How Ayurveda can keep you healthy over the holidays

The ancient science of Ayurveda has many practical and easy suggestions to stay healthy in every season. I was introduced to Ayurveda in 2004 and it has changed the way I eat, shower, sleep, nap, drive, you name it and it has a new meaning after learning about my dosha.

Your constitution(dosha) is very important in order for you to stay healthy and live a long and happy life. The three doshas are Vata, Pitta, and Kapha, air/space, water/fire, water, earth. These Mahabhutas (master elements) impact everything about you from the way your dream, think, walk, talk, what you are attracted to, and what you don't like.

Knowing your dosha is essential to make positive changes that create and restore balance in the mind-body. Here are my top 3 favorite Ayurvedic techniques that have helped me over the years.

1. Abhyanga - Full body oil massage. Heat up the oil (sesame for vata, coconut for Pitta, sunflower/safflower/mustard for Kapha) , rub it all over, leave it on, then have a hot shower/bath. Clean only the parts that need it and leave the oil on. Benefits, relieves dry skin, keeps you feeling warmer and detoxifies the body.

2. Neti Pot - For years I have raved about the benefits of this practice. Neti pot is done with a small pot that has a spout. Mix some warm filtered water with ionized salt, tip your head pour the water through, after warm use Nasaya oil to keep your nose lubricated. Benefits, helps prevent colds/flu by maintaining a healthy, clean mucus membrane in your nose, gets rid of excess phlegm and mucus, helps keeps sinuses clear and open.

3. Tongue Scraping - I can't live without my stainless steel tongue scraper. It's a small metal (you got it, depends on your dosha which is best to use) u shaped scraper that you drag across your tongue from back to front 7 to 14 times to remove the buildup of ama (toxins) that settle on your tongue. It is especially noticeable first thing in the morning. When you stick your tongue out you may see a whitish, or yellowish layer, that's ama and if you use your toothbrush on your tongue you're only pushing it deeper into your tongue. Think of your tongue as a shag carpet! Main benefit, your breath is fresher, tongue is clean so you taste food better, and you get rid of ama instead of swallowing it or pushing it deeper into your tongue.

I hope you enjoyed this little intro about the way Ayurveda has helped me to be healthier and happier!!!

Shovelasana - Syallabus 5

Talk about an extreme pose, SHOVELASANA! Wow did it ever snow a lot here in the last 24 hours, which means shoveling for many of us. Every year thousands of people seriously hurt their backs from shoveling. Many of the injuries are related to loaded flexion of the spine (rounding in your lumbar back) add some rotation in there and that spells danger for your discs.

The discs in your spine act like tiny shock absorbers and are like a jelly filled doughnut (what a great word -DOUGHNUT). When you round forward it causes the jelly (meniscus) to squeeze out the back or sides, if you do this over and over and over again, you can tear, herniate or rupture these discs. The most common site of bulging or herniated discs are L5 - S1. The bulging disc is only part of the problem, it impinges on the nerves that run through your spine and can cause debilitating pain, and numbness.

Prevention is far easier than treatment folks. If your back has been impaired Anusara Yoga offers several bio mechanical alignments that can relieve the pain, the swelling and even heal the rupture. It takes constant work, every day though, you can't let it slide!

Many yoga students have been taught to roll up and down or bend into a forward bend while loading the spines flexion mostly at L5-S1, or even hang while doing that. Sure every once in a while no big deal, in fact a wide variety of movements are good for your spine BUT, if you are a serious yoga student and you do this kind of movement everyday, this can be weakening the discs in the spine and you never know what action will potentially rupture the weakened disc.

If your yoga practice is causing you more pain, and not just in your back or your're getting injured you likely have no muscular engagement that helps hold the spine in it's natural, safe alignment. Pain is the bodies way of telling you that something is misaligned somewhere.

Emergency rooms, walk-in clinics and doctors offices will be filled today with people that injured their backs shoveling (although now you know perhaps that action was the 'straw that broke the camels' back' Sorry, I had to say it!)

So practice SHOVELASANA, first check your attitude, open up to a bigger energy like the one dumping all the beautiful unique snowflakes down from the sky, enjoy this SNOWDAY, do a little bit a time, don't lift more than you can handle, small scoops, hire someone to do it for you, if you are doing it yourself than alignment is the key to reducing the chance that you may end up flat on your back, missing work and having fun for the rest of the week.

Bend your knees deep, create a curve in your lower back by taking your thigh bones, in, back, and apart, once you have a curve, lengthen your tailbone down, draw your belly in (a strong core also supports a strong back), keep your spine long and listen to your body

Also I recommend coming in having a warm tea and do a backbend practice. Your legs govern your lower back so if you are having pain in your lumber spine that make sure you are engaging your legs, lift and spread your toes, hug your shins to the midline and then take you thigh bones, in, back, and apart.

I would never myself do backbends with pulling my knees into my chest in between. If the backbends are causing you pain (discomfort is normal)then there is a good chance you are not optimally lines up and need some clear instructions on how to do that. I can help you with sore backs!

I LOVE the snow,it means snowboarding for me and I can't wait to hit the slopes with my pain-free back :) that was created through proper, specific alignment in yoga!

The Holy-Days are here

I am about to get ready to venture down to the mall to do some holiday shopping. I am not even there yet and I know the parking lots will be full of cars, the roads are icy because we had our first real snowfall yesterday, and people can be... well.... stressed lets say around this time of the year.

So, here is my yoga practice while at the mall. I will stand in Mountain pose with my feet aligned (center of the heels out to the base of my second toes) which I will do through my winter boots. I will microbend my knees and take the top of my thighs back so my femur bones sit well deep in there homes, I will lengthen my tailbone and from there I will be physically grounded and emotionally. Then comes the hard part, lengthen up through my spine to the very top of my head and beyond to the sun, stars and moon but this is the toughest, I will keep my heart open!

In the hustle and bustle I will keep my eyes open so I don't miss all the beautiful lights and decorations. We can get so myopic when we are deep in the crowds. Then I will acknowledge that these folks are just trying to do what I am doing which is get a gift for someone I love or care for to remind them that we love them this holiday season.

If I don't get you a present this year, forgive me! Know that you are loved and love doesn't need to be in box, with wrapping paper and a bow. I will challenge you to do the same the next time you are caught in a long line up of holiday shoppers since that might your toughest yoga practice to date!

om and warm holiday blessings,
m

Light in the Dark

As the days get shorter, the dark comes early and the desire to snuggle up with a cup of warm tea and my cozy blanket calls. These will be some of the darkest days of the year in London, Ontario but there is always light in the dark. We just put up our tree and I love to sit by it's warm glow. Even walking around outside people have put up their holiday lights to brighten up the darkest days. I love that single candle in the window of a dark home. So symbolic of the light within our hearts. It's precious and sometimes we forget it's even there. I use my yoga practice to remind me of the light of my consciousness, my mind, and my heart. When I close my eyes no matter what time of the day or where I am I can still see the dance of a faint light. The Yin-Yang represents just that. We can only know the dark because we know the light. We can only know what being and living positive means because we know what it is like to live in the negative. In Tantra, two energies that seem totally opposite are actually complementary. The dark has it's place, as does the light. The yogi always remembers the light and honours the darkness.
warm cups of tea and cozy blankets to you.
om
Mindy

Anusara Yoga in Santa Fe with John Friend highlights

WOW, that is the only place I can begin to describe what went down in Sante Fe over the last 5 days. First, Sante Fe is so beautiful they call it the land of enchantment. The retreat center is on a mountain of rose quartz and home of the Carmelites. The sunsets here are so beautiful and every day the sky was clear, blue and vast. Being surrounded on all sides by the magnificant mountains, Sangre de Cristo Mountain, Spanish, in English it means "Blood of Christ" they are actaully part of the Rocky Mountains, and got their name for the red colou the mountains take on at sunset and sunrise. Sante Fe is surrounded by other mountain ranges like then Culebra Range,Taos Mountains, Rincon Mountains, and the Santa Fe Mountains.

It is pretty amazing to be here on Día de los Muertos, Day of the Dead. You should have seen the puja! WOW, it was full of pictures of loved ones that had passed, skeletons, flowers, candles, and candy. On this day the viel between the spirit world becomes very thin, making it easier to connect with ancestors of the past. I felt a very deep connetion to my Grandpa -Norman Willis, he always supported my wackiness and I loved him dearly. I was brought to tears many times as John instructed us to remeber the way those people we cared about laughed, spoke,and walked. Truly powerful. I also felt connected to my Uncle Mono (Germono Ongaro) who passed away many years ago, he had a strong presence in our family and we all miss him still.

Canada had great representation there too, Catherine Heighway (London), Lynn and her hubby from Winnipeg, Robin Galt from Montreal and myself. But seriously Canada, when I get back I am going to work very hard at expanding Anusara in our city and in Canada. We are a bit behind and we don't have to be.

Okay so here are some John highlights:
~ Halloween is John's New Year! It is the time of year that we move into the dark, where we plant seeds that will be nutured over the next few months and manifest in the Spring.
~ Shiva Shakti Tantra is a blend of the the northern India's Shaivism and South India's Goddess teaching.
~The essence of helping people is love, duh! Too bad not everyone is aware of that.
~The viels get thin at this time of the year between the absolute and the relative worlds so we have more access to spirts. This is the week to learn how to become more physic.
~Being tight leads to dullness of life. In yoga you learn to be sensitive and feel more, be more in tune.
~Be open to what really is without preference.
~You are more vulnerable when you are tight and contracted that is why being open is so important We can move through life with more ease and grace.
~Most people will come to yoga as their last resort for healing and Anusara teachers are highly trained to meet them where they are and help them to shift their attitude, line up so healing can happen.
~Working on your feet can clear your hole body because they are full of terminal points.
~RICE is an old way of treating injuries. John teaches therapies from a sprained ankle, a hip replacement, falls, breaks, everything!
~The body holds memories, they come up and are released with these therapies when the body is ready to let them go, it can take some time.
~ You have to be ready and willing to drop old ways of seeing yourself. If you are ready to do that then we are here to serve you.
-What seems chaotic is not. Naure is full of patterns, even raindrops have a pattern when the fall.
-The universe communicates in ways that you are not expecting.
-om should be chanted with an ng sound at the end and your mouth open, even though John had been teaching it with the mouth closed for years. Because he is open to learn something new.
- Any yoga pose is a double edge sword. Healing or hurting.
-Yoga is living with excellence. Everything we do we do with awareness.
-Bandha not a lock but refer to the locks you would see in waterways, they are channels that direct the prana.
-Question authority or paradigms!
-You can become allergic to oats if you eat oatmeal everday for breakfast.
-You can`t change what you don`t notice.
-muscle cramps happen because musclar energy and organic energy are not balanced.
-Prana is the messenger of the mind.
-MS research shows a connection to eating wheat! No wheat Mommy|

okay so there is about 20 more pages of notes. That`s all the tid bites for now! See you in London on Wednesday morning.

Meditation in New Mexico

I'm at the Toronto airport waiting for my flight to Sante Fe. I always get a bit nervous when I fly but I have found several ways to help me get through it with more ease. In 2003 I was taught a meditaiton that I used for 4 years with great benefits.

These days I meditate on Ganesha, the remover of obstacles. I have to tell you his works like magic for me. Meditation is a tool to help foucs the mind. Many people think that the purpose of mediation is to stop your thoughts. Ask anyone who meditates if that is possible and I think they would tell you that you can't do it.

Instead meditation can be used to redirect thoughts, for example using a mantra. I find the use of a mantra helps remind me of why I am meditating and what I am meditating on. Most cities have meditation groups which can really help you get started. I love to mediate with others since it feels so powerful. I am happy to sit quietly and use my mala beads, like right now in the airport or on the plane or perhaps ontop of a moutain of rose quartz in New Mexico.

If you are interested in following my journey I thank you and I will share as openly from my heart as I can.

May all being be happy, free and at peace,
om,
mindy

It feels so good to expand my boundries!!!

I am having a bit of a hard time typing since I am still buzzing from the yoga practice we did this morning. A few months ago I was randomly inspired to go deeper into my yoga poses and really breakthrough the places in my body that I feel are stuck or tight. I found the tightest place in my body is right behind my heart, that part of my spine has been the most stubborn to move, but not anymore. I realized how much hard work it takes to get into that place and I am more than willing to do it after feeling my heart fully open and expand.

There is nothing easy about the path of yoga! Yoga is not a casual effort you make every now and again. If you truly want expansion then you must apply the right-effort and not passively sit by the side-lines of life waiting for something to happen. Year after year the deeper I go into yoga, the more I learn about myself, my fears, my limitations, my boundries and by knowing that I can safely, slowly expand from there.

Today I was surrounding by some of the most amazing yogis in our community, committed to practicing 128 poses in a row, it was very very difficult, we were at our boundries and we smiled when we radically expanded from the place that we started. I have said this many times, I have NEVER been the same and neither has my yoga practice since doing the 3 Anusara Syllabus series from beginning to end. I hope you will be inspired to join us next time.

Smiling from the heart and through every fabric of my being,
Mindy
Check out the making of the Anusara Poster with the amazing Darren Rhodes