health Archives - Page 3 of 16

Need An Immune Boost? Barley Water Elixir

January 20, 2016 by lah

“Make him the Barley Water Elixir drink!”

This quote is from an old English book on rules for keeping a wholesome house. But Barley Water remains an elixir for what ails you. Here are the basics:

Barley has a variety of health benefits to hair, skin, bladder and kidney. It contains fiber, minerals, antioxidants and phytochemicals. All the good stuff.

Add the ginger, turmeric and vitamin c packed citrus and you have a cleansing, vitamin rich health elixir when your immune system needs a boost.

Barley Water Elixir Drink

Ingredients

1/4 cup barley

8 cups water

Turmeric: 1 scant teaspoon

fresh Ginger: 4 quarter sized slices

Juice of 1/2 grape fruit

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Juice of 1/2 lime

Sweeten with organic raw honey (Manuka would be great)

What to do:

Rinse barley and place along with turneric and ginger in a medium pot with the water.

Bring to a boil over high heat.

Reduce heat. cover the pot and simmer for 4 to 6 hours, or longer.

Remove from heat, strain, add the fruit juices and honey to taste.

Serve it warm.

But what I really want to know is: What is your favorite Immune boosting remedy? Store-bought or home-made, chicken soup to oscillocinum?

Wide-Eyed at 2 am? Sleep Remedy

January 6, 2016 by lah Leave a Comment

Sleep Remedy 101:

If you are waking up between 2 and 3 am wide eyed, mind racing, you are not alone. It’s so common that In Ayurveda-land we call this phenomena EMA. Early Morning Awakening.

The reason is very simple in ayurvedic terms: If you look at the clock, 2-6 both AM/PM are considered Vata times. So if you are waking at this time it is a sign of a pitta/vata imbalances conspiring to wake you up with a feeling of being ready for the day rather than more sleep. What’s that? read on… and read here to understand data which is the force getting you awake.

Vata is all about circulation, the nervous system, delivering nutrients around the body and collecting up toxins to move them out. When it goes out of balance you may feel anxious, forgetful, ungrounded and flighty, dry, constipated.

When there is Pitta heat build up in the body (from intense and excessive activity and conditions deeper within the physiology that create heat in the blood, as we call it) this heat creates mental pressure that breaks through during the lighter sleeping Vata time.

“Pitta time” Pitta (10-2 am/pm) is about digestion, assimilation, cellular activity and metabolism. This is why it is best to eat the biggest meal around noon and have eaten your evening meal well before 10pm so the digestion can work on getting nutrients organized, metabolized and delivered to the cells and tissues where it is needed and toxins separated and ready for expulsion where appropriate.

First try to find correlations relating to nights when you are having EMA’s. I find that drinking red wine gets me to sleep faster but increases chances I will wake at 2am. But here are the basic tips for avoiding EMA’s.

Find ways to decrease emotional stress – Meditate and/or Develop an Alternate Nostril Breathing practice. Do it before bed and when/if you wake up at night do it to soothe yourself and your mind back to sleep. sNote: sundown and sunrise are the start of Kapha time. (the third dosha which has to do with grounding and are ideal times to meditate to soak up grounding energy.) READ HERE or LISTEN HERE
Get to bed closer to 10:00 p.m.
Avoid stimulation and blinking screens — television, computer and phone — within an hour of bedtime.
Do self massage! (soothes vata imbalances) read here
Do not eat a big or heart or hard to digest meal late in the day.
- Eat a well-cooked, easy-to-digest dinner at least three hours before bedtime.
Try to eat your main meal between 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m.

Some general reminders. Vata is light dry mobile so do things that are warming and grounding. Massage your feet with warm sesame oil before bed (put on socks after)

Magical Herb honey -DIY and Fun

December 30, 2015 by lah Leave a Comment

The elegant simplicity of Soothing, Curative Herb honey

If you are into DIY products at all try this one for the coming season of colds, sore throats and coughs. This is a perfect activity for when you have some down time and still want to be productive!

Here is the Recipe: CLICK HERE

I am sending you to the wonderful and info packed site of Jade Shutes at East-West Herbology where i studied some to get a small window into American Herbology (in Ayurveda we use a different set of herbs.)

Have fun! Feel great…

Magnesium is no fad mineral….

December 23, 2015 by lah Leave a Comment

Why reach For Magnesium?

Magnesium is a simple element whose absence may be at the root of many an ailment.

Magnesium is a mineral and researchers estimate that the average person’s body has 25 grams of it with 50% of that in the bones. Magnesium is vital for hundreds of chemical reactions in the body that keep systems up and running smoothly. Leg cramps? Memory issues? Anxiety and Depression? Hormone problems, high blood pressure? Sleep issues? Magnesium deficienceis may be implicated in all of these.

Look at magnesium levels in your body. Most of us are deficient. I was.

Our topsoil is so depleted that we may be getting less than we should through normal dietary sources but here is the list of those sources: High fiber usually means high magnesium – legumes, whole grains, vegetables (especially broccoli, squash, and green leafy vegetables), seeds (pumpkin, sunflower etc), and nuts (especially almonds). Other sources include dairy products, meats, chocolate, coffee and some mineral waters. An epsom salt bath or along swim in the sea.

We need Magnesium for our bones (magnesium may be just as key as calcium), nerves, muscles and fluid digestion.

Important health studies have shown that good levels of magnesium correlated to lower risk of heart disease decreasing risk of over-calcification. From what I have read it seems this may be due to the fact that magnesium has a big synergistic role to play in keeping proper levels of many minerals in the body (vitamins K & D).

Magnesium is said to help relax mind and body (something about GABA receptors which are implicated in transition from racing mind to quiet sleep ready mind.) 8. Low Energy

Some athletes swear that excellent magnesium means greater energy and better performance. I see it on the tennis court.

Bottom Line: Get it orally (powder, pill) or transdermally (bath, lotion)

Constipation. I like a powder called “Natural Calm” which works as a laxative for constipation issues. Easy rescue remedy while traveling when the Triphala is not enough. I travel with powdered magnesium in a plastic baggy and after raising a few eyebrows at the TSA I labeled it. The stuff is a white powder… hmmm
Epsom Salt Bath: Twenty blissful minutes of transdermal absorption. Add a few drops of lavendar and as I told my favorite Auntie: go for a soothing facial mask (I love sandalwood paste), massage some coconut oil into your scalp and don a turban. Insta spa at home! lovely.
Dyspepsia (heartburn or “sour stomach”). Taking magnesium by mouth as an antacid reduces symptoms of heartburn. Magnesium hydroxide seems to work best.
High blood pressure during pregnancy (pre-eclampsia and eclampsia) is treated with a magnesium drip.

Warning: Antibiotics and High blood pressure medications may interact so ask your medical doctor.

If you only do one thing…? Ask Lah

December 16, 2015 by lah 1 Comment

making a mess — some people might throw pots!

If you could only do one thing to create better wellness what would it be?

My answer is: Find ways to connect to personal source for creative, spiritual, personal power.

Whew. That is some mouthful and a really big subject. But, I am telling you from experience, absolutely essential and essentially do-able!!

It is a new year and we all have resolutions but I will share a secret. Before I make any resolutions I take time to make sure I am doing things that serve me and I try to avoid or eliminate the ones that don’t.

So when a reader asked me what is the single thing I would do if I could only do one thing to achieve better health, what would that be I began to ponder. At first I thought, EASY!

Daily Practices.

But daily practices are not going to get tot he deeper root of things on their own. The real answer to this profound question is find a way to figure out what your personal source is and connect to it and the only way i really know how to do this profound work is through meditation and here is a reasonably easy place to start.

So, What does it mean to Connect to Personal Source?

It means connecting to a power that you have within you to feel better, solve problems, be more productive, loving kind, joyful. Yes. All of that and less of the negative talk, self-defeating things we all sabotage ourselves with.

Of course it will take some work to discover what practices, thoughts, ideas will work for you in your life. ask yourself what practice or practices will help you connect, on a daily or at least regular basis, We are talking about a most fundamental thing: what personal source of spiritual guidance do you need to tap into so you can receive and use the comfort and wisdom that is always available to you?

This will take some work but the seeds will grow into answers that will be be a gift that keeps on giving for life. true true true.

7 Day Sadhana to get answers:

Set aside a time each day for a simple, breath based meditation that may be just 10 minutes.

As you sit quietly, begin breathing deeply and rhythmically in and out through the nose.

Just watch that breath come in and out, watch as it settles and deepens.

Ask yourself: What is the one thing I can do for myself to create better health and wellness in my life. Repeat the question three times.

Now just go back to watching the breath for the remainder of the 10 minutes (or whatever time you have chosen.) Do not worry about the question. Just know that you have dropped it into your consciousness like a seed. The meditation itself will water the seed, feed it. Answers will grow.

At the end of the alloted time and before you open your eyes repeat the affirmation: I will find ways to create better health and wellness for myself.

Keep a journal of anything that came up be they ideas, emotions. These may become the new seeds for another 7 day sadhana where you start with an affirmative statement like, “I will find ways to feel (fill in the blank.)