Spring Self-Care

By observing the influence of the seasonal changes,

we can avoid illness.

As spring begins, the amount of daylight is increasing every day until summer arrives. The spring equinox was on 23rd September, 2023 which is when the sun passes the equator, which means day and night are nearly equal everywhere on earth. This marks the beginning of spring and from this point on, daylight grows and peaks at the summer solstice, the longest day of the year when it comes to hours of daylight.

Follow simple, healthful self-care practices to strengthen your body, mind and soul against illness and help you feel revitalized in spring!

1. Receiving Sunlight through the eyes, releases serotonin which stabilises our mood, feelings of well-being, joy and happiness and boosts energy. Sunlight cues special areas in the retina, which triggers the release of serotonin. You’re more likely to experience depression in the winter time, when the days are shorter. This hormone impacts your entire body. It enables brain cells and other nervous system cells to communicate with each other. Serotonin also helps with sleeping, eating, and digestion.2. Grounding or Earthing is a therapeutic technique that involves doing activities that “ground” or electrically reconnect you to the “earth”. This practice relies on earthing science and grounding physics, which explains how electric charges from the earth can have positive effects on your body. One of the easiest ways to ground yourself to the earth is to walk barefoot. Allow your skin to touch the natural ground – grass, sand or dirt – to provide you with grounding energy. To increase your skin-to-earth contact, lye on the ground in the grass in the park or on the sand at the beach. 3. Waking and Going to Bed Early matches our biological tendencies to adapt our sleep pattern with that of the sun. You might find that you’re naturally sleepier after sundown. Circadian rhythm is a term to describe your brain’s natural sleep-wake schedule. It’s like our internal clock and dictates your natural bedtime and morning wake-up schedules. Once you get used to going to bed and waking up at the same time each day, your brain adapts to this schedule.4. Meditate to begin each day with a sense of connection to yourself and your stillness and continue it throughout the day. Here is a simple ‘Quality Building Gentle Breath Meditation’ I use. It honors that we deserve the time to develop, confirm and enjoy the quality of our own stillness. Helpful to calm a racy mind and let go of agitation and anxiousness in your body. Take the space to feel where you are at and to choose to breathe your own gentle breath, unaffected by the external demands of life. Give your body permission to be gentle and feel the protective layers of hardness dissolve. It was created by Serge Benhayon.5. Release Emotions and Stress through healthy outlets like being active, so they are not suppressed. Journaling for even 10 minutes per day, writing as an observer, recording your emotions without judgment. Identify emotions, so you can see patterns and make changes. Connect to your breath, to brings balance by activating the parasympathetic nervous system; this brings equilibrium and supports you being in the present.6. Stretch Yourself by reading inspirational words, to help loosen the grip of old habit, both mentally, physically and spiritually. Open your mind to new ideas and perceptions, versus staying in self-imposed limited viewpoints. Create healthy daily living patterns, and assert self-care and self-regulation. 7. Use Essential Oils are an effective self-care tool to help with any dis-ease you may be feeling, physically, emotionally, mentally or spiritually to align to you to you. Essential oils have different uses and benefits. Some essential oils can be used to improve sleep quality or uplift mood. Others can increase energy or reduce anxiety or depression. Others even provide pain relief, reduce inflammation, and more!
Here are some of my favorites:

Mood-Boosting – orange, grapefruit, lemon, bergamot

Mental Clarity – rosemary, juniper, basil, lemon

Stress and Anxiety Relief – lavender, chamomile, bergamot, rose, lavender, jasmine, cedarwood

Cleansing – peppermint, tea tree, eucalyptus, kunzea

Anti-Bacterial – tea tree, grapefruit, eucalyptus, thyme, lemon

Anti-Inflammatory – peppermint, lavender, bergamot

Sleep – lavender, vertiver, chamomile, marjoram, sandalwood

8. Cleanse by drinking lemon juice, squeezed in warm filtered water upon rising, which stimulates your liver and activates bile flow; this helps emulsify and flush out fat soluble toxins and also decreases acidity, removing uric acid in joints, releasing toxins and reducing inflammation. Eat plenty of fiber rich vegetables to help cleanse your intestines.

9. Herbal Teas have been celebrated for their healing and cleansing properties for centuries. It has been proven that certain herbal teas can be used as a preventative remedy, for illness and infection as they fortify the immune system and boost health generally. It’s also a great way for your body to gently detoxify, cleanse and hydrate. Different herbal teas have different healing benefits.

Here are a few ideas:

Milk Thistle: Restores and protects the liver and stimulates the growth of new liver cells.

Chrysanthemum: Cleanses the liver, neutralises toxins, brightens vision, lowers blood pressure.

Dandelion Root: Enhances bile flow which supports liver health, therefore aiding detoxification.

Rose Petal: Cleanses the liver and gallbladder, eliminates toxins, calms the emotions.

If practicing self-care every day is a new concept to you, it might take some getting used to. And that’s okay! But please, don’t give up if it feels uncomfortable. The positive impact that self-care has on both you and everyone else in your life is truly remarkable and I promise you will notice a difference if you stick with it.

Seasonal Self-Care Pack for Spring