When I was a teenager, I spent my summers in Alaska. My Uncle Johnny is a fisherman and my Aunt Carri owns a bakery, and together the two of them gave me a home and a world of adventure to return to every summer. Sometimes I went with a cousin, a sister, or a friend, and sometimes I was solo, but always Uncle Johnny challenged us to a competition of who could go the longest without showering.
I now see that this was his clever way of both trying to get us to use less water and also trying to break us of our nasty habits of daily showering, blow-drying, and styling. Afterall, we were in Alaska, and the habits of the lower 48 simply did not apply, try as we may to hold onto our teenagerish ways.
I’ll never forget my little cousin Maya who was maybe 5 at the time coming upon me while blow-drying one day and the look of total confusion that spread across her face, and her words,

“Now WHAT is the point of that??”

Today we read articles that have created awareness to things like EMF radiation from blow-dryers and I wish I’d heeded Uncle Johnny’s advice more often. But alas, grateful that he tried.

Anyway, I was terrible at the no-shower contest because my thin, fine, blond hair gets fully greasy on day one. I did not have a bandana, a baseball cap, or the gift of dry shampoo. In fact, I wouldn’t turn out to discover the gift of dry shampoo until I was 36. Such a pity, because it’s been such a game-changer.

I suffered with slicked-back, grease-ball downright dirty hair on non-shower days, and ran to the shampoo bottle every morning I could manage it my entire life. Then, spent an hour in the bathroom getting gorgeous before school and later work, EVERY morning of my life.

My cousin Jenny was the first one to share the concept with me, and even then I was slow to catch on. Why are we so thick and stuck in our beliefs?? Now that I work in self-care, I spend a lot of time talking to people about their self-care habits, and even more time listening to their stories. It is amazing how often I hear someone say to me, “I can’t ________.” And, “I have to_________.” These beliefs are absolutes for us, and they definitely were for me about my hair… “I have to wash my hair everyday.” And “I can’t go out in public without washed and blow-dried hair.”

I guess that’s why it took 36 years for me to awaken to another way! Our beliefs are soooo strong and resistance reigns…

Interestingly, Dry Shampoo comes in many variations, including some sprays and aerosols that are not at all natural. But once I got the concept, I soon was googling DIY recipes and found the answers to be very straight-forward. This was definitely a product I could make myself.

All the recipes were basically a combination of cornstarch, arrowroot powder, and kaolin clay. Many recipes suggested just cornstarch or just arrowroot, but I like the number three and came up with my favorite blend, plus a few drops of rose geranium, which I once read nurtures feelings of hope and gratitude. Rooted in truth or not, it has become truth for me, which feels like the same thing.

Thus began my HAIR JOURNEY.

Taking a hair journey is to say to oneself, I allow my hair, scalp and head to heal from all the abuse I’ve done to it over the years! I set the intention to tune into the wisdom of my hair, and treat it as more than just a non-living accessory on top of my head. The many, many box dyes, the perms as kid (what were they thinking!?) and all the product and styling, heat and drying… it’s a wonder the hair was healthy at all!

Allowing the hair to heal is a process of rediscovering what your hair feels like with less of that stuff.

Of allowing the natural oils to sit on your scalp and nourish your hair.

Of making peace with those natural oils and finding a new way to work with them.

So I began skipping the shower every other day and sprinkling dry shampoo at the roots of my hair to absorb the excess oils on the non-shower day.

At first it felt pretty uncomfortable.

It took a couple months of getting used to, then I noticed something – I was beginning to LOVE the in-between day. With dry shampoo, my hair feels fuller, has more volume at the roots, doesn’t feel dry, limp, greasy, OR flat.

Having brought awareness to my Hair Journey, I uncovered layers of feelings and beliefs woven into my fabric about my hair…. thoughts like “I have bad hair.” Basically all range of beliefs about how my hair was not good enough.

As I unraveled these thoughts, first with awareness, then with love, I began to heal the many things I had told myself that I no longer needed to hold onto. This process takes a good long time, and a year of bandana-wearing for me, as I was also growing my hair out for the first time after 10 years of a pixie cut, largely the result of having believed this “bad-hair” myth.

So many beliefs we hold about ourselves come unraveled when we begin a self-care journey.

Right now I am on day 4. I normally go every other day, but sometimes I look in the mirror and think wow, that’s good hair, no shower needed, and I wash my armpits, apply oil to my skin, and start my day in the ministry of Love.

I grew up in suburban Milwaukee in the town of Wauwatosa, and my first playground was my house, then my neighborhood, then my school, then my town.  These were the places that I discovered, enjoyed, and in ever-expanding circles came to master in my own way.

Some kids are the kind of kids who want to stay babies forever.  My own son resists each birthday a little bit, saying he loves being “5”, “6” or “7” (he’s now 9 and loves it) and doesn’t want to grow up.  He realizes all the responsibilities that come with each passing year and loves being taken care of, having things done for him.

I was the opposite.  I was the kind of kid chomping at the bit to grow up, to take on bigger and bigger roles at school, and in life.  I got my first real job at 14, bussing tables in our towns fanciest restaurant, and I felt so grown up.  I thrived on excitement, chasing goals, and the constant push for bigger, better, more, and action.

When I was in grade school, I longed for middle school.  When I was in middle school, I soon longed for high school.  When I was in high school I simply could not WAIT for the excitement of College, which I thought was the end-all be-all of all things achievable, because in college you are FREE to do life however you want to, with no one telling you what to do.

Eventually, the whole world became my playground and now it’s the Universe too.  Now I realize I am both Student and Teacher in the great Divine Schoolhouse of Life.  What fun!

It started as a whisper in the quiet room…

of a new friend’s house who had just recently birthed her third child, a boy ~ her first as a homebirth. I had signed up on the meal train and came in to help with anything that she needed doing. I was putting on her freshly sun-dried sheets, when I found myself saying outloud, albeit barely and as a whisper, “I’m thinking about quitting my job…..

…I want to be the kind of brave my baby can be proud of.”

It was a powerful place to set an intention such of this, in the brave, quiet space of a newborn baby, spoken so spontaneously and so raw and from the heart. I felt my heart flutter as I spoke it and only knew there was no turning back, I wouldn’t let myself. For my baby, for my self, for her baby, for my child self, for the world, for my soul.

I too am a mom of a boy, a boy who at the time was 7 and in first grade. I was doing freelance marketing work, primarily for one large client who paid me well and appreciated me. It was the ideal gig at the time, and had been for eight years, offering me stability and consistency through the birth of our son and the early years with him.

But it wasn’t my heart work.

I met a lady recently, a doctor of natural medicine, quite well known in this area and a contributing auther to many publications as well as her own book. We met at one of the first grocery store events ever for me and when I was sharing this story with her, she was looking at me with that funny chesshire cat knowing smile and said, “about how old are you?” 36. “Yes, yes, that’s usually about the age when women start realizing there’s more to life than we thought.”

I know what she means. Though the gig was right in my sweet spot, somehow I had known that doing marketing for everyone else’s brand would only satisfy so long. The thoughts that had always been there about someday starting my own brand, the dream of sharing my own gifts with the world, were suddenly upon me. However much I enjoyed helping others make their dreams come true, I suddenly felt bold enough that I just might be ready to bring my dreams to life too.

So I went into the Dreaming.

And I came out on the other side with Yellow Heart Sisters.  During the time I refer to as “the dreaming” I went through a lot of turmoil and challenges in my home life, specifically my marriage.  Leave it to relationships to take you to the highest highs and the deepest lows.  I found myself needing lots of support from my friends, which I was lucky enough to have an abundance of due to my involvement in my son’s Waldorf school.  Thank you angels for the gift of Community.  God bless any place that serves as a container for Community, for there is no greater gift than connection.

I found myself connecting with amazing women ~ friends who I knew to be Sisters ~ as we sought to support and understand each other on this challenging journey of human adulthood.  I found myself sending and receiving texts from friends and along with their encouraging words often came …. the yellow heart.  I love you [yellow heart], means “I love you, Sister.”  And that is how I got through those challenging days of being a young mother with relationship challenges and emotional growing pains galore.  And so the brand was born, “Yellow Heart Sisters ~ Together We Evolve”.  

~ breath ~

I recently added Pit Paste for All Man-Kind, because I believe men deserve to be spoken to directly, and self-care is equally transformative for ALL of us.  Every one of us can Free our Pits!  The Yellow Heart speaks volumes to women; men, not so much.  So after a couple more years of dreaming… welcome THIS…