Amethyst Gem Of Fire Necklace

Amethyst Dragon Empowered Necklace, a beautiful and powerful protection necklace designed with Amethyst, a highly esteemed gemstone known throughout the ages for its stunning beauty and legendary powers to stimulate and soothe the mind and emotions. In ancient civilizations it was known as the “Gem of Fire,” a Precious Stone worth at times in history as much as a Diamond. 

We have added our sterling silver protection dragon and inlaid the eyes with diamonds for clarity in decision making, for being able to see though to the truth in all situations. Our sterling silver elephant clasp holds this design together with love, Amethyst and sterling silver pendant drop sits perfectly at 23" and goes with almost any neckline.

Wardrobe Ideas: The Amethyst dragon empowered necklace would look perfect with a casual week end look, jeans or casual pants and shirt scoop, button down or v-neck, with a sharp suit or dress. Wear this necklace against your skin full the full energy of the amethyst.

10 Ways to Layer Your Jewelry...Part 1

I think I take it for granted that I layer my jewelry with the ease of a fashion stylist, I can actually go through my extensive jewelry wardrobe ( I'm a jewelry designer 😉) and choose 3-5 necklaces, 4-5 bracelets, 3 rings and magically layer them in the time it takes to brush my teeth! Ok I get it, not everyone understands the art of styling and layering ( if I may call it an art ) wether it be jewelry or clothing; this talent was conceived and nurtured from my early years as a model in the fashion capitals of the world, having been styled by the best of the best when I was seventeen and eighteen years old!!

 

Looking back it floors me to no end, how did this little Connecticut girl with little or no style get in such a position, but that's another story all that matters now is that I did and that's why I can actually give pointers on how to layer and style jewelry. 

The art of styling never changes, true fashion comes in and out, goes round and round, but if you learn how to style yourself this is a talent you have forever, haven't you seen those wonderful older ladies with style, full makeup, hair done to the max, head to toe dressed for God knows what, I love them for I understand their Love of fashion, their need to look put together.

Stacking Jewelry is not an easy thing to do but I have included a lot of images to help.

The silent rule with necklaces is that you want to create depth, flow, and either oomph appeal, laid back ease, or boho extravagance. You can mix tiny thin chains with long chunky beaded necklaces, make sure pendants don't lay on each other in odd positions but lay easily. I do mix silver and gold this is not for the novice though since you need to know what shades of silver go with what shades of gold.

Elle McPherson in Turchin jewelry's

            Long Necklaces

    From The LOVE COLLECTION

 

Metal Combinations

1. Shiny gold mixes well with shiny silver 

2. Antiqued silver mixes well with antiqued gold or bronze

Colors:

I like to stay in color families, that dosent mean I just wear brown with tan and chocolate, I will mix the colors of the sea, for instance turquoise with orange coral look delicious and summery, one of my favorite vacation combos!

 Ebony black looks rock in roll with antiqued silver, and down right chic with shiny gold!

Aqua marine pairs beautifully with other soft pastels like light green Peridot, rose Quartz, translucent Moonstone and magical Labradorite.

Lengths

 One of my everyday easy layered looks are my two tiny silver chains with my diamond half moon, star and T initial pendants, just below choker length, and one or two long flowing necklaces, one beaded for sure with a pendant and one with just beads or just chain.

I personally don't like mixing too many long necklace with pendants unless the necklaces are very light and delicate then it's easy and beautifuly boho to add two or three together.

Not Your Grandmothers Bun!!

SUMMER's here, hoorah, sizzling days, warm nights, pool parties, beach weekends, and oh right frizzy, humidity stricken summer hair....help!!!! 

I live in Miami where it's HOT and humid ten months out of the year, and talk about humidity, ugh, I've become an expert on anti frizz, but still am perplexed about how to pull my long hair up on sweltering days and Not look like I'm trying to copy a teenager, or worse a grandma bun! I've seen women in the summer with their hair piled onto the top of their head in a seemingly effortless style But when I've attempted just looks like I'm trying too hard, so I end up pulling it all out and wearing my hair down over and over again despite my melting neck and shoulders.

I was determined to find some " bun-nies" as I now refer to them since I don't want to go through another summer without a cute yet age appropriate " bun-nie" so I did a little research and am so pleased I came up with some pretty easy to do styles that I can't wait to try!!

 

How Not To Get A Hangover

It seems everyone I'm talking to these days, (around my age anyway 40's and up) who drink socially and the majority of people I know do, are trying to figure out a way of having a drink or two and not feel the effects the next day. When I was younger in my twenties and thirties I could stay out till 2:00 am have two cocktails easily and not feel terrible the next day! A lot of my Freind's are telling me the same thing, in fact a percentage of them are so effected by the effects that they've given up on drinking all together, in their words, " it's just not worth it!" I get it, I hardly touched a glass of wine much much less a mixed drink in the four years after my son was born, since it would render me completely functionless and sleepy exactly the opposite effect I needed for the high energy of our toddler boy. Now that our son is five and finally sleeping well I have some time and energy to go out with my husband on date nights but the " hangover" is not worth the second cocktail.

So here I am searching for an alternative that dosent effect my head, energy and mood the next morning.

 

A freind of mine tells me she rarely has a hangover and she isn't shy about her "after hour, unwind time" lets call it, she tells me her secret is for every glass of wine or cocktail she makes absolute sure she drinks one glass of water, then before she goes to bed she drinks another glass of water. 

I could try this and I just might but my initial worry is wont I be up peeing all night?!

Another freind suggests drinking Organic wine, or even kosher wine, another freind only drinks straight alcohol without any mixers and swears this is the way to go, she believes the sugar in the mixed drinks wreak havoc on her body and create terrible hangovers.

Hangovers and Wine

Sulpher dioxide is often blamed for headaches, but it's the naturally occuring histamines that are more often the culprit. Produced by wild yeasts and bacteria, these are common in foods in which some form of fermentation takes place. So those who get headaches after red wine may also suffer after eating cheeses, salamis, pickles, soy sauce and chocolates.

Others are sensitive to the tannins and phenols in wine. But alcohol's effect remains the same whether the wine is organic or not. Too much will strain your system and cause blood vessels to swell, including those in your nasal passages. What you won't find in organic wines are any traces of spraying chemicals- tastemag.co.za

SURGARY DRINKS Acoording to Dr. David Colbert, founder of New York Dermatology Group, Dr. Debra Jaliman, author of "Skin Rules: Trade Secrets From a Top New York Dermatologist" The danger with drinks like mojitos is the sugar. "Sugar anywhere in the diet, along with other excessive carbs, leads to systemic inflammation, which contributes ultimately to cell damage and increased skin aging," Dr. Krant said, "The less sugar you take in with your alcohol, the better for your long-term wrinkle risk." 

CLEAR ALCOHOL What makes the skin effects of one alcoholic drink different from the next is what else is in the drink. That makes shots the best option according to Dr Colbert since there's no extra sugar, salt or other harmful ingredients. "If you just have one shot of vodka or just a shot of tequila that you nurse," Dr. Colbert said, "you'll probably look and feel OK the next day." Dr. Jaliman added, "A shot of gin or rum would probably be the best."

Hmmm so a shot I will try, it's definitely not as exciting sounding as my old favorite "Cosmopolitan" but worth a try, I'll let ya know how it turns out soon!

What Being Spiritual Means To Me

I was raised very religious, church every Sunday, Sunday school after church, I went to a Christian school and our family conveniently lived across the street from our Presbyterian church, so you could say I was immersed in church life growing up. By the time I was a teen I began to question some of the core ideas of religion, and began to see certain flaws within our " church community".

When I was on my own at the tender age of seventeen having graduated high school and beginning my modeling career in NYC the last thing I wanted to do was go to church! Every so often in my modeling travels I would come upon a church service that drew me in, or another model and I would go to a service but basically the every week practice of going to church was not a part of my life any more. This didn't mean I didn't believe in God or fell to the dark side, I just didn't "feel" a connection to God when I was at church,  my connection with God was found in random life moments, in my nightly prayers, during difficult and emotionally stressful times, or when traveling through beautiful parts of the world with mouth open in awe of the beauty in our world.

When I first heard the term "spiritual" it intrigued me because I've always felt a strong connection to God and doing the right thing, the "do unto others as you would have them do unto you philosophy". So this "Spiritual" concept was interesting to me, maybe I was a "spiritual" person not a religious church going person.

According to Cheryl Peterson from beliefnet.com The fastest growing “religion” in the West is the trend toward spiritual independence. Spiritually independent people are eager to explore the teachings, texts, and techniques of all religions and refuse to be limited to or labeled by one religion alone.

The religion of Spiritual Independence is trending in the West. Refusing to be pigeon-holed into one religion, spiritual seekers eagerly explore the teachings, texts, and techniques of many religions.

Living with positive intentions

Creating a grateful diary

Taking time for ones self 

Playing it forward

Giving back

Mindfulness, it seems, is having a moment. 2013 saw a significant spike of interest in holistic health and mindfulness practices like yoga and meditation (not to mention a number of celebrities and CEOs hopping on the mindfulness bandwagon) and it's a trend that will likely continue to gain momentum in 2014/2015.

“What the culture is craving is a sense of ease and reflection, of not needing to be stimulated or entertained or going after something constantly," Soren Gordhamer, founder of the Wisdom 2.0 conference, told the New York Times. "Nobody’s kicking out technology, but we have to regain our connection to others and to nature or else everybody loses.”

My husband and I have seen this trend awakening for the past seven years in store in The Miami Design District, Turchin Love and Light Jewelry, we've been promoting our philosophy that through love all is possible, love is the answer. We have seen an unusual amount of customers from all parts of the world that wouldn't appear to be "spiritual" at all, but when they hear our message it becomes clear that they are thirsting for this feeling, craving something meaningful and mindful. So maybe Spirituality is the  new religion that will last through this millennium of high tech and constant change, maybe being Spiritual will be the grounding point we all need to feel the essence of life, of love, of ourselves.

turchinjewelry.com

What Mothers Day Means To Me

Mothers Day to me means that I spend a day or portion of one devoted to appreciating my mom, who did an amazing job of raising me, my brother and sister.  As a divorced woman in rural Connecticut in the late 1970's she was not the norm at all, especially in our conservative Presbetarian Church community, I remember feeling completely ashamed in junior high school and tried my best to hide the fact that my parents were divorcing. It would only be a few short years later that divorce was almost de riguer in rural communities in the US.

According to enrichment journal on the divorce rate in America:

• The divorce rate in America for first marriage is 41%
• The divorce rate in America for second marriage is 60%
• The divorce rate in America for third marriage is 73%

My mother dived into the workforce a place unfamiliar to this self proclaimed Stay At Home Mom who Loved her position as our compassionate, and loving caretaker. She ending up landing herself a position at a Credit a Union and worked her way up as far as she could until she was offered a position a few years later at a nearby Engineering company that trained her on early 1980's computers.

Looking back now knowing my mom much better I know she was terrified, you see my mom wasn't the outgoing type, she was always liked but very shy, almost painfully shy in social and unfamiliar situations.

Thinking about what she did for us, I'm so grateful and appreciative, and imagining the things that bothered me in my teens and twenties, not having this or that, what she did or didn't do or say, now just seems petty and absolutely Trivial!

Why does it take so long to appreciate what our parents or parent did for us and do some of  us ungrateful children ever fully, or even partially realize it? Probably not, so on Mothers Day this year 2014 I'm going to take some time to remember what my Mother did for me and my siblings, and also try and imagine some of the things she did that I may have foregotten and just needed a Special day to remember.

Eva Perón Happy Birthday (1919–1952)

Today May 7th is Eva Duarte de Perón birthday, better know as 

Eva Peron, coincidently it's also my father's birthday as well.

Eva Peron served as the First Lady of Argentina from 1946 until
her death in 1952 (she was only 33-years-old). She campaigned
for the position of Vice President, but her declining health
forced her to back down. Not long after, however, the Argentine
Congress declared her the Spiritual Leader of the Nation.

 Perón's life changed dramatically when she married Juan Perón, a colonel and government official, in 1945. He became president of Argentina the following year, and his wife proved to be a powerful political influence. Eva Perón used her position as first lady to fight for causes she believed in, including women's suffrage and improving the lives of the poor. She also unofficially ran the ministries of health and labor in her husband's government.

Perón became a legendary figure in Argentine politics. A skilled speaker, she was adored by the poor citizens she worked hard to help, but she was not without critics and detractors. Asked to run as vice president with her husband in 1951, she faced opposition by the army. Perón ultimately turned down the post—possibly due to the health issues she was battling around this same time, stemming from uterine cancer.

BRAVO Eva Peron for being a powerful woman who stood up for what she believed at a time in history when it was unheard of for a women to do so!!

Bio.com

Tea For Health

Regarded for thousands of years in the East as a key to good health, happiness, and wisdom, tea has caught the attention of researchers in the West, who are discovering the many health benefits of different types of teas.

  

Studies have found that some teas may help with cancer, heart disease, and diabetes; encourage weight loss; lower cholesterol; and bring about mental alertness. Tea also appears to have antimicrobial qualities.

“There doesn’t seem to be a downside to tea,” says American Dietetic Association spokeswoman Katherine Tallmadge, MA, RD, LD. “I think it’s a great alternative to coffee drinking. First, tea has less caffeine. It’s pretty well established that the compounds in tea – their flavonoids – are good for the heart and may reduce cancer.” Time.com listed the following as benefits of drinking tea. 

1. Tea can boost exercise endurance. Scientists have found that the catechins (antioxidants) in green tea extract increase the body’s ability to burn fat as fuel, which accounts for improvedmuscle endurance.
2. Drinking tea could help reduce the risk of heart attack. Tea might also help protect againstcardiovascular and degenerative diseases.
3. The antioxidants in tea might help protect against a boatload of cancers, including breast, colon, colorectal, skin, lung, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, pancreas, liver, ovarian,prostate and oral cancers. But don’t rely solely on tea to keep a healthy body — tea is not amiracle cure, after all. While more studies than not suggest that tea has cancer-fighting benefits, the current research is mixed.
4. Tea helps fight free radicals. Tea is high in oxygen radical absorbance capacity (“ORAC” to its friends), which is a fancy way of saying that it helps destroy free radicals (which can damage DNA) in the body. While our bodies are designed to fight free radicals on their own, they’re not 100 percent effective — and since damage from these radical oxygen ninjas has been linked to cancer, heart disease and neurological degeneration, we’ll take all the help we can get.
5. Tea is hydrating to the body (even despite the caffeine!).
6. Drinking tea is linked with a lower risk of Parkinson’s disease. When considered with other factors like smoking, physical activity, age and body mass index, regular tea drinking was associated with a lowered risk of Parkinson’s disease in both men and women.
7. Tea might provide protection from ultraviolet rays. We know it’s important to limit exposureto UV rays, and we all know what it’s like to feel the burn. The good news is that green tea may act as a back-up sunscreen.
8. Tea could keep waist circumference in check. In one study, participants who regularly consumed hot tea had lower waist circumference and lower BMI than non-consuming participants. Scientists speculate that regular tea drinking lowers the risk of metabolic syndrome (which increases the risk of diabetes, artery disease and stroke), although it’s important to remember that correlation does not equal causation.
9. Regular tea drinking might also counteract some of the negative effects of smoking and might even lessen the risk of lung cancer (good news, obviously, but not a justification forcigs).
10. Tea could be beneficial to people with Type 2 diabetes. Studies suggest that compounds in green tea could help diabetics better process sugars.
11. Tea can help the body recover from radiation. One study found that tea helped protect against cellular degeneration upon exposure to radiation, while another found that tea canhelp skin bounce back postexposure.
12. Green tea has been found to improve bone mineral density and strength.
13. Tea might be an effective agent in the prevention and treatment of neurological diseases, especially degenerative diseases (think Alzheimer’s). While many factors influence brain health, polyphenols in green tea may help maintain the parts of the brain that regulate learning and memory.
    

Yoga Week 3

It's been three weeks since I've written anything here, what with starting yoga in the mornings has just taken up more time than I thought, but well worth it! I am truly reaping results already and in so many ways.

Week 1

1. Immediately I had more energy

2. Started craving healthy food

3. Slept through the night without waking up

Week 2

1. More patience with my son and husband

2. Caught myself slouching and sat up straight

Week 3

1. Improved muscle tone on my arms and abs!

2. Overall happier and more joyful.

I can't say enough about the amazing benefits of the yoga I started practicing, in case you didn't read my earlier post I am practicing a restorative yoga which focuses on precise alignment in a controlled environment that is slow yet strengthening and intense at times. We use a lot of yoga "props",  tools that help us stretch without over extending ourselves resulting in injuries that happen daily in fast paced yoga classes.

We learn not only to stretch and strengthen our body but to go one step further and stretch,strengthen, and relax our mind, breathing through everything. 

It's only been three weeks I know but the RESULTS have been BIG I can't wait to see what the next three weeks hold!

Back To Yoga in Miami

  I won't lie, I was scared, would my body hold up, would I strain myself, push myself?? Well I decided to wrangle out of my routine and give it a go! I'm talking about getting back into yoga after 6 years!

In my late 20's I discovered the power of yoga, in Miami at that time Madonna was practicing with a teacher and making yoga cool, that's not exactly why I tried but hearing yoga in the NEWS here and there interested me. The yoga I began practicing I can best describe was showy, I know that sounds weird, so I'll explain. The mostly women in class were blessed with outstanding bodies and since it was Miami wore little to cover those bodies, our ( also Madonna's ) teacher who became quite notorious was quite the character, completely full of his own ego, he controlled his classes with a strange sexual energy spiked with obscenities. I truly doubt he was like that with Madonna, she wouldn't have dealt with any one else's ego, and to be honest after a dozen or so classes I'd had enough myself. 

I flowed in and out of yoga classes for the next decade and a half from Hot Yoga ( Bikram ) power yoga, flow yoga, alignment yoga, on and on, settling mostly into Power Yoga, a vinyasa based yoga that is done repetitively and quickly enough to bring on a serious sweat, develop a nicely toned body especially arms and back since you are basically doing a series of modified push-ups. 

At the same time I was injuring myself frequently, pushing myself too hard, looking at other students in class wrapped up like pretzels and trying to duplicate with painful consequences. It was my Ego this time, instead of being in my own space and enjoying my own yoga practice I allowed myself to quietly compete with other students, who could stretch further, wrap further, stand still longest. How embarrassing and ridiculous looking back now, but hey that was then today I'm older and wiser!

 I had a baby five years ago and even during my pregnancy didn't practice yoga for fear of miscarrying, I had miscarried a year before my son was conceived at 43.

So to make a long story short I decided to begin my new foray into yoga with a wiser approach to my body that I am determined to take care of and nurture through yoga instead of torture. 

The class was amazingly beautiful, easy to follow, and yet I felt relaxed, strong, confident, and aligned.

If you're ever in Miami check out the Green Monkey Yoga Studios, Allaine Stricklan is my teacher for Alignment Yoga, Love Her!

Another Day in Paradise

The other day I was at my sons elementary school picking him up early when I started talking to another mom, as we were walking towards our cars she said something like, "what a beautiful day" that's when  said, "yes it's another beautiful day in paradise" and she said, "paradise"?? I'm not sure we live in paradise. I kind of shrugged and got into my car, I didn't think too much about our short conversation until a couple days later, when I was driving on our beautiful Miami Beach causeway over turquoise water under a stunning blue sky, hmmm I thought, isn't this paradise ??!!

 Ok this city isn't perfect, sure I get that, I was raised in the northeast, surrounded by beautiful country side , horses, cows, farms, acres of land, and bitter cold winters that went on and on, I dreamed of living in a place like Miami Beach when I was a kid, and here I am now, I feel pretty lucky! 

Besides that I started to think about what else makes this place paradise, maybe it's not just the place but the gifts, the blessings we are afforded that create the paradise?

So I started to make my list, here I go again....

I didn't need the list at all this was easy, paradise is having people to love and who love you back, good health, and well all the other stuff is icing on the proverbial Cake, so yes it's true, another Beautiful Day in Paradise.

Going Green with Kale

The core foundation of happiness stems from better health, with that said my first experience with kale over fifteen years ago was not a pleasant one. I was new into juicing and with my juice for life book in hand I read about the huge benefits of kale, not only was this a super food but the only food that helped get rid of cellulite! Any women with even the mere hint of a cellulite ripple would have done what I was about to do upon reading such facts, so off to the health food store as they were called in those days to buy myself some kale I went. Well to make a long story short I juiced the kale, gagged and never revisited the green until a few months ago.

Kale is everywhere these days or so it seems so I decided to give it a try, again, at a Restaurant this time, I chose a simple very finely chopped kale salad with lemon, salt, and pine nuts, I was nervous but dug in anyway. To my astonishment I loved it I actually finished it and did the finger swipe around the bowl to get the last tiny bits, in that moment I became an official Kale Fan. 

Kale is a superfood, and just one cup of this green goddess of vegetables provides health benefits well beyond flavor and satiation. Here are the top five reasons you should add kale to your diet.

1. Strong antioxidant powers: It's high in vitamin A, C, and K as well as flavonoids and carotenoids.
2. Great source of essential minerals: It's a good source of calcium and magnesium, and per calorie, it delivers more iron than beef.
3. High in fiber: Delivering five grams of fiber, kale helps with digestion and makes you feel fuller on fewer calories.
4. Very low in calories: It's just 36 calories per serving with essentially zero grams of fat.
5. Anti-inflammatory functions: With omega-3 fatty acids, kale can help fight against arthritis, asthma, and other autoimmune disorders.

Citrus Kale Salad with Cranberries and Toasted Almonds

Makes: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• Pinch freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large bunch kale
• 1/4 cup whole almonds
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries

Instructions

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the red wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, orange juice, honey, salt, and pepper.
2. Remove the tough stems from the kale and tear the leaves into bite size pieces. Rinse in cold water and dry with a paper towel or run through a salad spinner to remove the excess moisture.
3. Place the almonds in a skillet over medium heat, shaking the pan often to prevent burning. Heat the nuts until they are browned and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Once toasted, remove the pan from the heat to allow the almonds to cool, then give the nuts a rough chop.
4. In a large salad bowl, toss together the kale, almonds, cranberries, and half of the prepared vinaigrette. Pour in more of the dressing until there is enough to coat the kale without oversaturating it (the amount of dressing needed will vary since kale is sold in bunches of varying sizes; the ones I’ve been buying lately have been huge!). Add additional salt and pepper to taste.

I love my kale salad as follows: 1 serving

Chop up 2-3 handfuls of Kale as fine as you can, make sure you remove the spine (the hard part, this tastes bad and hard)

Cut a quarter lemon ( remove the seeds ) or so and squeeze on the finely chopped kale

Add a half teaspoon or so of olive oil, virgin cold pressed is best

Add either a small handful of pine nuts ( 2-3 tablespoons ) sunflowers seeds, or any nut or seed

If your nuts or seeds are salted you don't need to add salt or if so just a touch

Add kosher or unrefined salt to taste ( the salt somehow relieves the bitter taste from the kale )

Mix well and enjoy!

Kale, also known as borecole, is one of the healthiest vegetables on the planet. A leafy green, kale is available in curly, ornamental, or dinosaur varieties. It belongs to the Brassica family that includes cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage, collards, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts.

Dressing Your Age?

What does Dressing Your Age mean anymore anyway?? In my moms day it meant one thing but today the lines are very blurred and often unclear. I think it's more about dressing for our body type, being realistic about what looks good on you, where your comfort level is, and confidence for that matter. I'm tired of old school " fashion horses " telling women what they should wear at what age, like anyone who's offending these bubble-living "Fashionisto's" would listen anyway. 

Before my son was born five years ago I worked out 3-4 days per week and was very, very confident about my body, I would wear tight skirts and body con style  dresses as de rigueur, today I won't. Don't get me wrong it's not because I'm a mom or something like that, it's because my muscle has turned softer than I like since I just haven't found the time for the gym in between raising our son, and growing our business with my husband. So I dress for my comfort level, I do try and eat pretty good and limit excess fats and so on, so I'm a skinny bitch but just not muscular, there will come a day when I go back to the gym, yoga, or Pilates, maybe when my son goes into kindergarten later this year, then You better believe I'll be wearing a body-con dress ( please God let them be in fashion then) leg baring shorts and skirts!! Hey if Tina Turner could do it in her 60's I can do it in my 40's and 50's!

This is me dressing for comfort and personal style, age 49.

My body ICON 

Oil Pulling For Health

Oil Pulling with Coconut Oil

(From the ChalkBoard Blog)

OIL-PULLING IS A SUBJECT that has come up around our offices now and then. Who’s tried it, who doesn’t get it. Here, Diana Ryu, editor at the addictive shopping site Beso.com, and a HuffPo Style and LuckyMag contributor, revives the topic for us. Oil-pulling is the ancient practice of detoxifying the body through the mouth. Oil, traditionally sesame oil, is swished in the mouth til toxins are absorbed from the saliva and spit out. Hours of Google research isn’t as effective as the word of just one girl who’s tried it, stuck with it, and loved it!

I GARGLE WITH COCONUT OIL. Everyday. Each morning when my alarm clock rings, I hold my breath and beeline for the kitchen to shove a heaping spoonful of coconut oil into my mouth. I wait for the lard-like consistency to melt, pushing the stuff through my teeth, over my tongue and from cheek to cheek for twenty minutes before I spit and start my day.

I’ve always been the type to catch every contagious sickness lurking around the office — even a simple coffee date with a flu-ridden friend would lead to my quick demise and render me helpless in a matter of days. God forbid if I stayed out a little too late, or stressed about a deadline, because there would undoubtedly be an excruciatingly painful canker sore the next morning. When I saw my cousin a year ago, her skin was dewy and from-the-inside glowing. Her secret: swishing with coconut oil for twenty minutes every morning, which she claimed had jumpstarted her immune system. I balked. Oil? For how long? She assured me that it goes fast (just hop in the shower and when finished, it’s time to spit) and so, intrigued, I hopped online to do my own research and to my surprise, I found a devoted community that swore by the amazing aftereffects.

Oil pulling, or oil swishing is an ancient Ayurvedic technique, touted by yogis as a natural way to strengthen the immune system by killing toxic yeast that makes its way from your stomach to mouth while you sleep. The science seems to stand sound: our mouths can determine non-oral health issues and unsurprisingly, dentists can diagnose acid reflux, diabetes and heart disease just by symptoms seen during normal check-ups. I was convinced and headed straight for my local specialty grocery store to invest in a jar of virgin unrefined coconut oil. You don’t have to use coconut, but I prefer it in lieu of sunflower and sesame because of its natural antifungal properties (and honestly, it tastes like a candy bar). Be warned: coconut oil comes semi-hardened so you must melt it in your mouth.

I felt results in a matter of days. My sinuses drained as I swished, I felt energetic and alert, and my gums and teeth felt much cleaner than with my normal brushing routine. (I should also mention here that you must scrape your tongue after you spit out the oil, or else you’re just swallowing oil residue with toxins in it). I’ve been doing this for a year and I’m ecstatic to say that I haven’t had one canker sore, nor gotten the flu or cold, even with the scare this season. The skin around my temples cleared up which, according to face mapping is a sure sign that there is something amiss in your stomach. Plus, I swear by it as a hangover cure: It’s a much healthier option than my usual greasy breakfast burrito. By all means, do your own research before you start oil pulling, but I can fully attest to how amazing the benefits have been for my annoyingly delicate constitution. Anyone out there willing to give this a try?