I AM ON RETREAT. I DON’T KNOW FOR HOW LONG.
Written on July 30, 2011 at 11:07 pm, by Ellen WoodI guess I’ll be on retreat as long as it takes to do this
inner work I feel called to do.
It’s important that you know I care about you, and that
I am so grateful for the love and support you express
for me in your comments and emails.
While I’m on retreat there will be no emails or blogs
from me, so in the meantime I have a few suggestions
for you.
If you’ve come to my website because your primary
interest in growing younger is the body/mind-attitude
aspect, then I recommend you go to maxlife.org and sign
up for Dave Kekich’s free newsletter and get his
incredibly informative book – free also – “Life
Extension Express” (soon to change to “Smart, Strong
and Sexy at 100.”)
And/or if the Tibetan Rites of Rejuvenation
interest you, watch my YouTube at
http://www.howtogrowyounger.com/p/tror.html
If your primary interest is the spirit/mind aspect, then
I highly recommend reading “A New Earth” by Eckhart
Tolle as well as listening to “A More Conscious Life
Workshop” a set of CDs by Marianne Williamson. These
and “A Course in Miracles” are the most inspiring in
my life right now.
I wish you Joy and Blessings and hope you’ll stay
subscribed.
Love,
Ellen
It’s a WIN for Everybody!
Written on July 4, 2011 at 5:39 pm, by Ellen WoodI have to say it was a real red-letter day for me when I learned my audio book was chosen for a GOLD Nautilus Book Award. When the awards committee chair invited me to New York for the Award Announcements, another blessing fell into my lap. I’d already booked my flight to New Jersey to attend a family wedding – taking place just a few days before they wanted me at Book Expo America at the Jacob Javits Center in NYC. The timing was perfect! Synchronicity strikes again!
There’s more to this timing story, but first let me tell you a bit about the Nautilus Book Awards. This award recognizes books, audio books and e-books that promote spiritual growth, conscious living and positive social change and, at the same time, stimulate the imagination and offer readers new possibilities for a better life and a better world.
The Nautilus Book Awards Silver and Gold Winners are selected in a unique three-tier judging process by experienced teams of book reviewers, librarians, authors, editors, book store owners and leaders in the publishing industry. They are charged with looking for “distinguished literary and heartfelt contributions to spiritual growth, conscious living, high-level wellness, green values, responsible leadership and positive social change.”
A short list of some of the other authors who have received a GOLD Nautilus Book Award includes Marianne Williamson, Deepak Chopra, Carolyn Myss and Eckert Tolle, and I’m honored to be included in such a group.
Funny how things work. When the Nautilus Award folks contacted me to say my 3-CD audio book was nominated, I was knee-deep into designing a new cover for it – and giving it a new TITLE! Why? It was an inspiration that came to me when I completed my morning meditation one day – that the original title, “The Secret Method for Growing Younger”, just didn’t feel quite right. “THINK and GROW YOUNG – Powerful Steps to Create a Life of Joy” seems to have just the right vibration or frequency or whatever you call it.
I immediately asked the Nautilus committee if the change in title and packaging would affect my consideration for the award and found it would not. Whew! It did spur me to speed up the production process, however – all in all, a good thing!
So with lovely new, eco-friendly packaging (no plastic!) for the second edition of the audio book, it occurred to me that I still had an inventory of the original title – both in audio and soft cover print. Now, with new, improved covers and better title, what should I do with the old title/old cover books? The answer came: offer all of you a big discount – and hold a huge Inventory Reduction Sale!
To celebrate my Gold Nautilus Book Award, I am offering all the earlier editions with the title The Secret Method for Growing Younger at 50% off! The content is the same, and I’m thinking perhaps the sale prices will encourage my readers to stock up for gift-giving. And…trite but true: supplies are limited.
Whether you’re reading – or listening to me read – Think and Grow Young or The Secret Method for Growing Younger, the message is the same – and it’s the message I so want to get out to the world: we CAN reverse aging and grow younger – in our minds, spirits and bodies. I hope you’ll help me spread the word.
Joy and Blessings,
Ellen
CONSUMER NOTICE: In my articles and blogs there may be affiliate links. That means if you buy something from a link in this email or based on my recommendation, either expressed or implied, I may get paid an affiliate commission. It’s a win-win situation!
Anti-Aging Scientific Research Shows Aging CAN Be Reversed!
Written on May 24, 2011 at 2:24 pm, by Ellen WoodResearchers at Harvard-affiliated medical centers recently published remarkable anti-aging results of a study using gene therapy that reversed aging — on mice!
That’s right, in the study they saw the total reversal of age-related problems, including decreased brain function which returned to normal and failing organs that started working well again. Even fur on the mice that had turned gray was restored to dark fur. (See link to ABC News story at bottom.)
I find this so exciting! The researchers didn’t expect such dramatic anti-aging results, results that went way beyond slowing the signs of aging to actually reversing it — which is what I call growing younger!
What did they do to cause the mice to grow younger? They lengthened their telomeres.
You haven’t heard of telomeres? Let’s back up for a second and define some things. DNA is held within the chromosomes and each chromosome has a protective cap at the ends — called a telomere. It’s sort of like the tip of a shoelace which keeps the shoelace from unraveling.
Throughout life, these protective caps get shorter and shorter — and eventually they become too short to protect the DNA. At this point cellular damage begins to occur, leading to malfunction in crucial organs like the brain, heart, liver, and pancreas.
Muscle loss also occurs, and eventually extreme weakness and frailty happen. In other words, when the telomeres get short enough, the deterioration of old age occurs.
In this study, researchers boosted the cellular levels of telomerase, enzymes that lengthen telomeres, in the mice — and saw the signs of aging reversed. In measureable ways, the mice grew younger!
The next big question is: Can they do the same for people?
They’re certainly hopeful and are conducting more animal studies which will undoubtedly lead to research with people. In the case of humans, each cell holds 23 pair of chromosomes, each with telomeres at the strand ends.
Prior research has already established that shorter telomeres are associated with age-related diseases such as heart disease and Alzheimer’s. The exciting news about this study is the fact that boosting cellular levels of telomerases resulted in a significant reversal of the detrimental signs of aging.
Dr. Ronald DiPinho, a geneticist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, and co-author of the study results, said he thinks this research has identified the core pathway explaining many different theories of aging.
Now, as exciting as this is, we don’t want to sit on our laurels and wait — we want to do everything we can right now to grow younger!
Lifestyle factors may matter just as much! Dr. Dean Ornish, researcher at the University of California San Francisco, conducted a study several years ago with volunteers (people!) who agreed to follow a low-fat diet, exercise regularly and use relaxation techniques.
These lifestyle changes increased the volunteers’ levels of telomerase – hence postponing the time when the telomeres could no longer protect the cells from damage.
My diet is not so low-fat if you count all the coconut oil I consume — which is very healthy for you so I’m sure that’s good. But I DO exercise every day and the relaxation technique I use is twice daily half-hour meditation. Those are just a few of the “grow young” techniques that are working for me so I expect my telomeres are doing a good job protecting my cells.
If you need scientific anti-aging evidence to believe it’s possible to reverse aging, you’ve got it in the studies I mentioned. Keep in mind, however, that when you allow the belief that you CAN grow younger, you’ve taken a significant step toward making it happen. Now let’s celebrate! Walk, exercise, drink lots of pure water, observe your thoughts, pray, meditate and eat less — so we can grow younger together!
If you have an anti-aging tip, we’d love to hear from you. Please share it with our community by clicking Comment below. Thanks!
Joy and Blessings!
Ellen – Your Grow Young Guide
P.S. Here’s the link to the story about the mice on ABC News: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Alzheimers/aging-reversed-mice/story?id=12269125
Anti-Aging Tip: Omega 7 – Little-Known Supplement for Youthful Skin
Written on May 7, 2011 at 4:53 pm, by Ellen WoodThis anti-aging tip is one your skin will love. It’s about a supplement you probably haven’t heard of yet: Omega 7.
The anti-aging benefits of Omega 7 are beginning to be touted by scientists for its ability to help control free radicals. But that’s not all! Omega 7 also contains dozens of phyto-nutrients that nourish the skin.
That’s why Omega 7 has become part of my anti-aging daily routine and is one nutrient you should consider if you want your skin to look and feel younger.
I’m sure you’ve heard of the health benefits of Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) Omega 3, 6 and 9, but have you heard of Omega 7? Most people haven’t but those on the leading edge of nutritional science and anti-aging therapies are re-discovering what was known in ancient times in Greek and Tibetan herbal medicine.
Your body cannot make EFAs so you need to get them from food or supplements. The best source for Omega 7 is oil from the Sea Buckthorn plant.
While the benefits of Sea Buckthorn on the body’s largest organ, the skin, have been widely documented in ancient texts, Sea Buckthorn oil also has an extensive history of traditional use to promote digestive and mucous membrane health. Another major anti-aging effect of Sea Buckthorn in ancient times was relief of menopausal vaginal dryness.
Today scientists are touting Omega 7 for its anti-aging benefits primarily since it helps control free radicals and contains dozens of skin-nourishing phyto-nutrients, including full spectrum Vitamin E, well known for healing and repairing skin tissue.
Besides the other vitamin/herbal supplements in my daily anti-aging regimen, I also take one or two Omega 7 capsules each day. Talk it over with your healthcare provider – perhaps it’s right for you too, but don’t take it if you’re pregnant (or planning to be) or nursing.
So, if you seriously want to have more youthful skin, you can! Consider taking an Omega 7 supplement each day and apply my castor oil home remedy morning and evening for healthy, young skin. Want a copy of my castor oil home remedy? Just write to me at ellen@best-anti-aging-tips.com
If you have an anti-aging tip, we’d love to hear from you. Please share it with our anti-aging community by clicking Comment below. Thanks!
Joy and Blessings,
Ellen – Your Grow Young Guide
Science Study Shows Anti-Aging Needs to Begin in Childhood
Written on April 25, 2011 at 12:11 am, by Ellen WoodAnti-aging is not just about taking action steps after your 30th birthday.
A 40-year scientific study released findings which show that the stereotypes teenagers and young adults have of older people – positive or negative – can actually predict their own aging. This is just one more research study that proves how powerful our thoughts and words are.
Most of us have had subjective experiences to support the fact that what we think will happen – what we strongly EXPECT to happen – will happen.
Well, now another scientific study is backing up what our instincts tell us. The truth of just how powerful our thoughts are in determining our future is illustrated in the results of a major study by the Yale School of Public Health. Researchers found that age stereotypes acquired in childhood and young adulthood were carried over into old age and had far-reaching effects.
The 40-year study, published in Psychological Science, found that younger people with strong negative stereotypes about the elderly are more likely to experience strokes, heart attacks and other heart problems when they grow older than those who had positive images of the elderly.
“Someday you’re going to be old,” we’ve admonished teenagers and youngsters who have ridiculed elderly people and expressed a lack of compassion for their seeming helplessness. And it warmed our hearts when we watched other young people share love with elders and delight in their company.
Little did we know that their stereotypes about old people would have an effect on young people’s own lives when they got older! Yet that’s what this major study has found.
Becca R. Levy, PhD, is the study’s lead author and associate professor of epidemiology and psychology at the Yale School of Public Health. “The findings suggest that efforts to reduce the negative age stereotypes of younger individuals could provide them with better health when they reach the age of those they had been previously targeting with these stereotypes,” Levy said in a news article written by Michael Greenwood.
This study is a good reminder that we can serve not only ourselves but our kids, grandkids and great-grandkids by engendering in them compassionate understanding of the limitations of others – young or old.
When grandpa visits and is grouchy, encourage those youngsters in the family to override that grouchiness with kindness and humor.
You know, emotions are catching – and instead of allowing grandpa’s grumpiness to spread to everyone in the family, create a stronger emotion – one of love, joy and understanding. Let grandpa catch this better-feeling emotion.
Demonstrate for those who’re younger how they can bring the emotional energy up instead of allowing grandpa’s emotional state to bring them down. Realizing they can make grandpa smile will make them feel good about themselves as well as empowered.
Another way we can serve those younger is to BE the example of adding years without sacrificing our vitality, curiosity and enthusiasm.
If we just step over those age labels like they’re not there, we can imprint a healthier image of what it looks like to be over 50 or 80 or heck, 100! We can prevent those detrimental stereotypes from forming, and pave the way for the generations coming behind us to add years without strokes and heart attacks.
Scientific studies continue to prove that thoughts, beliefs and expectations are extremely powerful influences on what takes shape in our lives. This is just one more reason to replace negative thought habits with thoughts that inspire, encourage and bring joy.
Share with us your experiences that proved your thoughts, beliefs and expectations affected your life. We can all learn from each other. Just Click to Comment. And thanks!
Love and Blessings,
Ellen – Your Grow Young Guide
Anti-Aging Research Asks, “Can Meditation Make You Younger?”
Written on April 10, 2011 at 5:37 pm, by Ellen WoodThe major part of “Can Meditation Make You Younger?” which appeared in Lifestyle You, the online site of an Australian TV channel and magazine, focuses on studies by scientists and healthcare practitioners investigating the anti-aging benefits of meditation.
I’m honored to tell you I was interviewed for this article because meditation is part of my grow younger process, but the most fascinating part of the article is what these others have to say.
The author, Dana Mrkich of Sydney, discovered my website and spent several days in Taos NM interviewing me while she was on a trip to America’s southwest.
What a delightful gift it was to get to know Dana: she is a treasure! Dana is not only an author, radio host. teacher and counselor, she’s also a talented energy intuitive. Visit her website at www.danamrkich.com. And please comment below. I’d love to hear from you.
Can Meditation Make You Younger?
By Dana Mrkich, Sydney, Australia
Reprinted with permission from LifeStyle You, the online service of LifeStyle You Channel.
Move over expensive creams and painful surgeries. Did you know that regular meditation can make you look and feel 20 years younger, increase health and longevity and prevent brain-deterioration, dramatically changing what we previously thought were inevitable processes?
This natural – and free – practice is rapidly rising as a powerful alternative to the multi-billion dollar anti-aging industry, with experts and studies revealing that the effects go beyond feeling calm and peaceful for a few minutes.
Real life story
Author of The Secret Method for Growing Younger Ellen Wood looks nowhere near her biological age. “Even though I have more than 74 years under my belt, I have more energy, stamina, flexibility, and vitality than even 30 years ago. My body is stronger and my mind much clearer and sharper.”
Ellen credits daily meditation as being one of the key factors in her ‘growing younger’ program. “Growing younger starts with the mind. It doesn’t matter how many exercises you do, or how healthy your diet or the amount of restful sleep, growing younger won’t happen unless your mind can access that joyful place within that releases stress and promotes happy cells. Meditation as a daily habit takes me to that place.”
According to Professor and Doctor of Raphaology Medicine, Morning Spirit Wolf, also a practitioner of Herbal and Nutritional Medicine, meditation allows you to literally step out of time because it taps into the pineal gland of the brain. “Pineal function, a little known gland, produces hormones that regulate bio-rhythms, immunity, perception, and aging.”
The benefits of meditation
The impact of meditation on aging, particularly the aging brain, has been a topic of research for many years for Dr. Dharma Singh Khalsa, the founding president and medical director of the Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation in Arizona.
“Our research reveals that meditation lowers the stress chemical in the blood called cortisol. Cortisol kills brain cells and leads to cognitive decline. Our research also shows that our simple 12 minute daily meditation called Kirtan Kriya enhances brain blood flow in critical areas of the brain and reverses memory loss.”
Dr Khalsa also explains how meditation can increase our longevity and decrease our overall aging process. “Meditation lowers blood pressure and other markers of aging including MVO2 or oxygen demand. It enhances psychological well-being, perhaps the most significant determinate of telomere length (telomeres are the end cap of our DNA), which is a very important marker of aging and longevity: longer telomeres = less illness and longer life.”
Building healthy cells
Occupational Therapy Practitioner and Host of television show Functional Fitness Suzanne Andrews uses meditation in her treatments with clients, saying that meditation is an important part of healthy cell function, and that our cells ultimately determine everything about the way we look and feel.
“Meditation when combined with diaphragmatic breathing increases oxygen intake which increases blood flow. There are 1 billion oxygen molecules in 1 red blood cell – very important because blood nourishes all of your body systems cells. Adults come with a total number of 100 trillion cells. Each of these cells is an important life form that depends on oxygen and blood to transport nutrients, gases, wastes, and hormones.
Meditation helps our cells work better as a system because a cell is a system of parts that help it to work. Like a watch, if one part breaks down, the whole watch stops keeping time. So too, our cells age when one part breaks down. Keeping our cells healthy slows down the aging process.”
Meditation and fertility
Essentially, meditation is a key way of taking charge of your own health, looks and longevity. Acupuncturist Janet Humphrey is the founder of New York’s Giving Nature Center, and uses acupuncture needles to induce a state of meditation.
“This state restores the body’s optimum functioning and harmonious nervous system function, benefiting our organs, skin and circulation. It helps issues including insomnia, anxiety, depression, ulcers, digestive disorders, menstrual and fertility issues. Cells are receiving the healthy nutrients that they need. When they are well nourished they can work at their best. Once people experience this through acupuncture, they want to maintain it – so I recommend meditation so they aren’t dependant.”
The brilliance of meditation is that it is simple to do, and accessible to everyone.
Anti-Aging Tip: Cut Way Down on This Stuff – It Causes Wrinkles
Written on March 30, 2011 at 12:22 am, by Ellen WoodThis anti-aging action step is one of the most profound ways to grow younger.
If you possibly can, please cut way down on this stuff because it can cause wrinkles, inflammation, depression and a whole host of bad effects on the cells of your body. My anti-aging physician, Terry Grossman M.D., told me to read labels and limit myself to 15 grams a day.
But remember, growing younger is about joy – so don’t go overboard.
Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va2YQKeUP0Y and please comment under the YouTube video.
Joy and Blessings!
Ellen – Your Grow Young Guide
Anti-Aging Tip: Write or Say Affirmations to Grow Younger
Written on March 18, 2011 at 12:54 am, by Ellen Wood“I’m going to stop eating sugar-coated donuts. I’m going to stop eating sugar-coated donuts. I’m going to stop eating sugar-coated donuts.”
Ever repeat something like this to yourself? If you resolved to have a healthier body and mind by changing your diet, that’s great.
However, if you’ve been stating your intention in this way, you may get the opposite result and here’s why. In order to change our habits, we need to get both the conscious and subconscious mind on board — and the words we choose are powerful!
When setting intentions, saying affirmations or just repeating something to keep it in focus, be aware that your subconscious mind doesn’t hear the word “stop” or “not.”
So by saying “I’m going to stop eating sugar-coated donuts,” your subconscious mind absorbs “eating sugar-coated donuts” and sets up images of glorious goodies that taste delicious but often have empty calories or artery-clogging fat and too much sugar.
By phrasing your affirmation with a negative, you’re creating a conflict between what your conscious mind and subconscious mind are “seeing.” Since it’s the subconscious that runs the body, your result is likely to be extra pounds and a feeling of defeat when your intention was to eat healthy, look good and feel good.
Here’s what happens: your mind takes words and translates them into pictures. When you read a novel, you’re not just reading combinations of letters on a page; your mind actually makes mental pictures from the words. And when a comedian tells a story, the audience “gets it” by transforming ideas being told into humorous images that make them laugh.
To illustrate what I mean, let’s test your inner vision. Try NOT to think of an elephant balancing on one foot wearing a red dress with white polka dots.
Can’t do it, right? Your mind will automatically visualize that silly-dressed elephant even though you understood that you were NOT to visualize it.
To make your intentions powerful and to support healthy, youthful goals, write and say exactly what you are intending. “I eat healthy, nourishing food. My skin is smooth and firm. My body is strong and buff.” (Women can add, “with curves in all the right places.”)
Say it in the present tense with emotion as if it’s already so. Your subconscious mind doesn’t know the difference between real and imagined and you can just fake it til you feel it.
It’s important to use the present tense in affirmations – not the future tense. If, for example, you focus on what you want with an affirmation such as “I am going to eat nourishing food and become healthy and strong,” you’re not creating that in the present; you’re creating a continuing state of “going to” that will always remain in the future.
Saying affirmations is one of the great aids in creating the life you want, and yes, you can even use affirmations to help you grow younger. They work for me — I AM growing younger and affirmations are part of my daily practices
Start with one small part of a younger, healthier you; for example, having a clear, sharp mind. Then compose a strong, short affirmation that expresses an aspect of a clear, sharp mind as if it’s already true, such as, “I have an excellent memory.”
Write that statement on index cards and put them in different rooms of your house and say the affirmation — out loud if that works for you — whenever you see it.
You’ll also want to catch yourself whenever old programming surfaces and you say things like, “I keep forgetting where I put my glasses,” but that’s another action step in the grow younger process we’ll explore in another article.
Two of my favorite affirmations for overall youthfulness are “Thank God I’m young and healthy,” and “It’s a good thing I’m young and healthy” and I have those on cards in my kitchen, bedroom, office and car. These are common expressions you can say with a little bit of attitude and a lift of your head – just like you might say, “It’s a good thing I’m here or we’d never get this show on the road.”
How about starting today to get your show on the road to youthfulness? Start with affirmations on cards and keep in mind the most important part: have FUN creating a new, happier, younger you.
Click to Comment to share your favorite affirmations for growing younger. I’d love to hear from you.
Joy and Blessings!
Ellen – Your Grow Young Guide
Anti-Aging Tip: Live and Leave Like Jack LaLanne
Written on March 6, 2011 at 4:08 pm, by Ellen WoodA remarkable man, Jack LaLanne, left the planet recently at age 96 in the way we’d all like to do – healthy and active right up to the end.
It reminded me of a central theme in Dr. Terry Grossman’s lectures. Terry Grossman is an MD specializing in longevity medicine and he’s my anti-aging physician. Dr. Grossman and futurist Ray Kurzweil co-authored the book, “Transcend,” a comprehensive guide to staying healthy and living life to the fullest.
Dr. Grossman says we can live a healthy, active, sexy life right up to the end and he calls it ‘squaring the curve.’
He’s referring to the downward curve on most health graphs that begins about age 30, when the average person begins to lose some degree of strength, stamina, flexibility and energy.
Most such graphs show a steady line that begins to curve down and continues that way for decades until death. But Dr. Grossman says we can work on squaring the curve and keep that line level until the time when we die and it makes a sudden turn downward.
That’s exactly what Jack LaLanne did. Known as the ‘Godfather of Fitness,’ LaLanne squared the curve just like we’d all like to do. He lived a healthy, active life and then died a month ago of pneumonia at the age of 96 after a brief illness.
LaLanne had said more than once, “People don’t die of old age. They die of inactivity.” And the wonderful thing about his legacy is that he lived true to his beliefs and convictions, and never stopped living a full and active life. He continued to exercise daily well into his 90s.
Some of us who are old enough remember his TV show that began in the ‘50s and aired until 1985.
We also remember his trademark tight-fitting jumpsuit and his enthusiasm for exercise and fitness. I can still picture him doing jumping jacks – on black and white TV.
His determination to become fit grew out of a desperate attempt to curtail his addiction to sugar and relieve the suffering from terrible headaches, mood swings and depression.
After hearing a lecture by Paul Bragg about the health benefits of exercise and eating unprocessed foods, the young LaLanne swore off white flour, sugar and most fat and began eating more fruits and vegetables. By age 15, he had built a backyard gym of climbing ropes, chin-up bars, sit-up machines and weights.
Even if you’ve never heard of LaLanne, his ground-breaking work in body-building and strength training for extended health, as well as his nutritional guidelines, influenced the entire health and wellness awareness of the past 60 years.
Jack was definitely a trail-blazer way ahead of his time in the area of health and fitness. We’ve all benefited from his commitment to helping others build positive habits and live long, healthy and happy lives.
Yes, Jack LaLanne squared the curve and you can too. Think about it! Why waste away when you can use body, mind and spirit action steps to stay vital, interested and active until it’s time to go?
I’ve spent the past 7 years discovering and practicing these steps and have completely turned my life around. I can honestly say at age 74 that I have the stamina, energy and enthusiasm I had in my 20s and 30s! A major part of my daily exercise routine is the Five Tibetan Rites. You can watch a demonstration on how to do them at http://www.howtogrowyounger.com/p/tror.html
I send a grateful salute to Jack LaLanne for paving the way to health consciousness since the 1930s – and want to honor him for showing us how to live with strength and vigor until it’s time to leave. Growing younger isn’t about living forever – it’s about living and leaving like Jack LaLanne.
Click to Comment at the bottom and tell us any memories you might have about this fitness legend who had a positive influence on several generations.
Joy and Blessings!
Ellen – Your Grow Young Guide
Dry Itchy Skin? – Relieve It With My Castor Oil Home Remedy
Written on February 27, 2011 at 12:30 am, by Ellen WoodHere’s an anti-aging and anti-itching home remedy that makes your skin healthy and relieves the itchies in cold, dry weather. It’s part of my program for growing younger and it won’t cost an arm and a leg.
We’ve been experiencing Himalayan-type cold here in Taos, New Mexico, that makes you want to just curl up in bed with the covers over your head until spring.
But then it’s hard to sleep when the itching all over your body caused by dryness in cold weather feels like microscopic crawly things chomping on you.
Cold, dry weather can cause itching, increase wrinkles and damage your skin. The good news is, you can protect your skin with a low-cost home remedy I’ve been using for seven years that works wonders! It’s part of my program for growing younger and it’s amazing what it does for your skin – in any season!
Ellen Wood’s Castor Oil Home Remedy for Healthy, Young Skin
- Go to your local health food or herb store and buy an 8 oz. bottle of castor oil and a tiny bottle each of Frankincense and Lavender Essential Oil – all excellent for your skin. Make sure the castor oil bottle has a screw-on cap with a spout that lifts up to pour.
- Pour about 2 ounces of the castor oil into an extra bottle or jar to save for adding as needed.
- Add 2 ounces of water to the 6 ounces of castor oil. Add 2 to 4 drops each of Frankincense and Lavender.
- Shake, lift the spout and pour some into your hands and spread all over your face.
- Close the spout and shake again. Then begin spreading it all over your body. Shake frequently between pours. Add more water if it gets too thick or more castor oil if it’s too watery.
- As you rub this yummy oil all over, say ‘thank you’ to each part of your body – for carrying you around, allowing you to touch and hold things, for keepin’ on even when you don’t give it enough attention or rest.
- Can’t reach your back? Go to the hardware store and get a paint sponge on a stick. Gently pour the oil mixture on the sponge and spread it on your back. Then insert the sponge end into a plastic baggie for use the next day. Actually, I find it quicker to use the sponge to apply the oil everywhere except my face and feet, where I just use my hands.
Kids’ Faces Need Protection Too
When I was a little kid growing up in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, I remember being so excited about going outside to play in the snow.
There we were, my sister and brother and I, dressed in layers of long johns, leggings, sweaters, scarves – two pair of socks inside boots we called goulashes – then a hat covering our head, forehead and ears; hooded jacket; mittens and another scarf wrapped around our neck and chin.
“Stand still,” my mother would tell her three little mummies, who were wondering if they’d be able to bend over to make a snowball, while she anointed the only visible part of each of us with Vaseline – slathering it over little cheeks, noses and lips.
Vaseline seemed to work in those days – and I slathered it on my kids too – but today we’ve re-discovered the healthy benefits of castor oil for the skin, so go ahead and anoint your kids, too, with my castor oil home remedy.
Do you have a home remedy that’s good for your skin? Comment below and share it with all of us. We’d love to hear from you.
Joy and Blessings!
Ellen – Your Grow Young Guide