Fall and Foward bends

 

This Autumn I have been deliberate and careful in my energy expenditure.  Every year around this time I begin to feel worn down, fatigued and usually take to my bed with a thermometer and box of Kleenex.  As Summer faded to Autumn I began to see tell tail signs, the leaves began to fall off the trees, peoples movements became a little more harried and the sneezing and sniffling has started all around me.  My calendar has been filling up fast and I'm feeling a little tired and overwhelmed.  

I have no intention of repeating last years fiasco of a life.  I'm all about self preservation these days, but even with the best of intention, deadlines approach and projects must be completed.  Added to change of season madness is the fact I am still working on some of the things I let go for so long.  I have made vast inroads in organization and ticking things off the list, but there's still stuff lingering  while embarking on new deadlines brought on by a thesis, and at the moment boatloads of papers to write. 

I'm not entirely sure what the best game plan is for keeping sane and healthy but I am working on a plan for some type of  healthy living schedule.  In the meantime I have a few ideas what I can do now to help me out and perhaps increase energy levels a little.

Neti Pot:  I find the neti is an excellent defense against cold and flu season. 

Echinacea golden seal:I have been using echinacea since I was a graduate student.  Echinacea bolsters the immune system and pushes out whatever might be trying to invade the system.  This one is full proof if I use it over the course of several days. 

Emergen-c:  It's a vitamin mix in powder form.  This is a popular one in the winter in our house.  I like to put it in hot water and have it as tea. Others pour it into water and drink it throughout the day.  I think of it as a little energy drink to help with boost levels throughout the day. kind of healthy alternative to Red Bull.

Vitamin C : There's very little proof vitamin C helps with the common cold, but I find it useful.

Paschimottasna or forward bend: Seated forward bend  can calm the brain and help relieve stress and mild depression. Paschimottanasana is also touted for soothing headaches, reducing anxiety and lessening fatigue.  It's an excellent asana for change of season and when the weather cools down. 

Other important tips include staying hydrated, slowing down, getting to bed earlier and staying warm. 

Be well and good health!

Time to Slow Down

Autumn has come with all it's glorious colors and subtle reminders it's time to slow down and prepare the body and mind for a colder climate. Diet, sleeping practices and yoga shift into a new, slower more mindful gear, or at least they should. Unfortunately for many of us, the Autumn signifies a time when projects and routines gear up again. Kids need to be reluctantly shuffled out the door, deadlines begin to loom large and holidays start to hit us immediately. It's hard to slow down when the schedule continues to fill with more and more obligations as the weeks go by. The older I get the more responsibilities I have and the more I'm asked to do both personally and professionally. Finding a balance isn't easy and keeping a balanced routine can be near impossible. I may have discovered what works for me, but it can be hard to fuse what others need of me and what I feel I need to do to stay balanced. The Autumn is a time of great and beautiful change but also draining and can cause daily agitation. Here are a few things to consider which may help make the transition a bit smoother:

• Autumn is predominantly a cool, dry, windy season. This applies to the weather and our internal physical state. This is a good time to apply lotions and oils to the skin.
  

• Autumn is a time when we are especially vulnerable to feeling tight, dry, and rough. Insomnia and joint pain are also common at this time. Include warm herbal teas and try to decrease your caffeine intake. Try yerba maté to give yourself a little lift throughout the day without the adrenal burn from caffeinated coffee.

• It is common to feel ungrounded, spacey, fidgety or unable to focus.

• A yoga practice should include a lot of sitting poses, slow sun salutations, legs up against the wall ( inversion) and spinal twist to calm the system.

• According to ayurvedic medicine, apples help draw heat out of the body. Heat accumulates over the Summer and can cause digestive distress in the winter season. The pectin in apples also helps to clean and heal digestive mucosa. Eat as many apples as you like in any form you find desirable.

• Try to get to bed a little earlier.
  

• Practice slow nostril breathing through the right nose to help increase the immune system.

• For more information and ideas please read Autumn Prescription.

Be well and try not to be too hard on yourself during this change

Ah baby, it's cold outside!

It's getting cold out there and as the weather changes I can feel the transition happening in my body as well. I'm going a bit slower, drinking hot liquids and sleeping more. The end of November-particularly in areas with a pronounced four seasons - is an excellent time to make a seasonal shift in eating, lifestyle and yoga. Here are some suggestions and ideas to make the transitions a little smoother and more comfortable.

Foods

Shift from cold, raw foods such as salads and smoothies to foods that warm the body; soups, stews and roasted root vegetables. Incorporate pungent foods and herbs in your diet. herbs includes ginger, garlic, black pepper, crushed red pepper, cinnamon, cloves, turmeric, horseradish, and rosemary. Pungent foods include turnips, broccoli, daikon, celery, kohlrabi, mustard greens, kale, and green cabbage. I also like Dave Winston's ginseng soup when your under the weather

Pungent foods produce the following benefits necessary for good health in the winter:

• Increases warmth and stimulates the body
• Stimulate circulation of blood and energy
• Keep the lungs clear and open
• Dries phlegm mucous, and congestion
• Balances fluids
• Improve sluggish liver function
• Relieves some types of arthritis

Yoga
Practice pranayama breathing once a day. I suggest three part durga breath, kapalabhati, and Surya Bhedana (Right Nostril Breathing) " Seventy percent of the body’s wastes are processed through the breath. Most people get one-quarter to one-fifth of the amount of oxygen the lungs were designed to hold. That’s a major deficit for cells that are trying desperately to process food, release toxins and provide energy for all your body’s needs. Without enough oxygen your cells are suffocating, can’t process food properly, are filled with sludge and toxins, and you run out of energy."

• Keep your muscles warm, wear extra layers.
• Start you practice with Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutations). This will help you keep warm, flexible and increase your energy as well as keep your body stretched and nimble.
• Stretch that spine with with both feet apart, hands above your head
• Practice standing Yoga poses such as Trikonasana (Triangle Pose), Tadasana (Mountain Pose), Utthita Trikonasana (Reversed Triangle Pose)
• sitting poses such as Paschimottanasana (Seated Forward Bend)
• inverted postures like Viparita Karani (Legs Up the Wall, Inverted Pose), prone poses such as Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose), Chakrasana (Wheel Pose), Dhanurasana (Bow Pose) and Shalabhasana (Locust Pose).

Lifestyle

Conserve your energy to preserve good health. Slow down and get more rest. The body renews and restores when it's at rest and living creatures need more sleep during transitions, so extra time napping , going to bed earlier or sleeping later will help increase your bodies immune system, creating a stronger system to fight cold and flu season. So, curl up with a good book, sit by the fire sipping something hot and don't forget to dress warmly.

Autumn Prescription

Today as we hiked in the woods there was a feel in the air and a noticeable increase in the number of leaves changing colors or already falling. The change is happening and before long we’ll be thinking about hats, gloves and scarves. September is still summer, late summer but an excellent time to begin to shift gears for cooler months to come. There are some very nice practices which ready the body for a shift in temperature and lifestyle.
Sleeping

This is a good time to ground the body through resting more and setting a regular routine. Ideally retiring at 10 and awakening at 5 or 6 a.m. From 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. the liver is purifying while you’re sleeping, so it’s important to help the system rejuvenate and cleanse by giving yourself a routine sleeping pattern.
Eating

Every season is associated with one of natures 5 elements. In Autumn the metal element is at its peak, which governs the energy of our lung and large intestine health. Consider adding some of these foods to support your lungs and intestines as well as help ground and nourish your mind:
Pumpkin, carrot, cabbage, cauliflower, winter squash, spinach, parsley, parsnips, kale, turnip, carrots, onion, garlic, ginger, daikon, radish, pickles, adzuki beans, millet, barley, brown rice, fennel, kuzu (Japanese arrowroot – clears and tones lungs/colon), watercress, seaweeds (excellent to regenerate mucous membranes) ie kombu/arame/wakame.
Flaxseed oil (use in smoothies or add to foods), fenugreek spice.
Stewed apples and pears (peeled) with brown rice congee/porridge.
Mandarins
Marshmallow tea, raspberry leaf tea, green tea.

The Fall is the best time to enjoy local fresh apples. According to Ayurvedic medicine, apples help draw heat out of the body that accumulates over the summer. Heat can dry out and cause digestive distress in the winter season. The pectin in apples also helps to clean and heal digestive mucosa. A fun autumn Ayurvedic prescription is to eat as many apples as possible over a period of several weeks.
Drinking

It’s wise to look after your lungs in preparation for winter. The lungs are sensitive during Autumn, as the air quality changes to more cool and dry. Keep up your hydration with sufficient warm fluids like herbal teas, green tea, fresh ginger tea and liquorice tea. Dryness also affects our skin, so massage yourself after showering with good quality oils.
Yoga
Beneficial yoga asana includes pawanmuktasana ( wind relieving poses), all inverted poses where the head moves below the waist, all twists as this helps to regulate the intestines, slow sun salutation with breaths in each pose and extended shavasana (corpse pose) for proper grounding.

Nose Job

Encouraged by Brenda at Grounding Thru The Sit Bones and Michelle at Find Your Balance I was reminded if I'm going to talk the talk, I better walk the walk. I posted an earlier article on ayurvedic health remedies for the Spring and purposefully left out the Neti pot. I didn't leave it out because I think its ineffective as a health regime but because I am a yellow bellied chicken liver wimp. I knew if I made this suggestion I would have to pull out my own little neti pot (see above) and use it. Common sense finally prevailed. I warmed one cup of water with 1/4 tsp of sea salt and set to work. Why I didn't do this sooner is just plain stupidity. My allergies have been kicking my ass. Waking up with headaches and an ache in my left eye has left me surly and sluggish. May 2nd was a nice warm day to reacquaint myself with this little health practice and when finished, I instantly felt better.

Learning to Neti was part of the curriculum in India. At the time we were in the middle of the Monsoon season and the last thing I wanted to do was stand in the pouring rain and add more water to my already waterlogged body. We were instructed and graded and basically you kept at it till you did it properly. I'm grateful now, but at the time I just wanted to get out of the cold and rain.

Nasal irrigation or nasal lavage is the personal hygiene practice in which the nasal cavity is washed to flush out excess mucus and debris from the nose and sinuses. It has been practised in India for centuries as one of the disciplines of yoga. Some clinical tests have shown that this practice is safe and beneficial with no significant side effects. If you suffer from certain health problems, it is advised that you seek experienced guidance before using a neti pot. These problems include: asthma, high blood pressure, migraines, chronic nose bleeds, known nasal blockages (polyps, deviated septum, etc), chronic sinusitis, and frequent ear/nose/throat infections.

Flushing the nasal cavity with salt water is believed to promote mucociliary clearance by moisturizing the nasal cavity and removing encrusted material, (although there is no clear evidence to support this.) The flow of salt water through the nasal passage flushes out dirt, airborne allergens (dust and pollen), pollutants and bacteria-filled mucus.

Salt water flushing also loosens and thins the mucus, making it easier to expel. Without this build up of mucus, the tiny cilia, or hairs in the nasal passage are able to function more efficiently, pushing excess mucus either to the back of the throat or to the nose to be expelled.

A simple yet effective technique is to pour salt water solution into one nostril and let it run out through the other while the mouth is kept open to breathe, using gravity as an aid. This is an old Ayurvedic technique known as jala neti, and the container used to administer the saline is called a neti pot. (Neti is Sanskrit for "nasal cleansing.") A neti pot can be obtained at any number of stores. The neti pot I was given in India is identical to one available at Walgreen's for $7.95. Individual preference will decide how often someone neti's. Nasal irrigation can be administered daily, seasonally or yearly.

The following is a brief but complete instruction on how to Neti:

Be well, breath deeply and happy Spring!