This site is supported by our audience. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. However, I only recommend products I love and/or use. Sometimes, after a particularly wearisome day, my mind refuses to quiet itself. It feels as though there’s a tiny hamster on a wheel up there—spinning furiously, running circles in the dark, yet arriving nowhere at all. Naps never help (and truly, who has time for naps these days?), and if I dare to slip into bed with all that clutter rattling about in my head, I know what awaits me: waking at the most inconvenient hour and lying in stillness, watching shadows dance across the ceiling until dawn. What I need in those moments is a release valve—a brain-dump of sorts—to sweep out the busyness and negative thoughts and make space for calm. That is where journaling comes in, like an old friend. I first picked up journaling as a child, partly for fun, partly because I was that bookish little girl who scribbled and read while others played kickball. (Yes, I was the one happily reading during recess.) To this day, I still have those journals. Thumbing through them is like opening a time capsule—equal parts endearing and amusing. Over the years, I’ve returned to journaling for stress relief again and again. It became the very stepping stone that led me here, writing and sharing thoughts with you rather than letting them gather dust on a forgotten shelf. Along the way, I discovered something invaluable: journaling is not only creative, it is deeply restorative. It brings clarity, unravels stress , improves mental health, and steadies the soul. Research affirms what many of us already know in our bones: expressive writing can ease anxiety, lighten the weight of trauma, and even improve physical well-being (Pennebaker & Beall, 1986). And the loveliest part? Expressive journaling is gloriously imperfect. You needn’t fuss with grammar or polish. No one is there to grade you. Your pen (or keyboard) is yours alone, a private confidant. So why not let journaling become a gentle remedy in your hectic life? Here are a few cozy benefits to entice you: It sweeps away fretful thoughts, helping you trade worry for calm.  It shines a lantern on your inner world, showing you what stirs your spirit and the symptoms of what weighs it down.  It gives you “I did it!” moments to revisit—tiny testaments to your strength that build resilience and benefit your mental health.  It shifts your perspective, offering fresh eyes when the moment feels heavy.  It carves out daily you-time , a precious gift in a hurried world.  It lessens rumination (there’s your brain dump!) by putting thoughts safely on paper where they can rest awhile.  It cultivates optimism and pushes away fears, letting you imagine gentler outcomes to future stressors.  It nourishes creativity, whether through words, doodles, or bursts of color in the margins.  It preserves your story and experiences, so you may look back and see how far you’ve come. How to Begin Your Journaling Ritual Choose a cozy nook.  Perhaps a sun-dappled porch swing or a comfy chair by the fire—anywhere you feel safe enough to set your feelings free and let your words unfurl.  Pick your vessel.  Do you feel freer with pen and paper, or does your muse come alive on a keyboard? If paper, choose a journal whose cover delights you; beauty invites use. Choose blank pages, ruled lines, or a bullet journal that lets you set your own boundaries. ( Find an inspirational product list below. )  Set aside time.  Ten minutes, twenty—whatever fits. Even five minutes can work wonders. The key is not length, but presence. Even a few moments here and there are therapy for the soul.  Write without judgment.  Let your words tumble out as they will, messy and unadorned. They do not need tidying to be worthy.  Make it a rhythm.  A few times each week, or daily if you can, let journaling become as natural as brewing your morning cup of tea. Prompts to Kindle Your Pen What caused me stress today, and how did I respond? How might I try differently next time?  What small kindness did I give myself today? What might I try tomorrow?  Which words best capture how I feel right now? Jot a list of emotions, thoughts, and gratitude statements.  What affirmation would serve me today?  What brightened my spirit or brought me stress relief? Make a happy list .  What do I love most about myself? What do I appreciate most in my life?  If my thoughts were colors, what hues would they take? What colors might soothe me? What colors do I associate with anxiety or with anxiety relief?  What compliment did I receive this week—or wish to give?  What self-care ritual feels like a gift I could give myself soon? Am I prioritizing my mental health care, and if not, what are some wonderful ways I can begin to put my feelings first?  And if ever you crave a touch more guidance, a beautifully designed guided journal can offer daily inspiration, like a kindly hand nudging you forward. So here’s my invitation: let your journaling practice become your quiet refuge. A candle in the dark. A moment of stillness to help you breathe easier, dream a little clearer, and remember—you deserve this gentle tending. J ournaling tools you might just fall in love with: If you like a journal that feels like an old soul, take a look at this   vintage leather journal  with aged pages. Hardcover journal with lined pages  - This is a top pick on Amazon and comes in a variety of muted colors. A pen loop provides a snug resting place for your favorite fancy pen. Guided journal with daily self-reflection  - For those days when you need help finding the words to work through a stressful event or positive experiences, a guided journal provides an example to help get the thoughts flowing from your busy mind to the pages where they are stored. Make your journaling session more fun with vintage scrapbook paper  and embellishments. This rustic paper with torn edges (over 200 sheets total) will add lovely detail to every page to inspire creativity in your journaling habit. Fineliner pens  - Delicate, smooth writing pens loved by writers and artists alike, these archival pens help your expressive writing flourish by eliminating skips and ink blotches. Retractable gel pens  so you can color-match your feelings with your words! Turn negative emotions around with a field of  wildflower stickers  to adorn every page. Tuck them amongst words for a poetic accent, or create safe borders around your most intimate emotional disclosure. Book:  The Bullet Journal Method: Track the Past, Order the Present, Design the Future by Ryder Carroll

This site is supported by our audience. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. However, I only recommend products I love and/or use. In an earlier article, I discussed waste. Waste is one of the things you need to manage on your own when living an off grid lifestyle, and installing a septic system is a common management method. But installing an onsite sewage disposal system isn’t as simple as digging a hole and attaching a septic tank to your home’s plumbing. First, you’ll need a permit. And before you can get a permit, you’ll need a perc test. What is a perc test? A septic perc test (or percolation test) checks how well your soil allows water to drain. This test is usually required before a septic system is placed and installed to ensure the soil can support a drain field and allow the proper functioning of your septic system. After all, if your septic tank can’t drain, you’ll end up with costly (and smelly!) consequences in the future. A septic tank works by separating the solid and liquid waste into layers: scum (floats on top of the other layers), effluent (the liquid layer in the middle), and sludge (solid matter that settles at the bottom of the tank). Beneficial bacteria help break down the solid matter so that it can liquefy and drain from the tank. The liquid that drains from the septic tank goes into an underground leach field or drain field (the soil absorption system). The drain field must allow the fluids to quickly soak into the earth or risk oversaturation and backing up the entire septic system. Perc testing is vital to ensure proper sewage disposal and protect environmental health. (If you'd like a book to have handy, try The Septic System Owner's Manual.) Septic jargon People in every field of business have their own jargon, and if you’re not sure what they’re talking about, you can get lost in the barrage of new words. Here are some key words and phrases you might hear from your soil engineer or perc test team. Percolation rate: This measures the rate at which water moves through the soil. You want a rate between 10 and 60 minutes per inch. (It takes about 21 or so hours for your soil engineer to test the soil.) Soil condition: This is the capacity of the native soil to function for its desired purpose (in this case, for perc tests). Water table: The water table is the boundary under the soil where water saturates the cracks and crevices in the rock and soil layers. Your soil engineer will look for mottling and moisture in the perc test hole to determine the seasonal high water table. Septic permit: This is the permit you need before installing a septic system. You’ll need the report from the perc test when you apply for your septic permit. Leach field: The leach field, or drain field, is where the liquid from your septic system drains into a designated area, thereby protecting the surrounding soil and properly disposing of waste without contaminating groundwater or areas where food is grown for human consumption. What to expect on perc test day I wasn’t sure what to expect on our perc test day. I knew we were meeting with our excavator and soil engineer, and I knew they needed to dig a hole, but that was about it. The whole process was fascinating and went by more quickly than I expected. We talked to our excavator about where we plan to build our house, the GPS coordinates we provided to the county for our water well permit, and where we envision a future barn, livestock pens, and pasture. From that information, he suggested the best location to place a septic system for optimal downhill flow and (hopefully) the installation of a gravity-fed system instead of using a pump. (We won’t have the final thumbs up on a gravity-fed system until the soil tests come back, but we’re crossing our fingers!) The location he suggested wasn’t at all where we had initially imagined it would be, but we listened to his reasoning and decided to take his advice. After all, we’re paying for his expertise! After we agreed on the best location to place the septic system, our excavator unloaded his backhoe and started digging. In our county, two holes are required, and they have to be 100 feet apart. The first hole was eight feet deep, as wide as the bucket on the backhoe, and long enough that the soil engineer could walk down a steep slope to get to the bottom of the hole. He scooped out a few handfuls of dirt, placed the soil into plastic bags, and then signaled for the excavator to fill in the void. In a matter of minutes, you could barely tell where the hole had been. They repeated the process about 100 feet away, and before we knew it, it was time to go. What happens if you fail your soil test? A failed soil test means you can’t install a standard septic system. If you plan to build your home in a rural location without access to a city sewer system, you need a septic system to dispose of sewage and other unsanitary waste. If you live in an area that allows gray water systems (a.k.a. greywater systems) and composting toilets, you may still be able to figure out how to build your off grid home. If your lot is large enough, you may be able to request a new test at another dig site and reimagine where your house will sit. And in some cases, a soil engineer can design an alternative engineered system customized for your location and soil type. But if a standard septic system design is your only option, a failed test may mean using the land for some other purpose or selling it to purchase land where you can build. The waiting game … Our soil test will be back in a few weeks. It could be done sooner, but our soil engineer will run all of our tests simultaneously. (We need a soil test for the building permit, too, and that one requires a core drill.) Check back in a few weeks for our update! UPDATE: Our test came back not-so-great. We have highly expansive soil, so we will need additional support under our foundation. Called "caissons," these concrete piers will reach bedrock around 14' deep and extend a minimum of 12 more feet into the bedrock to support our Quonset hut home!

This site is supported by our audience. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. However, I only recommend products I love and/or use. I learned to walk before my first birthday. As my earliest mode of self-transportation, walking allowed me to seek out the curiosities of the world on my own. This desire to seek has led me on walks of varying lengths in some of nature’s most beautiful locations. My parents fueled my love of mindful walking in nature. We spent my childhood summer weekends at our cabin in northern Arizona. My dad would quietly wake me as soon as the sun came up on those pine-scented mornings. Together, we would sneak out of the cabin and explore the forest, allowing my mom a chance to sleep in while we hunted for mushrooms and wild animal tracks. I was acutely aware of the scents, sounds, and scenes around me--the squawking of Stellar’s jays, the buzzing wings of ruby-throated hummingbirds, and the chattering of squirrels as they leaped from branch to branch. Although these things were a part of my summertime daily life, they were more vibrant during those early morning walks. We spoke in hushed voices, careful not to frighten the deer and other woodland creatures. My dad would point out tracks or scat or broken twigs and always reminded me to get my bearings by looking up to see where the sun sat in the sky and which side of the trees grew moss. These mornings became my earliest introduction to a form of walking meditation—a practice that would teach me an awareness of my breath and give me a way to reduce stress. I would pay attention to each footstep, carefully lifting and placing each foot as quietly as possible and listening as each gentle step resulted in the increasingly quieter crunching of pine needles. My focus improved as I listened to my breathing. Anxiety dwindled away with each deep breath. It was truly amazing that an action as simple as walking—something that was part of my everyday life—could become a moving meditation and bring stillness to such an adventurous and active little girl. I no longer have access to that cabin in the pines, but I still practice the things my dad taught me. In adulthood, I learned that what came so naturally to me through years of childhood exploration was similar to what many call walking meditation. Although there are many forms of meditation, walking meditation is my favorite. I have trouble sitting still—I get fidgety and must at least be doing something with my hands. Because of this, walking meditation gives me a balanced release of energy while creating a sense of inner calm and connection to nature. Walking meditation—or a meditative walk—is not the same as simply “going for a walk.” There is no destination; a walking meditation is truly about the journey. To begin, find a location where you can walk slowly and deliberately, where you will not be concerned about drawing attention to yourself, and where you do not have to pay close attention to traffic or other hazards. You can use a path in nature or a hallway in your home. The point isn’t to get somewhere but to find stillness through movement. Mindful walking brings you into the present moment. Stand still, soften your gaze, and take several slow, deep breaths. As you move forward, put your awareness into each step: the lifting of your right foot, how the foot swings slowly forward, and how it feels as it once again connects to the ground. Maintain your attentiveness as you lift, swing, and lower your left foot. Take another deep breath and pay close attention to the physical sensations in your body. Mindful walking can help you reconnect with your body and ease physical stress through awareness. Unlike guided meditation, a walking meditation does not need a soundtrack. It becomes a mindfulness meditation on its own as you learn to focus on the movement of your body and let go of the thoughts buzzing in your mind. As you practice, you will find that taking a mindful walk becomes easier with experience, and you may grow to truly enjoy the gentle exercise. This practice is especially benefitted by walking barefoot so that you can intimately feel the sensations of grass or sand or even a plush rug underneath your feet. If your walking path is in a limited location—such as an indoor hall—or when you have finished walking in one direction, turn and repeat the practice as you return to your starting place. When you become skilled at sensing and hearing each footstep, allow yourself to listen to the sounds around you as you advance your walking meditation practice. Pay attention to the air and the colors around you. Allow yourself to be in the moment. Birdsong will become clearer, you will become more aware of the feeling of the breeze brushing lightly against your cheek, and you may even notice the fragrance of blossoms wafting through the air. Did you ever notice before that those roses were such a soft shade of pink? Has the sunset ever had so many variations of pastel hues? When was the last time you heard the leaves rustling in the trees? Note: If you have an injury or are unable to walk, you can adapt this meditation to your level of ability. Instead of listening to your footsteps, you might choose to listen to the sounds of the wheels on your chair or the tap of your cane on the sidewalk. You can also try a sitting meditation if walking just isn’t your thing. Try to make this mindful walking meditation part of your regular routine. As you learn to slow down and turn your attention to the little things we often overlook, you will find yourself looking forward to these moments of stillness and the secrets they reveal. Want an indoor stress-relieving activity for rainy days? Click here to learn how journaling can help relieve stress.

This site is supported by our audience. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. However, I only recommend products I love and/or use. The rule growing up was “A place for everything and everything in its place.” If we needed to look for something, we always knew right where to find it. And if it were something my mom didn’t want to have come up missing (like her favorite gardening shovel), she’d put a piece of masking tape on it with her name printed in bold letters. That didn’t mean we lived a minimalist lifestyle by any means. We had plenty of stuff. It was just neatly stacked, arranged, or organized in a certain place. Always. White statuettes lined the ornate shelves on our antique pump organ that an ancestor had brought out West in the 1800s, and each one needed to be carefully wiped and shined and put back in its spot. Our rolltop desk had cubbies assigned to stamps or envelopes or writing pens or the checkbook. Holiday dishes were tidily stacked in the china cabinet. Wooden spoons were in a holder on the butcher block, and knives were in the knife block next to the stove where little children couldn’t reach. Our house was a joy to behold with all of the knickknacks and doodads. Everywhere you looked was a delight for the eyes. Which made Saturday morning chores a hassle. We had shelves of neatly arranged ceramic and porcelain bird figurines that had to be dusted, and each bird had to be put back exactly where it had been to maintain the balanced look my mom had so carefully achieved. Every nook and cranny on that rolltop desk, which I loved and dreamed of writing at, had to be freed from its weekly collection of dust and particles. I didn’t carry that deeply-instilled weekly dusting habit into adulthood. Admittedly, I may skip dusting things for a weekend here and there or only dust what is most visible to guests if I’m in a hurry. I do love a clean house, and I adore the look of minimalist interior design. But I’m not willing to give up my stuff to achieve the look. Which leads me to today’s writing rant: Secret Hiding Places to Stash Your Stuff (or how to achieve a minimalist look without throwing anything away). What is minimalism? Let’s start by discussing what minimalism is and what it isn’t. A minimalist lifestyle is characterized by using simple design for maximum impact. It is about living intentionally and purposefully instead of filling your space (and life) with unnecessary mishmash. By cutting down clutter and providing places for your eyes to rest among neutral colors and clean lines, you can create a relaxing and inviting atmosphere. And did I mention how much easier it is to clean a room with minimalist design? I might even say it again, because that’s what truly got me started researching minimalism in the first place. Hidden cabinets Cabinets are the perfect place to store items that you don’t want to display. You can organize to your heart’s content to make the best use of your space and keep everything within easy reach but out of sight. Not all cabinets have to be disguised. If you have the luxury of designing your kitchen, add plenty of cabinets and make sure they go to the ceiling. You won’t collect dust bunnies on top, and you can use the extra storage space to keep your holiday dishes safe (although you may need a stool to reach them) . Hidden cabinets can be installed in the unused space under stairs, behind a mirror (use a wood-framed mirror for the cabinet door), or behind a picture frame. You can turn a column at the end of your kitchen island into a handy hidden cupboard, too, by removing a side panel and reattaching it with concealed hinges and a magentic latch. If you plan on building hidden cabinets, you’ll need hardware that fits the job. Here are a few of the items you might need: Concealed hinges and push latches: Use concealed hinges and magnetic push latches, so no hardware is exposed. After all, it isn’t hidden if you can clearly see it. You’ll need at least two hinges if you’re building a single cabinet. The style of hinges depends on whether you’re using a pre-built cabinet door with inset holes for the hinges or if you’re building the door yourself and need the hinges to attach to a flat surface. Of course, if you have the right tools, you can drill insets in your home-crafted doors, too, but let’s keep this simple. Use soft-close hinges like this one for doors with predrilled inset cups. If your doors are flat on the back where you plan to attach the hinges, use surface-mount hinges like these. If you don’t need a deep cabinet, framed mirrored cabinets (like a medicine cabinet but bigger) serve a dual purpose of hiding smaller (or narrower) items and reflecting light into the room. You can either cut your wall and inset your 3-inch deep framed mirror so that it is flush with the wall (you’ll need to use a magnetic push latch top to open this kind of mirrored door) or buy a ready-made mirrored cabinet to hang on the wall like this locking jewelry safe. Consider other creative options for hidden cabinet doors, like pictures and paintings with a hidden hinge (you’ll need one of these to attach the frame to the wall). Small cabinets When you’re shopping for hidden storage compartments, think outside the box and come up with other uses for an item. Often, you can remove or redesign the inside to fit your purpose. Small items can be tucked away inside of hidden mini-cabinets. Keys can fit inside the small space a hidden door reveals in a wall coat rack, like this one that’s designed for weapons but could just as easily be used to hide the keys to your recreational vehicles, guest house, or bunker. Floating shelves with hidden storage look lovely hanging on a wall in your minimalist bedroom or bath, and no one needs to know that’s where you keep your multitude of nail polish colors. If you want to build your own floating shelf, you’ll need hidden brackets to hang them with. Try these heavy-duty invisible brackets for your next project. How about building a mantel over your living room fireplace to store your Christmas stockings out of sight? Put hinges on the lower edge inside the front panel, and use a strong magnetic latch to hold it closed. You can push on the top edge to swing the front down and retrieve your holiday decor. The mantel pictured below could easily be converted into secret storage, and removing a few display items from the top would lighten the load on chore day. Shelves with baskets Combine the hanging shelf idea with a row of pretty baskets to store items without completely disguising their whereabouts. All your visitors will see is a uniform design—not the extra washcloths or travel-sized shampoo bottles you keep on hand for guests. You can go larger by using standing shelves or storage cubes and lining them with baskets or fabric cubes to store toys, craft supplies, your yarn stash, or gadgets and canned goods in the kitchen. Try this storage cabinet with six pretty baskets, or my favorite, the Better Homes and Gardens cube organizers. Under the bed You know those cube organizers I just recommended? We have several sets and even built an under-bed storage system for my daughter by laying the 5-cube organizers on their sides (back to back) and putting her twin-sized box springs and mattress on top. She used the cubes on one side of the bed for storing books and put fabric cubes filled with socks and T-shirts on the other side. If you don’t want to redesign your bed with cubes, under-bed storage boxes (like these stackable bins with lids) fit beneath a standard bed frame and protect your seasonal clothes, boots, and blankets from dust. Another option is to build a platform bed with a wood base and drawers that give the room a clean, sleek look. Put your feet up Have you seen storage ottomans? Perfect for providing extra seating or giving your feet a place to rest when you settle in for the evening, storage ottomans come in round, square, or rectangular shapes and a variety of fabrics and finishes to match your interior style. Use ottomans to hide the remote control from toddlers (they’ll probably figure it out anyway) or to store toys or extra throw blankets. Go big with hidden rooms Want to go bigger instead of smaller? How about hiding an entire room where you can store large items or a whole pantry? Of course, to hide a room, you’ll need a hidden door—and to hide a door, you’ll not only need some carpentry skills, but you’ll also need hardware. You can get Murphy Door hidden hardware here. The hinges pivot so your secret bookcase (a.k.a., door) can swing around to reveal your secret room. Pretty cool, huh? What about if you don’t have carpentry skills to build a Murphy door? The Murphy Door store has pre-built solutions. Furniture End tables with doors instead of shelves, sofas with hidden storage in the armrest, and china cabinets all hide the miscellaneous stuff that would otherwise be sitting on a table or countertop. If you have end tables with legs, consider swapping them for ones with doors or at least a drawer and shelf. Looking for a new coffee table? Get one with a top that lifts off to reveal storage space inside. And if you really want to keep stuff protected in an end table, take a look at the Longhorn Nightstand by Rhino Metals. Picture it in an industrial farmhouse-style room or a man cave. Are you thinking about getting a new side chair or redesigning the benches for your dining area? Consider chairs and benches with lifting seats and hidden storage beneath. Office space As much as I didn’t like cleaning that old rolltop desk, I loved how easy it was to close the top and hide the mess. If you have a home office—or an area where you sit to pay the bills and use the computer—consider a rolltop desk or a desk with a hutch so you can close it mid-project without exposing your work to prying eyes. Bookshelves Bookshelves might seem like an obvious place to store your stuff, but most bookshelves have a less-than-minimalist look and provide ample opportunity for dust to collect. Hide bookshelves by installing sliding barn doors in front of them. You can also use barn doors to hide your television and gaming devices, electronics, or entertainment and stereo system. Install your new barn door with a soft-closing slider kit to prevent your door from smacking against the stopper. Conclusion If you want to achieve a minimalist look with hidden storage, use space to your advantage. Incorporate shelves, cube storage, and cabinetry and hide your treasures behind doors and in baskets to show a minimalist aesthetic without giving away your family heirlooms or giving up your hoard of crafting supplies. Creating a minimalist home is easy if you have enough hidden storage space. Want more ideas for reducing the stress in your life? Click here to read my post on 17 Ultimate Stress Relieving Gifts, and follow us on social media so you’ll see all our new posts as soon as they’re published.

This site is supported by our audience. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. However, I only recommend products I love and/or use. I lived on an acreage as a child. We weren’t living off the grid, but we had a well and a garden, fruit trees, and plenty of wildlife. What we didn’t have were close neighbors or noise pollution from traffic. In the evenings, my parents and I would relax on lounge furniture in the backyard and stare up at the stars, listening to the coyotes howling in the distance. Occasionally, a great-horned owl would silently glide overhead, or a bat would dip and weave as it flew by. I recapture similar moments today by going camping to enjoy nature and for the off grid mental health benefits. My husband and I have spent most of our adult years living in the suburbs, and our weekend escapes to our rural property where we can camp and play off grid are valuable moments in time. Whether you live off the grid full time or indulge in weekend getaways, getting away from city life is good for your mental health. Here are nine reasons why off grid living is good for your well-being. Reduce stress and burnout Most people live in a constant state of stress. Between busy schedules, job demands, and traffic delays, we live in a way that keeps our cortisol levels higher than they need to be. The stress hormone, cortisol, is the body’s alarm system. When we experience danger, cortisol helps put us in motion so we can react quickly. The problem is that we are under so much stress, and so often, that our cortisol levels (which also help regulate other body functions) don’t always have a chance to return to normal. Daily or weekly stressors and repetitious or unfulfilling jobs keep us in such a state of high alert that we become burned out. Burnout occurs when we continually feel swamped and out of control, like we’re struggling to stay on top of things physically, mentally, and emotionally. Getting off the grid can reduce feelings of burnout and provide stress relief. Having less traffic, less air pollution, and less environmental noise helps return us to a state of balance—and helps us get our cortisol back to a healthy level. Find deeper meaning There is more to life than waking up, checking social media, sending the kids off to school, going to work, and coming home exhausted just to repeat it all again the next day. We need to have meaning and purpose in our lives. To find deeper meaning is to understand that there is a purpose behind all we do—a purpose that can last long after moving on to something else. This purpose should fill a place in our soul, not just be one more item to check off a list. Living off grid can help you find a deeper meaning in your life. Whether it is planting trees, watching friends and family laughing and playing together as they reconnect with nature and each other, or raising your own food—off-grid living helps you understand that you can control your place in this world. Connect with nature You don’t have to practice meditation or go forest bathing to connect with nature. Our bodies are designed to respond to natural cycles. Our sleep-wake cycle (circadian rhythm) is influenced by light, and our bodies naturally produce more melatonin at the end of the day. Artificial lighting counteracts this and can contribute to insomnia. But when you live off grid, you are likely to spend more time outdoors in natural light than parked in front of a glowing television. Seasonal cycles influence the foods we crave. We usually crave light, cooling foods in the summer and warming, heavy meals during the cold winter months. When you live off grid and don’t have easy access to fast food, you are more likely to eat seasonally available foods. As we get in touch with ourselves through these cycles, we begin to feel connected to the natural world around us. Our natural biorhythms get in sync with nature and the seasons. We gain an understanding that we are not separate, and we can become caretakers of the land, restoring or maintaining its healthy balance. Rely on your own resources There’s something to be said for being prepared. Living off the grid and away from easily accessible shopping reminds us that we need to prepare in advance to have resources when they are needed. This means relying on the energy and resources we have produced or gathered. Our ancestors knew how to store vegetables and fruits to last throughout the winter months. They chopped wood and gathered fuel, stacking and storing it to keep them warm on cold nights and giving them fuel to cook with. When we know how to produce and store resources, we gain confidence in our ability to rely on ourselves—improving our mental health by giving us more independence and a sense of pride. Build a sustainable lifestyle A sustainable lifestyle means being able to meet your needs while reducing your environmental impact. When you build a sustainable lifestyle, you give back to the planet instead of depleting resources. Planting a garden and raising food for the table is one way to get started. You can cut down on the amount of waste you produce by growing fruits and vegetables (no plastic grocery bags needed), raising animals for milk and eggs (no more throw-away cartons), and learning to compost scraps to enrich the soil. Having a renewable energy source, like solar panels or wind energy, is another way to add to your sustainable off-grid lifestyle and reduce fossil fuel dependence. Meaningful work Creating a sustainable lifestyle and building an off grid home allows you to learn new skills and do meaningful work. As you learn new skills and achieve your goals, you develop a sense of purpose and pride in your accomplishments. Feeling good about what we do boosts our mental health and reduces harmful stress while giving us healthy stress (like exercise) to strengthen us physically and emotionally. Exercise Physical exercise is good for mental health, but not everyone enjoys sticking to an exercise routine. I’m terrible at scheduling time to walk on the treadmill or ride my exercise bike, but I’ll happily go out and work in the garden or take an evening walk at a moment’s notice. Exercise increases levels of dopamine and serotonin in the brain. These feel-good chemicals help us gain mental clarity and restore a sense of calmness. Exercising in the fresh air instead of a stuffy gym provides us with better focus, fewer distractions, and moments of quiet contemplation. I do some of my most creative thinking while walking in nature. Remote work options If you can’t uproot from the city and move off the grid without holding down a “regular” job, perhaps working remotely is an option for you. You may be able to earn part of your living from your homestead—like selling organic vegetables or eggs—or you might find a job opportunity that allows you to work from home. If your current employer is flexible, you might be able to keep your current job and work from home. Since you won’t be using as much fuel to drive to work every day or spending hours stuck in traffic during a busy commute, you may be able to bargain with them for a slightly reduced wage in exchange for allowing you to choose your work location. Working remotely can boost your mental health by giving you a sense of independence while still having a reliable income source. Having an off grid home can also provide you with new income opportunities. If you still have internet access (yes, you can have internet without connecting to the electric grid!), you can look for online jobs and virtual positions. Social interaction Human beings crave friendship and social interaction. Even if you’re a bit of an introvert like me, it doesn’t mean you want to be a hermit and live in total isolation. Social interaction when you’re living off the grid can look different from the bustling late nights of modern city life. Living off the grid may mean your closest neighbors are several acres, or even a mile or so, away. It could also mean that your nearest town has a population of a few hundred or a few thousand residents. Small towns are known for their close-knit social gatherings, like parades, annual events, and coffee shops where everyone knows your name. Living an off grid lifestyle near a small town can create friendships based on mutual respect, shared trust, and support for your neighbors and community. What’s next? Even if you don’t currently live off grid, getting away for a weekend or extended vacation can benefit your mental health. Decreasing your use of social media, watching fewer newscasts, and spending your time in an outdoor activity can reduce negative health effects and increase your well-being. Looking for new ways to de-stress? Check out more of my posts in the Unwind category here!

Photo credit: Robert Linder on Unsplash This site is supported by our audience. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. However, I only recommend products I love and/or use. Waste is one of the things you need to manage on your own when living an off grid lifestyle. Without access to a city sewer line, you’ll need to decide how you plan to dispose of those bathroom unmentionables no one likes to talk about. Whether your off grid septic tank system uses a solar powered pump or is a gravity fed system, you’ll need to care for it to keep it healthy and functioning properly. Types of off grid waste disposal When you’re disposing of waste off the grid, you need to consider the number of people in your household, weather conditions (it’s harder to compost in freezing weather), and your local regulations. When I was little, we had an old-fashioned outhouse back behind our cabin in the woods. It was bad enough having to use it during the daytime, but using it at night with only a flashlight to light my way was absolutely terrifying! Spiders took up residence in every corner of the foul-smelling little wooden shed, and I used to imagine what kinds of monsters lurked in the bottom of the hole. Back then, everyone had an outhouse in remote locations. At least, all of our remote neighbors did. It’s not as simple to build an outhouse on your property nowadays—composting toilets, outhouses, pit privies, and other types of off grid toilets are highly regulated and usually require a permit. If you’re like me, you’d rather use a combination of methods to dispose of different types of waste and save water at the same time. I prefer to reuse gray water for our plants (this may also require a permit depending on your state or county regulations), compost our biodegradable leftovers to rebuild the soil in our garden, and save our septic system for black water only. Gray water (or greywater) is from laundry, showers, and sinks and can be used to provide water to your landscape or to flush toilets. Black water is from the toilet (ew!) and cannot be reused. Reducing the amount of water that collects in your septic system can help keep your septic tank healthy. But did you know that the types of cleaners and chemicals you flush into your septic can either support or destroy the bacteria that break down waste inside the system? Here are some do’s and don’ts for keeping your septic system running like new. Do this ... Conserve water Wastewater that goes into your septic tank separates into three layers: greasy stuff floats to the top (scum layer), heavier solids sink to the bottom (sludge layer), and water runs in between these layers and goes out into the leach field (aka, drain field). Bacteria in the septic tank gradually break down the scum and sludge layers over time. But if too much water is continually flushing through the system, some of the scum or sludge can also get pushed out into the leach field before it’s broken down, clogging the field and backing up the system. You can reduce the amount of water that goes into your septic system by turning off the water when you brush your teeth, taking shorter showers, installing a water-efficient toilet, and using a gray water system to redirect and reuse shower and laundry water. Use your garbage disposal sparingly Remember those layers we just discussed? Excessive use of your garbage disposal can add too many solids (and too much grease) to your septic tank. Try composting kitchen scraps instead of using the garbage disposal in your sink. Keep your septic lid closed Open septic lids are a safety hazard. Keep them tightly closed to prevent people, animals, or objects from falling in. Direct rainwater (and water from your roof) away from the drain field Water can saturate the leach field, whether it comes from household use or natural rainfall. Use gutters to direct rainwater away from the drain field, and make sure your landscaping encourages water to flow away from it, too. Plant trees away from the septic system Tree roots can wreak havoc on a septic system. Large roots can puncture a septic tank, crack the pipes, and clog the drain field. To avoid this, plant trees at least 100 feet away from your septic system. Pump the tank when needed If your scum and sludge levels get too high between maintenance, you may need to have the tank pumped more frequently. If you notice an unusual odor, see new pools of water outside, or if multiple household drains become slow, it might be time to call your local septic service provider. Maintain and inspect your system regularly The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that most households should have their septic system serviced every three years. But it’s a good idea to perform septic tank maintenance yearly. The septic inspector should give you a copy of the maintenance notes so you can keep a record of how high your scum and sludge levels are. The inspector will also check for leaks, determine how well your leach field is draining, and recommend any needed repairs. Don’t do this … Don’t use bleach, drain opener, or harsh chemicals Millions of tiny little microbes break down solid waste and keep your septic system running smoothly. The health of these tiny bacteria determines how quickly and efficiently solids can be broken down and flushed out into the drain field. Harsh chemicals like drain cleaners, bleach, and chemical disinfectants can kill these healthy bacteria and put the brakes on your waste disposal. Instead, choose septic-safe products or cleaners with environmentally friendly, natural ingredients. Don’t flush toxic chemicals Hazardous waste, like paint thinner, gasoline, nail polish remover, and motor oil can pollute groundwater. Dispose of these liquids in a safe and environmentally friendly way instead of flushing them down the toilet or pouring them down the sink. Don’t park vehicles over the septic system Just because your septic system is underground doesn’t mean it’s strong enough to handle tons of weight on top of it. Driving heavy vehicles over your septic system or parking on top of it can crack the tank, break lines, and compress the layers in your drain field. Don’t flush hygiene products or other non-dissolving materials down the toilet Have you ever had to unclog a plugged toilet because someone flushed something that wasn’t flushable? Just like toilets, septic systems can get clogged, too. Don’t flush feminine hygiene products into your septic system, and use lightweight toilet paper (it dissolves easier). Don’t use your septic system as a garbage can, either—this not only wastes water but can put undue stress on the balance of your septic system. Throw those squished spiders away instead of flushing them! One final note Part of living a sustainable lifestyle means being a steward of the land. You are responsible for what you produce and the waste products you create—and how you dispose of them. If you have a healthy septic system, you can effectively dispose of organic (bodily) waste. By utilizing a variety of systems to eliminate household waste and wastewater—such as installing a gray water system, composting kitchen scraps, and conserving water—you can keep your septic tank healthy for years to come. Want more off-grid ideas and essential skills? Check out all our posts in Unplug!

This site is supported by our audience. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. However, I only recommend products I love and/or use. Coloring isn’t just for rainy days—and it isn’t just for children. Adult coloring books have become the mindfulness tool of choice for those who are looking for a simple way to reduce stress and relax. Coloring books are portable and easy to use. You can take them with you and use them for creative expression during work breaks, lunch hours, and as a relaxing distraction during travel. You don’t need to be an artist to benefit from adult coloring books. The repeated patterns and stress-relieving designs can be filled in with your choice of colors, creating a unique piece of art customized by you. Coloring mandalas or other intricate designs is less intimidating for most people than drawing. When we draw, we feel subject to the approval of anyone who might see what we have created. But when we color, the designs are already in place, and we can let go of our worries and lose ourselves in the moment. Coloring and mindfulness go hand in hand. As we focus on the coloring page, we are drawn out of negative thoughts (which usually exist in the past or future), and we find ourselves lost in the present moment. Think about the reasons we encourage coloring for children. When a child is absorbed in the act of coloring, they become quiet, time flies, and they improve focus, concentration, and fine motor skills. Adults gain these same benefits from adult coloring books. This is because coloring utilizes both hemispheres of the brain. The left side of the brain uses logic to guide us and control our hand movements—helping us to stay in the lines (or consciously color out of the lines if we choose to do so!). The right side of the brain flourishes in the available color choices and creative expression. Enthusiasts of the adult coloring book trend claim coloring helps them relax and feel happier. If this is true for you, you may want to make coloring part of your evening routine and everyday life. Here are some tips if you want to try coloring for stress relief and relaxation. Coloring book options The choices for adult coloring books have grown tremendously over the past few years as the practice has gained popularity. You can find coloring books filled with mandalas, animal designs, flowers, and inspirational images. Free coloring pages If you want to give coloring a try before you buy, you can find free coloring pages online to print. Coloring Home has some charming options, and Shabby Creek Cottage has over 100 designs to choose from. Colored pencils and more What is your favorite coloring implement? You can choose from colored pencils, gel pens, no-bleed markers, or good old-fashioned crayons. The choice is up to you—and if you’re feeling adventurous, you can use more than one type of coloring tool for a mixed-media masterpiece. Location, location, location Since coloring books are lightweight and easy to take on the go, you can color just about anywhere. I prefer to color in a quiet environment, either outside when the weather is nice or curled up by the fireplace on snowy days. But you can enjoy the mental health benefits of a mindful coloring break whether you’re at work or at home—or even in your hotel room when you need a brain break during travel! Color schemes Part of the appeal of coloring mandalas is looking at the beautiful colors in the finished product. Pick a color scheme (try different shades of your favorite color), start from the center, and work your way out in sections for a methodical, relaxing effect. Lap desk Sitting at a table can take some of the enjoyment out of a relaxing coloring session. But coloring on your lap or using a magazine to support your coloring page can result in frustration and holes poked in your design. Try using a lap desk with a comfy fabric cushion to keep your art and tools orderly and within reach. Remember to have fun Most importantly, relax and have fun. Coloring can be a wonderful way to de-stress and chill out at the end of a busy day. So grab a coloring page or even a whole book and get started. There’s no better time than now to treat yourself! Do you enjoy other arts and crafts for their relaxing effects? Click here for more ways arts and crafts reduce your stress hormone levels and help you get in the zone.

This site is supported by our audience. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. However, I only recommend products I love and/or use. Making New Year’s resolutions is easy; keeping them can be difficult. This year, instead of limiting your resolutions to things you have to force yourself to do (like exercising whether or not you feel like it), treat yourself to rewarding self-care goals you’ll look forward to every day, and make this your healthiest year ever. I’m not saying you have to set a daily self-care goal (although I love that idea!). Once a week—or even a monthly goal—is still a great way to take care of yourself. Think about this—how often did you practice self-care this past year? Did you get a manicure just because you love relaxing in the chair while someone works on your hands, or did you rush to get your nails done because you had to look nice for an interview or photo op? How often do you get enough sleep? Do you take naps because you’re exhausted, or do you take a leisurely nap with a guided meditation that transports you to another place and time and refreshes your body and soul? If you have trouble remembering how often you spent time truly taking care of yourself this past year, or if you know you put everyone else’s needs above your own, now is the perfect time to make a positive change and give yourself the love and care you deserve. What is self-care? Self-care is simply the practice of taking care of yourself. It means attending to your own needs and well-being. You can choose a specific area of your life to practice self-care, such as physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, financial, social, or professional areas of your life. Choose one or several, and find ways to enrich that part of your life and improve your well-being one small step at a time. Here are some ideas to get you started. Take a nap Napping often feels like a luxury that we deny ourselves because we think we need to be busy doing something, or we’ll be deemed lazy. But studies show that napping is actually healthy. A short nap can boost your memory, improve your mood, make you more alert, and decrease stress. My favorite place to nap is in a hammock. I love the gentle swinging motion, like a breeze is rocking me to sleep. *sigh* My favorite napping hammock is the Go Hammock by Go! Outfitters. It’s lightweight and compact but unfolds into a luxurious 11’ with enough width to lay diagonally or at an angle. Treat yourself to a manicure or pedicure You don’t have to go to a spa to treat yourself to the perfect mani-pedi. Sure, it feels great to sit back and relax while someone else massages your hands and smooths your heels, but if you’d rather stay home and take care of your fingers and toes, try treating yourself to a mani-pedi kit you can use over and over again. Create a spa experience at home No time for regular trips to the spa? Bring the spa home and create your own little sanctuary to use day or night. I would personally rather stay home and relax than fight traffic and worry about making a reservation. You can make your own bath bombs or shower steamers, set up an aromatherapy diffuser and soothing music, or purchase a spa kit to turn your bathroom into your own little piece of heavenly bliss. Learn self-massage Whenever I get a massage, my muscles are tight all over again by the time I drive home through rush hour traffic. Learn self-massage techniques, and say goodbye to stress while you relax in the comfort of your own home. My favorite neck massager is the Resteck shiatsu neck massager my husband gave me a couple of years ago. I use it regularly, and it’s still working as perfectly as it did the day I unwrapped it! Enjoy your favorite craft Crafting and creating are self-care techniques that benefit multiple areas of your life. Besides giving you a creative outlet, creating new things stimulates your mind, provides visual and sensory stimulation, and can add beauty to your home or wardrobe. If you have a favorite art or craft or you love to cook, set aside time to indulge yourself in the joy of creating! Learn something new What if you don’t have a favorite art or craft, but you’d like to learn to knit, crochet, or play a musical instrument? I say go for it! It’s never too late to learn something new and boost your self-confidence while increasing your skills. Even learning a small musical instrument, like a harmonica (with a beginner’s how-to book like this!), will add to your skillset and promote a sense of accomplishment. Read a book Reading increases your vocabulary, stimulates your brain, and can carry you away into a world of imagination. Pick your favorite genre, and snuggle up with a fluffy blanket and a good book for self-care that boosts your mind without physical demands on your body. Give yourself a facial Whether you prefer a clay mask to a peel-off mask or a jade roller to dermabrasion, a home facial is completely customizable for your skin type and budget. Sip tea Relaxing with a warm cup of herbal tea is one of my favorite ways to spend the early morning hours. Before the rest of the household wakes up, I can pour my cup of tea and watch the sky change colors as the sun slowly appears over the horizon. Tiesta Tea makes a lovely chamomile and lavender blend that is perfect for evening settling-in, and if you’re looking to add an eye-opening caffeine vibe to your morning routine, their Chai Love blend is the perfect morning pick-me-up! Take a weekly bubble bath Bubble baths have a special place in my heart. The first house we lived in had a bathroom completely decorated in pink—even the sunken bathtub, toilet, and sink were a pale, rosebud pink. My mom used to give me bubble baths in that pink tub and instilled in me the love of soaking in warm, scented water heaped with mounds of luxurious bubbles. If you enjoy a relaxing bath, set time aside at least once a week to skip the shower and take a leisurely soak instead. Spend time doing something you love every day You deserve a little time to yourself every day. Set a goal to spend a few minutes each day doing something special just for you. You can recite an affirmation, listen to a favorite song, sing at the top of your lungs, or dance like no one’s watching. What you do isn’t as important as choosing something that makes you feel absolutely awesome! Walk through an art gallery Viewing art is good for the soul. If you’d rather walk through an inspiring or beautiful gallery instead of creating art of your own, try looking up free days at your local art gallery, or buy a yearly membership to save money while supporting the gallery’s work. Go to a museum Museums teach us about other cultures, history, and people. When we visit a museum, we are empowered to build bonds within our community and learn from the past to benefit the present. Find a museum that includes the types of displays and information that make you feel inspired—whether a nature museum, a historical museum focused on a small town, a living history museum, or an open-air museum. Spend time in nature Spending time in nature helps us be more active, breathe fresh air (and breathe deeper), reduce stress, and clear our minds. Forest bathing (also known as the Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku) reduces stress hormone production and is an accepted part of Japanese preventative health care. For me, the ultimate in self-care is when I can walk among the trees and take a nap in the shade on a sunny afternoon. I used to take my border collie hiking with me, and when we’d get tired, we’d lay out a blanket under a tree and just look up at the sky until we started to doze. You don’t need a whole forest at your disposal to benefit from spending time in nature. Even walking through a park or along a country road can ease your mind and let you escape from daily life stressors. Try a new meditation technique Do you enjoy meditation but get bored with the same practice? Spice up your mindfulness activities by learning a new technique. If you usually practice seated meditation, try a walking meditation instead. If you practice meditation in silence, try guided meditation for a new twist. Yoga nidra (yogic sleep) and qi gong are additional ways to benefit from meditative practices aside from a static seated pose. Conclusion Taking care of yourself is important, and self-care practices are the perfect way to make sure you are caring for number one. After all, you need to take good care of yourself to be able to take care of those around you. Start your new year off right by setting a resolution to add self-care resolutions to your personal routine and create an amazing new year for an even healthier new you!

This site is supported by our audience. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. However, I only recommend products I love and/or use. Imagine being the first person to discover a natural hot spring. It must have seemed like pure magic to take that first soak in the relaxing, all-over warmth of a natural hot bath. I’m glad I don’t have to search out a hot spring to take a bath today. I’m also grateful that I can simply turn on the faucet and have instant hot water—no hauling it in buckets to the woodstove like my grandparents had to do. Bathing became commonplace in ancient Rome, but the magic of bubble baths wasn’t invented until the 20th century when soap flakes became a thing. There’s something wonderful about a bubble bath—warm water, iridescent shimmery bubbles, and soft fragrances greeting you as you step into the comfortable buoyancy of bliss. It’s one of my favorite ways to relax after a long day. A bath is best when unhurried. Try setting aside time to let your mind drift as you wash your worries down the drain. To take your bath to the next level, try one (or more!) of the 15 tips I’ve listed below. 1. Bubble bath What’s a bubble bath without bubbles? Depending on which product you choose, you might find yourself sitting in a warm tub of soapy nothingness. This is the time to splurge a little and treat yourself to something special. When selecting a bubble bath, go for higher-end products. You’ll find that the bubbles last longer, and—if you’ve chosen a foaming bath oil—you won’t lose bubbles for the sake of adding moisturizing ingredients. Pour your foaming bath product directly under the running faucet for the most abundant bubbles. Let the water do the work! 2. Try a bath bomb Bath bombs create an effervescent explosion of fizz, fragrance, and color. You can buy them with essential oil and bright colors added or make a DIY version and customize them to your liking. You’ll need to grab some citric acid to make the fizz, but other ingredients (like baking soda and rubbing alcohol) are common household staples. 3. Bath bars and bath melts Bath bars and melts are made for moisture. Formulated to leave your skin feeling luxuriously soft (like these sugar scrubs), bath melts come in a variety of shapes, scents, and styles. They are frequently made with coconut oil but may also include shea butter, kaolin clay, and an array of other delightful add-ins. Not all bath bars create bubbles (check the label before you buy), and some can leave your tub a bit on the slick side. I love the feeling a bath bar leaves on my skin, but fair warning—be careful getting out of the tub when you’re done! 4. Bath oil Like bath bars, bath oil delivers moisturizing goodness to dry skin. Opt for a fragrance-free bath oil if you have sensitive skin or are using a fragranced candle at the same time. Too many conflicting scents will disturb your relaxation experience. Choose scents that complement each other, or only use one fragranced item, and let your other bath time splurges be fragrance-free. 5. Bath salt—soothe away the aches Bath salts usually have Epsom salt as the main ingredient. Epsom salt, which breaks down into magnesium and stearate in water, is a naturally occurring chemical compound named after a spring at Epsom in Surrey, England. This inexpensive ingredient can be found at most drugstores and supermarkets (or you can get it here) and is well-known for soothing sore muscles and tired feet. You can use Epsom salt on its own or buy bath salts with added ingredients such as sea salt, moisturizers, and artificial or natural fragrances and colors. Add bath salts before you drizzle in your foaming bath product. Swish the salts around in the water to dissolve them; then add your bubble bath product and get ready for some well-deserved you time. 6. Essential oil Another way to bring the benefits of aromatherapy into your bathing experience is to add essential oils directly to the bath or diffuse them in a mist. Unlike bath oils (which may contain a blend of carrier oils in addition to fragrances), essential oils are highly concentrated compounds extracted from plants. Choose pure essential oil (not artificial fragrances) to truly reap the benefits. Some of the most well-known essential oils for inducing relaxation are lavender, chamomile, and clary sage. 7. Listen to music The perfect relaxing bubble bath experience occurs when the ambiance is just right. For me, that means silence or quiet nature sounds, like birds singing in the trees or the occasional croaking of frogs on a pond. But for music lovers, bath time can become a symphony for both the body and mind. Use a waterproof Bluetooth speaker to play your favorite slow-tempo or New Age tunes safely. (Keep electric items away from the bath!) 8. Listen to an inspirational audiobook If music isn’t your thing, but you have difficulty relaxing in silence, try listening to an inspirational audiobook or guided meditation. YouTube has some excellent guided meditations you can listen to for free. If you tend to fall asleep while listening, opt for something that will help you relax but won’t make you doze in the tub. 9. Nature sounds As I mentioned earlier, I find nature sounds to be relaxing. There are no words to keep track of or tunes to get stuck in my head—I can just listen and drift away into a mindful meditation, imagining myself walking on a leaf-covered path or sitting in stillness at the edge of a bubbling brook. If you like nature sounds, too, but your bathtub isn’t located in the middle of a meadow or woods, try listening to recordings made just for this purpose. You can project them to your Bluetooth speaker or use a cordless sound machine with options such as a campfire, crickets, or thunder. 10. Candlelight Ambiance is about more than just sound. The right lighting can stimulate your senses or ease you into bathing bliss. Candles are a delightful way to add low lights and fragrances to your bathroom. If you have sensitive skin and can’t use scented products in your bath, a flickering candle might be the perfect way to get the benefits of aromatherapy without triggering an unwanted itch. Submersible LED lights are another way to add ambiance to your bathroom. You can find them in white or a variety of colors to create the perfect mood. 11. Water temperature Did you know that there’s more to water temperature than comfort? Although the perfect temp is debatable, a Wall Street Journal interview with dermatologist Melissa Piliang states that 112℉ is the perfect temperature for washing away dirt and bacteria. If you’re more concerned with reducing stress and relaxing tight muscles, you don’t need to get so specific with the temperature. Test the water on the back of your hand before stepping in to make sure it’s comfortable. You’ll want the water to be warm, but it shouldn’t burn or make your skin too pink. 12. Plants in the bathroom Ah, gardens! Just thinking about being surrounded by greenery lifts my spirits. Try bringing the garden indoors to create a luxury spa experience while you bathe. Plants produce oxygen and remove pollutants from the air. A study conducted by researchers from Kansas State University found that simply viewing plants encourages and enhances healing. Choose plants that love humidity and have low or indirect lighting requirements. 13. Relax, don’t rush Set aside time to de-stress in the tub. Limiting the amount of time you have for your relaxing soak can put you on edge and make it more challenging to give in to the experience. I like to save bath time for evenings, right before I go to bed. Whereas my showers are quick and invigorating morning wake-me-ups, a relaxing bubble bath may last 20 minutes or more. 14. Beverage Try hydrating inside as well as out! A bubbly drink for your bubbly bath might be just the thing you need to make your relaxing bubble bath a little extra. Sparkling tea, an herbal infusion, and flavored water are just a few suggestions to get you started thinking about your perfect bath time libation. 15. Bath caddy If your bath time goodies keep sliding off the edge, invest in yourself and get a bath caddy to keep everything in its place. Bath caddies come in adjustable sizes that span the width of the tub or hanging styles for tubs that have one edge against the wall. Before getting out of the bath … When you’ve finished your soak, and you’re ready to get out of the tub, take just another minute to finish bringing yourself back into a state of balance. Take a few slow, deep breaths and lift the tub’s plug so the water can begin to drain. In your mind’s eye, envision your worries as wisps of soapy residue, spinning in a whirl as they disappear down the drain with the water. As you imagine them washing away, you may begin to feel lighter and even more refreshed. Pat dry with a fluffy towel, smooth on your favorite moisturizer, and enjoy the rest of your day! If you want some ideas for turning your shower into an aromatherapy experience, check out this post for shower steamers.

Gone are the days of hiding things in cookies jars and under doormats. People know where to look, and you’ll need to get creative to keep your treasures tucked away. When you start looking for a safe or lockbox, keep in mind what it is that you’re trying to hide. Do you need something that fits in your bag for work so you can keep a little extra cash on hand without having it in your wallet, or do you need to lock up your guns and ammo when you come home from a hunting trip? Do you need a fireproof safe, a waterproof lockbox, or just a hidey-hole in the house because it’s fun to have secret hiding places? Whether you’re looking for an ultra-strong fireproof safe or just somewhere to stash a few dollar bills, this list of 10 ideas has something for everyone. This site is supported by our audience. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. However, I only recommend products I love and/or use. Diversion safe: A diversion safe looks like a common household object. The idea is to hide something in plain sight by making it look like something it isn’t. A diversion safe may look like a hairbrush, a lipstick tube, a lightbulb, or a classic book on your bookshelf. Even something as simple as a mason jar filled with beans or rice can hide a small bundle of rolled-up bills inside. Rhino safes: Rhino safes are built to withstand fire and force. From small gun safes to the Longhorn Nightstand to vault doors, Rhino Metals has sturdy metal safes of every size. Fake rock key safe: Fake rocks are a type of diversion safe with just enough room to hide a spare key in case you get locked out of the house. Many of these are cheaply made—you’ll want to buy one that looks as realistic as possible so it can blend in with your landscaping. Rub a little dirt on it and tuck it in some mulch under a bush to complete the effect. Tactical Traps: Tactical Traps designs home furnishing with locking, hidden compartments to keep your guns out of sight. Buy a floating shelf or check out their end tables in a variety of colors and patterns. Portable safes and lockboxes: The drawback to a portable safe is that someone can pick it up and carry it away. The benefit is that you can take it with you when you travel. If you need a small, lockable safe to store jewelry, your checkbook, or small documents and you aren’t worried about someone stealing your safe, you may like a Master Lock portable safe. Small enough to travel with, you can listen to your music by utilizing the earbud port and secure the safe to an object in your hotel room with the attached cable. Wall clock: Do you need a place to stash something small, but you don’t need to lock it up? Clocks are another type of diversion safe. Hung on a wall and high out of reach, a wall clock diversion safe can protect a few small items and keep them out of reach of children. (A picture frame with a secret compartment is another alternative you can hang on a wall.) False electric outlet: You’ve probably seen this one in movies, and if you place it in an obvious location, someone else may figure out what it is. But behind a piece of furniture, a false electrical outlet diversion safe is one more place to hide small valuables in any room. Locking desk: Locking file cabinets are an obvious place to store important documents. But have you thought about using a desk with locking drawers or even a desk will a rolltop that locks once you close it? If you want to double the protection, store a small, fireproof document safe inside the drawer. Armoire: Originally designed to hold clothing, armoires have found a new life in today’s world by providing attractive storage for televisions, entertainment systems, and computers. Add a lock to any armoire door to make it more challenging for thieves to run off with your TV or computer. Hidden room: The ultimate in secrecy and what every good mystery lover dreams of is a hidden room. Rotating bookcase, anyone? Disguise a door with paneling to make it blend in with the rest of the room, or place a perfectly sized false bookcase in the opening to hide access to your secret hideaway. You’ll need Murphy hidden door hardware to complete the job. Whatever kind of secret storage you’re looking for, whether to deter thieves or keep valuables out of the reach of children or guests, having a secure hiding place for money, jewelry, important papers, and other precious stuff will give you an added sense of security. Looking for more secret stash ideas? Check out my post on Secret Spaces to Stash Your Stuff!

This site is supported by our audience. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases (at no extra cost to you!). However, I only recommend products I love and/or use. Hey, friends! I recently purchased a GoSun Sport solar oven (I’ve wanted a sun oven for ages!), so today I’d like to do a quick product review so you can decide if you’d like to get one, too. Cooking with solar energy (power from the sun) saves electricity and fuel because, well, you don’t need anything more than a partly sunny day to get the job done! Food is less likely to burn in a solar cooker, and natural moisture from the food gets trapped inside the GoSun’s cooking tube, lending itself to the creation of delightfully moist baked goods. You’d have to put a pan of water in your gas or electric range to get the same effect. I looked at a variety of ovens for solar cooking, including DIY varieties and portable vs. stationary models, but I wanted something easy to pack, lightweight, and that didn't require heavy pans (like Dutch ovens or casserole dishes). I also wanted the cooker to rely strictly on solar power – no preheating pans or prebaking anything ahead of time. I decided to get the GoSun Sport Pro solar oven kit. It comes with a sturdy carrying case and all kinds of fun things to use in the cooker. It even has little silicone cupcake liners I can use to bake snack-sized chocolate cakes. Two food trays were included in the pro pack; each tray holds 5 or 6 cupcake liners, a whole package of hot dogs, or enough food to feed three people. Everything arrived nicely bubble wrapped and securely packaged for safe shipping. You’ll want to line the food trays with parchment or aluminum foil to reduce the amount of cleaning the trays require. Make sure you don’t overfill the trays, either – you don’t want excess spillage in the glass cooking tube. But if you do need to scrub out the tube, you can use this little green scratchy cleaning brush that fits perfectly inside the oven’s tube. Just screw it onto the end of a food tray, and voila! – the tray turns into a handle for the scrubber. The pro pack includes a second food tray, so while you have one tube cooking, you can fill another tray to pop into the oven after it cools back off (don’t put cold trays in the hot glass tube … I’ve broken enough glass canning jars to know that’s a no-no). The GoSun pro pack also came with a small kettle for boiling water (hot cocoa while camping – yes please!) and a user guide with a handy cooking chart that tells you how long different food products take to cook in the sun. The GoSun has black wire handles that fold all the way around towards the back (behind the parabolic reflector) and become the legs of the oven. Use the legs to position it exactly how you want it, and make sure your solar oven is facing the sun. Pro tip: stand between your solar cooker and the sun, and make sure your shadow is falling perpendicular to the glass tube. Or pretend you’re making a letter “T”; your shadow will be the stem of the T, and the glass tube will be the part that crosses the top. To challenge my GoSun, I decided to try it out on a snowy day. An arctic blast passed through this weekend, and today it’s only 27° F. With the below-freezing temperature and partly cloudy skies, I could really put this little oven to the test. I made chocolate cake batter from a box mix (shortcut) and filled up half a dozen of those little cupcake trays. The tray easily slid into the oven nice and snug. At the top of the seal on the end of the tray nearest the handle, there’s a little V-shaped notch. That notch is your vent, so the steam can escape while your food is cooking. Make sure the vent is facing up. I left my GoSun sitting outside surrounded by snow on a cloudy day for about an hour and 20 minutes while I went and did some grocery shopping, and when I came back, I opened it up. The tube was cool enough for me to touch, but I burned my hand on the actual food tray – so be smarter than me and make sure you wear oven mitts! My little snack cakes baked perfectly. They came out moist and fluffy and steaming hot. I was amazed at the amount of heat that collected inside the oven's glass tube, and I have no doubt it could grill meatballs and bake potatoes with the same efficiency – even under a cloudy sky! I hope that you enjoyed this quick review showing that the GoSun Sport oven really can cook in all different temperatures. All you need is a little bit of sun and something wonderful to cook! PS – If you want to kick your solar cooking up a notch and use your GoSun grill 24/7, take a look at the GoSun Fusion! It's the best of solar cooking combined with a USB connection that connects to a battery pack for late-night meals when you're on the go.

This site is supported by our audience. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. However, I only recommend products I love and/or use. I’ve wanted an off-grid underground house for as long as I can remember. Most people give me an odd side glance when I say that—including my husband, who lifted an eyebrow and looked at me like I’d lost my wits. But when we started looking for land to buy, we stumbled upon a listing for an earth sheltered home and made an appointment with the realtor just for fun. That “just for fun” showing turned into a second visit to the unfinished earth berm home and ignited a fire in my husband that matched my own. We wanted an underground house and were determined to buy one. Part of the appeal was the energy efficiency of a house that’s protected by earth on three sides as well as the roof. But we also loved the idea of the low-maintenance exterior (no more shingles blowing off in a windstorm or dented siding from golf ball-sized hail!). When we learned that we would need cash or some kind of alternative financing to purchase the unfinished home, we were shocked, to say the least. Here was a solid shell of a home with 9-inch-thick concrete walls and a roof that could support a tractor, and no banks would consider granting a traditional mortgage. We could only get funding for the value of the land—and even that would require 25% down and a higher interest rate than a conventional mortgage. We didn’t end up buying that particular earth sheltered home, but we didn’t give up, either. We simply adjusted our goals, started discussing ways to make our dream of living off the grid a reality, and found a piece of land we liked even better that we could use as a blank canvas to build our dream home. We considered different options for this dream home: underground earth sheltered, bermed earth sheltered, geodesic or monolithic dome houses, and even an Earthship. We finally settled on a hybrid model: a barndominium with a bermed, earth sheltered home all in one. Technically, there are some differences between an underground home and an earth sheltered (or earth bermed) home. An underground home is truly underground. It might have a courtyard or atrium to provide a more open feeling and give access to the above-ground world, but the house itself is below ground level. A bermed home has earth piled up on the sides and roof, providing insulation from the elements. Frequently, grasses and other small plants are encouraged to grow over the piled earth to prevent erosion and help the home blend in with its natural surroundings. The front of a bermed home can be disguised to fit in with zoning and neighborhood requirements or to give curb appeal or provide versatility. In our case, having a large shop with a one-bedroom home (the barndominium) that leads into a bermed wing (with more rooms!) is the perfect solution. On the other hand, an Earthship is typically built from used materials that can be stacked, filled, and incorporated into the construction of the home. Think old tires and beautifully colored glass bottles. Earthships are designed to make the most of passive solar energy for light and temperature control. They frequently include gray water systems and indoor planting beds for raising food. But you can include these amenities in an earth sheltered home, too. Choosing a sustainable lifestyle One thing almost all alternative housing models have in common is sustainability. People are trying to shift to a greener lifestyle: a life that allows us to get in touch with nature, provide healthy food for our families, and have access to water that hasn’t been chemically altered to make it safe to drink. Renewable energy is another motivating factor. People are attempting to decrease their environmental impact. Solar panels and wind technology are just two of the options you have for getting off the grid and providing energy to your home. When you start looking for land, keep these things in mind: What are the building codes in your county/city/town? Can you collect rainwater from your roof? Are gray water systems allowed? Can you dig a well on the property, and if so, what are you allowed to use the well water for (home, yard, domestic livestock)? What is the soil like? Will you be able to garden without having to amend the soil, or will you need to haul in topsoil and compost for your fruit trees and veggies? Check with your county assessor office to see what qualifies as a “home” for zoning purposes. This can give you a point of discussion with your lender—if the county says your solar panels qualify as electricity for a residential property, then they should qualify as electricity for the loan. Still, some lenders may require proof that you can provide energy to the home during periods of low solar gain—like having a backup generator on the property. Most alternative homes are built on parcels of land outside of cities or suburbia. Part of this is due to building codes. But it’s also because people who want a lifestyle where they can connect to the earth and provide a sustainable living for themselves tend to want to live away from the hustle and bustle of city life. That’s not to say that all alternative homes are built on huge acreages, hours away from town. The Greater World Earthship Community in Taos, New Mexico, is a quick 20-minute drive from Taos. And dome homes (which are also energy efficient) can be found in small towns and larger cities alike (like this monolithic dome in Denver). Why is it challenging to finance an alternative home? There are several reasons lenders are hesitant to provide home loans for alternative homes. The main reason is that there are so few of these homes compared to traditionally constructed models. They just can’t get the comparables they need to get an accurate value of the home. To value a home, an appraiser needs to find similar homes that have sold in the area within the past 12 months. That isn’t easy to do for a unique home constructed from non-traditional materials. Materials are part of the problem—but they can also be part of the solution. To qualify for conventional loans, homes must be constructed from approved materials (a straw bale home or cob house likely won’t qualify). Those materials must meet HUD minimum property standards. If you can prove to your lender that your home was built with materials that meet the standards, you might just convince them to give you a conventional loan—or to at least give you a little better interest rate on a non-conventional option. Lenders may also want to make sure that you have a reliable exit strategy. What if you need to sell your home? Will the lender give you an assumable mortgage? If you, too, are fascinated by alternative homes but have hit the no-lender wall, I’ve listed a few lenders below who might be able to help you out. The lenders in this list have either funded alternative homes in the past, provide a non-conforming mortgage, or have information on their website that mentions financing for Earthships, earth sheltered homes, or tiny homes. If none of these work for you, try contacting local credit unions, local banks, and hard money lenders. If you already own a home, you can try taking out a home equity loan or personal loan to get started with your new build. Make sure your lending institution doesn’t have restrictions on the use of a home equity loan. Or you could sell your current home and—if county zoning regulations allow―live in an RV while your new, off-grid homestead is under construction. Lender options Dimond Mortgage: Taos, NM Flat Branch Home Loans Free and Clear: Ideas for alternate loans HomePromise Nova Home Loans: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada Quontic: Non-traditional, Community Development Loans VGreen Mortgages: Vermont Who builds alternative homes? Many people prefer to build their Earthship or alternative home themselves, saving money on construction costs and being involved with every aspect of their home’s creation. Others prefer to hire a construction company to do part or all of the work. After all, building a home is labor-intensive! Some builders hold workshops that teach would-be homeowners how to build their own Earthship or dome house. This is a great option for eager learners who want to get involved in the construction process. When you contact a builder, ask them if they use HUD approved materials. And ask them if they have worked with any lenders in your area! Here are a few builders you can check out: Earth Sheltered Technology Davis Caves Earthship Global Formworks Building: Durango, Colorado Monolithic Dome Homes Terra-Dome Corporation American Earth Sheltered Concrete Construction, LLC Financial incentives Although the amounts have been decreasing in recent years, a few financial incentives are offered by the IRS for green home buyers and owners. Some of these pertain to remodeling a home, and some can be applied to a new build. Financial incentives may be available for “solar electric property, solar water heaters, geothermal heat pumps, small wind turbines, fuel cell property, and qualified biomass fuel property expenditures.” Check this link for financial incentives from the IRS. Tiny houses and bunkers can be off the grid, too! Many people are opting for a minimalist lifestyle, and tiny homes cater to the modern minimalist. Funding for tiny homes is slightly different from funding for earth berm homes or other alternative home models. Some lenders will finance tiny homes with the same type of loan as an RV; the tiny house will usually need to have wheels for this to apply. If you live in an area that allows tiny homes, check out NerdWallet for tiny house funding options. You can also contact Lightstream, a lender that funds storm shelter and tiny house loans. What if you want your tiny house to be underground? Enter—the bunker! Bunkers come in sizes from “just enough space for a cot and a few necessities” to studio or one- or two-bedroom models. Expect to pay more and get lender financing if you’re going for something on the larger end of the scale. If, however, you’re truly looking for a tiny house underground (small bunker), some manufacturers will offer financing on the models they sell. Rising S Company has a steel “mini bunker” that is eligible for financing. It has room for a bunk bed, a composting toilet, a small stove and sink, and shelves for food storage. Wrapping it up Whether you want to buy a yurt or tiny house or build a rammed earth or dome home, financing can be your biggest challenge. But the benefits of living a sustainable off-grid lifestyle are worth the effort it takes to educate your lender and build the life you desire. With a few phone calls and some elbow grease, you can make your off-grid dream a reality. Know of any lenders you’d like to see added to this list? Contact me here!