One of the amazing benefits of yoga is the connection you can gain with your inner self. While group classes are always fantastic, it is a great idea to practice at home once in a while, allowing you additional time to breathe a little longer into the poses and stretches that your body may be yearning for. Apps like Gaia are wonderful tools for at-home sessions, as you are able to customize your practice to length and preferred style. There’s also of incredible yogis on YouTube who can assist you with your at-home practice.

Flowing at home is a great way to help build your cardiovascular strength, while also relaxing your mind and body by a slow release of stress. When you get the chance to Yogi up at home, you get to move at your own pace and repeat each move as many times as you need, helping to dive into a deeper self-discovery.

Benefits of at Home Yoga:

• Create Your Happy Place: opening up a space in your home specifically for yoga or meditation will ensure there is one place in your habitat that is focused strictly on serenity. Design this space in any matter that encourages you to decompress. Make sure that it is clutter-free, as a cluttered space is difficult to relax in. Feel free to add your own elements such as your favourite crystals or essential oils.
• Peace in Solitude: being by yourself can be very empowering. It is also an imperative when it comes to self-care. How can we know who we are and what we want if we don’t spend any time with ourselves? At-home practices are also wonderful when it comes to taking extra time for savasana or meditation.
• Practice Makes Perfect: practicing in a studio full of strangers can be intimidating for anyone, whether you’re new to the flow or are a full-time Yogi. It can be extremely difficult to separate our egos from our practice when everyone else around you is doing headstands and you’re still trying to master downward dog. Doing a routine at home or working on certain moves in your on space increases your confidence and abilities dramatically.
• Personalized, Chatter, Laughter, Customize: While there’s the unwritten Yogi rule to keep your noises to a minimum during classes which helps bring the zen energy to the room, you can feel free to laugh, grunt, groan and cheer yourself on when your at home on your own. You can also make a personalized playlist and say whatever may be coming to your mind when you’re holding a pose for too long.

The Poses:

1. Child’s Pose | Balasana

This is a super comforting pose that helps reduce stress to help bring you back to a good heart rate, with proper breathing. It’s a really useful pose as it helps relax tensiono in the face and mouth – yes we even carry tension there! You can also take this time to set an intention for your practice to make the most out of each move. 

2. Mountain Pose | Tadasana

If you find yourself looking to improve your posture this is the perfect pose for you. This is the ultimate pose to soak up the earths energy and use it to help balance you out. Plus, it gives your body a full stretch to help get the blood flowing from top to bottom while focusing on your core and lower back.

3. Standing Forward Fold & Half Way Lift | Uttanasana & Ardha Uttanasana

This pose helps release built up tension that’s running through your mind and body. When you slowly bring your body up halfway you’re helping with blood flow and and releasing built-up tension; especially in your upper half, like shoulders, triceps and mind.

4. Chaturanga | Chaturanga Dandasana  
Build and strengthen the endurance of the muscles in your arms, shoulders, core and back with this power move that also stretches your core and lower back. Chaturanga helps stretch out your core and lower back, which helps make your vertebrae feel extended. They key to moving through the postures is reminding yourself that you’re strong. When you practice at home, you don’t even have to feel shy about saying out loud “I have the strength”.

5. Downward Facing Dog | Adho Mukha Shvanasana

This pose is packed with the ability to reduce anxiety, stretch you out from head to toe and align your body. It works really well to bring energy into your lower legs that travels up to your spin. With your head hanging low, it takes away tension that we tend to carry around in our traps and neck.

6. One Legged Downward Dog With Knee Tuck | Eka Pada Adho Mukha Svanasana

This moves lengthens your hips and quads and brings increases the strength in your leg and arms from holding up one leg at a time. With the knee tuck, you’ll immediately start to feel your ab muscles working while your heart rate picks up. This is really important because a strong core is everything when it comes to supporting the rest of your body. 

7. Warrior II | Virabhadrasana II

Keeping your direct focus past your finger tips helps to build focus and discipline. Warrior II will help you gain serious strength through your front leg while your arms get toned from keeping them up against gravity.

8. Extended Side Angle | Utthita Parsvakonasana

Work your entire side with this sturdy twist that strengthens your core and lengths you, leg to neck. While you look up to the sky you actually pull energy down from it to keep you motivated in your practice.

9. Pigeon Pose | Eka Pada Rajakapotasana

Women are prone to tight hips which makes this move ideal and immediately reliving. It’s a complete hip opener and relieves built up tension that you’re walking around with from your hip flexers into your butt.

10. Corpse Pose | Savasana

It’s rare that we let ourselves take the chance to lay completely flat in stillness, which makes this pose so useful. It’s said to be the most beneficial move of your entire practice because it’s when your body and mind are able to fully absorb all of the benefits it just experienced. It gives your body a chance to heal as you breath into the muscles that were just worked, while you melt into your mat.

Whether at home or the studio, here’s some great items to add to your Yogi collection:

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For those looking to expand upon their spirituality, source a powerful new healing technique or simply deepen and enhance the results of your meditation practice, Canada’s first ever tachyon chamber has officially opened in Toronto, Tachyon Healing Centre. Previously, if one wanted to experience the powerful benefits of tachyon, one had to visit the first chamber, which was founded in the new age dreamland of Sedona, Arizona.

So what is tachyon, exactly? Tachyon is identified as subatomic natural energy particles that move faster than the speed of light. These particles are fused with spiritual light found in dense matter, lending a balancing and healing energy unlike any other on the planet. The alchemic combination of spiritual energy combined with tachyon technology compounded via a proprietary method comprising the use and variance of different alloys, elements and crystals results in a high vibrational healing system that positively affects all who come in contact with it.

So essentially, if you are someone who benefits from healing vibrational frequencies of crystals, you are exactly the type of person who will be open to experience the benefits of tachyon.

We have visited Tachyon Healing Centre twice now and both times, the experience has been extremely different. It is absolutely impossible to predict how exactly your body and spirit will respond to this high concentration of powerful energy on any given day. Some claim to experience visions, others claim to experience deep meditative rest, while still others may encounter less than pleasant feelings immediately following their session, often referred to a spiritual detox or negative energy or blockages purging from your system.

Famed Shaman Durek is a Big Fan of Tachyon 

The proclaimed benefits of tachyon healing include aiding with stress and fatigue, detoxification, memory and concentration and deeper spiritual awareness and ascension. Sessions are offered in 30, 60 and 90 minute increments starting at $70. It is recommended to do a complete hour long session in order to gain the full benefits.

What’s noticeable about this new Toronto wellness space is that it doesn’t appear to be designed to attract Instagrammers looking to story their latest trendy wellness find. In fact, the actual chamber itself is incredibly functional, with an extremely comfortable chair, surrounded by tachyon devices. You can expect little to no pomp or circumstance at your appointment. The chamber is blatantly designed as a source, a gateway, an energy portal with no distractions or immediate calls to share on social media. You can expect the affects to resonate for up to 2 weeks after your session. It is recommended to journal your experience so that you can look back and review the shifts in your journey.

Tachyon is a powerful tool and can offer serious healing and access to deeper spiritual connectivity. In truth, the power of what can be discovered about oneself through a series of chamber sessions can not be underestimated. The Tachyon Healing Centre also offers Illumination Rods in varying sizes that can be purchased and used at home for your own meditation practice.

With an intention to bring a new healing service to the city, we are thrilled that the Tachyon Healing Centre is now open in Toronto. We recommend booking a session and will be booking more as well.

Image by Sara Johnston

There are so many amazing ways to implement the high vibrations and good frequencies of rocks, minerals and crystals into your daily life, but have you ever tried tumbled stones? These coin sized healers show that good things really do come in small packages.

They originally start off as regular crystals, rocks or minerals, with raw edges and unique shapes. They are then put through a “tumbler” which smoothes out the edges until they’re soft and polished. While the benefits of these stones are the same as unpolished crystals, rocks and minerals (i.e. clearing your mind, rebalancing, strengthening energy, etc.) it truly comes down to personal preference. Some people like the jagged edges of raw crystalline structure while others prefer the soothing, cool sensations of tumbled stones.

How to choose your stones:

Take a deep breath and pick the one you’re most drawn to. This lets you get the one you really need rather than the one you think you need. The universe works in mysterious ways, so trust us when we tell you you’ll get the right one! That’s not to say if you need help in certain areas not to look up which stone is best for you. Check out our Crystals section for info on different types of crystals and how they can best serve you.

How we love to use our tumbled stones:

• In Pockets: keeping these little guys in your front pockets activates your Sacral Chakra where you can find your creative and pleasure energy and Root Chakra which keeps you grounded
• Home/ Office: spreading them around your home and office adds a beautiful pop of colour to any room and surrounds the environment with the benefits of each stone
• Plants: add a little or a lot of tumbled stones on the top of the dirt in your plants to add a unique twist to your pot
• Body Layout: lay flat on with your stones placed on the areas of your body you need the most healing for a few moments and feel the difference in your every move
• Meditation: holding one or multiple in your hands during your practice helps clear your mind and let’s you focus
• Jewelry: Find beautiful statement pieces with perks such as a tumbled stone necklace that you can switch up the crystal whenever you need a new energy change.

Here’s a few places you can order them from:

Crystal Dreams

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Dragon Moon Gifts Canada

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Mineral Mindz Rock Shop

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Happy Soul

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Before Marie Kondo and her notable KonMari Method stole the show, Feng Shui was the buzzy go-to technique for creating a true and unique harmony for the interior and exterior of a home. That said, Feng Shui is anything but a trend. In fact, the practice’s roots date back to 3500+ years. Feng (translated to wind) Shui (translated to water) is an ancient Chinese discipline that focuses on optimizing the placement of objects in residences and businesses in order to promote harmony, positive energy flow, abundance and happiness. In practice, it can involve everything from decluttering your home to designing a bedroom that promotes better sleep and a heightened love life. 

At its foundation, Feng Shui is the science of using energy sources to create peace between people and their environments. According to the principles of Feng Shui the interior decor of a home must be arranged taking into account many guidelines: the presence of magnetic and energetic fields; how different shapes and forms influence us; how the eight cardinal directions affect us; and how Qi impacts our well-being. Practicing Feng Shui is about combining all of these principles and using what’s in our control to improve our surrounding energy so that it’ll attract those good vibes we are all looking for.  

But how can your trendy new succulent be affecting the vibes in your home? According to this eastern philosophy, placing plants in certain areas within a home can positively influence our spiritual state. As plants are sources of life, they are Feng Shui heavy hitters; they are a physical embodiment of the material elements correlated with the love zones (earth element) and the wealth zones (wood element) on the Bagua, which is the Feng Shui floor plan map. Whichever plants you prefer to incorporate into your decor, choose lush, healthy ones and remember to quickly remove dying ones or they will generate negative energy. 

Source: Architecture Ideas

Entrance

This is a particularly important area to focus your Feng Shui efforts because it is at the entrance that the environment meets the Qi energy of the Universe. It is especially important to consider cleanliness and order to transmit a positive energy to all those who enter the home. Feng Shui recommends that you place a welcoming plant to draw attention in this area; peace lilies are among the most suggested plants in Feng Shui and can be a perfect solution for this space.

Living Room

This is the core of the house, a place to welcome guests and relax with family. In accordance to Feng Shui, it is advised that plants such as cacti or Tillandsia (air plants) should be positioned to the right of a TV or computer, or any area people may be using their cellphones for an extended period of time, like the couch. These specific types of plants help to absorb radiation and harmful frequencies from electronic devices giving your home a calmer vibe. 

Bedroom

By using Feng Shui in the bedroom, you can improve your sleep quality with a balanced space, and you will feel the effects quickly. It is suggested that a mint plant, capable not only of giving freshness to the space but also to our souls, will help us to move forward. With the right amount of care, this plant will also be stimulated to produce essential oils, ideal for combatting stress, fatigue and insomnia. English Ivy is another great addition as the trailing vines of ivy help soften any poison arrows that point at you while you sleep. Ivy is also great for the bedroom because it removes benzene found in plastics, and helps control formaldehyde from carpets and paint.

Kitchen 

Plants and Feng Shui are in closest contact in this area of the house; the kitchen is, in fact, one of the most important places in the home according to Feng Shui. This isn’t surprising when you think of the incredible power food has on our physical and mental state, and the overpowering combination of elements in this area. You’ve got fire from the stove; granite or tile counters, which incorporate earth; water running through the sink and dishwasher; metal in the appliances — four of the five elements all going at once. For this reason it is imperative to know how to set up the kitchen in the best way possible. It is suggested that you use fragrant plants, particularly rosemary, and note that large plants are not suitable for this space. The area is already overpowered with the fire element, excess wood energy, such as those brought by large plants, feeds this element even further and will cause an imbalance of energies. 

Is there anything more relaxing than blissfully falling into a hammock? Turns out that, actually, there isn’t. Not only are hammocks amazing places to read, listen to music, nap or just chill, they have also been proven to be optimal places to sleep, can help reduce insomnia and decrease stress. With summer here, we thought we’d give you the Wellness 101 on hammocks. 

While you can get creative with where you set up your hammock, there are obviously major benefits to setting it up outside. Outdoor hammocks are a beautiful way to take in warmer days, while benefiting from the riches of Mother Nature. Simply being outdoors will aid in stress reduction and enhance a sense of relaxation.

5 Wellness Benefits of Hammocks:

1. Better Sleep: Hammocks have been proven to offer a premium set up for a sublime snooze. Hammocks put your body in the precise optimal position for sleeping with the head elevated by 10-30% over the body. They also have zero pressure points and mold perfectly to your body so you can fall into a deep rest.
2. Improves Blood Circulation: When your upper body is elevated, blood is able to circulate better to your head and will reduce congestion, as well as improve blood circulation in general, ultimately helping to lower blood pressure as well as reduce toxin build up.
3. Eases Sore Muscles: Hammocks have zero pressure points, making them an optimal place to rest for healing sore muscles.
4. Improved Focus: The swaying motion of a hammock is known to trigger the prefrontal cortex of the brain. This combined with the benefits of improved sleep will sharpen mental clarity and improve focus.
5. Stress Reduction: Hammocks have been proven to help the body relax quicker (due to the zero pressure points and the natural molding to your body) while releasing harmful and excess stresses from the physical body, thereby allowing the mind to ease faster.

If you’re looking to invest in a hammock this summer, below are some Canadian-made ones that we discovered, perfect for indoor and outdoor rest.

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The ultimate evolution: DeluxeOne.5 Hammock

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Deluxe Bougainville Hammock

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Feature Image by Timothy Meinberg

When it comes to improving our self-care routines, we often focus on upgrading our body care and facial products. It’s no secret that improving the quality of your beauty products and making the switch to green and clean solutions is beneficial for a range of reasons, such as eliminating unnecessary toxins from your blood stream, leveraging the benefits of naturally sourced ingredients and being kinder to our animal friends and planet.

But while focusing on the body and face is great, our vaginas also benefit from some levelled up self care solutions. The vagina care industry is on the up and up and why shouldn’t it be? As the source of our power and femininity, it’s time to treat our vaginas with the love they deserve.

Here are a few of our favourite vagina self-care products from Canadian companies:

Botanical Labia Oil by LADYFLOW:

Massage this hydrating oil directly onto the inner and outer labia to remove the itch, dryness and thinness that can come from hormonal changes. Made with sweet almond oil, vitamin E oil, rose hip seed oil and more, this bottle contains everything you need for complete skin hydration.

Image from LADYFLOW Website

Oatmeal + Almond Milk Soap by Buck Naked Soap Company:
Soothing and natural, this soap keeps your vagina feeling and smelling fresh. This soap leaves you without the irritation of unbalanced bacteria and pH levels that can come from perfumed fragrance.

Image from Buck Naked Soap Company Instagram

Tampons & Pads by easy:
Your periods just got a lot more exciting with these organic cotton tampons and pads that get delivered right to your door with a single delivery or by subscription. What’s even better is that 5 per cent of the proceeds go to ZanaAfrica Foundation, who deliver pads and health education to Kenyan girls.

Image from easy Instagram

Sex Oil by Province Apothecary:
This gentile lubricant is essential for intimacy with its all-natural ingredients, no preservative, zero alcohol and no interruptions because it only needs to be applied once. Its ingredients like fractionated coconut oil and evening primrose oil, this lube softens your skin while you get it on.

Image from Province Apothecary Instagram

Mae – Vaginal Moisturizer by Damiva
100 per cent natural and free of chemical preservatives, this down there moisturizer absorbs into your skin to defeat dryness. This vaginal pick me up eliminates roadblocks during special moments and can be used long-term.

Image from Damiva Instagram

Today on June 19th, the planets Mercury and Mars team up and directly oppose Pluto in a galactic face off that has tension, fire, volatile energy and conflict written all over it for us here on earth. It’s kind of the Sons of Anarchy gang confrontation equivalent of the planets. Things have the potential to go south and fast.

Mercury rules communication, technology and travel (you know how it goes when Mercury is in retrograde right?) so be prepared for short fuses, bad drivers, traffic delays and misunderstandings. Mars is an actionable planet that is ready to fight at the first call, so this puts our reactionary impulses in overgear. Everyone is stepping on everyone’s toes today and the energy of Mars is pushing us to stake our boundaries with strong defences, fists and fighting words.

Pluto governs our sense of power and domination throwing an actual time bomb in the midst, along with misplaced ambition and ego. This planetary confrontation is intensified by this week’s full moon with a light at the end of the tunnel on Friday as we welcome Summer Solstice.

In short, things could get ugly quickly today. If you’ve felt the energy around you or within intensifying, situations between you and friends or co-workers or your partner getting a bit elevated, or people overstepping their mark on your space both physically and metaphorically (at work, or in the coffee line at Starbucks) you are not alone. The planets are facing off and we’re all feeling the consequences.

Here are some quick tips and tricks for getting through today with grace.

Embrace the Fire and Repurpose It

While we tend to try to push our intense energies down, try leaning into them. With a mindful approach and understanding that how you are feeling today is not really in your control, nor can you do anything about the actions of others, embrace your intensity and put that fire towards accomplishing something great. Lock yourself in your room, avoid others and crush your deadlines. It’s safer inside today anyways, so why not cross some items off your list as your energies are burning inside? Clean your house with gusto. Go for a killer sweaty run.

Avoid Triggers and Reschedule That Meeting 

We always say alignment before hustle right? Sometimes recognizing that you are simply not in a proper mindset to address certain matters, tasks or conversations is the most mindful and responsible thing you can do for yourself. If you are feeling intensely off today, or that there is potential that a certain meeting, phone call, sales pitch or discussion with your client, relationship partner, co-worker or friend is not going to go the way you want it too, then reschedule it. Being mindful of where we are at internally at any given moment and honour it. If we listen to our internal energies and strive to find alignment before action, we will see better results.

Embrace Woo Woo

There are certain practices in the New Age belief system that will help you get grounded and find your centre fast. Turquoise is the perfect stone to have in your presence today for its grounding qualities as well as its connection to the throat chakra, which will aid in communication and confidence. Burning palo santo regularly throughout the day will work to clear any overly intense energies, while the scent will help get you grounded quickly and back in your body if you find your mind is getting carried away with unproductive stories and thoughts.

In short, a bit of mindfulness goes a long way. If you feel tensions and situations are getting out of hand, put a pin in them and come back to them when the planets aren’t at each other’s throats.

We were at the Holistic Beauty Experience last week and came upon a booth that touted magnesium products in balm, spray and cream form, called Remedium. While we had heard of taking magnesium in supplement form to help get a good night’s sleep, the thought of using it as a topical and holistic beauty product was new.

We chatted briefly with the brand founder, who claimed that topical application of magnesium offered a range of benefits. For example, the Magnesium Balm product could be applied twice daily to specific areas of the body to help with feelings of depression and anxiety, reduce instances of insomnia, while also offering anti-inflammatory benefits for joint pain and arthritis. Topical treatment of magnesium is completely safe, and also offers skin and muscle joint benefits that can’t be found with supplements.

As per Remedium’s site, magnesium is “considered a vital mineral involved in over 300 biochemical reactions that regulate our health and wellness”. However the majority of people are not getting enough magnesium, and therefore suffering from symptoms that are unknowingly tied to a magnesium deficiency. Recognized symptoms of magnesium deficiencies include anxiety, depression, insomnia, fatigue, muscle cramps and poor bone health.

1 – Supporting Bone Health 

Magnesium helps assimilate calcium into the bone, while helping to activate vitamin D in the kidneys, which is also important to maintain optimal bone health.

2 – Good for the Heart

Magnesium helps support and maintain heart health and aids in the transmission of electrical signals in the body. Ensuring your magnesium levels are adequate can help lower the risk of high blood pressure and manage cholesterol production.

3 – Anxiety and Depression

Magnesium can work to balance neurotransmitters and reduce brain inflammation, thereby offering support for our mental health. An increased intake of magnesium has been connected to a reduction in regular feelings of depression, anxiety, fear, and panic, as it works to control your body’s stress-response system.

4 – Insomnia

If you’re struggling with insomnia or restless sleep, it may be time to check with your magnesium intake. Magnesium supports a deep and restorative sleep by maintaining a healthy level of GABA, the neurotransmitter that promotes sleep.

5 – Menstrual Symptoms

A balanced intake of magnesium has been associated with the reduction of PMS symptoms such as cramps, irritability and headaches.

So these are the internal benefits of Magnesium. What about magnesium as a part of a holistic beauty routine? According to the Remedium site, their face cream can work to protect the face from free radicals, regulating cellular replication and repair. And we believe it. We’ve been using the face cream since the Holistic Beauty Experience and can honestly say that this is one luscious and highly nourishing skin care product.

Magnesium has been recognized for aiding in skin care matters such as acne, rosacea and dermatitus.

So long story short, magnesium is all around amazing both in supplement and in beauty product form. We are beyond impressed with the quality of the Remedium brand and highly recommend.

While essential oils have become a pretty buzzy topic in the wellness space the past few years, some of us are still a little confounded as to where to get started with them. A great way to dip your toe in the scene if you’re still on the fence about what oils you should buy is to explore their benefits in beauty products.

We’ve rounded up our favourite essential oils that can act as a guideline as you start your journey, along with our picks of Canadian beauty brands that offer up the additional benefits of essential oil blends and diffusions.

GRAPEFRUIT

Benefits: This fruity oil ups your energy, immune system and positivity, making the mood-boosting benefits of citrus-based scents perfect for your morning routine.

Our Product of Choice: Spritz on some Triple Citrus Blend Hair and Body Mist from Cake Beauty to make your a.m. a breeze.

Image from Cake Beauty website

FRANKINCENSE

Benefits: This oil has stood the test of time with its ability to soften your skin when applied topically plus it calms your mind while reducing negative thoughts.

Our Product of Choice:For smooth skin and moments of pure bliss, use Crawford Street Natural Skin Care’s Hand Cream in Frankincense.

Image from Crawford Street Natural Skin Care Instagram 

LAVENDER

Benefits: Its properties to de-stress, reduce anxiety and help you sleep work with your body to keep your mind and soul relaxed, creating the perfect oil for your nightly routine.

Our Product of Choice: Sink into its benefits with Cocoon Apothecary’s Touchy Feels Bubble Bath in lavender and rosemary.

Image from Cocoon Apothecary Instagram 

PEPPERMINT

Benefits: This super oil is great for combatting headaches, nausea, sore muscles and even a stuffy nose, keeping the pep in your step.

Our Product of Choice: Lather up with some basd invigorating mint body wash and experience peppermint’s cool and soothing sensation.

Image from basd Instagram

LEMON

Benefits: Its antibacterial and antifungal properties disinfect while the oil detoxifies and reduces your stress, making this master of many trades ideal for cleaning.

Our Product of Choice: For a fresh and squeaky clean home try Lemon Aide’s All-Surface Cleaner, Kitchen Hand Wash and Dish Liquid.

Image from Lemon Aide Instagram

As sacred as our periods are, they are an actual, literal pain. For decades, women have been plying their bodies with ibuprofren and other pain killers to help us alleviate the symptoms of PMS, which works only to put a numbing barrier between our personal connections with our own femininity, rather than help us embrace the cycle as a beautiful part of the female life.

We came across LADYFLOW last summer at The Wellness Market and were immediately intrigued. With a slogan like “Feminine Essentials for the Creative Feminine” it seemed pretty aligned. Because nothing will dull your creativity more than being stuck in bed with debilitating period cramps right?

LADYFLOW is an artisanal line of natural menstrual care products that “empowers women to align with their cyclical rhythms”. The line includes pelvic oils, specially formulated teas and salt soaks that work with our bodies to balance and soothe our cycles naturally, rather than dull our bodies to them.

We spoke with Elaine Clark, Nutritionist, writer, women’s health pioneer, and founder of LADYFLOW to learn more about why she started the company, how our cycles are connected to our creativity and the moon and tips on how we can honour our periods instead of dreading them.

What made you start this company?

Over the past 10 years, I’ve been fully engaged in deep transpersonal work. I’ve spent countless hours healing deep wounds, working with nutritional medicine, managing my hormonal imbalances and training with qualified healers and practitioners. When I began partnering with my body and my health, everything changed for me. What I know for sure is that our health is one of the most important influences in our ability to create. LADYFLOW was born out of my passion to help women partner with their bodies and attune to their cyclical health so they can feel abundantly creative. I’m deeply passionate about supporting the modern, ambitious woman looking to leverage her health as the foundation to her creative journey.

How are our menstrual cycles aligned with our “creative potential”?

Women’s bodies are governed by hormonal wisdom that mirrors a kind of creative process. The monthly development of a follicle followed by pregnancy or the release of menstrual flow can be viewed like a creative process. I remember making this connection for the first time and thinking, “Wow! This makes so much sense.” Our cyclical wisdom is something to be partnered with, not combat. At the start of each new cycle, once we get past the achy first few days of our period, estrogen rises and boosts our energy and excites our brain. Estrogen makes us feel sharper, energetic, playful, and we actually enjoy tackling new creative projects. This is the best time to nurture our creativity. This is a time when we are most fertile (both physically) and energetically. Knowing when is best during our cycle (and when’s not) to produce high quality creative work allows us to partner with our bodies so we’re not living in stilted resistance. This has made such a difference in my life and I’ve seen it completely change how women flourish, creatively.

Can you break down the four phases of the menstrual cycle?

The length of a women’s cycle can vary from 21-35 days. The cycle length can change with hormonal imbalance, age, after giving birth or with oral contraceptive use. Although each women may have slight variations in the length of her cycle, the menstrual cycle can be divided into fourphases: Menstrual phase (Day 1 to 5), Follicular phase(Day 1 to 13), Ovulation phase (Day 14) and Luteal Phase (Day 14-28). Each phase of our cycle is influenced by fluctuating hormones such as luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, estrogen and progesterone.

Is there any connection between our cycles and the moon?

The lunar (moon) cycleand the average menstrual cycle are almost equal in length. A lunar month is 28-30 days and a menstrual cycle is roughly 21-35 days. There are historical and traditional associations that relate our menstrual cycle with the moon. More recently, a synchronous relationship between the moon and our cycles was confirmed with laboratory and clinical findings based on one study. When we hear about “synching with the moon” typically we’re talking about our menstruation occurring around the New Moon and ovulation occurring around the Full Moon. Some women might find they’re synched with the moon in this way while other women might experience the opposite, menstruation on the Full Moon and ovulation around the New Moon. Synching our cycles with the moon can be difficult for those of us living in big cities, since we rarely even see the moon.

How can we embrace and honour our cycles from a more spiritual perspective? I.e. rituals, practices, etc.

More and more research is revealing that we need to embrace healthy self-care practices to support healthy menstrual cycles. Stress can really screw up our cycles and cause them to become irregular. Spending more time in nature is a simple practice that reconnects us with Mother Nature. Getting into green spaces, away from bright/noisy environments, and restful sleep is extremely hormonally supportive. Adopting a mindfulness-based practice can help us down-regulate the stress response, which has sabotaging effects on so many hormonal players in our cycle. Anything therapeutic that makes us feel good, lighting candles, burning sage, dancing, singing, or engaging in some kind of creative work can be a kind of spiritual practice that is so good for our hormonal health.