On occasion breaking your rules is self care
(a chapter from my current program The Art and Revolution of Self Care: Winter Edition)
Lets begin with a confession- I bought a Mango yesterday!
I have Mango guilt (not specifically Mangos but I like to eat/buy seasonal and local) I wasn’t even sure why I bought the Mango until this morning! As i cut it up the smell, the juiciness, the color, the sweetness added so much to the grey morning. I thought about the sun inspired by the color, specifically the seasonal changing sun. Have you noticed the light changing? Have you noticed how powerful the sun is even when it is wet/cold out. That mango made me so very happy! And got me thinking, while Mangos they not local, they are expensive…but the amount of joy and gratitude i felt, sometimes breaking your rules is self care
“As long as you're dancing, you can break the rules. Sometimes breaking the rules is just extending the rules. Sometimes there are no rules.” Mary Oliver “Three things to Remember”
Have you broken “a rule” recently? How did that feel?
The other thing I mused on was how thick and juicy that mango was so full luster! My hair and skin has been feeling dry and straw like lately! After the Summer and knowing we are preparing for a New England Winter of dry wood heat and wool hat wearing. I wondered whether “mangos” would make a good hair moisturizer.
Time to pull out and replenish the Hair Oil
Rosemary Argan Hair Oil
♥ 1/2 cup St Johns Wort infused oil (olive oil base so you can use pure Olive Oil if you do not have St Johns Wort oil)
♥ 1/4 c melted coconut oil
♥ 1 oz Argan oil
♥ 10 drops of Rosemary Essential Oil
Mixed all ingredients together, warm about a tablespoon into the palm of you hand and massage it into you scalp before bed. You can also use this oil to massage you neck/ociput area and temples. Starting this time of year I like to use this oil twice a week, once I massage into the scalp and ends and the second time just the ends....and boy does it feel good! When I apply oil to my hair I like to cover with a warm damp towel and wear that until it is time to wash off.
If you do not have other ingredients you can simply use Coconut or Olive Oil
COCONUT OIL
Coconut oil is a great hair care ingredient. Simply warm some coconut oil and apply it on the scalp and hair generously. Massage using finger tips and keep it for 2 hours. Use a good shampoo wash the oil off. Condition as usual and let the hair air dry.
OLIVE OIL
Olive oil is packed with antioxidants and vitamin E that moisturizes the hair and seals hair cuticles. Apply warm olive oil on your scalp and hair shafts. Massage gently for a few minutes, and then cover your hair with a warm towel. Let it sit for 1 hour and shampoo it off.
Cacao Body Butter Recipe
Use all over body to help moisturize flaky itchy winters skin.
I cup of coconut oil
1 cup of coco butter
4 TBS or Raw Cacao Powder
Melt ingredients in double boiler. Put in fridge for 30 mins Whisk for 3-5 mins
Optional: 3-4 drops cacao essential oil or Ylang Ylang
You can also add 4 drops of peppermint essential oil and use that liberally on your cracked dry winters feet! Then cover with a pair of wool/cotton socks designated to be the oily ones!
Circling back to Mangos!
(Mango Butter (Mangifera indica)
Mango butter is solid and from the seed kernel of mango fruit. The Mango tree is a tropical evergreen tree from India and Malaysia. Mango Butter is an emollient with regenerative properties and is a good source of essential fatty acids. Mangoes are luscious and juicy tropical fruit and its oil is known for its moisturizing properties. It possesses similar qualities to cocoa butter and shea butter, but it contains higher levels of essential fatty acids making it a more intensive moisturizer. Mango Butter softens hair while preventing damage. Particularly good for very dry hair
If you are finding that the excessive indoor heat is causing your skin to be chapped, and even flakey and extra thirsty.
Try making this Whipped Mango Butter
Ingredients:
♥ 1/2 cup mango butter
♥ 1⁄4 cup coconut oil
♥ 1/4 cup jojoba, light olive oil, or grapeseed oil
♥ 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
♥ 1/2 – 1 teaspoon lavender essential oil (optional) For a really indulgent body butter you could use a mango essential oil to flavor!
1. Melt mango butter and coconut oil in a double boiler or a homemade version of a double boiler
2. While melting, mix 1 tablespoon of arrowroot powder with 2 tablespoons jojoba, grapeseed, or olive oil (whichever you have chosen to use). Mix until a smooth paste forms.
3. Once mango butter and coconut oil have melted, remove from heat and add the arrowroot/oil mixture and also the rest of the oil. Stir to combine.
4. Let cool briefly and set up the ice bowl (fill a large bowl with ice and place a smaller bowl on top of the ice, so the ice comes up around the bowl).
6. If mixture is not firming up after 10 minutes, leave a little longer, or place in the fridge. Just be sure to watch closely as it will be near impossible to whip once it hardens.
7. Once mixture is beginning to set, add essential oils, if using.
8. Remove smaller bowl containing the mixture from ice bath and whip on medium/high until peaks form.
Body butter should last at least 3-6 months if stored in an airtight container
And for the Kitchen Witch!
EGGs contain proteins, minerals and essential fatty acids that make hair soft, smooth, free of roughness or open cuticles and extremely manageable. Simply beat 2 eggs along with 1/2 cup of yogurt. Add juice of 2 lemons to it and mix really well. Massage this on the scalp ad hair and keep it for 2 hours. Use a good quality shampoo to wash off the egg mixture. Condition as usual.
BANANA Natural oils and moisture content in bananas can help soften your hair and improve its elasticity. Simply mash a banana and apply it on the scalp and hair and massage. Keep it for 1 hour and wash it off using a shampoo. You can also blend 1 medium sized banana, with 1 teaspoon coffee powder and 1 tablespoon honey and blend it until smooth. Apply this on the scalp and hair and keep for 1 hour followed by using a shampoo. Condition as usual.
Ghee or clarified butter is extensively used in India for cooking and also for beauty treatments. Take some homemade clarified butter in a bowl and warm it in microwave so that you get spreadable transparent/clear oil like consistency. Apply this warm clarified butter mixed with equal amount of aloe vera gel on the scalp and hair and keep it for 2 hours. It might smell weird but it works and the smell goes away after you shampoo it off. Wash off the oil using mild shampoo and condition as usual.
AVOCADO contains essential fatty acids that add a boost of moisture and shine to your hair. Mash an avocado and add 1 egg into it. Give it a good mix or whip it until you get a smooth paste. Apply this paste on the scalp and hair and keep it for good 3-4 hours. Shampoo it off and let the hair air- dry.
The Mango (a poem by Mary Oliver)
One evening
I met the mango.
At first there were four or five of them
in a bowl.
They looked like stones you find
in the rivers of Pennsylvania
when the waters are low.
That size, and almost round.
Mossy green.
But this was a rich house, and clever too.
After salmon and salads,
mangoes for everyone appeared on blue plates,
each one cut in half and scored
and shoved forward from its rind, like an orange flower,
cubist and juicy.
When I began to eat
things happened.
All through the sweetness I heard voices,
men and women talking about something—
another country, and trouble.
It wasn’t my language, but I understood enough.
Jungles, and death. The ships
leaving the harbors, their holds
filled with mangoes.
Children, brushing the flies away
from their hot faces
as they worked in the fields.
Men, and guns.
The voices all ran together
so that I tasted them in the taste of the mango,
a sharp gravel in the flesh.
Later, in the kitchen, I saw the stones
like torn-out tongues
embedded in the honeyed centers.
They were talking among themselves—
family news,
a few lines of a song
—Mary Oliver
♥