Do It Gorgeously: How to Make Less Toxic, Less Expensive, and More Beautiful Products (62 page)

• 2. Heel of the hand stroking: This is similar to effleurage, only you’re using the heel of your hand, so you can exert a little more pressure. Work in circles with both hands at the same time. Move in a circle (out, up, and then back to the center).
  
• 3. Reinforced fingers: Stand on the opposite side of the side of the back that you’re going to work on. Place one hand on top of the other and push down with the flats of your fingers, away from the spine (use a nice firm pressure), and then gently glide back to the spine. Start on the lower back and work your way up to the neck area.
  
• 4. Reinforced thumb technique: Start with one hand fanned out across the lower back and your thumb pressing into the muscle running alongside the spine. Press your other thumb on top of your massaging thumb for greater pressure and glide up the full length of the spine. Repeat on the other side of the spine with your other hand, and then repeat the whole process 3 times.
  
• 5. Forearm technique: Stand on the opposite side of the back that you’re going to work on. Lean over, placing your forearms on the back (be careful that you’re only pressing down on muscle, not on the
  spine). Move the arm that’s closest to the head up to just below the shoulder blade, and then glide gently down. Repeat 3 times. Change sides.
  

MASSAGE PREPARATION

If you have a bad back, I don’t recommend kneeling or crouching down to massage. Instead, lay some towels on your bed and have your partner lie across the bed with his/her chin hanging off the edge.

1. Choose the spot for your massage carefully. You need to have your partner on a surface that you can get to. A queen- or king-size bed is way too large and will make it difficult to move around your partner. I recommend taking the large pads off your couch and putting them on a carpeted floor. Cover them completely with a large sheet and then towels. Have some extra-large towels on hand to cover your partner with.
   
2. Prepare some lighting and music. Your partner will feel very nervous in bright light, so either dim the lights or use beeswax/soy candles.
   Find some meditation or classical music that you know your partner likes.
   
3. Make sure the room is warm enough.
   
4. Make a horseshoe-shaped pad out of a rolled-up towel and set it (open end of the horseshoe facing your partner) at one end of the massage “table.” Make sure the horseshoe pad is the same height as the massage pad.
   
5. Have your partner lie down on their stomach with their face in the horseshoe pad.
   
6. Pour some gently warmed massage oil (you can set the bottle in a cup of hot water) into the palm of your hand and rub your hands together. You’re ready to begin.
   

REFLEXOLOGY

You can easily perform reflexology on yourself. I’ve always been a big fan. I think it can help to alleviate a host of symptoms. From sinus congestion to PMS, you should be able to provide some relief for yourself. Use the massage oil you can make yourself (see “DIY Mind/Body/Spirit”).

WHAT IS REFLEXOLOGY?

Each of the systems in your body corresponds to a specific zone on the sole of your foot (see the illustration). Applying pressure to a specific zone generates a signal through the peripheral nervous system. That signal then enters the central nervous system, where it is processed in the brain. Finally, it is relayed to the internal organs to make the necessary adjustments.

1. Using mainly your thumbs, work your way over the sole of your foot, from your heel to your toes.
   
2. Work your way over the top of the foot and the ankle.
   
3. As you go, notice tender spots, as these areas may signify tension or illness in a corresponding organ.
   
4. Using your thumbs, apply a steady pressure to the area of tenderness for about 30 seconds, or until the pain has been worked through. Make sure you take long, deep breaths as you work through this pain. See the chart to work out which organ you may be dealing with.
   
5. Repeat for the other foot.
   

I have had a blast writing this book. My entire home has been turned into a massive workshop, where every recipe and project has been tested and then tested again. Everyone’s been involved in this exciting and rewarding process—my husband, my daughter, and even my naughty little Maltese, Phoebe. They’ve had numerous skincare preparations rubbed into every available area of their body, they’ve smelled perfumes, tasted sauces, even tried on outfits and eaten all kinds of weird and wonderful plants from my garden.

The joy of doing it gorgeously is that you will inevitably come together as a family or a community. The many projects and recipes are to be discussed, shared, laughed about, savored, and then ultimately passed down to someone smaller than you.

I encourage you to experiment further with any project that you are drawn to. For many of you, this book will serve as a primer that will, hopefully, lead you deeper into DIY.

More than anything, I have realized through trial and error that beauty is in the imperfection of things. A homemade apple pie with part of its crust chipped off shows us that it has been home-made with love by a human being, not a machine. Everything I cherish—the things that I would gather together
if I had three minutes to evacuate my home—are things that were
made
for me by people I love, and items that are outstanding in their imperfections: the tattered notebook containing poems that my husband wrote for Lola, the little baby cardigan with holes that my mom knitted for me when she was pregnant, and the Mother’s Day pin that Lola created when she was only 4. I dare you to be imperfect and to have a go at creating something you’ve never made before—a chocolate cake tastes exquisite even if it’s caved in, and a hand-knitted scarf that’s studded with holes (from dropped stitches) will still keep your neck warm.

There’s a tribe in West Africa whose definition of the word “prosperity” is to be supremely grateful for everything you have. This particular tribe has
very
little. The green revolution has nudged me a little closer to this way of thinking. As more and more of us realize that we can make do with what we already have or create the things we need out of sustainable materials, we can take steps toward
being
the change that we want to see in the world.