Pura Vida

  • About
    • Meet Tamara
    • What People Are Saying
    • Yoga >
      • Moon Days
    • Private Instruction
    • Disclaimer
  • Yoga Therapy & Private Instruction
  • Ayurveda
    • Ayurveda Nutrition & Lifestyle Counseling
    • Take the Dosha Quiz
    • Get To Know Your Dosha
  • Blog

Yoga Helps You Lower Blood Pressure

9/17/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Hypertension is a common disease nowadays, which, if  not treated correctly  can cause  damage to the  organs of the body. People who suffer from high blood pressure need to lower their blood pressure in order to neutralize the effects of hypertension on their body.

While change in  lifestyle and diet  is  recommended for people who need to lower blood pressure.  Yoga has been proven to be  very helpful in the treatment of hypertension.

Yoga exercises, called asanas, involve stretching and moving the body into various positions. During these exercises any tightness or tension observed in the body should be consciously relaxed. Yoga practice offers stress management techniques, which are essential to lowering  blood pressure. There are many yoga asanas, but only certain asanas can help you lower blood pressure.

Poses For Lowering Blood Pressure

The most efficient for lowering blood pressure are the forward bends. All these  asanas lower blood pressure, slow down pulse rate, have a pacifying effect on the brain, the nervous system, the blood circulation to the brain, and they also help you reduce stress.

Many hypertensives have difficulties in breathing and sitting  asanas help them in this matter and they also lower blood pressure. Upavista Konasana, for example, removes tension from the ribs and the intercostals muscles, and also helps with breathing. 

Other helpful asanas  that lower blood pressure are the supine poses, like Supta Baddhakonasana, which relax the abdominal region and have a calming effect on the nerves.

 Inversions , such as Halasana and Setubandha Sarvangasana,  have a refreshing effect on the nerves and reduce the sympathetic tone very fast. Usual practice of these asanas regularizes blood pressure and  lowers blood pressure when it is  abnormally high.

To all  these previous asanas you can add  the pranayama and the Shavasana, which relax the mind, the senses, stabilize blood pressure, and lower blood pressure in case of hypertension.



0 Comments

To Juice or Not to Juice.

9/11/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
I had this discussion with a friend of mine over dinner early this summer. Recently, Ayurvedic Juicing has become the buzz word and now Dr. Oz recently featured Ayurvedic Juicing  and cleansing on his show.

While I love the fact that Dr. Oz and others are  making the US more aware of Ayurveda, juicing and Ayurveda are so diametrically opposed. It reminds me of a recent self promotion of a celebrity scantily dressed in yoga poses reminding us about yoga being  a cure for a hangover!

Juicing is NOT Ayurveda just as this promo has nothing to do with Yoga. Someone may argue, “ Come on! We are not living in ancient times!” and the teachings should evolve. OK, I could possibly accept that , but let’s look at juicing from an Ayurvedic perspective:

1) It is not found in any of the ancient Ayurvedic texts including Charaka Samhita.

2) Ayurveda including the Charaka Samhita, recommend a diet of mostly cooked foods as cooking increases the element of fire (agni), which is essential for digestion, the assimilation of nutrients and their transformation into the bodily tissues.

3) While juices may contain organic veggies and fruits, not all veggies and fruits are good for everyone’s constitution.

4) Juices contain little or no fiber, are light and watery ,contain a high amount of sugar ( even if it is a veggie juice) and are generally served cool or cold.

For a Vata person the cold, light quality could provoke Vata causing bloating and gas. The cold water and sweet quality would increase Kapha further slowing down metabolism, increasing ama and a Pitta person with a strong digestive fire would not be able to tolerate a juicing fast as it would further aggravate their metabolism.

5) Juicing may seem perfect for the lifestyle of the person on the run and a way to to gulp down the needed nutrients that are lacking in the average American diet, however chewing and mindfulness are important to help kick start poroper digestion. As Mahatma Gandhi once said "Chew your drink and drink your food". When we drink foods without chewing , they enter the digestive system too fast before the body is even aware that it is food and so the digestive process has not even started. Chewing and the formation of a bolus with saliva is the very part of digestion.When we drink something quickly, we do not give our digestive system a chance to get started which can lead to that uncomfortable bloated feeling. Drink your food! With each bite of food we take food should be chewed until it turns to liquid. It helps us be your mindful and brings a more Sattvic quality to our meal and the slower process allows for the correct signalling by the brain and for the correct sequence of events for proper mechanical and chemical digestion to occur. Digestion progresses from the mouth through to the stomach and intestines, where digestive acids and enzymes are sequentially released from different glands and organs.

If considering juicing the following should be taken into consideration: the person’s constitution, season, time of day, the health of their digestion; the state of agni, bowel movements and level of ama as well as what fruits and veggies are being included in the juice and why.

While it is wonderful to see that Ayurveda is becoming more mainstream in the U.S., I wouldn’t be surprised to see, before long, the word “Ayurveda” being used to market a “healthy” Starbuck’s Chai Latte or Extra Value Meals.


0 Comments

The Yoga of Cooking & Eating

9/3/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Why do we eat ? On the most basic level,  we eat to satiate hunger and get the nutrition we need to sustain our physiology. In the West we talk about recommended daily allowances in terms of caloric intake, minerals and nutrients. Reading  nutrition labels  is like  a chemistry experiment gone awry . On the other hand , the  Ayurvedic approach to food is so simple, pure   and perfectly harmonious. In Ayurveda ,eating is a purification of  the body and like Yoga,  it is  a communion with the divine. 

The preparation of  food, the offering of food , and the eating of the food  that is offered to us is sacred.  Food is  a gift from Mother Earth and the Divine and  it should be eaten as it was gifted to us without being irradiated, bleached, treated with chemicals. If we recognize  food as a communion with the divine  and  as medicinal in nature, it changes  our entire attitude of how we eat,  when we eat , why we eat and what we eat . And it changes the energetics of the food.

In order to understand the energetics of food, we must first understand the gunas.

 The Gunas

The three Gunas as  described in Yoga & Ayruveda are  Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. The gunas  can be described as the qualities of energy in all things and describe the "tendencies" of the mind, body and consciousness and describe our behavior, thinking, health and diet as well.

Rajas  is characterized by excitement, desire activity, restlessness, stress and anger.

Tamas is characterized by lethargy, dullness and laziness.

Sattva is  characterized by  balance  happiness, contentment, virtue, patience &  forgiveness

There is an interplay of all gunas within us. Without Tamas we would not sleep and without Rajas we would lack the drive to get things accomplished  and without Sattva life would be uninspiring and without the higher human qualities.  Yogis  aim to increase sattva  guna   through a healthy body and a peaceful mind and diet plays a major role in creating harmony.


Picture
"One man's food is another man's poison":

 We can eat the most beautiful, nutritious organic food , but if it is not right for our dosha it can cause an imbalance and  how we  cook, eat and   store our foods can affect  the gunas of the food and our consciousness.

We can be  more or less dominated by one of the three gunas and depending on what kind of energy we need more of in our lives we can  regulate these gunas in body and mind  through ayurvedic cooking.

If we eat  or cook when angry, depressed, bored, or feeling  emotionally unstable, or immediately after any physical exertion  that energy will  infuse  the food.  It is best not to eat or cook in this state of mind as it can give a rajasic or tamasic quality to the food. In general, it is best to  cook for yourself or let only someone  who loves you cook for you. With that being said, it is best to avoid eating out too much.  Restaurants are in the business of making profits and not  balancing  your gunas. You do not know  how the food was prepared nor what energy from the  cook or  server is pervading the food.

Sitting while eating in a clean area, facing  the direction of the sun, the earth's source of heat and fire, engaging  in pleasant conversation or  eating  in silence allows us to digest our food well rather than watching t.v., talking about politics or eating on the run or  in the car.  Eating alone or with people with good energy and  engaging  all the  sense organs  while eating or cooking  colorful foods   with pleasant music, fresh flowers has a sattvic quality.

 Overeating is  tamasic.  How much is the right amount? In Ayurveda we divide the stomach into 3 parts : 1/3 is for food, 1/3 for liquid and 1/3 for air.  The quantity of food is  1 Anjali which would equate to placing  your hands in prayer and opening  them up. So whatever fits into the palms of your two hands is how much we should eat.  The  liquid should be  warm water as it aids with digestion (ice drinks and cold drinks put out your digestive fires)  and the last space remains empty so that your stomach can churn.


Picture
Cooking with a gas flame is most  sattvic  , pervading the food with a quality of Agni that is not there when cooked on an electric stove . While cooking on a gas stove is the best option, it may not always be  possible and  to save time and not cook in a hurry and infuse your meal  with nervous energy, we can use a crockpot and rice cooker. Food that is cooked with love and care has a sattvic quality even if the ingredients or the cookware  may not be as sattvic. When we do use this type of cookware, we can infuse the food with loving energy as we prepare it, increasing the prana of the food. Microwave cooking is  void of agni, lacking prana as it scrambles the chemistry of the food and therefore is considered  tamasic.

Food cooked with cookware or utensils of unnatural qualities make foods tamasic because things like non-stick pots/pans or plastic utensils seep toxins into our food without us even realizing it.  “Non-stick” cookware is a MAJOR source of PFC’s, particularly perfluororooctanoic acid, known as PFOA Three to five minutes  after heating a  non-stick pot or pan   at least six toxic gases are released into the air and in the food.  These chemicals are easily absorbed by the  body and the food in the pan, turning that healthy organic  home-cooked meal toxic. PFC’s have been linked to a range of health dangers:  elevated LDL, infertility, birth defects  thyroid disease immunosuppression  and cancer.

Certain metal cookware can leach tamasic  toxins into food.  Cooking in aluminum  cookware produces hydroxide poison which neutralizes digestive juices, producing stomach and gastrointestinal trouble, such as stomach ulcers and colitis  Stainless steels which is a  widely used material in food preparation and in home cookware  when it reacts  to organic acids and salts  in foods , allows chrome and nickel to bleed into the foods  If one is going to use stainless steel cookware, it should only be high -grade surgical stainless steel. Nickel has been  implicated in numerous health problems, notably allergic contact dermatitis.  While women  do not typically need to worry about iron leaching from cast –iron cookware as long as they are still menstruating and losing blood, and growing children require more blood and more iron, cast iron cookware can cause iron  overload in adult males and menopausal women.

So the best thing is to think nature! To increase the sattvic quality of food,  cook with  cookware and utensils that are   closest to nature : ceramic, clay, and wood utensils.  Ceramic cookware is made of  an earth mixture which is fired to create ceramic and  clay is of the earth.

In the age of "convenience" instant foods that are eaten on the run,  we have given up on our health for the sake of time and convenience. Making wholesome nutritious meals and tapping into the  energetics of  food can be done without taking too much time out of the day and without a strain on the wallet. Ultimately if we change our vision of food from one that is just fuel to realizing that food is divine, it will have a huge impact.

 While there are many paths of yoga,  a yogic life that leads to  transformation   includes  making choices that honor ourselves, family, humanity, all living things and the planet; by eating ethically, seasonally, and gratefully. Ayurveda, the sister science of Yoga  is  all about balance: physical, emotional, mental  and spiritual . Food according to  Ayurveda is both  medicine and is divine.

Our greatest  wealth is health  and  the how, the what, the  where, the  when and the why of our food choices can have  a huge impact on our physical and mental  health, the health of our families and our planet.


0 Comments

Vata Season & What It Means For You.

9/3/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Guidelines for Vata  Season

Many of us associate seasons with specific types of food,  yet we are generally  still largely unaware of how biological rhythms cause changes in appetite. We  generally consume less food in the spring and  summer and in the fall more carbohydrates and more protein in winter.

 One  of the principles of healthy eating is keeping  in harmony with the natural cycles and our own physiological cycles thus  improving  the internal flow of energy and balancing the functional activity of our organs. If we take in  foods that do not take into account seasonal rhythms, this  saps our  energy and causes imbalances that can lead  to disease.

Ayurveda  defines  foods and lifestyle  not only according to the psychophysical constitution or dosha of each person, but also according to the relationship between our  personal constitution and seasonal changes.

Vata season generally begins late September in autumn, unless you live in Texas where it is still in the 90’s!  It is a time when the Air element (Vayu) is predominant. There is a greater lightness, cool, dry  and fresh quality  in the air. There is also a tendency for winds to blow in changing directions. In Ayurveda we say that like increases like,  so aggravated doshas are pacified  by a  diet and lifestyle that is  opposite in nature to the prevailing conditions .The seasonal tendencies  of autumn  aggravate Vata Dosha, but also let us not forget that we have all 3 doshas: Vata, Pitta and Kapha and Vata dosha may get aggravated in each and everyone of us.

Vata is characterized by  qualities of light, dry, mobile, cold, hard, rough, sharp, subtle, flowing and clear. Vata  rules  the nervous system, controls the moisture levels in the body, the feeling of relaxation and how we  digest food. Autumn is a time for balancing Vata, by  maintaining  a  regular routine and  a Vata pacifying diet to avoid increased Vata imbalances such as restlessness, insomnia, constipation, dry skin, and worry. Balancing Vata during the autumn season  also allows us to  build a strong natural immunity against the cold and flu  that tends to strike during the winter .

Dietary Guidelines:

Think about  the Vata qualities of  light, dry, mobile, cold, hard, rough, sharp, subtle, flowing and clear. Include foods of the opposite quality and avoid foods with the same quality. The most important principle to  remember  about food  during Vata season  is to have hot cooked food. Since Vata is cold, dry and rough, hot cooked food made with a little olive oil or ghee is soothing and  calms down restless Vata immediately. Also hot beverages like herbal  teas or hot milk  have an  immediate effect of balancing Vata.  Cold sandwiches, cold salads, dry cereal with cold milk are the types of foods that can create a Vata imbalance and should preferably be avoided during this season.

Foods to include in  Vata season:
Foods with sweet, sour and salty tastes .
Grains:  basmati rice,oats, quinoa , wheat products such as bulgur,couscous, pasta, cream of wheat.

Dairy: warm milk, buttermilk cottage cheese, lassi,

Oils: olive, sesame ,ghee & butter

Sweeteners:  raw honey, molasses, turbinado sugar, date sugar

Sweet juicy fruits

Nuts in moderation such as cashews, almonds and pistachios are good for Vata. Sesame seeds are especially balancing for Vata.

Foods to avoid : dry cereal,  granola, bread, cold foods, ice cream, barley, corn, buckwheat, rye, dried fruit (raisins & prunes  should be  soaked in water first, dates are fine.). Acidic fruits like blueberries.  Apples and pears are good when cooked. Salads and raw vegetables, beans ,  broccoli, cabbage, in general should  be avoided  except mung dahl, tofu and green beans.

Daily Routine for Vata Season:

Get up  early and brush your  teeth. Take a tablespoon of sesame oil and swish  it in your mouth for 3 minutes. This nourishes the mouth, strengthens the teeth and prevents bleeding gums.

Drink a glass of room temperature water which helps to  cleanse the GI track, flush the kidneys, and stimulates peristalsis. It is not a good idea to start the day with tea or coffee, as this drains kidney energy, stresses the adrenals, causes constipation, and is habit-forming.

 Give yourself a  self-massage ( abhyangha)  with warm sesame or coconut  oil. This counteracts the seasonal tendency towards dryness, joint pain and muscle aches. Then shower with warm water.

Use some  essential oils that are grounding  such as vetiver, orange or geranium essential oils . You may also add a few drops of these essential oils to your self-massage oils or use while taking a bath.

For  breakfast have a bowl of oatmeal or cream of wheat to which you can add cinnamon & hot milk  or  a date and almond shake, made from soaked dates, soaked and peeled almonds, and boiled milk (or a substitute) – blended together with warming spices like cinnamon and nutmeg.

Ideally lunch should be the main meal of the day.  Opt for hearty grains, steamed or sautéed vegetables, (unleavened) breads, soups and stews are excellent choices for lunch.

Avoid raw salads, soft drinks, cold drinks, ice, peas, yeast and fermented foods and because they cause  gas and can disrupt digestion.

Snacks: include an herbal tea ,unleavened wheat bread ,dates, or fresh fruit or hot milk with almonds .Coffee and other caffeinated beverages can aggravate Vata and should be avoided.

Dinner : ideally  it is a bit smaller and lighter than lunch but should provide enough soothing nourishment to pacify  vata. Soups, stews, or a smaller serving of lunch are a perfect choice.

If you practice yoga, use more grounding poses  to mobilize Vata energy in a downward direction. You can also include alternate nose breathing. This breathing practice purifies  accumulated toxins  due to tension and constriction of  channels.  Breathing practices  help us relax, but also relax the subtle channels which can  easily become strained.

  At the end of the day make yourself a cup of  warm milk with a pinch of nutmeg and cardamom or a pinch of ginger and a little sugar or honey for a good night’s  sleep .

While these general  tips can help to start incorporating Ayurveda and feeling  better, ideally adjustments should be made  if  you suffer from  any  imbalances due to  change of  seasons and the individual constitution of a person  needs  to be taken into account as well ; for instance if you have a Pitta imbalance during Vata season, then your diet needs to take into account that imbalance.  Consider an Ayurvedic consultation which will help to customize your routine.  There are some herbal remedies that are great for reducing Vata, maintaining inner strength and balance and reduce symptoms such as insomnia, difficulty in digestion, constipation and anxiety.

Rome was not built in a day, so take one or two things at a time, that you can incorporate into your daily and weekly routine.
 

Namaste,

Tamara



0 Comments

    RSS Feed



    Archives

    October 2015
    February 2015
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014

    Categories

    All
    Ayurveda
    Recipes
    Yoga
    Yoga Therapy

    Mountain Rose Herbs
                               Pura Vida Healing Arts  
                             Tel: US ( 936) 371-9255  Mex (999) 322-2457  puravidahealingarts@gmail.com

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.

BACK TO TOP

Designed by Pura Vida Healing Arts | All Rights Reserved