Sunday SELF - C. 🍫🌿 A. 🍽️ R. 🌲 E. 🔮

I was just listening to a conversation where a woman said that many of the health problems of modern women are the result of them being in deep stress from trying to live the goal-oriented, fast-paced lives that men are more naturally designed for. 

She said that to heal our hormones and experience optimal health, women need more puppies, babies, flowers, and pleasure 🐶👶🌼😻

This is the kind of advice I love and it fits well with what I’ve been up to this month.

January has been full of exploring new nature trails, listening to birth stories, and enjoying life at home with my new puppy.

Having three dogs is so fun and taking the two little ones on walks is the most heart-nourishing way to move my body and experience the beauty of each day.

I honestly believe there’s nothing better you can do for your mind, body, spirit health than immerse in nature more and my dogs make it so easy to do that daily.

Plus the extra cuddles in bed each night are such a gift for my nervous system.

So along with that, here’s what I’m recommending for food, art, reading, and skincare:

SELF - C.🍫🌿 A. 🍽️ R. 🌲 E. 🔮

🍫🌿 Cooking:

I have two recipes for you and neither of them require cooking, but very much two recipes that you must try!

They have genuinely changed my life and made me feel so healthy and vibrant this past month.

1. Bone Broth Hot Chocolate

The most luxurious, crave-worthy treat packed with only nature’s most medicinal ingredients.

• Cocoa: Stimulates your body to generate more stem cells according to researchers at the University of California, San Francisco. (Not that I care what researchers have to say about nature’s perfection, but I’ll take this one!)

• Bone broth: Heals and seals the gut. Beautifies and satisfies your entire being with hydrating minerals, collagen, essential amino acids, and protein.

• Raw milk from healthy cows living physiological lives: Supports digestion and boosts your immune system with all the essential enzymes and nutrients still intact and easily absorbed and used by your body.

• Raw local honey: Immune boosting and dis-ease healing medicine. If you look into the benefits of raw honey, it’s literally a cure for everything and a powerful supporter of high performance.

• Antioxidant herbs: Cinnamon and marshmallow root reduce inflammation and are used to support healing for a wide variety of ailments. They also soothe and lubricate the external skin and internal mucus membranes which protect your organs and cavities from pathogens.

This hot chocolate recipe is cool because I remember when I used to be addicted to sugar and processed foods, it was like nothing could satisfy me. If I had one taste of chocolate, I couldn’t stop. 

BUT THIS hot chocolate OMG… It’s a craving in SUCH a different way. I can feel how the ingredients nourish my body and its nutrient density is what makes it so satisfying. 

I honestly feel like I’m becoming more beautiful and healthy with every sip… Yes, that sounds dramatic but it’s real.

You’ll visit heaven, then come back and tell me that now, you get it… So here you go:

Drink #2: The Internal Shower — a gut cleanse that truly works.

In the past, I’ve done expensive parasite cleanses and detox supplements and none of them work as well as this simple drink.

The cilantro and chlorella naturally detox parasites and heavy metals while the grapefruit and cucumber hydrate and move everything that no longer serves your body out.

Drink before breakfast to feel like a brand new, lighter, brighter human.

🍽️ Art: Cooking from Scratch

I listened to this podcast with the chefs who own Scratch restaurants and I love the way they bring art and health into the restaurant space.

I never eat out anymore because 99.9% of restaurants are disappointing when it comes to ingredient quality. Plus the energy of the food is usually off due to the rushed nature of trying to feed hundreds of people a day.

Once you learn to love your own cooking, you’ll have no desire to eat out.

But in the rare event that you do have a restaurant near you that seems to be different from the rest, it could be fun to go experience the work of true artisans.

I’ve never eaten at these restaurants but I loved hearing about how they operate.

They stick to the literal definition of a restaurant which is: a place where people pay to sit and eat meals that are cooked and served on the premises.

So using ingredients from the region you live in, rather than importing, and actually cooking all the food on the premises.

That means if they want to serve parmesan on a dish, they’ll have to make it themselves and wait 9 months for it to be ready.

That’s very much how I’m operating with my own cooking now and let me tell you… nothing feels better.

I felt like a true professional when I made ravioli recently and I made sure every step came from me.

• I got whole wheat berries from a trusted farm, then milled my own flour…

• Used that flour, along with eggs from my own chickens and EVOO from my local farm to make pasta…

• Used raw milk from my local farm to make mozzarella and ricotta:

  Mozzarella = raw milk + vinegar

  Ricotta = raw milk = lemon juice

…Mixed in herbs, then stuffed and sealed the ravioli by hand!

I completely agree with these chefs that if you want a “complicated” meal, then you have to plan for it, maybe make the ingredients that take longer a few days in advance, and cook it yourself.

Working with simple, whole food ingredients is the best way to take control of your health by knowing exactly what you are consuming, physically and energetically.

🌲 Reading: The Ringing Cedars series

These books were originally written in Russian by a successful Russian entrepreneur whose life was changed after discovering the healing powers of the cedar tree. 

At first, he’s very focused on the material luxuries of the modern world and proud of himself for achieving such wealth. His entire worldview changes when he meets a woman who lives in complete harmony with nature, nothing like his modern lifestyle. 

He looks down on her, calling her a hermit, witch, and subhuman. He can’t fathom how someone could honestly believe that living in nature is more beautiful than the riches he has at home in his city.

Then he’s completely enamored by how she’s able to avoid the problems of modern humans like disease, depression, lack of motivation, or creativity. She’s stunningly beautiful in a way he’s never seen, without any beauty products or effort. She communicates consciously with the plants and animals and lives solely off of what nature provides.

After spending a few days with her, the man realizes that he must share what he’s learned about childhood education, the importance of communicating with nature, health, and spirituality with the world to remind us all of our inherent power.

When we plant, grow, and communicate with our food through touch and attention, it downloads and creates the exact nutrients that our body needs to heal and thrive.

Reading these books feels so uplifting and inspires me to live even more outside of our artificial-obsessed society. 

With more and more modern innovations, the more I realize the delusion of people who believe they can outsmart nature. 

Everything is already perfectly set up for us and the more we try to rise above it, the sicker and unhappier we become. 

This book is written in super short, punchy chapters so I find myself flying through these books, getting bite-sized inspiration right before bed each night.

The Ringing Cedars books are super expensive if you want to buy them, but I’m reading the entire series for free with the public library’s app!

🔮 Enthusiasm: Skincare & Gua Sha Straight From the Earth

While I was on a gorgeous walk a few months ago in Tahoe City, my husband picked up a heart-shaped rock with a silky smooth texture.

I took it home and realized that it works as the most perfect gua sha.

I started using it morning, night, and any moment I find myself lounging.

Manipulating your face with a gua sha and doing facial massage is such a great beauty hack. Since I can’t see myself ever choosing to be injected with poison like Botox, I think preventative beauty care is so important to maintain a look that I feel good about.

I follow this pattern with the gua sha, working to support my lymphatic flow and release tension.

This, along with mouth taping during sleep and facial massage has helped me feel more confident in the way I look without any makeup.

Once you memorize the movements, you can do it anytime you’re lying in bed or on the couch.

Also, my bare minimum skincare has given me softer, more clear skin than ever before.

Simple skincare:

1. I no longer wash my face with face wash… I know. I was so resistant to this too but it seriously works!

   Instead, I wipe my face with a wet cloth made from natural materials.

2.  Oil cleanse.

3. Use this one and only moisturizer.

Just two products and my skin has never been brighter or healthier looking.

I hope the start of this year has encouraged you to live in a way that makes you feel more like yourself 🫶

🤍 Jaclyn

P.S. Starting next week, Feb. 13th, my husband and I are going to start sharing conversations on our podcast, Cheers to Growth! So 3 Thursdays a month (every Thursday except for the first week of the month when I send Sunday Self-C.A.R.E.) I’m inviting you to dinner and a chat with us.

I’ll send a recipe and the topic of our conversation so if you’re interested, you can join us and listen in!

See you then! 🩷