Spanista » Self Care Rituals, Reflections & Resources for Joyful Living by Ginny Shiverdecker

  • Spa Style & Self Care Reflections, Rituals and Resources for Joyful Living

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  • About Spanista

    Ginny Shiverdecker, Creator of Spanista is Spa Wellness Enthusiast, Adventurer Seeker and Brand Builder.
    Ginny is……Read more

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Dear Wellness Seekers,

In Touch Tableau: Michel Design Works New Beach Fragrance Collection  is a joy for the senses. The Spanista Thursday In Touch Tableau is about finding and sharing the best of Do-It-Yourself Home Spa Products with you. So I am delighted to feature this new collection by Michel Design Works.

I stepped into a lovely lifestyle boutique while taking a Sunday stroll in Stuart, Florida on St. Lucie Avenue and Flagler Streets with my sister in law. Immediately I was drawn to the enticing design and rich packaging and of course elegantly simple theme – BEACH. The fragrance is well – just fresh and heavenly! It really is so much of what the coastal town is about.

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The was my first encounter with Michel Design Works brand. So of course I had to check it out online and found the wife and husband team’s story most inviting. Here is the story from the Michel Design Works website:

“Michel Design Works was started over 30 years ago by Bruce & Deborah Michel. Their very first product was an elaborate “memory book” called Our Country Diary, which we still sell today. It was and is a book where one captures daily events and it becomes a beautiful record of family life.
The elephant proved to be the perfect logo at that time. Although Michel Design Works has greatly expanded into Bath & Body, Home Fragrance and Home Decor, when Bruce & Deborah remember and celebrate all of their wonderful customers and the Michel Design Works history, it is even more fitting today!”

There is also a letter from Deborah which you will enjoy reading . Here is an excerpt – “Each season, as I start to think about new collections and products, I assemble an idea wall in my office. I place postcards and ephemera alongside favorite paintings, juxtapose photos of my garden against antique botanical prints, and add color swatches, fabric samples, and interesting textures. All this creates an inspirational backdrop for the new lines I design.”

Indeed her designs have a enchanting european garden feeling I am attracted to. Especially true of BEACH features a wonderful range of product to immerse yourself in:
~ Hand and Body Lotion
~ Home Fragrance Diffuser
~ Soy Travel Candle
~ Foaming Hand Soap & Hand Lotion with Shea Butter Combo
~ Bubble Bath
~ Soy Home Candle
~ Scented Home Spray
~ Shea Butter Hand Soaps
Also, love the glass bottles with shell tops that are perfect for holding bath salts or the sugary Florida coastal sand. And the delicate shell wreath. Nothing like the beach to make you feel the essence of self care.

In Touch Tableau: Michel Design Works New Beach Fragrance Collection perfect for your Home Spa Ritual. Why not gift yourself for Valentine’s Day?

To Your Self Care Journey To Joy,

Ginny

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Dear Wellness Seekers,

Top 10 Favorite Things While Visiting Stuart Florida offers a beach dwellers view of enjoying quality time in an authentic sea-side town. This is a lifestyle that is uncomplicated, unpretentious, unexpected and under exposed. Thank goodness. I find this so appealing for people to know when life in most of the other 49 states is under a winter storm watch ever week making life really stressful in so many ways. My heart goes out the folks in New England  and the Midwest who are buried in snow. An easy trip to down the each coast to Florida can off respite from the storm and restore your heart, body and mind.

Welcome to another chapter of Spanista Travel Diary. Spanista thanks my lucky stars every morning when I wake for having the ability to call Tampa, Florida home. And now an extra plus is having the opportunity to visit family on Florida’s east coast allows us to discover even more about this wonderful environment that’s authentic  – more Key Largo and Miami.

Just for the fun, I thought you may enjoy experiencing my Top 10 Favorite Things about Stuart, Florida that I discovered on our visit.

1. Beach is breezy, bright and wild with surf and shells, wide opens spaces.

2. Stuart is the Sailfish Capital of the World for deep-sea fishing experiences.

3. Colorful Shake Shacks are sprinkled along the seaside.

4. Main Street lives with an array of tasteful shops, galleries and eateries.

5. Lively Farmers Market is a Sunday Ritual with one of a kind creative ideas.

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Top 10 Favorite Things While Visiting Stuart Florida are plentiful so here are more:

6. Fresh flower combos are a feast for the eyes like these Orchids and Cacti.

7. Wildlife emerges at every turn like this Sand Hill Crane who adopted us.

8. One of a kind watering holes and eateries with congenial atmospheres.

9. Yummy fresh seafood along with many cuisines satisfies every taste bud.

10. Sunset bring about night lights that sparkle on the at every turn.

Spanista Takeaway: It’s simple. Warm sun and surf heal the heart, body and mind. Come back to see more in this chapter of Spanista Travel Diary.

To Your Self Care Journey to Joy,

Ginny

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Dear Wellness Seekers,

Loving Mom’s Cinnamon Rolls Valentine Tradition Bonds Family is a unique family story that’s ingredients are full of the richness of self care, love and a secret element that only Mom knew.

We lost my husband’s Mom in early 2014. We are coming upon the first anniversary soon so she has been top of mind for the family. Her three sons and their wives spent the weekend together on the east coast, in a relaxed sea-side town of Stuart, Florida. For the first time in many years we are all within 3 hours driving distance, not thousands of miles away, so this weekend was spontaneous get together to take advantage of a concert we all wanted to attend. My brother-in-law is a music lover-trivia aficionado so going to events like this is a real experience including before and after because of his detailed knowledge of the artists and music.

In spite of this fun event and all that come with it, the real hero of the weekend was Mom’s legendary cinnamon rolls. My dear sister-in-law who is married to the music man is the baking aficionado. She has taken the supreme task of trying to recreate Mom’s famous cinnamon rolls from the secret family recipe handed down to her from previous generations of bakers. To me Mom was a gentle sparrow – sweet, petite, college educated and one heck of a baker. I admired her spirit that far outweighed her size with a heart full of love for her family.

Now this baking task is indeed a labor of love because it takes a full day to work through all the essential steps to make them happen. Really! Valentines Day is the day she would make a batch for the boys in her life. The three lads would wake up in the morning to the smell of  cinnamon wafing through the house early in the morning. The boys loved them so much, a large tray would not last a day. Love was expressed through, around, in and with Mom’s cinnamon rolls. No words necessary you just felt it. This family tradition around the kitchen breakfast table is love personified in the purist form. Hand made love from the heart- enjoyed with hearty appetites – with love returned in this joyful experience that bonds us.

This is an old world recipe that will stay in the family. Happily the boys celebrated Valentine’s Day early thanks to our fantastic sister-in-law who surprised everyone with her gift of love. The boys wore smiles of joy when she made the announcement that she took all the steps that day to make the precious dough and would roll them for baking right in front of their eyes.

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No one had a dry eye. We witnessed her take on this new art form and watched unique design go into the oven while our hearts swelled with love for Mom and her memory. Enjoyed immediately out of the oven. they were simply outstanding. As we enjoyed a Saturday afternoon coffee break with these luscious cinnamon rolls – fond stories of Mom rolled  into our conversation. We toasted her in lovely tribute and thanked her for he love and baking abilities. This was the first time we had enjoyed this delicacy since she became too frail to make them over two years ago. Thank you dear sister-in-law. One last word – the one secret ingredient was lost with Mom – while the rolls were outstanding – the touch of her self care love – an ingredient she personally loved is lost with her. Maybe it is as it should be – after all it was something she did just for herself, after all.

Loving Mom’s Cinnamon Rolls Valentine Tradition Bonds Family is a dedicated to her memory and her gift of love to all of us. We are all committed to enjoying carrying on the family tradition.

Do you have a family Valentine’s Day tradition that feels like self care?

To Your Self Care Journey To Joy,

Ginny

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Dear Wellness Seekers,

Good News Monday: NYTimes Reports Neuroplastic Brain Heal Thyself is a stunning article in The Sunday Review, composed by Dr. Norman Doidge of the University of Toronto’s department of Psychiatry. Spanista is exhilarated by reading it so much so I read it two more times, so really it is better than good – it is awesome! In fact, Spanista encourages everyone to spread the word as it can mean everything to sustaining richer, well lived lives for as long as each of us in on this great earth.

Here is the news: Everything we have been programmed to believe about how our brain works has been turned on its ear. To date a metaphor has been used to repeatedly to help us understand how this important organ functions – Rene Desartesn described the brain as a glorious machine with discrete parts. Each part performed a single mental function in a single location. If the part was damaged – by genetic fault, or disease or sudden injury or stroke – it was assumed the body had no resources of its own to deal with the problem: After all, machines cannot repair themselves or grow new parts. Next, the metaphor evolved to a grander electrical machine – one with ‘circuits’ like a computer. This led to seeing the circuits as hard-wired and unchangeable. Today the master analogy as described by David Gelernter suggests seeing our thoughts as ‘software’ and the brain structure as ‘hardware’. The result of this thought process is that hardware inevitably degenerates with time and use. Applying the approach “Use it and loose it”. Therefore there is nothing we can do to ward off the decline.

Here is the Breakthrough  – Dr. Diodge shares that a growing body of research indicates this ‘computer’ view is dead wrong. It seems that the more accurate rule for our brains is “Use it or lose it”!  The new understanding is the living brain is actually ‘neuroplastic’ – meaning that the circuits are constantly changing in response to what we actually do our in the world. But it  depends on how we use it.

Various studies point to aerobic exercise as a key means of firing certain circuits that restore our brains capacity to rebuild what is lost to a good degree. How does this work? For example Dr. Diodge offers “Exercise triggers the growth of new brain cells in the hippocampus. It also triggers the release of ‘neurotrophic growth factors’ – a kind of brain fertilizer, helping the brain to grow, maintain new connections and stay healthy.”

Aerobic exercise has the biggest impact on generating  positive cognitive benefits specifically walking at least two miles a day, biking 10 miles a day or participating in some other rigorous physical exercise. Please reference link to “Brain Heal Thyself” by Dr. Norman Doidge. His latest book is “The Brain’s Way of Healing” was a source for this article.

Spanista Takeaway – Good News Monday: NYTimes Reports Neuroplastic Brain Heal Thyself by Dr. Norman Doidge is noteworthy because we now know walking as exercise everyday can reverse the affects of negative impacts to the brain from some debilatating diseases – so it’s role goes beyond preventative to restorative. Brilliant!  How marvelous is this news? Staying strong in mind as well as body, as well as hope for recovery if we are taken with an illness has never been more encouraging or accessible. No money needed? No drugs needed? No expensive medical treatments? It is simply up to us. Spanista believes it is a matter of taking exercise seriously as a means of Self Care – putting our needs first.

To Your Self Care Journey To Joy,

Ginny

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Dear Wellness Seekers,

Friday Wellness Tip: Cultivate Friendships for a Healthy Heart is based upon several studies that point to the importance of having a solid  social circle to improve your heart’s physical wellbeing. And another new study reported by The Atlantic Magazine adds to the body of research connecting social isolation with cardiovascular risk by highlighting key findings as reported by senior associate editor of its health channel, Julie Beck.
With such growing evidence Spanista wonders how could something this significant be ignored? One of the key factors to the importance of friends in our lives is the ability to help us reduce our stress levels. Stress as we have read has been attributed to increases of cortisol ‘ the stress hormone’. It generates increases in bad fats that collect in our bodies – especially around our organs plus other negative effects. One has to balance the body with relaxation in order to normalize the hormone activity. That is why extended stress strains your heart. With our mindful self care you can cause heart damage.
Spanista wants to help our fans by making all aware that February is American Heart Month. Celebrating the heart as the symbol of love is most aligned with Valentine’s Day. But this should mean more to us because this is the right to show yourself the love your deserve by caring for the most important organ of our body. American Hearth Month is focused on the Self Care and preventing Heart Disease – the physical heart care but in true Spanista fashion, I suggest to balance that with emotional heart care as well because as we feel and think so goes our bodies not the other way around as conventional wisdom guides us. Frankly, Spanista believes a healthy heart starts with emotional self care – the rest follows if you set the right intentions.
Here is the Spanista Top 5 Self Care Practices for Preventing Heart Disease:
1. Eat a healthy diet rich in colorful foods that grow from the earth.
2. Reduce stress blocks and increase blood flow with monthly massages.
3. Take regular Reflection Walks to connect to nature and enhance your outlook. Relax in a long bath after when possible.
4. Take time to set the intention for a joyful day, give generously, the rest will fall into place to your benefit.
5. Devote time to nurturing friendships at least once a week – share life, feelings and give love to those you cherish on life’s journey and it will return to a health heart and wellbeing. Do it live if possible – texting does not count.
To read more please check out:
Friday Wellness Tip: Cultivate Friendships for a Healthy Heart inspires Spanista to offer the most important way to care for your heart:
‘Learn to love yourself first, so you can learn how to love someone else well.’

To Your Self Care Journey To Joy,

Ginny

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