![]() You may have heard the urban legend that a NASA study concluded having certain types of plants in your living space can purify your air. While the study, done in the late 1980's, is scientifically valid, the takeaway that putting a peace lily in your bedroom will create more oxygen at night isn't exactly right. (To create these kinds of results, you'd need close to 1,000 plants in a 10x10 room.) However! Bringing plants and greenery into your living space can still be considered self-care. Co-exisitng with other living things that you’re caring for can bring you joy, happiness, and a sense of purpose, which affect your mood in positive ways. I love accessorizing my house with houseplants - I love how they breathe life into a space and the way you can cultivate a loving relationship with them. And if you start small and pay attention, it's much easier to keep them alive than you might think. You can get the hang of learning the plant's language and the beauty they provide is worth the extra effort! Benefits of Houseplants
Houseplant Tips
Troubleshooting
Great Beginner Houseplants Philodendron
Self-Care September Day 29: Nurture Your Green Thumb
Pick a plant to welcome into your home. Love it and it will love you back. I love you and will see you soon! xo, Coach Alex
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![]() When I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder in 2019, I knew there was more I could do to hasten my healing beyond taking a daily prescription pill. I started scouring the internet and the library for resources regarding all the ways I could improve what I put in, on, and used around my body in an effort to support my health. One of those ways was to change the cleaning products we used. The Reasoning Have you seen the documentary "Stink" on Netflix? It's eye-opening (and a bit jarring) to realize the way toxic chemicals in our everyday cleaning products can cause (and are causing! and continue to cause!) major health problems. Environmental experts estimate the average household contains about 62 toxic chemicals, from the phthalates in synthetic fragrances to the noxious fumes in oven cleaners. Of course, we all want our homes to be sanitized and smell good, but here's the catch - most air fresheners and store-bought cleaning products are actually doing you a huge disservice when you use them in your home. In fact, a study by the University of California at Berkeley found that when used excessively or in a small, unventilated area, these products release toxic levels of pollutants. Let me say that again - people are cleaning their homes with toxic levels of pollutants. Ingredients in common household products have been linked to asthma, cancer, reproductive disorders, hormone disruption and neurotoxicity. I absolutely encourage you to do your own research, but please make it a point to look into what you are cleaning with. You can check this website to get a sense of how toxic standard household cleaners are. We decided to engage in a gigantic "ditch and switch" from the toxic household cleaners we'd been using in our home to natural alternatives that I could make myself. I'd already been using doTerra essential oils since 2009 for the aromatic experience, but in 2019, I really dug into the ways I could combine them with natural cleaning agents like vinegar and castille soap to take full advantage of all their beneficial properties. Even when the pandemic hit in 2020, we stuck to our all-natural cleaners because we'd already witnessed the way they effectively and consistently got the job done, and we stayed healthy. The Major Players
The RecipesAll-Purpose 16oz glass spray bottle
Bathroom Counters/Surfaces 16oz glass spray bottle
Bathroom Tub/Tile Paste small glass container with snap-tight lid
(Note: to clean our toilet bowls, I sprinkle Bon Ami in the bowl, then spray the Bathroom Surface cleaner on it, too. I let it sit for about 10 minutes before scrubbing the bowl with a brush and flushing.) Carpet Refresh glass jar with small holes punched through lid
Furniture Polish 10oz glass bottle
Glass Cleaner 16oz glass spray bottle
Granite Countertops 16oz glass spray bottle
This is what works for our home. Of course, your mileage may vary, and as I mentioned earlier, I encourage you to do your own research. There are lots of options out there! Don't feel overwhelmed if your current cleaners get a toxic score on the Environmental Working Group's website or like you're doomed if you don't make a zillion changes all at once. If you do want to do your own "ditch and switch," just start replacing your current cleaners as they run out with natural, safer solutions.
Let me know if you have questions in the comments below. :) I love you and I'll see you soon! xo, Coach Alex P.S. Looking for more "ditch and switch" ideas? I invite you to check out my blog post 12 Changes We've Made to be a Healthier Home. ![]() Like many of our self-care tips, this one has both physical and mental benefits. Cleaning is good for your mental health. This study showed how people who live in cluttered homes have higher levels of cortisol in their systems, indicating a direct link between your space and your stress. Visual clutter leads to mental clutter, even if you try to convince yourself this is just the way you are wired, and you've learned to live with it. Fortunately, this can be reverse engineered, meaning the more piles you get rid of, the calmer you will feel. Cleaning is good for your physical health, too. A study from Indiana University found that people with clean houses are healthier than people with messy houses. Participants who kept their homes clean were healthier and more active than those who didn’t. In fact, house cleanliness was even more of a predictor for physical health than neighborhood walkability. A clean home leaves fewer places for germs and bacteria to hide. It's true that some germs can be beneficial for strengthening our immune systems (this is why hand sanitizers should be used very, very sparingly,) but you'll want to pay regular attention to cleaning hot spots where too many germs put you and/or your family at risk for serious illness. Germ hot-spots include:
Self-Care September Day 24: Deep Clean Something
Pick one (or two or all) of the places listed above and spend some time today cleaning it completely and thoroughly. Repeat regularly for maximum health benefits. Just writing this article has me itching to go give my house a nice, solid cleaning, so I'm off to do just that. (Interested in making your own safe, natural cleaning products? Check out this blog post where I share the recipes I use!) I love you and will see you soon! xo, Coach Alex ![]() Since being diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder last year, I've made a bunch of small changes, one by one, in an effort to decrease our contact with toxins and increase our overall level of health and wellness. These changes have also led to stronger immune systems in our bodies - we get sick a lot less than we used to around here, and when we do get sick, we bounce back faster than before. If you are thinking about doing a "ditch and switch" to less toxic products, you might find inspiration from these 12 changes that we've made (or in some cases, are making) so far. |
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