An airplane or a long car ride offers a new space of opportunity to stay still, dream, listen, learn and play. Be creative and use it wisely!
I don’t know about you, but I suffer if I am thrown off my self-care schedule. How about YOU? Don’t you just want to eat, drink and be merry, and sill feel good the next day? I do!
Are you flying away somewhere wonderful for the holidays? Or, maybe you are staying home and visiting friends and/or hosting parties. In any event, when our usual schedule of self-care protocols are thrown to the wind, we suffer, and who wants to suffer when there is so much fun to be had?
Whether you flying, driving or staying home, here are a few things that have proven to work for me during the holidays and winter months.
Do them, because they really work to help you stay stable, alert and vibrant for a fun and healthy holiday season. You can do them if you are staying home as well.
Flying or Not!
Neti-Pot
Take the neti pot into the bathroom of the plane and use it before you land. I have a friend that uses it the minute he can get out of his seat, and then once again before a landing. If you have a little salt for the water, then great. If not, just use warm water. Yeah, I know, not much fun, but it works to kill pathogens that you breathe in. I used to get horrible hay fever that would last a couple days after a long flight. Now, that I neti, I don’t look like Rudolf when I land. Not flying? Use a neti-pot often this season.
Essential Oils
Get some organic essential oils: http://veriditasbotanicals.com/
Now hear this, "the right kind of essential oils are extremely powerful". I really like the Veriditas brand. Their oils are organic and affordable. Go to their website and see if a store near you carries them, or order them online. They make a fabulous blend called: Good Sumaritan, which is perfecto to use on the plane and while traveling (clove, cinnamon, eucalyptus and more). This blend is great for killing bacteria and helping to prevent colds. It is also good for killing mold and mildew in homes. Peppermint and lemon are two you should also not leave home without.
To create an aerosol, mix about 4 drops in distilled water and some vodka (or just vodka) in a 4 oz spray bottle. Don’t drink it now. If you cannot make an aerosol, then just take put a few drops on the palm of your hand with a carrier oil or lotion. Using the oils by themselves without a carrier oil might cause skin irritation. I cannot use them alone. If I do, I always break out, and it is not fun. This is because they are so powerful.
Rub your hands together with the oil and the carrier, and bring to your face and inhale through your nose and then through your mouth. You can also put a few drops on a Q-tip, and place it in a baggie. Retrieve the Q-tip as needed and just inhale deeply. These oils are highly effective when inhaled. They will also help to kill airborne bacteria in the air. Use them regularly when traveling and in public places.
Lemon is a great hand sanitizer. When I am on the plane, in a hotel or at a friend’s house, I like to put a few drops in a small bowl of water, and wash down the food trays, tabletops, bedposts, phones, TV remotes, and dressers. This only takes a few minutes and refreshes and sanitizes the entire room. It freshens the space and makes it your own.
Peppermint is also great for pick me up, pain relief and mental clarity. Lavender is the other must have for relaxation after a long day, great for burns and a nice perfume. Don’t travel without these: peppermint, lemon, lavender and the Good Sumaritan. Don’t even live without them!
Food & Water
A friend of mine recently told me that you should not eat at all when flying. Well now, that does not work for me. I always take my own food, but eat very lightly and drink lots of water.
No fruit for me because the airlines will never let me take it out of Hawaii. But a banana or orange are good travel foods because they stay clean. An apple works well too if you can keep it clean. Basically, whether in a plane or not, eating lightly through the holidays and travel will serve you. Just because there are many temptations, it does not mean you need to eat them.
More options are: baked yam or sweet potato, a nut butter sandwich, nuts, seeds and dried fruits, hard-boiled eggs and crackers, water, water and more water. My advice is to keep it simple and allow yourself to fast a little. Your body will be the better for it when you land and/or when you arrive at a friends house. These guidelines go for long drives as well.
If you have a lot of parties to go to, then go to them fed. I find that a solid high protein meal will keep me from temptations of foods made with bad fats and sugar.
If you are dining out a lottravel with your own olive oil, apple cider vinegar and salt in small leak proof containers. This way, you can order up almost any salad or veggie and top with some great ingredients that will help the flavor, satisfy you and provide healthy nourishment as well. Think ahead.
Here is the post for Pak & Go Travel Tips.
Body Acupuncture Points & Movement
Recently, before my last flight to LA, I visited my chiropractor and he gave me a kinesiology practice to do right when I land. He instructed to me a protocol touching certain pressure points, telling me stories of how it will reset you and provide you the energy to more forward without suffering from jet lag. It goes like this:
Instructions
With your right hand, reach underneath your left arm and touch the spot where a bra would pass over to wrap around your chest. With circular motion rub this spot for a few seconds.
Then with both hands take a hold of each of your ears and start pulling on them gently, beginning at the bottom and proceeding upward to the top of the ear. Gently pull on your ears outwards as you move up to the top. It is sort of like you are trying to pull them off.
Repeat this sequence 3 times. It works!! I recently flew to LA to attend a conference. I literally hit the ground running after arriving at 10:30 PM, checking into my room and getting to sleep at midnight. I followed through the protocol when I returned home 3 days later. It worked!
Movement
Move, even if it is just a walk. Get up and stretch, if only for 5 minutes. You can also do isometrics in your seat when flying. Take your walking shoes or a yoga mat if you are traveling away from home. Just keep moving even if it is not what you usually do.
If you stay home for the holidays please keep up with your exercise routine. It will help you so very much to keep you vibrant.
Meditations and Your Thoughts
Tune into your body and tell her/him that you are going on a long trip. Tell it that things are going to change. Ask your body to just relax and know that you will take good care of it. Let it know you will not be moving as much as usual, and will be putting new foods inside of it. Stay happy and smile inside as much as possible. Don’t worry. For me, this is a challenge when I am on a plane. I don’t love flying, so I don’t like to think about the fact that I am 30K feet above the Earth, and I have no idea who is driving, so to speak.
I send blessings to all and do what I can to distract myself. My favorite thing to do is watch good movies, or listen to inspiring pod casts. So I tune out to where I am, go into another world and stay calm. Vodka used to be my favorite calm of choice, but I have found that it no longer works for me. I get agitated after the effect wears off, and then a headache often follows. Landing happy, alert and balanced is so much better. Drink tons of water!
Having your own music and good headphones are a must as well. Listen to podcasts and positive meditations are very effective. (Bentinho Massaro, Neville Goddard, Deepak Chopra, Nirinjan Kaur-Kirtan Kriya, etc., and so many more). If I take the space to listen to uplifting messages, I find I land in my new place with a satisfied consciousness.
An airplane or a long care ride offers a new space of opportunity to stay still, dream, listen and learn. Be creative and use it wisely!
My next post will have more tips for keeping healthy for the holidays, so we can eat, drink and be merry for a fabulous holiday time!
Please share below if any of these things worked for you or if you have any other handy tips for a fabulously healthy holiday season!