Beauty Is More Than Skin Deep

People today want an instant fix to whatever ails them. If they have a pain, they want a pill to fix it; if their skin looks bad or is starting to show signs of age, they want a crème they can apply to correct the “issues.” And while a crème will help, most folks don’t realize that beauty is actually from the inside out.

You cannot have great looking skin or look healthy if you are not living the good life. And what is the “good life”? It is all the things our Mothers tried to tell us as we were growing up: drink 8 glasses of water a day, eat your vegetables especially the green ones, avoid sweets, get a good night’s sleep, take your vitamins, and get plenty of exercise.

The one big thing we can add to the list is to cope with stress, whether with yoga, meditation—whatever means works for you, this one is huge in our modern society. In fact two of the main stress hormones, catecholamine and cortisol break down into Free Radicals adding to the Free Radical load that our bodies must deal with. April is National Stress Awareness Month—and do we need it! Take control of stress before it takes control of you.

Beauty shows from the inside out. To look great on the outside we must take care of the inside. And although we cannot keep Father Time from his work we can certainly hold fast to Willie Nelson’s advice that “wrinkles should be where smiles have been.”

Healthy Wishes, Dr. Linda Miles D.O.M. SHARE

April 22 is Earth Day.

Yes, April 22 is Earth Day. Long before it was officially Earth Day it was my Birthday. SHARE

I have always thought it appropriate that this day was chosen to honor Mother Earth and encourage healthy and sustainable environmental practices. I am very proud of the efforts that derma e® makes toward a healthier planet:100% wind energy, recycling at all levels of the company, recyclable packaging for our products, and Guyra Paraguay (part of The Paraguay Project) works directly on preserving the rainforest and other ecologically rich lands.

Since I was a child I have always been a “naturalist”, spending most of my waking hours outside, hiking in the local hills and observing all the wildlife (insects, reptiles, mammals and of course the plants). I marvel at how they interact and feel that we (humans) need to preserve wild spaces, that this planet is ours to share, not own, and that all life is interconnected in some grandiose cosmic plan.

In my adult life I have been involved in community planning, in trying to preserve “open space” and “scenic corridors.” Gardening is one of my spring and summer pastimes and I compost (red worms) year round.

I had read an article some time ago that challenged each one of us to live one day “trash free.” That doesn’t sound like much of a challenge at first glance but when you start to look at our lifestyles and habits, it is a huge challenge. I suggest to you that for at least one day on Earth Day, why not try to live “trash free”?

Like Mahatma Ghandi, I believe that “you must be the change you want to see in the world”. Happy Earth Day.

Yours in health, Dr. Linda Miles, L. Ac., D.O.M.