Search Results for: Paschimottanasana

Anxiety often creates a higher heart rate, distracted thinking, and fearful reactions. Basic Tips Slow heart rate with deep, mindful breathing. Lie in Savasana and slow down the metabolic rate. Listen to slow, beautiful music and visualize yourself in a slow steady dance with your heart. Be more physical. Activate the heart rate. Be slower.  Meditate. In other words, pay attention. Fast or slow, you can’t outrun anxiety.  It needs to be cared for and loved, not ignored.  If you don’t know why you’re stressed, then ask it why it’s here now?  What does it have to teach you?  What are its gifts? Laugh….especially at stupid things. Force yourself with fake laughter at first.  Make a friend do dumb “ha ha” noises with you.  Take laughter Yoga. Watch ha ha movies.  You might be so stressed-out you cry. That’s good too. Get a pet. Pet it. Treat it as you need to be treated. Make time for massage. If you cannot see someone, do it on yourself, especially soles of feet, palms of hands, back of neck and head.  (Ayurvedic notes below for specific oils.) 101 Reminders: Avoid caffeine and sugar, both of which deplete the body.  Of course this goes for drugs, smoking, hours of TV, endless loud noise, and bad company.  Much as we might be addicted to these intoxicants, they take us down and compound anxiety. Go to sleep earlier in the night when possible, if insomnia attacks link to insomnia notes. Learn basic information about the chakras. Learn to clear and clean them, which will balance the physical mind-body, which are just the tip of what’s going on below in the energy levels. Balancing the chakras brings hormones and therefore emotions into balance. ( Read “Energy Medicine” by Donna Eden; the ancients–Leadbeater, and A. Bailey.) The… Read more »

Sleepless nights stalk the body in many ways for many reasons. Primary issues are stress, hormonal imbalances, and depression. Not getting enough sleep affects the brain, the body, and emotional well being. It’s serious when it is on-going. Sleep apnea, the absence of breathing several times a night, is a disorder that affects a good night’s sleep, which will not be addressed here. Go see a good sleep doc. Make sure you are getting enough Calcium, especially Calcium Lactate or Chelate, 1,000 to 2,000 mg daily, along with 1,000 mg of Magnesium. If you fall asleep then wake later in the night, often the lack of Calcium contributes to this pattern. Get enough exercise during the day. Even a short walk can make a sleep difference. Do cooling Yoga Poses in the evening-see suggestions below. Eat foods high in tryptophan at dinner: turkey, figs, dates, yogurt, tuna, bananas, grapefruit. Avoid caffeine, especially after 12:00 PM. Avoid or reduce high protein meals in the evening. This includes beans and tofu. They block serotonin production. Avoid or reduce alcohol. It is not a sedative, despite what you think. The body converts it to a chemical, acetaldehyde, which is a stimulant. This wakens you in the early hours. And it builds up more in men than women. Try to eat earlier which helps the digestive process. Avoid or reduce the following foods in the evenings: sugar, cheese, chocolate, sauerkraut, wine, bacon, ham, sausage, potatoes, spinach, and tomatoes. They contain tyramine, which increases the release of norepinephrine, a brain stimulant. Helpful herbs to take as a tea or extract before bed: valerian root, skullcap, catnip, hops, lady slipper, passionflower, and chamomile. There are several good homeopathics, one is simply called, ‘insomnia.’ If you can have a sample of your hair analyzed for copper or… Read more »