Hair is just hair, right? It's a 9 billion dollar industry just in the U.S. alone. It has a huge financial value when it comes to hair care and services and products, and I'm so curious about what we invest in our feeling of worth when it comes to money and significance and how hair plays such a significant role in our lives and in cultures around the world.

Andy Scarborough describes how "hair is a tiny chronicle of every emotional, hormonal, and nutritional experience". He is a hairdresser from Santa Monica, and he's also the creator of the Crown Works treatment. Andy brings in ritual and tradition into his practice as a hairdresser. And it's really cool because if we look at how we deal with our hair, we can actually connect with how are we taking care of ourselves.

And so let's dive into the crown chakra because feeling confused, isolated, disconnected, or fatigued- can sometimes be a good sign to know that there's a blockage or an interference in our crown vibe (yes there's a million other reasons for this too). Simply, the more that you can think clearly, the more you can say things clearly, the more that you express yourself clearly, the more clear you bring into the world what you desire and need.

And how hot is that? Clear, confident communication is the sexiest thing ever. The more we can be clear, the more that we can tap into the power of focus. The more we can leverage our focus, the more we can listen to the magic of focus and the outcomes of where we put our attention. If you're curious about manifestation, this is where the freedom to do so comes in. We can easily be our own biggest critic (hello inner saboteur), or distractor from the importance of our inner work. And so when it comes to anchoring our focus and intention in any practice, we are directly working with the alignment of our chakra healing work.

Also, I'm really inspired to share the spiritual significance of hair and how it is linked to the very essence of who we are and what we are attached to. It's quite remarkable how lush our hair gets when we are pregnant because of our hormones, and flow and how much that can change postpartum. It speaks to our creative flow and our practical need for nourishment and deep rest after we give birth. In the west it's just common to see postpartum hair loss as a normal phenomenon. I've heard countless women complain about this in my postpartum groups. I believe the loss of hair in clumps it's indicative of a necessary "letting go" in the form of shedding as well as a possible need for more holistic emotional and physical support.

Around the world, there's leverage of the nonphysical as we grow our hair for the significance and the symbolism of this extension of ourselves. There can be so much attachment to experiences and hair. There are longstanding traditions of hair cutting as an expression of grief as well as adornment, sugaring, dying, growing it out, oiling, and covering it with cloth-and during the slave trade, native medicinal and crop seeds were often hidden in hair and maps we're also braided to indicate routes of freedom.  I'm feeling like I really want to bring the glam back to tradition. And what I mean by glam is bringing in the beautiful power, the essence, our connection to our own divine beauty through the practice of ritual and ceremony and celebration.

In my recent podcast interview with Cindy Foley, we discussed the significance, the power of our connection to thought, the sacredness of hair and our nervous system and what we bring into our world. She is a brilliant stylist and the owner of Carbon Hair Company. Cindy's been doing hair since 1996, and she's an artist who has created the story project called The Gathering of the Ones. 
​​
I believe that having clarity in our head starts with having clarity in our thoughts and in our hair. And so recently I got my hair cut in a way that I never thought I would. We have so many different stories that weave who we are. What I love about these podcasts is that I get to jam out my own understanding that I'm navigating in my own life and in my own practice and in my work.

I went to go see the sunrise this morning, and it reminded me, as my energy is rising, I'm able to connect to this amazing life source for our world. And through that, what do we have? Well, we have our own tentacle system that's connected to source. We have our brain, which influences our nervous system. And the crown chakra influences our brain and nervous system. That's where the magic happens. That's where it starts. So as we have emotions, we also have a connection to a level of understanding of enlightenment.

What happens if you can hone in on the ceremony of that moment of the terminology and communication and say, I just received a really good idea, or it just occurred to me, or I just realized, do you see the shift in the power there? So let's talk about the reality of things and the unravelling of our thoughts and our inner conversations, because what's occurring in your mind has the ability to not resist your own flow or to resist your own flow.

Here are beautiful ways that you can bring in more of an alignment and clarity in your own practice and your day-to-day:

-Get to know the historical traditions of your lineage when it comes to hair styles and ritual.

-Bring in little rituals a nice clarifying shampoo or putting an oil treatment in your hair and dedicating 10 to 20 minutes to the task of checking your crown chakra, checking into that part of you and be open to constantly learning.

-When I do my hair, as I brush and braid, I set intentions. And so in the same manner that we can create a therapeutic addition to our practice through our hair, we need to really remember the importance of the crown as being the receiver of intuitive guidance and connection to our higher self or power. And so vibrationally, when you give attention to this part of you, you can listen to any insights you received during the week or the day or in the moment. And that's where the magic is.

-Bring in your own practice before you get your haircut, or even when you just take care of your hair and your day-to-day.
It can be something as simple as holding a crystal while you get your haircut. Or in my case, I braided my bangs before Cindy cut them, and I just said a little prayer of what I wanted to release. And just bringing in that awareness can really help you in terms of your intuitive connection with the cells in your body.


Gems to for your Crown:

Amethyst heightens intuitive connection, and it works to break addictive behaviors and promotes overall balance.

Selenite energizes and promotes mental clarity and breaks through the fog of negative thought patterns. And I love selenite because it can also, it feels like this trunk of a tree when I hold onto it, where it's actually channeling my energy down to the core of the earth. And so it helps bridge the gap between my crown chakra down to my rooted sense of myself.

Hematite is also a beautiful one because it's so grounding and it brings us back into the body. And it also protects and absorbs negative energy.

And who doesn't love Rose Quartz? This heart opening stone of love. It can facilitate forgiveness and helps to release feelings of animosity.

Essential Oils for your Crown Chakra:
And so when it comes to essential oils, Blue Lotus  oil enhances meditation by stimulating the Pineal gland, also known as the Third Eye. It can also reduce stress and anxiety.

Melissa (Lemon Balm) essential oil is used for facilitating lightness of being and relaxation. The herb in the form of tea is also known to soothe the nervous system.  And it's incredible also as a tea, not the oil as a tea, but in terms of drinking it as a herb. The tea is calming antioxidant rich and anti-inflammatory and makes it a great choice for aromatherapy.

My favorite essential oil is Lavender. This versatile oil is made for the crown. Not only does it evoke a sense of peace and chill, but in terms of tranquility, it can be used with steam and you can breathe it in deeply. It's great for the respiratory tract as well. It's also a dream for the hair from scalp to ends because it also has antiseptic properties. And so it can help mild skill, scalp irritations, and it's just like divine, oh my goodness, the smell is glorious!

And for smudging, I often use cedar or Palo Santos, which is a sacred tool, used to loosen and dispel negative energy from the spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional bodies. I think everyone should find what they gravitate towards in terms of their smudging practices. 

I really welcome you, to embrace, the beauty of change and transformation at every opportunity.

We all have stories in our hair. Our hair holds so much information about who we've touched, who we've led into our lives. Hair is an access point in into our lives and our lineage, not only within our own lifetimes, but it is actually this incredible reminder that we are attached to the meaning, the feelings, the experiences that define who we are, not just in the ethereal, but tangibly in our skin, in our bones, in our whole body, we can hold and let go and choose what we want to carry​ forward.


-Serena Oliveira

Thirteen years ago on March 7th I became a mother. With the herring spawning season, comes the reminder of how my son was born. Three days before I gave birth, I looked out at the ocean from my window and with bountiful excitement, I saw the incredible sight of a turquoise stream filling the ocean beside my gulf island home. The herring spawn was happening right in front of my house! During the time that I called this small island home, every spring I’d wait patiently to catch the nearly shore bound fish to pickle or fry up fresh, and to dry the row laden seaweed out for soups and winter meals. If you’ve ever been around the herring spawn, it is an incredible event! It’s like a birthday party in the sea that involves incredible synchronicity and timing. It is a significant gathering of sea mammals, birds and fish of epic proportions.

The turquoise that you see? That my friend is the simultaneous sperm release of thousands of the little male fish. These little guys fill the water with their milt (aka fish sperm), fertilizing the millions of eggs that are also being simultaneously released by the female fish. When herring spawn, their eggs attach firmly to strands of seaweed and other structures in the water so they float around and hang out for a few weeks until they hatch. The spawn happens spontaneously and instantaneously. It’s as if a light switch is turned on in the ocean and all at once, the ocean is filled with the potential for baby herring life!! If I could choose a musical soundtrack to put to it, I’d probably choose a live version of Bohemian Rhapsody…or maybe Cosmic Love by Florence and the Machine. 

Welcoming the Power of Birth

I opened my front door and breathed in the sight and smell.
When I saw the familiar glow in the water I stopped. I took a breath and decided that my focus was on one-thing-only. I turned to my doula friend (who was visiting) and partner and eyed them closely. I had their full attention. Like the captain that I was of my own birth team I commandeered: "Get the pails! Buckets! Nets!"
Enormously pregnant and bulging with my womb filled with a sweetly nestled baby inside, all I wanted to to do was try to catch some fish!! I wanted to make some pickled herring after tasting my friend’s home made recipe from the fish I had caught a few years before…so I put a scarf around my head and went out the door.
I could feel my baby's head reaching far down into the deeper depths of my pelvis. As I waddled swiftly down the beach, my baby floated and swayed in his own tiny ocean.
Did you know that amniotic fluid has been proven to be quite similar in salt composition as sea water! The wondrous womb never ceases to amaze me.
Amniotic fluid has about 2% salinity while Oceans are 3.0 to 3.5% dissolved salts. All life does seem to have originated from the ocean, and the fact that us humans carry our own little micro ocean during gestation is pretty magnificent, don’t you think?
It’s a pretty cool reminder of our collective connection to Earth and Water life.

With my breath feeling full of baby pressing on my diaphragm (my organs and ribs officially feeling jammed like sardines- ;)), I squatted on the shore and breathed in the cold ripples of wind and sea. I warmed up with the thought of my own approaching birth.
​
Little did I know, was how powerful this fishing excursion would be on my connection to the incredible capacity of life, and in my own surrender of the wild current of birth that pulsed everywhere around me!
I went to bed listening to the sea lions feasting and hollering along with the forlorn song of the winter loon. I was lulled to sleep with the fresh sounds echoing around the house.

A few days later, I felt the pulse rise in me of my own birthing time. I was ready and things were about to get real crazy.

This is the season of incredible breath taking, bounty of life.  The ocean comes to life with the pulsing urge of birth in the wind, the water and shores.  Warmed by the sun and with all of it's ecological resilience, the ocean reaches a point of dynamic stability that is ideal for the reproductive physiology of the herring.  All at once, the birthing process of new life comes pouring forth!  Gulls and eagles serenade the skies, seals and sea lions frolic and float. They are all free to be, free to lay, to soar, to live, embracing their power of wild existence.

In the next few weeks, the eagles will have their turn to lay and sea mammals to birth their live young.  It is an incredible time of witnessing, celebrating and to revel in the swollen potential of life... it's everywhere!  I can't help to compare this birthing forth of freedom to the natural physiology that we carry as humans, and where we are in our freedom to embrace our own autonomous power, originating within the primordial experience of childbirth.

The Birth of Spring & Celebrating Childbirth

As a doula and mother I witness this dynamic surge of spring with so much awe, fully aware of the delicate balance all around me that awakens this wild, natural cycle that simply knows no bounds.  It pulls, it pushes, cools, flows, warms & releases, takes flight and calmly allows itself to be carried by the current... all in it's own time, it's own place, surrendering to itself with it's own power within to bring forth life!  To revel in the wildness of life and it's uninhibited, unbound abundance of power is an important way to connect with that part of ourselves that  knows exactly how to give birth. 

​

• Ultimately, leading is an important role in coaching and I see that by identifying and developing the strengths of my clients, this process will help them feel accountable to their birthing process, regardless of it's unpredictability.

​

• With the added unpredictability of Covid-19, and the added changes in medical policies and treatment and care, prenatal coaching is an important asset that can help people feel more clear and certain about their goals, options and expectations. 

​

• Aligning a client’s beliefs with their wishes is all about bringing clarity. Using search questions and performing a reality check are key to making new options clear which is thus the gateway to facilitating change. Being aware of how open a client is to make a change(s) and the level of their commitment exhibiting to their own individual goal setting practice is a great tool to assess her commitment to her goals. As coaches, we can always check for opportunities to clarify whether our clients are open to bringing forth change.

​

• As a doula I can dive deeper and help assess how close my client is to achieving their goals. Regardless of a person’s background, my role is to be present and grounded and ready to be a guide. I have done adventure and outdoor guiding and coaching reminds me of this role of guiding parents to on the “journey” which is the process and not to solely focus on the outcome, or “destination”. I can foresee that coaching will help me to trust and apply solid tools to help in this professional process. 

​

• Optimal performance in the form of “the ideal birth” is something that I see as a problem in our birth culture. Exploring this concept deeper through active listening and time can open a way to help others define what a positive birth outcome means to them. Levels of satisfaction are a personal reflection of a person’s beliefs and values. Tuning in to the personal options and abilities of each client to feel satisfied will directly affect how empowered they feel in their own birthing process. In my practice, I can now integrate an emphasis on abilities and strengths versus an expectation with limited or vague accountability. 

​

• The journey of pregnancy and birth emphasizes growth and generative change, since they are impactful life events which carry a person from one stage of their life into another. I have always valued and acknowledged this process openly in my practice and so the listening tools and willingness to go deeper with my clients in trusting them in their own unique process is aligned with this leadership value found in coaching.

Amidst the emotional, psychological and social impacts of Covid-19, I believe that we can continue to gain clarity of what we want in both the short and long term for ourselves, our families, and our broader community. I am currently offering complimentary 45 minute coaching sessions for people around the world, and a discount on my coaching practices. To discover more, visit my coaching page.

To learn more about the benefits of coaching and more about what to expect during a coaching session click here.

​Thanks for visiting! Join our instagram and facebook community below for upcoming announcements and updates :)

​