Coconut Oil

Posted by Judy Moon

I don’t know about you, but as soon as the weather shifts and gets the slightest bit nippy the skin on my hands instantly protests! My hands get a very dry scratchy feeling – not optimal for a massage therapist.

Since I handle oil all day while working, you would think that would be enough moisture. I also wash my hands a thousand times a day so I guess that my hands just require some extra TLC.

My secret weapon for combatting dry hands is to use a sugar scrub of some sort to exfoliate the dead skin away and really hydrate the soft skin left behind.

Recently, after doing a ton of dishes, I noticed that my hands were looking pretty sad – so I scooped out about a half teaspoon of coconut oil straight from the jar in to my palm, added about the same amount of raw sugar, straight from the sugar bowl, and threw in 2 drops of lavender essential oil because that’s how I roll and I rubbed it between my hands and on my cuticles and really massaged it in.

I washed my hands and voila – brand new baby soft sweet smelling hands!

I’ve experimented with different brands of sugar scrubs, I like the lavender one from Trader Joe’s, in fact – there is always a jar of that baby in my shower, but this was a fast, quick fix and it did the trick! If you don’t exfoliate, you are simply lubricating dry, dead skin.

There’s all kinds of DIY recipes out there for scrubs and butters, etc. For this version, all I needed was 3 ingredients, a spoon, my hands and about 30 seconds.

Keep it simple my friends! Your hands will be so thankful.

Posted by Alicia McCarthy

Dry brushing is a marvelous way to shed dead skin cells and encourage circulation.

HOW TO DRY BRUSH AT HOME: Dry brushing should be performed before your bath or shower when your body is dry. Starting at the feet, the top or the sole, using either circular or straight strokes, brush up the leg towards the heart. Next, brush from the hands up the arm, and trunk of the body up towards the heart. Just be sure to avoid sensitive areas or any areas where there is broken skin, and always brush towards the heart. Voila! You are ready to shower. It is recommended that you massage your skin afterwards with oil or a rich moisturizer like Shea Butter. My new go to is coconut oil straight from the jar- best body moisturizer ever!

“DO-IN” AND DRY BRUSHING: Do-In is a combination of meridian stretching exercises, breathing exercises, chi exercises and self massage. “Do-In” is a Shiatsu self care technique practiced in Japan, as a method to tonify and disperse the qi, or energy, of the body. There are three reasons for practicing Do-In:

To become aware of your own energy
For self treatment
For giving good shiatsu therapy

I love to designate my dry brushing routine as an energetic ritual similar to a “Do-In”. While practicing my dry brushing “Do-In” I think about the energy in my body becoming balanced, and I usually add some breath work while I’m at it!

Do you practice Do-In or Dry Brushing? After reading this, will you give it a try?

Photo Credits // 1 Holisticvanity // 2 Shea Butter Cream // 3 Refinery29

Thirty Second Hand Rescue

The Art of “Do-In” and Dry Brushing