“I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

Calm - Installation by Regine Ramseier

I have always had an affinity for cleanliness. I can remember cleaning up my room and folding all my clothes by the time I was five years old. I loved order, and still do. Every morning when I wake up, I make my bed. Every night before I go to sleep, I tidy up my room. These are practices allow me to start and end my day with a clean environment, inside and out.

In the meditation that I practice, there is an emphasis on internal cleaning. At the end of the work day, you are supposed to imagine all the impressions of the day being removed from your heart.

“All of our experiences—actions and reactions, thoughts and emotions—leave impressions. These impressions, called samskaras, accumulate over time, influencing our view of reality and consequently our behaviour. As habit patterns emerge and solidify, we continue to react in the present as we have in the past, setting the blueprint for future action. In this way we become, in a real sense, slaves to our past experience.” (Found here.)

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And while we are on the topic of cleaning, when I was in Cleveland this past week, I helped my mom do some of her spring cleaning – or more specifically, cleaning out her closets. The end result was SO gratifying. Here are the pictures to prove it:

Check out these related links:

Here is a checklist for spring cleaning from Martha Stewart.

“Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”
Mark Twain

“A man growing old becomes a child again.”
Sophocles

On Sunday night my whole family had an amazing dinner at my Dad’s house. There was a tornado warning and as a result, the power went out. We sat in the candle light eating cake and trying out the age booth app on the iPhone.

I was the first of the table to take have my picture taken and travel 30 years time to see what I will look like in 2042. Here is the result:

Upon seeing this photo, I screamed. At first, I laughed a little, but that laughter suddenly turned to tears and horror. I think I kept saying, “no, no!”

There is no way that when I am 56 years old, I will look that much like an old grandma, will I?

After that whole experience, I vow to take better care of my skin. Eat more anti-oxidants. Get enough sleep. Exercise regularly. And have a sense of humor about myself. Maybe I shouldn’t take the way I look SO seriously.

Over the years, I have developed a passion for all natural products; it has almost become an obsession.  I love to read about new products and find out what their brands are all about.  After a lot of trial and error, I have come to really love certain beauty products. Here are the ones that I have developed a small love affair with:

Intelligent Nutrient Leave-In Conditioner

Intelligent Nutrients has the same founder as Aveda. Their tagline is “everything we put in our bodies should be nutritious and safe.”  This leave in conditioner smells of cinnamon and leaves my curls feeling so moisturized.

Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint Liquid Soap

This soap is the best ever. I use it as a body wash, but it can be used to wash laundry, dishes, your teeth, etc. It makes your body tingle and has the most refreshing peppermint smell. Also, check out the documentary made about Dr. Bronner himself called Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soapbox. He is a bit nutty.

Tata Harper Regenerating Cleanser

This whole entire beauty line is amazing. Every single one of their products produces amazing results. I will never forget the first time my sister and I tried their product line. We were both instantly in love. This cleanser is a bit expensive, but anything Tata Harper is worth it.

Soapwalla Lip Balm

I have mentioned Soapwalla’s amazing deordorant before, so you might be familiar with this brand. However, she has a new product and it’s amazing. This lip balm works wonders! The citrus ginger is the best!

All the products above are organic, vegan and chemical-free.

To shop for more products like these, visit Spirit Beauty Lounge.

This past weekend, between a mixture of still feeling sick and wanting to feel at home, I spent my Saturday night lying on Lauren’s couch “helping” her de-clutter her apartment. That experience, along with a few conversations I had with friends in India, really has me thinking about all that we consume.

I started to become deeply aware of all the garbage I create in one day. Trips to the bodega.  Buying bottle after bottle of body wash. The list is really endless. i have decided to really try and do something about it. I also want to focus on reusing things that I already own.

While searching for ideas to reduce and reuse, I stumbled upon a great blog called Zero Home Waste. On this blog, there is a huge list of tips. Here are some of my favorites from that list:

• Buy in bulk or at the counter (see Zero Waste Grocery Shopping), bring reusable bags (dry goods), jars (wet items such as meat, deli, fish, cheese, oil, peanut butter) and bottles (liquids: oil, soy sauce, shampoo, conditioner).
• Refill your bottles with bulk shampoo and conditioner. If your hair is short, you also have the “no-poo” option: rinse your hair, massage baking soda in, then rinse, with vinegar for shine. Or use a shampoo bar. Instead of hairspray, switch to lemon water in a spray bottle. To go longer between washes, substitute dry shampoo for cornstarch (in bulk).
• Welcome natural cleaning alternatives: bulk castile soap on floors and sinks, homemade all purpose cleaner, baking soda for scrubbing jobs, and hydrogen peroxide for mildew.
• For body/face soap, find a package-free solid soap or bulk liquid castile soap. To exfoliate, switch to bulk baking soda or oatmeal for the face and salt for the body. For a mask, switch to bulk clays (French, Kaolin, Bentonite, etc…), mixed with water or apple cider vinegar.

She has tons of recipes for homemade beauty, cleaning products and ways to reuse products on the site. Check it out!

I would also love to hear any of your tips on how you reduce, reuse and recycle in your life!