Fixing The Extra Dry Hand Effect

If you are washing your hands more often and using hand sanitizer more than ever due to good practices to prevent getting and spreading the Covid-19 virus, you probably noticed this terrible side effect: extra dry hands. And for those like me who have a thin skin this is even more of a problem. And honestly, using a regular hand moisturizer all the time (or as often as I could remember) or even some body oils to address the problem didn’t prevent nor worked to treat the dryness, cracked skin of my hands.

And after considering a Dermatologist to help me out on that, I remembered about this product I had used once to treat the extra dryness of my hands a few years ago. And boom, game changer. The product is O’Keeffe’s Working Hands Cream. And it’s a miracle cream because within a few days my skin went from extremely dried, totally cracked to a smooth looking (and touching) one. No kidding. There are still some roughness in my hand’s knuckles, but it’s so little that I can hardly feel it. For me it’s good enough already.

I only used it before bed every night for about 3 days and that was enough to reverse the damage. But you can use it as often as you like. Now I keep on using the cream so I can keep it like that, hopefully. Because it’s very unpleasant to have extra dry hands.

The cream has no fragrance, it doesn’t make your hands greasy after using it, but leaves your hands highly moisturized and protected. I do recommend it.

And just to disclosure: this is not a paid post. It’s totally my experience with the cream and the dry hands problem that I wanna share with you.

“Happiness can’t be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every single minute with love, grace (and I add: radiance) and gratitude.”

– Denis Waitley

Happy Thanksgiving!πŸ™πŸπŸ’—

You Don’t Need To Learn How To Meditate To Meditate

You Don’t Need To Learn How To Meditate To Meditate

All you have to do is commit and show up to meditate every single day, at least once a day and you will be meditating. Regardless. Even if you think you aren’t. Because unlike you think, you can have thoughts and more thoughts coming in your way while meditating, you may need to still adjust your posture during it a few times, you can feel uncomfortable doing it for whatever the reason… You can even feel as if you are not meditating at all, but guess what? You are.

Image: Pixabay.

Because meditation is that time of the day that you choose to spend in your company. Mind, body, soul, spirit. All of you. The dark and the light side and every rainbow in between. It’s that moment that you chose to become more aware of you, of your breathe, even of your thoughts. The louder ones and the whispering ones.

And yes, if you get lucky from time to time you will gonna have that feeling, that experience of empty mind and the fullness of your own true self. But that is not the goal when you sit to meditate. The goal is to let those moments you spend meditating every day bring to your daily life a more serene approach to it, to get a sharper mind to focus and deal better if whatever it may come, to be more opened and compassionate with others, to align yourself with the Universe and flow with it, to be more aware and conscious of who you are, what is your bliss and be able to go for it, to help you go through heaven and hell right here on earth. That is what meditation is for.

And in order to get all the benefits of it you don’t need to learn or be the perfect Meditator. No. You just have to have to sit and breathe as deeply and slow as you can and let it be for some minutes every day. Consistently.

Can you do that?

Then you can meditate.

And if by any chance you said you can’t for this (oh, I don’t have time) or that (I can’t sit still for a few minutes), be aware that this is one big part of you speaking: your ego. Embrace it, hear it, give it a big hug and let it go. Your ego is just there to mess up with you and the way you interact with others and the world. It’s up to you to let it rule your life or not. Regarding meditation or any other subject.

Up to you. Like it’s to decide to give a chance to meditation.

A Little Something About Happiness

Photo: Pixabay.

A way of living, that is what happiness is. It is not that shiny happy place you need to reach to actually experience happiness.

Happiness it is taking a moment to recognize that you are enough.

That you are grateful for everything you have and have experienced so far.

It’s that sense of being content with who you are and what you have.

It’s the way you chose to see and face whatever happens to you.

It’s being able to enjoy every strawberry (or chocolate or whatever you like) every time you come across one no matter the “weather”.

It’s dancing in the rain and running under the burning sun.

It’s keeping your serenity having a ride in the dark side of the moon.

And your eyes and heart opened to welcome and embrace all your experiences.

Learn from them.

And let them go.

Them and anything else.

It’s letting your life flows.

And go along with.

Breathe in. And out. All the way through.

It’s being you.

Self-caring for your self.

Being kind to others.

Being empathic. Compassionate.

It’s understanding what tolerance really means.

It’s being surrounded by people you love and appreciate every moment of it.

And letting them know, feel this love and appreciation.

It’s being able to understand (and enjoy) the fact that life has its ups and downs, its beautiful and ugly days and you can’t and shouldn’t park your truck in just one station. This is part of what life is all about. And will ever be.

It’s being Okay even when you are not Okay.

Okay?πŸ˜‰πŸŒΈ

Why Self-Care Matters And Should Be A Priority

Why Self-Care Matters And Should Be A Priority

And going straight to the point using a clichΓ© to illustrate it (but a so true one), here is why self-care matters and should be a priority in your list:

Do you remember that safety rule on airplanes regarding the oxygen masks? If by any chance they drop down in front of you on a flight you should put your own mask first and then help somebody else to put their own if needed, even if it is your child who is that someone? And you should do this because if you don’t take care of yourself first you might end up passing out and possibly dying because of it. Would you like to pass out in a situation like that, especially with your child at risk by your side? Of course not. So to prevent that you should take care of yourself first and then help your child. This way you will not be at risk of fainting.

This rule totally makes sense in an airplane but for some weird reason when we apply it to our daily lives it suddenly doesn’t. We think it’s a selfish act, a bad, less thing to do when in fact it’s not.

Because just as it happens in an airplane emergency, in our daily lives if we don’t self-care for ourselves first we are not gonna be able to help ourselves or even others too. Due to the same exact reason: We will not have what it takes to do so. Not properly. Not fully. We need oxygen, fuel, clarity, energy to be able to function, to do something for others without compromising our act and our own physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually integrity. And because of that we need to put our self-care mask first, refuel ourselves in order to be able to help others, to take a good care of them.

And there are so many ways to self-care for yourself, to refuel you…

Like:

Just sitting down quietly and listening to what you really, really wants and needs.

And go for it.

Breathe deep and properly many times throughout the day.

Meditate.

Do some yoga.

Practice some exercise.

Go for a walk.

Eat foods that nourish you.

Take care of your health.

Make sure you are sleeping well and enough.

Having your back.

Take a bubbly warm bath (or a super cold shower if that is what you need).

Go for a full body massage.

Take a day off to be in and rest.

Sleep a full day.

Take a resting vacation.

Enjoy that cup of hot tea. Hot chocolate. Coffee.

Be out in nature.

Dance in the rain.

Swim in the ocean.

Say as many NOs as you think you need to.

Speak up.

Stand up for yourself in a loving way.

Be opened to love and be loved.

Laugh.

Share.

Live.

Flow.

Be surrounded by people you love.

Learn something new.

Rest unapologetically every time you need to.

Just chose whatever activity refuels your energy, joy, yourself. Plan that. Make time for it. Daily. Like you make time to brush your teeth or to work. Do with an intention. And allow yourself to be there, experiencing it, living it, breathing it. Just you with yourself. And loved ones.

Besides the oxygen mask effect, it is only taking a good care of yourself that you can be fully you and have the proper energy to offer the world that special gift that only you are equipped to do so. Otherwise… you won’t be able to. And that is, indeed, a bloody selfishness thing to do.