13 Quotes by Yancy Lael

If you feel like a failure in any area of your life, then you are in need of some self-forgiveness.

Don't forget that healing takes time. Don't expect to try meditation and a new skincare line and end up with perfect skin in a week. Give yourself the gift of time and patience. The body is a complicated, miraculous system and each body processes change in its own time.

Wash, wash, wash. Tone, tone, tone. Strip the oil, then add an oil-free moisturizer to replace the oil. This is how we've been taught to care for our skin. It seems a little crazy when you see it in print, right? Take all that oil out and add chemicals to replace it. Nuts!

Don't rely on labels to give you the information you need. Trust only the ingredient list and your gut.

Once upon a time, there was a woman who lived in a cottage at the edge of the woods. She was neither young nor old, neither pretty nor unattractive. As such, people from the village didn’t take much notice of her. Nor did she take much notice of them. She spent her days foraging for roots and mushrooms in the forest, simmering broths in the cauldron at her hearth, and spinning wool into long strings that would be woven into shawls and mittens.

At midmorning the next day, she stood out by the line, hanging the laundry up to dry. But when she reached into the basket for the last item, a worn, moss-green shirt, she found it empty. Looking up, she saw the little fox holding the shirt in its mouth. It leapt, dropping the shirt, then picked it up again.

The fox didn’t move, didn’t even seem to be breathing as the woman’s trembling fingers touched its red pelt, just between its ears. It closed its eyes as her hand moved over the back of its head.

As they climbed into the wagon, the widows thanked her again, and reminded her to be careful out there. There was danger in the woods, especially for a woman on her own. Fairies, demons, and shapeshifters who might take advantage of an unguarded lady.

In this culture, cultivating unconditional self-acceptance truly is radical.