Ok, so I was looking for something penis specific to blog about since I promised my Male readers that I’d write something special just for you, but I think this entry is really important to anyone who puts a condom on his body or inside his or her body.  So, my For Men Only Post is still in it’s research stage.

Anywho, when I was in the market for using condoms I’d stay away from the ones with Nonoxynol 9 because they were so irritating.  But not only are they irritating (it’s like putting soap inside your most tender parts), they are DANGEROUS if used outside of a monogamous relationship where couples want to prevent pregnancy.  They should NOT be used as a prophylactic from HIV and other STD’s.  Please watch this video, even though it’s old- it’s still accurate.

Trojan has many products without the spermicide.

The Sensual Vegan sells condoms without spermicide and milk proteins.  I would only use the flavored condoms they sell  for safer oral sex…I don’t think fruity flavored items have any place inside the vagina.  Scented and flavored condoms, lotions, oils, and lubes can wreak havoc on the sensitive and beautiful vaginal environment.

So, I was driving this evening checking out the last bit of the Full Moon and thought I should do a post regarding Women’s Moon cycles.  I dusted off and tweaked a review that I’d written back in ‘07 for **The Girlie Girl Army**, an incredibly successful blog and newsletter founded by one of my dear loves, Chloe Jo Berman.  She’s a blogging genius who has given me LOTS of inspiration and has so kindly invited me to be a guest blogger on her superfab site.  Check out Chloe Jo’s interview with Miss. Alicia Silverstone and while you’re at it, you may as well sign up for Chloe’s newsletter.  Once you do, come back and you will find a *gift in your immediate future.

Enjoy, LADIES.  Men, you’ve been forewarned.  I promise to write something just for you to keep things balanced.  Ok, now git outta heeeah!!!!!

“The Diva Cup” Review

Ok Ladies, I have come across an incredible menstrual product!  So put your queasy aside, cuz I’m about to get real honest!  We are Goddesses and have the honor, power and blessing of BLEEDING giving us the ability to hold and nurture a life in our bodies (AMAZING and BEAUTIFUL!!! Whoo hooo!!) However, the products that we use to keep us feeling “clean and fresh” during our Moon Cycles often fail and leave us feeling sticky icky, leaky and totally uncomfortable   I have the worlds most sensitive “friend”- and conventional pads, and tampons tend to irritate My Precious.  Pads would chafe even though they claim to “breathe”, and tampons don’t discriminate which fluids they absorb and would leave me dry and kind of, ahem, raw.

Well, I found a gift from the heavens!!  It’s called “The Diva Cup” which is used internally, it’s made of medical grade silicone so it gliiiiides in easily, and is FDA approved!  The Diva Cup catches the blood inside the cup, and depending on your flow- you can leave The Cup in for up to 12hrs.  It’s totally NOT messy, if you dump it before it overflows.  If you wait too long, then just like any other product- it can get messy.  I used to pack pads, tampons, panty liners, and sometimes an extra pair of panties on my heavy days…just in case there was an “accident”.  Now, I leave home with my Diva Cup and maybe a liner and I’m good to go.  Visit LunaPads.com and order one today!!  It will change your life.  Here’s a promo code 10% off orders over $35: GGA09 This promo code is a *gift from Girlie Girl Army Goddess, Chloe Jo.  Love you, Woman!!

LunaPads Teeny Pantyliner for light days or use with The Diva Cup.  They come in lots of fun colors, are made of super soft cotton, and are machine washable and reusable.  I use these or the full sized LunaPads when I don’t feel like using internal protection. Makes me happy to have discovered a way to avoid contributing to landfills and Ocean pollution every single month. I was guilty of flushing my tampons instead of wrapping and discarding them in the garbage.  That was before a good friend looked at me like I had horns growing out of my afro and showed me the light. Every Woman could use up to 17,000 tampons in her lifetime- so go figure how expensive and wasteful that is. According to the LunaPads site 14 billion pads, tampons, and applicators make it into landfills EVERY year.  Most tampons are chlorine bleached, contain dioxins, and are made with rayon- when used internally has a dangerously high level of absorbency and doesn’t biodegrade very well.

If you must use tampons.  I am a fan of Natracare because this company truly cares about Women’s health and the environment.  Natracare tampons use 100% certified organic cotton, are 100% biodegradable, and are free of harmful pesticides.  They come with or without applicators and are widely distributed so you can easily find them at most health food stores (like Whole Foods) and at VitaCost.com (for 40% less than in the stores)  Even though these tampons are natural and wonderful- please remember the wrap and toss.  Clogged plumbing is expensive to fix and Ocean creatures don’t want our tampons in their living room.

These lights are also called “Energy Centers” or “Chakras”  This video shows the 7 major (and most popular) Chakras, but we have them all over our bodies, hands, wrists, feet.  They correspond with certain colors (note the colors in the video)  I love the music in this video.  Hmm, I think I’ll start doing posts on each of the 7 main Chakras.

Chakra Booster Temporary Tattoos for Chakra Balancing by Vicki Howie ChakraBoosters.com

I’m wearing this Chakra Booster Tattoo on my belly right now!!

Kyanite crystals help balance the Chakras

Breathe through all emotion, anger, confusion, uncertainty…the answers will come. Peace will come. Trust in your body and it’s intelligence. There is wisdom in the breath….

The Neti Pot has been used for centuries in India to irrigate the sinuses of debris.  Daily use  can significantly reduce colds and allergies.  With people sneezing, hacking, and snot rocketting amongst us- we must protect ourselves!!  Here’s how…

$16.95 at HealthAndYoga.com

Stainless steel netipot, attractive, functional, and extremely durable.

SinuCleanse Nasal Wash System $14.99 available at CVS

The Neti Wash Eco Neti Pot ™ Great for travel, non breakable, biodegradable, $13.95

Himalayan Institute Neti Pot™ Salt $1.94 at VitaCost.com

Everyone has either secretly or publicly wondered “Why can semen taste
and smell so foul?” or “How DO you get it to taste better?” Well
folks, I happened on some answers- totally by accident!

We dispose of 1 pound of waste every day via our skin.  Dry brushing with a natural fiber brush is a great way to improve circulation and to help our skin and lymphatic system move toxins (and yes, cellulite) out of our bodies.  Lymph is the clear liquid that oozes from your skin when you cut yourself.  There are many different theories on which direction one should brush.  The lymph moves against gravity so brushing toward the heart makes sense to me.  PUMP IT OUT!!!  See diagram below.

Brush in long, gentle, strokes toward the heart.  Begin at the bottom of your feet, moving up the front and back of the legs, thighs, butt, abdomen, hands, arms, arm pits, neck, chest, and back.  Do this before you hop in for your daily morning shower and soon you will notice a beautiful difference in your skin, your glow, and your overall feeling of health.

I knew it!!  Finally, a few studies that support (no pun intended) what I’ve been feeling for years!  Underwire bras  can be deadly.  I find comfort in wireless/softcups, they are less constricting and allow your lymph fluid to flow uninhibitedly beneath the breasts and up through the armpit area.  Enough from me- please read the KILLER BRA STORY

When we hear the word, “Tantra” we knee jerk into ideas of guru operated, free-love parties,  and orgasms being promised and lobbed from every direction. In some circles, what I’ve just described is a reality.  But did you know that Tantra is actually a type of meditation?  The Vigyan Bhairav Tantra is a 5000year old East Indian text which contains  112 meditations- only 6 of which are sexual.  The goal of most meditation practices is to take you out of body and Tantra focuses on  keeping you IN your body and present in every area of life.  What does it mean to be present?  It means feeling and truly experiencing all of life’s little gifts with each of our senses.  There is always an opportunity to be Tantric.  Let’s say you’re laying on your bed reading this post on your laptop.  Take a moment and really feel the softness or crunchiness of your bedding against your skin, how your head feels as it’s melting into your pillow, the smell of your fabric softener, the sounds of the birds conversing outside your window, even the sound of the Harley Davidson popping and caughing down your street- be with that too.  See?  Who thought feeling the wind on your skin, tasting every nuance of your food, truly experiencing the scent of a flower, friend or lover could be Tantric?  IT IS!!!

You’ve heard the old saying, “The eyes are the windows to the soul”?  Here’s something you can try with a lover, or a friend: Sit across from each other and gently look into their eyes without looking away for 3-5minutes (blinking is ok-this isn’t A Clockwork Orange!).  That’s it!  Everyone’s  experience with this exercise is unique.  The first time I did this at a Women’s Tantra weekend put on by one of my teachers, Dawn Cartwright, I cried my non-toxic Aveda eyeliner off!  I had a cornucopia of emotions, and taking the time to sit with each of those emotions, discomforts, and revelations was a very rich and juicy experience.  I felt:

-Vulnerable because I couldn’t hide my soul behind my eyelids.

-Open and exposed because I was not accustom to sharing my eyes so purely with anyone, not even a lover.  God knows what secrets my eyes would reveal!!

-Recognized, witnessed and acknowledged because I was being seen.

-Honored to have had the opportunity to witness other Women and to share the beauty of the exercise with them.

-Happy for having received a simple lesson on being present.

Dylan and I

When I did this exercise with my sweet Dylan, I felt a level of vulnerability, but with that came the realization that I could trust him.  A beautiful revelation for a new relationship, I’d say.

I became aware of how often we go through our days without fully engaging with our fellow Humans.   We miss valuable opportunities to connect.  Everyone wants to be acknowledged, understood, and validated.  We can give our brothers and sisters these gifts by simply making a little more eye contact as we go through our day to day.  We can gift ourselves by activating our senses and being absolutely present- that’s living.  Thank you for letting me share a little Tantra with you.

Aren't these beans beautiful?

Whether you’re Male, Female, young, old (or anywhere in between), we all have a desire for soft, healthy skin.  Some of us are blessed to have baby-bottom soft skin in our adulthood.  Others, like myself, are alligators in Human clothing and it truly takes work to attain that Cleopatra type softness!  Everything we put in our bodies will have an affect on our skin which is our largest organ.  So we need to be mindful of how foods, herbs, soaps, medications and especially lotions will affect our skin.  Cold pressed Castor Oil, made from gorgeous Castor Beans, is a fantastic and inexpensive solution for dry skin.  One application can last a couple days if you have normal skin and you don’t take ridiculously hot showers.  Alligator people can slather it on damp skin daily.