What if I were to tell you that a cup of detox tea can help you detox your mind of negative thoughts and cleanse harmful toxins from your body?

Have you ever thought about drinking a cup of hot tea as meditative experience? If you slow down and drink your tea with awareness, you can call it tea meditation. As with any meditation, drinking tea will lower your high blood pressure, slower your heart rate, improve circulation, and reduce anxiety.

Doing a breathing exercise during tea time can help you detox your body and boost your immunity. Taking time to drink tea can also help improve your concentration and build self-confidence and self- discipline.

“When we sip tea, we are on our way to serenity.”– Alexandra Stoddard

I would like to share with you a Tea Meditation by author and spiritual director Melissa Roberts I found at www.suite101. com. With a cup of tea in hand and twenty minutes with no interruptions, prepare to enjoy a quiet, relaxing exercise.

1. Situate the body in a chair, with the back straight. Cup the hot tea mug in the hands at chest level.

2. Bring the cup of tea to the chest. Notice the warmth radiating from the cup. Now touch the cup to the chest. Experience the warmth of the body against the cup. Feel how the breath pushes and recedes against the cup.

3. Close the eyes. Focus on the breath going in and out. See how deep and slow it is possible to breathe. Take three of the slowest, deepest breaths possible. Feel the warm energy of the body pulsing from the bottom of the breath to the top of it.

4. Now open the eyes and lift the cup of tea to the nose. How does it smell? How does the steam feel against the face? Breathe in the warmth, and during the exhale imagine the warmth traveling all the way to the bottom of the feet. Take three breaths in this manner.

5. Lift the tea to the lips and take a sip. Notice how the liquid feels in the mouth and throat. Visualize that warmth traveling all the way to the toes. Take three deep breaths, inhale and exhale, feeling the warmth from the tea traveling down to the feet then up into the head.

6. Repeat sipping the tea, with three deep breaths between sips, until all the tea is gone. Hold the empty cup in the lap, and imagine warmth from the cup radiating outward and warming the entire body. Visualize the body in a cocoon of warmth, like a giant tea mug.

7. Take five deep breaths, in and out, and then open the eyes. Sit still and move gently, to enjoy the effects of the meditation as long as possible. Do not try to get up too fast, as the muscles need time to transition out of the exercise.

Breathe, smile and be happy.

Women’s Holistic Health, Nutrition Coach and Counselor

Are you ready for  some pleasure healing? Would you like to take a healing bath as a small treat to yourself?

A healing bath is the best help with sleep and anti-aging remedy. A healing bath can also help nourish and rejuvenate your skin, detox our body and relax your muscles and mind.

I would like to share with you several bath beauty remedies to detox your body, soften your skin, refresh your brain and make you feel and look fabulous.

“Happiness consists in frequent repetition of pleasure.” – Arthur Schopenhauer

I. Natural Body Scrub Beauty Recipes

• Almond Butter Scrub

Get some almond butter and use it as a body scrub to rejuvenate and nourish your skin. Almonds are rich in vitamin E to make our skin smooth and glowing.

• Sugar and Spice Body Scrub

Add one cup sugar to ¼ cup olive or almond oil; mix in one teaspoon each cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger powder. Use in the shower for a morning wake up ritual. Your skin will smell as sweet as pumpkin pie. (from www.ecomii.com)

II. Rejuvenating and Nourishing Detox Healing Bath Recipes

• Ginger Bath

Peel and coarsely chop an inch of whole ginger and put it in an old stocking, tying one or both ends to keep the ginger inside. Place in a tub with very warm running water. A ginger bath will help to detox your body and soothe your skin.

• Apple Cider Vinegar Bath

If you’re tired and worn out, try adding half a cup of vinegar to your bath. You’ll be surprised at how invigorating this is.

• Milk Bath

Cleopatra could afford a bath in pure milk, but, hey, most of us don’t have the deep pockets she had. So if you want to try a less expensive milk bath, add a cup of instant milk powder to your bath water. Doing so will help you have silky soft skin. You could also add a few drops of lavender essential oil to relax you before bed. (all three bath ideas are adopted from www. chetday.com)

*Click to listen to Beauty Expert Mary Beth Janssen on Pleasure Healing: Self Nurturing with Mindful Practices and Sacred Spa Rituals.

Breathe, smile and be happy.

Irina Wardas, HHC

Women’s Holistic Health, Nutrition Coach and Counselor