random "other" out there wanting to mess with us
and we cower in our literal and psychological corner reacting rather
than living.
At
this moment I am grateful for the timely reminder that there is a
better way than cowering in a corner. A better way to be, with arms
open, breathing in deep the experience we call life. I know I have some
inner work to do in order to walk that better way, how about you? How
will you choose to view the events that take place in your life?
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