Listen Here:

In this episode, I discuss:

• My skincare routine
• My supplement routine
• How I get out of the midday funk
• Rituals for an autoimmune flare
• Oils for an autoimmune flare
• My bedtime routine

Additional Resources:

doTERRA essential oils + products

Skin colonizer

The bacteria that inhabit human skin are found to serve hundreds of beneficial activities. This formulation serves as a powerful system that provides protection against the pathogens that seek to harm our body. Skin Colonizer provides probiotics and skin-nourishing essential fatty acids and waxes that support your skin’s microbiome and optimize skin appearance. This is the first-ever live probiotic skin supplement clinically tested to contain at least 1 billion organisms.

Mother Dirt cleanser

Refresh your skin and remove makeup without removing good bacteria. Specifically designed to restore & nurture beneficial bacteria to your skin. Preservative-free, unfragranced, clinically-tested & dermatologist-reviewed.

Goat milk moisturizer

Drench your skin in cosmic bliss. This decadent organic face cream with goat milk is a gift from the Celestial Gods, designed to rejuvenate tired skin. This is the best moisturizer for dry skin. This magic cream will nourish, hydrate, and bring dead skin back to life. The combination of goat milk, kefir, and aloe creates a big bang that instantaneously hydrates thirsty skin.

Dry Brush 

Unlike other brushes Wholesome/ Glenor Beauty’s brush is made of the highest quality materials only; The handle is made of smooth polished wood and the 100% Natural Bristles are of the finest grade. We include a hook and travel bag with each brush for easy and convenient storage and travel. Our brush has shown great results for the skin’s health and beauty when dry brushing; Benefits include: cellulite appearance reduction, smoother glowing skin, improves blood circulation, shed dead skin, eliminates clogged pores for better nutrients absorbing

Epsom salts

Epsoak Epsom Salt (Magnesium Sulfate) is USP grade. It is GMO-free. After soaking in Epsoak Epsom Salt it becomes clear why Epsoak is the leading name in Epsom Salt. The expertly selected grain size of Epsoak Epsom Salt means that it dissolves quickly & easily in warm water without hassle every single time. It’s transparent/slightly white in color and is unscented. Buy in BULK and save.

Episode Transcript:

Welcome to the Healing Uncensored podcast. My name is Sarah Small, and I’m a health and mindset coach for women with autoimmune disease. Just like you. I absolutely love helping you tap into your self-healing power, uncover the energetic side of healing, and release limiting beliefs around your body and your life. Think of this podcast is everything you wouldn’t hear at your doctor’s office. It’s a place for empowered souls to move beyond food, and heal themselves on a soul level. I hope you enjoy today’s episode. Now, let’s begin.

Welcome to the Healing Uncensored podcast. In today’s episode, I’m going to answer a listener’s question. So Chelsea wrote to me on Facebook in the Autoimmune Tribe Facebook group, and said, “I would like to learn more about your routines for healing during a flare, and also just maintaining healing. Daily routines, or weekly, monthly with crystals, oils, meditating, manifesting, et cetera.” A day in the life kind of episode. Chelsea, you’ve got it sister I’m going to give you some of my best tips, tricks, and rituals that I use in my day to day life.

My skincare routine

So, let’s get started with an average day. I don’t like setting alarms, I’m going to be honest with you guys. I’ve found that you can really train your body to wake up, at whatever time you want. So most days I don’t set an alarm, and instead, I just wake up as the sun comes into the bedroom. That’s been around 6:30 a.m. lately. And then, I allow my body to just slowly awaken. And it feels so much better to me personally, than having some little, it doesn’t even matter if it’s a twinkling chime or the ‘err, err’ whatever that alarm sounds like. It’s still not my favorite way to wake up.

So, I train my body to wake up fairly early. And I love that sensation. It feels so much more aligned to me than some machine telling me to wake up. And I like to leave my phone away from my head. At least three feet away from my head at night. So that helps as well.

So average day, typically I’m up around 6:30 and I go straight into the bathroom, and I go through my skin and supplement routine. I will start with my skin routine, and I’ll wash my face. I use a probiotic cleanser called Mother Dirt. Happy to link to a lot of these products that I’m gonna mention during today’s episode, in the show notes, by the way. And then, after I washed my face, I apply CLEARstem and I freaking love. It’s like a serum, it comes in a little dropper. It has been really wonderful for anti-aging and healing acne scars. So, I apply that. And then, I’ll apply some of my Blue Tansy essential oils from doTERRA. Blue Tansy is in the camomile family. It is a very calming oil. It also, even though it’s an oil, it helps reduce that oily sensation on your skin, and reduce the size of your pores. So, I’ve been using that. Again, I talked a lot in the past, about my own skin struggles and challenges, and these products are really helping me heal.

And so, this is more on the application, outside sense of healing my skin. Obviously, if you know me, you know, I work from the inside out. So, it’s also an inside job. And I’ve done so many things to heal my gut, relieve my body from heavy metals, release excess fungal growth, bacterial growth, et cetera. So this is just part of that healing, just as a disclaimer. But, when I wake up in the morning and I wash my face, and I apply these really beautiful botanicals to my skin I feel like I’m glowing. And I energetically become a match to have a really beautiful day. So, that’s part of the whole process here, is not just mindlessly throwing these things on my face. I, for example, the Blue Tansy rubbing in that really cool, blue color into my skin, watching it dissolve and be soaked up by my skin. And telling my skin that it’s clear, telling my skin that it’s glowing, telling my skin that it’s healing. And it feels so good.

After the Blue Tansy, I’ll apply a skin colonizer. I get this from Systemic Formulas off of the Revelation Health website. And it is a probiotic type of serum, and has little billions of bacteria that help restore the microbiome of your skin. So yes, there’s a microbiome in your gut. It’s talked about quite a bit, in that holistic health world these days. But there’s also a microbiome on your skin. And so, if you have all this dysbiosis, this imbalance in the good and bad bacteria on your skin, then you may be more prone to break out. So I love this. It also has some jojoba oil in it.

And you’ll notice that I actually do use a fair amount of oil, on my face, even though I’m very prone to breakouts. These oils do not clog my pores, they help my body heal. And then, on top of the skin colonizer, I’ll usually give that a second to soak in, I’ll brush my teeth in the meantime, or something. And then, I will just lightly apply a goat milk face lotion and eye cream. This is from Real Simple Soaps. I did a giveaway, with the founder of Real Simple Soaps recently. And the products that she creates. I mean, they’re just amazing. I also love her acne detox mask. And so, you’ll see my entire skincare routine is really from a multitude and different variety of actual suppliers, different companies. I’ve worked to find what’s best for my body and my skin. That’s taken a long time, but, it energetically prepares me for the day.

When I brush my teeth, I use an inaudible electric toothbrush. Let me know if you are on the electric toothbrush train. I have been, for probably, at least eight years now. And my teeth feel so clean when I use my Sonicare. I feel like I’m pitching for their brand right now, but I’m not. I just love having a clean mouth. Oh my gosh, you guys. And when I was 16 years old, I had jaw surgery. I don’t know if I’ve told this story before. So I had jaw surgery because I had a massive overbite. I could stick my whole thumb up between my front teeth and my bottom teeth. And it was pretty bad. And so, I had the surgery where they put me under, they sawed my lower mandible, lower jaw in half, and we’re able to pull it forward and screw it back shut.

So I now, have three titanium screws on both my left and right side of my lower jaw. And the healing process was when I had braces. So they actually, wired my mouth shut, using the braces as the barriers there. And my mouth was wired shut completely for about six weeks. And then, they slowly started to open and just put a lot of rubber bands around my mouth. It wasn’t metal anymore. Until I could finally, eventually, open my mouth all the way back up. But during that process, those six weeks. Holy moly. If you ever experienced anything like that, and actually I know a few women in my community who have had the same surgery, so they will get it. I know you’re listening sisters, you understand. There’s no way to clean the inside of your mouth. So, for those six weeks, I literally describe it as this dirty fishbowl feeling. And so, I will never take for granted, a clean, sparkly clean mouth ever again. So I use my electric toothbrush. I know went on a tangent there, but I wanted to share that story with you.

And I use OnGuard toothpaste from doTERRA. It has amazing oils that are good for oral health. The actual OnGuard blend, which has some cinnamon in it and especially clove oil. Everyone listening, clove oil is so good for oral health. And, so much of our bacterial infections and disease can start in our mouth. You have to take good care of your mouth, my loves, do it.

My supplement routine

Then, I pop in my contacts. And I open up my supplements drawer. I keep my supplements in the bathroom, so it’s all just one big routine in the morning. I can start my day by supporting my body. Open up those supplements and I divvy them out. I’m currently taking, and just a disclaimer here. This does not mean that you should all go buy these supplements. This is what works for my body. This is also based on lab testing. I work with a functional diagnostic nutritionist, who I had on the podcast named, Ryan Monaghan. He’s a mindful nutrivore go back, listen to his episode if you want to learn more about what he does, in functional diagnostic nutrition. But, most of the supplements are based on my work with him, and what makes me feel good. So I start with the doTERRA Lifelong Vitality pack, or LLV. There are three bottles included in this, and I’m going to be honest. I decided to order this just to give it a shot, and I didn’t expect any major results. I just figured, well, I love freaking love, these oils that this company sells, I might as well give this LLV a shot.

Well, I tried it for 30 days and I actually just tried half doses, because there’s four of each bottle, per day as a full dose. So, I was just cutting it in half and doing two. And I could noticeably see a difference in my skin. Which was at the time, I was struggling with my skin and it was an ongoing self-care routine that I have to partake in, in order to maintain, and heal some of the damage that had I had created to my skin from the past, from lots of years of fake tanning, among other things. But this doTERRA, lifelong vitality back is freaking amazing.

There are three bottles, as I mentioned, the first is the alpha complex. So this is going to be a cellular complex that supports, for example, your liver. It has milk thistle in it, that are going to help the natural detox pathways of your body. The other one is an omega supplement. This is going to be your fish oils and your essential fatty acids that are going to be amazing for skin health and brain health. And then, there is the multivitamin or microplex, and this is going to have your vitamins, and minerals, and nutrients for the day. Because let’s be real, I think I talked about this in one of our very first podcast episodes. We, most of us are not getting enough nutrients, and our immune system is a nutrient hog. Meaning, the immune system is working on overdrive using all of these nutrients. So, we’re probably deficient. Or if you have leaky gut, you might not be absorbing those nutrients. So, those three are the foundation that I will take the rest of my life, regardless.

And then, based again, on some lab testing, I have a zinc supplement I take, P-5-P, which helps support me, again, based on labs. I have excess oxalate levels. Oxalates are found in things, like I talked about this in my ‘What I Eat’ episode, but some of the main sources of oxalates are soy, beets, spinach. Those are all really high. And, so I’m on a low oxalate diet, but I’m also taking P-5-P, in order to help lower those levels as well. And then, maybe someday, I can have some spinach again. I also take Sera peptides, which is, in my case, to help with fibromyalgia pain. Interface Plus, which is a systemic enzyme. So yes, I take digestive enzymes with the meals that I eat, but I also take more of the systemic enzyme to start to break down some of the barriers.

So actually, in your gut, what can happen is that these little bacteria and invaders can almost create this web around them. And, it requires the systemic enzymes to start to break them down, and actually be able to release them from your gut. I also take a glutathione spray this is an antioxidant for your body, and one that many of us are deficient in. I take a biocidin which is an anti-microbial, to help reduce some of the bacterial overgrowth in my gut, and entire body. And then CBD oil. I’ve talked about this on social media quite a bit. I love Blooming Botanicals Hemp and I use their 300 milligram tincture in the natural flavor. It did taste a little weedy, but it’s something that I was able to quickly get used to. However, there are flavored ones if you cannot tolerate that flavor. You hold it under your tongue, for about 30 seconds depending on how much pain I have. So I use it for anti-inflammatory support for my entire body and help release some of my anxious feelings that I have struggled with. So the CBD oil is also super helpful in the morning, but then, any time throughout the day that I might be feeling those anxious feelings too.

And then, right now, I’m also on these little packets, that are amazing, because I’ve already divvied that for you in these little packets, for a brain cleanse. This is a second phase, or second round of a brain cleanse that I am on. And it’s by True Cellular Detox. And I just can’t speak highly enough of this cleanse. There are actually three phases – a prep phase, a body phase and a brain phase. And now, I’m on my second round of that brain phase. And it works to help bind, using true binders that help rid your body of toxins.

And I wanted to do a second round of the brain phase, because I noticed such a tremendous, just almost miraculous you guys. I could get so emotional about this, because my life six, eight months ago, physically, and my health was completely different than where I am at, at this moment that I’m talking to you. I was still struggling with debilitating anxiety at that point. And after getting rid of all of the shit in my body, that was not serving me. By investing in my health, in this transformation, I hardly ever have anxiety anymore. I can’t even put it into words. It’s been such a change for me. So I’m doing the second phase of the brain cleanse to really get rid of any lingering, heavy metals, et cetera. So again, your supplements are going to look different from mine, but that’s what I’m currently on.

I just want to be really transparent, and share that with you, in case you guys are interested. And it’s really important for me to start my day with all these supplements, and this skin routine, oral health. So that I can support my body, and that I prevent any type of flare, or fatigue later in the day, because I’ve started my day with love. I’ve started my day by investing in my self-care. I’ve started my day by being mindful of what I put into my body, and onto my body.

My morning routine continued…

So, after I’m done with that bathroom routine, I will usually turn on either a podcast. I listen to a lot of podcasts. I’m constantly learning or an Esther Hicks, Abraham Hicks YouTube video. I love her rampages and I’ll turn that or a podcast on, while I make myself some breakfast downstairs. And honestly, breakfast can be a challenge for me. I’d love to hear from you guys, send me a DM on Facebook or Instagram, what you guys eat for breakfast. I will repost it and share it with the group, because I have been struggling. And breakfast has been a challenge honestly, for me lately. And it’s because of a very specific diet that I follow, in order to support my health. But, this week I have been making and loving these iced faux lattes. I have that recipe on my website, and I can link to it. It’s based, the foundation of it, instead of it being coffee or espresso, or even a black tea, it’s a dandelion root tea, which is also really good for liver health. It’s a roasted dandelion root tea that has the same type of flavor as a coffee. So, as a previous latte addict, this meets that craving for me, but it is so much better.

I add healthy fats to it, like coconut oil, coconut milk. I give it a little flavor by adding some actual pumpkin puree, an organic pumpkin puree. And so it’s like an iced faux pumpkin latte. You do it iced in the summertime and I do it hot in the colder months. And then, my quick and easy breakfast has been Birch Benders’ frozen waffles, the plain. I guess they’re the paleo kind. So they’re grain-free, frozen waffles. I almost peed my pants and started crying when I saw these at Sprouts. I was so excited because all these other gluten-free frozen waffles I had ever seen were rice-based. So they were still grain-based and I really avoid grains in my diet, personally. And so I found these grain-free waffles, and it brought me back to my childhood. And then, I bring it home, I toast it. Well, I’m weird. I actually put it onto a cast iron pan, not in the toaster and that’s how I will heat up the waffle and I had a Monk fruit syrup. As I’ve mentioned to my audience before, do not consume sugar. So I don’t do a maple syrup or anything. I do a monk fruit syrup, so it still has that same type of taste. And then, I love to have like a grass-fed meat, like a sausage, some healthy fats, a couple of slices of avocado, and then some really low earth sugar fruits that my body can tolerate, like blueberries or raspberries.

So, that’s what breakfast looks like for me lately. What have you guys been eating? And then, every day of the week looks different for me. Honestly, no two days in my week, are the same. My schedule fluctuates a lot. Two mornings out of the week, I have earlier yoga classes, so pretty much after I make breakfast, I’m heading out the door to go teach those, and just be part of this beautiful teaching yoga community. Other mornings when I don’t have to run out the door, I give myself a slower start, and I take more time for self-care, because when I feel good and when I feel inspired, then you guys are going to feel that, as my audience and listeners.

And so, it’s been so important for me to be a vibrational match to that, which I desire. It’s so important for me to take the extra 10 minutes to meditate. So important for me to be constantly up-leveling and investing in my own self-care so that I can show up big for you. And as I continue to learn, and grow, and expand as a human being, then I increase my value to all of you as well and have more to offer you.

So, I will take some time for self-care. And honestly, this is Chelsea’s question. Honestly, Chelsea, I’m an intuitive being, we’re all intuitive beings. And I find that I thrive less on a very specific hard-line, a written-out schedule, especially with ritual. And I really thrive in more of this flow, flow state, and this feminine energy. Because I operated in my masculine for so much of my life, that I think I’m a little worn out of all that structure and I’m just so ready for playfulness. So, I’ve just got the Sacred Creators Oracle Deck, which, most of you have probably already seen, if you follow me on Instagram. Or I did free readings this week in the Facebook group, because every time I get a new oracle or tarot deck, I will do free readings in my group.

So, if you’re not in there already, come join us. It’s an amazing place to hang out. But I got the Sacred Creators Deck and I have been loving it. I will ask the universe questions like, what does my soul want to create today? Or I’ll ask for general guidance around my business. I’ll tap into the universe and ask, how can I be of the highest service today? And I’ll pull myself a few cards in order to, again, just listen, be a really good listener because so many of us are so invested and immersed in this action, this going, this doing, this giving. We forget to take a step back and just listen. What does the universe want me to know today? How can I actually best utilize my time?

This morning I picked a card, and, I’ll share it with you. It says, “Prosperity’s sisters are happiness and joy.” It’s a Sunday afternoon, and, today is one of the days, very rare days, that I have nothing on my schedule. And so, I woke up this morning and I was, what am I going to do today? And I pulled this card, because I was, all right universe, what do you want me to do today? How can I be of service today? And when I read this, I was immediately transported to what about my life and my business makes me most happy? And I love to create, I love to be of service to you. I was, I’m going to record a couple of podcast episodes. And that’s my inspiration, that’s why I’m talking to you right now because I was inspired by that card.

So, I plan my days out, very intuitively. It is hard for me to create content, or record podcasts when I’m not inspired, or when I’m not energized. So I allow myself and give myself permission to go with the flow in my business. Give yourself permission to not have it all outlined.

How to get out of the midday funk

So that’s a lot of what my morning looks like. I also have a little bit of a, get out of a funk midday routine. Do you guys experience that? Where you had like a 2:00 or 3:00 p.m. slump. Or maybe something has happened in your morning, your day didn’t start off the way you had planned, and then by midday, you’re just feeling, ugh. Well, I have a few things that I use, when I’m having those days where I’m fatigued, or I’m uninspired, or I’m sad, or I just have a lot of emotions I’m trying to process, or I just feel off.

So, if I’m really tired, and feeling that fatigue, full force, I will take Mito2Max from doTERRA. It is an energy and stamina complex, that is completely natural and does not have any caffeine in it. And it’s seriously fucking amazing. Ladies listening, I’m not joking with you. I was skeptical, I’m going to be honest with you. I took freaking Mito2Max and honestly, just knowing that I have this little bottle of magic available to me, helps me so damn much. It’s like I never have to worry about feeling fatigued again because I had this little magic bottle. And, when I’m not worrying about, am I going to feel fatigued? What if I get tired? What if I need to take a break? I waste so much less time worrying about that shit, and I have overall less anxiety. And I believe the full dose is two capsules of the Mito2Max to help boost your energy. I just take one, and it’s plenty.

So, I don’t always even need one. And just knowing that they’re there, it’s such a mental thing. It really relieves the anxiety of oh, what if I get tired? What if I had that 2:00 p.m. slump today? And I have stopped worrying about that. And I’m, well, if I do, fine. I do. I’m going to love my body anyways and I’m just going to take one capsule of Mito2Max. And it’s going to support the mitochondria in my body. And, I’ve got a couple other more proverbial caffeine shots, and I don’t actually drink caffeine.

That’s another thing, if I have that funk, I’m not going to go reach for an espresso shot or an energy drink. I don’t care if it’s an organic energy drink. I personally feel that when I consume caffeine, my vibration lowers. And I am not vibrating in this place that I desire, and where I feel good. And it increases my anxiety. So I nixed the caffeine about a year or so ago. And instead, I do, Mito2Max or, I have a dance party. Turn up the music. Oftentimes, my partner is sleeping, because he sleeps during the days. So I’ll just put on my Beats headphones and blasted in my ears, instead of in the whole house, and I’ll dance. And when you dance, you are releasing and expressing emotion. You are being your divine, feminine self, this inner goddess starts to come out. And even if no one’s home, sometimes I still shut the door, because I want to feel so authentic, and free at this moment, and I just want to express myself through movement. And so, I’ll dance, and then, 10 minutes later I’ve listened to maybe three songs or something, I’m like, all right, bring it on world. What do you got for me next?

Another way to do this for me, is to go into my car, for some reason, I am most comfortable, belting it and singing in the car. I don’t have a good voice you guys, but I am not afraid to sing, because it is another way to open your throat chakra, energize your body. Take this little, I’m doing air quotes over here, “shot of caffeine” for your body and your vagus nerve. There’s so much going on when you dance and sing, it’s so healing. Your vagus nerves are one of the largest nerves in your body. It interacts and is in contact with all the big organs, all your major organs in your body. And it is also, what allows you to relax, and go into your parasympathetic nervous system. So, when you can stimulate it, you’ll have higher vagal tone, and be able to reduce some of that anxiety, potentially fear. So, I will go in my car, and I’ll turn on my favorite, sing-along songs, and I will fucking sing. And my throat, all of a sudden it just opens. And I feel like I could just shout from the mountain tops. I feel so energized.

My third, maybe less likely shot of air quotes, “caffeine” is to meditate. So even though it’s not as energized as a dance party or singing, meditation re-energizes the hell out of my soul. So when I get quiet, it’s like all of this monkey brain, all this chatter is what’s putting me into this slump. Or I’m too full of thoughts, to feel inspired, to have clear thinking. I go to my meditation, and when I sit for even just five minutes, and I get quiet, that does not mean I have a lack of thoughts or lack of thinking. I’m still thinking, I’m still conscious. I am still human. I just take this intention, in this moment of intention to get still in my body, and to stop worrying about everything else, to still and quiet.

And some of my best ideas come in that meditation. So, if I was in a funk, 20 minutes ago and I sat down to meditation for just 10 minutes, I could be walking away from that those 10 minutes with a whole new idea or clarity on something, 20 minutes ago. So I love guided meditations. I record my own guided meditations and I listen to a lot on YouTube, as well as the Calm app, and the Unplug meditation app. All great resources to listen to guided meditations.

Rituals for an autoimmune flare

Okay. Going back to Chelsea’s question. So when I have a flare, I just want to share with you a few of my go-to rituals for that autoimmune flare. What do I mean by that? I mean, those are the moments when your immune system goes into overdrive. A flare can be very frustrating. A flare can knock your feet out from underneath you. So, my first tip is just to not be so hard on yourself. Don’t blame yourself for the feelings that you’re having.

You are human, you are allowed to feel. So, start with forgiveness. Start by forgiving yourself. You might know exactly what made you flare. Maybe it was gluten contamination, that has happened to me a lot. Not at all, in recent years, but in the beginning of understanding celiac disease, I had a lot of gluten contamination. Maybe it was just a nightshade at a restaurant or black pepper on a steak or something. Maybe it was lack of sleep or a cold that then never went away and it just turned into a whole autoimmune flare-up. Whatever it is, and whether you know the root of that autoimmune flare or not, forgive yourself. Say to yourself, I accept and love myself exactly as I am. Because, stressing about something that you did, again, air quotes “wrong” is only gonna make you feel worse. So take a few deep breaths, stop beating yourself up. It will pass, and you are allowed to forgive yourself, and give yourself love.

Other things that I do when I experience a flare, hydrate. Staying hydrated will help your body do its job better. So, lots of water, I am a huge fan of my Zero water filter. It helps dissolve or remove all of the solids. So it goes through the filter, and it moves all the solids from the water, so that you actually can put a meter into the water afterward, and you can see that there are no dissolved solids in that water. And then, I’ll often take trace minerals. I believe that’s actually the name of the brand, Trace Minerals. I’ll put a drop of my trace minerals back into the water, oftentimes as well. So I’m still getting the good minerals. And so, I will stay hydrated. Do this every day. This is part of prevention too, but especially mindful about it when I am experiencing a flare.

And then, bone broth is another great one. If you tolerate growth bone broth, having a cup or two, a day of bone broth with or in between meals, is going to help you stay hydrated as well, and is good for the immune system, your skin, it has collagen. So many things.

Other rituals that I have when I experience a flare? I love to make up some of my own concoctions that included apple cider vinegar. So apple cider vinegar is another holy grail in my healing. I used to make this apple cider vinegar concoction every morning for about two years, when I was first diagnosed with celiac. To help rebalance the pH of my gut and digestion. But I love to add to the apple cider vinegar. And sometimes I’d make a hot version, sometimes I make a cold version. It’s good with some pineapple juice and some cayenne. If you make it hot, some turmeric, some ginger, some lemon, some menuca honey, if you do tolerate sugar. That’s antibacterial honey, make sure you get high quality though. So I’ll make these versions of my own fire cider. You can also get pre-made fire cider. There are typically peppers in the pre-made, which is part of the fire, that you get. But it’s basically a tonic that boosts your immune system, and it’s antibacterial. So if you check the ingredients on those, you might be able to just purchase a pre-bottled one. So I love apple cider vinegar, and then, sleep.

It sounds so obvious. I know you’re probably going, uh duh Sarah. But, it’s so important to honor your body and to rest, a lot. Give yourself more time than you even think you need. Our body during sleep, that’s the time that it has, because we probably aren’t giving it very much during the day, to actually repair, and to provide. Just like you go have your car tuned up, this maintenance to your body. So give yourself that time to rest.

And then, I also really liked to, during a flare, support my natural detox pathways. So, start moving your lymph, supporting your liver, getting rid of toxins. Anything might be making that flare worse, or maybe have triggered that flare in the first place. So one of my favorite ways to support natural detox are salt baths. So I just use an unscented, magnesium salt. I am very, very liberal. I’ll be honest with my salt. I get a 20-pound bag and I put in two or three cups at least, to my bath. So, maybe I go overboard, and you guys can tell me if that’s crazy, but I put a lot of salt in the bath. I almost think of it as my own homemade float tank. Now, there are not hundreds of pounds of salt, like a float tank, but if you have a float tank nearby, that would be an awesome option as well.

And then dry brushing. So, dry brushing is an amazing way to help move toxins out of your body and use your lymphatic system. So I’ll do some dry brushing, some salt bath. That’s actually paired really nicely together, do the dry brushing and get in the bath. Your pores are nice and open. You’re going to get the magnesium, maybe add some essential oils to that. The Zendocrine soft gels from doTERRA are the natural detoxification support for your body, that you can take internally because they’re already in a soft gel form. I love those, and other natural herbs like the roasted dandelion root tea that supports the liver, milk thistle supports the liver, and then, a massage.

I love, I’ve been obsessed with massage lately. It feels like such an energetic release from my body. Say your flare wasn’t because of gluten contamination, say your flares, because you’re pissed off, and you’ve been holding all of those angry and frustrated feelings inside your body. Well, all of these detoxification supplements, and sleeping, and fire cider that might not even make you feel even a little less better. I think it probably will make you feel a little bit better, but because these are good practices all the time too. But if the root of that flare is anger, then we gotta move it out of your body. So I want you to focus more on the dancing, and the screaming, and the singing, and the massage. Where they can get into some of the fascia and muscle tissue, where you hold onto those emotions. Let that go. Release, feel, give yourself permission to feel angry. It’s okay. It’s okay.

My next tip for flares. Take a break. Don’t be too tough on yourself. Going back to point number one, there. Everything around your house, so say you have a flare, right after you had people in town, that actually almost always gives me a flare. And there’s been so much energy in your house, but it also means there’s a lot of people in your house, and so, the dishes aren’t done, or laundry is not done. Have you guys ever felt that way? Don’t feel like you have to go get it all done today. Give yourself a break, go do the dishes after you have given yourself this time. It’s still going to be there, or ask for help. Ask your partner, ask a friend, Hey, I’m experiencing a flare, I could use some support right now.

Think about how much you, like, hopefully, I’m making an assumption here, but I think most of us like to help other people. When someone asks us for a favor, as long as it’s not ridiculous or silly, I think we like to help the people that we love. We like to be there for them. We like to give them support. We’d like to let them know that they are not alone. And then, they do that for us in turn too. And so, so many of us are so hesitant to ask for help. This is a beautiful opportunity to just take down that freaking barrier wall, whatever you want to call it, and ask for help. Ask for help. It does not make you weak. I repeat. It just does not make you weak to ask for help. So, give yourself permission to ask for help. And take a break as well.

I also like to move my body that dancing, that singing, getting outside. Sometimes that’s the last thing I want to do. Is like, I just want to curl up in bed and turn off the lights, but getting that vitamin D, breathing fresh air, grounding my feet in the dirt, or the grass, that can really help. So even if it’s just for five minutes, and I go back onto the couch, or the bed, that can really make me feel good. Or if you’re like, okay, there’s no way I want to go do even an at-home yoga class. Well, in your bed, can you just do a couple of twists, a couple of supine twists, or really stretched fingertips to toes, so that you’re moving your body, and also getting outside.

Oils for an autoimmune flare

Some of my favorite essential oils for an autoimmune flare are immune support oils like OnGuard. This is a protective blend from doTERRA or frankincense, the king of all oils, or calming blends like serenity. This is the calming plant blend, it’s for rest. and for that good deep sleep. I love to diffuse that by my bed. And, oils such as frankincense, rosemary, clove, sage, thyme, marjoram, those are all anti-inflammatory. There are so many anti-inflammatory oils, that are going to help dampen that inflammation in your body that may have been the source of this flare. Basil. I rub a couple of drops of basil, on the back of my neck for adrenal support. If you’re feeling like you’re having an adrenal crash, and that’s the root of this flare. Or if you feel maybe it’s a virus or an infection that has then catapulted into something else. Oregano, amazingly strong, potent, powerful oil to help fight off viruses, infections, and bacteria without killing all the good stuff.

And then, lastly, just ask. Ask your body, remember that it’s not fighting you. Your body’s not fighting you, and maybe trying to fight off an infection, but it’s not fighting you. So ask your body, what message are you sending me? And then, again, we’ve got to shut up some times, we’ve got to turn off our brain. We have to be open to receive and open to listen and get quiet. So listen for the answer. The answer might be slow down, or it might be, we need more self-love, or it might be that all that cheese you’ve been eating lately, is not making you feel good, sister. So get introspective here, consider what you can learn through this experience. How can you honor your body? How can you listen to your body’s messages? Gather information because the more that you know, the more you can be mindful about preventing flares, in the future as well.

So those are some of the ways that I really like to support my body through a flare. And, on a less frequent level, I will do some really in-depth rituals for life, in general. And again, I like to do this intuitively. So, whether it’s a ritual with my oracle cards, or creating a crystal grid, or a long, meditation, almost like a journey meditation, or burning sage to clear energy in my home, or crystal chakra healing on myself, or moon rituals, full and new moon rituals, or my Yoni egg practice. All of these are also rituals that I incorporate into my life, ab-so-freaking-lutely. But there’s no schedule for them. Yesterday, I did my Yoni egg practice, and it was because I felt like there was a little block in my womb. It was like my creative powers were not quite sparking. They weren’t super lit yesterday. And I felt a little closed off to receive abundance in my life. I had a couple of those old limiting beliefs creep up, and I went and I grabbed my Yoni egg, and I did a Yoni egg practice. Where I was able to just use that rose quartz to start to heal, heal a wound, heal feminine energy, open myself up to receive. So, I do that all intuitively.

Another way I do not plan, but feel, what I need is with cycles. Cycles of the moon, cycles of menstruation and your period. Cycles of just natural cycles we experience in life, of moments and times, that feel easy, versus times that feel hard, or times that you feel so joyful and happy. And the next week, maybe you’re feeling more of these heavy emotions. Well, depending on what phase of the cycle I’m in, because we’re always going through these cycles, then I’ll make a decision based on that.

My bedtime routine

And then, before bed. So, my bedtime routines are usually a little shorter. I do the same normal supplement routine that I mentioned from the morning. So, all of those supplements again in the evening, plus vitamin D and a probiotic. I use Mega spore. Is that right? I think that’s right. I’m pretty sure that’s what it’s called. It’s a white bottle that has pink and yellow writing. I see it in my brain. And I use a probiotic and my vitamin D at night, in addition to the morning supplement routine.

Again, telling my body, I love you, I support you I am working with you to heal. We got this. And then, I love to turn on either a law of attraction video. Or I’ve been loving these sleep stories from the Calm app. They are stories that are meant to start to make you fall asleep. And, I do this to help get my body ready for a sleep state, so I can truly rest. And that’s pretty much it at night.

I find that I’m much more open to ritual in the morning, or the middle of the day, or just taking the time for myself when I have more energy in the beginning, parts of the day versus the evening. I’m usually pretty ready to turn off. I’m ready to rest. I’m ready to let all those thoughts go and just tune into my sleep state.

So, that is personally, some of my rituals for multiple things here. I hope this has been helpful for you. It’s been a pleasure to share this with you. I’ll put a lot of links in the show notes, so you guys can check it out. And now, I’d love to hear from you. What are your rituals on a daily or monthly basis? How do you get out of a funk and what do you do when you experience a flare? So, share with us either in Autoimmune Tribe Facebook group, screenshot this episode, put it on your Instagram story. Let me know, tag me. What are you guys up to? Do you have tips that you want to share with this community? I will repost and share them, so we can all start to crowdsource from each other. Thanks for listening, I’ll see you guys next time.

Thank you for listening to today’s episode. If you are craving more ritual, more routine, more sacred tools in your life, I invite you to join me for my signature program of 21 Days of Healing. Twenty-one days, 21 video lessons that are going to teach you new tools to add to your holistic healing toolbox, and 21 affirmations sent right to your phone. So we can chat every, single day for those three weeks. And you can replace some of these habits that are holding you back, or making you feel stuck with more empowered feelings, inspiration in your life, and this confidence that you can take on anything.

So I would love to see you in this three-week program. It is the fourth round, and we’re already almost halfway full. We start on July 16th, and honestly, guys, this group of women is freaking incredible. The energy that comes together to create this experience is, I don’t know how to put it into words. Every round just keeps getting better. And I see these women come in, not knowing what to expect, and leaving as completely different people. They have that life-changing transformation in much less time than they ever. So, I’d love to see you in this group, I’ll drop a link in the show notes. Come join us for 21 sacred days. See you next time.

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