As much as possible, let your weekend be a time of rest and recovery. The more television you watch, the more time you spend on the computer, the less relaxed your body is. Set time aside each weekend to unplug from technology -- the telephone, the television, the Palm Pilot and the computer. This is yet another way of recovering your sense of self and your natural rhythms. Think of this time as a time to heal and fast from technology.

I recommend four activities that will enhance your weekend and stimulate healing. Choose any one of the four, combination of the four, or all four activities. Each has the potential to make a healing difference in your life.

1. Do nothing
If possible, set aside at least 20 minutes every weekend to do nothing. Just feel your feelings, experience your rhythms, and feel the beautiful rest that comes over you when you have nothing at all to do.

2. Take a long walk
Take time for a long walk every evening, if possible. As discussed in chapter 1, you need not power walk. Instead, start out at a comfortable pace, and as you progress, increase or decrease your speed depending on how your body is reacting. Speed is not as important as distance and time. Increase the distance and time you walk as your fitness improves -- and if you walk regularly, your fitness will improve. Whenever possible, walk in nature -- a forest, a beach or a park. Most important of all, enjoy your walk.

As you are walking, notice nature. See its beauty. Feel how it is feeding you with love and gratitude. Find something on your path that strikes you as beautiful and bring it home. It's a gift from nature. Display it in a special place and notice it again and again throughout the week.

Each season, I create a nature table on which I place plants, crystals, a beautiful card, flowers, and art I've discovered on my walks. Recently, I got my florist to supply a few organic and biodynamic flowers, which I now purchase regularly. Many farmers' markets also sell organic flowers. All of these gifts from nature are an inspiration to me. I want them displayed prominently in my home because they remind me of the love that is constantly flowing from nature.

Page 1 of 2 — find two more tips on page 2.

Excerpted from Awakening Beauty, the Dr. Hauschka Way by Susan West Kurz. Copyright 2006 by by Thomas Harris. Excerpted by permission of Clarkson Potter, a division of Random House of Canada Limited. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

3. Get a massage
If you can, get a massage on the weekend. Many massage schools offer reduced rates on weekends so that their students can practice and learn their craft. Call your local massage school and find out what it is offering.

If you can, get at least two massages every month. Try to schedule your massage on the same day of the week, and roughly the same time of the day, in order to establish a rhythm that will reinforce its healing effects.

4. Care for your hair
A wonderful treatment for hair that's been damaged by chemical treatments, sun, wind, chlorine or heat is to apply a hair lotion made of healing herbs, followed by healing essential oils. Here's how you can do it.

Apply a hair lotion that contains herbal extracts to your hair for five to 10 minutes, massaging your scalp thoroughly. The extracts should include some of the following: neem, nettle, calendula, rosemary and arnica. Begin exploring your scalp gently with your fingertips in gentle, circular motions. You may find tender spots, especially at the base of the skull. Give these areas a little extra attention and loving care. Move the scalp until it's loose and relaxed. Then brush your hair with a natural-bristle hairbrush for several minutes. Bend forward at the waist and brush from the base of the skull forward. Run the brush gently through the hair. This further massages the scalp and distributes the oil to the hair strands. Brush slowly, gently and firmly.

Apply about one tablespoon of a hair oil made of extracts such as neem, wheat germ oil, chamomile, and rosemary. Run it through the hair, beginning at the scalp but concentrating on the ends. Comb the oil through with your fingers or a large-tooth comb. Cover your hair with a woolen hat or a cotton scarf and leave it on for at least an hour. If you want to protect the hat or the scarf from stains, put on a loose-fitting shower cap first. This will work up a little heat and help the oil penetrate more into the hair. The treatment may be left on overnight.

Shampoo thoroughly that night or the next morning. You may need an extra appliication of shampoo to remove excess oil. Rinse with diluted apple cider vinegar (2 quarts water to 2 tablespoons vinegar) before applying conditioner.

Page 2 of 2

Excerpted from Awakening Beauty, the Dr. Hauschka Way by Susan West Kurz. Copyright 2006 by by Thomas Harris. Excerpted by permission of Clarkson Potter, a division of Random House of Canada Limited. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.