Dry Brushing
Dry brushing using a brush like this one (and no moisturizer) to brush your entire body. It supports your body's natural detoxification system by increasing the circulation of lymphatic fluid and blood flow. It also removes dead skin cells and makes your skin incredibly soft.
I first got wind of dry brushing in Kris Carr's book Crazy Sexy Diet four whole years ago but just started doing this spring. Don't wait as long as I did to try this. It's so awesome! Check out Dry Brushing 101 on GreenSmoothieGirl to learn more.
Tongue Scraping
Tongue scraping is a detoxifying Ayurvedic self-care ritual that freshens breath, improves digestion, and makes food tastier by to removing bacteria, food debris, fungi, toxins, and dead cells from the surface of the tongue. To do it, every morning pull a tongue cleaner (a long, thin, flat piece of metal that is bent in a "U" shape) across your tongue a few times. (More info here.)
I've never done it before, but I just ordered these stainless steel tongue cleaners on Amazon for me and my fiance today. So many healthy people I respect have been raving about it, so I can't wait to finally try it!
Use a Shower Filter
The reasons you drink filtered water are all the same reasons you wanna use a shower filter. Contaminants in water affect you whether they are ingested or absorbed through your skin. We use this shower filter and I definitely notice the difference between when it's there and when we've removed it because we are lazy about replacing the filter cartridge.
The type of filter that is best for you depends on what contaminants you need to filter out. You can get a water quality report from your local water supplier.
Poop Twice a Day
Pooping is your body's natural detoxification system. You should be pooping at least once a day. Twice is even better. If you aren't pooping daily, you're chronically constipated. You definitely wanna work with a health coach (like me, wink-wink) to see if you have any food sensitivities that could be causing this. Little shifts like drinking more water, eating more veggies, and exercising more can make a big difference too.
If you're just occasionally behind or want to get up to twice or thrice a day, try having a daily smoothie. Pack it with lots of leafy greens, add your favorite fruits, toss in a prune or two, a handful of flax or chia seeds, a scoop of fiber rich protein powder (I've been enjoying Manitoba Harvest's HempPro), and add enough water or non dairy milk to blend.
Moisturize
Your skin protects you from so many nasty germs so you don't want cracks in it. Unfortunately, it will crack and break if it's not properly moisturized. Also, if you wanna look like you're 24 years old forever, you've gotta moisturize. It doesn't need to be anything that takes a lot of time or is expensive. Seriously, rub some coconut or olive oil on your skin when you get out of the shower. You'll thank me in twenty years.
Which of these things do you do in the bathroom?
Olivia Lane is a Blogger, Green Living Educator, and Health Coach trained at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She's also author of Baking Soda & Bliss: The Healthy & Happy Guide to Green Cleaning.
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