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How to Stay Radiant Throughout the Winter

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At Shakti School we emphasize the importance of educating yourself as much as you can. Knowledge is power. One of the key factors in the evolution towards a more enlightened woman is her wisdom. But, just as the women of Shakti School believe inner beauty to be essential to evolution, we want to radiate on the outside too!

Radiance is achieved through the state of your emotions, it's achieved through your lifestyle habits, what you are putting into your body (the state of your gut), and what you are putting on your body.

The glow of your skin can say a lot about your health.  Our skin is actually one of our best indicators of our overall well being.

We can look at the skin to point to certain imbalances that are happening internally. However, even after the imbalances have been addressed inside the body we can still be confronted with disruptions to the skin through our external environment.

This can become especially challenging during the harsh winter months when the weather is cold, dry, and rough. If we look to the wisdom of Ayurveda we know that it is best to let the seasons be our guide, and if we apply this to how we take care of our skin it becomes a little easier to know what to do.

In the fall and winter when skin is dry and rough, we want to treat it similarly as we would treat the food we eat: nourishing and wet. Cleansing, feeding, and restoring the skin using oils that will help protect, nourish, and deeply moisturize will be the most beneficial.

There are so many beautiful products we love (see list below), but beyond the use of expensive products there is so much you can do yourself to help maintain that healthy glow throughout the dry season.

Here are a few of our favorite skin care tricks that will give you that healthy glow when you’re needing a little extra boost.

Facial & Mouth Exercises

Facial massage has amazing benefits for the skin. It can help to improve sinus drainage, stimulate your lymphatic vessels, and it can also help to prevent wrinkles. We often carry a lot of muscle tension in our face without even realizing it. In addition, a recent study on facial massage showed that it can even help to reduce anxiety and negative mood status.

Did you know that they are approximately fifty muscles in your face?!

Just the same as any other muscle in your body, getting into a regular routine of exercising those muscles will help tone and firm the muscles and additionally will help to tighten any sagging skin.

Ben Greenfield, an expert in the biohacking world, recommends these exercises for the longevity and radiance of your skin. I’ve been incorporating them into my exercise regime and have noticed some amazing benefits:

Forehead and Eye Exercises:

These strengthen the muscles around your forehead and eyes to smooth wrinkles and produce a more awake look:

  1. Put your index fingers about a centimeter above your eyebrows, above the middle of your eyes, and apply gentle pressure. Close your eyes while trying to raise your eyebrows up against your fingers. Repeat 10 times.
  2. Make peace signs using your index and middle fingers and place your middle fingers where your eyebrows start above your nose and your pointer fingers at the end of your brows. Gently push your fingers up and down while flexing your facial muscles to move your brows up and down, simultaneously. Do 3 sets of 10.
  3. Close your eyes and with your eyelids relaxed, lift your brows with your index fingers. Keep your eyes closed while lifting, stretching and strengthening your eyelids, and hold for ten seconds. Repeat 10 times.

Mouth Exercises:

These will strengthen the muscles around your mouth and jaw and give you better control of facial movements.

  1. Smile big and press your fingers against your cheeks to hold it in place. Close your lips halfway and hold for ten seconds, then close lips fully and hold for ten seconds, using your fingers to resist each movement.
  2. Hold your mouth, teeth and lips tightly closed, then separate your teeth as much as you can while keeping lips closed. Slowly move your lower jaw forward as far as you can and hold for five seconds. Return jaw to the original position and repeat five times.
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Dry Brushing

Dry Brushing is a great way to facilitate the skin’s ability to naturally detox. It sweeps away dead skin cells, improves the appearance of the skin, and encourages lymphatic drainage. I’ve also found that it leaves me feeling more energized.

How to Dry-Brush — It's best to use on dry skin before you take a bath or shower. Start at your feet and work your way upwards. Brush in a circular motion always in the direction of your heart. This will help increase blood flow throughout the body. Try to brush for at least 3 minutes working your way up to 5 minutes. After showering make sure to lather yourself in some kind of amazing moisturizer or use your dry brush right before Abhyanga. (See our favorite products below)

Abhyanga

The practice of Abhyanga has been used for thousands of years in Ayurveda. It's an lymphatic massage usually done with infused oils. It improves circulation, gives you softer and more toned skin, helps to strengthen bodily tissues, lubricates your internal organs, joints and bones, and has even shown to improve vision. It also leads to better sleep! For best results try it before a bath at the end of the day.

Choose your favorite oil (warm oil is ideal) and start by massaging your legs and working your way up to the neck and even your scalp if you would like. Massage every part of the body. Use long strokes for your limbs and short circular strokes for your joints and your abdomen. Spend a little extra time on your feet. There are so many nerve points in our feet that are associated with our entire body (including our face).  After you’ve finished do some easy breathing or meditate while the oil soaks in (about 5-10 minutes). Afterward, wash off the excess oil in a bath or hot shower.

Red & Infrared Light Therapy

Red and infrared light is an incredible tool for healing and for anti-aging. It helps to improve the circulation of oxygen-rich blood in the body, helps the body’s collagen to unwind, boosts collagen production, promotes faster healing, and has amazing pain relieving benefits. When you use red and Infrared light therapy it mimics  the heat you feel when you are exposed to the sun, so it’s also a great aid in melatonin production.

Sleep & Managing Stress

Getting proper sleep and managing your stress levels is going to do wonders for your skin. When we aren’t getting an adequate amount of sleep we jeopardize the body’s natural ability to repair itself.

Stay Away from Synthetics

It is truly simple. If you wouldn’t eat it, do not put it on your skin! Make sure to read your labels and look for words like: bpa free, paraben free, free from synthetics, toxins, or fillers, and free from artificial fragrances. It’s also good to get into a habit of checking your own products at home to make sure everything is up to date and not expired.

Create Your Beauty Regimen

Now that you’ve got some helpful practices to start incorporating into you skincare routine let’s get into how you can create the best beauty regime for that lasting life-giving glow.

Cleanse

We like to wash in the morning and the night, but depending on your skin type you may only need an evening Wash. Cleanse your face with warm & your favorite oil cleanser. Oil cleansers are amazing. They help to cleanse the skin without drying the skin out. This is especially good for the longevity of your skin. Cleansing will also help get rid of any sweat, bacteria, or environmental toxins that may have accumulated on your skin’s surface.

Hydrate

Use a misting toner to keep your skin cells plump and hydrated. This will help to protect against dehydration and will also contribute to skin regeneration, smoothness and elasticity.

Nourish/Moisturize 

Our favorite way to moisturize the skin is with oil. A high quality oil will actually help to prevent congestion, moderate inflammation levels, and will also protect the skin from environmental toxins.

Protection

Vitamin D is SO important. We love our sunshine, but it’s also important to protect the skin from overexposure. Using a zinc oxide daily sunscreen will be super helpful in delaying aging and promoting long term happy skin.

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Banyan Botanicals: (Shakti School insiders get 10% off their order with the promo code SHAKTI10)

  • Beauty Balm 
  • Radiant Skin Bundle  
  • Healthy Skin Tablets 
  • Daily Massage Oil

Paavani Ayurveda Skin Care: (Shakti School insiders get a discount with the promo code GHEESPOT)

  • The Mix and Match Ritual 
  • Tha Vata Skin Care Ritual
  • The Pitta Skin Care Ritual 
  • The Kapha Skin Care Ritual

RMS Beauty:

  • Living Illuminizer
  • Organic Make-up Signature Set
  • Magic Luminizer

Marie Veronique:

  • Replenishing Oil Cleanser 
  • Protective Day Oil
  • Vitamin C, E + Ferulic Acid Serum

Henné Organics:

  • Organic Lip Serum
  • Lip Mask Therapy
  • Lip Exfoliator
  • Organic Lipstick

Plus these two that we love:

  • Dr. Hauschka Facial Toner
  • Kopari Coconut Melt
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theshaktischool

TheShaktiSchool

We’re throwing YOU a party (tomorrow)! You’re We’re throwing YOU a party (tomorrow)! You’re not gonna wanna miss this virtual launch PARTY/oprah-style-giveaway/workshop for creatives! (Swipe to see the incredible stuff we’re giving away) ➡️⁣
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TOMORROW 10/3 at 10am ET (US Time) join us for a Morning of Glow, the official virtual launch party for my new book, Glow-Worthy 🧘🏼‍♀️⁣
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We will be:⁣
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✨ Celebrating the release of my new book, Glow-Worthy (!)⁣
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✨ Getting insight into my “secret” process for writing (and how you can use these easy tips for busting through the inner blocks on your OWN creative babies) like imposter syndrome and perfectionism, and how those two little demons were the enemy of getting this thing done. You’re also gonna hear about the book I actually tossed out the window before I wrote this one!⁣
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✨ Practicing some of the embodiment energy meditations from the book ⁣
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✨ Getting showered in love and gifts (yes, we ARE giving away 2 spots for Ayurveda School + TONS of other amazing prizes, swipe through for more)➡️⁣
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We will also dive into some of the core ideas from the book and I will tell you WHY I wrote it and for whom… (you, of course 😉). ⁣
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I cannot wait to celebrate with you! Go get on our email list ASAP (link in bio) and keep an eye on your inbox for the zoom link!
Join us tomorrow for a very special book party onl Join us tomorrow for a very special book party online! We will be giving away TWO free spots to level one Ayurveda school but you have to show up with your best friend and be there for the whole event live! We will also be going deep into our creativity with meditation/journaling. If you are in need of a creative boost and a celebration of soul: Please join us. 🌈🦄💕🩵We are also giving away $8000 in prizes to everyone- all levels of Ayurveda School snd people new to our community welcome! To register simply put your name in our newsletter. Link in the bio and we will be sending emails tomorrow morning with the zoom link.
We’re trading hot girl summer for cozy girl fall We’re trading hot girl summer for cozy girl fall up in the Northern Hemisphere. The theme?? ➡️major permission to start slowing down, warming up, and amping up our witchy Fall self-care rituals. Send this to a friend you wanna plan an Ayurvedic fall self-care day with 🕯️🕯️
With warming ginger, black pepper and nutmeg to he With warming ginger, black pepper and nutmeg to help kindle your agni plus some grounding pumpkin and Ashwaghanda - WHAT more could the vata in each of us need!? 😉☕️🍁🍁⁣
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@ayurveda.bianca is one of our Level 1 grads and she offers personalized Ayurvedic consultations out of Long Island, NY (and also virtually!) She is such a sweet soul and we are honored to call her one of our grads. (She also shares amazing Ayurvedic content on her page so go check her out) 🤍🤍🤍⁣
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Here’s the recipe for this incredible Ayurveda-girl style PSL she’s making:⁣
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1 cup of your choice of milk⁣
1/8 cup of pumpkin purée⁣
1 tbsp of coconut oil⁣
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon⁣
1/4 tsp ground ginger powder⁣
1/4 tsp ground turmeric⁣
Pinch of nutmeg⁣
Pinch of black pepper⁣
1/2 tsp ashwagandha⁣
1 pitted and soaked date⁣
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Blend all the ingredients together until smooth. In a small pot, simmer over low heat until warm. Serve and enjoy!⁣
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Modifications for each dosha:⁣
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Vata - This recipe is perfect “as is” for keeping Vata in balance.⁣
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Pitta - Reduce the heat by removing or reducing the amount of ginger, black pepper, or turmeric.⁣
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Kapha - Substitute 1/2 cup milk with 1/2 cup water, use just one tablespoon pumpkin purée, and/or don’t add the sweetener.⁣
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Want your very own e-book of our FAVE fall recipes? Come to our Fall Rituals and Routines webinar this morning at 11am ET (link in bio to register) and/or come to our Morning of Glow workshop on Tuesday 10/3 (get on our email list to get the invite) - those who attend either of these events will get our Fall recipes e-book for free! 🍁🍁
We are beyond excited to share this incredibly spe We are beyond excited to share this incredibly special gift with you….⁣
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Introducing….⁣
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✨The Glow-Worthy Meditations ✨⁣
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(Yeah, we were gonna wait to give these to you til the Morning of Glow workshop on Tuesday but WE JUST COULDN’T keep it in!!!!)⁣
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But you should still DEF come because that’s gonna be the very first time we steep in the Glow-Worthy energy together!!⁣
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This coming Tuesday 10/3 at 10am ET we’re throwing a Morning of Glow virtual workshop where we’re gonna be practicing some of the embodiment energy meditations from the book! Presence🧘🏽‍♀️ + Love💗 = Glow✨✨✨⁣
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We’re also giving away an INSANE amount of gifts (like $8,000 worth…) during this live party-slash-workshop! Come (you have to be there live to win!) for a chance to receive:⁣
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 ✨2 FREE SPOTS TO LEVEL 1 AYURVEDA SCHOOL! Bring your bestie who also wants IN on Level 1 Ayurveda school and stay for the whole event where the winners will be announced! (Plus you’ll get all the books for class) ⁣
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Don’t worry Level 2 babes, you can still win all the other stuff! 👇🏼⁣
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✨1 WINNER will get a free private coaching session with Katie (Katie doesn’t do this like *ever*) so this is an insanely rare opportunity to connect with her on a one-on-one level!⁣
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✨3 WINNERS will get a personalized love note and signed copy of Glow-Worthy sent to your door. ⁣
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✨3 WINNERS will get Katie’s Winter Skin and Sleep Kit ⁣
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✨EVERYONE! Katie’s Fall Recipe FAVES E-book⁣
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I mean are you as EXCITED as we are!!? Let us know and tag your BFF who you’re coming with❤️⁣
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How to join Morning of Glow: go to our link in bio and sign up for our email list. We’ll be sending out the zoom link to EVERYONE on our list, so mark your calendar for Tuesday 10/3 at 10am ET and then keep an eye out for the link! 💌⁣
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Get the Glow Meditations NOW at the link in bio🤍

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