Even in the days when I could afford it ( please note I don’t say ‘when I was better off’ );
I was not one for buying expensive creams or beauty products, and if I would buy any, I would buy animal test free products.
The thought of cuddly rabbits hurting for my sake while having mascara smeared in their eyes or testing creams on their raw shaven skins, is far too unsavory to my taste.

To me, having to use ‘repair wear’, which is basically what all these potions are, is like having to use aspirin.
While it may take away the symptoms, I feel it’s better to treat the cause, using naturally available sources of energy  to make myself feel good and look good.
Thus, I found my way around in alternative ways to pamper myself and can now truthfully say my Home Made Awareness Budget Spa is based on years of experience.

Its based on a few simple rules:

- Self Care Time

  • Energy exercises, like Donna Eden’s daily routine to kick-start the energy flow are an important daily ritual to help open up to the naturally present supply of energy that lives within each and every living being. Integrated into daily life, they are simple and short, while making sure you can go with the flow and make maximum use of the day,
  • Equally important is to create your own space. Feeling comfortable with where you are, is a number one prerogative, to feeling good.

- Hydration Care

  • First thing in the morning I set the energies in motion by drinking  one to three 200cc glasses of water  optional with the juice of  half a lemon.
  • Throughout the day I always make sure to have a jug of (‘lemonized’) water in my vicinity, so I remember to drink.

-  Facial Care.

I use what is naturally present in my kitchen, ranging from honey and avocado’s to eggwhites and all sorts of fruits of which the juices and blended products make excellent facial masks.

But to be honest…. I think the secret to the effect of a facial mask, is most of all that you are forced to lie down for 20 minutes, rather than whatever it is you paste on yourself.
It might well be something we all do far too little of, simply granting ourselves the time to do nothing for about half an hour a day and actually enjoy it!

This brings me to:

- Mental Care

In our quest for daily life we give ourselves very little time to process the impressions that pass by us;
and instead spend most of our energies focusing the logistics; (the ‘life is what happens while you’re making plans‘ paradox)

The side effect of doing a lot of logistic thinking however, is that when we do get time to think about who we are or what we really want out of life all sorts of forgotten yearnings invade the brain like star wars storm troopers; ranging from forgotten things you used to like to issues you’d normally rather not think about.
Relaxation Anxiety I call it, The fear of having time to yourself and think things over.

Taking some time out of the logistics, and by that I do not mean going on a holiday, but simply implementing it into the daily routine, are great moment to clear oneself of compulsive, conditioned or negative thinking,
allowing the issues that cause us to think the way we do, to be processed.

A simple way to support this process is to place your thumbs on your temples and fingers underneath the hairline, that way activating the frontal lobe, therewith releasing whatever issue it is that come to mind.

This brings me to energy counseling motto

- The Trick is to EnjoY It

Like everybody else I get unkind moments out of life. To kick the stone however only hurts my feet.
I’ve learned to trust the energies that created me and learned to be grateful for being able to bend them my way, and no matter what, being given the chance to experience life in my own way and make my world a better place.

Ingrid Schippers, 03-04-2016

 

This blog is recorded as weekly end-note of Dutchbuzz.nl, the radio program for internationals on Den Haag FM; broadcasted (in season) on Tuesdays from 10 to 11 pm. All programs are archived at Dutchbuzz.nl.
‘The Home Made Spa’ is filed in the podcast of April 12 2016