Summer weather has arrived, and with it, the season for outdoor activities, sunburns, and, of course bug bites! With all the rain that many parts of the country are experiencing this spring, mosquitoes are particularly pesky.

Personally, I seem to have grown more sensitive to mosquito bites as I have gotten older, although I suspect it is a particular type of mosquito that leaves the worst bites. The bad ones cause huge red welts that last for an entire week of itching and burning misery. Due to my sensitivity, I admit I have resorted to DEET products a few times over the past few years (notably on our visit to Minnesota last summer, where the mosquito is - only half-jokingly - referred to as "the state bird").

However, I am always on the lookout for natural products with safer ingredients that actually work. The recipe below is easy to make with just a few simple and natural ingredients, and you can customize it to your preferences, or experiment to find out which oils are most effective. I love the smell of citronella, but there are a number of other essential oils which have bug-repelling properties, which are listed below.

Happy New Year! I'm back after our trip to Arkansas, though unfortunately I ended up with the bad cold that everyone else had once we got back... Christmas was fun and relaxing, and it was wonderful to see the nieces and nephews growing and becoming little people, which always amazes me. It's so interesting to watch their personalities develop as they become their own unique individual selves - so different from each other, even the twins!

I'm a little late with the "New Year's Resolutions" post as we got back late last weekend and I was too tired to put something together at the last minute, so your monthly "freebie" will be posted next weekend. I'm doing things a little differently this year, and instead of sharing my own resolutions, I decided to share some tips for creating your own healthy resolutions - ones you can actually stick to!  Take these 5 ideas as a good place to start in your own health and fitness journey, but feel free to put your own spin on them to make them work for you.

One of the main problems with typical New Year's Resolutions is that they are set to achieve a specific result - and one that is often overly ambitious. If your goal is to lose 30 lbs this year, this may seem like an insurmountable goal so it may be difficult even to make progress without giving up. Breaking the goal down into smaller ones (i.e. lose 5 lbs by March 1) may help. But beyond that, this goal is not necessarily a sustainable one to start with. What happens if/when you achieve the goal? Do you then go right back to your unhealthy habits and put all the weight back on?

This is why my New Year's Resolutions are rarely concrete, one-time goals. I certainly set many goals for myself, but they are on more of a short-term timeline and not in a "resolution"-type format. Instead, I look at resolutions as a way to make improvements in my life on an ongoing basis. For example, "Do yoga at least twice a week," or "Call one friend or family member every week." Not only are these very achievable, they are also measurable (did I do yoga twice this week or not?), and they lead me to form long-term healthy habits.

If you would like to improve your health, your fitness, or your relationships, making resolutions like these is a great way to create lasting change in your life.

What healthy resolutions can you make (and keep) this year? How about making a resolution to cook at least 4 meals per week at home? Or eat at least 2 different vegetables every day? To work out at least 3 days per week? To only eat natural forms of sugar? Or to stop eating factory-farmed meats?

Below are 5 more ideas for healthy resolutions that you can keep this year, which will change your life (and health) for the better:

As the year winds down, it's time for my annual Gratitude List! Below I have listed three of the things I am especially grateful for this year. I encourage you to read over my thoughts as inspiration for making your own Gratitude List! I firmly believe that gratitude is one of the most powerful forces in the universe, and most ancient traditions and religions will back me up on that.

What are you grateful for this year?

If you have trouble making a list, you may need to spend time regularly thinking about this topic to cultivate a more grateful and positive state of mind. You will find it will benefit every area of your life!

What is health anyway? Is health merely the absence of disease? Are you healthy just because you don't have symptoms? Or does real health go a little deeper than that?

According to our modern allopathic medical system, each symptom of disease exists in isolation - and each bodily system is treated as separate from the others. This is what doctors learn in medical school - to diagnose "disease" via symptoms, and prescribe medications to treat these specific symptoms.

If you have a skin rash, you are sent to a doctor (dermatologist) who deals specifically with skin rashes. If you have digestive or stomach problems, you see a gastroenterologist. If you have heart problems, you are sent to see a cardiologist.

But what if all these symptoms were actually related?

With the conventional approach, rather than finding the root problem and addressing it, you would instead think you suffered from three different maladies and would likely end up on (at least) three different drugs!

On the other hand, holistic approaches to health - such as Functional Medicine - actually address the patient as a whole. ALL of your symptoms are considered together, and treatment is tailored to each individual's unique needs - rather than standardized "treatments" being used to treat specific symptoms separately. Functional Medicine doctors are trained to "treat people, not diseases," according to author and Functional Medicine doctor, Mark Hyman.

Addressing the entire spectrum of health is understandably more involved and time-consuming than simply focusing on one particular symptom or disease, but if you want to achieve truly balanced health and wellness, there are 7 key areas that you will need to address - both on your own as an individual, and with your doctor.

We have come to the final step in our "Achieving Holistic Health" series, and you may be a little surprised by this one... Can living more simply truly make you healthier?

In fact, being surrounded by clutter and an abundance of "stuff" can indeed have a negative impact on your health. Many people who have embraced "minimalist" living have discovered this for themselves. A messy and cluttered environment causes mental stress, and becoming very attached to the external trappings of life may keep you from fully appreciating and experiencing the simple pleasures in the world around you.

By letting go of the things you don't truly need and simplifying your living environment, you can find greater peace of mind, reduce stress, lower your blood pressure, and even sleep better!

Below are a few more reasons to simplify your life - and some tips for doing so.

Holistic health isn't really holistic unless it considers every aspect of your being - not just your physical health. In today's post, I will discuss the importance of finding a healthy and balanced mindset - an often neglected area, but perhaps the most important element of enjoying holistic health in all areas of your life.

Ask yourself - are you happy and content with your life? Are you mentally and emotionally happy as well as physically? And if the answer is no, what is holding you back?

Until you can answer in the affirmative, you have not achieved true holistic health.

There are a lot of misconceptions out there about the terms "holistic health" or "holistic living." As a practitioner and proponent of holistic living, myself, I sometimes forget that not everyone in the world understands what it means!

I stumbled across an article the other day that got me thinking about this, and I thought I'd try to clear up some of the confusion here on the blog today. The article (linked below) explained how most people think that holistic living isn't realistic for them. They assume it will be too difficult, or that it will mean giving up the things they enjoy.

First of all, let me just say that holistic living is not some sort of diet! In fact, it's not a specific prescription for anything; rather, it is simply a way of living that recognizes the connections between yourself, others, and the world, respects these natural connections, and attempts to maintain a healthy balance between all aspects of life.

Living holistically doesn't mean you have to buy only organic foods, use only 100% natural products, avoid all Western medicine doctors and prescription drugs, go vegan, or move "off the grid" and live in a yurt! It also doesn't mean you have to spend hours every day meditating, never get angry, or live in some sort of Zen-like bubble untouched by the world.

After all, you're still a human being, and as messed up as this world is sometimes, you still have to live in it - and holistic living can actually help you do just that - in a healthier and happier way.

Well, I'm back from vacation, and though well-rested, for some reason I just don't feel quite ready for the start of a New Year just yet...

Typically, I spend the last few weeks of the year thinking about what I've accomplished this year, and what I wish to accomplish for the next, but somehow 2017 ended in a whirlwind of activity that left me no time (or energy) for planning, so I had to force myself to plan out my goals and tasks for the first quarter of 2018 earlier today...  Fortunately, the act of sitting down to plan actually got me moving, and I do have my first 12-week plan of the year sketched out.

Below are some of my goals and resolutions for 2018, as well as some of the tools I have used to help ensure I will accomplish them, but I'd love to hear some of yours as well! Drop me an email, or chime in on our Facebook page and share your plans for 2018! The simple act of sharing itself is proven to greatly increase your odds of achieving them.  :-)

It's no secret that we now live in an information economy. We are bombarded with information from all directions all day long - is it any wonder we often suffer from what is now called "information overload"?

However, rather than feeling overwhelmed, I think all of this information can be a good thing - provided we use it wisely and for  good...

For example, one thing that all of us now have instant access to - which even our parents' generation didn't - is information on how to live healthier. We no longer have to entrust our health to corporations or the medical industry.

While it is of course always wise to consult with a qualified medical professional for any serious illness, there are many ways that we can improve our health naturally and take preventative measures to reduce our odds of needing medical treatment in the first place. And with the growth of the internet, we now have access to loads of information on how to care for our health in this manner. The trick is knowing how to separate the good and useful info from the less helpful stuff. (By the way, that's what I aim to do on this blog, so please check out our archives to get the facts on important health and holistic living issues!)

But besides just reducing your risk of disease or living longer, there are a number of other reasons to consider taking more of an interest in your health. Below we explore 5 reasons why it is a good idea to learn more about how to live healthy and embrace a more holistic lifestyle - not just for yourself, but for the community around you, and for the planet!

It's that time of year again!

Yes, it's time for my annual Gratitude List - the time of year when I reflect on the many blessings I have received over the previous year, and give thanks for the abundance of goodness I have experienced this year.

While I am grateful for many of the same things every year, each year I find there is a certain area of life I am especially grateful for. It is always interesting to me to review the previous year's list, as I find that my focus has changed over the past year as I have learned to appreciate new and different things.

This year's focus has been a bit different from last year's, as I've really been realizing just how important some of these amazing people are to me...