A Nose Knows

Are you bathing your organs in the stress hormone of cortisol? If so you could be overworking your adrenals, activating the insulin producing section of your pancreas and causing that excess weight around your middle which can in turn eventually affect the function of your thyroid.  The answer for most of us lies not in getting out and running another five miles but in doing the reverse by slowing down. Your body is already overworked and asking for you to rest, slow down and ground.  It is begging for your attention to not push things more by adding more activities to your day.  Find ways to reduce your stress such as getting away from your desk at lunch and going for a walk or maybe just finding a quiet space to meditate for 5 minutes.    Looking at your diet is important too so be sure you are not eating too many processed foods.  Try switching to warm veggies and organic grains for some of your meals and remember to make lunch the largest meal of the day when you can.  

Here is a pranyama (breath work) that works beautifully to balance the parasympathetic and sympathetic portions of the nervous system. Nadi Shodhana, also called Alternate Nostril breathing.  Try this daily for 10-15 minutes a day and see how this breath relaxes, grounds and supports you.  Maybe add this to your lunch hour, it is delicious.

Take a soft inhale through both nostrils, then softly exhale out both nostrils.  Gently close off your right nostril with your thumb and inhale through your left nostril, pause at the top of the inhale, then release your thumb and close off your left nostril with your ring finger of the same hand simultaneously and softly, gently exhale out the right nostril.  Pause at the bottom of the exhale, then close off the right nostril and inhale through the left.  Repeat for 10-15 minutes and let the breaths be so gently that if you had a feather by your nostrils it would barely move.  Begin and end the breathing with the left nostril.

When finished just let both hands relax in your lap and pause and feel what Nadi Shodhana has to offer you each time you practice.

Namaste

You Are What You...Digest (and DON'T Digest)

How important is the food you eat and how you digest it?  Here is what could happen if undigested food (toxins also called ama in Ayurveda) reach any one of these tissues in your body over a period of time:

.  Plasma:  acidity; heart burn, ulcers

.  Blood:  it becomes hot and will also overheat the liver, skin problems

.  Muscle:  fibromyalgia

.  Fat:  gaining weight without reason, high cholesterol

.  Bone:  osteoporosis, arthritis, stiffness

.  Nerve/Marrow:  MS, autoimmune diseases, Alzheimer's autism

.  Reproductive fluid - prevents nourishing your ojas (immunity)

Granted this doesn't happen overnight but if you spend years receiving these signals from your body and are not doing anything about it, problems can arise.  Perhaps it is time to look at your diet carefully.  If you are constantly popping over the counter medication and just masking the problem you probably have started to see that what you were taking originally is no longer working and you need to increase your dosage to receive the same benefits.  First and foremost always check in with your doctor and do not stop taking without your doctor's permission any medications you are on.  Second, find out ways to bring yourself back into balance through diet and lifestyle. Third, notice what happens when you do so.

How we eat is just as important as what we eat.  Are you eating on the run, in your car, at your desk, between appointments?  Are you shoving things down just to get through the day?  Ayurveda is a 5,000 year old science that is a wonderful tool to help you start to make small changes in your diet and lifestyle.  

Simple things like drinking two small glasses of warm water first thing in the morning to wake up your colon and help with a bowl movement can make big changes in how you feel during the day.  Scraping your tongue clears toxins from the body and helps to stimulate digestion.  Oiling your body before leaving the house for the day can help to remove toxins from the skin and give you a protective layer of love for your largest organ.

Stay tuned for more blogs on how to nourish your body, mind and spirit.  How to fine tune your diet and lifestyle and, therefore, learn to reach your fullest potential with love and gratitude in this lifetime in the body.

Three's Company with Sattva, Rajas & Tamas

 Recently I was fortunate enough to spend hours with a group of amazing ladies.  We come from different walks of life but we are all the same. 

In today’s world it seems we are constantly focused on the outer body and not the inner.  Even in yoga, as a teacher, I see many students sit on their mats and have a hard time quieting their minds.  They tend to be in the “mindset” of asking for progress reports: How did I do? Did I work up a sweat? Did I challenge myself? Am I getting any better? How can I progress?

As a teacher we speak about quieting the mind and we perhaps work with pranayama, but do we give our students what they want instead of what they need just to keep our classes full?  I believe we give them what they need at the moment in hopes they will sit on their mats wherever they are to bring harmony to their body and mind. I am on this path in this life like everyone else: Learning and stumbling and sometimes rising during whatever life brings.

We live in a world where others are constantly telling us what reality is. In magazine, on television screens, and on billboards, we think they are selling us reality, but in truth they are just selling.  Can you be quiet enough to hear that and can you get comfortable enough in your own skin to not be altered by the words of others selling for the sake of selling?

In yoga we speak about the maha gunas (great qualities) of the mind.  They are sattva, rajas, and tamas.  In order to work towards achieving good health and happiness, we must work with the mind as well as the body.  These qualities of sattva, rajas and tamas are in nature as well as us.  All three of these qualities are in us but some will play a more dominant role at times then others.  These qualities are continuously being affected by our diet and lifestyle as well as our environments.

Sattva – is clarity, harmony, balance

Rajas – is movement, stimulation, chaos, activity (mind)

Tamas – dull, dark, greedy, stubborn, inertia (mind)

Sattva can be achieved through a good diet of fresh, organic fruits and vegetables and non-processed foods.  It is also found through good deeds,  finding balance in your lifestyle, and by maintaining the right relationships (keep good company).

Rajas can be exacerbated through caffeine, sugar, spicy, and pungent foods.  We need balanced rajas in order to get things done, to wake up and go about our day, however, it can also bring about restlessness, overstimulation and competitiveness.

Tamas can be exacerbated through processed foods, and eating left over’s and microwaved foods.  It is the quality that can bring about a heaviness in order to fall asleep at night and rest when needed, but too much tamas can cause us to be lethargic, inactive and lack motivation.

So how do we increase sattva and keep rajas and tamas in balance to stay productive and lead a happy, healthy life?  Through the wisdom of Ayurveda, a 5,000 year old science!

• First and foremost to establish a routine of Dinacharya in one's life (a daily practice of cleansing our sense organs each morning).  See earlier blog for more information.
• To keep good company – spend time with like-minded individuals.  Hang out with people and friends who support you and each other! Be with positive people and if that is not happening see how you can change it.
• Listen to uplifting music and movies.  Read things that nourish your life and soul. Stay positive.
• When you sit down to a meal, sit down to a meal.  Be mindful of what you put in your mouth as that food will either nourish your body or create toxins in your body. Chew slowly and eat as fresh as possible.  Sit at a table and don’t eat on the run.  Remember you are nourishing your body and life; give it the time it needs to digest well.  This digestion nourishes all the tissues of your body or not if you are always eating on the go.
• Go outside summer, winter, spring or fall for a walk in nature.  Look around you see how nature thrives.  Even in an urban oasis as my beloved NYC there is nature all around the concrete.
• Turn off ALL electronics to quiet the mind, senses and spirit.  Try practicing this an hour before your bedtime, then notice if you start sleeping better.  Pick up that book you have been wanting to read and take it to bed before turning the lights out.
• Last and surely not least – Gratitude for these crazy, wonderful, challenging, hectic lives we lead.    I believe we have been given a gift by being born into this world. What gifts can you give back?

Can you give gratitude for what you have? Can you find balance deep within yourself to find peace?  Can you not be lead by fear?  Sit and meditate each day Give yourself space and time. The answers are there. Nothing to buy just dedication to living the best life possible and fulfilling your dharma.  Keep your senses healthy through your dinacharya routine so that when the answers come you will be able to hear, as sometimes they do not come through your ears alone. 

Manage Your Kapha And Kick Off Spring Right!

Are you feeling tired, heavy in mind and body, groggy, weighed down, and experiencing sinus problems? Then my friend, Kapha is visiting you this Spring.  In the ancient science of Ayurveda this is Kapha season. Kapha is comprised of the elements of earth and water and helps to control the body's stability as well as it's lubrication.  Kapha gives our cells their structure.  It also helps to coat the lining of our stomachs so that the digestive juices don't burn a hole through it.  When balanced, it is a wonderful, nourishing, building time, that provides lubrication for our joints especially after the cold, dry winter season of Vata.  So while winter is cold and dry, spring tends to be cold, wet and damp, which sets the stage for things to ripen and grow. It allows water to enter to produce or regenerate life all around us. However, when the earth and water elements of Kapha are out of balance, it causes many of the qualities listed in the first sentence.  When there is perhaps too much water it can inhibit a feeling of growth and feel more like being stuck in the mud.

So here are many of the qualities, or in Sanskrit the gunas, of Kapha:  Heavy, dull, slow, cold, wet, smooth, dense and stable. Kapha tends to hang out in certain areas of our body like our brain, joints, mouth, lymph, stomach, pleural cavity and pericardial cavity.

So What Can YOU Do?

Here is the good news; in Ayurveda one of the main tried and true tenets is "like increases like," so to alleviate many of the above symptoms all we have to do is apply the opposite quality.  We can do this by adjusting our diet and lifestyle accordingly. Think about heating, lightening and invigorating your diet, your body and your soul. Think of melting the excess water by heating things up, charging up your spirit and creating beautiful grounding space everywhere.  I invite you today to look and see what you might be able to do to sail through this glowing season of Spring and bloom into Summer.

Daily To Do List

• Diet:  avoid, meat, cheese, ice cream, milk, sweets
  

• Eliminate any iced drinks and opt for sipping warm water perhaps with lemon throughout your day
  

• Neti pot
  

• Eats lots of veggies steamed, without sauces
  

• Warm, clear broths like with miso or veggies
  

• Spices such as black pepper, ginger, turmeric 
  

• Grains such as millet or spelt
  

• Think of flavors or tastes that are have an astringency (dry things up) such as dandelion tea.
  

• Check out the Ginger, Cardamon and Fennel tea on my site HERE.
  

• Rise with the sun and throw away your snooze button 
  

• Exercise - go for brisk walks in nature
  

• Yoga - make it a light, energizing practice and pranayama.  This is especially the time to increase your digestive fires (agni) to burn up any excess mucus that tends to accumulate with Kapha in the Spring.  Try adding Ujjayi (victorious breath) and Kapalabhati (skull shining breath) to your practice. Please always check with your doctor first if you are pregnant or have any medical conditions that could be counter intuitive such as abdominal complications.  If you have not practiced these pranayamas or are unsure of them please speak with a yoga teacher you trust. I'll soon be adding some videos of these practices to help demonstrate so stay tuned!
  

Some Helpful Morning Yoga Moves

This is the time for more invigorating sun breaths and salutations, lots of twists and pumping actions to wring things out.  Set your yoga mat up by your bed and when you get up in the morning give yourself 10 mindful Sun Salutations to welcome the day.  Get into your ankles and legs to move the plasma and lymph systems.  If every there was a time to work up a nice sweat it is now and you don't have to do this by running hundreds of miles or doing power yoga in a 100 degree room, but you do have to breathe and move and if you are doing yoga notice at the end of your practice before coming into shavasana if you have a nice sweat going on.  Notice if you have built up heat to melt away any excess Kapha that might be weighing you down.  

And When It's Time For Bed...

All the elements are amazing and play an important role in our bodies so love up your Kapha in this Kapha season and maybe especially during the Kapha times of day which are 6AM to 10AM and 6PM to 10PM.   Start to wind down your day by around 9PM so that you can be in bed by 10PM.  Turn off those computers, cell phones and TV's and let this naturally tamasic time of day lull you to a peaceful and restful sleep.  You never know, you might love all the energy you have the next day when you do so because, after all if something feels right it just might be the start of a beautiful new relationship. 

Oil Up For Your Health

Sushruta Samhita, Vol. 2, ch24:21 
Sneha (oil) affused (sic) on the human organism imparts a tone and vigor to its root-principles (tissues), in the same manner as water furnishes the roots of a tree or a plant with the necessary nutritive elements, and fosters its growth, when poured into the soil where it grows.  The use of sneha at a bath causes the sneha to penetrate into the system through the mouths of the veins and the ducts of the body, as also through the roots of the hair, and thus soothes and invigorates the body with its own essence.
Under the circumstances, affusions (sic) and anointments of the body with oil or clarified butter should be prescribed by an intelligent person with due regard to one's habit, congeniality and temperament and to the climate and the season of the year as well as to the preponderance of the deranged Dosha or Doshas in one's physical constitution.

I love that the above is translated from Sanskrit into English for a text that is over 3,000 years old.  Reread the last paragraph and note where it speaks about climate and season.  Spring is a wonderful time to renew or begin your self-oiling.   Love yourself up in the morning with warm oil and if you have a few extra minutes, oil your scalp as well.  

In Spring the earth begins to renew and things start to move.  The dry, cold, rough of winter starts to thaw and things begin to blossom as cold turns to cool and wet.  Pause and see if you feel some of the qualities of Kapha in your body or in your mind: heavy, cold, dull, soft, stable, gross, cloudy or smooth.  If so, try adding some warming spices to your meals like black pepper, chili pepper, mustard, scallions, cumin and coriander. But, remember these are to balance Kapha and if used in excess can disturb Pitta which can already be on the warmer side.  A nice thing to try to heat things up is the Cardamon, Ginger, Fennel tea I posted earlier HERE.

It is important to remember that oiling removes toxins from the skin, wakes up the lymphatic system and coats you with a warm blanket of love as you head out into your day.  Make sure to put on this most important accessory before heading out your door.

For this time of year I recommend Sesame for Vata's, Coconut for Pitta and Sunflower or Mustard for Kapha.  Mustard oil is especially good for Kapha if you have congestion building in your body such as in your sinus cavity it really helps to stimulate and warm things up to move out.

 If you can get hold of a squeeze bottle it is a nice way to apply the oil, plus you can warm it in your sink or a bowl by placing it in hot water first.  Have these things out the night before and start warming it when you first go into the bathroom to eliminate and then scrape your tongue and brush your teeth.

.Have two old towels that you will use just for oil (and throw away when they get too oil stained).  Do not put them in the dryer as they can start a fire, let them air dry only.  Stand on one or sit and begin with a small amount of oil by rubbing it with your hands into your scalp (the secret to getting oil out is to put shampoo in hair without water and rub then step under water and rinse, then shampoo once more) or leave this step out if you don't have time or are not washing your hair.  

Begin massaging the oil onto your body, covering each and every part.  Move as slowly as time permits, just rubbing without intention is like eating on the run you are just doing it without really knowing why.  I like to sit and massage my feet as well but be very careful to rub some off on the towel as you don't want to slip in the shower.  I use the second towel to pat myself dry after the shower.

If you find a day where you have extra time it is nice to sit in the oil for 20 min.  You don't want to usually sit much longer then this as oiling can get heavy but these are things that are discussed further in a consultation.  

 Then take your shower and use any remaining oil on your hands to massage your face, throat and ears.  Rinse off, no soap except on your privates if you like, and allow the love to envelop you.

Morning Routine

I thought this might be a good time for your to ask yourselves where you are at in your Dinacharya practices (daily rituals).  Maybe this is a good time to recommit to anything that has lagged.  Here is a helpful list for you to review.  It is translated from Sanskrit texts so hopefully here in the northern hemisphere we are wearing footwear as noted below :)

A Morning Routine

Wake up during predawn hours

Eliminate

Brush teeth

Scrape the tongue

Drink a glass of warm water

Gargle with warm sesame oil

Massage gums with warm sesame oil

Apply cooling salve

or cool water to eyes

Meditate

Chew aromatic herbs (cardamon seeds good for this)

Exercise appropriately for your constitution

Abhyanga (Self massage with warm oil)

Administer nasya (nasal) oil

Lubricate

ears with warm oil

Apply some warm oil to top of head

Foot massage

Apply body

powders

Bath & grooming

Apply natural fragrances

Dress in clean, pleasant clothes

Wear footwear

Make The Most of Your Milk

As you know I love the unhomogenized milk we can now get at Whole Foods and I am playing with a dairy farm to try raw milk.  I like milk and always have and I know dairy gets a bad rap at times as our culture seems to love to eliminate whole food groups.  I realize some people are lacto intolerant but many of us get gas or bloating from foods and blame it on dairy without being tested or without looking at the whole picture.  I personally have had many clients switch to unhomogenized milk and it has made a big difference.I was also one of those people until recently that used skim milk just because.  During my studies I came to realize many things and one of them is that skim milk is not the best for me.  I just came across another study and wanted to share a piece of that study with you, so here goes.

 Heating wet foods above 118 degrees F destroys the naturally occurring, beneficial enzymes. As a living food, raw milk contains enzymes that assist in digestion and assimilation of nutrients. Fermenting the milk into yogurt further activates beneficial enzymes, rendering the product even more digestible.

In particular, raw milk contains the enzyme lactase which helps breakdown lactose. Additionally, an enzyme in the butterfat called lipase aids in fat digestion and assimilation of the fat-soluble vitamins.

Pasteurized milk is heated to 170 degrees and ultra-pasteurized milk is heated to 280 degrees. This prolongs the shelf-life of the milk at the cost of destroying the health-giving qualities of the milk. There are no live enzymes left in pasteurized milk… it is a dead food. As a result, the digestive system must furnish all the enzymes required to digest it. Often, if the diet consists of all cooked foods, the body’s enzymes stores are depleted and digestion is impaired.

The butterfat in raw milk separates to the top… just like butterfat should. The butterfat is primarily saturated–the most healthiest and most stable fat to consume (if you are still stuck in the utterly false mindset that saturated fat is bad for you, then get thee a copy of Nourishing Traditions immediately!). If the raw milk is from cows in pasture, this butterfat boasts anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic properties.

The practice of homogenization further mutilates the chemical integrity of milk. The fat globules are pressurized so that they become small enough to be in suspension throughout the milk, without separating into cream. This makes the fat and cholesterol more susceptible to rancidity and destroys the colloidal structure of the milk.

Even worse options are reduced fat, low fat and skim milk. The body requires removed butterfat to absorb the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K in the milk. These vitamins are even more unavailable to the body in low fat/skim milk. Skim milks often contain dry milk powders and additives to compensate for the loss of flavor and texture with the butterfat. The consumption of skim and 1% milk has been shown to cause more weight gain than whole milk (here’s the study).

Where your awareness goes your prana follows.

Yesterday as we began yoga class we discussed Ojas (vigor), Prana (life force) and Vata (elements of air and ether) briefly and that the greatest disturbance to Ojas comes from the mind.  Where our attention goes our Prana follows.   The key to longevity, immunity, anti-aging comes from cultivating our Ojas.  One of the ways to do this is to spend time in introspection perhaps meditating, yoga or even putting aside an hour a day for quiet time (no phones, no tv, no chatting).  Perhaps pick up a good book, or be with a craft you love.
 

Grab a journal or notebook and make this a year of some soul feeding, nourishing changes.  Keep your journal in a place where you can easily access it and write down things that draw you away, for example I spent 3 hours in front of the tv or computer.  There is a quote by Oscar Wilde that goes, "Everything in moderation including moderation."  Perhaps you can learn to say I love my quiet time instead of but I love those shows.. It is not that all TV is bad, it is just an awareness of - is it trapping me in some way that I have not been paying attention to even on purpose.   Notice what feeds your soul when you let the mind quiet down.  And if you are already doing these things, keep on keeping on.  This can be a tough task in the beginning as these external distractions can become almost hypnotic.  
 

Suggestions:  paint, write, declutter, soothing music, laugh with yourself, eat whole foods, lots of greens, play with spices, learn a musical instrument. dance.  Then notice what has been draining your energy.  Is it too much television, being on the computer, talking and texting on the phone.  Make this as I said yesterday an observation, not a judgement.  What is keeping you from how you want to be an feel and what you really would like to be doing.  Notice the distractions that you allow to happen "because".  These things sap your Ojas and the most expensive cream in the world cannot give you back the radiance and glow that Ojas gives you.  It is the best anti-ager in the world as it promotes longevity and immunity.

One of my favorite quotes from Swami Kripalu goes:  

“Before speaking consider if it is an improvement upon silence.”

Remember this is your journal so open up freely without any judgements just pure awareness. WHERE YOUR AWARENESS GOES YOUR PRANA FOLLOWS.

Hugs, hugs, hugs and thanks for listening  - Have a beautiful day, I know you will.