http://www.youtube.com/laughteryoga
I wonder if you could watch these and not laugh.
Laughter clubs were started in India when it was noticed that a lot of people came to the doctor because they were depressed. A doctor started a laughter yoga club and now they have spread right around the world. Basically you meet, enjoy some fun activities and laugh heartily- so, so good for your body.
If anyone is interested, give me an email and if there are enough people we can get together for a laugh. I am a trained laughter yoga leader and really enjoy these sessions. There is nothing like it for energising and lifting your mood. It is pure fun!
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Chai
This is so delicious and makes a great drink for friends to share on a cold day.
Chai
3 pints of water
8 crushed cardamom pods
4 whole cloves
2 whole star anise pods
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tablespoon of grated ginger
1 tablespoon of whole fennel seeds
1 cup milk (soy, rice, coconut or dairy)
Raw organic sugar or maple syrup
Boil water and ingredients.
Reduce heat and simmer for 10 mins
Add milk, heat, strain and serve with sweetener. Delicious!
Chai
3 pints of water
8 crushed cardamom pods
4 whole cloves
2 whole star anise pods
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tablespoon of grated ginger
1 tablespoon of whole fennel seeds
1 cup milk (soy, rice, coconut or dairy)
Raw organic sugar or maple syrup
Boil water and ingredients.
Reduce heat and simmer for 10 mins
Add milk, heat, strain and serve with sweetener. Delicious!
Friday, November 11, 2011
what is so great about yoga?
This is an interesting article about how yoga helps us - as opposed to exercise.
http://www.yogajournal.com
The Scientific Basis of Yoga Therapy
Research is documenting the effectiveness of yoga therapy and suggesting specific mechanisms for how it works.
By Timothy McCall, M.D.
One of the most exciting developments in the last few decades is the cross-fertilization of Western science with ideas from ancient Eastern wisdom systems such as yoga. With increasing precision, scientists are able to look at the brain and body and detect the sometimes subtle changes that practitioners of yoga and mediation undergo. Years ago, few yoga studies were done in the West, and most scientists dismissed Indian yoga research due to methodological problems, such as a lack of control groups in the studies. Now the methodology is much better, and it could be argued that many Indian studies of yoga are superior to most of those done in the West.
As yoga becomes more and more mainstream, and as research dollars for alternative and complementary health systems continue to grow, studies of yoga are getting not only better but also more numerous in both India and the United States. In just the last few years, research has documented the efficacy of yoga for such conditions as back pain, multiple sclerosis, insomnia, cancer, heart disease, and even tuberculosis. Studies are also increasingly documenting how yoga works. Among its many beneficial effects, yoga has been shown to increase strength, flexibility, and balance; enhance immune function; lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels; and improve psychological well-being. One of yoga's most prominent effects, of course, is stress reduction.
Stress and the Autonomic Nervous System
Although yoga is much more than a stress-reduction method, stress adversely affects a wide range of health conditions, and yoga is arguably the most comprehensive approach to fighting stress ever invented. Stress isn't just a factor in conditions commonly labeled "stress-related," such as migraines, ulcers, and irritable bowel syndrome, but it appears to contribute to such major killers as heart attacks, diabetes, and osteoporosis.
Even diseases such as cancer—for which there is surprisingly little evidence that stress is a causative factor—are extremely stressful once a person has been diagnosed and begins treatment. Yoga can improve not only the quality of life after diagnosis, but it appears to diminish the side effects of surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and other treatments, and may increase the odds of survival.
To appreciate the role of stress in disease and of relaxation in prevention and recovery, it's important to understand the function of the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which controls the function of the heart, liver, intestines, and other internal organs. The ANS has two branches that work in conjunction: the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). In general, when activity is high in the SNS, it is lower in the PNS, and vice versa.
The SNS, in conjunction with such stress hormones as adrenaline and cortisol, initiate a series of changes in the body, including raising blood pressure, heart rate, and blood sugar levels. These changes help a person deal with a crisis situation. They mean more energy and more blood and oxygen flowing to the large muscles of the trunk, arms, and legs, allowing the person to run from danger or do battle (the so-called "fight-or-flight" response).
The PNS, in contrast, tends to slow the heart and lower the blood pressure, allowing recovery after a stressful event. Blood flow that was diverted away from the intestines and reproductive organs, whose function isn't essential in an emergency, returns. In contrast to fight or flight, these more restorative functions can be thought of as "rest and digest." They are also sometimes dubbed the relaxation response.
Many yoga practices, including quiet asana, slow breathing, meditation, and guided imagery, increase activation of the PNS and lead to mental relaxation. Yoga techniques are more than just relaxation, however. Practices like vigorous sun salutations, kaphalabhati breathing, and breath retentions actually activate the SNS. One of yoga's secrets, documented in research from the Swami Vivekananda Yoga Research Foundation near Bangalore, is that more active practices followed by relaxing ones lead to deeper relaxation than relaxing practices alone.
Neuroplasticity
I believe some of yoga's most profound effects on health have to do with its ability to alter long-standing dysfunctional behavior. People often have unhealthy habits of thought and deed that undermine their health—habits they may recognize but haven't been able to change. In addition to the direct health benefits of asana, pranayama, meditation, and other yoga practices, it's not uncommon for regular practitioners to start eating better, to cut back on caffeine or alcohol, to quit jobs with unreasonable demands, or to spend more time in nature. Once people become more sensitive to the effects of different actions on their bodies and minds (whether it is practicing alternate nostril breathing or eating huge, fatty meals), they increasingly want to do what makes them feel better.
The modern understanding of the brain is that rather than being a static structure (which is what I was taught in medical school), this organ is constantly remodeling itself, a phenomenon scientists call neuroplasticity. Repeated thoughts and actions can rewire your brain, and the more you do something, the stronger those new neural networks become. Almost 2,000 years ago, Patanjali was onto this when he suggested that the key to success in yoga is dedicated, uninterrupted practice over a long period of time. The resulting neural networks— or samskaras, as yogis call them—get stronger and stronger as you stay with the practice. Slowly but surely, these healthy grooves of thought and action help guide people out of the ruts in which they've been stuck.
Dr. Timothy McCall is a board-certified internist, Yoga Journal's medical editor, and the author of the forthcoming book Yoga as Medicine (Bantam Dell, summer 2007). He can be found on the Web at www.DrMcCall.com
http://www.yogajournal.com
The Scientific Basis of Yoga Therapy
Research is documenting the effectiveness of yoga therapy and suggesting specific mechanisms for how it works.
By Timothy McCall, M.D.
One of the most exciting developments in the last few decades is the cross-fertilization of Western science with ideas from ancient Eastern wisdom systems such as yoga. With increasing precision, scientists are able to look at the brain and body and detect the sometimes subtle changes that practitioners of yoga and mediation undergo. Years ago, few yoga studies were done in the West, and most scientists dismissed Indian yoga research due to methodological problems, such as a lack of control groups in the studies. Now the methodology is much better, and it could be argued that many Indian studies of yoga are superior to most of those done in the West.
As yoga becomes more and more mainstream, and as research dollars for alternative and complementary health systems continue to grow, studies of yoga are getting not only better but also more numerous in both India and the United States. In just the last few years, research has documented the efficacy of yoga for such conditions as back pain, multiple sclerosis, insomnia, cancer, heart disease, and even tuberculosis. Studies are also increasingly documenting how yoga works. Among its many beneficial effects, yoga has been shown to increase strength, flexibility, and balance; enhance immune function; lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels; and improve psychological well-being. One of yoga's most prominent effects, of course, is stress reduction.
Stress and the Autonomic Nervous System
Although yoga is much more than a stress-reduction method, stress adversely affects a wide range of health conditions, and yoga is arguably the most comprehensive approach to fighting stress ever invented. Stress isn't just a factor in conditions commonly labeled "stress-related," such as migraines, ulcers, and irritable bowel syndrome, but it appears to contribute to such major killers as heart attacks, diabetes, and osteoporosis.
Even diseases such as cancer—for which there is surprisingly little evidence that stress is a causative factor—are extremely stressful once a person has been diagnosed and begins treatment. Yoga can improve not only the quality of life after diagnosis, but it appears to diminish the side effects of surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and other treatments, and may increase the odds of survival.
To appreciate the role of stress in disease and of relaxation in prevention and recovery, it's important to understand the function of the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which controls the function of the heart, liver, intestines, and other internal organs. The ANS has two branches that work in conjunction: the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). In general, when activity is high in the SNS, it is lower in the PNS, and vice versa.
The SNS, in conjunction with such stress hormones as adrenaline and cortisol, initiate a series of changes in the body, including raising blood pressure, heart rate, and blood sugar levels. These changes help a person deal with a crisis situation. They mean more energy and more blood and oxygen flowing to the large muscles of the trunk, arms, and legs, allowing the person to run from danger or do battle (the so-called "fight-or-flight" response).
The PNS, in contrast, tends to slow the heart and lower the blood pressure, allowing recovery after a stressful event. Blood flow that was diverted away from the intestines and reproductive organs, whose function isn't essential in an emergency, returns. In contrast to fight or flight, these more restorative functions can be thought of as "rest and digest." They are also sometimes dubbed the relaxation response.
Many yoga practices, including quiet asana, slow breathing, meditation, and guided imagery, increase activation of the PNS and lead to mental relaxation. Yoga techniques are more than just relaxation, however. Practices like vigorous sun salutations, kaphalabhati breathing, and breath retentions actually activate the SNS. One of yoga's secrets, documented in research from the Swami Vivekananda Yoga Research Foundation near Bangalore, is that more active practices followed by relaxing ones lead to deeper relaxation than relaxing practices alone.
Neuroplasticity
I believe some of yoga's most profound effects on health have to do with its ability to alter long-standing dysfunctional behavior. People often have unhealthy habits of thought and deed that undermine their health—habits they may recognize but haven't been able to change. In addition to the direct health benefits of asana, pranayama, meditation, and other yoga practices, it's not uncommon for regular practitioners to start eating better, to cut back on caffeine or alcohol, to quit jobs with unreasonable demands, or to spend more time in nature. Once people become more sensitive to the effects of different actions on their bodies and minds (whether it is practicing alternate nostril breathing or eating huge, fatty meals), they increasingly want to do what makes them feel better.
The modern understanding of the brain is that rather than being a static structure (which is what I was taught in medical school), this organ is constantly remodeling itself, a phenomenon scientists call neuroplasticity. Repeated thoughts and actions can rewire your brain, and the more you do something, the stronger those new neural networks become. Almost 2,000 years ago, Patanjali was onto this when he suggested that the key to success in yoga is dedicated, uninterrupted practice over a long period of time. The resulting neural networks— or samskaras, as yogis call them—get stronger and stronger as you stay with the practice. Slowly but surely, these healthy grooves of thought and action help guide people out of the ruts in which they've been stuck.
Dr. Timothy McCall is a board-certified internist, Yoga Journal's medical editor, and the author of the forthcoming book Yoga as Medicine (Bantam Dell, summer 2007). He can be found on the Web at www.DrMcCall.com
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
oil pulling
A friend told me about oil pulling. I will certainly give it a go.
Here is some info in case you would like to learn more about it too.
http://www.coconutresearchcenter.org/article%20oil%20pulling.htm
http://www.earthclinic.com/Remedies/oil_pulling.html
http://www.oilpulling.com/
Here is some info in case you would like to learn more about it too.
http://www.coconutresearchcenter.org/article%20oil%20pulling.htm
http://www.earthclinic.com/Remedies/oil_pulling.html
http://www.oilpulling.com/
A divine recipe for Avocado Soup
I learned a new recipe today when I went to my weekly Jin Shin Jyutsu study group. Fenna, a most amazing lady who has been practising Jin Shin Jyutsu for 20 + years and is so knowledgable and wise, told us about the recipe. I was astounded when Fenna made us some and saw how easy it was and how tasty it was.
It was made in 30 seconds and was one of the most tasty, delicious, healthy soups I have ever tasted. Perfect for a dinner party starter - you would make it while people are seated at the table. How easy would that be!
First - make the spice blend and keep it in your pantry for later use:
Grind together until a powder
2 teaspoons of thyme
2 teaspoons of sage
2 teaspoons of rosemary
In a jug or bowl, place 1 ripe avocado per person
Add 2 cups of boiling water per avocado
Add 1/2 teaspoon of herbal blend (thyme, rosemary, sage)
Blend
Serve
I like herbal seasoning on mine, but salt and pepper are fine
Happy eating!
It was made in 30 seconds and was one of the most tasty, delicious, healthy soups I have ever tasted. Perfect for a dinner party starter - you would make it while people are seated at the table. How easy would that be!
First - make the spice blend and keep it in your pantry for later use:
Grind together until a powder
2 teaspoons of thyme
2 teaspoons of sage
2 teaspoons of rosemary
In a jug or bowl, place 1 ripe avocado per person
Add 2 cups of boiling water per avocado
Add 1/2 teaspoon of herbal blend (thyme, rosemary, sage)
Blend
Serve
I like herbal seasoning on mine, but salt and pepper are fine
Happy eating!
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Foot Problems
This is an excellent slideshow showing how foot problems may relate to other parts of body.
It is from a website which you can subscribe to and has many interesting articles about health: www.webmd.com
http://diabetes.webmd.com/ss/slideshow-what-your-feet-say?ecd=wnl_hrt_110111
It is from a website which you can subscribe to and has many interesting articles about health: www.webmd.com
http://diabetes.webmd.com/ss/slideshow-what-your-feet-say?ecd=wnl_hrt_110111
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Reflexology for Golfers
In the weekend we played in Mixed Foursomes Golf Tournament at Mount Maunganui - the idea is to play alternate shots in a match play. There are 2 lots of 18 holes on Saturday and 2 lots of 18 holes on Sunday - which is a huge lot of walking.
Two of my clients played golf all weekend and both said that reflexology had made it easy for them to be on their feet all weekend.
Two of my clients played golf all weekend and both said that reflexology had made it easy for them to be on their feet all weekend.
Support for new mums
It is really hitting home to me about how a new mum has such a huge learning curve to deal with. My daughter, Marie, is in London and has Grace who is 5 weeks old. Her husband, Philip, is at work and does London time work with commuting etc - he would love to be more help but it is impossible to be in 2 places at once. Of course when he is home he does what he can to help. They live in a one bedroom house.
When Grace was new born, she had trouble feeding and it was found she was tongue tied so that was remedied. Then it was a very bad case of colic which was very stressful and has made both parents sleep deprived. Now Marie (my daughter) although loving Grace dearly and getting so much pleasure from her darling daughter, is having to work out how to get routines going for Grace. Grace is used to skin to skin time - and while this was comforting with the colic problems, Marie is finding she has no time whatsoever to herself during the day or night. Marie would like to give her the love and nurturing that a small baby needs - as well as having a moment for herself during the day. What a huge change from being a career woman to being at home caring for a baby.
I so wish I could be over there to help.
This is such a challenging time - physically and mentally that only those who have been through it would understand. The family unit is so important - and never to be underestimated.
Today all the ladies who have been to pregnancy yoga with me are meeting in a local cafe at Waihi Beach with their babies to share stories and support each other. We are going to meet every month on the first Tuesday at 10am.
I was so looking forward to going but Hollie rang this morning and James has a bad cough so I am looking after him today. How true that parenting is for life.
Many blessings to all new mums and dads and may they have love and support during this challenging time for them. I love you Marie, Philip and Grace.
When Grace was new born, she had trouble feeding and it was found she was tongue tied so that was remedied. Then it was a very bad case of colic which was very stressful and has made both parents sleep deprived. Now Marie (my daughter) although loving Grace dearly and getting so much pleasure from her darling daughter, is having to work out how to get routines going for Grace. Grace is used to skin to skin time - and while this was comforting with the colic problems, Marie is finding she has no time whatsoever to herself during the day or night. Marie would like to give her the love and nurturing that a small baby needs - as well as having a moment for herself during the day. What a huge change from being a career woman to being at home caring for a baby.
I so wish I could be over there to help.
This is such a challenging time - physically and mentally that only those who have been through it would understand. The family unit is so important - and never to be underestimated.
Today all the ladies who have been to pregnancy yoga with me are meeting in a local cafe at Waihi Beach with their babies to share stories and support each other. We are going to meet every month on the first Tuesday at 10am.
I was so looking forward to going but Hollie rang this morning and James has a bad cough so I am looking after him today. How true that parenting is for life.
Many blessings to all new mums and dads and may they have love and support during this challenging time for them. I love you Marie, Philip and Grace.
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