People say these meditation for hair growth videos actually work.

If you've been a follower of this blog a while, you know that every so often I like to introduce unconventional ideas when it comes to healthy hair.  We've talked about nail rubbing, cutting our hair based on moon cycles and even learned from a 72 year old man's hair journey.  Today I'm brining you another unique way to inspire hair growth.  You may know that I like to discuss the benefits of meditation.  Often times, I head over to Youtube and select meditation music to quietly play in the background during my sessions.Well, the other day I stumbled upon meditation videos that claim to promote hair growth.

Yes, that's right.  But this isn't your typical music.  It uses the power of binaural beats to bring the mind into a deeper state of awareness.  This could allow the brain and subconscious mind to influence the body in a way the promotes healthy hair growth.  Now, I know this sounds crazy, and it probably is, but in each hair growth meditation video I visited, there was at least one person sharing their feedback of how practice has helped them produce real results.  In some cases, people have mentioned that even their family members made comments on the look of their hair.

Then I asked myself, "how could this practice benefit hair growth?"  I thought about it for a little while and came up with some unscientific theories.  Perhaps watching a video that claims to promote hair growth can incite the placebo effect.  Meaning that people are experiencing positive results because they are in expectation that this brainwave music will work for them.  That could be why several commenters mentioned experiencing an itching sensation on the the scalp, as a sign of increased blood flow, while watching the video.

Another consideration is that we tend to pair meditation with visualization. So it might be possible that listeners are also imagining themselves experiencing thicker, healthier, longer hair.  Visualization is powerful because the mind can hardly tell the difference between what we imagine and what happens in reality.  Track athletes who visualized their races stimulated the same muscles that they'd use if in a real race (even though they were sitting in a chair).  In their minds, they were really running a race.  Maybe if we really believe that our hair is at a certain length, the mind begins to influence the body in a way that aligns with that belief.  This reminds me of our feature who employed the law of attraction to help her achieve her hair goals.  In the same token, if you have a severe case of hair anorexia (where you believe your hair is shorter than what it actually is), your mind might influence the body to ensure what you envision becomes reality.

Listening to a lengthy video that allegedly impacts hair growth elevates your awareness.  Although the video itself may not directly grow the hair, it may impact your behaviors long afterwards.  Meaning, you might be more careful while combing, etc.  That heightened state of mindfulness alone could have a positive impact on the health of your hair.  Mindfulness causes us to make different choices than if we were operating from old routines and patterns.  And choices are what make up the fabric of our lives.

Enough of my yapping, check out the Hair Growth meditation videos for yourself. If the vibrations of the binaural beats are too much for you, try letting it play before bed while you drift off to sleep.

Eternal Youth | Cryotherapy Beauty Treatment

It wasn't that long ago that we we talking about cold showers for all of its amazing beauty benefits.  Now we're taking things to the next level.  Last week, I accidentally stumbled upon two separate instances where the topic of cryotherapy came up. Whenever that happens, I believe it's a message sent directly to me for a reason.

So I started looking more into cryotherapy. The more I learned, the more I wanted needed to experience it.  What is cryotherapy?  Basically, you're exposed to extremely low temperatures (well below -100 degrees) for 2-3 minutes.  All the blood rushes to your organs for protection. Your blood then becomes concentrated to a relatively small area.  As you breathe in, all of the oxygen reaches the blood that's concentrated around your vital organs. This causes the blood to become very RICH IN OXYGEN.  Then, you step out of the chamber, and all of that oxygen rich blood immediately rushes throughout the body to bring your body temperature back to normal.

During that re-warming process, toxins are flushed out, nutrients are delivered more efficiently and anti-inflammatory proteins are released throughout the body.  Red blood cells flood the surface of the skin, which can have wonderful benefits to healing scars.   Metabolism rises as the body works diligently to bring temps back to normal.  In fact, one short cryotherapy session can burn as much as 600-800 calories per session.

Cryotherapy is also excellent for pain management and reducing inflammation.  Athletes have been taking ice baths to address pain and injury for years.   Cryotherapy offers a more comfortable alternative to ice baths because it uses nitrogen gas instead of ice cold water.  When the skin is wet, the experience is way more uncomfortable.  I've watched videos of people in cryotherapy chambers and they seem to endure it pretty well considering the sub freezing temps.

Then I learned of the beauty benefits.  I mean....I already knew of some of the benefits from my experience with cold showers but this takes it to the max.  Cryotherapy claims to help reduce cellulite and increase the production of collagen.  I checked out a local cryotherapy center in my city and their website also boasts of healthier hair and nail growth.  No explanation was provided but I imagine the increase of nutrient rich blood to the extremities can stimulate healthy growth.   The prices seem pretty reasonable. The more sessions you purchase, the cheaper they are.  Cryotherapy is good stuff and serious anti-aging connoisseurs like Demi Moore are already hip to this eternal youth secret.

I can not wait to try this for myself! But for now, I'll take cold showers as practice for the big day.

Scalp Contractions | Taking your simple scalp massage to the next level.

Want strong hair and healthy growth?  One of your focuses besides  drinking loads of water, exercising & boosting your nutrition should be to maximize the health of your scalp.  We've talked in length about the actions needed to address scalp issues. But we've never went into detail about strengthening the scalp itself.

As you already know,  every day that passes contributes the the atrophy of our muscles if we aren't proactive.  Some of you are taking deliberate action to maintain muscle mass with resistance exercises.  The good news is that it's pretty easy to strengthen + tone our arms, legs and abs.  Unfortunately, some of our other muscles are a bit more obscure.  Rarely do we think about doing facial exercises and we never consider our scalp muscles.

Yes, that's right.  When was the last time you exercised your scalp?  What would happen if you could activate the muscles that are directly related to your hair growth?  I'll tell you what would happen.  Blood flow to that area would increase by nearly 10X.  That type of blood flow is real valuable.  Which is why I'm putting it on my bucket list to learn how to do scalp contraction exercises. Not only do these movements directly benefit hair growth but, as an added benefit, you'll also enjoy a firmer toned forehead and a lifted upper facial area.

The bad news is that moving our scalp muscles isn't all that easy.  If it were, we'd be doing them every day.  These muscles are underdeveloped and underutilized so finding them and working them takes a bit of practice.  I still don't quite know how to do it, but I'm confident that trying it every day will bring progress.  AND I know that by practicing, I'll stimulate my scalp which is always a good thing.

P.S. If you're one of those people who can do this on the first try. Congratulations, you have achieved unicorn status, consider yourself one of the chosen few.

People who are really good at it can move their entire scalp without the use of their hands.


Scalp Exercise Technique Website.

Scalp Exercise Technique Video:

"It works!" Yet another advocate of nail rubbing for hair growth.

 Years ago, I wrote a interesting story about how promote healthy hair growth using a very unusual method.  A former co-worker of mine let me in on this ancient Indian secret.  His father, he claimed, was able to enjoy thick, black hair even well into his senior years  because he was diligent in his ritual of nail rubbing.  Nail rubbing somehow had the ability to directly affect hair growth and color. 

Of course I was skeptical but I looked into it anyway.  Turns out that the simple act of nail rubbing somehow ignites the blood flow to the scalp thereby promoting healthier growth.  When I shared the technique, I thought people would laugh me off the stage.  To the contrary, I received dozens of comments on my original post filled with various accounts of how people have used this technique to experience real improvement in their hair.  One reader even emailed me her account of how well this practice worked for her.  To this day, I'm still receiving comments.  As a matter of fact, this comment came in this week.

 Hi all,
Finally I've found people who had tried this like me! I am 56. I have been doing this nail rubbing for a year. My hair was getting a little thin, and I was getting a some grey hair. I decided to give it a try. It's free! I have long thick auburn hair. It has been growing so fast in the last 4 months. My daughters finally believe that it works. People ask me about my hair all the time. I tell them what I do and they roll their eyes. Lol oh well. I'm here to tell you it works! I also do face yoga. People think, I'm in my early forties. :) It's awesome! It takes patience, but it's worth the wait!

 Every time I receive one of these comments, I smile.  Then I silently curse myself for not remaining consistent.  If you haven't read my original post on nail rubbing for long hair, you can check it out here.

Craving | Alter Ego Hair Energizing Hair Lotion {stimulate winter growth}

I was going to save this find for an Instagram Beauty Secrets post but I got too excited to wait.   As I was bobbing and weaving through various pics, I stumbled upon an image that immediately grabbed my attention.  Not sure if it was a beauty or hair product so I checked out the caption to  see what she had to say about it.

via @troprouge Instagram

"I swear by this stuff. It's made my hair grow incredibly fast!! It's called Alter Ego Hair Lotion."

Ok. So a couple of things happened at this point.
#1. I immediately recognized the name of the brand from back in the day when I frequented Dominican Salons.  Then I remembered that I tried (and loved) their garlic conditioner mask to combat excessive shedding.
#2. I mosied on over to Amazon to see what others had to say about it.  Over 100 reviews with nearly a perfect 5 rating.

People who've tried the energizing hair lotion say that it tingles the scalp when applied (which is a sign that blood flow to the area has increased).  Some mentioned that they found this product via a recommendation from a hair loss specialist.  Many of the reviewers noticed an increase in their hair  growth rate.  Happy reviewers mentioned how this product helped bring their edges back to life.  Heck, a few people even boasted of stronger hair and less breakage from this wonderful hair lotion.  I also appreciate how quickly people said they started seeing results and new growth.

I could go on and on.  Point is that this miracle in a bottle seems really promising. Especially during this time of year when seasonal  shedding starts to rear it's ugly head.  Not to mention that hair growth starts to slow during cooler months.  This is definitely on my wishlist but I probably won't wait long to get it.  Especially since I'm working on reviving my nape back to it's former healthy state.  I cant totally see myself applying the lotion to my scalp once I've braided by hair in sections to moisturize and seal.

Who's as excited about this hair lotion as I am?

Welcome Back! Hubner's Silica Gel

I'm welcoming back an old friend into my regimen.  After re-reading my first experience after using Silica gel regularly for 30 days, I was once again inspired to pick up some more.  In my post, I gushed over how much my nails flourished and how well my skin responded to receiving an abundance of silica in a readily absorbable form. 

So, in my true form, I decided to go all out and take advantage of the special offer on Amazon of 3 packages for a special  price. My reason for doing this is so I have enough to last for the rest of the year.  This will prevent me from taking it for a month, experiencing the benefits, then falling off again.  Three packages makes sure that won't happen.

My plan is to incorporate the gel into my already loaded smoothie.  Along with all the green powders, collagen, gelatin, etc, my body will also get to experience this silica gel.  I'm super curious to see what will come from having both collagen and colloidal silica in one shot.  Silica helps our body create & maintain collagen levels so I anticipate great results from combining the two.

I know that purchasing 3 bottles at a time is quite an investment. But ever since I started to focus on creating healthy skin through nutritional support and lots of water, I spend next to nothing on skin care products which has freed up my resources to get more good stuff like this. The reviews are undeniable, this stuff really works. It's just a matter of investing in the results I want to achieve.

Two inches of Hair Growth in 5 days?!

I logged into Youtube this morning in search of some motivational videos to start my day.  Of course I immediately became distracted when I saw a thumbnail of progress pics with the caption "2 Inches in 5 days?!"  "That's all the motivation I need, I thought as I clicked to see more.

YouTuber longNhealthy was gushing as she discussed what she did to experience 2 inches of growth in a week.   Here's what she did:

INVERSION METHOD

We haven't discussed Inversion in length on the blog yet.  We mentioned it briefly in Yahya's Regimen and in this post years ago on the benefits of yoga for our hair.   Perhaps we talk more about it in a future post.  Inversion method is the practice of lowering your head by bending over or doing headstands, downward dog yoga poses, etc. to allow blood flow to head directly towards the scalp.  It's basically a scalp massage on crack.  Most people who practice inversion do it for a week at a time to shock the scalp.  Those who rave about the technique claim to receive an inch or more of growth in a month.  If you want to give it a shot, please check out this video for full details.

 HAIRDRENALIN POTION

This super hair growth concoction is composed of castor oil, cayenne, black tea, biotin, garlic + onion oil, etc.  Obviously the castor & cayenne combination is a recipe for increased growth.  You can see how she creates her own batch of this hair stimulating lotion here. 

BAMBOO TEA 

If you've ever read this blog, you should be familiar with our beloved tea.  So good for the hair, skin and nails due to it's silica rich content. Bamboo has the highest level of plant form silica. Way more than horsetail.  The bamboo plant itself is so rigid and strong because of silica.  Each time we sip a cup of bamboo tea, we enjoy the wonderful properties of this amazing mineral. 

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{Grow Gorgeous} Pea Sprout Hair Growth Serum now available

Not sure if you remember but I wrote a post a while back about the merits of pea sprout extract in regards to hair growth. A study was done where men and women were asked to apply a gel which contained pea sprout extract to their scalp twice a day for twelve weeks.  At the end of the study, the participants were asked to give their feedback on the experience.  95% of the participants noted a slight to strong improvement in the amount of hair loss they experienced compared to before the study.  85% of them said they noticed an increase in hair re/growth.  One of the astonishing things about the pea sprout extract is it's ability to keep hair in the growing phase of it's life cycle much longer.

After writing that post, I introduced pea sprouts into my diet and began to wait patiently for the day when a product would go on the market.  Well, my friends, it seems like that day has arrived.  Design Essentials has launched a product called Nutriment Rx Pea Sprout cream which is a daily hairdress that boasts of having the ability to reduce hair loss and stimulate growth.

Next we have a new product just launched called Grow Gorgeous hair growth serum which contains bio-active pea sprout, hyaluronic acid, soy sprout and wheat sprout.  This serum claims to have the ability to boost hair density by 13% within four months while minimizing hair loss which allows the hair to grow longer.   If the claims are true, I can see this product being a life saver for women who are battling postpartum shedding.  Since we are in shedding season, Grow Gorgeous can play a huge part of someone's Winter regimen. Unfortunately for some of us, Grow Gorgeous is only currently available to our sisters in the U.K. via the Boots.com website.  Those of us in the U.S. have access to Design Essential's Nutriment Rx.  I'll also keep my eyes and ears open for new pea sprout based products as they come on the market.

Then of course there's the good ole fashion pea sprout.  The source of all this hair growing goodness.  I have direct access to pea sprouts by picking them up at my local Whole Foods store.   I like them raw on my sandwiches otherwise I toss them in my juicer.  While I'm certain that adding microgreens into my diet is giving me nutritional benefits, I'm not sure what it's doing to directly benefit my hair with regards to shedding.  Seems like the people on the study got benefits from topical application.  I've pondered the prospect of using wheat grass & pea sprout juice topically but never took the plunge.  Now I feel like I should finally stop being lazy and see what happens.

How a roller with metal pins creates healthy skin & hair

I got a thing.  And I want to share it with you.  It's pretty nifty and can help me in both my hair and skin care journey.  You may remember a post I wrote on my plan on dealing with my acne scars. In that post, I mentioned the use of derma rollers to promote cell turnover and the generation of new skin cells.

I love the derma roller but sometimes I'm a little apprehensive about using it. Because it actually pierces the skin, I have to be conscious of maintaining high standards when it comes to keeping things hygienic.  This means, I have to sterilize the instrument to avoid skin issues.

I wanted something different that I can use every day but with similar benefits. I find that if I have to do something every day, I'm more consistent versus if I  use it once/twice a week.  Then one day I stumbled on this video.



Tonya demonstrated the use of a roller with pins that is similar to the dermal roller except that it doesn't pierce the skin.  I instantly knew I wanted one.  My skin responds well to vigorous stimulation.  Things like facial massage, skin brushing, the Clarisonic pro, have all be well received.  So I knew that I'd benefit from this rolling pin thingy.

Just when I thought things couldn't get better, I saw this video.



Am I seeing things or did I see this woman roll a bed of pins on her scalp?  Suddenly I was filled with wonder and excitement mixed with a little caution.  I'm an avid supporter of scalp massages.  I've even shared the benefits of scalp brushing.  Could this be the next level of scalp stimulation?

Fast forward a couple of weeks and my roller with the pins arrives.  I use it carefully on my skin for fear of inflicting pain on myself.  Instantly, I realized just how gentle this tool is.  It feels incredibly comfortable as I roll it up and down my face.  I experiment with different levels of pressure.  It feels nice.  My husband sees it and inquires about it's purpose. I tell him what I plan on doing with it.  He gives it a try. Minutes later he's still using it.  After I finally have it back in my possession I carefully test it on my hair.  Fear creeps up in me as I wonder if it will get tangled and rip out an entire section of hair as I try to dislodge it from my scalp.

I gently roll it on my scalp and begin to enjoy the tingling sensation as my scalp receives the stimulation.  Much to my surprise and wonder, the tool is extremely gentle on my hair. No snagging, no ripping, nothing.  It's even more gentle then when I use a brush to stimulate.  I'm amazed.  I've used it several times on my hair without one single casualty.  I'm pleased.  I've decided to get one more from ebay so I don't have to use the same one on my face and on my scalp.  Turns out that they come in two different sizes. I bought a small one for my face. The large one will be perfect for scalp rolling.

I love the feeling of experiencing blood flow after a rolling session.  Anytime blood flow increases to an area, good things happen.  Thank you, Tonya, for sharing this amazing find with us.

Seasonal Shedding? I'm not about that life

We've got to think on our feet and stay ahead of the game when it comes to this hair journey thing.  Right now, the only thing on my mind, is how to successfully avoid the excessive seasonal shedding as much as humanly possible.  I'm not talking about your normal, everyday shedding.  No, what I speak of is the viscous, non stop shedding that takes normally place right around the end of the year.

I look back to years past when I was plagued with an incredible amount of shedding.  Because of my relaxer touch-up schedule, I normally relax at the end of the year. So year after year, I would endure battle the shedding while having a bounty of new growth.  Shedding + New Growth = Tangles (massive ones).

Not this year though.  I think I have learned some tricks to help thwart my shedding. I intend to employ these techniques whole heatedly starting now. My focuses will be simple.  It's really all about making sure my scalp is well cared for while ensuring adequate circulation to the hair follicle.

Already, I'm noticing an increase flakes and dryness in my scalp.  This is not okay.  I see it as a sign of impending danger.  So I am taking the first step in my plan to prevent excessive shedding by increasing my water intake.  It's not as hot as it used to be and I'm noticing the need to drink lots of water is subsiding.  So I have decided to become more regimented in my water drinking.  Which means going back to having clear goals around how much water I consume.  Right now, I shoot for 2 liters or more a day.  Another reason why I'm drinking lots of water is maintain proper circulation throughout my body.  I have a sneaky suspicion that our circulation isn't as high in fall/winter season as in summertime which could be a factor in the shedding.

Another reason why I'm ramping up the water intake is because I'm constantly reminded of a conversation I had with a friend.  She told me that her stylist was always able to tell when she wasn't drinking enough water based on the condition of the scalp.  Then I think about some of the experiences shared on a forum when they challenged themselves to drink more water.  Several stated that their hair began to hold moisture better, others talked improved skin benefits, etc.  We, too, shall drink our water so we can experience all of that and more!

Along with the additional water intake, I also focusing on manual stimulation/circulation as well.  For over a month, I've challenged myself to exercise my scalp daily. This could include massages, scalp brushing, and even hair pulling.  Whatever I takes to bring more blood flow, I'm with it!  Whenever I consistently exercise my scalp, my shedding decreases. So, I'm committed to keep this up throughout the rest of the year.

A couple of other things I will keep doing is stimulating the scalp with essential oils on wash days (and more frequently if necessary).  Then I also need to make sure I drink lots of bamboo tea throughout fall and winter months.  The tea contains hair healthy nutrients that help my hair and scalp tremendously. Back in my vitamin rotation is cayenne pepper which is amazing at increasing internal circulation on so many levels.

 I've already employed these strategies and so far, so good.  I look forward to completing the fall/winter season without the paralyzing fear of having to battle unnecessary shedding.  Wish me luck.