Funny - I picked up that album yesterday after years of not listening to it and completely spun out (as I used to) to 'Last Goodbye'. Synchronicity?

I also totally blissed out (in the terms of tears streaming down my face) to
'Grace'. I think this song is how I feel right now - that wild, free, standing on top of a beach cliff with the wind holding me up feeling.

I love Jeff Buckley -

xxx's Niqi

I only use the spray because the other products have chemicals on them I won't use. So I don't know how the creams work, but the spray is extraordinary for me. I LOVE it. It not only helps skin on my face but has virtually healed my dry horrible heels.

I want to try the wheatgrass shots next, but only because my local health food store has stopped using fresh raw wheatgrass and is using powder. *grrrr*

cheers, Niqi

Sweetpea you've said it in a way that cracks me up. 

No-Frontiers - I'm far more honest with myself than I'd ever thought I'd get. Far more true to myself and less willing to play social masquerades and feel guilty for not being someone else's perfect template. More able to sift the gold from the dross. Less willing to tolerate fakery and more able to recognize the genuine, even though it might look socially unacceptable. (bah, humbug!!!)

Not an easy position, but certainly one which make me happier in the sense that I know what being true to myself means.

xxxx's Niqi

I have to second Jenenergy on the cucumbers.

Not only eating, but drinking cucmber blended with ginger & lemon. Even on a big raw diet anyway with improved skin, the cucumber did the hard yard and made my skin  better.

Also, maybe rub mushed up cucumber and leave it on the face for a while before washing at night. I've found this softens the skin and probably detoxes as well.

I must repeat this, but I have found that this maxim has literally saved my problem skin;
'if it's not good enough to eat, it's not good enough to put on your skin.'

Harsh chemical pimple solutions to long term damage - I used them a lot being a adolescent & adult with acne as a result from food intolerance. I've had to do a lot of damage control since. (my 2 cent's worth!!!) 

Cheers, Niqi

Hi Fieldhigh!
I've had exactly the same problems and have been experimenting around with hydrating my skin. Pure coconut oil only dries me out because I am in a cool dry climate. Jojoba oil by itself as well.

RGG's suggestion of rosehip oil works wonders for me, especially under all other creams/oils etc.

Wheatgrass juice spray also is excellent.

I've made my own magic moisturizer using cacao butter as a base and various other oils mixed into it, which I've found is excellent, especially avodaco oil. Hemp seed oil I find very nourishing also, but only mixed with avocado oil.

But the best thing I've found - hands down best - is drinking lots of water, some with a pinch of celtic sea salt and lemon in it.

I also firmly believe that if you won't eat it, you shouldn't put it on your skin. Skin absorbs everything into the blood stream, which is IMHO the same as eating it.

This is just my experience, but I relate to your issue with dry skin!

Hope this is food for thought,
cheers,
Niqi

 

YES YES YES!!!!!!!

I took photos. It was amazing! I've NEVER seen than before in all my years of moon-gazing!

She is smiling at us!


xxx's Niqi 

Me please!

xxx's Niqi

Brilliant thought!

I once read that putting lemon juice on your hands and wearing gloves to bed can help with ultra dry hands.

I know the feeling. I loathe dry hands. I find that just regularly putting something on does the trick, not just once a day but every hour or so.

Hope your hands juice up again!

xxx's Niqi

I'd never have believed this myself after a million years of yoga & meditation and etc, but I find my inner stillness by putting on my tap shoes and tapping my heart away.

Fortunately my dance class room doesn't have mirrors - my fellow tappers and I dance to how we feel and don't care about how we look (a bunch of middle aged and unfit tappers. whoohoo!!!)

Reggae is great for this, and I often find myself choreographing routines in my head when I hear music that moves me.

I suppose this is the result on being a mum of two little girls who are always on the go. Stillness comes from somewhere in the eye of the cyclone!!!

LOLOL!

xxx' s Niqi

Well, my skin has changed again. Sometimes I feel a bit like a snake, always shedding, always changing.

Soft, clear, smooth.  I wonder if it's the green blends I've introduced? I also found a more vegan friendly moisturizer and it's amazing.

The thread on enlightenment is really interesting right now. It's made me think back fondly about my own quest for 'enlightenment' and it made me think of the word itself;

en-
lighten-
ment-

It's like switching on a light. When the light comes on, we see more clearly. We may not always know what to do with that knowledge, but eventually we will.

This is what I know at this moment:
-I need my water. My body responds really well to 2 + litres of water a way.
-I need my green blends. They give me energy when I feel like exhausted c*r*a*p. My experiment here worked.
-Dairy is evil for my body. I've lost weight just stopping eating dairy. I no longer have mucous. If I feel congested, I know now that this is my response to anxiety, and not a -result of eating substances that are toxic to me
-I can make my choices and not get seduced by toxic foods, and toxic suggestions from other people.
-My skin needs loving vegan products; putting stuff on my skin that I would eat works.
-Fruit makes me happy, coconut makes me happy.
-I am not happy when someone tells me that my own personal feelings are wrong, invalid or not important. I'll feel my feelings anyway. I have a right to.

Looking at it, that's not bad. I'm rather happy with what I know about myself now.

Well done me!

 

This is a really esoteric interpretation of my aikido saying! I Love it!

What I took it to mean is that enlightenment is not going to change our every day lives. We still need to function on a day-to-day level to survive; feeding ourselves & our kids, keeping our homes clean & safe, keeping our bodies working, making enough to keep going.

Enlightenment, rather, brings a different attitude to the way you do these things. Part of our aikido training was to scrub toilets. This was a BIG eye opener for the boys in my 'class', but since I am a girly girl, I found this 'enlightened' attitude to housework quite funny.

Enlightenment may just mean that you don't mind scrubbing toilets, because it adds to the greater community benefit. You can scrub and sing, like Mary Poppins, whom I DO consider quite an enlightened being. Morticia Addams, too. Take a look at her attitude to life - she's one of the most lovely creations around. (YEs, I KNOW both these characters are fictional, but then again, we don't really know how 'realistic' the representations of long-dead gurus are either. They might be fictionalized through the lenses of their loving disciples. Nothing wrong with that, just love.)

Life goes on before and after enlightenment. Enlightenment doesn't always last. We are, after all, human with flexible human feelings. It's ok. We can become enlightened, it all goes kerplop sometime and then we can become enlightened again in a completely different manner.

Nothing is static.
Rather, enjoy the ride.
Feel the feelings. Nothing is worse than being numb.

XXXX's Niqi

chop wood & carry water ...!

[quote author=RawAussieAthlete link=topic=3991.msg94122#msg94122 d
Maybe cut back slightly on the quantity and you won't feel nauseous?
When you throw out the fibre you also throw out other good stuff like antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and various phytonutrients (plant nutrients).
[/quote]

Thanks! I sorta thought this might be the case, but will try cutting quantity. I hate not having the fibrous bits, they look at me with all the loving energy in them and cry 'don't throw me out, eat me! eat me!' LOLOLOLOL!

On to next experiment!

Thanks again, Niqi

My aikido teacher used to pass on this message (from his teacher)

before enlightenment, chop wood & carry water.
After enlightenment, chop wood & carry water.

I love it!

 

Niqi

Decided to try juicing cucmber, expecting to hate it and would it make me gag?

NO WAY!

I loved it - I dusted off my juicer and decided that I will juice my greens for a while instead of blending them.

Blending greens so far has made me a little nauseous. But I never know what to do with the left over fibre - it seems like such a waste of good stuff!

Anyway - longwinded way of saying I'm munching on (slurping, perhaps??)
cucumber juice!

xxx's Niqi