Self-Care Tips for Spring Wellness
Spring is here bringing us the season of renewal, rebirth, and regeneration.
The season of spring is celebrated by cultures around the world to honor the return of the longer days and sunlight for food, plants, animals, warmth, and wellbeing.
The change in seasons creates an excellent opportunity to upgrade your self-care routine.
Enjoy the Sunshine
It’s an ideal season for spending more time outdoors celebrating the warmer days and longer hours of sunlight.
Being outside and receiving the light of the Sun through our eyes and on our skin supports our whole health and mood.
Sunlight is incredibly vital for hormonal health, circadian rhythm, fertility, bone health, immune function, and mood, and overall human health.
Life on every level of our ecosystem depends upon the Sun for energy, nourishment, and balance primarily.
The food that we eat gets its energy from the sunlight which is absorbed and processed into energy for us to consume through plants, animals, seaweed, and fungi.
After the winter, our bodies need that extra Vitamin D to boost up our depleted resources.
It’s ideal to spend time outside each day in the morning sunlight hours to set our biological rhythms and support hormonal health.
Most people don’t need an excuse to get outdoors and enjoy the warm spring weather, but it’s great to know that it’s perfect for our wellbeing!
Spring Clean Naturally
Spring cleaning is popular for a reason. It’s good for our house, health, and mood to deep clean our space each season.
After a long winter, it’s lovely to open the windows on a sunny lightly breezy day and get fresh air through the whole house for hours.
It’s a great time to freshen up the house with pops of spring flowers in vases or unique glass jars.
Decluttering and minimizing stuff accumulated over the winter brings fresh new energy into your space. It’s the best season for yard sales, garage sales, and cleaning out the basement, closets, and storage to donate.
Clearing out the clutter supports you to prepare for the seasons ahead, getting warm weather sports and outdoor gear ready and dusted, and figuring out what you may need for your upcoming plans.
It’s important to use natural ingredients for house cleaning, as synthetic cleaners are a significant source of exposure to toxic chemicals that may pose as hormone disruptors, allergens, and overload the immune system.
My favorite DIY natural cleaning recipe:
Vinegar All Purpose Cleaning Spray
White vinegar and essential oils deodorize, clean, and sanitize in this all-purpose DIY cleaning spray.
2 c. white vinegar
2 c. water
40 - 60 drops of essential oils
Add vinegar, water, and essential oils to a spray bottle. Shake up before using.
Use to spray and wipe down counters, tables, doorknobs, walls, baseboards, sinks, and more. Let sit for a minute or longer on surfaces to break down tough stains.
You can use your favorite cleansing and purifying essential oils and can add one, two, or a variety.
I enjoy using a blend of lemon, orange, rosemary, thyme, melaleuca, bergamot, grapefruit, and eucalyptus.
Vinegar is a great all-purpose cleaner but is not recommended for marble, granite, or stone. Be cautious and patch test on hardwoods, such as floors, before using, and do not let sit long on woods.
Herbal Support for Spring
While the warm weather encourages us to get outdoors, go hiking, and open all the windows, spring can also be a season of pollen and environmental allergens, making some people want to go back indoors.
Natural herbs and supplements can support respiratory system function, help your body adapt to the environment, and reduce inflammation response.
For herbal and nutritional seasonal support to be most beneficial its best to be taken daily and ideally beginning a few weeks before the season of pollen starts, and as long as needed.
Some of my favorite foods and herbs to help the body adapt to seasonal changes in the spring are:
Raw Local Honey (spoonful a day)
Nettles (freeze-dried capsules or tea)
Peppermint (tea with local raw honey)
Lemons (freshly squeezed in hot water with local raw honey)
Holy Basil (tea)
Lemon Balm (tea)
Take Up an Outdoor Hobby
Take advantage of the warmer weather and longer days by spending more time outdoors.
Spring is a great time to take up a new outdoor hobby, such as gardening, walking, running, biking, hiking, or get back into an old favorite outdoor activity that you love.
The sunny days can inspire us to get outside, be active, and enhance our fitness and exercise routine.
Spring is a season of new beginnings, so it’s a great time to start something new, change up our routines, lighten up our lives, move our bodies, and get outdoors.
I’m wishing you abundant wellness in this spring season!
Many blessings,
Kara