be the change

Sculpture by street artist Isaac Cordal, which has been dubbed "Politicians Debating Global Warming."

As we cultivate our life, our beauty becomes much more about what we are creating and doing than it is about our appearance. Having moved to London recently, after 8 years or so overseas, I've adjusted to a very different world here. I've had moments of 'burgh London' and all the bias I've had with life in the big city. Nevertheless I have very thankfully maintained a fairly balanced lifestyle, healthy food, regular yoga practice, soul fulfilling projects and had time for friends and family. However, city life overall seems hectic to me.

And yet this is life for most of our planet. Urbanisation is a growing trend and learning how to foster a conscious community here is essential for our survival. I wonder a lot on how these concrete hubs will evolve. Cities are pretty new in human evolution, they're organisms that were founded upon industrialisation, productivity and capitalisation. How does one create a lifestyle that is sustainable remaining honourable and supportive to life here? How can we create a community that is real, tangible, empathetic and humanly connected beyond Facebook / Instagram / Snapchats / Whatsapps and Whatnots? How do we make empowered choices on our well-being in a system that doesn't encourage us to live healthily? GDP aligns with waistlines. War is good for business. Our money system benefits from people's poor health.

So these are questions that concern the philosopher in me.

Recently after an evening of feeling overwhelmed by the outside world's cries notably after the presidential elections and integrating 'the world is coming to an end' and what that feels like in my nervous system (something like: "OMG OMG OMG!!!"). I had a big fat reminder to take full responsibility for creating beauty in my life. 

I see the world order as mostly unfair, elitist and cognitively manipulative. And the politicians are fighting to keep it propped up as people wake up to the Truth and see through the lies and insanity. 

Change can hurt like hell, growth pains and can scare the crap out of anyone but being stuck hurts a whole lot more. How many more species does this planet need to lose? What happened to the eco-system? In marched man made ego system.

So this microcosm of Jess orbit is consciously focusing energies on creating healthy and nurturing spaces, projects and experiences in the service of life from the inside out. It's a process after a really gritty year. So besides therapy, yoga, meditation, healthy eating and studies, I'm creating beauty where I can to nurture the soul, express my heart and liberate my mind. It's a huge shift from scarcity and fear to abundance and faith. Like I said, it's a process and I'm learning.

Below are some projects on my radar. I invite you to consider supporting them too:

• Standing Rock - What greater metaphor for the way in which our system is failing us than to see how sacred lands and waters are having to be protected by peaceful protestors led by indigenous tribes. USA's oil addiction looks to fuel the destruction of life and hope. This could be us all one day.
• Fund a learning centre in Guatemala - getting children out of poverty through education. This is a really special and inspiring project.
• Support The Dreamflag Project // Cloud Cloth - uniting children's dreams through creativity from around the world. A community that keeps the dream alive.
• The Venus Project - The future! An organisation that proposes a feasible plan of action for social change.
• Circular Economy - an enterprise sharing insights on how to design products and solutions with the view of abundance and sustainability. Recycling waste and efficiency models. A circular economy!
• Snowflake the Last Lost Polar Bear - a children's book sharing the tale of baby polar bear Snowflake and his journeys through melting ice caps addressing climate change and his hearts tale from fear to love. Kickstarter coming soon. Please do get in touch if you'd like to back it.
• Schumacher College - an international centre for nature-based education, personal transformation and collective action.
• The Shanti Space Yoga & Meditation Classes - I'm on a mission to peace out London! I've started teaching yoga & meditation for body, mind and soul. Reach out for class details at my mini 'studio come ashram' in Fulham: info@theshantispace.com

"Be the change you wish to see in the world" - Good old Gandhi.

Suggested reading:
The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible by Charles Eisenstein

why i don't eat lipstick

Apparently a financial crisis triggers women to buy lipstick. 

Turns out when the purse strings are tight, women reach for the lip pie as an affordable beauty fix rather than the expensive get up on her proverbial Saturday High Street splurge.

Go figure.

What interests me a bit more though is what it is exactly that the ladies are reaching out for.

According to the latest market research from Lucintel, the global beauty care products industry is forecasted to reach around $265 billion by 2017.

Nearly half what the USA spent on war in this fiscal year (54 percent of all federal discretionary spending).

Needless to say - that is a lot of cosmetic face bomb! 

I could rant on about why women even feel the need to put on their daily war paint, could get a little critical about what it is to be female in the world we live in today and not to mention our very, very challenging unobtainable conditioned concepts of beauty that can tear down a woman's self esteem and bring a whole plethora of issues and dysfunction in to the collective psyche of humankind. 

But I might be here all day.

What I'm intrigued by - right now - is what the hell is in all these cosmetics so many of us are consuming?

I wear make up too sometimes (if not often) and when I decided to take a look at the ingredients of some of my beauty gear, I realised there were a lot of words that I never learnt at school, are unpronounceable and are missing from my vocabulary.

As I've scratched beneath the surface, I've learned a few more things:

• According to the Environmental Working Group, 89 percent of 10,500 ingredients used in personal care products have not been evaluated for safety by the FDA
• In fact, the US federal government doesn’t require any health studies or pre-market testing on personal care products
• As a result, many cosmetics are thought to contain carcinogens, reproductive toxins, and other chemicals that may pose health risks
• Up to 60% of what we put on our skin gets absorbed into the bloodstream

It gets worse: the list of toxic additives present in many cosmetics is jaw-droppingly huge. 

U.S. researchers report that one in eight of the 82,000 ingredients used in personal care products are industrial chemicals. Pfff.

Harmful ingredients in your makeup drawer that should be avoided at all costs include (but are certainly not limited to): Butyl acetate, Butylated hydroxytoluene, Coal tar, Cocamide DEA/lauramide DEA, Diazolidinyl urea, Ethyl acetate, Formaldehyde, Parabens (methyl, ethyl, propyl and butyl), Petrolatum, Phthalates, Propylene glycol, Siloxanes, Sodium laureth/sodium laurel sulfate, Talc, Toluene, Triclosan, and Triethanolamine.

Blimey! Quick!! Open your vanity case and start reading labels like a Walmart shopper on the Atkins diet. In the frozen foods aisle… 

With a microscope…

Would you choose to eat any of the stuff put on your face and body? 

Now this is when I usually get brushed off with a shoulder shrug label such as 'hippie' or 'tree hugger'… not that I don't appreciate a good tree hug :)

But unfortunately for me, the Gods gave me brains too. 

And while thinking hurts sometimes and can take one on wearisome tours, these deep dives really can illuminate ways in which we may be causing harm to ourselves and being very out of harmony with nature. 

The average woman uses 13 products per day with 515 ingredients. That's a lorra lorra of stuff.

And no one really knows how certain chemicals affect us over time, or how they react in our bodies in combination. Some chemicals have known dangers: Phthalates, for example, which are often found in artificial fragrances, are a class of hormone disruptor which can be linked to birth defects, sperm damage, infertility, and the feminization of baby boys, for instance. Oh boy.

So what now?

Well, Mother Nature apparently has a cure for nearly everything, and fortunately these days there are many beauty brands that are keeping their ingredients list as close to the earth as possible.

Some options include:

• Dr Organic (I'm a big fan of their range, especially the deodorant, it actually works ladies!)
• Burts bees (I'm also a fan)
• RMS Beauty
• Tracie Martyn
• Seventh Generation
• J.R. Watkins
• 100% Pure
• Balanced Guru
• Suki
• Kora Organics

Mainly due to my lifestyle - I make for a terrible beauty queen. Much to my mother's disappointment. "Yesssssica - you really need to do your nails!" she says to me when I roll in from a flight having spent the last month or so camping in the wilderness. But I'm ok about my tidy naked nails.

A lovely travel friend persuaded me to give away all my make up in 2011 while I was travelling through India and all I held on to was eye liner, mascara and the occasional blush. And I do really like to use simple natural ingredients on my skin worthy a mention such as:

• Jojoba Oil - a natural hydrating face oil also good for hair
• Coconut Oil - great for dry hair and on skin but only in warm climates (otherwise it solidifies!)
• Avocado/olive/coconut oil, essential oil, salt and ground coffee - a yummy homemade body scrub that leaves the skin so soft

I wouldn't choose to eat them - but they won't hurt me if I did.

I've become so sensitive to the chemical smells we squirt around lately, airport Duty Free's can actually give me a head ache and don't even get me started on household cleaning products.

I've not convinced Mum on the wonders of vinegar and other alternatives - partly because I made her house smell like a fish and chip shop the last time I got evangelistic. But I tried.

Perhaps I might invite you dear reader to spare a thought for what it might be you're putting in your system and what other informed choices you might wish to make in the future…

Nature has a wonderful way of bringing out our natural beauty and thankfully these days, there are options for us to take that might also be healthier for our insides too.

Tree hugger. Over and out.

Useful link: http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/6-crazy-facts-about-the-toxins-in-makeup/