Someday, just for kicks, I’m going to try to count up all the potential uses for Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps. But in the meantime I’ll just stick with the uses recommended by shopcasters like Jen Boulden, Philip Gelb, and Norene, all of whom select peppermint as their Magic Soap scent of choice. Made with just water, various oils (coconut, olive, peppermint, hemp, and jojoba), organic peppermint, citric acid, and vitamin E, the green cleaner can “wash your hands, your hair, feed your plants, etc. and it smells great and again,” says Jen. As for Philip, the chef simply states that Dr. Bronner’s “gets the chili off my hands,” a valuable bit of magic indeed. And Norene uses the pepermint soap for both “personal care and home cleaning,” noting that the product makes for “a great wake-me-up refresher any time of day, but especially in the morning. No time for a shower, or trying to conserve water? Give yourself a peppermint sponge bath - you’ll feel clean and refreshed.” And to clean and refresh your home, Norene offers these tips:

“Combine Dr. Bronner’s with baking soda to create a paste perfect for scrubbing tub/tile/sink. Use a tiny smidge with water, vinegar, and essential oils for a great window cleaner. Or just read the bottle label for ideas!”

I used to hate the smell of lavender – something about the scent reminded me of barns and/or farms, and not in a happy way. But then, a few years back, I tried Choice Organic Teas’ Earl Grey with Lavender and fell in serious lavender love – a good thing, since the herb is one of nature’s most reliable forms of stress relief (and, in essential oil form, possesses antibacterial, antidepressant, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antiviral, decongestant, restorative, and sedative properties). Now so many of my ThisNext picks are of the lavender-infused variety, and my tiny little house always bears at least a trace of lavender aroma. (Even one of my favorite local bands has ‘lavender’ in its name, for gawd’s sake.)

So it’s nice to discover that our Aunt Beep describes herself as “obsessed with lavender” (“but ONLY if it’s used in it’s natural form,” she qualifies. “I hate ‘fake’ or chemical-based scents”). That’s why Beep burns Mrs. Meyer’s Lavender Candle, which “neutralizes the most fragrant cooking episodes, and leaves your house smelling fresh.” The Mrs. Meyer’s fan club also includes Alyson and Inayat S., who both recommend Mrs. Meyer’s Laundry Supplies, and Gini S., who treats her kitchen to Mrs. Meyer’s Lavender Countertop Cleaner (“This stuff smells SO GOOD!” says Gini. “It also is the best countertop cleaner I’ve ever used.”).

...continued: Lavender love

Tea tree oil’s healing properties are so strong, it was once included in the Australian army’s first aid kits. Now the essential oil is popping up everywhere - from the shelves of Whole Foods to beauty products like Paul Mitchell’s Tea Tree Hair and Scalp Treatment (which Atsushi Murata loves because “that menthol feeling is addictive”).

According to Natural Healing Now, tea tree oil possesses antibacterial and antifungal properties and can disinfect and deodorize your garbage can as effectively as it can help clear up your acne. Famjaztique at Velvet Verbosity even insists that “you need to have this in your medicine cabinet. Especially if you spend time outdoors.” Indeed, Joanne Hansen recommends Desert Essence Tea Tree Oil because it’s “good for pesky insect bites,” while Really Clever Moms’ blogger says that Dr. Bronner’s Tea Tree Soap can help ward off bug bites – as well as serve as your “hand soap, body wash, shampoo, toothpaste, massage oil, even dishwashing liquid” – while out in the wild.

...continued: Sweet tea tree

I work from home, where the dress code rules out anything fancier than American Apparel and my cat Pillz serves as office assistant (her duties include sleeping most of the day, freaking out at deliverypeople, and hardly ever fetching me tea when I ask her to). But once upon a time not too long ago, I spent at least 40 hours every week in cubicleland, with no windows or natural light or other such luxuries I consider essential to feeling like an actual human being. The only sunshine I saw all day was on the pages of my O.C. calendar, although I might have acquired a lovely tan from the brighter-than-bright fluorescent lighting glaring above.

But no matter whether you do your job from home, in an office building, or an Airstream Travel Trailer, you still need to consciously create a work environment that’s conducive to staying well and as stress-free as possible. If you’re like Jennifer Adam, you do so with the help of a Biomorph Ergonomic Desk. With “lots of levels and tilts for those with fragile backs and wrists,” the desk is “perfect for long hours of clicking and dragging,” says Jennifer. For extra ergonomic support, seat yourself at a Herman Miller Aeron Chair, featuring a high back, wide armrest, and waterfall front edge. Vince R. has had his chair for seven years and reports that “there have been no creaks, squeaks or problems whatsoever. Oh and it’s darn comfortable. Every office or home needs one.” The chair’s so comfy in fact, says Ryan Grey Smith, that “I had to buy my wife one because we fought over who got to sit in the Aeron. Now we fight over who gets the new one.”

...continued: Office space

Although I am no longer the (semi-)hardcore runner I used to be, there are still those days when I push myself hard enough to experience some considerable muscle ache later on. When that happens, I usually take the “whine and do nothing” approach to self-care. But the athletes of ThisNext, who know way more about this stuff than I do, each have his/her own secret solutions for soothing sore muscles.

Mariko Hirakawa, a yoga instructor and dancer, favors muscle rubs infused with naturally healing ingredients. First there’s Zip’s Muscle Rub from Indigo Wild, an essential-oil-based salve that works to ease pain in both your muscles and your joints. Says Mariko:

“It is my favorite muscle rub for sore, knotted muscles, because it contains natural, high quality oils that condition that skin, as well as healing herbs, such as angelica, arnica, and goldenseal, which truly aid in healing the muscles underneath. Plus, it has a pleasant, natural fragrance that has an aroma-therapeutic effect.”

Mariko also turns to the anti-inflammatory, analgesic Traumeel, noting that - even though it lacks “the penetrating feel that Ben Gay or Tiger Balm has” - the rub contains homeopathic remedies that “really speed the healing process.”

Those anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties are also found in Pharmanex FlexCreme, a menthol-based product proven effective by a Medical Journal of Rheumatology double-blind clinical study. In her FlexCreme shopcast, Kayaker Tanya Faux announces that “after shoulder surgery, it was the only thing that gave me instant pain relief.”

...continued: (Don't) feel the burn

Like about 60 million other Americans, I am sometimes prone to insomnia, which may have to do with my affection for caffeine, overall stressiness, and/or the fact that my cat is a big jerk who always wants to hang out and talk a lot at 4 a.m. To minimize my time spent staring at the ceiling for hours on end, I sleep with a lavender-stuffed teddy bear. You stick him in the microwave to warm him up, and the herbs inside (rosebud and hyssop and rosemary and so on, in addition to the lovely lavender) release their calming scent and gently help you drift off to dreamland. The whole nuking-the-teddy-bear ritual always feels a bit odd, but it works and generally keeps me from having to wake up at some dreadful hour and invariably end up contemplating the meaning of life (ick).

So many ThisNexters have their own inventive sleep solutions, a few of which are even more high-tech than my teddy bear. Like the Sleeptracker recommended by Jean and Ivar Zantinge: Worn like a watch, the device picks up on physical signals from your body, determines your best possible waking time, and then rouses you from sleep at just the right moment. And, having owned Select Comfort beds for two decades, Eric Hammond “can’t imagine going back to the other kind” (“No more sagging in the middle as the bed gets older and my wife and I each have our own ‘sleep number’ to adjust our sides of the bed to different firmness levels,” says Eric of his Select Comfort Air Bed).

...continued: Sweet dreams

How do you cope with everyday tension? Massage? Meditation? Bottle of wine? A quick search for “stress” on ThisNext reveals our shopcasters’ widely varying but always ingenious methods of shaking off the mounting stress of the modern world: There are fun toys and pretty-smelling self-care products, even one member’s recommendation for her much-beloved chiropractor. And while it may seem most unlikely that a plushie toy or bath salt could be your key to keeping healthy, finding those ever-reliable ways to mellow out and calm your nerves is crucial to staving off sickness. With stress linked to so many health conditions – everything from ulcers and TMJ to heart disease and weakened immunity – these ThisNext picks just might be virtual lifesavers.

...continued: ThisNext gets de-stressed

Since my shoulders have been chronically tense since I was about eight-years-old (seriously), I finally decided it was time to start getting regular massages. Those bimonthly trips to my chiropractor have worked wonders thus far, completely relieving the wrist pain I feared might be carpal tunnel. But - as evidenced by a bunch of shopcasts popping up on ThisNext - a solid massage can happen at home, too. All that’s required is a little know-how and the right products - and, of course, a very loving someone who’s willing to help you knead away all your tension and troubles. Just remember the value of reciprocation - or at least an I.O.U.

...continued: ThisNext's got all you knead

I’m a sucker for any kind of naturally yummy-smelling product - as I write this post, I’ve got about a half-dozen aromatherapy candles burning away in my teeny-tiny apartment. But there’s more to aromatherapy than just sensory pleasure: Those essential oils can produce potent stress-easing effects and help get rid of everything from the common cold to muscle aches and pains.

Likewise, there’s more to aromatherapy products than that which comes in wax-and-wick form. And on ThisNext, a number of aromatically refined shopcasters - including yours truly - are shopcasting about their favorite essential-oil-based finds.

If only ThisNext’s stickers came in the scratch-‘n’-sniff variety.

...continued: Soothing Scents

At Livin’ the Moment David Romanelli gets serious about stress reduction:

There’s nothing better to relieve stress than a moment in your day of complete and total surrender. Just one moment where you’re able to lie down and let go of the fears, the worries, the goals. You’d be amazed how quickly the body’s natural healing processes are set into motion…so long as you carve out that daily moment.

To help find that stress-less moment, David recommends getting your hands on a bottle of lavender oil and breathing deep to feel your tension melt. (Another hint: Sprinkle a few drops on your pillow just before bed; it’ll help lull your racing mind to sleep in record time.)