Meditation, Breath, Diet and Stress: Healing Your mind while bringing your life into balance Part I

We all deal with stress. Some stress can be good for us, pushing us to set and achieve goals.  But largely stress makes us tense, fearful and jumbled. Working harder and faster at jobs we often don’t like to do the whole time pushing our minds to concentrate when we’d much rather be picking flowers or taking long walks in the countryside. Stress is part of our modern life. The australian aborigines, it is said, have no word for stress in their language! But, not so for us ‘modern’ types. While I’ve given no serious consideration to making a sudden life change and running off to live in the wild there are lessons that can be learned from ancient cultures on how to handle the pressures of life with more grace and calm. 

The ancient teachings of yoga and ayurvedic medicine give us a holistic approach to handling stress. How we breath, eat and think may all contribute to either high or lower stress levels. Learning how to perform these common, everyday activities in the correct way can provide long term relief from stress, and give us some conscious control over how we are feeling. When we learn how to eat, think and breathe (yes, breathe!) in ways that nourish and support the natural functioning of the body, stress relief comes as a side effect of upgrading our habits.   

First, we must learn to breath correctly. Breathing is something we do everyday, every second actually. We can’t get along without it, yet no one knows how to breath correctly without first getting some coaching to better understand the mechanics of how we breath and how our breath affects our moods, emotions and our ability to focus the mind. The lungs are two sacks that inflate with the contraction of the diaphragm. The diaphragm, which is shaped like an umbrella, pulls downwards on the lungs, elongating them, which reduces the air pressure inside the space (by increasing volume) and air from the outside rushes in (by diffusion) to fill the semi-vacuum created by the expansion. Next, the diaphragm relaxes (and returns upwards) which compresses the lungs and pushes the air out. While this activity is going on in the lungs, the heart will typically have beat 6 times. The average ratio between breath and heart rates is 1 to 6, that is, one breath for each six heart beats.  

Armed with a basic knowledge of how we breath we can learn how to breath correctly. That is, calmly and deeply. You might want to first lay down on the floor, or other firm surface. Place your hands on your stomach and breath in. Did your stomach rise or fall? If it rose you are breathing correctly, if it fell, that is, contracted down towards the floor, then your breathing is reversed. This is very common, we are taught as children to stick our chests out when we breath. But we should be allowing the abdomen to expand, the larger part of the lungs is located in the bottom of the lung, which expands into the abdomen when the diaphragm descends. 

A way to correct your breathing, if you are expanding on the exhale is to lie on your stomach in the yoga posture called: makarasana or crocodile pose. Begin by lying on your stomach, fold your arms underneath you to support your forehead. In this position focus your attention on expanding the abdomen as you slowly and steadily inhale. Really feel your stomach as it presses against the floor and then, as the diaphragm relaxes and you exhale, the weight of the body will cause the abdomen to contract. This is a good way to begin practice of diaphragmatic breathing and will train the breath to move smoothly in and out as the abdomen expands and contracts. 

In the next article we’ll talk about diet, begin our discussion of meditation and see how controlling stress using diet and the mind can help you handle the day to day pressures of life. 

Till then stay calm, breath deeply and remember: Steady practice brings reliable results. 

Tackling the Sleep(less) Monster!

Many of us struggle, tossing and turning, with sleepless nights...you can't fall asleep, or you can't stay asleep??? I think everyone has this problem now and then. Taking a holistic, natural approach for improving your sleep patterns will work better in the long run than just taking a pill (even herbal ones).  I have learned from my own experience that everyone sometimes needs help getting to sleep and staying asleep. Here are the supplements and lifestyle changes that have worked for me and people I know.

1. Drink moderately. Drinking alcohol before bed can disrupt sleep patterns leaving you awake in the middle of the night. Aside from the effects on your bladder, which can force you to get up in the middle of the night and drinking also alters the melatonin cycle, the hormonal cycle that moves in time with the natural rhythm of the earth (the sun and moon). If you are having problems with sleep perhaps skipping drinking all together for a few weeks along with implementing a few of these suggestions might get your sleep patterns back on track.

2. Medications. Along with controlling drinking alcohol, you should also be aware that medications can effect your normal sleep patterns. If you are taking medication for blood pressure or blood thinners you should ask your doctor if these can be contributing to your sleep problems. It's easy to fall into a viscous cycle of taking sleep medication that effects your natural cycles and sets you up for needing more sleep medication. If this is your pattern you should talk to a doctor. Try to find one with a respect for holistic approaches to sleep management who can help you better understand your alternatives. I'm not trying to prescribe to anyone (I'm not a doctor) but it's a pretty safe bet that sleep medication, over time, can have the opposite effect of what you want (which is to just fall and stay asleep)  and make it harder for you to doze off without medication.  Which leads me to the next topic, sleep aids.

3. Tart Cherry juice. This is my favorite sleep aid. Drink a small glass of tart cherry juice in the late evening. How does it work? Well cherry juice had both tryptophan (like turkey) and melatonin (the hormone that controls the sleep/wake cycle). Drinking cherry juice will let you sleep longer and deeper. When my sleep patterns are out of synch I reach for the cherry juice. Some people think it tastes good too! It has the added benefit of alkalinizing the body. This remedy was proven to work in elderly patients, in the study run by Louisiana University, a group of seven test subjects drank 2 8 oz. glasses of cherry juice (they used Montmorency in the trial) for a week, then a week with no juice, followed by a week of a placebo juice. Cherry juice was shown to increase overall sleep time and prevent waking in the middle of the night.


4. Exercise. Exercising, especially in the 4 hours before you go to bed, will help you relax and fall asleep easier. Different studies have recommended different types of exercise. I have found that gentle to moderate yoga works great for me. Others like aerobic exercise for at least 30 minutes. In either case the body relaxes after the exercise session is over and this level of relaxation contributes to your falling asleep easier and staying asleep longer.

5. Meditation.  Meditation will help you sleep, it will help you think, it will help you breath better...actually there is nothing meditation can't help alleviate. Try it, learn it, do it. Regular meditation time (especially before bedtime) helps calm the mind (which is good for those of you saying,"I can't sleep because my mind keeps going around and around." ). Who hasn't heard about all the benefits of meditation that have been proven by science in the past 2 decades? A simple mindfulness meditation (i.e.paying attention to your breath for 10 minutes, feeling the air move through your body...there you are meditating!) is all that you need to reap the benefits. I'll give you a hint that better sleep is only one of them!

6. One more sleep aid. Lastly, I'll tell you about my favorite herbal sleeping pill. When all else fails this is what works for me. It may or may not work for you but it has fewer side effects and less residual grogginess than most 'sleeping pills'. It's inexpensive and is worth a try when all else fails. (Though if you are doing a combination of the above recommendations it's a certainty that you are falling asleep!) The herb I'm talking about is valerian root. You can buy valerian root capsules in a health food store (I get mine at Vitamin Shoppe). They are inexpensive and work pretty quickly, usually I'm asleep 20 minutes after taking one.

It's better to take a more holistic approach to solving the sleep dilemma but if you want results fast, the cherry juice and valerian root together are unbeatable! Then, once you are getting some actual deep sleep, maybe you'll feel like learning yoga and meditation to address the issue long term.

Sweet dreams!

Natural Healing for Dry Winter Skin

Happy New Year!

As I sit and write this, my first post on this blog, and my first in 2015, most of North America is covered in cold weather, below freezing temperatures and the winter chill has locked it's grip on us as the new year begins. If you are like me, the recent cold weather ushers in the winter dry skin season. I have been told by friends who, like me, also suffer with dry skin triggered by the cold. Over the year I have learned a few tricks for dealing with the dry skin of winter.  I'll take this opportunity to share some of the all natural holistic approaches  that have helped me dealing with winter skin flare ups and dry skin in general.

Because the winter is the time to rest (hibernate) and reflect (digest). I have chosen to use rest and nourishment as the keys to bringing the body and mind back into balance. We will begin and end with habits, sleeping, eating, drinking, and yes....even BREATHING! You may be surprised to learn that breath is very important ...the skin is closely correlated to the lungs in both traditional chinese medicine and ayurveda. We'll discuss a few simple breathing techniques that have worked for me... and I hope will work for you as well!

Go to sleep and wake up at the same time everyday. Sleep becomes very important when bringing yourself back to balance. Good sleep habits are important in maintaining both mental and physical health. Going to sleep and waking up at regular times becomes even more important when handling stress or illness. There have been unnumbered studies done which demonstrate the importance of sleep and lowered levels of stress (as measured  objectively by lower cortisol levels, and subjectively by an individual's sense of well being). My sleep goal is to sleep for, least seven, and no more than ten hours each night. 
   [Sleep Tip - When I am tossing and turning and can't sleep, I have found valerian root capsules provide the best relief helping me doze off faster and stay asleep longer. I also have tried tart cherry juice as a sleep aid, this also works to help you stay asleep. ]

Eat less at each meal and eat more meals. Eating is the next key to improving not only your skin's health but your overall health as well. We all know that we are what we eat. Eating less processed food, stay away from overly spicy food, and stop eating before you feel FULL. Processed foods contain preservatives that can effect your sleep, your breathing and your drinking habits. Salty foods may cause you to drink more (which may cause you to wake up in the middle of the night). Also preservatives like MSG can affect your dreaming, give you a headache or create mysterious aches and pains if you are sensitive. A great secret to eating healthy is to be creative! I try to stay away from preservative laden foods and stick with more natural alternatives. That doesn't mean everything you eat needs to be organic. For example: you can try eating sliced chicken or turkey in place of prepared salami, ham or bologna can rid your diet of preservatives and lower your sodium intake as well...I'll leave the rest ot your imagination now that you likely see where this is heading.

[Eating Tip - try eating more fats and oils. Use ingredients like, avacado oil, olive oil, coconut oil, nuts, nut butters, seeds, even a little bacon ...high in sodium I know, but try and find bacon without preservatives if sodium isn't an issue for you.]

Drink more water, drink less alcohol and no sugar based sodas. Water is important to hydrate your system from the inside. We'll talk about topical creams in a minute but simply increasing your intake of water can improve your dry skin within a few days. Sugar, in large amounts, overstimulates the  nervous system, increasing heart rate, blood pressure and stress levels (by increasing cortisol levels in the blood). Alcohol, ditto on that, and both sugar and alcohol can prevent deep sleep and deep relaxation which are both critical factors in calming the nervous system. Calming the sympathetic nervous system (and activating the parasympathetic) helps reduce inflammation. I have found it also reduces the itchiness of dry skin.

[An additional drinking tip- Try switching to tea in place of coffee, it also has caffeine and has anti-inflammatory/antioxident properties as well.)

Be careful with topical creams and lotions, and don't rely on topical solutions alone. Topical creams should only be used in conjunction with a holistic plan that includes the entire body and mind. We read everyday about miracle creams that will cure our dry spots, our wrinkles, age spots etc...Yes, they will work, for awhile. But they fail to deal with the underlying issues that are the root cause of our symptoms.  One topical solution that has worked for me for sudden flare ups is 1 part tea tree oil, 1 part lavender oil and 2 parts vitamin E oil. Try this and see if it works for you. It is a clean, simple preparation that anyone can make themselves that will provide positive relief for dry patches and the red itchy spots that happen when the weather gets suddenly colder.

[Topical cream tip- Stay away from most commercially manufactured skin creams, they have carriers and other ingredients like alcohol that will make your skin drier!]

Learn how to breath correctly. Now that we have discussed sleeping, eating, drinking and topical solutions, let's talk about another habit that has a very powerful effect on your skin and well as the internal bodily processes that effect the overall nervous system as well as the skin. I'm talking about breathing. We all breath, but we don't all breath in the same way. Learning to breath, properly using the diaphragm, is vital to calming the body and the mind. Our breath effects our thinking, our emotions and even our dreaming (this I've learned from my own experience).

       How To Do Diaphragmatic Breathing: Put your hands on your abdomen. Breath in. Did your hands rise or fall? If your hands rose, and the abdomen expanded on the inhale you are breathing correctly. Congratulations! Keep it up. If your abdomen contracted on the inhale you are breathing in your chest. Not so good.  Learning to breath deep from the abdomen, could change, not just your breathing, but your whole life!

  Simply focus on breathing into your hands with the hands placed on your belly. If you take away nothing else from this article, this should be it! As you inhale the abdomen should rise, as you exhale abdomen should fall. A great way to become aware of your breath is to lay down with your stomach pressing against a hard surface. Breath slowly, deeply and calmly. As you inhale press the abdomen against the floor as you exhale let it contract. Once you can feel the correct movement then turn over onto your back and place your hands on your belly, feeling the breath rise and fall, inhale up, exhale down. Over time this way of breathing will become second nature to you. I find it helpful, even after you learn the correct way to breath, to place the hands on the belly periodically to increase your awareness of the flow of breath in and out of the body.

 [Breath Tip - My personal practice of pranayama also includes more advanced exercises.  Using diaphragmatic breath as the basis, I also do alternate nostril breathing, both with and without retention,  and shushmna breath, balancing the flow of the breath in both nostrils. These methods are more advanced breath control techniques and should be studied with the guidance of a qualified yoga teacher. If you were to do only the Diaphragmatic Breathing method described above by keeping your hands on your belly and breathing slowly, deeply and calmly you will extract tremendous benefit.]

There you have it! You have learned about creating a holistic approach for dealing with winter skin issues. I know it's a lot of information! Take what you feel comfortable with and use it. I want you to know that it took me years to learn these methods and create a practice of nourishment and healing rest including them all. You might want to start by trying to create blends of essential oils that will work for you. Be aware that everyone is different. Embrace that difference by learning what works best for you personally. Learn what nourishes and calms you.  Enjoy the journey to wholeness that you have embarked on.  When it come to your own healing, only you can see the path, and only you can walk it. Namaste.