Renew | Massage and Yoga in Bozeman, MT

Winter Solstice

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As we look towards the shortest day of the year, Winter Solstice December……  We might notice craving heavier foods to build the insolation layer of fat.  As temperatures drop, we might even notice with an increase of muscle tension or a runny nose.  The blood flow from our extremities decreases as our body focuses on keeping our core warm.  Therefore, we need to be cautious as rich foods, shallow breath and lack of fluid circulation during this time of year can cause buildup of toxicity.  Early December is the perfect storm for stomach flu.  Those who tend to feel depleted or deficient become more vulnerable to disease and flu while others who over indulge in rich foods this time of year might see an increase in mucus or feel more sluggish.  This is the times nature calls for a period of rest, much like the hibernation of bears.  Our days grow shorter.  All this bumping up against the bustle of the holiday season.  On the other hand, cold, dark days along with snow and/or rain keep us inside cuddled up.  We need to keep some sort of balance by avoiding complete isolation.  Call or do a Zoom session with friends and family to help keep you engaged.  Additionally, this time of year can be one of self-reflection. 

The lack of sunlight that comes with the Winter Solstice, gray skies and cold, can make us feel gloomy inside.  It might help to string lights around your house, enjoy a candlelight dinner as a warm way to invite December’s intimacy into your life and lift your spirits.  Make sure you’re getting out during the middle of the day, even if it’s just 15 minutes.  Increase your Vitamin D.  Wear bright colors, move, dance, walk, do yoga, just make sure you’re keeping your body moving and igniting metabolism.  

Another important self-care technique to remember, is to keep your skin moist with oil, not lotion.  During the winter months our skin become dry, pale and dull due to vasoconstriction to the skin.  Our extremities are colder.  Oiling your skin helps you to retain heat so you feel warmer and your immune system is strong.  The skin is our largest organ, when it becomes dry it opens us up to more bacteria and viruses.  Therefore, putting oil on your skin acts as a protective barrier. 

The Fall colors begin to give way to deeper reds such as mulled wine, dark brown gravies and purples such as red cabbage.  These darker colors are a way boost the red part of your blood.  Our blood is broken down into two parts; clear plasma and red blood cells.  Red foods also put color back into our cheeks and help us to detox, as well as creating an abundance of anticancer and antioxidant flavonoids.  Soups and stews are welcomed this time of year to help with digestion.  Like the season, our digestion begins to slow as the body is working hard to stay warm.  Eating cooked veggies is important in helping break down foods.  Warm or hot vs cold is also best this time of year.  Sip on warm water, maybe add some cinnamon or ginger to help keep you warm and aide in digestion.  Cloves are another strong vasodilator and helps to move blood by pushing it to the surface of the skin.    

The following spices will keep you warm, as well as, destroy mucus, sore throat and runny nose:

  • Cinnamon
  • Turmeric
  • Cloves
  • Black Pepper
  • Honey
  • Ginger

Having an understanding of what happens in our bodies during various times of the year can help us navigate the side effects that each season bring. 

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Winter Solstice and Happy Hanukkah to all!

Don’t waste the carcass!

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When your hunter comes home with that organic game meat, OR as we approach Thanksgiving, save the carcasses. Here’s why: bone broth has been used medicinally for thousands of years with its origins in Ayurvedic and Chinese medicines. It’s light, warming and oily qualities are beneficial in cold, dry months to keep you grounded and nourished. Drink a small cup of this mineral rich soup daily to ward off autumn deficiencies. Bone broth acts as a tonic, allowing your body to restock on much needed nutrient supplies.

Benefits of Bone Broth

  • The rich iron content helps to strengthens the blood, which also leads to healthy tissue and organ functioning.
  • Rest, recover and reset your digestive strength.
  • Soothes the central nervous system.
  • Supports a healthy immune system and increasing overall strength and vitality (ojas).
  • The amino acids such as such as cystine, histidine and glycine are present in bone broth which help to decrease inflammatory.
  • Reduces gut inflammation. If you experience constipation, diarrhea, IBS, leaky gut or Crohn’s disease, drink bone broth to re-establish regular bowel movements and a healthy gut flora. The anti-inflammatory properties and collagen content of this meal soothe and repair a damaged gastrointestinal tract and strengthen the digestive system.
  • Bone broth contains collagen, glucosamine and chondroitin, all essential ingredients for healthy bones and joints, therefore, it will help to increase bone strength. By eating foods with similar qualities of a certain tissue, we can increase the strength of that specific tissues. For example, adding mineral rich bone broth to your diet will naturally increase the strength and quality of the bones (plus your hair, nails and teeth too!).

When making bone broth, it is important to source good quality bones used from healthy animals. Try an organic butcher or a local farmer and don’t limit yourself to just one source – experiment with bones from beef, bison, chicken, turkey, lamb or fish.

This meal may be a little too oily for those with an already oily, dense constitution, however by adding black pepper or fresh ginger to your broth you’ll help to enhance digestion.

Recipe

  1. Place bones in a pot and cover with water.
  2. Add 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar and leave sit for one hour (this will help leach out minerals).
  3. Coarsely chop onion, celery, peppercorns and carrots and add to the pot.
  4. Then, boil for one hour at a minimum or 24 hours in a slow cooker.
  5. Strain and serve, or freeze and use when you need a boost. This is when I add salt to the recipe.

Some recipes call for roasting the bones prior to simmering in water to enhance the flavor.

In Health

Lisa Stavrakas

Digestive Wellness Coach, Massage Therapist and Yoga Teacher

406/600-7267 lisa@yogamassagerenew.com

Spring Changes Alot

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While it’s hard to imagine Spring only being 20 days away here in Montana, we ARE headed that direction.  I’m already enjoying the early sun rise and later sun sets.  Soon, we’ll start to see the snowmelt and rivers will become swollen.  All the moisture that was bound by freezing temperatures will soon be moving to clear winter stagnation.  That same is true in our bodies.  Spring is the optimal time for lightening and clearing the accumulated heavy and dense qualities from winter.  These qualities must be broken down and burned up, which means increasing metabolism.  In the winter, the body needs rich foods, but as we move towards spring, the body starts to desire more light, dry, simple foods that digest easily.  It’s a time when we stoke the digestive fires and encourage the body’s natural cleansing with pungent, bitter, and astringent tastes found in seasonal greens, bright berries, fresh ginger, turmeric, and spicy soups.  When we avoid living according the rhythms of nature, we invite allergies, stagnation, brain fog, and lethargy into our bodies. 

  • The elements of spring are earth and water.  In the spring we look to qualities that are warming, light, dry, mobile (get moving), sharp and penetrating.  We then need to avoid qualities that are the opposite such as cold, heavy, oily, static (sitting around), dull, and slow. 
  • Signs and Symptoms of imbalance in the spring look like:
    • Loss of appetite
    • Sinus or chest congestion
    • Seasonal spring allergies (YES, these can be avoided)
    • Lackluster or lethargic feelings

Some of the food we want to favor in the spring time are:

  • Pungent spices, such as ginger, black pepper, lemon, and turmeric
  • Dry grains, such as barley, rye, corn, millet, and buckwheat
  • Astringent fruits, such as apples, pears, berries, dried cherries, raisins, and prunes
  • Lean proteins, such as beans, lentils, and egg whites; white meat for nonvegetarians
  • Bitter vegetables, such as arugula, brussels sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, dandelion greens, and asparagus
  • Raw honey, in moderation

In order to avoid an imbalance this time of the year, you’ll need to avoid:

  • Anything cold
  • Dairy products
  • Sweet, heavy fruits, such as dates, figs, and bananas
  • Wheat
  • Sweeteners
  • Fatty meats
  • Roasted nuts
  • Salt

In my yoga classes we will be moving from a more restorative practice to a more invigorating practice.  This is also a good time to receive a Manual Lymphatic Drainage massage to avoid stagnation.  Other Spring lifestyles would include:

  • Dry brushing a few times per week or daily, in the morning before your shower.  You can also use a light massage oil such as almond or grapeseed.  Add energizing essential oils such as lemon, grapefruit, or bergamot to your massage oil.
  • Practice neti (nasal irrigation) with a neti pot at during your morning shower.  This is beneficial when the allergy season starts or before congestion begins.
  • Exercise daily, preferably first thing in the morning and outdoors.  Get sweaty.
  • Reduce napping during the day and wake up with the sun.
  • Avoid eating when you’re not hungry.  Make sure your breakfast is on the lighter side.

Lastly, Spring time is a great time of the year to begin a cleanse.  Cleanses provide an opportunity for our digestive system to rest in between seasons. It’s an opportunity to rid ourselves from the sluggishness of the rich, heavy foods from winter.  During the Spring, our liver and gallbladder begin to detox.  If we ate heavy, rich foods in the winter, which we all do in order to stay warm, we’re going to want to give the body a break and ease its natural process of detoxing.  When we detox or cleanse, we reset our digestive system which can help alleviate with seasonal allergies, symptoms from auto-immune diseases, and food allergies.  An Ayurvedic cleanse is based on whole foods with a mono diet approach.  It’s not a starvation diet, nor does it require purchasing expensive herbs.  “Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food.” – Hippocrates 

In Health

Lisa

Prostate Health

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Prostate enlargement is found in 50 percent of American men in their sixties, and up to 90 percent of men in their seventies and eighties. Worse, prostate cancer is the second leading cause of death by cancer in men, with about 80 percent of all cases of prostate cancer occurring in men over sixty-five.  Even though the prostate seems to be an older man’s health problem, these imbalances begin much earlier in life. The good news is that most prostate problems can be prevented by making simple lifestyle and dietary changes to restore balance.

Symptoms of Prostate Enlargement or Imbalance

Excessive urination at night, a weak urine stream, stopping and starting while urinating, a feeling that the bladder is never empty, difficulty in starting to urinate, and dribbling at the end of urination.  If a man has these symptoms, he should consult his doctor immediately. Often, when the symptoms are mild, the physician will say, “Wait and watch.” Actually, from an Ayurvedic perspective, this is the perfect time to see advice as there is still an opportunity to correct the imbalances that have caused the problem in the first place.  Of course, aging is the main etiological factor, or cause of the problem, however, Ayurveda also identifies the lifestyle or dietary factors that act as a trigger, and if unchecked, can turn a mild problem into a serious one.

Causes of Prostate Issues

One is overuse of Shukra Dhatu, or overuse of the sexual organs. Another is lack of adequate fluids in the body, due to not drinking enough water during the day. Habitually suppressing the natural urge to urinate also can, over time, cause the urine to become more concentrated and, in turn, irritates the prostate.

Alcohol or caffeinated beverages can also cause an imbalance. Another cause is taking too many over-the-counter antihistamines and decongestants. These can cause the muscle that controls urine flow to tighten, making urination difficult.

One’s job can be a source of imbalance. Sitting for long periods of time without taking a break or stretching, can create an imbalance in the reproductive area of the body. Not getting daily exercise, or eating a diet that creates impurities (ama) in the body, are other causes of prostate problems.

Finally, if you don’t have a healthy daily routine, for instance if you watch TV late at night or for other reasons don’t sleep enough, or if you don’t eat meals on time or your routine is very irregular can cause ama to build up and disturb the immune system.

Ama is a sticky impurity that is created when digestion is weak and food is not digested completely. The aging process can also weaken digestion, however, typically the increase in ama, as mentioned before, is created by the poor dietary and lifestyle habits such as eating foods that are old and heavy, or eating meals at irregular times of the day.  These types of foods, allows ama to eventually mix with nutrient fluid (Rasa Dhatu) and even the blood (Rakta Dhatu) which can overload the urine, the body’s purification system.  Over time, this becomes a fertile ground for bacteria, and can create additional problems of urinary tract infections, which also impact the prostate. Weakened immunity also creates a problem for the prostate.  Eating a diet high in processed foods and sugar weakens the immune system as well as lack of 7-8 hours of sleep.  Stress can also have an impact on Prostate health.  Overuse of the mind can also create problems.

Right Diet and Lifestyles

We are all uniquely made, therefore, we need to understand the right diet and lifestyles to maintain proper health and balance.  Some general recommendations are as follows:

  • Favor a diet of warm, cooked, easily-digestible, light-yet-nourishing foods is best. Organic vegetables cooked in mild spices, whole grains, light proteins such as mung dhal soups, and sweet, juicy fruits will nourish the body.
  • Cooking with mild spices that improve digestion, burn away ama, but don’t create heat in the blood tissue include a mixture of fennel, coriander, cumin, fenugreek, and small amounts of turmeric. Small amounts of black pepper and small amounts of fresh ginger also are healthy for maintaining prostate health and balance.  Most of us know by now that turmeric is seen as anti-inflammatory, and intensifies the anti-cancer activity of other phytonutrients. Ginger and turmeric both have been found to have cancer-preventing qualities. Turmeric is one of nature’s most powerful antioxidants, and has more DNA-protective qualities than Vitamin E and beta carotene.
  • Black pepper is another common spice whose effects in the diet have been well documented. Research published in Cancer Letter in the August 16, 1993 issue reported that 20 days after adding black pepper to the diet, the subjects’ liver detoxification systems were strengthened, aiding in purification of the blood tissue and enhancing the overall immune system.
  • Squashes cooked with these mild spices are excellent for prostate health. The best squashes for prostate health are the types that are white inside, such as zucchini.
  • Asparagus is another vegetable that is recommended, because it helps support balanced hormones. Daikon is a mild type of white radish root that purifies the urine. Because it is spicy, it should be cooked with other vegetables more as a seasoning than as the main vegetable. You could combine it with squashes such as zucchini, or shred it and add it to mung dhal soup.
  • Light dairy products such as milk, lassi (a drink made with one part freshly-made yogurt and three parts water), and occasional fresh cheeses such as panir or cottage cheese should be included in the diet, but avoid the hard-to-digest aged cheeses, such as Monterey Jack, mozzarella, cheddar, brie, blue cheese, and Gruyère.
  • Quinoa is an excellent grain as it is rich in zinc. Zinc supports seminal health, and because seminal health and prostate health are connected, zinc also supports prostate health.
  • Favor whole, fresh foods as much as possible. Canned, frozen, packaged and processed foods, as well as leftovers are known as lifeless foods and are hard to digest.  Lifeless, hard to digest foods increase ama.

Daily routines help to remove ama, keep hormones balanced and aide in digestion.  Some Ayurvedic daily routine recommendations include:

  • Eat meals at the same time every day.
  • Eat your largest meal at lunch time when the sun is highest in the sky, which is when your digestive fire is strongest.
  • Take time to eat nourishing, appetizing meals. Eating on the run increases ama and harms digestion.
  • Be sure to exercise regularly, and be sure that the exercise you choose is suitable for your age and body type.
  • Daily ayurvedic massage, called abhyanga, is another important part of the daily routine. You can do it in the morning to help improve circulation and digestion, remove ama from the body, tone the muscles, and increase energy. Use warm oil such as sesame, coconut, and/or almond.
  • Avoid too much mental pressure, such as a job that requires you to work long hours. Turn all blue light devices off no later than 9:00 p.m.
  • Take time to enjoy life, and to maintain healthy relationships with your family and friends.
  • Meditation helps to reduce stress, increase inner happiness and balances the mind, body, emotions which helps to eliminate mental and physical ama. This doesn’t mean that you have to sit for hours.  Simple steps to begin a meditation practice:
    • Sit in a warm, quiet place.
    • Close your eyes and begin to focus on your breath.
    • Every time your mind begins to wonder, come back to your breath.

So, whether you have symptoms of prostate irregularity or just want to avoid having any problems, adopting these recommendations will be taking a giant step toward overall health, not just for a man’s prostate.  These changes won’t happen overnight, so be patient.  Studies show that it takes at least 90 days to create a habit.  Meeting with a Registered Ayurvedic Lifestyle Consultant who can guide you in a personal dietary and lifestyle program to restore balance to the prostate and your mind, body and emotions is recommended.

Disclaimer
The sole purpose of this article is to provide information about the tradition of ayurveda. This information is not intended for use in the diagnosis, treatment, cure or prevention of any disease. If you have any serious acute or chronic health concern, please consult a trained health professional who can fully assess your needs and address them effectively.

406.600.7267
630 Boardwalk #1
(Inside Lone Peak Physical Therapy West Entrance)
Bozeman, MT 59718
lisa@yogamassagerenew.com