6 Simple & Healthy Choices For You, Your Home and Our Planet

Small yet significant changes to reduce the internal and external stressors in your life and help you to live more consciously… for yourself and our planet

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Do you know what’s in the products that you’re using to clean your home, nurture your skin, and care for your children? 

Studies have shown that half of Americans are unaware that the products they use every day contain petroleum-based ingredients or petrochemicals. That’s 165 billion people that are unknowingly welcoming toxins into their homes. Not too long ago, I was one of them.

Inspired by my Paris-born mother, I’ve always been relatively conscious about the products I use, the foods I eat, and my lifestyle choices.

I naively trusted that if something was labeled as ‘natural’, that meant it was safe for me and the planet. It seems logical, right?

When I got pregnant with my firstborn, something shifted. Rather than operating under an assumption, I wanted to know what was actually in the products I was using. I soon realized that to protect myself and my family, I needed to make some significant changes, to strip everything back to the basics. My goal was to live simply, consciously and naturally, free of chemicals and worry. While it’s my business, it’s just one piece of the puzzle.

I find that establishing routines is the secret to achieving this, even when my life seems to be moving at tremendous speeds.

It’s my daily rituals surrounding food, movement, skincare, and more that have helped me stay grounded, even in chaos. They’ve helped me carve my path in pursuit of my wildest dreams, including creating my skincare business PRĀZ. Want to know what I learned? Here are 6 key takeaways:

1. Cleanse Your Mind

The mind is a powerful thing. It’s incredible how much our lives can change if we simply choose to take a step back, pause, and then make decisions not clouded by fear, resentment, and all of those other emotions that hold us back. 

For me adopting a daily meditation practice has been a game-changer. I tend to operate at a rapid pace, mentally and physically, but meditation has given me the space that I desperately need to slow down and organize my thoughts. Without it, I’d be chasing dreams left and right. 

Put It Into Practice:

Adopting a meditation practice can be a daunting task, so remember that it’s a practice, not a perfect. It takes time and experimentation. If you’re new to meditation, I recommend starting with your breath. Find a quiet space to sit with your eyes closed start to breathe deeply. Notice the changes throughout your body as you inhale and exhale. By focusing on what’s shifting physically, see if you can let go of some of the mental distractions. Do this for as long as it feels productive.  

2. Move Your Body

As humans, we are built to move. Yet somehow, over time, we’ve found ourselves in cars, behind desks, and slumped into couches. If I’m ever feeling sluggish, cranky, or stiff, the first thing I ask myself is, “Did you move today?” 

My favorite way to get my blood flowing is to hit my yoga mat. Most days, I’m too busy with meetings and toddler chasing to get to a studio, so I rely on podcasts from Yoga To The People. It’s great because I can do it on my own time when distractions are low. Some days my practice is vigorous; other days slow and steady. My goal is to take the time to honor what I need on that specific day.

Put It Into Practice:

The key to incorporating more movement into your life is to find something that you enjoy. If you don’t like it, it’s going to feel like a chore. It can take a little bit of trial and error, so be open to experimentation. Drop into that yoga studio that you walk by every single day. Join your friend at Pilates when they ask you for the millionth time. If you desperately need “me time,” lace up those old running shoes and enjoy some fresh air. 

3. Eat Purposefully

Food is the essence of life. Who doesn’t love to eat? It’s one of my favorite ways to nourish my family. I make fresh juices daily, even for the little. I love trying new recipes. And there’s no better place to gather than around the table.

Unlike many consumer goods, the food industry is a bit ahead of the curve. There are standards in place for product labels and markets exist to provide us with incredible fresh ingredients from local farmers. And, most importantly, consumers are educated on the impact of what we eat. All that said, we still need to consider things like pesticides and food transit. In doing so, we’re able to ensure our foods are helping both our bodies and our planet thrive. 

Put It Into Practice:

When it comes to cleaning up your diet, start small. Set realistic goals and then implement them one at a time. If you want to reduce your food radius, get familiar with your local farmer’s market for produce, bread products, meats, cheeses, eggs, and more. You’d be amazed just how easily you can stock your pantry without visiting a big-box grocery store. Challenge yourself to cook only with ingredients that you’ve sourced locally. 

4. Nourish Your Skin

My French mother exposed me to the importance of a daily skincare routine rooted in nature. Together we’d venture to the garden to pick herbs which she’d then use to nourish her beautiful skin. Fast forward to my twenties. I lived in New York City {read: small space} while getting my own photography business off the ground {read: no time}. I still opted for a skincare routine that was natural and simplistic, but I was putting a lot of trust into mass marketed products. I didn’t always have the time to make my own. Then I got pregnant. 

That’s when I began to educate myself on the impact of the skincare products I was using. The more I learned, the more saddened and scared I became. Did you know the EU has banned over 1,300 chemicals for cosmetic use whereas the US has only banned 11. Yikes! Leveraging the skills my mother taught me, I was inspired to develop products from food-grade ingredients — products I could trust for myself, and my family.

Put It Into Practice:

Dig through the skincare products that you have sitting in the cabinet. Set them out and read the labels. Really read them looking for buzzwords such as parabens, phthalates, BHT, toluene, diethanolamine, triclosan, and fragrance. Manufacturers use ‘fragrance’  to hide nearly any ingredient as long as it somehow enhances the scent of the product. Protected under the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act, companies use this to get creative with their recipes, even the ‘natural’ ones. If any of your skincare products contain any of these ingredients, find a safe way to dispose of them ASAP.

5. Clean Your House

Remember when you could find a bottle of Pledge and 409 under nearly every kitchen sink in the US? Since then, studies have shown how detrimental these products are to our health. One 2009 study, conducted across ten countries, found that popular spray cleaners can increase the risk of asthma by 30-50%. Scary! 

Luckily, people are starting to recognize that we are indeed a product of our environment and thus demand products that are better for our families, pets, waterways, and the air that we all share. Now you can easily find natural cleaning supplies in your neighborhood marketplace. Or for the ambitious, you can even concoct your own with simple and natural ingredients. 

Put It Into Practice:

I won’t lie. I secretly love making my cleaning supplies. At home, I can mix everything in a mason jar, add a spray nozzle, and I’m set for weeks — much cheaper than store bought products and no wasteful packaging required! My go-to solution is 1⁄2 cup of white vinegar, two tablespoons of baking soda, and water. When I’m feeling fancy, I add a couple of drops of my favorite essential oils. 

6. Shop Consciously

As a consumer, I consider the ingredients of the products that I buy, as well as how they are sourced, packaged, and what their impact is on our planet. This means tuning out the marketing campaigns because let’s be honest, ‘natural’ has become a buzzword. Instead, start taking into account what’s inside as well as how it’s wrapped up… which is often a ton of plastic. 

Put It Into Practice:

Next time you find yourself at the grocery store or itching to make a purchase online, take into consideration all of the packaging required to bring that product into your home. This includes any shipping materials, plastic wrapping, and the materials used in the product itself. If you still want to go ahead with your purchase, learn to carefully read labels. Daunting at first, this can quickly become second nature. A good rule of thumb is that if you can’t pronounce it, don’t ingest it or put it on your skin.

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You may also enjoy reading Feeling Good: 9 Ways to Naturally Increase Your Dopamine Levels by Lynda Arbon