Stuck at home and have to be creative...what are you using a flea comb for?

Spring is here! (Though it did snow on me today while taking dogs out of cars in the parking lot of the office). And with spring comes the weather getting warmer, trees budding, daffodils blooming, pollen blowing around and bugs.

I took this picture a few weeks ago when it was 70degrees out and I was able to play with clay outside. With my boys home from school during this period of COVID quarantine, I wanted to inspire them to be creative. My mom is an avid potter (anyone who has been in the office and had tea drank out of one of her mugs @irenepots) and gave me a chunk of clay to play with. It has been a while since I made free hand pottery and as I was coiling, I realized I needed a scraping tool to make the coils stick together. I took out my trusty flea comb and got making pottery!

As the weather warms up, I highly advise doing some hand-building of pottery outside. Keep that flea comb near by so that you can run it through the coat of your dog or cat once a week. Along side the use of a flea comb, I recommend using an essential oil based flea and tick repellant such as Wondercide or Flea Flicker by Aroma Dog.

I would love to know what creative ways you have used your flea comb! Leave me a comment below. It is that time of our lives when we need to make use of what we have around the house to finish old projects and create new ones!

What to do to stay relaxed at home

How yoga is helping while we all stay at home

Our whole way of being has  pivoted this week. My kids are home from school, I am using telemedicine to see my patients, and Lulu has us home all day interrupting her nap schedule. I, like many, have been going through ups and downs with the information I am seeing on the lack of testing ability, creating this rollercoaster of questions and emotions. When we are stressed, we produce excess cortisol. Like most everything else in life, cortisol in moderation is needed to keep our bodies balanced. How am I staying grounded during these times of flux? Yoga!

My good friend has brilliantly put her yoga school online to help support and keep continuity our lives.

I set up my mat on the living room floor and logged in to do yoga. I quickly realized it was not going to be the normal class of quiet. Lulu quickly decided she wanted to be a part of things.

note the ipad on the floor I am using for my virtual class

Next, my son had homework questions. Just as I was about to get irritated that this lack of space was not helping my cortisol levels, I realized the energy I was emitting was what was indeed drawing them to be right next to me. They both stayed during my entire practice, which did have math homework questions intermixed in.

Yoga builds strength, stability and flexibility of not just our bodies, but our minds and spirit as well. The Harvard School of Medicine recommends yoga as a way to reduce stress from anxiety resulting from the current COVID-19 social issues. I encourage you to give it a try when we need to be super flexible with ever changing schedules and social norms. Let me know how your home yoga practice or whatever you are doing to keep your stress managed during these times..