Road Goddess Guide

 
Features

January-March 2007  

 

 

Featured Artist: Tira Mitchell

 

 

 

About K. Lee Kappmeier

K.Lee Kappmeir on her Indian

What do you get when a girl grows up discovering yoga & motorcycles are both
powerful therapies?
A great yoga teacher who considers the thunder of a v-twin engine one of her most healing mantras.

A professional educator, author, and therapist who uses yoga as a vehicle for herself and others to live and ride longer. A goddess of Biker Yoga!
K. Lee Kappmeier, founder of YogaWell, Institute of
Progressive Therapies in San Diego, CA.

www.yogawell.com    

 

 

Holistic Biker: Have a vision of wholeness, the combination of all parts with understanding and experience. Know yourself, know your bike and cater to the spirit that binds everything
together.

artwork copyright Cara Mae McGuire

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Road Goddess Guide

Mind

Even though you may be traveling on four wheels this frosty season, doesn’t mean you can’t mentally get your motorcycle fix. Here are a few ways to keep your moto-mind sharp during the winter.

Thinking of customizing your ride? Try this new computer software called Virtual Cycles, which lets you design and create what could one day be your new sweet ride. Virtual-cycles.com

Want to get your motorcycle info organized? For Two Wheels Only computer program will help you keep track of all things motorcycle: insurance details, routine maintenance, trips and much more.

Cruise the Net and plan your next journey.  Research motorcycle touring companies to discover what your next exciting road adventure could be. May we suggest a gander at Turkey Creek Tours’ mystical rides through Colorado and Mexico, or go global with Towanda Women Motorcycle Tours in Australia and New Zealand.

Brush up on your skills. Watch a DVD on motorcycle training courses to refresh your capabilities. Remember all the little things that have slipped your mind. Become a safer, more proactive rider. Christineskickstart.com

 

Body

Aromatherapy for the Road
by K. Lee Kappmeier

Easy to pack and fun to use; there are lots of reasons and options for stowing good smelling essential oils in your saddlebags. As plentiful as open roads to explore aromatherapy is beyond just “stopping to smell the roses”. Besides being pleasing to your nose many aromatherapy remedies offer profound relief from common road trip discomforts and, goddess-forbid, disasters.

Basic Benefits include:
Soothing tired muscles and dry eyes, freshen clothes, boots, helmet lining, doo-rag, making a stuffy hotel room more habitable, uplifting your energy, or helping you calm down when needed, breathing better during & after heavy traffic, and even remembering a route better.

Consider the following ways to incorporate aromatherapy into some items you may already carry:

-Aromatherapy oils for a First aid pouch
- Teas & herbs with a healing purpose
- Lip balm that is therapeutic
- Incense which can remove funky residue

Here's a list of easy to acquire tools and uses for your aromatherapy arsenal while surfing the asphalt:

Some Herbs & Oils:

*Ginger root; great for nausea, digestion, and coldness, plus sore muscles :
Chop some pieces in hot water and drink as a tea. Can be used as a poultice and or in the bath water for sore muscles after a hard or cold ride.

* Rosemary (loose and or oil); improves circulation and memory, improves oncentration, also good for your hair:
Rub the oil on your temples to help remember a route. Stick some leaves in your socks to help poor circulation in the feet.

*Lavender (loose and or oil); most soothing scent, can help reduce tension overall, including headaches:
Rub oil where ever you feel tension. Place some sprigs under your pillow to at night to release tension from a ride. Place some a few drops of oil in your bath water to unwind.

* Mint (tea bags); good for digestion and a pick me up in general. Mint is refreshing so any time you feel sluggish or weary physically or mentally try a little mint.:
Hot tea is good for upset stomach while iced tea is perfect for taking after a long hot day of riding in the blazing sun.

* Tea tree (oil); antiseptic, antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral.:
Apply a few drops of oil on any cut for enhanced healing. If you have an infection such as athlete’s foot or nail fungus tea tree oil may assist in ridding you of such (apply generously and often). It has also proved useful in treating acne.

* Pelargonium Rose (oil); the essential oil of just about any type of rose is great for depression and uplifting the heart. Pelargonium Rose in particular is good for women’s bodies and minds (it is used to treat menopause symptoms as it stimulates the adrenal cortex and thyroid). It can treat fear, confusion and bewilderment (emotions that can happen in during a motorcycle ride) :
If and when you may be feeling down, confused, apprehension about about a ride then rub some oil around your chest and neck.

* Eucalyptus (oil); especially good to recover from a smog filled road. Eucalyptus increases your capacity to breath easier from other respiratory distress such as bronchitis, can relieve sore muscles as it increases circulation, and it can repel insects, and even can get rid of bed bugs ! :
Dab some oil on a bandana and hold close to your mouth and nose when in a bad air quality day or a polluted area such as road work . You can also tie that bandana over your mouth and nose area (like a bandit) while riding. You can place a couple small drops in a bath to relieve sore muscles and or help you breathe. Often people stand over a pot of steaming water with some eucalyptus to clear congestion. For possible bed bugs diffuse the oil on sheets as much as possible by spraying oil throughout sheets or washing sheets in hot water with oil in it. Sometimes while on a road trip you end up in a questionable place and a little oil dosed on your bed can make you feel a little more safe and rest assured.

*Chamomile (tea bags); an anti-inflammatory and calming;
Drink tea for a getting to sleep easier. Place a warm tea bag over your eyelids if you experience tired, itchy or “pink eye”. You can also squeeze some tea on to your lip balm to help sooth chapped lips (if you have time melt the tea and balm together with lavender and mint and let reset as a super salve).

* Bergamot (Earl Gray tea bags); has some antidepressant effects.:
Drink this breakfast tea if you need a little motivation to hit the road. This tea is full of caffeine so if you are watching your caffeine intake beware.

* Incense (good quality and natural, not the cheap perfume-y kind); besides cleansing a hotel room of cigarette smoke, a bathroom of suspicious order, or just gracing your luggage with nice scents, you can burn incense and deposit the ash in your boots to keep them fresh smelling versus stinky.:
Sandalwood is calming and conducive to meditation. Jasmine stimulates social interaction and harmony so it would be good when taking a group motorcycle journey.

* Sage or Cedarwood (loose or oil); in place of
incense and for a deep clearing of any thing or space. Whenever you find your self in a place that feels “creepy” burn some sage or anoint oil in a circle around your space. In Native American traditions sage and cedar are used for clearings and blessings. You may have blessed your bike or a new home with sage in a ceremony formally with friends. Sage can also promote menstruation so if you’re on a trip and having cramps then soak in a bath with sage to balance your flow and banish cramps.

copyright Alistair Williamson

Miscellaneous Tools:
- a sharp pocket knife to cut the ginger root
- a change purse or pouch to carry your aromatherapy goodies in
- a print out of this article to remind you what each item can be well used for.
 


Now that you are more scent savvy the next road trip you take, pack some aromatherapy tools to enhance your experience as a safe and sensual moto-siren.

 

Biker Yoga Goddesses 2007 Calendar by K. Lee Kappmeier
Purchase Here

 

Soul

Feed your inner spirit: Quoting the Motorcycle Soul


"I never really rode just so I could do stunts on the bikes, but rode because I fell in love with it, and what it brought to my life."
~Gloria Fontenot, motorcycle stuntwoman

"Up on the wall is my best and strongest place. I'm kind of hyper/scattered... and it feels as if all the different parts of me come together when I'm riding. It's where my self esteem lives."
~Morgan “Sam” Storm, drome rider

What I like, or one of the things I like, about motoring is the sense it gives one of lighting accidentally, like a voyager who touches another planet with the tip of his toe, upon scenes which would have gone on, have always gone on, will go on, unrecorded, save for this chance glimpse. Then it seems to me I am allowed to see the heart of the world uncovered for a moment.”
~Virginia Woolf, writer

Women not only can build bikes they can build awesome, head turning, love-to-ride, kind of bikes. That is the kind of history I would love to make.”
~Christine Vaughn, Wicked Women Choppers

“When I see a motorcycle zooming by, I still get butterflies in my stomach every time. I sense a feeling of wild liberation, just like watching a galloping horse.”
~Cara Mae

 

 
 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                     
 

 

 

 

 
 

 

HH's Most Wanted Products
that warm & soothe.

Vermont Soap Butter Bar
This ultra-moisturizing organic face and body bar soothes and protects dry, wind burned skin. Key ingredient is raw shea butter with healing essential oils such as coconut, palm and olive. Fragrant subtle hints of rosemary and spicy calendula lightly boost your epidermis.

 

The Body Shop’s Brazil Nut Moisture Mask
Tresses too dry and split from being windblown or stuck in helmet hair position? Revive and condition your locks with this hair mask. This is a 20 minute pre-wash leave in treatment that strengthens hair to reduce further breakage. It is definitely worth the extra time! Also recommended by Self and Parents Magazines.

 

Hot Hands Heated Grip Wraps
For those gals that scoff at winter, here is another way to battle the cold beast. Heated grip wraps are the fastest solution to overcoming finger freeze. Just pop them on over your standard grips and attach the pre-wired harness to your battery. All set! $70 bucks grants you less stiff, achy, frosty fingers.
 

 

Heated Body and Back Wrap
On your cold weather journey, ease the ride with a strategically placed body warmer. The adjustable wrap has convenient pockets containing large disposable heat packs that last up to 24 hours. No wires, no batteries. The price of a heated back and body wrap:$15.95, the cost of feeling warm and relaxed: priceless. papas warehouse.com 

 

 

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