Practicing ‘Slow Beauty’ Can Reduce Stress and Make You Glow —Inside and Out

Michele Promaulayko
·Special Contributor
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Lit from within: Looking your best means taking care of yourself, body and soul. (Photo courtesy of SpaRitual)

Shel Pink is the founder of SpaRitual and a pioneer of Slow Beauty, a self-care philosophy that honors the collective mind, body, and spirit. She believes that what you put on your body is as important to health as what you put in it. As such, all of SpaRitual’s products are earth-friendly and vegan.

Here, Shel shares a few of her Slow Beauty rituals:

1. Energizing Hand Treatment

Use a sand or sugar scrub with an energizing scent, such as ginger to energize and awaken the mind, body and spirit after a good night’s sleep.

  • Use a generous amount of the scrub on your hands and massage it into your skin.

  • Cup your hands under your nose and inhale deeply three times —breathe in calm then breathe out stress. On the last inhale, breathe in calm and then breathe out calm.

  • Rinse hands thoroughly and dry.

  • Apply a hand serum and then a hand salve or lotion to lock in the moisture.

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Win/win: Slow Beauty promotes slow aging. (Photo Courtesy of @sparitualist)

2. Daily Self-massage

This Ayurvedic tradition (called Abhyanga), stimulates lymph nodes, increases circulation, and tones skin — leaving it smooth, supple, and glowing. Do this self-massage before or after taking a shower or bath.

  1. 1. Warm up a face/body oil by running hot water over the bottle. (You’ll be using about a quarter of a cup of oil).

  2. Using small circular strokes, massage a tablespoon of oil onto head and scalp.

  3. Gently massage your face, paying attention to temples as well as behind and under your ears.

  4. Massage the front and back of your neck, using an open hand to create friction.

  5. Massage your arms, using a circular motion at the shoulders and elbows, and a back-and-forth motion on the upper arms and forearms.

  6. Massage your chest and stomach, using a gentle clockwise circular motion over the abdomen and a straight up-and-down motion over the breastbone.

  7. Apply a bit of oil to both hands, then gently reach around to the back and spine and massage them as well as you can without straining.

  8. Massage your legs vigorously using a circular motion at the ankles and knees, and a back-and-forth motion on the longer parts.

  9. Spend extra time on your feet. Massage back-and-forth, over the soles of feet and toes using the open part of your hand.

3. Morning Lemon Water

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“Warm water with lemon in the morning on an empty stomach is a feel-good panacea,” says Shel Pink (Photo Courtesy of @sparitualist​)

As a part of her Slow Beauty practice, Shel starts her morning ritual with a hot cup of lemon water. Lemons are a rich source of calcium, potassium, Vitamin C and pectin fiber. The bright yellow fruit has medicinal, anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties. Additionally, lemons contain traces of Vitamin A and iron. A few more reasons to sip this citrus elixir. It:

Detoxes & Cleanses
• Lemons contain Citrate, an enzyme that heightens the liver’s ability to flush out toxins.

Improves Digestion
• Lemons contain Citrus Flavonoids, a digestive aid that helps to assimilate food, as well as act as a mild appetite suppressant.

Boosts Mood and Immunity
• High levels of Potassium in lemons help the central nervous system function. Depression and anxiety are often the result of low levels of potassium in the blood.
• Potassium and Vitamin C also help to prevent the common cold, and Vitamin C protects the body against immune system deficiencies.

Preparation:
• Heat purified or spring water in a kettle
• Squeeze ½ lemon into ½ cup of the warm water
• Enjoy first thing in the morning on an empty stomach

4. Evening Foot Ritual

For this pre-bedtime foot ritual, select products that contain scents that soothe, like lavender or geranium, to ease stress and anxiety and to promote a deep night’s rest.

  1. Place feet into a foot soak bowl or low filled bath of warm water

  2. Place a generous amount of a scrub into your hand and cup your hands under your nose and inhale deeply three times.

  3. Remove one foot from the water and apply scrub all over the foot.

  4. Using a foot file gently exfoliate the foot, paying close attention on the dry areas. Add more scrub as needed. Replace foot into soaking bowl and repeat on other foot.

  5. Rub off any excess scrub and remove both feet from soaking bowl and pat dry foot and nails.

  6. Massage 1-2 drops of a cuticle oil into each nail and cuticles until absorbed.

  7. Place a quarter size of a foot balm or lotion into the palm of your hand and massage into feet.

  8. Pat feet dry with towel to remove excess foot balm.

  9. Spritz a fragrant mist over your pillow and sleeping area.