Fall Cleanse

Ayurvedic Physician Dr. Robert Svoboda says, 

“We can either limit ourselves a little bit willingly, or Nature will do that for us in the form of illness.”  

Ayurveda teaches that seasonal transitions are the perfect time to cleanse. Fall and Spring are especially good junctures.  Our bodies are designed to filter out toxicity and keep us healthy. An ayurvedic cleanse is a protocol of supporting our system to do that with more ease and efficiency.  The result of fully eliminating the excesses of summer are a stronger immune system which translates as less fall allergy symptoms and fewer colds and flus.  This process lightens and brightens our bodies and minds and strengthens our digestive/eliminative capacities which are really at the heart of good health. 

Ayurvedic cleansing is unique in several ways:

An ayurvedic cleanse differs in that it is designed to detoxify all the bodily tissues, not just the digestive tract. During the cleanse we use internal oleation to support the movement of toxicity out of the deeper tissues and into the digestive tract where it can be eliminated.

In addition to cleansing, we focus on a calming daily routine to support your body and mind in letting go and to support you going […]

By |August 20th, 2019|ayurvedic cleanse, digestion, disease prevention, Uncategorized|0 Comments
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Ayurveda for Summer

Did you know that in the summer our digestive power is at a yearly low? That’s because the extra heat outside causes heat within our bodies to disperse towards the periphery to keep us cool. Less heat in the center, means less heat to digest our food and a corresponding lower appetite. We can support balance this season by going with the natural desire to eat lighter foods and less quantity. Here are some other simple tips and easy recipes for summer.

Eating Tips for Summer:

Substitute lime for lemon: lemon is too acidic and will increase heat in the body.
Enjoy cool but not iced cold drinks: iced cold beverages constrict the digestive organs and take energy to heat up–energy that’s already less available this time of year.
Eliminate garlic: too heating. Enjoy it again in the fall.
Reduce fermented foods (kombucha, yogurt, sourkraut): The sour taste increases heat in the body, so decrease amounts and frequency while it’s hot out or eliminate it all together this season.
Eat heartily from the local farmer’s markets.

Summer Breakfast–Fresh Fruit and Nuts:

Berries
Cherries
Apricots
Peaches
Handful of soaked nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans…soaked overnight, rinsed and added)
A sprinkle of grated coconut

Wash fruit and slice or pit. Add all ingredients to a bowl and dig in!
Summer Cooler–Pomegranate Spritzer:

3 oz Pomegranate […]

By |July 9th, 2019|Ayurveda, digestion, disease prevention, healthy eating|0 Comments
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Nadi Shodhana

Of the 72,000 nadis (subtle channels, like meridians) that yoga describe, 3 are considered of prime importance: Sushumna, the central channel, residing within or just in front of the spine; and Ida and Pingala, the channels to the left and right of the spine respectively. These nadis control and regulate our physical and subtle nervous system. Our physical body and subtle body link up through the breath. Left nostril breathing gives access to Ida, corresponding to your parasympathetic nervous system, that part that cools, calms, and downshifts. Right nostril breathing is a way to access pingala, corresponding to your sympathetic nervous system which heats, activates and stimulates.Take a moment now to notice which of your nostrils is more open. In a balanced body, nostril dominance would shift every few hours. If you pay attention, though, you are likely to find that one side stays dominant longer than the other. This  imbalance, over time, creates bigger imbalances that manifest as body/mind symptoms such as: being too hot or too cold; excessive or deficient digestive fire;  difficulty falling or staying asleep, anxiety and depression, excess/low sex drive, menstrual irregularities and a deranged mind.To support a balanced cycle of alternating nostril dominance, you can practice 5 rounds of nadi shodhana once or twice a day. You can […]

By |June 12th, 2019|Ayurveda, disease prevention, meditation, Uncategorized, yoga|0 Comments
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What to do when you are going in too many directions at once.

It’s been one of those weeks where I’ve felt pulled in so many directions that by late afternoon, I was a bit overwhelmed and out of body.

I’ve had a lot of experience in this state of overdrive, and I’ve learned that as much as the momentum I’ve accumulated in those moments wants to keep going, the best thing I can do is stop, get back in my body and reconnect to the earth underneath me. Somatic meditation brings me back to myself in a big way. It’s what I used this week to slow down and cut through that ego-illusion of ‘one more thing, then i’ll stop…’If you found going a bit too fast this week too, try this 30-minute somatic meditation I made for you. it will support your reconnection with your body and the earth (many of you who take regular classes with me will recognize this practice and enjoy this longer session). This is a perfect late afternoon, or just-home-from-work practice, but truly good anytime you can get to it–including first thing in the morning or before bed.

The good news is, you don’t have to wait until you’re feeling fragmented or de-vitalized […]

By |June 5th, 2019|Ayurveda, Care for your Senses, disease prevention, meditation, yoga|0 Comments
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Ayurveda for Mid-Spring

For us in the Northern Hemisphere, May Day signals the half-way point between Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice. In the Northwest U.S. the weather is vacillating between warm-hot days and cooler, cloudy nights. Now is a good time to shift your routine to support your adaptation to the longer, warmer days.

DIET: Make it a little lighter overall ( enjoy heavy foods like nuts, dairy, wheat and meat less often, and in less quantity). Add fresh salads, ideally at room temperature at your mid-day meal, when your digestion is stronger. and with a dressing of cold-pressed olive oil, lemon and fresh pressed garlic, black pepper and salt to taste. Enjoy local organic berries as they become available, and eat more bitter greens (artichokes, kale, collards, mustard) to support your liver. Bitter herbs like turmeric, burdock and those found in teas such as yogi tea detox are also good now. A happy liver means clearer skin, less heat in the body and more emotional balance.

ASANA: Twists, prone back-bends, abdominal work like agni sara and nauli with attention to clearing the eyes will help release stagnation, keep you cool and support your digestion.

MEDITATION: 5 – 15 […]

By |April 30th, 2019|Ayurveda, digestion, disease prevention, health, healthy eating, Uncategorized, yoga|0 Comments
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Why Cleanse?

Ayurvedic Physician Dr. Robert Svoboda says, 

We can either limit ourselves a little bit willingly, or Nature will do that for us in the form of illness.  Cleansing is an opportunity to slow down, reset your digestive system and release any toxic accumulation in your body or mind. Good digestion is at the heart of good health. When we habitually over-eat, eat when we’re not hungry, or eat unhealthy foods, or foods that we can’t digest well, we weaken our digestive capacity and our overall health. When we don’t take time to slow down and digest our lives, our minds get agitated and negative.

Ayurveda teaches that spring is a great time to gently detoxify, helping to release the excesses of winter to help ward off allergies, colds and congestion and let go of excess weight. This process lightens and brightens our minds as well as our bodies.

Ayurvedic cleansing is unique in several ways. For one, we don’t only eliminate the bad stuff, we also increase our self-care and intake of nourishing foods/drinks throughout the process. We also make changes gradually so as not to shock our system (even a positive change is disruptive to the body’s […]

By |April 3rd, 2019|Ayurveda, ayurvedic cleanse, digestion, disease prevention, healthy eating, Uncategorized|0 Comments
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Rest and Digest

Yesterday I was looking at a booklet a colleague of mine created about dealing with chronic stress.  Reading through the symptoms she outlined was one of those “a ha” moments for me. I recognized, once again, how fast we are all going and how unconscious we can be of the ramifications of this.  One huge consequence is in our digestive capacity, for to properly digest our food, we need to slow down, disengage from all the activity, and allow some space.   

Have you taken time to disengage and relax while eating a meal today? If we really want to heal our digestion, this is the first step.  In fact, this may be the step.  For all the best most wholesome food will not transform into healthy bodily tissue if we don’t take time to rest as we digest. Digestion is a para-sympathetic response–it only happens well when we’re relaxed.  There’s really no getting around this.

I spent years trying to digest food better. I had chronic gas and bloating and was prone to constipation, even though I ate a diet that was incredibly healthy and healing in terms of what I was eating. I had heard all about the importance […]

By |February 26th, 2019|Ayurveda, digestion, disease prevention, health|0 Comments
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How Digestion is not just about Digestion

I’ve been talking about digestion these past couple of weeks–we’ve been looking at what to eat, and how to eat, at agni–digestive fire–and ama–undigested food that is toxic to the body. Still, it’s important to understand that digestion is not just about digestion. 

How is digestion not just about digestion? Well, In Ayurveda we recognize 6 stages to the disease process, and the first 2 happen in the digestive tract. These patterns of indigestion (below) are our first sign that things are out of whack. Catch and treat it here and you have stopped the disease process in it’s tracks. If we ignore it or simply cover over the symptoms, we drive the imbalance deeper into our system creating the seeds for a more serious health issue down the road. Seriously, taking care of the belching and farting is soooo much easier than dealing with colitis or IBS or a cancer.

So, you see, digestion is not just about digestion—it’s also about the roots of our good or poor health going forward. Untreated digestive issues lead to deeper issues within the gut (ulcers, colitis, IBS, cancers) but also to deeper systemic issues due to the AMA (undigested food that is toxic to the […]

By |February 19th, 2019|Ayurveda, digestion, disease prevention, health, healthy eating, yoga|0 Comments
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Adapting to the Changing Seasons

There was a meme going around facebook this time last year  that went like this:

Cold and Flu is not a season.
It’s an inability to adapt due to decreased sun exposure and water intake combined with increased sugar intake and stress.
Create Resistance. Create Health
I don’t want to be cavalier, here. Colds and flus suck, and we can be doing everything “right” and still get hit hard. Everybody comes down with them from time to time, and the work out for our immune system, coupled with some good down time helps us to purge our system of unwanted toxicity, which in the long run might be a good thing. 
But this meme is pointing out that we can learn to attend to the shifting needs of our organism as we transition seasons. We can adjust our diets and routines to support our immunity through these natural cycles and perhaps ward off this year’s bug. A bowl of salad in the summer can be wonderful, but that same cold, raw salad in the fall and winter can lead to constipation and bloating. A bowl of warm soup  can nourish and warm us, and cooked with a little garlic or fresh ginger can support our […]

By |November 13th, 2018|Ayurveda, Care for your Senses, digestion, disease prevention, health, Uncategorized|0 Comments
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How to Disengage from your Inner Critic

How do you deal with your inner critic? Do you have a way to address that part of you that judges, often harshly, your efforts and functions to keep you “playing small,” or feeling bad about yourself?
This part of us was called the superego by Freud, and it develops at a very young time in our lives functioning to keep us safe. It is the accumulated voices of our parents and other caregivers, including all the admonitions we received literally or energetically put together from the point of view of that young child. It expresses as an inner voice or felt-sense that lets us know when we’re doing something “wrong” and it makes us feel really bad.
The problem with the inner critic –or judge– is that it’s messages haven’t been updated, and the way we internalized those messages as young children was pretty unsophisticated. Not only that, but we have a lot more capacity at this point in our lives than we had when we were 5, so the messages of the inner critic are really outdated and past their point of relevance in our lives. 
The thing is, the original function of the superego was to  keep us safe at a time in our […]

By |September 21st, 2018|Ayurveda, disease prevention, health, yoga|0 Comments
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