While most of us may not have seen too many signs of spring’s entrance just yet, the fact remains that this week welcomes in the first day of spring. Soon we’ll seeing more warm days, and signs of the fertility of the season will be all around us – new buds on trees, new plant growth, and pretty spring flowers. In keeping with the fecundity of the approaching season (and who doesn’t feel their juices flowing as spring gets into full swing?), we thought we’d focus this issue of the newsletter on – well – sex.
In particular, we’re talking about sexual pleasure, or more specifically, sensual pleasure – feeling turned-on and juicy and alive. We all know that receiving sexual pleasure makes us feel good – but did you know that it also reduces stress, boosts the immune system, and releases mood-enhancing endorphins?
And we’re not just talking play with a partner here. Sexual – and sensual – pleasure comes in many forms, including just for one.
Your very own pleasure box
How often do you think about what gives you pleasure? If a special someone were to ask, could you tell them what turns you on? If you were planning an evening of pampering and pleasure just for yourself, would you know what to do?
For many women, these are tough questions. And even if answering them is easy for you, how often do you actually give yourself the time and space to indulge?
Well, how lovely would it be to have your very own pleasure box – a box that contained a selection of your own hand-picked pleasure-enhancers, ready for you whenever the mood would strike?
This box could contain anything that strikes your fancy and tickles your senses – think all five senses here:
* a bar of extravagantly rich dark chocolate
* a bottle of wine
* your favorite essential oils or bath salts
* scented massage oil
* a book of erotica
* a pornographic video or magazine
* some sensual music selections
* a peacock feather
* a vibrator
The list of possibilities is endless – limited only by your likes and dislikes. And the box is just for you – use it for a date with yourself, an evening of pampering and pleasuring yourself as only you can. Or, if you choose, share it with a partner – and give them the privilege of learning how best to pamper and pleasure the loveliness that is you.
Either way, start your box this week. Even if it only contains one or two items for now, that’s ok. Allow yourself to be inspired by the arrival of spring, and the pure sensuousness of the season – continue adding to your box as you go along, discovering all the fabulous and unique ways that YOU experience pleasure.
Share your pleasure
Was this a challenging activity for you? Or do you already have your own version of a pleasure box? How does if feel to devote time and space solely to what pleases YOU? Talk to us in the comments section below, where you can also ask questions and receive feedback from an LSW Counselor!
LSW recognizes the importance of indulgence, pleasure, and sensuality for every woman's menstrual and sexual health. We help you find the right medicinal foods for healing your condition, and we support you to understand, accept, and enjoy your woman's body and your feminine energy.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Breaking the Cycle of Breakouts
Long after puberty, many women experience monthly breakouts. Some changes in the skin over the course of a month are normal—after ovulation the increase of progesterone makes breakouts more likely. For the same reason, taking an oral contraceptive high in progesterone can lead to skin trouble all month long. Also, hormonal imbalances can cause the liver to produce the substances that lead to the wrong kind of sebum—the natural lubricant produced by glands in the skin.
If your diet is high in sugar, fat, processed foods, or foods with chemical additives, your body may have a hard time getting rid of these excesses. Your skin’s ability to lubricate and self-clean can be impaired. Remember, your body keeps you healthy by processing out anything toxic, and your skin is a major vehicle for detoxification—including the skin on your face.
Americans spend around $6 billion on skin care products each year—there’s so much advertising encouraging us to turn to the latest chemical-based product for solutions. The trouble is, those products actually add toxins to our bodies, ultimately contributing to deeper levels of organ imbalance and giving our skin even more to deal with.
Here’s a quick primer for managing monthly breakouts without chemicals and setting yourself up for long-term skin health.
Daily Detox
Flush away toxins and fatty residues and improve liver function:
• increase your water
• increase leafy green vegetables
• increase raw fruit and veggies (be cautious with this in cold weather)
Feed Your Skin
Like any other organ, your skin needs specific nutrients for health:
• vitamins A, C, and E—eat your veggies!
• zinc—whole grains, sunflower seeds, raw nuts
• essential fatty acids—flax oil, fish oil, evening primrose oil
Chemical-Free Skin Care
• hot towel scrub: rub down your dry skin with a hot washcloth daily to open all the pores on your body for detoxification (besides just the ones on your face)
• lavender essential oil and tea tree oil: natural antiseptics and excellent topical treatments for blemishes
• food-based masks and peels: coffee & sugar to exfoliate, avocado to moisturize, and papaya for anti-aging and skin repair
LSW is committed to helping you understand the amazing natural healing options that are available to you, so that you can make knowledgeable, powerful choices about how to care for your body and your menstrual and sexual health.
If your diet is high in sugar, fat, processed foods, or foods with chemical additives, your body may have a hard time getting rid of these excesses. Your skin’s ability to lubricate and self-clean can be impaired. Remember, your body keeps you healthy by processing out anything toxic, and your skin is a major vehicle for detoxification—including the skin on your face.
Americans spend around $6 billion on skin care products each year—there’s so much advertising encouraging us to turn to the latest chemical-based product for solutions. The trouble is, those products actually add toxins to our bodies, ultimately contributing to deeper levels of organ imbalance and giving our skin even more to deal with.
Here’s a quick primer for managing monthly breakouts without chemicals and setting yourself up for long-term skin health.
Daily Detox
Flush away toxins and fatty residues and improve liver function:
• increase your water
• increase leafy green vegetables
• increase raw fruit and veggies (be cautious with this in cold weather)
Feed Your Skin
Like any other organ, your skin needs specific nutrients for health:
• vitamins A, C, and E—eat your veggies!
• zinc—whole grains, sunflower seeds, raw nuts
• essential fatty acids—flax oil, fish oil, evening primrose oil
Chemical-Free Skin Care
• hot towel scrub: rub down your dry skin with a hot washcloth daily to open all the pores on your body for detoxification (besides just the ones on your face)
• lavender essential oil and tea tree oil: natural antiseptics and excellent topical treatments for blemishes
• food-based masks and peels: coffee & sugar to exfoliate, avocado to moisturize, and papaya for anti-aging and skin repair
LSW is committed to helping you understand the amazing natural healing options that are available to you, so that you can make knowledgeable, powerful choices about how to care for your body and your menstrual and sexual health.
Monday, March 3, 2008
To Freeze or Not to Freeze?
Have you heard the latest? There is a company called Extend Fertility that is now offering women in their 20s and 30s the chance to freeze their eggs for future use. Apparently celebrities and the well-to-do have been able to avail themselves of this technology for awhile – but Extend Fertility is the first to offer it to the general public.
While the procedure does involve some hormonal supplementation in order to harvest many eggs at once, the process does also seem to have some benefits. As women, we come into this world at birth with all of the eggs we’ll ever have for our lifetime already inside of us – as many as 450,000 – with one being released each month at ovulation. With more and more of us waiting to start a family until we’re more established in our careers – in our 30s and even in our 40s – more and more of us are also dealing with increased difficulties in conception. As we age, so do our eggs. In other words, even though we’re still releasing eggs on a monthly basis, the older we get, the more likely it is that we’ll sometimes release eggs that are not viable. This procedure makes it possible for women to harvest their eggs at an earlier age, and then freeze them for use at a later date.
One benefit of this option – besides having better quality eggs available when you are ready to start your family – is that it involves some amount of planning ahead, and thinking about your future. For many of us, the time goes so fast – by the time we’re settled in our career and are ready to start thinking about having a child, we may already be at an age where the quality of our eggs is in decline.
The LSW take
Our line on freezing your eggs? We do find it an interesting option – and a much better one than IVF, which has one of the highest failure rates of any industry (second only to the diet industry!). With in vitro fertilization, you’re already at the point where you’re working with less viable eggs; with egg freezing, especially if they’re frozen before the age of 32, you’ve got eggs that are of better quality and therefore more viable – leading to a slightly better success rate.
However, this procedure may not be for everyone, and we do have some cautions. Hormonal manipulation is hormonal manipulation – many of us end up using hormonal birth control for years, before deciding to have children at mid-life, and both egg freezing and IVF utilize further hormonal manipulation to provoke your body into releasing several eggs at once. Regardless of the method of conception – whether by egg freezing, IVF, or even the old-fashioned way – spending much of the preceding years manipulating your hormones can make it that much more difficult to maintain a pregnancy, especially a healthy one.
Our advice? If you’re really serious about having children someday, give yourself a head start by taking good care of your body now. Look to non-hormonal methods of birth control (barrier methods such as condoms and spermicidal jelly, or the Today Sponge, for example), so that whether or not you decide to hedge your bets with egg freezing, you’re still setting yourself up for a healthy happy pregnancy at whatever age YOU decide you’re ready to conceive.
Laughing Sage Wellness is committed to helping women become their own best experts on their bodies and their health. After all, who knows you better than YOU?
While the procedure does involve some hormonal supplementation in order to harvest many eggs at once, the process does also seem to have some benefits. As women, we come into this world at birth with all of the eggs we’ll ever have for our lifetime already inside of us – as many as 450,000 – with one being released each month at ovulation. With more and more of us waiting to start a family until we’re more established in our careers – in our 30s and even in our 40s – more and more of us are also dealing with increased difficulties in conception. As we age, so do our eggs. In other words, even though we’re still releasing eggs on a monthly basis, the older we get, the more likely it is that we’ll sometimes release eggs that are not viable. This procedure makes it possible for women to harvest their eggs at an earlier age, and then freeze them for use at a later date.
One benefit of this option – besides having better quality eggs available when you are ready to start your family – is that it involves some amount of planning ahead, and thinking about your future. For many of us, the time goes so fast – by the time we’re settled in our career and are ready to start thinking about having a child, we may already be at an age where the quality of our eggs is in decline.
The LSW take
Our line on freezing your eggs? We do find it an interesting option – and a much better one than IVF, which has one of the highest failure rates of any industry (second only to the diet industry!). With in vitro fertilization, you’re already at the point where you’re working with less viable eggs; with egg freezing, especially if they’re frozen before the age of 32, you’ve got eggs that are of better quality and therefore more viable – leading to a slightly better success rate.
However, this procedure may not be for everyone, and we do have some cautions. Hormonal manipulation is hormonal manipulation – many of us end up using hormonal birth control for years, before deciding to have children at mid-life, and both egg freezing and IVF utilize further hormonal manipulation to provoke your body into releasing several eggs at once. Regardless of the method of conception – whether by egg freezing, IVF, or even the old-fashioned way – spending much of the preceding years manipulating your hormones can make it that much more difficult to maintain a pregnancy, especially a healthy one.
Our advice? If you’re really serious about having children someday, give yourself a head start by taking good care of your body now. Look to non-hormonal methods of birth control (barrier methods such as condoms and spermicidal jelly, or the Today Sponge, for example), so that whether or not you decide to hedge your bets with egg freezing, you’re still setting yourself up for a healthy happy pregnancy at whatever age YOU decide you’re ready to conceive.
Laughing Sage Wellness is committed to helping women become their own best experts on their bodies and their health. After all, who knows you better than YOU?
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