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!

feeding your soul

It's the final dash to finish the holiday shopping, plan the travels, the get-togethers and everything else we do to try to make each holiday special. For most of us, after all the gifts are wrapped and the errands completed, it's maybe, just maybe we think about ourselves.

Stop now and think about yourself to all busy overachieving women out there! Calendar out some time if you need to you renew your energy and re-charge for the new year ahead.

Here's what you can do to feed your soul:
light a candle, read a spirtual book from an author that resonates with you (email me if you'd like suggestions maria@destressessentials.com), practice some restorative yoga and go deep into meditation.

After this quiet celebration of your spirit, you'll feel renewed and refreshed, the natural way.

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.

celebrating oneness

feeling fresh from a joyful day at a celebration of oneness event held this past weekend in pasadena, ca. i left the center feeling lifted, in the spiritual sense... that all things are possible and within our reach.

in between the elevate film and music festivals, i got a chance to participate in such empowering workshops, all very inspiring but one stood out the most. after the arianna huffington workshop, i stayed for her sister's (Agapi's) workshop on fearlessness. my brain mind was telling me to turn back to elevate where it seemed so much easier to sit and listen to be uplifted by music or a film, but my wonderful heart mind told me to stay, take that chance and grow. thankfully again my heart mind led me in the feel good direction.

we started the workshop dancing around the room, arms flailing in all directions, shoes off. free, i felt so free! then we were asked to freeze and look to the person near us. from that point on we were asked to share our fears with this person and other intimate information to help us through our fears. I shared mine with Sandra and vice versa. was very scary to tell a person I just met my fears. that fear on top of my existing fears was enough to make me grab my shoes and run! But, immediatley i felt comfortable with her; her calmness and lightness about her inspired me to share and talk from my heart. Sandra and I had made a deep connection sitting on that stage. Still gives me chills, the good kind. If you're reading this Sandra, thank you for your kind words of encouragement. I know we have exchanged emails but where ever our journey leads us, i can bet we were in that workshop for a reason. Bless you.

A Celebration of Oneness

I truly believe that events take place in our lives for a reason and that people we meet touch our life for a reason, whether it be the person sitting next to you on the bus, the waitress serving you or the guy at the ticket counter handing you the stub. our lives are filled with these little connections. for yourself today, try making the conscious effort to think about, as you go through your day, the people you come in contact with. has this interaction affected or changed you? how? if anything, this contact might just make you more aware that these people, the little contacts throughout the day, are no different than you... that we are all ONE in our hearts, minds and bodies. blessings to you.

In celebration of Bodhi Day

Today we celebrate Bodhi Day... Buddha's Awakening, by offering 10% off Buddha Nose!

When placing your order you must put BodhiDay06 in the comments section to receive a 10% refund on your total Buddha Nose order. Good for one week only, through December 15.

Bodhi Day background: Buddha's Enlightenment. "Among Buddhists, this holiday celebrates Buddha's attaining understanding of the truth of existence, freeing himself from all human suffering, and finding perfect happiness."

Like the Buddha, we should be reminded to find time to calm our hearts and minds and allow ourselves to clearly reflect the true nature of (our) life.

Bodhi Balm directions: use as often as needed. And like the Buddha, find a tree to sit under and... peace out!

living in balance

Ahhhh balance. So my un-typical week went like this... de-stress essenials TLC, boutique show, ladies who launch meeting, connecting with a friend and her baby, more meetings, visited a lavender farm, secured new products, attended Linked Foundation opening reception, played the piano, hiked to the beach with muse, read some, wrote some, cleaned office, practiced yoga, and took holiday decorations out of storage. Whew... now, that is my idea of a successful week of balance, things that filled my spirit. Success this week. Now, working on a balanced upcoming week.

Here are my 5 keys to balance:

1. Being in touch with my feelings, with my inner wisdom.
   
2. Play
   
3. Simplify
   
4. Nurture body
   
5. Restful sleep
   

Think of each day as a journey through life that defines exactly who we are. To create a life of balance prioritize what is important to you. Decide what you want and ahhhh release the rest!
(photo by Fern Carbonell. Photo is of me at the Green Festival in Washington, DC in October showcasing a book on BALANCE!)

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

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

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!

laugh your way to wellness

I'm always seeking out interesting articles on wellness. My sister knows this so she sends me articles and links on things she comes across. She sent a fun one last night about balance... laughing your way to wellness. It's a type of yoga called Okido. The purpose is to help you regain the connection to your life-force and create the basis for better health and spiritual happiness. I gave it a try this morning with muse. She can always make me laugh. She does this drop roll thing on me most mornings to play and wake me up to feed her. She seems to have the Okido practice mastered. So I giggled myself to bliss. Really lightened me up, ready for whatever comes my way today.

So time to open our minds and take a journey to find the inner child in you and laugh your way through the day. What a natural way to feel good!

If we couldn't laugh, we would all go insane.
- Jimmy Buffett

reasons why I home spa

By now it's probably no secret that I love pampering. It wasn't always in me... I actually shyed away from things that brought attention to myself. And even more so I shyed away from pricey spas. But now I might indulge only on occasion but home is where I'm most comfortable in integrating my spa routines.

I find the wonderful thing about getting older is becoming more in tune with our Self. That means, taking time out for us. Pampering should be as beneficial as reading a book, eating healthy and even walking your dog (shame on you if you're not!). It's up there with my peace, health, balance, my overall wellness.

As we head into the holidays be aware of how you're feeling and listen to what your body is telling you. What does it need? More TLC? A salt scrub perhaps? Make home spa'ing within your reach so that it's practical for you, your lifestyle and your wallet. I challenge you to get creative and use the ingredients in your cupboard right now. Take a look at Inside the Spa Pantry for creative practical home spa recipes.

I love this quote by Anais Nin "I go in to come out". It sums up why I take spa moments no matter how busy life gets. As the week goes by, I challenge you to just listen to your inner spa diva and give it the attention you deserve.

If you have a favorite recipe, I'm eager to hear about it to share with others.

Happy Spa'ing.

Stress Relief Yoga - Final Relaxation

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

Santa Barbara Wellness Expo

De-Stress Essentials will have a booth at the Santa Barbara Wellness Expo event. Featuring Spa Exclusives: Spa Soy candles and Home Spa Luxurious Comfort Essentials.

Santa Barbara Wellness Expo
July 29, Saturday 12pm - 5pm

where:
Yoga Soup 28 Parker Way
go to mapquest for directions
$2 admission
catered by Spiritland Bistro

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.