Triphala – Happy now good elimination

July 1, 2015 by lah Leave a Comment

Triphala-combine — Triphala – traditional Organic Purifier

Triphala: It’s traditional, it tonifies, it promotes elimination & it works.

Forgive me for getting personal but here is one thing I know for sure: Every one of us should be pooping every morning. The cleaning and detox crew has been in overnight while we slept and that garbage has to be removed.

When I gave up my cup of morning Jo years ago my elmination ritual got a little erratic. I found triphala and with a “three week on one week off” regimen I am as regular as Big Ben. (aren’t you glad you know that about me?)

I sing the praises of Triphala becasue this is not ordinary laxative. though it does have that effect. No this is a powerful trio of traditional purifying herbs that, together do many things to contribute to a healthier elimination and detox process in the body. Triphala does act as a gentle, non-habit forming laxative working as a demulcent as it tonifies the intestinal tract, purifies liver and more.

I had always heard that moving the bowel in the morning is a critical part of a natural detox plan. Many Ayurveds says no meditation until a bowel movement. This made it even more urgent that I have that daily cleansing action every morning. Optimal digestion and elmination are the daily natural detox process (better for you and more effective than more extreme and sporadic things like juice fasts or crazy cleanses.)

Triphala translates to english as Three Fruits a formula made up of three fruits native to the Indian subcontinent: Amalaki (Emblica officinalis), Bibhitaki (Terminalia belerica) and Haritaki (Terminalia chebula).

Buy some Triphala Now

Benefits of Triphala

promotes natural internal cleansing
Gently maintains regularity
Nourishes and rejuvenates intestinal tissues
Supports healthy digestion and absorption
Natural antioxidant

Banyan Botanicals (trusted source of herbs for me always) says:

Amalaki (Emblica officinalis): Has a cooling effect that manages pitta, supporting the natural functions of the liver and the immune system.
Bibhitaki (Terminalia belerica): Particularly good for kapha, supporting the respiratory system as well as kapha accumulations in all systems.
Haritaki (Terminalia chebula): Though having a heating nature, it is still good for all three doshas (vata, pitta, and kapha). Is known for its “scraping” effect, which removes toxins and helps maintain healthy levels of weight.

The emphasis here is not so much on elimination as it is on tonification. My understanding is that constipation and irregularity are generally caused by liver and gall bladder congestion, usually with some toxicity in the blood and liver departments.

So here is a plan I follow:

1-2 tablets with warm water before bed. I like to travel with the Triphala liquid extract and take a full dropper in warm water morning and night while traveling.

Ask Lah … no question too simple or complex

February 18, 2015 by lah Leave a Comment

Think of Ask Lah as a sort of ‘Dear Abby’ for the art well-being.

They say that questions are infinitely superior to answers. I ask all sorts of questions all the time. I think of it as the laboratory of personal experience. I then share those answers with just about anyone interested in listening. So here is an opportunity to make sure that I am actually answering questions you, dear readers of posts and blog, want to hear!

So, as many of you know by now, Lah is me: ayurvedic practitioner, holistic health coach, documentary filmmaker (nothing but questions), mother of four (questions, joys, frustrations), former attorney (the practical side). Since it is my mission to blend ancient wisdom with modern well-being I try to make sure my answers are practical, effective and, yes, fun! (the be well, savor the ride part.)

The information is evidence based and based on the the application of ancient arts and sciences in the laboratory of my own experience.

Maybe you just need a point of departure, an inspiration or an idea. Or maybe you need a remedy for dry skin. The point is I am inviting you to “Ask away!”

Ask questions on all manner of issues related to tools and strategies for luxurious yet ecologically sound, modern well-being: from techniques to books, theories and practices to alternative health Remedies and Chemical Free luxe beauty and home products I have tried and love. As always Lah Answers will be more playful than earnest, yet evidence-based and serious.

Lah is at your service to answer and then share the thread with the community in on the LAHLIFE Facebook page because there may be answers out there that are more useful than mine.

6 ways travel improves life

January 21, 2015 by lah

I hate stating the obvious but travel Improves life!

The idea is not how far and wide you physically travel … whether it is travel afar or a shift in perspective close to home, the point is to switch up the view, the expectations, the habitual patterns.

Funny to hear myself say this when i spend most of my time with clients and here extolling the virtues of a settled, ritual, rhythmic flow to life. The fact is that while practices, habits and a stable home base are critical to well-being, getting a new visual, spiritual and emotional infusion is energizing and inspiring.

Here are the 6 main ways travel improves life:

1. Travel Changes You: Bourdain always gets it right.

2. Travel Keeps Life Fresh: TS Eliot said it best — “We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” Distance and difference are the secret tonic of creativity. “When we get home, home is still the same but something in our mind has ben changed and that changes everything. – jonah Lehrer.

3. Travel Challenges Established Rhythms: It is critical to be sure that your rituals really mean something and they don’t get stale. Isn’t it terrifying when you find you have driven miles along a well travelled road without realizing it? Isn’t it exhilarating to get lost but not too lost?

4. Travel Nurtures Introspection: Lawrence Durrell, another inveterate traveller, noticed that “Travel can be one of the most rewarding forms of introspection.” And this thought too: ” It affirms, each and every time, that there is unity in diversity.” R. Kovacs.

5. Travel breaks the cycles of dis-ease: Sometimes the change of food, water, tempo, schedule, language – dissolves problems, breaks a cycle of anxious thinking, solves a digestive disturbance. Being light and open, less than in control, surrendered to a culture and language barrier are all opening experiences that dissolve the sludge and drudge of sameness which can be grounding but can also take on a quality of quicksand after a while.

6. Travel shifts the Perspective: Transposing a problem to a different environment may dissolve it. As a child, if i was sleepless I would move my pillow to a cool place at the foot of my bed and switch up the direction. It almost always worked a charm. a little practical magic can go a long way.

And don’t forget a few travel savvy items:

Insure you stay physically healthy on your travels while you are feeding the mind and soul! Shop here in the Travel Savvy Shop – from elixirs to keep you regular and calm to the best travel yoga mat.

Brush & Balm to Go
Yoga Anywhere
Facial Savvy
Digestive Savvy
Puck travel brush
Protect
Your Travel Essentials kit

Jet Lag Cures. The just say NO approach

July 29, 2014 by lah Leave a Comment

Jet Lag Cures — 7 rules for just saying no to jet-lag.

Who wants to get to this beach and feel like a disoriented, constipated grump-head?

Travel does not have to take all of the stuffing out of you.

There are a few basic travel-savvy jet lag cures and strategies that can keep you feeling more like a functional human and less like a depleted drone. It is all about circadian rhythms and, in my experience, a little self-trickery.

My husband for example, keeps his watch at the old time zone and checks in with himself (and me tho I try to shut him down) to see where he would have been and compare it to where he is.

I say be here now and ignore that old reality as though your life depends upon it!

Also: Read this for some great summer travel ideas from Indagare, the online luxe travel resource.

And Now for the Jet Lag Cure List:

#1. Stay Hydrated. Drink drink drink. 2 days pre-flight, during sip hot water never alcohol and less coffee which can act as a diuretic, and 2 days post. Add an Emergen-C packet to your room temp water.

#2. Pre-Set: Start to jiggle your schedule towards a sleep schedule closer to your destination in the week before travel.

#3. Re-Set the Circadian rhythms: Try Melatonin at least 3 days pre-travel – 10mg 20 minutes before sleep time. During your trip and post. Homeopathic tablets (like Jet-Zone) in flight.

#4. In-Flight Rules:

Lots of water and no alcohol.
Do deep breathing exercises periodically to keep the oxygen flowing. Check out this Well-Snap.
Get up and stretch: do lunges in the aisle, side stretches, reach for the sky/reach for the toes. Alternate leg lifts. Shoulder rolls front and back. The staff and passengers will look at you oddly but ignore them!
Self massage the arms, legs shoulders and neck to keep circulatory system active. Use a lavender scented oil on feet (cover with socks) and neck.
Place a few drops of Nasya Oil on tip of pinky and insert into each nostril and ear canal to moisturize and keep bacteria from settling in on dried out passages.
Use Rosewater Saline Drops as often as you like to moisten and cool the eyes.
Spritz a Farmaesthetics facial tonic waters like rosewater on the face and neck to hydrate skin, follow with Tri-doshic Facial Oil or try the Tammy Fender Anti-Aging kit which has everything you need for travel and is super hydrating.

#5. Eat Bananas! They are packed with melatonin, seratonin and magnesium.

6#. The Elixir: Take Travel Well Elixir drops to ease exhaustion, digestive issues and constipation and other disorienting effects of schedule and food changes.

#7. Be on your new Time Zone and Move It- Move It: When you land get on your new schedule right away. Avoid that nap and stay exposed to natural sunlight. Get some exercise ( a leisurely walk, swim in the sea, gentle flow yoga keeping your gaze down ward to promote grounding) and get a massage. I take my travel yoga mat everywhere i travel because it fits easily even when all I have is carry-0n and keeps me motivated on my very own little piece of home.

Here is a gross note that means keep washing your hands in flight: A new study performed at Auburn University in conjunction with the FAA says that bacteria can stay alive and continue to be infectious for more than a week on the arm rests, seat pockets, seats and bathroom doors of commercial aircrafts. The dry air is said to contribute to their extra-long life on airplanes. Use Purell, wash with soap. My mom takes clorox wipes and air-plane seat covers with her. I guess she was right!

How Travel Improves life: Lyrical, Musical & ” I am because we are”

May 7, 2014 by lah Leave a Comment

Traveling this week, and it is so disorienting, which makes it eye-opening, which makes me look more and see more and get inspired by more. Travel Improves Life for sure.

Here are 3 things that came into my purview this week I thought worth sharing:

First: Gillian Welch…had never heard her melancholy, lyrical ballads before and now I will not soon forget them. She plays with David Rawlings and they play with Alisson Kraus, Norah Jones, etc etc etc. listen here.

Second: Cumbia! I had heard the techno take-over of this form but watch & listen to some vintage Cumbia from Colombia…. listen here. (excuse the advert intro but do listen!)

Third: Take a lesson from the Xhosa tribe (Mandela most famously came from this tribe.)

An anthropologist proposed a game to children in a Xhosa tribe. He put a basket full of fruit near a tree and told the children that whoever got to the tree first won the sweet fruits. When he told them to run, all the children joined hands and ran together, then sat together enjoying their treats.

When he asked them why they had run like that when one could have had all the fruits for himself, they said ‘Ubuntu; how can one of us be happy if all the others are sad?’

In the Xhosa culture Ubuntu means, “I am because we are.”