Today I am looking for votes amongst the Steemians in the Sahel or Italy: I am going to tell you to stop showering!
No, I am not. At least, I am not going to “tell you what to do”. That would be too hypocritical: I just had my rant on yoga teachers who make money off telling you what’s good for you; but I am inspired to offer my services to the Community with holistic tips for healthy living while you are trying to make a living or find a life on Steemit.
It’s the things you might never have heard of before that I care to share, which work for me in my efforts to keep up a discipline of health and harmony, on a daily basis, while life rages on.
So today,

Part one of HCS (Holistic Care for Steemians):

Skin Care. Double edition.

1) The skin

The State Our Skin Is In

Dermatologists are beginning to spread the word that over-indulging in hot, soapy showers plays havock on the skin, your largest organ and the team captain in the game of keeping you safe within.

Hard or fluorinated water, or otherwise contaminated in God really only knows how many ways, showergels with parabens and fragrances and whatnot, drying soap or overly rich creams do the skin no favours.

The skin is becoming the most compromised organ of our species, with pollutants, bacteria, viruses, funghi on the outside AND the inside (poor nutrition) weakening its barrier function. Tension is good, stress is ruinous. The constant taxation on its efforts to regulate itself - in- or decreasing its production of hydrating substances - on the one hand, while a lack of exposure to variable temperatures and (moderate) dirt fail to keep it fit and active or in its proper natural, healthy state. There will always be innate conditions that add further complexities to the story.

The Raw Foodies, Health Gurus, and Yoga Teachers are doing their darndest bit to save the skin on our noses but they do tend to go on a bit and ask us to bring Costa Rican spa resorts into our humble shacks in the freezing north. Let's try something simpler and that works in total isolation to any other health programmes you may or may not care to follow.

Dry Brushing

Furthermore, on top of the fact that too much water is not that great for the skin - if you don’t believe me, wonder why you wrinkle up in the bath…. Read (or listen to the audio-book!): "Rain: A Natural and Cultural History" by Cynthia Barnett

In 2017, many countries where normally there should be plenty of lusciously running water, have had their up close and personal encounters with Climate Change, with the droughts and water shortages. Notably Italy. What to do when you turn on the taps and drip, drip, nothing much comes out anymore!? Never fear!

Dry brushing is here!

Get a soft body brush - mine in the picture has the special additional feature of having next to horse mane hair, also, bronze bristles making it an Energy Brush (see Dr.Jentschura Brushes). The idea with these are that they charge ions negatively, boosting oxygen levels. But any good body brush made from natural hairs will do, because the aim is a gentle massage of the skin from the bottom up: giving yourself an airy-energy shower. It also stimulates the lymph nodes, which is an incredibly important (vitalising- life-bearing) aspect of your water household. Stagnations there will really slow you down.

The Routine

This brushing of your body can take less than two minutes if you really have no time, but it will wake you up for sure, first thing in the morning, if you give yourself the once over. It rubs away the sleepiness, gets the blood flowing and stimulates the meridians. With the latter in mind, there is a specific order you should move over the body.

Above all it sheds dead skin, leaving the body prepared for a (fragrant) body lotion (best in the morning or in warmer temperatures) or a natural oil (super dry skin, or for an added layer of protection in winter). Oil will be absorbed better, and not leave a sticky film, when used after (quick, luke warm!) showers.
- - - - [note] Such showers are best taken in the evening to wash away the day for an extra restorative night. Some complain though that showers wake them up too much. It's a matter of preference but also circumstances and the overall relaxation routine before going to bed.

Let's start brushing!

• Begin on the right side of your body on the limbs, from lower to upper (leg, arm);
  • from the knee and elbow down and away from the body out through the foot and hand; from the knee and elbow up into the body.
• Next the left side.
• Then outwards along the ribs on the front and back (from spine to side) as far as you can reach. You can always take a bath-brush to reach between your shoulder blades, but use a hand brush otherwise, espcially if you want to get a bit of flexing and stretching done at the same time.
• The lumbar region of the back loves to be smoothed out to the side and down over the hips
• Then clockwise (from your right side to your left) around your abdomen (to stimulate the bowels). Ladies go around your breasts. Guys if you have any to make mention of, be kind to your nipples. The neck and face we don’t include in this routine (but there are super soft face brushes you might like to used when you wash your face before or after this routine).
• Finally, finish off with two strokes: one over your liver region, towards the right hip, and one from the diaphram over the area of the spleen and large intesting down to the left hip.
  
  brushing directions

Finish off

Wash your face, brush your teeth and comb your hair, a lick of deodorant (aluminium and paraben and alcohol free... pushing my luck here, maybe...), dab on some moisturiser and you are ready to go.
If you have showered at night you are not likely to smell too pungeant in the morning, depending on your bed-time activities or your night-sweats!

NOTE

Aat first you may find this brushing very cruel to yourself! It may feel abrasive and painful, but often this is an indication of how thin-skinned you have become on a non-physical level. Then this dry brushing is completely right for you!

Start

with the gentlest of touch and much fortitude. Time to toughen up. After a couple of months you won't remember what you were whimpering about! Stay forever gentle but you can also brush a little more vigorously now, which will get to the levels of cellulite, too. Don't expect miracles, but a decent blood flow.

Be careful

around spider veins or varicose veins: keep it light and cheerful. Spend some extra time on your hips, ladies, or your torso, gentlemen. Long, straggly, hairy leggies (thighs) or upper arms (?!) may not like upwards directions, but I wouldn't know.

2) The feet

Soak while you steem

One delicious way to treat yourself to a bath is by using a tenth of the water of a power shower in a footbath.

• Get a small tub or washing up bowl (rectangular is best for the larger shoe size) fill with quite warm water (warmer than for a bath, because it cools off quicker, but remember, a bath should never be piping hot, but around a moderate 37 degrees)
• Add a table-spoonful of salt, think Dead Sea, Himalayan, or any from a region that attracts you. (Jentschure’s is quite special with gemstone grit for added energy - Agate, Carneol, Citrine, Chrysoprase, Chalcedony, Sapphire, Rock Crystal, Onyx). Mind not to add salt if you have sores or serious skin conditions.
  • The (AlkaBath) salt fits into a alkaline body care programme, which is about detoxifying, purifying, eliminating lactose acid, lubricating the mucous membranes, reoiling the skin, tightening connective tissue, relaxing tense tendons.
• And add a capful of rosemary bath lotion (as pure as possible, think of Weleda) or up to six drops of essential rosemary oil or t-tree oil (great against fungal growth on toes). These oils will stimulate bloodflow, making such a footbath a treat for cold feet but also beneficial on lethargic days.
  • If you prefer to take care of your feet before going to bed think of adding lavender-lotion/oil. On a hot day, lemon will be your refresher in need!
• Soak for up to 20 minutes (unless the water turns unpleasantly cold prior).
  • This is something you can do at your desk or infront of the telly. Of course, die-hard health fanatics will take this opportunity to sit calmly and meditate on the self-sacrificing work the feet do, the blessed sights they bring you, the carbon prints the leave….
• Pedicure now (or preferably after a few minutes of air drying) while the feet are soft and warm, but mind that you go easy on your nails, and callouses which may all be too soft (you tend to prune too radically and will feel sore and stumped later!). Use a foot file to gently buff away rough skin. Do this regularly (fortnighly) rather than chop at thick callouses once a year.

If you don’t take baths - many European countries don’t even have baths in their homes (don’t worry they will have showers, often in highly sophisticated cabins!), then a footbath is an essential imperative to a healthy body. Your life as an upright human more or less depends on your feet: they are what make us uniquely vertical beings. Thus they form analogously the foundation for all our morality…. A little bath goes a long way to restoring your humanity!

The Buddha's Feet by Yongxinge