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Category: The Green Guru

  1. Immune Boosting Tips from Alexandra Soveral

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    14 - Unsplash

    Immune Boosting Tips from Alexandra Soveral

    Some simple steps from Alexandra to ensure your healthiest immune system at home…
     

    AIR
    Air your home and office. Open a window and allow fresh air in every room for at least a couple of hours every day.

    HUMIDITY
    Get a humidity meter, don’t allow humidity to go lower that 45%. Ideally humidity should be around 50% to 60% for good respiratory health and good skin. 

    PURIFY
    Diffuse essential oils in your home. Any diffuser will do, from the fancy electrical ones to the simple tea light ones to which add the drops to the water. This is a great way to purify the air and breathing in essential oils with natural anti-viral and anti-microbial properties.

    STEAM INHALATION
    Practice the traditional inhalation steams to purify and strengthen the respiratory system.  Add 3 drops of eucalyptus essential oil to a hot bawl of water.  Place a towel over your head and breathe in the aromatic steam. Be cautious of the steam being too hot, it should feel pleasant. If it feels like the steam is too hot on the face or as you inhale, wait until the temperature goes down.

    BATHS
    Add a cup of sea salt (or Epsom salts) to bath water. Then add up to 8 drops of essential oil diluted in either a gentle soap or fat, such as oil, full fat cream or full fat milk. Soak for 15 to 20 minutes.

    BODY OILS
    After showering, whilst skin is still wet, massage a body oil that has beneficial essential oils in it. You can make your own, lots of recipes in Alexandra’s book Perfect Skin, or you may purchase one already made from our website.

    NASAL OIL
    In any vegetable oil, dilute a drop of essential oil such as eucalyptus, rosemary or tea tree. Apply inside each nostril in the morning.

    The best essential oils with anti-viral, anti-microbial and immune boosting properties are:
    Cinnamon
    Oregano
    Eucalyptus
    Lemongrass
    Tea tree
    Rosemary
    Thyme
    Cardamom
    All citrus oils

    To find out about the organic essential oils available from SOVERAL, please contact the clinic on 020 7266 3577 or by emailing [email protected].

     

  2. Honey

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    Honey

    Honey-exfoliate-2-copy

    Honey. We all know it to be a healer in the kitchen cupboard and a wonder ingredient for just about anything digestible. We treat our insides to the glorious goodness of honey, why wouldn’t we treat our skin to the same healing powers?

    Honey is naturally antibacterial, bursting with antioxidants, making it brilliant for breakouts and ageing alike. It is wonderfully nourishing, so helps to create a natural glow, and given its sticky nature, it is brilliant at unclogging pores.

    Acid pads, enzyme masks and other skin resurfacing mediums do a great job at destroying the acid mantle layer and some go much deeper, leaving skin defenceless, making it unsurprising that so many people have sensitive and reactive skin.

     Scrubs are fine once in a while if there is an accumulation of dead flaky cells, but they should be used with care to avoid breaking healthy skin.  Honey is wonderful because as you lift it off the skin, only what is ready to come off will be removed. It also calms and nourishes the skin at the same time.

    Honey extraction has been a key component of Soveral signature facial treatments for 15 years now, blended with a secret formula of vitamins and plant extracts to enhance its anti-inflammatory properties. Alexandra designed a non-abrasive technique to remove the honey that lifts the underlining facial tissues to aid detoxification – you literally feel your lymph starting to move.

    Alexandra shared four simple steps for honey exfoliation at home with Vogue.com. Take a look and feel the difference immediately.

    Skin will feel squeaky clean but if you want to go a step further and do a deep pore cleanse, post-honey exfoliation is a great time to do so, as the pores are open and the first layer of dead skin has been removed.  Massage Soveral Angel Balm onto the skin and the fats in the balm will blend with the sebum in the pores while the Geranium in the balm will separate and travel down into the pore to balance the sebaceous glands, working wonders for the skin. 

    Once you remove the Angel Balm with another hot damp flannel you also remove the top layer of sebum within the black head. Overtime this technique will minimise pores and you will never need extractions again.

    For those with dry flaky or congested skin, treat your skin to this sweet ritual once or twice a week - for those with a more normal skin, we would recommend making this a fortnightly regular.

    22 - Honey blog - IMAGE ale-vega_Cropped

  3. Black Magic

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    THE POWER OF CHARCOAL: WHAT THE MONKEYS HAVE ALWAYS KNOWN

    Our monkey relatives offer handy hints on how we can heal ourselves. Like herbalists they know how to use nature to relief their symptoms. Chimpanzees know how to cure themselves from parasitic infections and baboons even have a remedy for menstrual cramps.  The Zanzibar Red Colobus Monkeys nibble on charcoal to cure stomach pains they get from their food, which in turn allows them to feed on a greater variety of leaves. Lets investigate!

    Zanzibar_Red_Colobus_Monkey

    Activated bamboo charcoal possesses a unique porous hexagonal structure, made up of numerous integral properties and minerals. Its incredible absorption properties allows it to absorb all harmful substances, liquids and gases from any environment including the human body. It is able to shield electromagnetic waves and eliminate radiation and heavy metal poisoning. It is invaluable in any detox programs to absorb all accumulated drugs and toxicity. Toxicity is the number one reason why so many of us experience the feeling of ‘brain fog’ today; a lethargy and lack of focus that prevents us from feeling good and reaching our potential. If your tired for no reason, try charcoal!

     

    Activated charcoal is not digestible but acts as a magnet for all impurities. It is anti-parasitic, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and anti-viral, making it an excellent natural medicine for chronic disease. It can be used as a tool to help combat candida, flatulence and acid reflux; absorbing all gas and acidity in our digestive system. Research shows that binding up toxins in the intestinal tract before they are absorbed or reabsorbed may be the key to leading a longer and healthier life. It is also the number one remedy for food poisoning of any kind!

     

    Activated charcoal is an amazing natural remedy for acne caused by toxicity and unhappy intestinal flora. Charcoal soaps and body washes can be used to clean deep inside pores, removing bacteria breeding deep within. It is also available as a toothpaste and mouthwash to disinfect and clean teeth and gums. It neutralizes the poison in stings and bites as well as being hugely anti-ageing as it ruthlessly neutralizes all free radicals that come in contact with the body.

     

    MORE FUN FACTS:

     

    Charcoal is a main component of filtering systems. It filters unhealthy blood in dialysis machines, and is used to filter air in gas masks. A stick of bamboo charcoal is all you need to filter a jug of tap water. Best tasting water you will ever have! 

    binchotan-white-charcoal-water-purifier-1

    Amazingly, corpses were uncovered in the Han-Dynasty tomb in China, in 2004, which had remained perfectly intact since their burial 2000 years ago. Archeologists and geologists, after much research, concluded that this preservation miracle was due to 10,000kg of charcoal found just outside the coffin, inside the tomb. 

    tomb

    Add a teaspoon to your green juice, take it as a supplement, or make your own soap! Remember it as a hangover remedy or even take a few capsules before bed after a big night out! Is it the ultimate ‘diamond in the rough’? 

    Treewood-Charcoal