Three natural ways to support your lymphatic system through the cold months.

Holy crap it's almost November!!!! and I haven't blogged in TWO MONTHS!!!! sorry for the hiatus loves! But we're back! Today I am going to just jump right in- I haven't been my best wellness warrior over the past two months, I won't lie, and it's time to get back on track! Back to home cooked meals, back to journaling, back to running around in the fresh air and playing with my dog... back to focusing on being well. Sometimes, when we fall off the wellness wagon, it can be tempting to do a "cleanse". To some of you that may mean a juice cleanse, or some kind of restrictive eating where you are not providing your body with enough nutrients in order to "cleanse" the system. I have talked about it before, but if you haven't heard me say this, here you go- I am not a fan of a cleanse where you are restricting nutrients and calories. I think a fresh vegetable juice is a wonderful addition to a healthy lifestyle (in moderation, and in the right time of year/temperature- juice is extremely cold to the system and this time of year you want to keep your system nice and warm to help your immune system function properly). Eating properly prepared whole foods, with lots of healthy yummy fats and incorporating bone broth into your meals (or just drink a mug of it like I do!) daily are great ways of supporting your wellness goals this time of year- but there are other things you can do to help your body gently detox daily, that help support your immune system and well being that don't involve food. I am going to outline three of those things today.

The lymphatic system is part of your immune system, and happy and flowing lymph fluid is vital to your health. If your lymphatic system is moving sluggishly (due to an overabundance of processed foods weighing your digestion and elimination down or too much sitting and not enough moving your body on a regular basis) your immune system will suffer. We all want happy energetic lymphocytes! Lymphatic "cleansing" can be a great tool in the winter months to keep your body happy and healthy. Here are three ways that I (try) to support my lymphatic system daily:

1. Dry skin brushing: Dry skin brushing is a simple way to encourage better lymphatic flow, and it might be the easiest of the three things I am going to talk about here to incorporate into your daily life. Dry skin brushing before you shower in the morning is a great way to support skin health (gentle exfoliation) as well as stimulating your lymphatic system. Grab your self a natural bristle dry skin brush (they have them at places like Whole Foods) and brush your skin, starting at your feet, in long gentle strokes, always moving towards your heart. I raise my hands in the air and brush down my arms, under my armpits, towards my heart, and up my legs, over my belly and booty, towards my heart. If you have areas with cellulite (who doesn't??!!), you can go a little harder with the brush strokes in those spots- cellulite is partially a build up of lymph, plus fat cells, and dry brushing can help move it out. Jump in the shower when you are done and enjoy your glowy skin!

2. Castor oil packs: The Castor oil pack is a long used home remedy to support many areas of health. Using castor oil packs over your digestive system can help with digestive issues, and using them over your uterus when you have PMS can alleviate cramps. I used them to help dissipate my ovarian cyst, and use them for menstrual issues most months. They are also very cleansing to the lymphatic system, via the liver, so putting a castor oil pack over the liver can help cleanse the liver and make it easier for it to filter out the junk that the lymphatic system is asking it to process and get rid of. Castor oil is a very powerful plant oil that "removes things" from your system- I use it in my oil blend that I use for oil cleansing my face, it pulls gunk out of the pores, and it is also an effective laxative because of it's ability to "pull stuff out". I am not going to get into the science behind the Castor plant here, suffice to say it is a potent natural remedy. Only do a castor oil pack for 30-45 minutes, and don't do them multiple days in a row- one every other day for a few days is enough, one week out of the month. Don't do them for cramps when you are actively bleeding heavily during your period, because they can cause you to move more blood then your body should. (Ps. the picture above is of the humble and powerful Castor plant). Directions for administration of Castor oil packs:

(Castor oil is very thick and stains, so be sure you are doing this in clothes that you're not worried about, and lay on a towel while doing it)

Spread a thick layer of ORGANIC Castor oil over the area you want to treat (intestines, stomach, uterus, liver, etc). Take a thin old towel or piece of flannel and lay it over the area with Castor oil on it, and lay a hot water bottle on top of that, that is as warm as you can handle (no electric heating pads, only a hot water bottle - old school style, one of those red rubber ones, they have them at the drugstore). Allow the hot water bottle to sit on the area for 30-45 minutes, and then remove and clean the castor oil off your body (you may need to shower to get it off your skin). I keep my Castor oil pack flannel in a jar in the fridge, and use it over and over again without cleaning it (Castor oil is very hard to wash out of cloth) until it's done (about 10 uses). Do that every other day for one week out of the month.

3. Rebounding! Yes, rebounding is just a fancy way of saying jumping on a trampoline. The movement of rebounding specifically targets the lymphatic system, and basically gently jolts it into flowing better. I bought a rebounder from amazon for about 50 dollars, and I jump on it for about 10 minutes most days. It is a great thing to do before you dry brush your skin in the morning, and is really refreshing and fun!

So there you have it, three ways to support your lymphatic system, which helps to maintain a healthy immune system, during the fall and winter months. There are so many ways to cleanse your system, and I hope you will try one of these (or all of these) methods to help keep your lymphocytes happy! Happy brushing, castor oil packing, and jumping! Please let me know if you try any of these and what you think!

A warming Moroccan stew recipe for this beautiful Fall weather!

Happy Friday! It has been amazingly beautiful here in Santa Cruz this week, lovely 75 degree days with 45 degree nights/early mornings... Fall is definitely upon us. The sky is bright periwinkle blue, and the sun is shining a warm orange color through the leaves. Slippers and sweaters have come out at our house, and we have even started turning on our pellet stove in the evenings. This is by far my favorite time of year, I love all things cozy- blankets, tea, smart wool socks... The other night I was craving a warm, spice-laden stew, and middle eastern food is my all time favorite, so I made this Moroccan inspired stew that was the perfect dinner for a lovely Fall evening. The beauty of this recipe is that it is very easy to tweak to your dietary needs- Paleo, Vegan, etc, just a few changes and you can make it work for you. It works well in a crock pot, and I promise you when you get home from a long day of work and smell this simmering in your kitchen you will swoon! My husband was outside planing a tree that fell down on our property to make it into a mantle for our pellet stove area (he is a rockstar, seriously), and he walked in the house and just about melted as he smelled the stew bubbling away. It is super easy to make and tastes even better the next day, as the spices really get the chance to meld together. Without further ado:

Fall Spiced Moroccan Stew:
(makes a big pot- I usually just make a lot and freeze the left overs)

Ingredients: (paleo/vegan swaps included)
Big dollop coconut oil or Ghee
Few (3ish) cups of bone broth or veggie broth
Grass fed ground lamb/bison or soaked beans of your choice (I always recommend purchasing dried beans and properly soaking them overnight instead of canned beans, because the soaking decreases the phytic acid in the beans- phytic acid = unhappy tummy- and can liners contain BPA)
1-2 sweet potatoes, chopped
1-2 large bell peppers, chopped
Few carrots, chopped
1 cup stewed tomatoes (I cook down and freeze my own tomatoes, but you could use fresh if you are trying to avoid store bought canned tomatoes- which I suggest you avoid- or if tomatoes are not in season, just leave them out)
2-3 dates, pitted and chopped up
garlic and onions (I go heavy on both, a whole head of garlic and 2-3 onions, but it's up to you)
3 tsp ground cinnamon
3 tsp ground cumin
3 tsp ground coriander
Salt and pepper
chopped up greens of your choice (we did a cup of chopped kale)
chopped fresh cilantro and lemon zest for the topping

Saute the onions and garlic in the coconut oil/Ghee, until the onions are translucent. Add the meat if you are using it, and saute until cooked- (add more oil/Ghee if you need to). Add the spices and let cook for a few minutes, being careful not to burn it. Then transfer this mixture to a large stock pot or the slow cooker, and add the broth. Add in all the chopped veggies (except the greens, cilantro and lemon), the beans (if you are using them), the dates, and the salt and pepper. If you are using beans, be sure to let them cook in the stew for 3-4 hours so they are nice and digestible. If you aren't using beans, just cook until it smells amazing, letting everything simmer together for and hour or two to really seal in the flavor. Add the greens about 20 minutes before you are ready to eat it, so that they are still nice and fresh when you gobble it up. Serve with fresh cilantro and a sprinkle of lemon zest on top, with a salad or for those of you who eat bread, a great loaf of something yummy.

This meal was super satisfying on a cool Autumn evening, and it freezes well for leftovers. It can be tweaked however you want, and other veggies can be used as well- say, winter squash instead of bell peppers.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and let me know if you try it, and what you think! Happy cooking!

Happy Fall!

We have been very busy on the homestead this week- between harvesting the tomatoes and the last two pumpkins (this is our fur baby, Miss Ptilota, posing next to the last two cinderella pumpkins we harvested from our garden today), and a glut of celery (I don't really know what to do with all of this celery that is ready all at once!), to taking extra care of our chickens (some of our older ladies are going through a rough moult this season, and they need TLC), to cleaning the gutters and making dump runs and cleaning out the sheds (my husband thought I was mildly crazy, asking to do all this work to "get ready for the rains", when we haven't seen rain in Santa Cruz in many, many months... but my spidey-sense was working, because it rained all day yesterday, right after we had gotten all that work done!) I will be posting some good stuff coming up, so stay tuned! Happy Fall (my absolute favorite time of year) to everyone reading this out there in the world! Much love.