relaxation meditation video

Greetings! I came across this great 10 minute video that you can relax to at work... careful though not to fall asleep at your desk.

Lime also has these awesome meditation themed rooms -- water room, zen room, floral room and my favorite one this month has been the winter room... we don't get snow in Santa Barbara! Enter now. You'll be taken to Lime's website.

Enjoy.

Glow! just released

Today was a huge sigh of relief for me as I just released the first issue of Glow!, that's my store's new newsletter, first issue in fact you can almost smell the copy! Well, not really but you will get lots of tips to help keep you on the path to relaxation, wellness and a spirited way of living. I'm enjoying it, I hope you will too.

Read about Rejuvenation and Resolutions or sign up to receive Glow!

Have a glowing week!

Maria

winter solstice rituals

winter solstice which is tomorrow marks the beginning of winter and the shortest day and longest night of the year. so for me as the sun goes down this means an annual ritual of remembering and appreciating the year that is ending, letting go of the not so good stuff in the year and then setting an intention for the new year ahead.

how will you observe or celebrate winter solstice? some ideas... sharing a candlelight dinner with friends or simply observing the sunrise and sunet, turning off the lights after sunset and lighting candles or fireplace to truly experience this longer night.

so instead of resisting this day, accept (reflect) and celebrate (the direction) of your new year ahead!

New partnership with Spiritual Cinema Circle!

Today is a great day. I'm very excited to let you know that we've just partnered with Spirtual Cinema Circle to do our little part to help raise the vibration of the planet!

If you haven't seen the film, The Secret, I highly recommend it! AND would love to hear your thoughts on how it has improved your life. Send me a message at maria@destressessentials.com



Spritual Cinema Circle is offering a free month of membership to get you started receiving those hard to find films. Click here to be taken to their website.

beating the blahs

i'm glad that i'm not an expert on the blahs but on the days i do feel it, like today, i've learned to recognize it, listen to what my body is telling me and even sometimes wait the feeling out.

today, i hear "move it" to help me create energy so i can be fueled by more uplifting energy. ah, makes sense to me. my exercise schedule was pushed away this week by commitments so hence this lackluster day.

if you experience lackluster days especially during this busy holiday and shorter sometimes gloomy days, make an attempt at improving your state of mind whether that means being still or going for that brisk walk, writing in your journal, listening to music or even escaping for a movie. try these intervention ideas and see what inspires you.

view blah times as an opportunity to slow down and listen to your inner self; listen to what your spirit says!

i'm off with muse to brighten my blahs with an inspiring walk to the beach.

know that this too shall pass...

i welcome your comments and feedback, email me at maria@destressessentials.com

when life gets hectic

with all this talk about sales and shopping i wanted to make sure we're also feeding our souls (myself included!).

when life gets hectic... be sure to create that spiritual space for yourself. just as flowers and plants need space to grow and flourish, so do we. nothing soothes my spirit more than sitting outside taking in the natural beauty. i'm grateful for being able to do that year-round living in santa barbara. a quick jaunt to the beach with muse gives me tons of tranquility for the week. the sound of the water never fails to carry my troubles away. even living on the east coast during the winter months meandering along the serene potomac gave me a sense of peace.

find your spiritual space and reflect on all that you have to be grateful for. share if you'd like too. wishing you safe travels and many many more blissful moments. thank you for coming into my space today.

truly grateful for you,
maria

Buddha Nose Body Treats for a stress-free holiday

A quick shout out that Buddha Nose is now available at De-Stress!

After a long day, doesn't a warm bath set the stage for a peaceful, restorative night's sleep by signaling your body that it's time to rest. We encourage you to enhance your experience by indulging in our spa-inspired find, Buddha Nose Body Treat that will definitely nourish your body and spirit.

After a warm soak, I love to wrap myself in a comfy robe and a cozy foot mule for a truly soothing evening ritual. A soy candle fills my room with a calming scent of lavender to really take me to that blissful space.

Meditation Bath Salts Be still and breathe. Quiet the mind and concentrate on nothing.

Happy soaking!

More NEW product news... LUXURY Soaps from Italy!

We're busy little bees at De-Stress. Just in time for the holidays... we're stocking our store with SOAP, 21 Luxury soaps from Italy!

Nesti Dante Luxurious soaps inspired by the beautiful region of Florence, made with enchanting perfumes from the hills of Tuscany.



They're beautifully packaged in elegant Florentine style paper.
** Makes a delightful HOLIDAY gift.

Shop the ENERGIZING & REFRESHING Fruit line (available for purchase now) and take a peek at the other luxurious soap lines (available for purchase 9/22-23).

Take me to the new luxury SOAPS

The FRUIT line combines the ENERGY of fresh fruit and the properties
of olive oil in six invigorating fragrances:

FIG & ALMOND MILK SOAP
CITRON & BERGAMOT SOAP
POMEGRANATE & BLACKCURRANT SOAP
RED GRAPES & BLUEBERRY SOAP
PURE OLIVE OIL SOAP
PEACH & LEMON SOAP

new scents just added to via botanica line

Exciting news Via Botanica pamering fans.

Just arrived! NEW SCENTS to expand the current Via Botanica bath and body line. You craved it, we've got it.

Whipped Body Butter/Hand and Body Lotion/Body Wash/Sugar Cane Scrub/Body Butter available in these scents
Vanilla Orange (most popular)
Lavender
Invigorating Mint
new flavors: Ginger Cream, Honey Almond

Ginger Cream - a warm and nurturing scent

Honey Almond - just a hint of warm honey that softens on your skin to the barest reminder of honey and almonds. Sweet and sexy, yet not overly fragranced.


Handemade Soap
new flavors: Vanilla, Ginger Cream, Honey Almond

New Product coming soon! Buddha Nose

We're really excited about this hip and tranquil addition to our store... Buddha Nose aromatic oils and plant remedies

Here's a sneak peak.

Bodhi Balm To relax, quiet the mind & peace out!
A unique balm to ease tension headaches, and aches and pains associated with stress.

Girl Balm To ease cramps and lighten moods
Hey Girlfriends! Need a belly balm to rub away aches and grouchy feelings associated with your cycle? Massage a fingertipfull of Girl Balm into your lower belly, as often as needed.

being beautiful naturally

maria's tips on being BEAUTIFUL, naturally

~ love your life and everything around you. the more you count your blessings, the more they will appear.

~ drink lots of water. being dehydrated can make you stressed, but pure fresh water both energizes and uplifts naturally.

~ no matter how stressed you are - exercise. it is the best anti-stress medicine ever! just 30 minutes of it can help you deal with anything.

~ laugh really loud whenever and as often as you can, it is very liberating!

~ eat fresh fruits and vegetables every day. rich in nutrients and skin-protective anti-oxidants, these are nature's beauty foods.

~ give hugs, lots of them. if you cannot find anyone, hug a tree ;-)

~ have massages: in addition to toning your muscles and relieving aches, being kneaded and squashed simply makes your body happy.

~ love your body and stop criticizing yourself. remember, you truly are a miracle of nature.

~ be really really genuinly nice to everyone. smiles are contagious. it's even known to boost your immune system!

Stress Relief Yoga - Final Relaxation

Learn the Strees Relief Yoga pose, "Final Relaxation".

New Arrivals! Spa Soy Candles Summer Scents

Spa exclusives to bring into your home...

Try luxurious Spa Soy Candles in your home. Elegantly packaged to give as a gift too!

New Scents for the summer:

14 oz. candle in organza packaging: NEW Cucumber Melon and Crisp Cucumber

7.5 oz spa candle: NEW Aqua Fruits and Romantic Chypre, perfect for that new summer romance

I want to start shopping for Spa Soy candles now!

De-Stress tip: Mindfulness

Mindfulness, the primary weapon against that 5-letter word (stress) is a kind of "meditation-lite" developed for people who found traditional meditation styles too difficult to practice.

Mindfulness is simply breathing deeply and noticing your surroundings. Sounds kind of new agey but the practice has shown to work in heart patients and is so easily learned.

Can lower blood pressure and heart rate, improve immune function, and ahhhhhh promote relaxation. Not a bad side effect to managing stress and finding the balance in your life.

Isn't that what we all contantly strive for -- finding balance.

Soy candles ... the healthy living candle

In honor of this past Earth Day, I'm talking SOY CANDLES.

But WHY soy candles?

Here are the facts...

Almost ALL candles around the world are made from paraffin wax. Paraffin is the left over residue from gasoline refining -yet Paraffin aromatherapy candles are presented to consumers as a health enhancing product!

The Dangers of Paraffin Wax Candles.

• Has been documented to contain 11 harmful carcinogens, 2 of which are toxic.
• Produces problematic petrol soot emissions - has been considered as harmful
as second hand tobacco smoke.
• Paraffin candles are not biodegradable or water-soluble
• Burns hotter and faster than soy wax candles
• May potentially harm your health, pollutes your indoor air quality and our environment
• Many still contain lead wicks - CAUTION

Soy is clearly a better choice because...

• Soy wax candles are 100% natural.
• They are made from soy bean products.
• They are a healthy alternative to petroleum based products.
• They are clean burning and no petrol soot to black walls.
• They are environmentally safe and biodegradable.
• They are non-toxic and safe for children and pets.
• They are hand crafted and made from 100% Soybean based wax.
• The wicks are all natural cotton
• They contain the highest quality essential oils

The great thing is they come in different aromatherapy scents and the soy candles burn cooler and longer than mainstream paraffin candles.

I have always enjoyed the ambience, warm environment and the scent throughout the house from paraffin candles. I didn't know any better. But after learning about the hazards of the most popular paraffin (petroleum based) wax, I am now seeking the healthier choice, the soy candle. They smell delicious and look so elegant that I can rest easy that my lungs will be healthier. It's a better world with soy!

Soylicious Soy Candles

Be well.
Maria
www.destressessentials.com

Find your bliss

Hi everyone, I this finds you well.

So it's been a while since my last post. Have you felt pulled in so many directions? That would describe me in the past month. Buidling a business is taking me in directions that keep me on my toes and happily surprised by the results.

Well, because of my commitment to "walk the talk" in all things relaxation and wellness, I've been making time to care for my total wellness -- my mind, body and soul. I started to get into a regular exercise routine, rather than just walking my dog so I went to a yoga class last week. It totally invigorated me and felt stronger coming out of a class. Glad I survived it because I was starting to think bad thoughts about the instructor. But these are the things I need to do for myself to keep my stress level to a minimum and at the grueling end, my tension is released and ready for the day's challenges. Yoga is my bliss.

Let's put stress into perspective. Not all stress is bad. Think about the time you were in a stressful situation tyring to make a deadline on something you procrastinated too long. Didn't that type of stress propell you to take action? That's what I mean by some stress is ok.

From time to time we all find ourselves in stressful situations - that's normal. I think we can't avoid it 100% of the time, that's just life and part of being human. However for many people stress has become a constant way of life. More often than not this is down to work and/or money problems, but relationships and ill-health are also common factors that contribute to our high levels of stress.

While we can't always elimate the things in our lives that normally cause us to feel stressed, what we can do is change the way we react to them, while also learning to relax more and worry less. We could all use a gentle reminder on managing stress. I know I do.

De-stress tip: Examine your life more closely and make the necessary changes required to reduce YOUR levels of stress.

What's your bliss?

In the community

De-Stress essentials coughed it up for the annual Santa Barbara Fur Ball!

Having just launched my store, what better way to kick-off the giving spirit with a donation of de-stress items nicely displayed for silent auction goers at a Gala Event benefitting the Santa Barbara County Animal Care Foundation for the homeless and injured animals in our county. The Foundation works in collaboration with the Santa Barbara County Animal Services and its volunteers in efforts to move forward to fulfill their goal -- to make the all the shelters in the county "no-kill" for adoptable animals. The Foundation is an all-volunteer non-profit organization that supports the homless animals in all three of our local county shelters.

We adopted our very pampered pooch, below, who might otherwise have been euthanized in one of our county's animal shelter so we're very happy and lucky she's with us today... and I couldn't resist shamelessly promoting our bundle of joy... http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?id=861. What does all this have to do with de-stress. Alot. Our pets are instrumental in de-stressing us. They love unconditionally, they get us out and their quirks make us laugh.

This is my small leap in response to ethical consumerism and responsible capitalism by helping those whose voices cannot be heard. I started on this venture by combining my skills and talents to create a store that provides wellness and stress relief to a stressed-out world. My intention has since naturally evolved further by blending my experiences in my non-profit background into a for-profit world. I started out raising major gifts for the metro Washington, DC area public TV and classical radio station http://www.weta.org then went on to business development at http://www.pbs.org in Alexandria, VA where I worked with the the brightest and kindest people in the business, and in Santa Barbara, CA at http://www.communityenvironmentalcouncil.org, where I was so lucky to be a part of a small group of passionate caring and dedicated people. My non-profit career was slowly waning with the Girl Scouts http://www.gstc.org and Sansum Diabetes Research Institute http://www.sansum.org and my internal compass was leading me again to something different... but still keeping grounded in the non-profit world. So, here I am today working on blending making people feel good and to do good. Be well.

How do you de-stress?

Today, I'm talking de-stress. We're already into the 2nd quarter of 2006 which makes it a good time to reflect how we've all done taking care of ourselves and how we have de-stressed ourselves. Here are some ways I do it and some tips to practice today. How do you de-stress?

- For me, saying "No". It's a hard lesson for me to say this one word, but I'd rather say it than dissapoint. Try it, it's a pretty big stress reliever.

- Relax, do nothing and be still. Practice breathing deeply. Do this several times a day for a few minutes or more as your schedule allows. Start in small doses until it becomes a natural part of your day.

- Have a plan for your day/week/month. When you anticipate, you can cope better.

- Just know that there will always be bumps in the road. Take the burden off you and acknowledge that. That's what makes life interesting!

- Go for a walk. It increases your mood level and de-stresses a stressful day.

- Play with your dog or pet!

- Have people you can count on in your lives. We can't go it alone, we're social beings.

- Get organized -- get rid of stuff and clutter.

- Being thankful, keeping postive, and most importantly staying away from negative people helps me to lead a stress-free life.