Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Align Yourself With Your Ayurveda Clock

 We tend to break our day into work time, our time, and sleep time; with work time allotted the most number of hours. Ayurveda (India’s traditional healing system) sees the day differently, breaking it into six four-hour zones—one-day zone and one night zone for each of the three doshas.

According to this symbolic time, the day starts at sunrise, with the cool, heavy, earthy kapha dosha dominating from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. The middle of the day belongs to pitta,
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. And light, dry, airy vata rules the afternoon, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
And then the cycle begins again.

To stay in sync, you should wake up before sunrise, when vata is transcendent. Once the sun is up, we begin to fall under kapha, earth and water spell. Hitting snooze when the alarm goes off at 6 a.m. may feel delicious, but if you don’t get up until 7, the dull heaviness of kapha will have started to weigh you down. So waking at dawn, just before the birds, is ideal. That way you will start off the day in rhythm with nature’s light and will benefit from vata’s mobile, clear, ether like qualities.

Ayurveda encourages us to eat our primary meal in the middle of the day, when the fire of pitta dominates. Pitta supports our ability to digest all things—food, thoughts, and feelings. The digestion does its best work at midday. Eating latter in the day will make it more difficult for your body to process your meal. The same holds true for eating a big meal in the evening. Ayurveda recommends a light supper instead so your body can finish digesting your food long before bedtime.

At about 6 p.m. we move again from vata to kapha dosha. The same kapha energy—dull, slow, stable, heavy—that makes it difficult to wake up with ease after sunrise now supports our move into sleep. If you tune in, you will start to feel the body and mind’s fatigue and recognize your desire for a good night’s sleep.

At about 10 p.m., the pitta takes over from drowsy kapha. The body uses this four-hour period from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. to digest experiences, emotions, and any remaining food form earlier in the day, and to repair and renew itself. Because pitta is fiery and hot, if you fight through the drowsiness of kapha time and stay up too late, you will catch a second wind that will keep you up all hours of the night.

When you finally do doze off, staying asleep can be challenging because, as pitta time gives way to vata time, the doshic qualities become lighter, subtler, and more filled with movement. According to the ayuvedic clock, we start the process of “rising” around 2 a.m. If we continue with restlessness until dawn, we miss the benefits of sleep that support body, mind, and our deep vitality.

Aligning our hectic modern-day lives to the ayurvedic clock can prove challenging, to say the least, but making the effort can lead to a big pay-off. Many of today’s health problems—insomnia, heartburn, anxiety, and depression—are directly linked to the lack of balance in our lives. Staying in tune with our ayuveda clock will help restore balance and our good health.

Nancy Adams Certified Thai Yoga Therapist
                                                              And Ayurveda Consultant

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

The Skin is the first layer of Intelligence

 This is the time of season to really take care of your skin. The skin is a highly sensitive organ. If you are a Vata your skin is already dry, in the fall and early winter it becomes even drier. Giving yourself an oil massage with sesame oil every day before your shower will nourish and protect the skin. An average square inch of skin contains more that a thousand nerve endings, when something touches the skin, our consciousness is awakended and enlivened. When oil (pure oil, not lotions or baby oil) is absorbed into the skin, it dislodges toxins, which otherwise impede the flow of life force in our system. Most of us think the brain is the only place where intelligence and perception occur. This view devalues the innate intelligence of the body—the yogi’s vehicle on the path to stilling the consciousness. Intelligence can be cultivated in every cell of the body. The skin is our first layer of intelligence, and nerves in the skin feed information to the mind. A self-massage will stimulate and calm the nervous system, balance the Vata, which is very high in everyone this time of year, and enliven your consciousness.


The breath is also essential to rejuvenation, increasing our breath capacity brings in more life force to nourish the physical tissues of the body. As the nervous system becomes more confident there is ample breath, it relaxes. While regulating the breath is necessary for Vatas, inducing a calm state is healing to everyone’s cells, bodies, emotions, and thoughts, during this high Vata season.


How to do a self-oil massage: Start with your head Using the flat of your hand and fingers, massage the oil in vigorously. Cover your entire scalp with small circular strokes, as if you were shampooing. Move to your face and ears, massaging more gently. Gentle massage over the temples and backs of the ears is especially good for settling Vata dosha. Apply a little oil to your hands and massage your neck, front and back, then your shoulders. Use the flat of your palm and fingers.
            Vigorously massage your arms. Using a circular motion at the shoulders and elbows and long, back-and-forth motions on the long parts.
            It is important not to be too vigorous when you get to your trunk. Using large, gentle circular motions, massage the chest, stomach, and lower abdomen. Moving in a clockwise direction. A straight up-and-down motion is used over the breastbone.
            With oil on your arms reach around without straining to massage your back and spine—use up-and-down motions, or whatever you can do.
            Vigorously massage your legs as you did your arm—circular at ankles and knees, straight back-and-forth on the long parts.
            With the remaining bit of oil, vigorously massage your feet and toes.
            Washing off the oil: Keeping a thin, almost undetectable film of oil on the body is considered very beneficial for toning the skin, balancing Vata, and keeping the muscles warm during the day. Therefore, you should wash yourself with warm, not hot, water and mild soap.

Nancy Adams Certified Thai Yoga Therapist
And Ayurveda Consultant

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

The mind is a mystery

Ayurveda can seem exotic. But in truth, resting deeply, eating healthful foods, following a regular schedule, moving at a gentle pace, stretching all our limbs, taking deep breaths, and limiting stimulation are all the basics of good health. (These are some of the things I lectured about at our yoga retreat; I will be posting those lectures for the next few weeks) There is nothing exotic about these practices. What is unusual is that we live in a society where we have to make an extra effort to practice them and resist the pressures that lead us to neglect self-care. Following the Ayurvedic and yogic techniques seems unfamiliar at first, but when you practice them, your body recognizes them. As modern Americans, we may have forgotten how to care for the human being, but Ayurveda remembers and can remind us of what we once knew.

The mind is the greatest of all mysteries. When unveiling this mystery, all mysteries are unveiled. The mind is the source of all misery and happiness. It is the source of both bondage and liberation. The more you know about your mind, the grater the mastery you will have over the world around you. Help your mind out with a Thai Therapy session.

I want to offer you a great deal. For all new Thai Therapy clients (never having received Thai Therapy before) the first person to schedule an appointment with me, receives their two-hour Thai session for $30. YES THIRTY BUCKS!!!!!! The next two people to schedule an appointment with me receives their Thai session for $40 the next 3 people to schedule an appointment receives their session for $50 and the next 4 people receive their session for $60 the regular price is $80

If you are a client (having received Thai Therapy before) you can still take advantage of this offer by buying a gift certificate for a friend or relative. AND!! As a thank you to my clients the first 4 people (those who have had Thai Therapy) to schedule an appointment, receives their Thai session for $20 off.

For those of you that are worried you have to be undressed for Thai Therapy, let me put your mind to rest. In Thai Therapy you are fully clothed (except for shoes and socks) in stretchy clothing.

Email me for your appointment at yogastrongtherapy@gmail.com


Nancy Adams Certified Thai Yoga Therapist
And Ayurveda Consultant

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Thoughts fall away

Many of my Thai Yoga Therapy clients, and some, of my yoga students come to me with physical pain caused by emotional trauma. I know that the way to healing is through meditation; my job is to help them know that as well. Thai Yoga Therapy is a type of meditation, that’s why it is so effective. Most of my clients have minds that chatter, they get frustrated when they meditate because they can’t stop the chatter. They then loose patients for it and won’t try. The most important part of Thai Therapy treatment is the daily meditation. Even if you are not in Thai therapy treatment, you will find peace and wellness in meditation. Meditation takes you deeper and deeper inside yourself, until you reach that area untouched by illness. When you discover the silence in your mind; you no longer have to pay attention to all the random images that trigger worry, anger and pain.

 

I recommend that my clients meditate every day, they always do really well when I am there to guide them, but I can’t be there every day. I remembered, when I have a substitute for yoga, my yoga students would tell me that every time they were led into a pose by the substitute teacher, they could hear my voice in their head guiding them in that pose. How wonderful, I thought, if this same thing could happen for them during their meditation. I took this concern to my own meditation mat, and because silence is the birthplace of happiness, and where we get our bursts of inspiration. A new meditation was born. I call it “Thoughts Fall Away”

 

In my meditation I heard my Self (remember our true Self is our Soul) telling me to let my brain float. With each exhale I felt my brain float higher and become lighter. I felt myself go deeper and deeper into silence. This is the silence we want to bring into our awareness through meditation. After doing this for a few breaths, I felt my thought fall away. I felt my brain grab for the thoughts, and immediately heard my Self say “let them go for now, you can pick them up when you drift back, for now let’s rest”. This brought me back to my awareness. Now I knew, what my clients need, is to know how to let their brain rest. Now I know how I need to guide them.  Back at my meditation I let my brain float, every time I felt my brain grab for my thoughts I said to myself “let the thoughts fall away”. I gave my brain permission to let them go for now, and that it could pick them up when I drift back. On each exhale I said to my self “let the brain float”. As it became easier, when I felt my brain grab for my thoughts, I just said “rest”. I felt myself being led effortlessly and naturally to ever more subtle levels of my thinking. As I reminded myself to “rest” on each exhale, I began to seek still subtler levels of thought until eventually all thought was left behind. This is the place where the mind is actually learning to heal itself.  This is the place where meditation is taking you deeper and deeper inside yourself, until you reach the area untouched by illness.

 

I saw my self guiding my clients, and my students, knowing that if they heard me guide them in meditation often enough, they would hear my voice in there head every time they sat to meditate. I now start my Thai Therapy sessions, and end some of my yoga classes with a guided meditation.


You can try this meditation by following the outline above.

 

 

Nancy Adams Certified Thai Yoga Therapist
                                                                 And Ayurveda Consultant

Monday, October 1, 2012

Loosen the grip of anxiety part two

Does stress leave you too anxious to eat or too lethargic to get off the couch? Using the ancient science of Ayurveda, you can determine your unique stress type and take skillful action to bring your body and mind back into balance.

For some people, worrying distracts them from getting anything done during the day, and insomnia keeps them up at night. Others become consumed by anger and blame their spouse, coworkers, and clients. As their stress mounts, so does their blood pressure. Still, others feel powerless to change anything. They stay home, snacking in front of the TV. Their lethargy leaves them with feelings of depression, and eventually leads to weight gain and aggravated respiratory problems.

In the West, we don’t usually dwell on the distinctions between our reactions to stress—we tend to focus on general coping solutions applicable to all, such as a hot bath, a long walk, or a day on the beach. But in the ancient Indian healing system of Ayurveda, stress reduction hinges on a complex understanding of each person. Since no two people handle stress the same way, everyone requires a different stress-relief strategy: what might work for Anne could aggravate Heidi, and what might work for Natalie could prove ineffective for Joe. Ayurveda provides specific lifestyle, dietary, herbal and yogic solutions for each individual that can not only diffuse tension but also help build a foundation for lasting peace of mind. Ayurvedic theory takes nearly every conceivable stress influence into consideration—from seasonal and planetary changes that effect our well-being to subtle bodily impurities that can precipitate disease.
It also sheds light on the thought patterns and physical tendencies that make stress either a constant stumbling block or a nonissue, depending on how well we understand ourselves. Ayurveda might seem like a lot to take in. but when it comes to managing stress, Ayurvedic concepts can be boiled down to a basic idea: trace stress back to its roots, then find lasting ways to change the patterns that cause it.

We often speak of stress in terms of the situations we find ourselves in—traffic jams, looming deadlines, getting laid off. But Ayurveda holds that stress actually originates in the mind. Our predominant dosha shapes who we are, what we look like, and how we think; it influences everything from our career choices to our favorite foods. For the purposes of stress management, our doshic imbalance can prove even more revealing. It’s not so much which dosha most shapes our constitution but rather which one is out of whack. Stress manifests itself in the body as a vata, pitta, or kapha imbalance, depending on the person. For instance, a person may have a strong kapha constitution, being grounded wise, stable, and compassionate. But at his worst, he may display a classic pitta imbalance, being irritable, judgmental, and quick-tempered. A pitta type might have a kapha imbalnce, becoming overly sentimental and possessive at times. A vata person who’s normally creative and lively might also have a vata imbalance, meaning she can become flighty, easily distracted, and prone to anxiety. Either way the imbalance governs how the person will respond to stress. Imbalance comes when you’re out of harmony, either with your own personal rhythm or that of nature. This can show up in the body as a condition like arthritis or in our emotions, such as jealousy or anger.


Nancy Adams Certified Thai Yoga Therapist
                                                                And Ayurveda Consultant