Category Archives: Habits

Mind Your Mouth

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Not to complain, but right now I feel like Edward Scissor Hands brushed my teeth for about 3 hours straight, and it’s rather unpleasant. This week, I had gum surgery to repair some recession. This was my third and, thankfully, final one. (They only do small areas at a time.) I’m grateful that this helped prevent me from becoming toothless in my old age, but it would be way better not to get in this situation at all.

Preventing gum issues isn’t only about keeping your teeth and avoiding painful surgeries either. The health of your mouth, teeth, and gums has a massive impact on the health of the rest of your body. Chronically inflamed gums are strongly correlated with many chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, arthritis, cancer, and even Alzheimer’s. The inflammation simmering in the gums can spread to other parts of the body. Because inflammation is at the root of all chronic disease, controlling inflammation in your mouth is an important part of prevention. Also, when your gums are inflamed, weakened, and injured, bacteria can more easily get through and start trouble around the rest of the body.

Brushing, Flossing, and More!

We all know to brush and floss at least twice a day, preferably also after meals. Yadda yadda yadda. But here are a few refinements, some of which I learned only recently.

  • An electric toothbrush like Oral B or Sonicare really do clean your teeth better than a regular toothbrush. I couldn’t believe how much cleaner my teeth felt after I started using one 20 years ago. It almost feels like you had a professional cleaning every day!
  • My hygienist told me that recent dental research has found that slowing down, and spending a few seconds on each area is much more effective than mindlessly moving the toothbrush around the mouth, like I used to. I think of this new (to me) approach as “mindful brushing”. A little more mindfulness is always a good thing!
  • It’s also recommended to angle the brush into the gumline, GENTLY wiggle it, and slowly angle the brush so that you clean the rest of that tooth. Let the brush do the work. Don’t be like me and grind the brush into the gums. There are youtube videos showing this – it’s called the modified Bass technique.
  • When flossing, bring the floss down the inner edge of the tooth into the gum, rather than slamming it into the top of the gum between the teeth, if you can picture that. My gums are apparently scarred from doin’ it wrong.
  • Now, the next topic makes me want to run screaming down the street wearing an old bathrobe, waving a toilet plunger in the air. Get this – some floss is coated with teflon, that forever chemical that is being phased out because its so toxic and persistent. There are flosses with no teflon, like Cocofloss. Only get the mint flavor though, because the others have synthetic fragrance at this time, which makes me want to put my head through the monitor. (Okay, breathe and relax, Lisa.)

Mouthwash Kills!

You know how the intestinal microbiome (the good bacteria in the gut) is so incredibly important for every aspect of our health? Well, your mouth has a microbiome too! It’s made up of 20 billion microbes with 600 different organisms, all highly organized in different neighborhoods in your mouth.

It might sound gross but those critters are an important part of your immune system. They keep pathogenic microbes in check and help you digest food. We should not kill them. Listerine, first developed to sterilize operating rooms, demolishes the protective ecosystem you have in your mouth. If you really want to swish something around in your mouth, try oil pulling with coconut or sesame oil. This is an Ayurvedic practice that’s excellent for gums and teeth, whitens your teeth naturally, and helps you to detoxify. Check here for more info.

Lactobacillus species are particularly important for a healthy oral microbiome. You can “repopulate” your mouth by eating yogurt with active cultures or other fermented foods on a regular basis. Some experts even suggest letting the yogurt sit on your tongue for a few moments. The non-dairy options are excellent and better for you overall. Forager vanilla is almost dessert like, but does contain a little sweetener. I really enjoyed the Kite Hill plain as well, especially after I put some berries in it.

Tongue Scraping

It’s not as bad as it sounds. In fact, once you start tongue scraping, you’ll never go back. Tongue scraping is another Ayurvedic technique to cleanse the bacterial debris (they call it “ama”) off your tongue. It’s usually recommended first thing in the morning.

To scrape your tongue, you can get a stainless steel or copper tongue scraper, like Banyan Botanicals’ Tongue Cleaner. Stick your tongue out and and gently move the scraper across the surface of the tongue back to front five times, rinsing the scraper after each round. Follow with brushing and flossing.

Trust me, you’ll love it!

Mouth Breathers Beware!

I always thought “mouth breather” was just an insult kids hurl at each other. Turns out, there are health related reasons not to breathe out of your mouth. Our saliva is important for maintaining pH, cleansing the oral cavity, nourishing the oral microbiome, and facilitating healing of any gum injuries. When you breathe through your mouth, your saliva evaporates and the oral cavity dries out. You also lose more hydration when you breath through the mouth vs the nose. You end up with more plaque, which causes gum recession, inflammation, and bad breath. Research has found that mouth breathing actually changes facial structure in kids, resulting in an elongated face, crooked teeth, gummy smile, and more.

So breathe through your nose! If your nose is stuffy, investigate the cause. It could be food sensitivities (especially gluten and dairy), synthetic fragrance in your home or detergent, or allergies. After my friend Kim told me about “Breath” by James Nestor, I’ve been working really hard to breathe through my nose during exercise, which has a nice side effect of increasing cardioprotective nitric oxide.

If you tend to breathe through your mouth when you sleep, they actually suggest putting a bit of tape on your lips. It won’t stay the whole night, but over time can train your brain to keep your mouth closed. The good news is that as you retrain yourself to breathe through your nose, the passages open up more and nose breathing becomes more natural.

Dental Armageddon

As if we aren’t dealing with enough, some experts are concerned that the pandemic is also ushering in a “dental armageddon”, from missed or delayed appointments, stress, or possibly even masks. There have been reports of increased gingivitis in patients who never had that before, an upswing in broken teeth possibly due to stress-related teeth grinding, and complaints of “mask mouth”. Masks increase the temperature of your mouth area by 2 degrees C, which modulates the oral microbiome. Compounding that, people may tend to breathe through their mouth when they wear a mask. When wearing a mask, be sure to breathe mainly through your nose and stay well hydrated. As you know, steer clear of antiseptic mouthwash, because that will only exacerbate the issues.

Nutrition for Gum Health

After I already was committed to doing the surgeries, I came across “Nutritional Medicine” by a Alan Gaby MD. It’s a treasure trove of natural health approaches to a huge variety of medical issues. He recommends excellent nutrition for gum health including avoiding refined carbohydrates, and taking specific nutrients like Coq10 (ubiquinol), folate, zinc, vitamin E, vitamin D, and ensuring sufficient copper and calcium. (Don’t supplement with calcium or copper without verifying there is a need.) He also shared this amazing case report:

“I saw a 49-year-old woman with moderately severe periodontal disease who had been told by her periodontist that she needed extensive surgery. She was advised to take 60 mg/day of CoQ10, to use 5 ml of 0.1% folic acid mouth rinse twice a day, and to brush buffered vitamin C (calcium ascorbate) powder gently into the gums once a day. After 1 month of treatment, the periodontist remarked with surprise that her condition had improved substantially and that she no longer needed surgery.”

If you’ve been warned that you’re heading toward gum surgery, this might be a cool experiment that could save you some physical and financial pain. Be sure you get the exact vitamin C recommended – calcium ascorbate.

You can read the entire chapter for free here.

Summary to Smile About

We’ve known for decades how important it is to take care of our mouth, teeth, and gums. In these wacky times, it’s more important than ever, and maybe even more challenging than ever, to practice excellent oral hygiene. Just as the eyes are the windows to the soul, the mouth is the gateway to the body. Oral hygiene is an important pillar of overall health.

Book Review: Breath – The New Science of a Lost Art

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I am so thrilled. I’ve been wishing for years, maybe even a decade, that my funny, deep thinking, well read, amazing yoga teacher, lawyer friend Kim Blanc would do some book reviews for the hundreds of books she reads every year. Over the years, we have had many illuminating discussions about what she learns. She’s so well spoken, in a relatable and inspiring way, that I’ve always believed that her knowledge needs to reach a wider audience. Today is that day I’ve dreamed of. I am so happy to share her review of James Nestor’s book, “Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art”, that has the yoga world buzzing. Without further ado, here’s Kim’s reflections:

These days, more than ever, we need to take responsibility for our own health. Currently, our healthcare system is over-burdened and healthcare costs are through the roof. As individuals, there are simple things we can do not only to maintain our health but even improve it. Improving diet and exercise, reducing toxins and stress can have a profound and lasting effect on the prevention and treatment of most chronic ailments and diseases. However, there is nothing more important to our health and well being than the way we breathe.

I’ve just finished reading BREATH: The New Science of a Lost Art, by James Nestor. I honestly believe that if the whole country read this book, and learned to breathe better, there would be no health care crisis (physically or financially) in the US (COVID-19 aside). “Modern research is showing us that making even slight adjustments to the way we inhale and exhale can jump-start athletic performance, rejuvenate internal organs, halt snoring, asthma, respiratory issues and autoimmune disease, and even straighten scoliotic spines.”

In a nutshell, Nestor’s research, dating as far back as 500 BCE, and citing ancient wisdom and modern science, tells us that for optimal health we need to breathe through our nose, day and night, and breathe less by slowing down the breath. The perfect breath being to breathe in slowly for about 5.5 seconds and breath out for about 5.5 seconds. That’s 5.5 breaths a minute for a total of about 5.5 liters of air.

As part of his research and under the supervision of an Otolaryngologist (a nasal and sinus surgeon) at Stanford, Nestor conducted an experiment where he plugged his nose and breathed only through his mouth for ten days. At the end of the ten day period Nestor’s snoring had increased 4,820 percent, he experienced, for the first time, sleep apnea which dropped his oxygen levels some nights to 85%. When oxygen drops below 90% the blood cannot carry enough oxygen to support body tissues. If this continues for too long, he writes, this can lead to heart failure, depression, memory issues and early death. In addition to a whole host of other miserable symptoms, Nestor’s blood pressure rose to the level of stage 2 hypertension, his stress related hormones spiked, suggesting that his body was under physical and mental duress, and his heart rate variability plummeted. Luckily, when he removed the plugs after ten days and began to breathe through his nose all system returned to normal. Since he is now primarily a nose breather, and regularly practices breathing exercises, his overall health has improved significantly.

Most of what I read in this book was not a big surprise to me as I have been practicing yoga and its recommended breathing techniques for ten years. In reading this book I appreciated so much all of the research and science that Nestor brought to light. I won’t bore you with a litany of my own past ailments, but suffice to say that the quality of my life has vastly improved since I began practicing yoga with an Ujjayi breath (slow steady balanced breath with an inhale for 5 and an exhale for 5 through the nose while constricting the back of my throat to created an ocean sound) and other forms of pranayama (breath exercises). A mouth breather my whole life, especially during sleep, and the host of health issues that went with it, I now sleep with my mouth closed and I no longer suffer from periodontal disease, sore throats, a whole host of sinus issues, anxiety and the misdiagnosis’ of many doctors. I now take responsibility for my own physical and mental health by breathing better and consistently practicing yoga and as a result, I have not had to see a doctor in years. This isn’t to say that I don’t appreciate doctors, I certainly do, but I take as much responsibility as I can to avoid having to see one in the first place and breathing better most definitely helps.

Let me close by saying that if you snore and/or experience sleep apnea, try placing a one inch piece of surgical tape over your mouth before going to bed. Nestor describes it as a Hitler mustache dropped down one inch over the lips. Don’t worry if it doesn’t last the night. Just keep doing it night after night. You will eventually train yourself to keep your mouth closed. If your sinuses are blocked try some saline spray before bed. By employing these two strategies, over time, your sinuses will open and enlarge and your overall health will improve, guaranteed! The nose is a use it or lose it apparatus! Use it!

Read the book! You’ll never breathe through your mouth again. Improving your health is that easy and it’s free!

(Note from Lisa – Thank you Kim!)

Shush the Sugar Cravings

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I want to apologize if my last post about what sugar does to the body was a bummer. If you felt that way, just know that I totally agree. Most of us grew up eating lots of sugar, believing that the worst it could do is give us cavities. It was a treat we enjoyed all during our formative years and it’s deeply embedded in our psyches. It was a reward, a comfort, and is associated with wonderful memories. So the thought of breaking up with sugar is especially rough because there’s an emotional and physical component to it. Sugar and I have parted ways several times, and I know how depressing it can feel at first.

But! After you get over that, you feel SO much better! No addictions, better energy, more emotionally even, clarity of mind, weight loss, less puffy… the list goes on.

In addition to those tangible benefits, your risk for all the major chronic diseases goes down. So, even though it may feel impossible, sad, and extreme, it’s worth the effort. If you’re not willing to ghost your sugar completely, just reducing your intake is fantastic too.    

How to Reduce Sugar Cravings  

As you reduce/eliminate sugar, cravings are sure to rear their ugly head. The good news is that they go away almost completely in as little as a week. You almost can’t even believe that you were so addicted to the stuff. Until you get there, here are some of my favorite methods for avoiding and dealing with cravings:  

  • Stay hydrated – start your day with a couple big glasses of water and sip it every half hour for the rest of the day. Dehydration makes you feel depleted, and more likely to grab any quick energy fix.
  • Eat protein rich meals. This is filling and increases satiety.
  • Be sure to have regular meals – getting hangry is a recipe for disaster.
  • As you transition, enjoy some whole food,natural sweeteners in moderation – like raw honey, pure maple syrup, raisins, figs, or dates.
  • Eat sweet potatoes and other sweet vegetables. Soon these will taste really sweet!
  • Experiment with spices like coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and cardamom. Cinnamon has been shown to stabilize blood sugar.
  • Drink licorice or Gymnema Sylvestre herbal tea which also help regulate blood sugar.
  • Slow down and find sweetness in non-food ways. Despite what we learned growing up, a treat does not = sugar! Sugar is certainly not a treat for your body.
  • Move in some way – take a walk, dance around, do some pushups, jumping jacks, or a few sun salutations. It’s energizing on its own and distracts you from the craving.
  • Brush your teeth. When your mouth feels refreshed, subconsciously you don’t want to muck it up with all that sugar.
  • Reduce strong yang foods and beverages like animal protein and coffee, because they increase cravings for yin foods like sugar and alcohol as the body tries to rebalance energetically.
  • In the midst of a full fledged craving, drink a glass of water. If it’s still there, eat a nice refreshing apple. If it’s still there, have a protein smoothie. If it’s still there, take a nap if possible. Lastly, the craving will usually go away in less than 20 minutes, so waiting it out is an option too.

I’d love to hear how these suggestions work for you and also what tips you have used successfully that aren’t on my list! 

Image by Stephanie Wu Photography

Emotional Supernova

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Just this morning, I stumbled upon this YouTube clip of Eckhart Tolle answering a question about anger. Although it might seem random in a July 4th message, I thought blowing things up all over the country is a good enough metaphor to share it today. I highly recommend listening to the clip so you can hear the wisdom from the Meister himself, but for what it’s worth, here are my reflections.  

Although unpleasant, anger and strong emotion can help us to grow, when we recognize that they are all just patterns of thought, or what Eckhart calls “thought forms”. When intense feelings come up, instead of identifying with them, fanning that fire, and succumbing to a knee jerk reaction, remember that you are not your thoughts and you don’t even have to believe all your thoughts. As Eckhart said – there’s enormous freedom in that.   

Working with the negativity that arises within us, however it shows up, can be a really important spiritual practice in and of itself. When you recognize anger, see it as just a thought form that you simply absorbed somewhere along the way. It’s not actually you and you can decide to let it go if it’s not serving you. It will probably show up again in the future, but it doesn’t have to control you, or have the ability to ruin your or anyone else’s day. Further, when you can look at your own anger without judgement, you’re naturally more understanding when others get angry.  

So we can even be grateful for anger and other strong emotions because they give us something to work with, a way to expand our understanding, and learn to become truly free. 

The Ayurvedic Perspective   

Also, we may be more prone to anger in the hot weather. Ayurveda, the world’s longest continuously practiced health care system, teaches that we are ruled by energies of fire (Pitta), air (Vata), and earth (Kapha), and that Like Increases Like. So if we’re outside in the hot air, working out hard, eating spicy food, etc, we may feel symptoms of too much fire energy, which includes anger, inflammation, stress, etc.   

Certified Ayurvedic Consultant, Emmie Stamell recommends treating excess pitta with opposite qualities, “A cooling diet and lifestyle practices such as moon-bathing, avoiding the mid-day sun, wearing colors like white and blue, and enjoying a light diet full of locally grown veggies are ways to pacify the conditions associated with excess heat. Coconut, watermelon and salad are great summertime treats. Essential oils like sandalwood and rose cool the body-mind. Exercise is best done in the early morning or evening to avoid overheating the system, and as a general rule, back off to 75% of your typical effort. Yin yoga, or a calmly paced yoga flow that incorporates wide-legged forward folds and twists with elongated exhalations is ideal for a summer practice.”

Image credit: NASA

Where our Goals Intersect

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I hope you’re crushing those New Year’s Resolutions! Or moving towards your dreams in a way that makes you feel hopeful and happy. Progress, no matter how tentative, builds momentum and life force energy. There’s so much reward even in taking just one step forward.    

If you’re looking for a little activation energy to get started on your wellness plan, this is where our goals intersect.    

I LOVE helping people transform their health the natural and lasting way. I’ve dedicated decades of my life to learning how to do that through many disciplines, including traditional nutrition, holistic health coaching, functional medicine coaching, yoga, and yoga’s sister science Ayurveda. Then I poured the best combination of that knowledge and experience into The Ultimate Rejuvenation Cleanse.     

It is a cleanse, and so much more. In this 28-day program, you’ll cleanse out toxins, sugar addiction, and inflammation. You’ll also infuse yourself with deeply nourishing foods, habits, self care, and perspective shifts. You’ll learn experientially which foods serve your unique body and which ones don’t.   

All these gains will stick around, and propel you towards your goals even after the cleanse is done. This is not one of those one-dimensional, deprivation diets where you drop some pounds and gain it right back plus a few more. The goal of this program is multifaceted nourishment so your body heals, rejuvenates, and you reach your ideal weight almost as a side benefit.    

Additionally, you’ll cultivate fantastic energy, glowing skin, mental clarity, and profound wellness. You’ll learn a lot, get excited and inspired, discover great new things, and have expert support.     

The program follows a gentle, luxurious pace. Slow and steady wins the race! In the first seven days, we build a strong self care foundation before we make a single change to our diets. During the second week, we start to make a few dietary shifts towards whole, unprocessed food. The third week is the official full cleanse week, with plenty of delicious food and self care the whole time. Finally, the fourth week is when we test for food sensitivities. Often it’s those hidden sensitivities that cause pesky health issues like low energy, weight gain, brain fog, sinus and skin issues, digestive woes, etc. This is a major key to well-being that most people miss.

You’ll get a content rich, inspiring email every morning, a 200+ page eBook with everything you need to know about the cleanse plus lots of bonuses, 150+ delicious cleanse friendly recipes, a Quick Start Guide that cuts to the chase, a private Facebook group to chat with me and other cleansers, a few optional live events including 2 conference calls, a shopping trip, and celebration dinner (if you’re local).

If this sounds like the perfect program for you right now, let’s take that step forward together –  join the cleanse today! We can also stay connected on Facebook.

Image credit: Al1974ex

I bet you never heard THIS productivity secret!

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There’s so much excellent wisdom about increasing productivity that you could get seriously behind in your work researching the many ways to be productive. The books, blog posts, and TED Talks are shiny objects that I cannot resist. However, despite all the time I’ve spent unlocking the secrets to my productivity, I can’t say any of of the techniques became my permanent M.O. I suspect I’m not alone in that.

I do however have a pretty awesome productivity secret of my own that my clients and I have discovered along the way. It’s a little different because it’s not about setting up systems, planning, or scheduling. It’s more about removing what is blocking your mental clarity, energy, and motivation. From your dinner plate.

It’s gluten.

Surprised? If I had a dime for every client that has been truly astounded at how much more mental clarity and energy they gained by removing gluten from their diet, I’d be able to make a long distance call from a payphone. If I could find one. Here’s what one client said after being gluten free for about a month, “I got done in one hour what used to take me all day. The mental fog is totally gone.” Other clients (myself included) noticed how much less we procrastinate. Getting things done doesn’t feel like such a slog. There is more ease and less resistance. So your work gets done more efficiently, and more effectively as well.

I can’t help thinking… if going gluten free can make that much of a difference in productivity for one person, imagine if a whole company did it? Whoa.

Millions of us suffer from what is called “non-Celiac gluten sensitivity”. That’s when the proteins in gluten don’t necessarily cause digestive distress, but they do make you physically fatigued, mentally lethargic, and struggling with motivation. There is a whole spectrum of other conditions that glutlen sensitivity can lead to as well, from annoying to debilitating.

If you’re suffering from low energy and mental fog, try removing gluten from your diet for a few weeks and see what happens. Odds are you’re going to start feeling a lot better and getting your work done like a boss. Without blood, sweat, or even coffee.

Going gluten free might seem daunting at first because gluten is omnipresent in our diets. But it’s really not that difficult once you learn a few tricks. Restaurants are getting on the bandwagon and offering more and more gluten free options.

Do yourself a favor by doing it the right way. Swap all that bread and pasta for nutrient dense whole grains like quinoa, brown or black rice, and other whole food starches like sweet potatoes, not highly processed gluten free white bread and pasta. We want you to get healthier too, not just more productive.

And now a word from our sponsor… In my cleanse, I can show you how to go gluten free (and test for other common food sensitivities), significantly upgrade your nutrition, and get you taking better care of yourself than ever before. When you do that, your vitality, mood, and productivity skyrockets!

Now back to work!

Image credit: Alper Kutay Erke

Ch-ch-ch-Changes in 2019!

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George Bernard Shaw said that progress is impossible without change. Although we’re all for progress, we tend to avoid change. Mostly because we’re such creatures of habit and our comfort zones are so darn comfy!

Yet change is inevitable*. Day in and day out, we are all morphing – physically, mentally, and emotionally. Although we can’t stop this process, we can direct it.

In most cases, it’s not bad luck or bad genes that cause us to feel suboptimal, it’s how we choose to feed and care for ourselves. If we want a different experience, we have to try something different. Although trying new things can be uncomfortable at first, it’s empowering to experience how much our habitual choices affect our life experience. It’s so worth the effort.

In our gentle, 4-week cleanse – we help you to try fabulous new things and upgrade your habits so you feel better fast, and then even better over time. (Why go through the trouble for just short term benefit?) We’d love to help you create powerful, lasting change in 2019! The New Year cleanse begins on January 20th! If you’re on our mailing list, we’ll let you know when registration opens up on January 1st.

* except from a vending machine

Image credit: James Rice

Did we miss the best part of Thanksgiving?!

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If you’re like most people, your Thanksgiving involved gross overfeeding, family (the good, the bad, and the ugly), lots of work, and manic Black Friday shopping, perhaps all sprinkled with a tiny bit of stress. Although it’s written right into the name, we’re too busy washing dishes and buying stuff to focus on the “thanks” part of Thanksgiving. But if we really knew just how life changing giving thanks is, we would jump on that bandwagon with more vigor than we jumped on the treadmill today!

Like exercise, gratitude practice makes us feel happier, more energetic, healthier, more attractive, and so much more. You’d think it would be our default state, but the human tendency to focus on what could go wrong (or kill us) is probably one of the reasons we survived as a species. But in modern life, that mindset isn’t protecting us as much as it is detracting from our quality of life.

The good news is – we can change it! Through gratitude practice, we rewire our brains, the way we look at life, what we feel capable and deserving of, the way we react to others, and consequently how they react to us. Feeling grateful gives us more energy, clarity, and joy. When we have those things, we aren’t as prone to engage in unhealthy habits like too much food or drink. We just feel better and more at ease all the time, and everything ripples out from that.

 

“You simply will not be the same person two months from now after consciously giving thanks each day for the abundance that exists in your life. And you will have set in motion an ancient spiritual law: the more you have and are grateful for, the more will be given you.“

– Sarah Ban Breathnach, author of Simple Abundance

 

There are many variations, but one of the simplest ways to practice gratitude is – upon waking and before going to sleep, just think of a few things that you’re grateful for. Do this consistently, every day, and watch how all the good things in your life magically expand.

We’d love to hear about your gratitude experience, how you do it, and what happened… Share below!

Photo credit: iStockPhoto

The Many Benefits of Daily Body Oiling

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Abhyanga is an Ayurvedic practice that involves massaging good quality oil into your skin every day. It’s the perfect remedy for the cold, dry, winter air! Most obviously, daily oiling helps your skin retain its hydration and luster. When you oil your skin in the morning, you feel warm and cozy all day, as if you were wearing silk long underwear. Oiling your feet at night helps you to get more restorative sleep. The physical action of massaging oil into your skin and joints helps to relieve stiffness and improves circulation, giving your whole body a nice glow and boosting energy and overall health. Since there is so little circulation in the joints, they can really benefit from the extra attention. You can even put a little oil in your nostrils to help keep the sinuses moist, which helps you to avoid colds and sinus infections.

The benefits of abhyanga don’t end with the physical. According to Ayurveda, the cold winter air can also impact the mind, causing us to feel jittery, scattered, and exhausted. Regular application of oil infuses your body-mind with a grounding energy that soothes any winter-induced anxiety or forgetfulness. All of these symptoms (cold, dry, stiff, anxious, scattered, tired) that we can relieve with abhyanga are often associated with aging. This is why abhyanga is considered one of Ayurveda’s top anti-aging strategies!

How to oil

  1. Since your skin absorbs whatever you put on it, use the highest quality oil you can find – organic, cold-pressed, and in a glass bottle when possible. Jojoba, sesame, and coconut are great choices. Most of these are available at the grocery store. However, you can also purchase wonderful oils infused with herbs or essential oils (we especially love Sarada’s Woman Power oil!). Natural, cold-pressed oils contain fatty acids, vitamin E, and other antioxidants that promote healthy skin. Sure, lotions often add vitamin E, but not the whole vitamin E complex, like natural oils have.
  2. Before your shower, rub the oil into your skin, using long strokes on the long bones, and circular motions around the joints. Be sure to pay attention to your toes and feet, fingers, and neck too. Enjoy it!
  3. You don’t need to use a lot of oil.
  4. If you like, you can rub some into your scalp. This helps keep your hair healthy and conditioned. (When doing the hair, it’s great to let it soak in for 10-15 minutes if possible.)
  5. Using your pinky finger, you can apply a bit of oil to your nostrils as well. “Nasya” oil was created for this purpose, and is usually infused with sinus opening herbs like eucalyptus. But of course regular oil also works well.
  6. When you shower, the warm water will help the oil to sink in. Be sure you don’t use soap on the arms and legs. You may need to shampoo twice if used a lot of oil in your hair. Blot your skin dry after the shower.
  7. An alternative option is to apply the oil after your shower. Just use less oil, and give it a few minutes to sink in before getting dressed.
  8. When you’re cooking, rub extra olive, sesame, or coconut oil into your hands!
  9. Ayurveda is pretty obsessed with oiling. They even put drops in eyes, ears, other places :-0 and swish with oil like mouthwash. It’s really good for dental health. Swishing with coconut oil actually whitens your teeth while improving dental health! If you decide to try this, swish for about 10 minutes as you do your morning routine, and spit the oil out in the trash, not the sink (because it can clog the sink over time).

Image credit: Lisa Mair

What’s your Smoking?

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I have a friend who smokes. Not all the time, but maybe a little more than “just when she’s out drinking”. She is polite about it, and doesn’t expose us to her second hand smoke. The rest of my friends don’t smoke, and as a whole, are vigorously and vocally anti-smoking. So as you might suspect, my smoking friend periodically gets a little well-intentioned flack from my anti-smoking friends.

At one point, she asked why it’s okay for all of us to get on her case about her occasional smoking, when it would be politically incorrect, mean, and hurtful for her to get on anyone else’s case for their unhealthy daily habits, like eating too much sugar, eating too much in general, not exercising, drinking too much alcohol, not prioritizing sleep, etc? You know, the kind of stuff we all do a little too much, a little too often. Are these things not as dangerous as cigarette smoke?

Well, dang. She had a point.

Dr David Katz, founding director of the Yale-Griffith Prevention Research center, said, “Children today will experience more chronic degenerative disease as a result of their poor eating habits than from cigarettes, alcohol and drugs combined.” Although he was talking about kids, research suggests that this probably applies to adults too. Quitting smoking is certainly low hanging fruit for improving health. But so is quitting sugar, and the like.

This conversation reminded me of the biblical quote about removing the log from your own eye before trying to remove the speck from someone else’s. So my take home message was this – when I find myself getting judgmental about my friend smoking, instead of getting on her case, telling her what she already knows, I’m going to ask myself, What’s MY “smoking” and what am I going to do about that?

What are your thoughts about this topic? Comment below!

Update: The friend mentioned in this post quit!!!

Image credit: KsushPush