How to Start a Regular Yoga Practice

Do you want to start a daily yoga or meditation practice but feel overwhelmed with a full schedule? Or, do you wonder how to get started and stay focused without the guidance of a teacher?

Like anything else, the experience of yoga and meditation deepens with practice. The subtle effects of the postures are revealed over time. As we sit in the practice of yoga and meditation, we strengthen our capacity to be with ourselves as we experience the ups and downs of life.

The beauty of practice is this: The more we practice, the easier it becomes. In fact, over time, we cannot help but show up to our yoga practice, because yoga slowly becomes a part of everything we do. Plus yoga works! Once we know how calm and peaceful we can feel all day long as a result of our yoga, we will have a hard time giving up on our daily practice. The asana practice or seated meditation practice becomes a way to continue to stay engaged with the essence of our beings, every beautiful day.

Ready to get started?

Here are my top four tips to start a daily yoga practice:

1. Easy Does It

Life design coach, Martha Beck, recommends that we establish “ridiculously easy” goals to make BIG changes. After all, if we aim too high and make our goals too difficult, we will not do them. To begin your daily practice, start with something ridiculously easy that you will do every single day. Try one sun salutation or one minute of sitting. Just 30 seconds of breathing deeply can be your ridiculously easy daily practice. Once you reach your goal and you have a simple routine established, add just a little bit more. Continue to build your practice with baby steps until you discover a routine that works well for you.

2. Develop A Yoga Habit

Commit to practicing a couple of postures every day for a full month until it becomes a routine. Or invest in yourself and get a monthly unlimited package at the studio, so you can build your daily habit with the guidance of your favorite teachers! Developing a routine around yoga makes continuing a daily practice easy. If you miss a day, be kind to yourself and simply start again the following day. Allow your practice to be nourishing and fun… not one more thing you have to do in your day. The simple act of showing up to your personal yoga practice will have a profound effect on your life, guaranteed.

3. Find A Sequence That Works Well For You

Depending on where you are at in life, different asana practices can support your body and soul. Having a series of postures or flow that you can practice every day can help you to see how certain postures affect your well-being. Some people enjoy the Ashtanga yoga practice because there is a series that they show up to every day. Others prefer restorative postures, or seated meditation without any postures at all. Do you want support in designing a sequence that is perfect for your body? I highly recommend working with a private instructor who can teach you a sequence that will support you wherever you are at.

4. Take Your Yoga Off the Mat

You can start a daily practice by integrating yoga into your day wherever you are. Maybe you don’t have time to roll out your mat every day, but can you breathe deeply for 30 seconds on your commute? Or find time to practice tree pose for five deep breaths on each side after you go to the bathroom? Sometimes the simple yet profound act of listening deeply, with full attention, to another human being can be your yoga practice. Pay attention to how you practice yoga off the mat. Perhaps you will find you already have a daily practice!

Four Ayurvedic Practices to Boost Your Immune System

Ward off the cold and flu with these ancient healing practices!

The cold and flu season approaches each year as leaves blanket the ground creating an artful display of fall colors. Hearty root crops and winter squash are abundant at the farmer’s market. According to Ayurvedic wisdom, autumn is the vata season, known for its cool, light, dry, moving, and erratic qualities. There is incredible momentum, movement, and vitality that occurs with when the wild vata winds blow, generating transformation. And yet, we can also find ourselves forced to stop in our tracks as colds and the flu spread through schools and workplaces like wildfire during this time of year. To go forth with steady confidence and healthy bodies, favor a vata pacifying lifestyle which boosts the immune system and brings the body, mind, and spirit into balance. Check out these four tips to be well and stay calm.

One: Begin to see food as medicine.

Incorporate a vata pacifying diet this fall and winter, which consists of foods that are warm, moist, smooth, and nourishing. Fresh, cooling crudites were perfect for the hot summer, but the crisp fall air invites forth a natural desire to nourish ourselves with warming butternut squash soups, more protein, and hearty stews. If you are already in the practice of eating fresh, seasonal foods and shopping at the farmer’s market, you may notice the natural shift toward heartier produce that balances the vata dosha.

Freshly cooked veggies are easier for our bodies to digest and assimilate than raw produce. Minimize stress and support easy digestion by consuming lightly cooked foods that are warming and soothing. Sip ginger tea with meals to aid digestion, or make a healing, anti-inflammatory turmeric-honey tea to support the immune system. Go deeper with this recipe from 101 Cookbooks.

Begin to see your vegetables as vessels for healing herbs and spices. Each of the ancient, lasting cuisines around the world incorporate delicious, healing herbs and spices into meals. Oregano, basil, thyme, and rosemary make their way into Italian sauces. Turmeric, cumin, ginger, and cayenne spice up Indian fare.

Food is so much more than fuel and nutrients. Many of the aromatic herbs and spices have anti-inflammatory, anti-septic, anti-fungal properties. As we spice up our recipes and savor the incredible flavor of international cuisine, our meals become medicine that support the immune system, keeping seasonal colds and the flu at bay.

Try cooking a healing coconut-milk curry with plenty of spices and seasonal vegetables. For inspiration, view this recipe: South Indian Style Vegetable Curry. For more information about Ayurvedic wisdom, check out this article: Vata Pacifying Diet.

Two: Wake up before sunrise and create a morning routine.

Routine balances the vata dosha. The early morning hours before sunrise are the vata time of day, inspiring movement and energy. Practice pranayama, sun salutations, yoga postures, and meditation first thing in the morning to stimulate your body’s cleansing systems and set the tone for your day. Sip room temperature or lukewarm water with lemon first thing to stimulate and balance your digestive tract.

Poses that work on the colon (the bodily seat of vata), intestines, pelvis, lumbar spine, and sacroiliac balance vata by bringing energy back down into the base of the torso. Spinal twists and inversions of all kinds soothe this dosha. Sitting and standing forward bends are choice poses, particularly for insomnia; boat, plank, staff, and plow are also powerful vata-reducers. To support grounding, work with standing poses such as mountain, triangle, warrior, and tree. Avoid back bends, such as bow, cobra, pigeon, and arch, which increase vata, or hold them briefly. If you enjoy vinyasa, do sun salutations S-L-O-W-L-Y. Let child’s pose lead you back to your innate innocence and trust. End your practice with a long Savasana (20–30 minutes); it is really okay to do NOTHING for a while.

–Selection taken from Kirupalu’s Yoga and Ayurveda article. 

Three: Give yourself a thorough rubdown.

A self-massage with warming sesame oil may provide the moisturizing nourishment your skin needs to maintain its healthy glow this fall and winter. Plus self-massage boosts the immune system, improves circulation, and activates the parasympathetic nervous system, calming the body and mind. Follow the sesame-oil massage with a relaxing bath or shower. 

Four: Practice alternate nostril breathing.

Alternate nostril breathing is very balancing year-round, but particularly supportive during the vata season. Check out this video to go deeper:

The Healing Power of Breath

“How is your body feeling? Are you stressed? Are you reacting? Do you have anxiety at this moment? Notice your breath. Your breath will tell you every time.”

I begin every class inviting people to notice their breath. Many teachers do this as well, but because I work with students who have stress, anxiety, PTSD, and depression, among other things, the breath, and how it affects our emotional well being is one of the essential components that I always invite people come back to. I also want to give students an opportunity to notice how their body feels when they are completely at ease, which is what I attempt to establish in the beginning of class when we do grounding and breath work, so that they can pay attention to sensations that invoke a sense of peacefulness, to use as a sensation baseline, as this is something tangible that can be a take away when they leave class. Getting people to relax and ground themselves can take a while and there have been times where we start the class with a full 15 minutes of just breath work.

What’s tricky about any type of breath work, is the fact that the breath can actually be anxiety provoking for certain people depending on their life experience, especially as we begin to move it around the body where we may change the direction of, or limit breath flow. For example, during a twist, the breath becomes limited as we reduce the amount of space that the breath can flow into. Therefore, it’s important to notice with each movement how the body responds not just from the movement, but also noticing subtle sensations and emotional responses as it concerns our breathing as well. Since many people have extreme difficulty with focusing on the breath all together, noticing these subtle changes are often missed.

What I recommend to students, is to commit to noticing the breath as much as possible, not just during yoga class, but also throughout the day. If someone’s mind is extremely busy, then I invite them to lengthen the inhale or exhale which gives the mind something to do and notice. I suggest for students to notice how the breath changes as you experience your day (this can be something reflected upon at the end of the day as well where people can recall the incidents of their day, and recall how there body felt at that time, because as you remember something it is likely you will be able to feel the physical and emotional reaction just by thinking about it). If we develop a pattern of noticing the breath, we can become more aware of those subtle changes as we move about our day and this will allow us to shift our breathing to a pattern that serves us and helps the body relax. Then over time, those sensations and that baseline we create in class can invoke a sense of peacefulness that becomes the new normal, which is extremely empowering.

Just a Few Things I've Learned...So Far

1. We are always capable of more than we think we are.
2. We think we know a lot but we do this to protect ourselves from feeling so little control over all the things we don’t know.
3. Living by a set of ethical guidelines reduces suffering exponentially.
4. When relating with others, especially during challenging times, it’s effective to imagine what it’s like to be that person (accompanied by the understanding that we’ll never really know what it’s like to be someone else).
5. Mick Jagger was right. You can’t always get what you want but you get what you need.
6. It’s easy to get lost in thinking about things that don’t matter very much.
7. Making the world a better place is a game worth playing while we are here.
8. To bring your full attention to life, get yourself uncomfortable.
9. In the end no one much cares what you really do. You are the one that has to live with your choices.
10. There is always a reason to smile.
11. Parenting is the high stakes challenge of constantly being present, over and over and over again.
12. Linking the movement of the body with the mind and the breath creates clarity and calm.
13. Special people come into our lives that are catalysts in our growth. When someone comes along and rocks our world, this is a great gift. Pay attention and remain open.
14. Memory is selective. Our relationship with the past is a story we tell ourselves based on beliefs we have about life and who we think we are.
15. The most powerful and transforming moments in life are often those that come unplanned. Courage is required to resist the temptation to control things.
16. We have a temper and mastery in the ability to not lose it. There are people who come into our lives to test our progress.
17. Doing something that tests what you believe you are capable of on a regular basis is a good idea.
18. Being open to the adventure makes the ride a great deal more exciting.
19. Trying to change someone else won’t work.
20. The mind is mostly a rabid hamster that repeats thoughts that originated from stories from the past and then forgets that that is what it’s doing.
21. Time practicing being present every day is essential to remembering that we are largely, not our thoughts.
22. Pay attention to how you breathe and you will learn more about how you feel.
23. Forgiveness is necessary, especially of our parents.
24. “Question Authority” and “Defy Authority” are not the same thing.
25. The most valuable things in life are those things that we can’t see. Like peace. And love.
26. You will feel happier and healthier when you do things that make other people happy often.
27. Roll with it. There is an opportunity in everything.
28. Belief is highly over rated. Find out for yourself.
29. “Trust your gut” and “listen to your heart” are overused but useful phrases. Our body knows.
30. The definition of beauty should evolve as we get older in order to reduce suffering.
31. Although generally letting go is often not very fun, there is great power in it.
32. We are each a tiny eco-system. We are stewards of our own health and happiness and we each must learn about the mental, physical, and emotional climate we each need to thrive.
33. Think, speak and act as though your mother or God were watching.
34. One’s “truth” is best delivered with compassion.
35. Giving yourself fully to everything you do makes you feel good.
36. Remembering on a very regular basis that we are going to die keeps our priorities straight.
37. There is always a reason to be thankful.
38. The gifts that we were given were meant to be given away.

Ayurvedic Oral Care

The Case for Making Tongue Scraping and Oil Pulling Part of Your Routine

As I continue my Ayurvedic education at Kirpalu, I especially love the ancient science’s approach to oral health.

Two simple practices Ayurveda advocates: Jihwa Prakshalana (a.k.a tongue scraping), and oil pulling. Chances are you’ve heard of both. Oil pulling is a celeb fave (Gwyneth Paltrow approves) and tongue scraping is a practically compulsory part of any cleanse.

So why do them?

Tongue scraping is like popping into your dentist’s office for a quick cleaning. The ancient oral hygiene practice removes bacteria, toxins and dead cells from the surface of the tongue, one of the easiest places in the body for germs to brew.

While we sleep, our digestive system deposits unwanted toxins on the surface of our tongue. If these toxins aren’t flushed out or removed, they get reabsorbed, compromising our immune system and leading to digestive ailments and respiratory woes.

Brushing and flossing will help with the toxin removal, but sometimes these practices just move bacteria around. Better to scrape.

It’s very simple: Using a metal or copper tongue scraper (this one’s great), drag the curved blade down toward the tip of your tongue, rinse the scraper and repeat until the scraper stops picking up residue.

This is best to do in the morning, before you brush your teeth and right after…

Oil pulling, another straightforward practice with natural detoxifying powers.

The idea is to swish (not swallow) up to 3 teaspoons of high quality, unrefined, cold-pressed oil like coconut or sesame for up to 20 minutes first thing every morning. Try swishing in the shower, while you steep your tea or while you make your bed. Don’t try to talk at the same time.

The actual pulling itself can take some getting used to, but working the oil around the mouth helps loosen the body’s overnight bacteria out from the teeth and gums, resulting in brighter teeth, stronger gums, fresher breath and a cleaner smile.

When you’re done, spit the oil out the window or into the trash to avoid a clogged sink. Follow oil pulling with tongue scraping, brushing and then flossing.

Your dentist will be impressed!

Living My Yoga

I just retuned from a wonderful vacation back to my birth state of Ohio.  While vacationing, I had the opportunity to hike to and through some amazing valleys, ledges, and waterfalls.  While in nature I took the time to live in my moment, looking into the lush green foliage, sun illuminating the many wild flowers, and the creeks and rivers gurgling purposefully through the rocks and ridges. I would close my eyes and breathe in deeply, for a moment expanding my awareness through the bubble of calm that is the atrium.

Sometimes I could hear cars, but in those moments the sound seems distant. Instead I notice the pocket of beauty that I’m in. I hear the quiet breathing of the plants. Here, in the middle of the city of Cuyahoga, I am still.

Blue Hen Falls, Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Just like this place, a haven of stillness in the center of the city, we need to pause in the center of our lives.

Sometimes, our schedules, our commitments, our responsibilities, they weigh down on us. We see it in the rounded shoulders, the downward gazes, the barely perceptible sighs as we give our attention to all the things in our lives that need it. We may seek externally for something that might allow us to have a break, to stop everything from rushing along… just for a moment.

Here, within the rhythms of the days, we take time to touch the stillness. We create the pause we are looking for, the chance we are seeking to step out of the rush for a moment and into ourselves.

Each time we come here, we immerse ourselves in yoga, but we do not withdraw. Rather, we are here to live yoga, to integrate it into life, to swirl our eager way into this space and then to breathe the stillness out into the rest of our lives.

The more we take this pause, the more we are able to pause out there, in the swirl. The more we dive inside, the easier it becomes to see. And the more we practice this stillness, the better chance we have to find clarity in the middle of a grand decision, or pause in the middle of our emotions, or find silence in the middle of our anxious mind-chatter.

Because the truth is, there is a sacred space within. We carry it everywhere we go. The entranceway is the breath, the exitway framed by a sparkling new world that greets eyes fresh from meditation.

Clarifying our minds and coming back and back to the present does not necessarily mean we never suffer doubt or pain. But this practice does invite us to master it, again and again, in shorter and shorter time periods. In just breathing and listening we align with ourselves and our purpose. And from the haven of our inner sacred space, we are able to step back into our lives with calm presence.

I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to hold space here in this beautiful location, to have had some small part in spreading stillness within the community here. I see it on the faces of all the beautiful souls who join me on their mats during each yoga class. I have lost count of how many times I have seen someone sit down on their mat and sigh… not the heavy sigh of responsibility, but rather the deep, soul-easing sigh of coming home. The kind of sigh that allows worry to just slip off the shoulders because the inhale was so big, and that lets emotion swoosh away along the smooth slide of the exhale.

Through just breathing, and reconnecting, we unwind ourselves from the threads that bind our mind to our lives. Through just taking a moment, a pause In-Between, our soul has a chance to breathe also. When we stop, and observe, and step behind our mind for a moment, we shift. Our eyes become that of the watcher, our perspective becomes the unchanging. We enter our inner, sacred space.

The truth is, we are enormous. We are connected to an infinite sea of existence. The mind itself is an infinite reservoir of flux, always changing, always clinging to something new and painfully letting go of something old. But the fundamental law of the universe is Balance. And if we have an infinite reservoir of flux, we must also have an infinite reservoir of stillness… somewhere.

When we take time out from the demands of the world outside and dive underneath the skin… when we truly feel ourselves… we know the immensity of our essence. We see our path through life with a different perspective, one that rises above the crowded emotions of the mind and takes in all the elements that have come together to create this moment in time.

When we take time to dig underneath the tangles and the layers, we find that fertile ground from which to grow. When we pause for long enough, the binding tangle unwinds, and space opens up. And we flow into what is right.

I enter the studio and gym doors, a relaxed smile on my face, smooth floor calling. Once again, I take a deep breath. I release it in a sigh that comes from somewhere deep inside, and all of the ups and downs of the outside world dissipate.

This is enough. A stolen moment. A deep breath. A sacred space, wherever it may be. A safe bubble of peace, inviting us to enter the still reservoir that each of us contains within us.

Namaste,
Andrea

Do You Embrace Your Emotions?

Daily we find ourselves in situations, conversations and thoughts, all of which evoke a certain emotive response. With the wink of an eye we may become happy, angry or grief stricken. Like it or not, we are emotional beings. When we choose to let the emotions move through us in tears or shared conversation, their intensity naturally dissipates. However, when we choose to hide them, the emotions seep deep into our being, awaiting the perfect moment to explode.

Out of fear or pure negligence, we oftentimes bury our emotions. In response to rejection or hurtful words, it is natural to feel the sting of hurt. In the same way, when faced with challenge or uncertainty, we naturally feel fear. Our emotions are a powerful part of our inner guidance – a blessed gift of our humanity- so long as we acknowledge, honor and release them. It is when we fear these emotions that they cause us suffering.

While beautiful, life will always throw us curve balls; obstacles when we already feel weakened by challenge and loss when we feel as though we can lose no more.  In such cases, it is tempting to shove our emotions aside, choosing instead to busy ourselves with distractions. These infamous distractions take a myriad of forms, from seeking the external validation of a prestigious job to seeking a life of perfection. In truth, our current society is a fertile breeding ground for living a life dictated by constant busyness and distractions.

Today, I propose an alternative solution: what would happen if we chose to befriend our emotions instead of ignoring them? How could our lives look and feel if we chose to experience our emotions, instead of avoid them through distraction?

In his book Living Without Regret, Buddhist scholar Arnaud Maitland suggests that we can reduce suffering. He shares that suffering is a choice. One way to do so is to "treat an emotion as a guardian or spiritual friend, instead of a foe.” In truth, our yoga practice serves as a wonderful opportunity to sit with our emotions, allow them to move through us and to be fully present. Through asana, pranayama and moving meditation, we are offered a rare opportunity, to embrace instead of avoid; what a lovely gift.

In your yoga practice, how can you befriend your emotions? What does your anger, sadness or grief, have to teach you?

Heat Up Your Spring Pantry

5 Ayurvedic Heating Spices for Spring

It’s time to leap into spring! Soon, flowers will be blossoming (if you live anywhere other than North Dakota) to express the new season. A gentle, quarterly reminder from Mother Nature to start shifting lifestyle choices and harmonize with her spring energy. Generating heat and movement internally will support balancing the cold, wet and heavy qualities she exudes in the spring. While helping to prevent common spring imbalances such as congestion, sluggishness and stiffness. A natural antidote for producing internal warmth to break-up and move stagnation within the body are heating spices. The intoxicating flavors and aromas will lure the cook. While their medicinal magic will bless the meal with the ability to heal.

Generally speaking, all spices can be enjoyed year round, simply by adjusting their quantity according to the season. Ayurveda, determines the seasonal recommendations based the spices’ inherent cooling or heating energy. Spices which foster heat, are recommended in the cold season—winter into early spring. The heat warms the cold and dries the wet qualities. Lightening up congestion not just in the chest but also in the gut. Helping to balance the qualities in the body that Mother Nature is now providing within the external environment.

Adding heating spices to meals or teas, before the daffodils pop-up to say hello can start to prepare the body for the seasonal shift. Spring may officially begin on the equinox, but the wet and heavy qualities start manifesting earlier. The progression is slow and often not realized until there is an imbalance. When the days start getting longer, begin introducing heating spices with carminative, stimulating and diaphoretic effects  to the daily menu. Generating internal heat, prior to spring, can help prevent imbalances and begin to align the body to the season.

Five Heating Spices for Spring

1. Black Pepper (Kali Mirchi)according to Dr. Vasant Lad, is one of the most powerful digestive stimulants. It burns ama or toxins, helps digest food, kindles appetite and a sluggish digestion, relieves sinus congestion and headaches. Sprinkle a little extra on to cold and raw foods such as cucumbers and salads. Grind a little extra on an egg scramble, spring soups or stews. Mix a pinch with honey to aide in dissolving and drying up mucous. 

2. Cardamon (Elaichi) – the new cinnamon as it’s often referred to in the States, green cardamom has a naturally sweet taste. A fabulous spice to counterbalance the qualities of kapha dosha—cold, mucous, congestion in the stomach and lungs. It opens up the lungs, aides congested breathing, stimulates digestion, reduces intestinal spasms and mental fog. Add a few crushed pods when warming milk (cow’s) to reduce the mucous-y quality, chew on a pod when craving sugar, or toss in a couple pods when sauté up some veggies, making rice or to a curry. Delicious aromatherapy!

3. Fenugreek (Methi) is that spice in the curry powder that’s hard to place. Fenugreek seeds or leaves are a fabulous spring detoxifier. Used in Ayurveda to treat diabetes, cholesterol, obesity and stimulate digestion. In comparison to cardamom, fenugreek is very heating and should be reduced or not eaten in the summer. Lightly sauté the seeds in ghee when making a curry, add them to a stew or sprout them. The leaves can be added to stews, curries and goes nicely with spinach. Note—a little goes a long way! I’ve also know elders who drink fenugreek water in the morning to balance blood sugar. Enjoy this fabulous spice and be warned, fenugreek can be a little stinky—scrub those pits a little extra in the shower.

4. Garam Masala, not an official spice, rather a spice mix consisting of several spices. Garam masala, literally translates to heating spice mix.  Traditionally consisting of cloves, black pepper, green and black cardamom, mace, cinnamon and nutmeg to name a few. Each spice fosters internal heat. Leading to counterbalance the imbalances caused by an over accumulation of cold in the body.  South Asian families usually have their own ‘secret’ recipe with with their own ‘secret’ ratios. Fortunately, nowadays garam masala is readily available in most grocery stores and specialty spice shops.  Add a pinch of masala to your sauté, when making a grain or as a finishing touch to boost the aromatics. A little goes a long way a pinch or two is all you need.

5. Oregano is a terrific carminative spice. Aiding digestion, dispelling mucous, ama or toxins and stagnation. Similar to the other spices listed here, oregano is known as a stimulating and diaphoretic herb. Generating movement through its heating nature and aiding joint stiffness caused by too much cold qualities. It also helps counter the chills, and breaks down mucous. Use oregano oil in a steam to open up the lungs. It is also terrific in lentil soups, stews, soups, a veggie sauté or herbed grain. Fresh or dry, oregano is a lovely aromatic, digestive friendly, warming, spring spice.

A good party requires a plan, seasonal living and prevention begins with one too.  Let’s the planning begin! Which spice are planning to add to your spring menu?

Grow in March

We  have already spent two months growing and becoming healthier and more mindful!  How are you feeling?  Have you noticed any differences in your health and energy levels from your servings of fruits and vegetables?  How have your evening discussions been in regards to your day?  Hopefully we all had a great time talking with others about their day and our own day.  I truly hope there have been a ton of new positives in your life, causing you to start thinking more mindfully.  Any chance you will continue your evening discussions of the highs and lows of your days?

It's time to move on to March!  It's almost spring for a lot of you out there (totally jealous...Here in North Dakota spring comes for a week in May or June), and I know you are gearing up to go outside and enjoy the warm weather coming your way.  This leads us straight to our nutritional goal for March...

Goal #1: Get your recommended intake of water each day!

Water, water, everywhere!  Water is a force in our world and our lives.  It makes up the majority of our body, we need it to survive, we need it to hydrate our muscles and help them heal, and I can just keep going with how our bodies need water every single day. 

It's time to make sure we are properly hydrating our bodies so we continue to live long, full, healthy, and hopefully wrinkle free (a girl can dream) lives.

Every individual will sweat and lose water at different levels.  Therefore, it is impossible to give specific guidelines or recommendations about the amount of water each individual should consume.

According to the Institute of Medicine, The need for (water) replacement during exercise depends on the individuals daily activity, exercise intensity, duration, weather, and individual differences in sweat rates.

What does this mean for the average human being...YOU STILL NEED TO DRINK LOTS OF WATER!

Take this basic guideline to determine your water intake:  Divide your weight (pounds) in half.  This will determine the ounces of water you should drink per day.  This does not include fluid loss due to exercise.

While exercising try to drink about 17-25 ounces of water per hour.  Before a workout session (15 minutes), try to drink 8-10 ounces of water.  Now, I know every person is different, and some actually get nauseous from drinking water before and/or during a workout.  Please be mindful and listen to your body.  Just get the water in your body way earlier or after your workout.

After exercising, you can even weigh yourself.  For every pound lost during exercise, drink 20-24 ounces of water.

What about sports drinks?

Nowadays there is a sports drink everywhere you look.  Some sports drinks can be beneficial to athletes working at higher intensities for longer time periods.  Endurance sports are where sports drinks should also be used.  When exercising for more than an hour some sports drinks can be beneficial due to their salt content.  This salt content, will encourage individuals to drink more and prevent dehydration.  They also provide beneficial calories for continued performance.

When exercising for 3-5 hours you may want to use a complex sports drink with electrolytes.

Please be aware of the added artificial colors, fructose, glucose, and additives in some sports drinks.  They contain calories that can lead to weight gain when overused.

Since a typical workout session does not last more than an hour, sports drinks are not really necessary.

What about Energy Drinks?

Do not consume any type of energy drink.  END OF STORY!

Energy drinks are considered a dietary supplement and are not regulated by the FDA.  Therefore, no formal testing has been done for consumption safety among athletes and those participating in normal workout sessions.

Energy drinks contain caffeine and other stimulants that cause and can contribute to health problems such as rapid and/or irregular heartbeat, difficulty sleeping, agitation, and irritability.

Please note that coffee does not substitute for water, even though it mainly constitutes of water.  I've tried the whole living off of coffee thing back in my early 30s...It didn't go too well. 

Other No Nos

Also, adding anything (flavoring or sweeteners of any kind) other than REAL fruits and herbs to your water is not healthy, and only causes you to crave more sugary foods and/or beverages.  One more side note, please be careful with the amount of lemon added to your water.  The lemon will wear down the enamel on your teeth.  As with everything, use moderation when adding lemons to your water if you do this on a daily basis.

Goal #2:  Practice mindfulness by staying "in the present"

"What lies before us and what lies behind us are small matters compared to what lies within us.  And when you bring what is within out into the world, miracles happen." - Henry David Thoreau

How many of us truly live our daily lives in the moment?  Now I know we have to think about the future and what has to be done, but we need to let the past go and not dwell on the future as much as we do.  We just bathe our body in stress hormones, because we rarely think about the positive aspects of the past and/or future.  Did you know that the average human spends 80% of their day thinking negative thoughts?  This seriously needs to change.  It is hurting us physically and mentally.  Not to mention, it will affect our relationships with others.

What does it mean to live in the moment?  It means that your awareness is completely centered on the here and now. You are not worrying about the future or thinking about the past. When you live in the present, you are living where life is happening.

Here are some simple tips to help you live in the present and enjoy the day more:

1. Smile and laugh more!

If you find that you are not focused on the present because you feel unhappy, force yourself to smile and laugh a bit. Even if you put on a fake smile and laugh in a goofy way, you should start to feel better right away.

2. Put the cell phone and/or tablet down, lift your head, and enjoy the world around you.

3. Eat slowly and savor your food.

4. Forgive past hurts.

5.  Don't miss the opportunity to compliment someone, express affection, or say thank you.

6.  Practice daily gratitude in your own life.

This was part of last month's goal, so keep the ball rolling!  Being grateful helps to bring you to the present moment because you are thinking about what has made you grateful and how that has affected you in the here and now.

7. Stop worrying.

I know, easier said than done, but please try.  You can’t fully appreciate today if you worry too much about tomorrow. Realize that tomorrow is going to happen whether you worry about it or not. And since worry has never accomplished anything for anybody, redirect your mental energy elsewhere.

8. If something is bothering you, move towards it, not away from it. 

Stephen Hayes, a psychologist at the University of Nevada, notes that the mind's natural tendency when faced with pain is to attempt to avoid it—by trying to resist unpleasant thoughts, feelings, and sensations. When we lose a love, for instance, we fight our feelings of heartbreak. As we get older, we work feverishly to recapture our youth. When we're sitting in the dentist's chair waiting for a painful root canal, we wish we were anywhere but there. But in many cases, negative feelings and situations can't be avoided—and resisting them only magnifies the pain.

Here is a great article with some wonderful tips on how to incorporate mindfulness at work...How to Practice Mindfulness Throughout Your Work Day

Grow in February

We  have already spent a month growing and becoming healthier and more mindful!  How are you feeling?  Have you noticed any differences in your body from taking out your artificial sweetener?  How has putting down technology after 7pm affected you and those around you?  I truly hope there have been a ton of new positives in your life, causing you to start thinking more mindfully.

Before we move on to our goals for growth in February, I want to explain a few things about the goals and carrying them through the year.

First, each nutrition goal we have is one we will carry throughout the year.  Now don't get me wrong, I know artificial sweeteners "may" touch your lips during the year.  Sometimes an Oreo makes it's way into my mouth and I have no idea how it got there...Seriously, they have legs and just walk their way into my mouth.  What we don't want, is to have any food items in our regular diet or our homes that has any form of artificial sweetener.  So, get ready to discover a healthier you, who will be super mindful about how they eat.

Second, I would love for each "mental" goal we have each month to continue throughout the year.  However, I know it may not be possible for you.  Instead, I want you to think mindfully and choose what is best for you.  Remember that mindfulness is truthfulness.  Be honest with what is best for you and your family.

Now...On to our goals for February!

Goal #1:  Eat your full servings of fruits and vegetables each day!

I bet you are asking yourself how many fruits and/or vegetables you ate yesterday.  My other guess is that you are discovering that you may not have eaten any where near the amount you should have.  How many servings of fruits and vegetables should you eat?  The experts recommend that you eat 5-9 servings of these wonderful foods each day. 

Now I'm sure you are asking what counts as a serving.  Below is a great chart by Natural Grocers. I truly love this chart and how they break it down into 1 and 2 serving sizes.

View fullsize

Pick your jaw up off the floor and relax.  You've got this!  It is all about food prep.  Grab fruits that don't need refrigerated, like apples, oranges, bananas, pears, tomatoes, etc.  I always have ours in a huge bowl on the kitchen counter where you cannot miss them.  This way everyone in our house can grab some healthy fruits for meals, to pack for lunch, or to just snack on.

Vegetables are just as easy to grab and go.  My friend Claudine gave me the greatest idea last year.  Prep all your vegetables when you get home from the store, and then put them in a tray and they are ready to go at any time during the week.  This is great for making salads, or in my families case, I put out the tray of veggies at each meal, and when we are playing board games in the evening I have the tray out for us to munch on.  Seriously....DO THIS!  It will make it so much easier to get your servings of veggies throughout the day.

Goal #2: Write down key points of your day each evening.

Each day I've always asked my son what the best part of his day was, and what was the worst part of his day.  I find this is a great way to really talk to him about his day and what happened and the highs and lows of his day.  This has always been a great conversation starter at our dinner table, and we have been able to teach our son (and each other) how to handle difficult situations.

Sooooo....I put together two printouts for you to choose from for the month of February.  Each evening (before dinner, during dinner, before bed...you get where I'm going with this) have each person in your home fill in the following for "The Best Part of Your Day", "The Worst Part of Your Day", and "What are You Thankful for Today."  Now, one of the printouts does not have the "Worst Part of Your Day" on it.  I understand that some of us want to keep it positive, so I made one that doesn't make you look at the negative.  After you fill in your key moments and what you are thankful for, share them with your family or friends.  These are great conversations starters at our dinner table each evening, so give it a try!

Now, I'm sure your asking "why?" am I asking you to do this.  I'm one of those annoying people who always wants a reason for what I'm doing (drove my parents nuts), so here is the why...Research suggests that physically tossing your worries on to paper can lessen their hold over you.  On the other side, writing down the positive experiences in your day that you feel grateful for will allow more happiness and satisfaction in your life.  The best mood booster is when you take those happy and grateful times and share them with others.

Just click on the printout you want to go with below and print it out!!  Each printout is 2 PDF pages.

Feeling Addicted to Your Smart Phone?

Howdy everyone!  We are halfway through January, and I just wanted to see how everyone is doing with their goals/growth this month.

I know the goals we have for this month to help us grow are a bit difficult at times.  Anyone who is currently taking any of my group fitness classes knows that the beginning of class is turning into a therapy session for what we are discovering are some uncomfortable addictions we have developed. 

I have loved our discussions in my classes about what everyone is discovering about themselves, and the goals they are setting for themselves.  It is so wonderful to see a group of people come together in class, share their struggles and growth, and then encourage each other in the same breath.  I truly believe that working together to help each other succeed is what makes our communities and lives better.

To be honest with you, I thought the most difficult goal for everyone would be giving up technology after 7pm.  However, I've discovered that both giving up artificial sweeteners and technology are proving to be equally difficult for most people, and some are throwing temper tantrums, and asking me why it is even necessary for them to do/try all this. 

Through emails I've received, and discussions we have had in my classes, I've noticed that we all need to realize that we have formed some unhealthy attachments to things that are harming us (myself included...BIG TIME).

Basically, we all have addictions in life (there isn't a person out there that doesn't have an addiction to something) and we need to look at those addictions and decide if they are healthy and fulfilling, or if those addictions are damaging and/or hindering our lives. 

Today's blog post will focus on cell phone usage.  I'll start it off by sharing my struggles with giving up my cell phone for texting, social media, games, etc. after 7pm, because I'm pretty sure everyone can relate to this struggle in one way or another, and sometimes learning about another person's struggles and successes motivates you to try harder.

I secretly suspected that I might be addicted to my damn (yup...I swear) cell phone years ago.  However, I didn't see the need to change my usage or see how my usage affected my life.  This month...actually, just the first week...I discovered that my cell phone usage was hindering my social life with my own family.  For example, anytime (in the past) when I heard my phone "ping" with a text message or social media message, I immediately grabbed my phone, checked it, and then responded.  That response then turned into me having to hold on to my phone and wait for the other person's response.  While doing this, and checking social media (I'm holding my phone, so I might as well get on Facebook and see what others have posted), I was no longer engaging socially with my son and husband.  They would talk to me, but I really wasn't paying full attention. 

How many of you do this?  Do you find yourself sitting with your family in the evening, but instead of talking to them and asking them questions about their day, you are on Facebook or another social media site, or you are sitting there texting multiple people?

I won't lie, the first week I felt like I was slighting my friends by not responding to their texts or getting to everyone's posts on Facebook and "liking" them.  However, as one of my friends pointed out, if someone is upset at you for spending time with your family, then they are the ones with the issues. 

By giving up my phone after 7pm...lately I've been putting it down at 6pm...I have been there with my family 100% and having tons of fun with them.  Not to mention, I just feel this huge sigh of relief and like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders when I put my phone down for the rest of the night.  I don't know why I feel this way, but I'm glad I discovered it so I can change my habits.

Recently I even had a gentleman come up to me and thank me for having his wife put her phone down at 7pm each evening.  He felt like his wife no longer really cared about him, because once their dinner was done she was on her IPad the rest of the night till bed and sometimes in bed. 

This made me think about how our spousal relationships (talking about sex here people) are affected by our addiction to our cell phones.  How many of us climb into bed, and then begin surfing on our phones.  Is this a "turn off" to our significant other, causing them to just roll over and go to sleep?  How does this affect your relationship?  Are you no longer noticing those "come and get me" signs your partner is throwing out there?  Just some food for thought.

After the first week of forcing myself to put my phone and IPad down (I feel that I have be available 24/7 for my job and business) I discovered that I felt less stressed and slept better.

Since I was all of a sudden sleeping a heck of a lot better, I went and did some research on cell phone usage before bed.

A growing body of research suggests that staring at the blue and white light emitted from digital screens prevents your brain from releasing the hormone melatonin, which lets your body know when it's time to hit the sack, so it becomes harder to fall and stay asleep. 

The secretion of this melatonin depends on the body’s circadian rhythm which is controlled by light exposure. A kind of blue light emits from your cell phone which interrupts the body’s circadian rhythm and instructs the brain not to release melatonin hormone. When you have a lack of melatonin, it is more difficult to fall asleep even after you have set your phone down for the night.   Therefore, using your cell phone late at night not only reduces the amount of sleep, but it also affects the quality of sleep. Moreover, if you check your phone message or email, or social media, or news before going to bed, your brain can become tensed which leads to uncomfortable night with intermittent sleep.  

Did you know that less sleeping can create trouble in your professional and social life? It can make your decision-making–skills weak and also your productivity gets poorer. Both short term and long term memory can be damaged which can lead to meaningless stress and anxiety. 

If memory damage didn't scare you enough, less sleep reduces your metabolism rate and makes you feel hungry. Thus, it increases the chances of taking unhealthy light meals and/or snacks throughout the day and leads to weight gain. 

Now I know parting with your cell phone is freaking hard to do, because in one survey 71% of Americans sleep next to their cell phone.  However, the damage it is causing you is worth you really examining your addiction to your cell phone.

Here is a quick video by Dr. Sigel describing the affects our nightly cell phone usage has on our sleep patterns.  I thought you would really lke it.

How to Give up Soda

Ok, you are a few days into your goal of no foods or beverages with artificial sweeteners added.  You are wondering if life as you know it has ended (or maybe having to let go of your social media life after 7pm has done that for you already).  I'm sure you are swearing at me and harboring evil thoughts.  I'm doing the same to myself, since I had to cut down on my caffeine intake (coffee addiction is a real problem for me...I seem to still think I can run on the stuff).

Well, here are some steps to help you kick your soda addiction to the curb, and become healthier and happier for it!

1.  Don't go cold turkey all at once.

What!?!  You're telling me I can still have soda!?! 

Yup!  You can still have soda if you are someone who was guzzling down over 5 cans of the wretched stuff each day.  When one becomes addicted to something (addiction to artificial sweeteners is a real and horrible thing) you have to slowly come off of it.  Try cutting down to 1 drink a day for a week and go from there.

2.  Drink water!

Time to carry around a water bottle instead of a pop bottle!!  Drink that water when you feel the need to drink soda.  I definitely don't need to tell you all the wonderful benefits of drinking water.

If you are someone who just has to have some kind of "kick" in their water, you can always add/infuse fruit or mint to your water for added flavor.

3.  Get your healthy eating on!

Instead of relying on soda to give you an energy kick, get your energy from eating healthy!  Getting your servings of fruits, vegetables, and proteins each day will give you the energy you need to get through your day without the extra sugar and caffeine.

4.  When all else fails...DUMP IT DOWN THE DRAIN!

Yup...Go take those cans and bottles, open them up, and dump them down the drain.  When the temptation is not there, you can not cave in to it.  Plain and simple.  AND DON'T BUY MORE!

Grow in January

This year my goal is to help everyone #GrowIn2017.  We will take small mindful steps together throughout the year by working on two goals each month.  One goal will involve nutrition, and the other goal will be more of a "mental" goal. 

So here are our two goals for January:

Goal #1:  No technology after 7pm at night! 

I'm sure you read that goal a few times just to make sure you read it correctly.  Once realizing you did, I'm guessing the grumbling has begun.  First off...Quit grumbling!  Your life will be better for this.  Trust me!  I don't lie (except for when I say we only have 5 seconds left of our sprint in Spin class...lol).  Before I start explaining this goal, lets break down what "technology" we will be putting down at 7pm each evening.

• Video Games
• IPads and similar electronics
• IPods
• Computers
• Cell phones...YUP!  Cell phones

Before you really have a breakdown, let me explain.  We are no longer connecting with others (friends, family, strangers) in healthy social ways.  Instead, we throw stuff out there on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, text messages, ect.  I do this too, so believe me when I say that this will be hard for me.  I'm no longer truly engaging in a real form of communication that stimulates the brain or social connections.  Heck, when was the last time you stood in line at a store and didn't start tapping away on your cell phone?  It's time to look up, smile at a stranger and say "Hi" maybe even compliment that person.  You may actually make their day.

Each night (okay...during the day too)  my child sees me on my cell phone texting, checking various social media sites, playing Word Scramble, etc.  This is not the example I want to set for my child.  I don't want him to grow up and do the same thing.  I don't want him connecting through a device instead of a person.  Instead, I want his head up.  I want him to experience the world around him and have meaningful conversations...funny pointless ones too.  The point is, I want him talking.  This is how true social engagement works.  Social skills are going down the drain, and it's time we all step back a bit, look up, smile at each other, and say "Hi".

Now, I could start spouting scientific facts and studies that have been done, but you know the truth deep down inside of you, so time to put technology down each evening, look at your friends and/or family, and have some social face to face fun!

Now...the one thing that is allowed is a phone call (oh heavens, I make it sound like we are in jail).  It is okay to call a friend or family member to chat and catch up.  Seriously...When was the last time you called (not texted) a good friend or family member to ask them how their day was?

Okay...I'll get off of my high horse and move on to goal #2 for the month of January!

Goal #2 Remove artificial sweeteners from your diet.

What are artificial sweeteners...Here are some common ones you'll come across on a daily basis:

• Aspartame
• Sucralose
• Saccharin
• Neotame
• Acesulfame Potassium
• Advantame
• Alitam
• Glycerol

Replacing sugar with artificial sweeteners is doing your body more harm than good.  Recent studies show that chemically processed sweeteners damages the way your body naturally processes sugar.  This leads to possible overeating and weight gain. 

Always read the labels on the items you buy in the grocery store.  However, the best thing you can do is eat clean!  Only eat what comes from nature...Not what comes from a science lab!

Alright!  Lets start a wonderful year of growth!!

Growing in 2017

Happy New Year Everyone!!

As each year begins, we find ourselves wanting to change something about our future, something about our body, something about our nutrition, something about our finances, etc.  Then, we set these huge goals with great intentions.  After a few weeks or months go by, we forget or throw those goals to the wayside....And, life continues.

Science has shown that it is better to take little steps when changing or wanting to improve upon ones life.

This year my goal is to help everyone #GrowIn2017.  We will take small mindful steps together throughout the year by working on two goals each month.  One goal will involve nutrition, and the other goal will be more of a "mental" goal.  Don't worry, I'm not going to require any extra work or time from you.

Life is always about growth.  We never stop learning or achieving as our life goes on.  Why not view our goals as growth?

Hopefully our small steps will help each of us grow in mindfulness, knowledge, strength, and love.  From there, hopefully, our growth will rub off on those around us.

For now, take this week to get back into your normal routine as you begin your New Year.  Settle in to your post holiday schedule, and we will start our new growth next week!

Strengthening the Muscle of Empathy

Learn how to move beyond sympathy to true connection and support

If we’re lucky, moving through the holiday season usually means more time spent with friends or family – we spend time catching up on all the highs and lows in our loved ones’ lives. There are many moments of joyful connection, and probably many moments where we feel our buttons being pushed! The holiday season is more of a marathon than a sprint – we need to keep calm, open hearted, compassionate and patient as we interact with others over the next six (long) weeks or so.

To run a marathon you might need to train with a coach. Enter Brené Brown.

If you haven’t already hear of her, Brené Brown is a researcher, storyteller, scholar, PhD, and author of NYT bestselling books Daring Greatly (2012) and The Gifts of Imperfection (2010). She is a calm and illuminating voice on the subjects of vulnerability, shame, and courage, delivering powerful and applicable tools to use in our interactions with others, and in our own self-development.

Her defining Ted Talk really elevated the discussion of the strength in vulnerability to the next level. And now a sweet, simple and informative video is circulating on another important distinction: the difference between sympathy and empathy.

~ Some of us feel like “fixers” and that it’s our responsibility to weigh in on other’s choices and help them “do better” in the world.

~ For some of us, it’s easy to get defensive when a loved one is sharing something that has upset them.

~ Or we might get judgmental when we hear about a conflict in their life.

~ I admit I’ve often experienced all of the above and more: I’ve tried to help find the silver lining of a situation, assuring a struggling friend that “it’s not all bad.” I was surprised to see how even this common response isn’t really empathy!

According to Brown, we can all strengthen our muscle of empathy, lending an ear or a shoulder to cry on in a constructive way. This three minute video points out a couple of simple yet critical differences between empathy and sympathy, ultimately revealing a path to true connection that isn’t that complicated!

Learn more at PsychologyToday.com

Hydrate The Ayurvedic Way

Achieve Your Optimal Wellness

Want to create a healthy body and glowing skin?

Look no further. Hydrating the Ayurvedic way can help you achieve your optimal wellness.  

By now you’ve probably heard the recommendation to drink eight glasses of water per day. But the reality of hydration is more complex. After all, each of us has a unique constitutional makeup, with diverse needs. We each have different habits that may dehydrate our bodies. Plus, there are quick and easy tips to help your body to absorb water and stay hydrated you won’t want to miss.

Ayurveda, the sister science to yoga, looks at the human body as a whole system, affected by seasonality and our environment. Moreover, Ayurveda sees the physical body as both a cause and effect of a person’s energy, state of mind, emotional health, and spirit. 

Ayurvedic practitioners approach health and wellness topics from a holistic perspective. 

According to Ayurvedic science, the physical body and everything that interacts with the body is made up of a unique balance of the five great elements (water, fire, air, earth, and ether or space). Each person’s elemental constitution affects all aspects of their multidimensional being. 

A person’s original constitution is called Prakriti.This is the inherent elemental makeup of a person determined at conception, akin to eye color or height. A person’s Prakriti is described as having a specific balance of three doshas: Vata (Air), Pitta (Fire) and Kapha (Earth). Each of us is made up of each of the doshas, our Prakriti reflects our individual formula, as unique as our fingerprint. 

So how does this work? If you have a Pitta predominant dosha, for example, you have a lot of fire in your body relative to earth and air. You tend to digest and metabolize food quickly. And your body may run hot. Additionally, you may be prone to rashes or acne. With so much heat running through, a “hot” temper and a quick intellect may define aspects of your personality. 

If you are curious about your personal Ayurvedic constitution, check out this online quiz. Plus you can learn more about the doshas and your Prakriti in our article, Intro to Ayurveda. And, if you want a professional assessment, consider working with an Ayurvedic practitioner.

So how does your constitution relate to hydration?

Discovering your Ayurvedic dosha can help you to better understand your body’s tendencies. Even without turning to Ayurveda, you probably know if you experience water retention on the one hand or if you tend to become dehydrated easily on the other hand. A person who tends to retain water may need to balance their body with exercise, foods, and drinks that act as healthy diuretics, while the person who tends to be dehydrated may benefit from learning about the body’s water absorption process. The goal of discovering the doshas is creating deeper self-awareness and, in this case, discover a balanced approach to hydration and its impact on your overall health and wellbeing.

When you understand your own constitution and personal tendencies, you can begin to create healthy hydration habits that benefit your body. 

Vata: People with predominant Vata constitutions have a tendency toward dehydration and need plenty of water and tea throughout the day. Since the qualities of Vata are cool, dry and rough, sip warm liquids and add hydrating oils to the skin each morning create balance.

Suggested bevies to pacify Vata? Add some fresh ginger to your water. Sip water with chia seeds to help with absorption. To increase flavor, add sliced strawberries or raspberries.

Pitta: People with predominant Pitta constitutions run hot, tending to sweat and metabolize nutrition quickly, thus losing liquids at a rapid rate. To stay in balance, consume room temperature liquids and cooling foods, especially during the hot Spring and Summer months. Also, when overheating, cool the entire body with dips into water and cold showers.

Suggested bevies to pacify Pitta? Sip on cooling cucumber and watermelon water or juice. Add a few sprigs of mint and lemon to your water to enhance flavor and soothe digestion.

Kapha: People with predominant Kapha constitutions tend to retain water and metabolize nutrition slowly. Qualities of Kapha are cool, smooth, soft, slow, and stable. To increase digestive fire and stay in balance, consume warm liquids and add heating spices such as ginger and a dash of cayenne to create a spice water to sip all day long. When the body retains water, yoga asana, exercise, and saunas can help water to move through your body.

Suggested bevies to pacify Kapha?  Enjoy some steaming decaf chai, add ginger, lemon and a splash of cayenne to your water, and sip on warm tea throughout the day.

Why We Crave What We Crave

Understanding Our Food Fixations

Hunger is as much a physical manifestation as it is a societal and emotional one. Biologically, our bodies are hardwired to want certain flavors, nutrients and combinations thereof. Culturally, we’ve learned to eat in celebration, in mourning, at social gatherings and sometimes in secret. We also seek out food in an attempt to shift our emotional state: sugar, chocolate and caffeine are expansive and uplifting; bread, pasta and gooey cheese are soothing and cushioning. So when we experience cravings, is our body telling us it needs something? Or is our mind telling us it wants something?

If that seems like a lot to unpack while deciding what to make for dinner, you’re right. Taking a moment to identify where our cravings come from means we get to address deep-seated patterns and make balanced and informed choices around something we do at least three times a day. Here are a few factoids to consider when cravings kick in.

The Two Tastes That Dominate Our Cravings are Sweet & Salty

Sugar cravings make sense on a couple of levels:

1. Sweet foods flood the brain with dopamine, the chemical that makes us happy.
2. In nature, sweet foods are energy dense, so we’re genetically predisposed to favor them.
3. Sugar helps us store fat, a biological advantage for our ancient ancestors whose mealtimes were uncertain.

A salt craving can mean a few things:

1. We’re dehydrated. Our bodies are 70% water and thirst often masquerades as hunger. Salt helps us retain water, so a salt craving could actually be a cry for more H2O.
2. We’re conditioned. Most processed foods are super high in sodium, so we may be craving what we’ve been conditioned to think of as a “normal” saltiness.
3. We need minerals like calcium, sodium, magnesium, zinc and other trace minerals to stay healthy. Since we don’t really know what zinc tastes like we fall for salt when what we really need is nori, kale, chard, or wild caught salmon.
4. We’re fatigued. Salt cravings can be a sign of adrenal fatigue, especially if accompanied by exhaustion and serious under-eye bags. (If that sounds all too familiar, consider getting your cortisol and adrenal levels tested.)

And a chocolate craving? Minerals again. Raw cacao is rich in magnesium, which women need more of when they’re on their periods. Vindicated!

Here’s one more morsel: When we don’t get enough rest, our bodies produce more ghrelin, a.k.a. the hunger hormone, which the body secretes when the stomach is empty. Or when we’re exhausted. Makes sense.

Sleep more = eat better.

At the heart of any mindfulness practice is the ability to tune in to ourselves. Learning to listen to our intuition and our body’s own inner wisdom is a powerful tool. It’s also a muscle that, like any other, requires regular use. An effective place to start is around our relationship with food. Learning to ask and answer the question what am I craving right now is the first step to empowering ourselves as conscious choosers. As opposed to ravenous maniacs. We’ve all been there.

Seven Steps to Personal Transformation

Practice non-judgement, gather resources, find your tribe, and bliss out!

We often think of yoga as movement, postures, or stretching… but the art and science of yoga goes so much deeper. Check out these seven steps for personal transformation and healing!

First, we can acknowledge where we are with non-judgment and curiosity, beginning to practice self-awareness on and off the mat. The first yoga sutra says: Atha Yoga Nushasanam, which can be translated to Now the Inquiry of Yoga Begins. 

Second, we can choose to take personal responsibility for our health, our wellness and our lives, letting go of blame (I feel the way I do because of someone else or something external to me) and shame (I am not enough). We begin to focus our attention on creating peace in our inner worlds rather than fixing and changing external circumstances. Our inner worlds begin to influence our external reality.

Third, we can create a vision for where we are going and a personal mission statement based on inner principles to guide our decisions in life. In that sense, we are making conscious choices rooted in character rather than reactive responses based on short term pleasure or fear. To support this process, check out Patanjali’s eightfold path and pay special attention to the the yamas and niyamas, which are observances that lead to healthy habits. 

Practice:  CREATE VISION- What does living a healthy and fulfilling life look like? Feel like? When you imagine a life where you are happy, healthy and living a life full of purpose and integrity, what are you doing? Who are you surrounded by? How do you treat yourself and others?

If we know where we are going and the principles are guiding us, we discover a sense of stability, integrity and inner peace in the healing process. I find my personal mission statement and vision board helps me to align the choices I make in the present moment with my deepest, most integrated self… and this in turn gives me the patience and awareness to sacrifice pleasure in the moment for long-term happiness… most of the time.

Fourth, we can practice presence and and self-awareness on and off the mat… letting go of attachment to end results. We can let go of trying to arrive in some complex posture or at some future destination and, instead, we can become interested in our own experience in the present moment. Here, we take the seat of the witness or nonjudgmental observer within. The asana practice in yoga (postures and breathing exercises translated as “to sit in the seat of one’s self“) is a wonderful tool to support this step.

Fifth, we can discover new information and personal tools to support our process. We identify gaps in our knowledge or support base (perhaps we choose to develop resources for self-soothing, or we find individual or group support systems around issues we face) and gather new resources to aid our growth. And then we can allow these external resources and support systems to interact with our own “gut” or inner compass, taking baby steps in each moment of our lives, knowing these small moments add up to big changes.

Sixth, we can ground our personal understanding, mission and practices in community by discovering our tribe.

Practice: Are there other people who are interested in exploring mindfulness practices, yoga, personal growth, or your chosen spiritual practice? How do you feel when you join this community? Who in your life already makes you feel authentic, whole, abundant, and alive? And where are there people who are being, living, doing, thinking in ways that align with your mission and vision?

We can go through life protecting ourselves and avoiding authentic connection- and yet, when we open our minds and hearts to love (not necessarily romantic love), we find ourselves attracting other people who are asking similar questions and enjoying life the way we like to enjoy life. Although it is wonderful to spend time around people who are incredibly different from ourselves, finding our tribe- people who are aligned with our core values- gives us a sense of connection and resilience in our lives.

Seventh, we can begin to know ourselves as multidimensional beings and “yoke” or “unite” the various aspects of ourselves. Yoga means “to yoke” the sun and the moon, the masculine and the feminine, the light and the dark, the yin and the yang. When we experience moments of yoga (the integration of the layers of our being), we move from darkness into the light… and we bliss out! We access a healing state of inner peace and experience personal transformation that is rooted in a sense of infinite abundance, love and light. 

And we remember the saying Jack Kornfield introduces in his book A Path With Heart: “After the ecstasy, the laundry.” Kornfield goes on to say, “The dazzling effects of lights and visions, the powerful releases of rapture and energy, all are a wonderful sign of the breakdown of the old and small structures of our being, body, and bind. However, they do not in themselves produce wisdom… Even great openings of the heart, kundalini processes, and visions can turn into spiritual pride or become old memories… Spiritual experiences in themselves do not count for much. What matters is that we integrate and learn from the process” (Kornfield, 129).

So the bliss itself is not necessarily indicative of lasting transformation… it is in the life-long, moment-to-moment process of learning from direct experience when personal transformation occurs! Beginning right now…

Winter Blues

Winter Blues to Spring Forward

Feeling a little slow, sluggish, heavy, or cloudy? Is getting out of bed a process that involves hitting the snooze button a few more times than usual? It’s completely normal. The past few months, we have been replenishing the earth and water elements with us—hibernating a bit more, basking in the indoors, and eating rich foods. Ahhh…the joys of Fall and Winter. Now, we are transitioning into Spring, the time for re-birth. During this time, earth and water predominate the air, bringing with it their heavy, wet, and cold qualities. In combination with all the earth and water energy we accumulated during the past season, we are now overflowing in it. What was nourishing us last season, is now weighing us down.

Some of us, especially those with more kapha qualities, can feel like we are swimming in sludge. Trying to move through and beyond the heavy, moist, wet, cloudy, mucous-y substance. Like the seed attempting to sprout and pop-up through the soil, for a little sunshine. We too need to pop-up and utilize all the energy we acquired in the Fall and Winter and let it be our fuel during the Spring season. It’s not an overnight process. Just as nature transitions, we too have to transition mentally, emotionally and physically to bloom and feel the sun’s heat.

Here are 5 tips to help transition from the Winter blues to Spring forward:

#1 Rise & Breathe: try to get yourself out of bed by 6 am. After 6 is when the elements of earth and water become even more prominent making it challenging to wake-up. Once you are up, take some deep breaths. Practice alternative nostril breathing, pranayama. This will help restore fluidity within the entire body—releasing tension, clearing the mind and revitalizing stagnant energy.

#2 Take a Morning Walk: if you can go on a walk between 6-10 am even for 10 minutes, you begin to ignite the opposite qualities that are predominate in the air. By generating movement, when the air is stagnate, is a good way to generate balance. Remember like attracts like and opposites decrease.

#3 Shower yourself with Aroma Therapy: engage your sense of smell and activate! The nose is the pathway to the brain. In engaging the sense of smell, we can trigger an emotional response. If you enjoy energizing scents like, peppermint, lemon, orange, rosemary, eucalyptus, and/or bergamot, create your own energizing and invigorating Spring shower gel. A few drops of of essential oil is all you need to add a little pep in your step.

#4 Eat Lighter & Greener Meals:  this time of the year is when digestion begins to slows down.  To give it a boost, give the body a break by eating lighter foods like more bitter greens.  Bitter greens are also naturally detoxifying and help the body naturally remove toxins and excess water. Incorporate some greens into every meal starting from your first meal to your last—it does a body good.

#5 Spice it up!: if there is a season to spice it up, its Spring. Spices are not only a great flavor booster, but they have medicinal value. They are also a great source of vitamins and minerals. Add a little extra dash of warming spices can help prevent colds, ignite the digestive fire, reduce excess water from the body, and move out the sludge! This is the season to add a little extra sprinkle of ginger, cayenne, cloves, cinnamon, black pepper, rosemary, thyme, cumin, fenugreek, garlic, and turmeric.

The mantra for Spring...“let’s move!”. Move our bodies, our mind, and move out any undigested foods to keep us healthy throughout Spring.

Kapha Dosha

What is Kapha Dosha?

Maybe the word “Kapha” (pronounced Kah-fah) has been floating aroundyour ether, you’ve seen posts, taken a “what’s my dosha” quiz, you have a kapha imbalance, or you’re curious and want to know more. Well, hopefully, this post will explain what kapha is, how to recognize its qualities, and why understanding this seasonal dosha help you stay healthier during kapha season.

What is a Dosha?

To understand kapha, we first need to know that it is 1 of the 3 doshas in Ayurveda, a time-tested medical system from India. Doshas are particular patterns of energy that are expressed through physical, mental, and emotional characteristics. Each dosha—vata, pitta, and kapha—are composed of 2 of the 5 elements, or pancha mahabhutas. Which are considered to be the building blocks of the universe. Ether, space, fire, earth, and water are the 5 elements, which when paired, produce the 3 doshas.

Doshas surround us and exist in every cell of our body. Although we are composed of all 3 doshas, each of us has a primary and secondary dosha. Similarly, each dosha has a primary function, and a strong presence in certain tastes, places, times, stages of life, and seasons. Keeping the doshas in balance helps foster longevity within our mental, emotional, and physical bodies.

Understanding the particular qualities of each dosha, how their energy manifests within us and seasonally key can be helpful in making healthier choices in our daily lives. Specific to your personal constitution and  in harmony with the season.

What is Kapha Dosha?

Of the 5 elements, earth+water form kapha dosha. The combination of these 2 elements produces 10 qualities. These qualities are the essence of kapha dosha. They lead to the physical, mental, and emotional characteristics that help further contextualize the kapha constitution.

Reminder: No one only has kapha dosha. To say “I am Kapha” is saying you are only earth + water. We are also ether, air, and fire! Trust me, you want to be made up of all of these elements.

To recognize the presence of kapha dosha is to know and understand it’s 10 qualities and when this dosha takes center stage. These 3 things can help guide making healthier and efficient choices related to diet, exercise, activities and to approach life through preventative practices.

10 qualities of kapha dosha— keywords for late winter & spring season: moist, cold, heavy, static, sticky, soft, cloudy, smooth, dull, and slow

For example, one quality of kapha dosha is cold. During the late winter/spring (kapha season), cold has seeped into the earth. It is one quality that begins in the fall and remains until the spring. The air is cold, our hands are cold, the earth is cold. To prevent kapha imbalances, Ayurveda recommends aligning with kapha season. By directing our choices with the opposite quality—warm/hot. One way to do this is through the diet. Choosing to eat warm foods versus cold food, or food that has an inherent warming energy.  To produce internal warmth and counterbalance the external cold qualities.

Cinnamon is a great dietary spice choice in the winter and spring. A few shakes daily of this warming spice will generate internal heat. While also curbing sweet craving by balancing blood sugar and preventing a build-up of excess kapha dosha in the body. Which can lead to colds and congestion, a common kapha imbalance.

How to Identify Kapha Dosha

When trying to determine if something is kapha-dominant, first try and describe it with as many words as you can think of. Then relate the descriptive words to kapha’s 10 qualities. Or take kapha’s 10 qualities and see if it describes what you’re assessing. For example, sadness, an emotion that can feel heavy, create a sense of static-ness, cloud our thoughts and slow us down. It’s qualities align with kapha qualities and is an emotion that can be related to an imbalance with this dosha. In identifying the dosha, we can try and make adjustments in our diet by reducing heavy foods that weigh us down, the quantity of food and increase activity to foster movement, helping bring new qualities to help shift the emotional state.

What is Kapha Dosha Purpose?

• Primary function is to protect
• Governs structure, sense of taste, and lubrication
• Forms muscle, fat, bone, fluids, reproductive tissues, blood, and marrow
• Controls weight, growth, moisture, and is responsible for our lymphatic and immune system
• Its primary home within our physical body is the stomach
• Associated with sweet (earth+water), sour (earth+fire), and salty (fire+water)  tastes—kapha tastes
• Its energy is apparent from winter through spring—kapha season
• Strongest from 6am-10am and 6pm-10pm—kapha time
• Until puberty, we are in the kapha cycle of our life—this is the time we are growing, building immunity, and forming our tissues.

A Simple Practice to Begin…

When I started studying Ayurveda, to help identify kapha dosha, I began taking note of the how the air felt during kapha hours from 6-10 in the morning and the evening. Was the air moister, heavier, cooler, windy, or static, than it was a few hours earlier or later? I also like to garden and would use a similar approach. I would feel the wet soil and assess the qualities. Then I would see where extra earth lived on my body, how did it impact me…did it bring weight and heaviness. In searching for new approaches to correlate kapha’s qualities with my surrounding, my body, and emotions, my understanding grew deeper. Enabling me to get ahead of an imbalance and try and prevent it or to understand how kapha dosha was benefiting me.

Final Thoughts

In the beginning, understanding kapha dosha can feel overwhelming. The 10 qualities are simple, yet multi-faceted. One word can be deconstructed into 10 words. Over time, with practice, the awareness will come. Take baby steps, wear your avant-garde philosophical hat, and memorize kapha’s qualities. Once you know the 10 qualities and 2 elements (earth+water), start looking at physical, emotional and external characteristics, through this lens. Reflect to see if it is in balance or out of balance, how is it manifesting for you. It sounds complicated, but over time it will help to broaden the understanding of the holistic self. Becoming more personal and feeling result less complicated. It’s worth, the sense of empowerment it provides in making choices based in our own awareness.