Search Results for: Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

Indigestion is a pharmaceutical company’s dream, which is a travesty when so many of the problems are treatable by taking responsibility for our diet and emotional balance. The inability to correctly process food goes under a myriad of names, complaints, and degrees of difficulty including: IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, colitis, heartburn, lactose intolerance, diverticulitis, colic, Crohn’s disease, ulcer, celiac disease. Stress is often a trigger for upset digestion because the digestive tract is supplied with a family of nerves that sense what’s been eaten so that they can then trigger correct secretions and their reflexes to send waves that affect the entire digestive process. Consider the issue from a meta standpoint. Ask the question, “What is it I can’t stomach?”   “What in my day am I not digesting properly?” “Why can I not understand, or assimilate this emotionally?” Clearly any serious issues must be addressed by a physician, and will not be addressed here. But the following are practical suggestions that vastly improve digestion. Balance Alkaline with acid producing foods.  Here is a short basic list to help: The following promote Alkalinity: Lemons, Watermelon, Limes, Grapefruit, Mangoes, Papayas Most greens, especially leafy greens: Asparagus, Onions, Vegetable Juices, Parsley, Raw Spinach, Broccoli, Garlic Lemon Water, Herb Teas, green teas Maple Syrup, Rice Syrup, stevia Dates, figs, Melons, Grapes, Kiwi, Berries, Apples, Pears, Raisins Okra, Squash, Green Beans, Beets, Celery, Lettuce, Zucchini, Sweet Potato Almonds, Olive Oil Cut the fat.Fatty foods disrupt the normal movement of the digestive tract, as well as clog arteries, cause cholesterol, slow the metabolic fires, and make us heavy and depressed.  Is that chocolate cake or fatty burger really worth it?  If it is, then relish every morsel.  Become conscious of its cost V.S. its delish-iss-ness. Avoid or cut back on meats, fatty or otherwise.  It is… Read more »

Basic Tips If in pain, don’t jog, jump, do sudden moves, or wear high heels. Duh! Helpful sports are *Pilates, * T’ai Chi, Yoga, swimming, cycling, rowing, and of course-walking. Keep moving. Don’t carry heavy purses, or bags over the shoulder. Another Duh. Bones need weight bearing exercise, and lots of it, especially with age. Get your back under the professional healing hands of a body worker. Find a good Rolfer, masseuse, Osteopath, a knowledgeable physical trainer, an educated Yoga Instructor.  Listen to what your body needs.  In the Practice of listening we learn to hear the body’s voice. Don’t bend forward without bending your knees, especially when lifting anything. Use thigh muscles, not back. To fortify bone and joints take: calcium & magnesium Vit. D,A, B’s & E, plus zinc.  Doctors are now recommending that those who do not get enough sun, which is most, take 2000-4000 units of Vit.  D a day to protect bones and joints. Avoid meats as the uric acid in animal protein exacerbates pain. Herbs that help backache: slippery elm, white willow bark, burdock, horsetail. Lower back pain can be about kidney, not ligament or bone. It might also be about the large intestine.  If the pain is above the waist, pay attention to elimination, or constipation. If elimination is difficult, take an enema. Cod liver oil helps with healing. Read Edgar Casey.  He used Cod liver packs on the skin for all manner of ailments, to great success. If sitting for long periods of time, make your knees higher than your hips. Pay attention to your habits, especially if back pain is habitual. Make a diary of when it comes and goes, what are you feeling, thinking, eating, doing? Often buried rage that is given a moment to emerge creates back spasm or… Read more »

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 »