• 5/5 Soothing Sundays: What I've learned •

Hi guys!

Today is the last Soothing Sundays post and I thought I’d reflect on the past month.

When I had the idea of having a soothing, relaxing, stress free January, it was right before Christmas and all the stress in the world was piling up. I was buried under a blanket and watched back-to-back episodes of various tv sitcoms. A lot has changed since then: I got out of my apartment and back home to my family for a while, I begun paying attention to what I ate and most importantly let go of all the obligations that didn’t feel like something I would want to pay time or effort to. It made a world of difference. 

However, it’s not always just what is going on on the surface level. It’s not always about the essays and exams that are getting frighteningly close or the work that is expecting a lot from you.  Sometimes we need to take a closer look at the choices we have made and whether they are making us happy. We need to let go of the ideas of who we think we want to be and try and find the things that we actually want. Is this really how I want to spend my days? Is this really who I want to be? Is this really the direction that I want to be heading in? It’s a scary and long process, but the first step into anything is always the hardest. 

I think we often forget that it’s never too late to start over or at least to make some changes in our lives. It’s not too late to change your studies or to drop out, it’s not too late to move abroad or to another city and it’s definitely not too late to start being who you’ve really always wanted to be or at least trying to figure it out. 

This might all sound way too easy and utopistic. But I’m here to tell you that it’s not. It’s incredibly hard, arduous and makes you wish that you’d never tried to get out of your bed in the first place, but with time it will all look so much different. Whatever it is, give it a year, a month or even a week and you’ll have a different perspective on it. In the mean while start finding the things that make you happy and glad to be alive on a smaller scale. Start finding the things that aren’t connected to your work or education and are in any way connected to yourself. Because as much as the society, our parents or our financial situations want to tell us otherwise, school is not your everything. There’s a whole world outside your campus that is waiting to be explored. 

This is what Soothing Sundays was all about. I wrote it in the hopes that it helped someone find some sort of peace or courage to pursue their passions. If not that, then at the very least I hope it gave someone some inspiration for a healthier life. 

Thank you for this wonderful month!

With love,

Emilia

⎮ Soothing Sundays is a series of posts in which I go back to what is really important in a quest to find joy, serenity and a softer way of viewing the world. A new post will be up every Sunday in January. ⎮

A Letter - January

• 4/5 Soothing Sundays: "Dear self..." •

Dear self,

You’re a magnificent being built from light and stars and all the wonderful things that you could’ve ever dreamed of. I wanted to state that in case you had forgotten. 

There are so many things you would tell yourself if you were living in someone else’s body. You’d speak of their intelligence, their poise, their relentless efforts to make themselves good. You’d deliver it with a smile and maybe a few cupcakes. 

Because you deserve nothing less, I’m here to tell you a few things. The cupcakes are coming. 

There are a few things I would tell anyone. Firstly, if it doesn’t make you happy, find a way to change it. Whatever it is. Secondly, nobody is invincible, but everyone is a superhero. Things will happen, you will bend, but you can choose not to break. Thirdly, loving yourself is the most important thing in the whole wide world. Or at least in your whole wide world. 

But the most important thing I would tell anyone is that time passes. Everything changes and it’s so easy to get lost in the illusion of time. To be overwhelmed by time passing or it standing still. But none of it matters. Because, as cliche as it is, all you really have is this moment, right here. I’m starting to believe that money is not necessarily meant to be hoarded, nor are people or possessions. I’m starting to believe that if it adds value to your life, buy it. If it makes you feel anything short of happy, let it go. That goes for people, clothes and ideas. There is no need to be around something you detest. There is no reason to force yourself to love something that you know you never will.

My darling, life is a process. Rarely anything you choose comes easy. Decisions become more difficult the more you obsess over them and the threshold to do anything grows higher the longer you wait. It’s okay to choose wrong, to take a wrong turn every now and again, because where ever you are, whom ever you are with, there’s always a lesson in everything. You can always go back to safety, but you can’t live your life afraid of everything. 

Like so many people on the internet have already wisely stated: if you’re not completely obsessed with your life, change it. 

With love,

Emilia

⎮ Soothing Sundays is a series of posts in which I go back to what is really important in a quest to find joy, serenity and a softer way of viewing the world. A new post will be up every Sunday in January. ⎮

♢ Kindly beautify ♢

ECO MAKEUP

Did you know, that about 60 per cent of the chemicals in all the products you use absorb through the skin? Hello fragrances! Welcome parabens! Hi to you, toxins! I have always said to my friends, (always meaning: always I've lived in the know..years that is), and it's like I have been on an autopilot on this, learn to know what you use. Whether it's the food you're eating, or the lotions, and the makeup you put on yourself, be as mindful as it gets. You really are serving yourself, and it doesn't take that much of an effort or time. 

This first post on our "Beauty" starts with me blabbering about why you should rethink your products, I'll reference to a couple of links on the subject and lastly, in a picturesque way, show what we use. Kind beauty is dedicated to pure and clean products, no nastiness. We don't use that many nasty products anymore, and think that neither should you. I have read a lot on what chemicals can do to us. And they are everywhere. And that is scary. Remember this you guys, ecological doesn't mean hippie. It means that you are in the know and that you pay attention!

Emilia posted some amazing products for you to try out on her newest Soothing Sundays post.

For me, it is all about minimazing the bad stuff to maximum in my life, and really enjoy the pure and kind products, as they give a lift, and they make me super happy, because they do give a different effect on you. A kinder aura. They even smell better, because of the lack of the chemicals. 

And not to mention, ecological makeup products are not only better for you, but for the animals. You've heard about animal testing, right? Have you seen any photos of it, of the animals in the labs? If you have ever gotten a red eye or an irritation on the skin, because some cheap and well-advertised mascara got into your eye, or that well-known and expensive lotion wasn't that great on you, just think about what the poor bunnies or rats or whatnot, had to go through for your product.

Being mindful of makeup, as well as what you put into your body, is a win win situation affecting positively on all our lives.

Mind Body Green published a good article on this, if you want to start reading more about using better stuff. And also, like for so many more other things relating this, advertising a product doesn't mean that it is everything that some celebrity on the ad is saying. It is like, have you seen these amazing TV ads for quinoa? I haven't, but quinoa is the bomb! Or, have you seen these amazing TV ads for McDonald's? I have, and their food is as mean as it gets, for you and for the planet.

Choose wisely, folks, and see through that, what is being shown to you.

So, this post was more about the realization of what is out there, and maybe expanding your horizons from the makeup store that you normally go to, to perhaps an organic online store. You wouldn't believe how satisfying this shift is like Emm said: "I was like a kid in a candy store sometimes." Wait for the moment when you reach to the point you want to try everything that is new, and everything that is kind for you and for the planet. That's a great place! And, on the very last note on this eco bandwagon, your skin will glow once it gets nourished by the natural lotions and makeup.

Here are some of the makeup products we have in use. I personally have a lot of Lavera and Dr. Hauschka products which I love, and both Emm and Jenna do The Body Shop (plus Lush store) like no other!

1 - Lily Lolo's mineral coverage and mineral blush, Lavera mousse foundation

2 - Eco tools

3 - Benecos Blush and Mascara 

4 - Dr. Hauschka Eyeliner

5 - Highlighter by The Body Shop

By: Johanna 

• 3/5 Soothing Sundays: My Favorite Zen Products •

Hi everyone!

I remember when I first started paying attention to what I bought. It started with a book, Alicia Silverstone’s The Kind Diet. It was recommended to me by Johanna and I admittedly got hooked. The idea of a pure and sustainable lifestyle felt like something that I had been missing. And it was. 

I got to know all the corners of an eco-friendly lifestyle a bit by bit. It was new and exciting and at first I didn’t really know what to buy. There was this aura of mystery around the eco-isle of my closest department store. The benefits of coconut oil, or almond oil; the kinds of different teas and coffee substitutes; good sweeteners and bad sweeteners it was all so much ground to cover! However, I did get to know everything little by little. 

I was like a kid in a candy store sometimes. The way the products that I buy are made affect the feeling I get when I buy them. If I buy organic beauty products for example, I feel like I’m making the right choice, like I’m spending my money right. The same goes with food. Of course there are the additional benefits for the body. Eating organic food for example, makes me feel so much purer and in touch with everything. Getting rid of ingredients I can’t even pronounce was one of the best decisions of my life. It might be just psychological, but for me it works. 

This week I thought I’d talk about some of my favorite eco-products. I divided them into two categories: beauty and food. I hope you enjoy and get inspired!

BEAUTY

1 TEA TREE SKIN CLEARING FOAMING CLEANSER AND LOTION AND HEMP FACE PROTECTOR BY THE BODY SHOP

I fell in love with The Body Shop after a friend introduced me to their products. I’d always bought shower gels and hand creams etc., but I’d never tried their face care products before. Last summer, I bought their tea tree- products and fell utterly in love. They’re really effective and work. However, because of the harsh winter in Finland, I think I need to find something a bit more soothing and not so intense. The Hemp Face Protector is incredible for the winter, however. It really moisturizes well. 

2 SEAWEED IONIC CLAY MASK BY THE BODY SHOP AND SWEER ALMOND OIL BY AQUA OLEUM

The clay mask was a true surprise for me. The masks I’d usually used didn’t seem to do anything to my skin, so I’d kind of lost hope in them. But when I bought the clay mask, my life changed. That might be putting it a bit too far, but it does work wonders! It brings up any impurities and helps to get rid of them. It has truly risen to be a beauty must-have in my ritual. 

The Sweet Almond oil was an impulse buy. I had a gift certificate to use and I’d wanted to try a facial oil. I ended up consulting the wonderful clerk, who recommended it. And I was not sorry! I’ve used it as a toner/moisturizer during the cold winter months and it really seems to protect my skin. 

3 PURE COMPLEXION FACIAL SPONGE BY ECOTOOLS

Okay, I’ve got to admit, I was a bit skeptical when it came to using just a sponge and no cleanser to clean my face with. But it turns out, it really exfoliates and makes the skin really smooth. I bought mine just a week ago, so I can’t really talk about long-term results quite yet, but I am really excited to see how it works out!

4 A SOFT BRITTLE BRUSH FOR DRY BRUSHING

Dry brushing is something I ran into in Pinterest. I thought I’d give it a try and boy was it a good decision! My skin feels so much smoother and it’s so lovely to get my blood flowing at the end of a long day. 

If you want to read more about it, Mind Body Green has a wonderful article about it. 

5 REVITALIZING FACIAL MASK BY LAVERA, FROSTED CRANBERRY HAND CREAM AND EARLY HARVEST RASPBERRY SHOWER GEL BY THE BODY SHOP

I love lavera’s facial masks. They’re a lot lighter and function, at least with me, as more of a revitalizing masks rather than fighting against impurities. It’s lovely for a pampering evening with tea and candles. 

I adore the scents of the shower gels from The Body Shop. They range from deep and fragrant scents to light and flowery. It’s so nice to pick a gel either based on a mood or a season. Speaking of seasonal scents, this Christmas I was obsessed with the frosted cranberry hand cream (this is quickly becoming a commercial for The Body Shop… my apologies). I adore the scent, it’s just a little unfortunate that the tube is so small!

FOOD

1 CLIPPER TEAS

I drink a lot of tea and am quite picky, I don’t enjoy black tea or rooibos. This is why I am obsessed with Clipper teas. They offer a wide range of different types of tea as well as different flavors. My absolute favorite is the tropical orange and coconut infusion, but the purity green tea works great as well. 

I like that the bags are unbleached and the tea is fairtrade. Clipper has the most adorable webpage as well. I highly recommend checking out their blog. 

2 GREEN & BLACK’S ORGANIC CHOCOLATES

Green & Blacks was the first organic chocolate company that I found. I fell in love with their Maya Gold chocolate. It’s heaven alone, but with a cup of tea, it’s taken to the next level. I love the concept of G&B: they use fairtrade cocoa and seem to care deeply for human rights.

3 CHIA SEEDS

Chia seeds are my favorite superfood. They are rich in fatty acids, vitamins and protein, just to name a few things. I love making chia pudding or eating them in smoothies. They are really nutritional and keep my hunger away for a long time. 

4 RAW FOOD BARS BY NÄKD

I love a good snack bar. These days, it’s not that difficult to find them. Näkd makes some really good flavor combinations. The cocoa orange and cocoa delight bars are my favorites! They keep my hunger away during shopping and occasionally during lectures. 

5 SERIOUSLY VELVETY INSTANT HOT CHOCOLATE BY CLIPPER

This isn’t so zen or necessarily even that healthy, but I love it. It really is like a cuddle in a cup! It does have white sugar and milk powder, but on a cold winter’s night there’s nothing better than to warm up a cup of this cocoa and watch a movie. Nourishing the mind is equally important as nourishing the body. 

I hope these gave you some ideas on what to buy on your next trip to the store. Maybe throw a little fiesta with friends and zen it out? 

Have a very beautiful Sunday!

With love,

Emilia

⎮ Soothing Sundays is a series of posts in which I go back to what is really important in a quest to find joy, serenity and a softer way of viewing the world. A new post will be up every Sunday in January. ⎮

Loving Kindness Meditation

 >>Loving Kindness Meditation with Johanna - Soundcloud <<

Did you know that by thinking negatively about someone or something is only increasing your own stress and your own negativity? Your formerly positive energy will begin to be replaced by negative flow, and it will consume you faster than positivity ever would. So why would you ever want to be the reason you are feeling negative things? You wouldn’t. 

For some reason, it's negativity that resonates fast, and focusing on positivity seems like hard work sometimes. 


In the past two years I've leaned in to a more mindful and respectful way of facing others. I also changed the way I think about people. That includes the people I don’t personally know, but might recognize from, for example, the media. I have practiced this by placing a real thought behind it. To practice living loving kind, is to make it happen. That’s it.

Especially for me, year 2015 was a tremendous shake and a wake up for this method again, because I really at times struggled with connections with the people I care about, to the point of total break-offs, without getting too specific. And only because I hadn’t practiced “loving kindness” in my day to day, but more like pushing through my own way and sitting too much on my ego. Only by returning back to kinder ways of thinking, doing this meditation for example, I started to make these connections work again. I again released the thought of always being right and doing things just my way. Last year was a teaching one for me, and thankfully I did learn.


Everyone can relate to this. There isn’t a person on this planet who hasn’t thought negatively about someone or placed some sort of opinions about celebrities which they seem to know from the gossip news. You know, on that mark, the media does make a person look a certain way by discarding other aspects of their personalities. And there is nothing to add to that. When someone is in the eye of the gossipy lens and people feel or say negative things for it, I feel bad. At the end of the day, we’re all the same, and we’re all vulnerable at times. 


The same goes for the people in our lives. I know people who get easily upset or who don't ever step in another person’s shoes so to say, and start lashing out, which always underlines the same thing: ‘I am right. What they are saying or doing is wrong, and because I’m currently sitting on my ego, everyone should live and think just like I do.’ I've been like this so many times in my life that I can’t keep count. But nowadays, it's hard for me to listen to people’s loud egos. Sometimes I feel like I should have a sticker on my forehead that says: Live and let live. 


And then there are the people who have it amazingly together. The ones who are so patient with themselves and everyone else, and who won’t say one bad thing about anyone, including themselves. I'm in awe of them. I just recently met one person who is like this. The energy they have around them is welcoming, lacking any negativity.
 
If someone is thinking that they don't need to ever change, fantastic, and good for them. Something like living kind has to be a full-on mental shift and it takes many fall outs. However, the results are remarkable: more patience, deeper relationships and more mindfulness. 

Even if it’s tuning your thoughts back every day to ‘how am I feeling about this and that?’ and ‘how should I really react to this person, and not add more negativity in this situation?’, I assure you guys, you will start to gain these great mindful tools once you start this practice.

I wish that you are going to try this Loving-kindness meditation with me. And I have to say, I don't usually like to meditate, because I think I'm too "on the go" of a person to focus through all the thoughts that pile up and clutter the mind with the basic practice of silent meditation. But I will try to implement that in my life this year. However, I do like Loving-kindness, because it gives your mind these tasks to do through the meditation, so I think it's both fun and heart-opening as well as helpful for focusing. 
 Namaste! 






By: Johanna