Theraputic Walks in Nature

Had a moment to myself so I decided to take advantage of this beautiful, breezy 70 degree weather and take walk to the park. I found a little area that I had all to myself and it was very relaxing. Just dragonflies and butterflies fluttering around, crickets beginning to chirp, and tree branches creaking from the wind blowing through them; so tranquil.

DIY Chapstick

I originally found this on Pinterest and then tweaked it to make it my own! To make your own nourishing chapstick you will need:

• Beeswax
• Honey
• Coconut oil
• Container of your choice
• Jojoba and/or Olive oil (both optional)
• Your choice of essential oils (optional)- I used peppermint, eucalyptus, & lavender 

My sister and I made our chapsticks and it took us 3 tries to get it right. For a softer, not so waxy texture, definitely go easy on the beeswax and a little heavier on the oils & honey. We didn't really measure out anything, we just eyeballed it! With the 1 little bar of beeswax we used, we could have filled about 6 of the containers we used. 

1.) For a small batch, start out by measuring out about 1/4 cup of hard beeswax. Then using a double boiler, start to melt it down.

2.) Once it's mostly melted, add in about 4 tbsp of honey. It is important to work slowly and let the honey and wax completely melt & blend together or it will separate and the honey will only stay at the bottom.

3.) Next add about 6 tbsp of coconut oil.

4.) If you want, you can go ahead and drizzle a little olive oil or jojoba oil (or both, like I did!) in the mixture.

5.) Lastly, add in your selection of essential oils. I did about 15-20 drops of peppermint and 10-15 drops of eucalyptus and lavender. You be the judge depending on how strong you want it! There are endless possibilities.. you could use vanilla + lavender, or maybe rose + vanilla,  or lemon balm + patchouli + eucalyptus. 

Like I said, it took us 3 tries to get a consistency we were happy with! If you find your chapstick turns out too waxy at first like ours was, all we did was melt it back down in the microwave, put it back in the double boiler and added more jojoba & olive oil. Honey is also good to add to make it softer, just remember to make sure it is thoroughly mixed before letting it harden!

Get ready to have some happy lips! 

Happiness & Healthiness

So to start off my week with a positive & healthy outlook, I decided to put myself together and get out for the first time in about 5 days! Fighting sickness can leave your mind and body feeling down and defeated, so I wanted to make sure I took advantage of this beautiful 72 degree sunshine weather today!

I love this kimono I got from work (Buckle), it's so pretty and effortless to build an outfit around. I just layered up a couple tanks with my shorts, added a big necklace as a centerpiece, and topped it off with my Naughty Monkey (also from work) ankle boots that I adore and go with just about everything.

I've been getting bad spells of anxiety lately and I finally decided to do something about it. Passion flower is a mild sedative that also helps with anxiety, insomnia, depression, & nervousness. St. John's Wort also has anxiety- easing properties and was used to treat mental disorders in Renaissance & Victorian time periods. A study had come out saying that it is "more effective than Prozac", which is encouraging but I'd need to check the sources on that. Bottom line is, these 2 together should definitely help ease up my anxiety in the next couple weeks. 

On top of the supplements, I'm going to be sure to keep my Amethyst, Quartz, and Rose Quartz on me during the day because they all have healing properties to help with anxiety! I'm sure I'll update y'all on how everything works!

GF Veggie Soup For the Soul

So let me start off by telling you I am still learning my way around the gluten free world, & I definitely wouldn't consider myself a foodie, but if you're looking for an easy "go to" soup recipe, I'm your gal! I'd like to give the credit for this recipe to my lovely cousin Michelle! She got me hooked and I just modified it to my taste!

Ingredients:
5 stalks organic celery

4 large organic carrots

2 organic potatoes (skinned)

8 oz gluten free noodle of your choice (I love the spirals for soup)
32 oz (1 qt) vegetable broth

Sea salt, Oregano, Basil

1.) While I get my water boiling for my pasta, I rinse and chop my vegetables. I peel my potatoes and cut everything into bite sized pieces. Be sure to keep them all separate!

2.) For delicious, soft, flavorful carrots, I roast mine in the oven. I started these first because they take the longest! Line a pan with foil and spread carrots evenly. Go ahead and season them. I put a little bit of broth for them to soak in also. Cook them at 475 degrees for 20-25 minutes depending on how thick cut they are. Flip them over half way through!

3.) Cook pasta according to directions and set to the side when finished. I know some people cook the noodles in the broth but I just like to mix everything together at the end. (side note- I always overestimate how much pasta I need. I thought I'd need the whole 12 oz pack but I only ended up using a little bit more than half the cooked pasta)

4.) In a pot of boiling water, add in the potato chunks. Bring back to a boil & let them boil for 5 minutes before also adding the celery. Let them boil together for another 5 minutes. (Potato total time= 10 minutes. Celery total time = 5 minutes.) Check and make sure both are soft before draining. Set aside.

5.) Once carrots are done roasting (make sure they are soft!), Mix noodles, vegetables, and broth in pot and warm them over medium until everything is the same temperature. 

6.) Add sea salt, oregano, basil, and any other seasonings you'd like!

There you have it! A big delicious pot of guilt- free soup! I like to add a little cheese on mine for some extra creaminess :) I hope my recipe writing skills are alright and if anyone ever ends up making this I would love to know! 

The Beginning

Hello! Thank you for stumbling across my blog, I hope you enjoy your visit :) I suppose I'll start by explaining the meaning behind "Manifest Light". Basically, I've become tired of myself being sick and tired. There are several areas in my life that I have a passion for and I become frustrated when I can't feel that passion and excitement in every aspect of my life. So yesterday, while wallowing in my sick, strep throat misery, I had a bit of a revelation: 

Why am I allowing myself to feel like this? 

I'm usually very good at keeping a positive mindset and attitude because I am a firm believer in you get back what you are putting out into the universe. Catching myself in this rut I decided I would have no more of this "woe is me" attitude because I am only going to make it worse! I felt inspired and the first thing that came to my mind was "manifest". So I opened my journal and titled the page "Manifest" and wrote out an outline of things that I am going to manifest in my life simply by having the mindset that I know it will happen. (Notice how I used I 'AM' instead of "I want"?)

Let me tell you, if you haven't done something like this already you should really take the time to do so! It's very focusing and calming. It made me feel 10 times more confident in myself and my goals. And then that's when I got the idea that I wanted to share my thought process with the world! I would always get discouraged thinking "oh, someone's already done that and I'm sure they've done it better than I could have", but I am through with that way of thinking! I am confident that I bring my own uniqueness into whatever I do that no one else could because it is coming from my heart and soul. Just as other bloggers out there all differentiate from each other because of their individuality!

So that's where this blog comes into play. I haven't decided yet if it will be mostly for myself or to share with the whole world, only time will tell. I plan on updating with holistic feel good remedies, crafts I enjoy, music, food, anything and everything positive! This is a platform I will use to help myself and others Manifest Light into their lives.

Feeling inspired, yesterday I decided to start decorating a bit in our bedroom..starting with some of my favorite crystals, some sleepy aromatherapy and lavender oil, and glasses that match our bed. I swear I am a glass bottle hoarder! Anyways, we've lived in our apartments for over 3 years now but I've never really taken the time to doll up the bedroom. Better late than never!