Ayurvedic living Archives - Page 11 of 15 - Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Flow Yoga Poses In 10-Minute Baking ⏲

Flow yoga is something you can add to your practice 10 minutes while you’re waiting and working on baking.

For the next few weeks, I’m focusing on a new flow yoga mini-series to help you go from one pose to the next easily. Yoga means “union” and is the mind-body-spirit connection that we all can use.

And If yoga is intimidating (or it’s better) to you, you can call it modified stretching or something similar so you can remove the mental blocks (…and yoga blocks if you choose 😉).

Stretching is needed to reset our tight and daily working bodies. So I hope this will help you through the rest of the year whether you’re traveling or staying put where you are.

…And a flow yoga routine is something easy you can practice and do year-round and anywhere, so I’ll give you a flow yoga sequence below for someone who spends a lot of time in the kitchen (myself included).

This time I’ll focus on yoga for those who do regular cooking or baking. If you know anyone who spends a lot of time in the kitchen, you could share this with them.

Body Balance Quiz

Even if you don’t think you’re good at yoga, the benefits to your body outweigh the few minutes spent… and some benefits can’t be achieved with other exercises, as you’ll not reach those hidden body muscles and crevices.

We tend to use the same few muscles for everyday use like our biceps and legs, when in fact we have about 600 muscles.

And whether you’re in the kitchen, traveling, or in an office, it’s good to plan to have a yoga mat or towel nearby, so you can stretch every day.

A mat can be a good reminder, as we take for granted that our bodies work for us every day without missing a beat. 🫀

We can all use a stretch once in a while where we let our hair down and take off our shoes and socks.

So grab your mat and here we go!…

If you’re working in the kitchen often, you’re looking down most of the day at the kitchen counter or the baked items you’re preparing. This puts a strain on your neck and all the nearby muscles running down your shoulders and back.

This mini-series of poses, or flow yoga, would be great to help you unwind and restore as you wait for your timed baked goods to bake in your oven.

You gotta love the oven for that reason!…

And last time I mentioned how great your freezer is for storage (another great piece of equipment to be grateful for). And this week it’s all about optimizing your waiting on your oven.

With an oven, you can set and forget your food cooking for a few minutes. So you can get to your other tasks… and a few resetting yoga poses while your food is baking evenly.

What flow yoga will help you do:

🧡 Undo the tension and strain you put on your body from preparing your food and bakes, even if you don’t feel it in the moment.

🧡 You may realize you need more stretching which is exactly what your body wants. Note: you can’t do too much yoga, but you can overwork parts in yoga. And if you ever do, you realize how delicate and resilient your body is.

🧡 And the best part of yoga (I think) is you will feel like a million bucks when you get back to the rest of your day.

Most poses you can do while you’re watching television, but after you already know the correct posture and alignment. That’s why it’s good to get proper instruction from a studio. But if that’s not possible, then use this general rule:

1) If it feels like a good stretch to your body in the moment, then you need more of it. It should never hurt (where you bite your lip in wincing pain).

Yoga is individualistic. Everyone has different bodies and nuance tolerances, so you have to use how YOU specifically feel as a guide and not what others tell you they feel when they’re in the pose even from one Vata to another (or from Pitta to Pitta, or Kapha to Kapha)…if you get my drift?

2) If you’re in a pose carrying any body weight, then do not move the body part that is carrying the weight if it’s a weak area.

For example, in Plow pose laying down where your legs go behind your head, your neck carries the weight of your legs and parts of your torso, so you wouldn’t want to move your neck when you get in the pose (and it’s easiest to stare at one distant spot or a light in the ceiling above).

Yoga is totally a personal journey where you get to know your body after you get the basics down.

Yoga has good body benefits even if you don’t get into your zen (and that’s a good mind benefit).

Determine Your Weak and Strong Areas

For each of us, we’re physically stronger in some areas and weaker in others, and that can be specific to specific poses.

For example, my strength is flexibility and balance. And the more I do yoga, the stronger the muscles become to support my weight (like in a Plank). It can be the same for you or you could be strong and want to work on balance, like in a Tree Pose. Or flexibility and balance in bird yoga poses. It’s all just practice.

And in yoga, endurance of how long you can stay in a pose is mostly determined by your patience and the strength of specific muscles.

If you’re newer to yoga, find out what your strong areas are. And what the weak ones are. We all have them and sometimes we don’t know what they are until we make a small mistake in yoga that shows up as a ‘lil pain a day or two later.

…That teaches us for the next time and also lets us know we’re alive!

Baking Flow Yoga Poses

So to start, practice some Cat-Cows to loosen up.

Then you can rest in a Child’s pose (or Hare pose if you want to really tuck in). There’s no hurry in yoga (except when your buzzer goes off for your bakes! ⏲)

…And so when you’re ready, then lie on your front like you would on a beach towel laying face down or reading a book.

Then reach back and grab your ankles if you can, or just alternate one ankle with the same side arm at a time, if that’s too much of a stretch initially.

You’d be surprised that you can change pretty quick in flexibility after a few minutes or sessions! The longer you hold the pose, the easier and better it is and becomes.

…Remember when you tried the splits and you could stretch even more the longer you stayed in the pose? …And don’t raise the bar too much, like a gymnast who’s built for that!

So then after grabbing your ankles, look up and peel your shoulders and thighs off the floor if you can. Lift off. Look upward. This is really good for your back and neck. And this pose is called Bow pose. Stay there for as long as you can and let go and then try again a few more times.

And from there you can move into Pigeon pose, where your forearms are perpendicular (straight up from the mat), and then hinge one leg forward, and the other leg straight back behind you.

You’ll feel a nice stretch in your thigh, back, and legs that withstand so much weight when you’re standing. In your pigeon, look up slightly. And whenever you have the opportunity.

Pigeon pose is a really good stretch for your neck, back, butt, and legs. One side tends to be tighter than the other. And you’ll feel it as you alternate sides.

You can then get into a neutral Downward Dog as a flow yoga step for transitioning.

Then flip or turn over to your back on the mat (so you’re facing up).

It’s tempting to take a nap. And if you have time, go for it! But don’t forget about your oven if it’s on!

And then lift your bottom up off the mat into Bridge pose. You can feel relief in your back. This is a good one to use a yoga block.

You can insert the elevating block where your back ends and meets your tail bone. And then just comfortably rest on the block without doing anything. How nice!

The block isn’t preventing you from reaping yoga physical benefits as it helps you get stretched further in height. So it helps you and isn’t a crutch in case it feels that way!

You go higher (literally) than you would normally. Yoga is all about making your life easy… gotta love that! 🧡

And finally, when you come back down, get into your Happy Baby pose where you grab your big toes with your forefingers and thumbs (something monkeys can’t do!).

Happy Baby can leave you feeling relaxed without a care in the world for a few minutes and is a great way to end your yoga session. And you may just want to come back for more!

…And your bake should be about ready now or ready for you to check on. 😉

For more inspiration, take a look at these 100 yoga poses.

If you want to get more awareness about what your body is telling you, or would like to learn more about the Ayurvedic perspectives in the mind-body connection, you can take the body balance quiz.

Planning Your Unforgettable Next Vacation Using Ayurveda

Are you deciding on where you should go next for vacation or for summer vacation? …Or maybe thinking about taking time off and what you could do with it?

Vacation should be fun & enjoyable, but it’s also an investment in cost, time, and energy.

…So below I help spell out some Ayurvedic perspectives to consider for planning your next vacation.

Keep in mind there are many vacation time-off options, but not all of them will leave you the happiest. And before you start packing your bags, you may want to pause for a minute and consider your Ayurveda mind-body needs (that could be a bit different than your wants).

…And possibly telltale in what’s going on with you in your life today, so that you have the opportunity to discover more about yourself.

But first and foremost, of course, you want to plan an unforgettable vacation (and not just any ‘ol vacation with your precious time)!

So, the below tips are meant to help you figure out what will be your most enjoyable and memorable vacation wearing an Ayurveda hat… (and using me as a ‘lil guide). 👒

…Which btw, I’m someone who loves adventure and travel exploration, so I’m not one to deter anyone from exploring the world and what it has to offer.

But I also know when it’s better to just chill near home…. so I’ll give you the different takes below.

But before I do that, I wanted to show you my fruity celebration of the summer solstice week that just passed in the U.S. I made a healthy grit-based morning pie with high Vit-C papaya, pineapple, and kiwi fruits. The final rainbow version is above.

Okay, so back to your vacation planning…

You want to be sure to stay cool, especially with the changing extreme climates everywhere. You find places and countries that are hotter, feeling droughts, and/or more humid these days that can drive our bodies haywire.

If you’re a natural Vata, you’re sensitive to changes. Think of yourself like the wind with gusts changing around you.

(There’s a chart in my last blog post in case you missed it, and want to know if you’re mostly Vata, Pitta, or Kapha?).

…And keep in mind, thermometer temperature doesn’t always account for humidity, so it can easily feel 10-degrees hotter outside. And your thermostat can automatically turn on when the temperature reading on your phone or internet check-in appears lower. That can keep you wonderin’ about the real temps around you.💭

Traveling Vata vs. Kapha Body

On two extreme poles, Vata and Kapha bodies have different tolerances for weather, travel activities, food/beverage changes; and traveling can exacerbate or calm.

And certain foods, such as tropical juicy fruits like the ones above (kiwi, papaya, and pineapple) will help Vata stay hydrated.

For Vata, take liquid pouches and an at-hand water bottle; and for Kapha bodies, you may want to go for more dry fruit options like berries, papaya, or apricots that make for good trail mixes to take on your vacation.

As for activities, sometimes you want to explore, and other times, you wanna chill and relax by a pool, beach, or be by nature. This can be influenced by your body type and what will best restore you.

You can leave an old mood behind that gets enhanced by your vacation (or can add some havoc to your mind-body while away).

..And what you wanna avoid on vacation, is arriving at your destination and then feeling really off and not enjoying your time that can happen if you in a season that needs mood reset.

And if you run into vacation hassles on top of that, that can compound your unenjoyable vacation experience, leave remorse, and thinking there’s nothing much to write home about.

So here are some tips on how to pick the best and right vacation for you (and not just the one others envy!)…

First, if you’re holding onto salty moods (irritated by people, news, situations, etc.) that have been with you almost every day every hour for an entire season, then you’re better off to stay-put with a staycation.

Going to check-in counters could add to stress levels plus the unpredictability of travel delays and hassles. Your mind can be on overdrive and it’s better to inner calm first before you enter situations that can create more stress.

If you’re in a busy go-go-go season where your body has been working on overdrive or lacking sleep, visiting an easy to get to beach or mountain lake, can be just what the doctor ordered. It’s the next best thing to rest your body while enjoying relaxation.

Even though flying to tropical locales may sound nice, after you factor in time zone, layover, and connectivity changes, you could enjoy your closer-to-home spots over a tropical place on island time that you can’t fully get into.

If your busy times are filled with high stress and burnout that work and life situations can bring… stay away from crowds like Florida spring break beaches, or even the busy beaches I grew up on along the east coast in the Delmarva area. You’re better off going south or further north to quieter Carolina or Maine beaches.

If you’re tired or depressed, an adventure filled with activities could be a better choice for you. Like an eco-tour or hiking in tropical terrains.

If you’re feeling stuck… and here I mean trying to decide not only what type of vacation to take, but what to do with your life (or if you’ve hit a main roadblock), then there are two route options that are better for the different situations.

The first is, if your mind is free from dealing with problems at home, then a travel adventure could be the way to go. If your vacation getaway is motivated by the idea to escape reality or problems, that could backfire for you (as you’re stuck with your mind wherever you go).

Delaying addressing situations on vacation, can lead you to feel like you need another vacation when you get back.

Travel can exacerbate what hasn’t been put at ease in your mind.

…So how to tell beforehand? You can use the book test. Can you focus mindfully on reading a book or a chapter in a book and know what you just read?

If you sit with mind unrest, then journaling and taking yoga classes outside of the home could be better activities. If that doesn’t create the space, then maybe additional longer time off or even a sabbatical (with months or a year off) could be what you need.

Doing what you could at home in your free-time doesn’t sound exciting for vacation, but that could be what your mind-body could be telling you that you need.

To Vacation Travel or Not? ✈️

When you’re traveling, you have less consistency in your day. Routines are off and that sends your body and mind off. So too much travel excitement can actually exhaust you more than give you happy energy.

With exhaustion and stress feelings, you’re better off staying in your own country and exploring your town or nearby town excursions within 2 hours that let your mind relax and wander for a few hours at a time.

Like going to a museum and learning something new or discovering a farmer’s market. This is also a good idea if you’re looking for new ideas and want to feel more alive!

The second one is learning more about yourself and not just about your town and what it has to offer. Like in a mini-sabbatical, you’re discovering what you really want to do with your life.

If you’re exploring the town, you’re not really exploring yourself.

And if you’re watching live sporting events, that can be relaxing… but you’re focused on the game and not introspection. It just depends on what you’re looking to get out of your time off.

Activity vs. Introspection

Focusing on an activity is competing for time and introspection in many ways. If you journal, you can often tell by how much journaling activity is about yourself vs. not journaling or taking notes about activity ideas in a new skill or topic.

And the last point on this is:

Prioritizing meditative introspection helps for a better future life. You see what you want and don’t want to do next; while doing activities focuses on today for a better day.

Both have their time and place. If you’re in a social environment or with others, then you won’t be journaling or meditative. And you’re not likely to want to do both at the same time.

Vata, Pitta, and Kapha Vacation Suggestions

So, to sum up, if you have imbalances in Vata, Pitta, or Kapha, here are the suggestions:

Vata – take a staycation and day trips within 2 hours driving or flying distance.

Explore your town and/or go to yoga classes.

Pitta – take a vacation by the beach, lake, or nature.

Find time each day to do your favorite physical activity.

Kapha – take an adventuresome vacation (away or close to home depending on above moods). Add some challenging physical activity.

You could get up early for a nature challenge before the sunrises, tour another country and culture, or hike in a micro-wilderness adventure.

…While Life is one BIG adventure that keeps moving.

Hopefully, this has helped you with additional wise vacation planning considerations, to better recharge this season and into the next. 🏖

Anti-Inflammatory Eating Diet Plan For Any Age or Body Type

Anti inflammatory eating is a lifestyle. One that I’m passionate about. And I’m not the only one.

The longest living groups of people on the planet live this way. They’re in the Blue Zones founded by Dan Buettner.

It takes a world effort.

After many moons and decades, anti-inflammatory eating has caught on like wildfire for the health-conscious.

I remember when gyms cropped up like micro greens, and healthy living in the U.S. was focused on getting fit through cardio exercise.

…And was less focused on healthy eating to prevent inflammation and disease.

…While all along heart and cardiovascular diseases, and certain cancers are still the leading causes of mortality in the U.S. (according to the CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm)

So, then we shifted to a healthy diet as the core strategy for preventing diseases, providing energy and nutritional medicine, and the #1 answer to losing weight.

I watched daily the evolution of this through my management lens working in catering and as an event meal planner… kinda like subscribing to and watching a YouTube channel, except social media didn’t exist back then.

Today, the health-conscious are tuned into anti-inflammatory eating, with plant-based whole foods, quality protein, healthy dairy, and good heart oils. Just in time as cognitive decline and diabetes rates are on the fast rise.

A food’s nutritional composition, low glycemic index, and synergistic food impact on the mind-gut connection have never been so celebrated.

And, that makes me happy because I’m a foodie who loves good-tasting healthy food… and maybe you do too!? 🎂

Whole, plant-based foods are greatest when they’re at their seasonal best and the star in a flavorful-exciting meal.

Today we know our energy in old age (longevity) is heavily influenced by our lifestyle and healthy eating pattern choices. (Harvard Study: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/following-a-variety-of-healthy-eating-patterns-associated-with-lower-heart-disease-risk/)

Through lifestyle choices, we get to play a big role in our physical and mental health destiny, and in the mind-body connection. It’s realistic to aim for a goal of being active at 💯. 🎯

Anti-Inflammatory Eating Goals No Matter What Age or Body Type

Anti-inflammatory eating works for all ages and body types. It’s a healthy eating lifestyle that embraces food variety (biodiversity) and includes sustainable everyday foods where you’re rewarded with feeling good and a body you’re comfortable with… and that helps so you don’t have to switch into different clothing sizes in-between seasons.

You can have food sensitivities and substitute those food items or brands with another highly nutritional equivalent.

Anti-inflammatory isn’t a diet, but it can be a lifelong food plan and THE DIET you stick to, to maintain a consistent healthy body.

…And It’s probably the only anti-anything I live for these days as I believe in peace when at all possible. 😊

In anti-inflammatory eating, there’s generally not a need for elimination diets when the body is running smoothly; and if it’s not, specific anti-inflammatory foods can help restore you back.

Meal planning with daily anti-inflammatory foods (as top of mind), you support your efforts to prevent preventable health issues down the road and chronic inflammations that can mysteriously show up one day.

When you’re younger you may not think about these maturing signs, but older and wiser, we feel our internal body changes by the quality of our daily life activities.

No matter what AGE you are, anti-aging and anti-inflammatory can be your healthy targets, as you look and feel your best today and in your bright, promising future.

We know it’s never too early to start naturally reversing any damage.

There is no downfall to anti-inflammatory eating…

I suppose you can eat too many carrots, but you’d probably grow bunny ears too. 🐰

…Anything is possible, but not likely.

And if you’re on the Vata body side of the spectrum, you appreciate all the variety 🌈, and not eating the same thing every day.

And if you’re on the Kapha end, your healthy, lighter food moves can usually get heavily rewarded, spilling over into other complex body systems winning you bonus points.

Below are the different body types according to Ayurveda in case you’re not sure what your type is.

You can see which one (and sometimes a cross between two) of the Ayurvedic body types you most resemble. By going through each of the 10 statements, you choose the one that most accurately describes you and your body.

Then total up the count for each column seeing which one you have the most check marks in. That’s your dominant body type.

It’s your natural way and the body you’ve gotten used to. Usually, one type is more dominant, but you can have a close second or a tie.

Plus, the types fit more like in a circular pie (or percentage pie if you like math descriptions), where the 3 fit as 3 slices.

Everyone has traces of all 3 types even if one type is just a small sliver or a few crumbs (…can you tell I like food descriptions?).

And this is good to know …especially if you don’t like your body type diagnosis here. I’m sure you also fall into some of the descriptions in the other types or in different times of your life 😉

These come from the learnings I had back in 2008.

No matter which BODY TYPE you have, each one of us can benefit from daily anti-inflammatory eating.

Eating anti-inflammatory is like cardio exercise. …in that, we reap healthy benefits as we have a heart that runs better with our healthy moves.

So, then armed with this information, you can better plan your daily anti-inflammatory “eat from the rainbow” meals that can become your established eating-being way.

Enter The Healthiest Combination: Ayurveda Habits and Anti-Inflammatory Eating

In my relationship with food, I choose anti-inflammatory foods when grocery shopping, and then make easy home meals based on what balances my dominant Vata sweet tooth-to-salty craving body.

And I use food as natural “medicine” to help restore my Ayurvedic imbalances—Kapha, Vata, Pitta, or a combination of them that get out of whack for any of us at any time.

Gradually getting off-balance is part of natural order in our organized, but seemingly chaotic world at times.

Think of the 3 body types in us like colliding earth, wind, and fire (…and like the timeless rock band who still plays in harmony… and just this past weekend).

…Do you remember (the 21st night of September)?… 🎸🎺🎤🎶

…So anyway, with all the chaos brought into our bodies, layering anti-inflammatory foods and balancing them with Ayurvedic food choices is a good way (and I think the best way!) to smooth out undesired moods like anxiety, depression, anger, and any shades in between.

These mood types that linger as undercurrents or that are obvious to us (and others), can cause chronic stress leading to inflammation and debilitating diseases already mentioned.

But the good news is… subtle food changes can change our subtle moods (…nice tongue twister there 😊).

This is true for all ages, types, and sizes as we all can carry off-balance moods seasonally or from time-to-time.

Even though my size is usually consistent year-round, I have a big Vata sweet tooth and too much sugar irritates my skin. That’s a sign of a Pitta body imbalance.

With The 2 A’s (Anti-Inflammatory and Ayurvedic) approach I know I’m doing everything I can to support my prized health and honor the body that was given to me… and that can be your intention too.

So, I put together a list of 200 anti-inflammatory foods so you know easily what to grocery shop for (and shortcut to the checkout line).

The healthy and anti-inflammatory shopping lists help you decide what to grocery buy and fill your kitchen with when you’re lazy or feeling a ‘lil Kapha… and you want to make easy choices… and not have to search high and low in your fridge and cabinets trying to figure out your next meal when it can be made deliciously in minutes or in one bowl with ideas on-hand.

Plus you can overlay the Ayurveda food lists provided, so you have all the researched nutritional food knowledge and references, food lists, and meal ideas all in one place and at your fingertips…. and have the food knowledge I acquired from my decade of event meal planning working with chefs. You can use the list of ingredients and take the flavor ideas to make similar simple, tasty meals that impress you and those you’re feeding.

Another benefit to anti-inflammatory eating that I’ve learned is that your at-home healthy practice can change your sugar.

What do I mean by this?…

At home, you can control the ingredients you eat.

Since 2020, I took up baking regularly. I built a deeper relationship with ingredients and food. I learned to modify bakes without refined sugar (or any white sugar-type substitute) that irritates the skin. And in other body types, sugar can add to insulin resistance and wreak other body havoc.

I do make a few exceptions, but pretty much I’ve learned to enjoyably swap what I once loved (sugar!) with sweet anti-inflammatory ingredients that I now prefer the taste of… because taste is super important to me, as it is to you! 😋

These days, I’m choosier with flavors and I think that makes for better-tasting and healthier bakes.

I’m sure if I got a taste of something super boozy sweet now like in a restaurant dessert with an oozing middle, I would probably only be able to take a small bite without thinking it was too sweet.

So, what you eat regularly changes your body desires and tastes to match your diet.

You are what you eat (and you can become what you eat).

…So that’s another benefit of making the healthy switch!

Your healthy desires catch up to your habits and routines.

That’s good hope for sugar cravings or any other unhealthy weak-in-the-knees food cravings (like the FF word 🍟).

…And if you were to offer a diabetic person, a sugar-free yummy cookie, they probably wouldn’t want it, but if they did, they wouldn’t enjoy it the same way they would if they had the taste of sugar regularly.

So, our tastes also change to help us out.

That’s some good inspo if you want to cook or bake more today or into this year.

And, I’d add... if you have pantry ingredients close on hand, you’re more likely to pick up this handy life skill sooner if you want. You can decide to keep a good shelf-life food pantry, in addition to shopping regularly for fresh ingredients or meals.

You could also keep a secondary “food as medicine” kitchen cabinet that includes spices like I do.

If that’s far from what you do today and you’re not there yet, but wanna be… be encouraged that your desires change. Like in my home cooking journey…

I rarely turned on the oven or stove at home when I planned menus all day at work as a catering sales manager. I came home tired and had a couple boxes of pasta and tomato sauce in my cupboard… nothing for me to get excited about even after I re-charged my energy.

Grocery store shopping was my personal foodie food event.

Cooking was the last thing I wanted to do being around food conversations all day.

And in your case, you may be dead dog tired by the end of the work week, overwhelmingly busy season, or just had a Pitta day, that all cause you to want to stay away from the stovetop oven… yes/right?

But you could change your mind and ways when you get used to sniffing and reading ingredients that you have on hand at home a few steps away from the couch that you can check out on your way back from the bathroom or reaching for a snack 😉… and that way you can see that you can actually make your own this-and-that just as easily as going out or to the store.

A factory doesn’t need to supply all the combined ingredients in a package for you to enjoy.

Food was available before we had modern machinery and even available sugar for baking.

So you can put ingredients together yourself in seconds or minutes (and without all kinds of convenient gadgets and kitchenware).

You can use what you have available.

And in those mindful minutes, you can tap into your creative and therapeutic part of your day.

That can lead you to want to learn more about the variety of interesting anti-inflammatory ingredients available out there as regular substitutions to sugar and high processed foods.

…And you can start with the most important meal of the day. 🎉 Visit low-sugar breakfast recipes for enjoyable, anti-inflammatory food inspiration.

Ayurveda to Unleash Creativity (Part 2)

Ayurveda is today’s topic. It’s part 2 of 2.

This week, I’m breaking down the secrets of Ayurveda and how it can free you from feeling stuck. And how it restores calm, improves mind-body health, and allows for daily creativity which leads to your best life new opportunities, and passions. That was my experience learning about mind-body types.

…Plus, I’ll clear up the common confusion about Ayurveda if you’re wanting to learn more… and how you can apply simple, but completely effective Ayurveda ways to your lifestyle where you’re at…

Last time, in Part 1 of Ayurveda, I talked about why you want to care about the mind-body connection. If you missed that blog post or aren’t sure, you can go back and read that one too as it could make a game-changing difference in getting your best life today…

I also shared how change and permanence are part of the natural order in this life. They keep us going and growing.

You get to choose whether you want to do this life holding onto anxiety, fears, or worry, or letting them go daily for your emotional freedom and better moods.

…You can restore daily calm even with life chaos happening around you. That’s a healthy choice.

You can change how anxiety, overwhelm, irritations, and triggered situations stick to you when they don’t have to …but, interruptedly rear their ugly head into your system and you just want them to go away!

As humans, we experience these negative emotions to varying degrees. And everyone grows weary and tired at some point.

And, that’s when we want to be vigilant to snap out of those emotions after we purge, process, and know what’s behind them so we can take necessary action, and so that we don’t stay stuck in those places any longer than necessary.

…How?

You step out and sidestep into your daily calm and productivity with the strategy of partnering with your mind-body to soothe and get the most out of the situation and your life… with small effort and adding healthy enhancements.

At some point, you probably figure(d) out that Life is about being in the process. And filled with trying lessons.

Sometimes it can take several similar, but different scenarios to play out to catch onto the lesson and make changes for a better today, tomorrow, and life.

But, when you see your part and role in what happens next, your eyes are open and you can apply wisdom. That takes awareness in the moment or in reflection.

And if you have knowledge or know what to do, you can save yourself from unnecessary pain… and sometimes your life. Like if caught in a rip current wave, you survive by not panicking, calling for help that’s nearby, and swimming parallel to the shore if you can.

You also can survive your daily life situations and undesired moods weighing you down if you know what to do.

Getting through your non-life threatening situations can be challenging for a day or two, as moods can stick like mud, but don’t have to play out and grow into a season!…

And you don’t want them to, because health and stress are on the line, and your moods can worsen and influence you to make poor decisions and miss out on great opportunities.

[In physical health terms, moods are like inflammations… you want them out or on the way out within a few days, or else it could spread like poison ivy inside and become a bigger problem.]

But the really good news here is… you can nip-in-the-bud those less-than moods weighing you down as easily as they entered.

How?…

Co-create the right and comfortable environment that your mind-body wants, and therefore is what you also want!

Remember, you are not your mind-body. Your mind-body runs 24×7 and never shuts off when you’re asleep. Keeping your mind-body in mind (no pun intended), for your optimal life you want to do what will turn things around fastest for you.

That doesn’t mean you need to move or uproot your lifestyle, that just means a few healthy tweaks that your daily mind-body wants.

Ayurveda (the science of life) helps to restore and bring natural balance and order back into our lives despite constantly changing situations… and naturally, the way it’s intended.

In our work-life balance modern world there seems to be a gadget for everything to solve our daily problems and make life easier and help us live longer. But we don’t always use (and sometimes ignore) the most effective tool that’s already built inside us!

In Western world, our health is often seen through the lens of food, fitness, wellness, and self-care. In our healthy efforts, we don’t always get to the root cause and directly restore or heal what our mind-body needs. And that can lead to a long (sometimes painful) season.

…BUT be encouraged, it’s restorable and not your fault!

As you have free will to choose. You do what you feel like doing or think will help based on the (limited) knowledge you have at the time.

And also because…

Our Western Society… The Good and Bad

Conditioning that you and I have received since we were children, that goes like this… Oh, the doctor will fix that…

And as an adult, if you were sent home with a prescription for resting or exercising more, you’d be dissatisfied as most of us know that’s helpful but not what we want from our doctor. We expect a procedure, prescription, or two.

The problem is your body doesn’t want medicines if it can handle the foreign body disruptor on its own. But we don’t know what exactly our body needs because we can’t talk to our body or get inside for those knowing answers.

So, our common Western way is curing with medicines, “just in case,” and because we’re conditioned to expect those protocols.

But, too many antibiotics in the system damage gut health, and surrounding systems that alter your body. Good probiotics can only help so much to reverse effects.

So that’s the bad, but there’s a lot of good in medicine…

Like when used for a disease outbreak where massive chaos in the body has already erupted and medical intervention is needed. Your body needs help.

We can learn from Steve Jobs’ story in more than his genius Apple tech abilities. He passed away too young from cancer. Wisdom leaves clues.

Western medicine doesn’t usually prescribe natural herbs to cure cancer or other diseases.

Anything supernatural can happen in our favor at any time, but that’s not the common or wise protocol. God created doctors and gave us our brains to make good decisions to see doctors when needed.

…So then where does Ayurveda (science of life) fit in?

Ayurveda’s sweet spot is in health prevention, and helping change unwanted common everyday moods and annoying flare-ups.

It’s risky for most conditions that require medical attention. …and I wanted to clear up in case that wasn’t clear and obvious. So good, now you know what Ayurveda is good for…

Ayurveda works for what it’s meant for. But as a practice, not mentioned much in our society partly because prevention can’t be measured. And that’s not where medicine focuses attention.

So, it can get brushed aside or seen as a health fad.

…Even though Ayurveda has been around working as an Ancient healing system for thousands of years.

People smartly use it as part of their daily healthy lifestyle.

They can be part of the routines and habits we stack and track in our day.

When you have a healthy lifestyle and know how to use Ayurveda in your daily life, then you’re better off leaning into your balanced natural essence. There are no downsides to report.

And a decade later… in my opinion, it’s still the “best-kept secret.” And why I’m unpacking it here.

Your mind-body is a direct source that knows what it needs… and Ayurveda cracks that code.

Enter Eastern-Western Ayurveda Awareness

American society tends to lump natural, holistic, alternative medicines, and Ayurveda as mystical and woo-woo, when really what Ayurveda needs is rebranding.

Ayurveda is not just what you see as available products on the market.

Two things that could make people iffy in the beginning about Ayurveda (I know I was!) are:

1.. Messy oils, strange elixirs, and take-time-out routines. They don’t always mesh well in a Western modern society that’s go-go-go where schedules are filled to the brim and even fitting in eating can be trying.

2. Silent practices when you don’t have a door that stays closed or that can shut out the world around you. And without a list of to-do’s or worries for the day running in your head.

Those daily practices are more Eastern (slower-pace life) than Western techniques.

And what works in Ayurveda for Western-style living and restoring mind-body techniques, can be woven into your busy day with very little effort or inconvenience.

You can skip the Eastern-style practices and you won’t be missing a mood-improvement beat… I promise!

And some universal practices you may already be doing sometimes or regularly… like, yoga is a today-popular Western Ayurvedic general practice. Sometimes you have time to fit in, and sometimes you don’t, but it’s not the end-all-be-all to making moment-to-moment restoring changes because yoga reset to feel-good feelings lasts for a 90-minute class, a cup of tea, and maybe a relaxing spa visit, but then you’re back to your life, triggers and interruptions in your mind, and your work.

Even though I love yoga!… maybe you too?

In 2008, there were few studios when I had to search around so I’m glad it has taken root.

Another popular example is eating plant-based anti-inflammatory foods. Yup, that’s part of a healthy Ayurvedic lifestyle. Wherever you are, you have access to markets, online stores, farms, and gardens (…or you can start your own).

…So you may already have a ‘lil Ayurveda in you! 😉

…So, is an Ayurveda lifestyle right for you?

These are questions you can ask yourself and things to think about:

Are you interested in preventative health?

Are you interested in unleashing more daily creativity?

Are you a lifelong learner who is open to the deeper self?

And do you want to live sustainably healthier and longer?

…Like Blue Zone Centenarians who live healthy lifestyles that are part of their culture. They don’t live like most Americans (and not even the Adventist Health Blue Zone community in California).

Some live more simply, slower lives, eating from the land, and need less mood restoring without all the complicated high tech. 😉

And so many countries rank higher in longevity than the States, that’s ranked closer to the bottom. That’s a hard pill to swallow considering all the conveniences we have.

…Even though I can’t imagine my identity with any other culture.

So I added Ayurveda into my lifestyle to make up for the deficit.

And you can too. The thing is… you’re probably already habitually doing Ayurveda to some degree in your healthy every day routine. You’ve been using all your senses since you were born.

…But probably not for balancing moods consistently as you didn’t know what really works with your specific mind-body, type, and imbalance combinations you’re experiencing. That’s really what it boils down to.

And when you do change your moods and imbalances, then you can get to your inner creative self more easily and consistently.

Creativity Inside Us

Sometimes there’s a creative block. And we don’t know what we don’t know could be, or are missing out on our greatest passions that give us joy.

I was creatively mind-blocked in my corporate management work life.

I couldn’t be fully creative beyond short spurts of free time where I delved into hobbies for creative outlets.

In those few moments, I experienced calm, joy, and felt weight off my shoulders. I could get into a creative flow where I lost track of time and those were usually well into the weekend or on a Sunday.

…Have you been there or can relate?

Unleashing the creativity inside feels free-ing. And when I got longer stretches of time away from work, I realized I had creative hidden talents I didn’t even know I had, that were waiting inside me for the right-ready time.

…And you do too. Plus, ones that you haven’t uncovered because you have gotten there yet to take action.

After you remove the anxious, stressful, and overwhelming layers and feelings, you can get a direct path to your creative juices and energy.

That’s your ticket to your happiest and best life. When you feel lighter and good, you feel on top of the world.

You feel empowered at the very least, and maybe even superpowers to take on activities you didn’t know you could perform (like sing or dance… you get the point).

And that’s a time when you get the most out of your life and push the pedal forward and make breakthroughs.

It’s the opposite of these types of common feelings (that keep you uninspired and stagnant):

–Tired: where you don’t want to do much let alone work on a creative pursuit. You lack energy but with a good night’s rest you can be renewed and passion-filled again if you’re re-energized, aren’t triggered, feeling burnout, or are depressed.

–Anxious: where you’re trying to manage your anxiety symptoms to stay afloat… trying to stay relaxed while your body-mind takes over. That’s a bad time to make good decisions, let alone try and be creative.

–Irritated: where you’re trying to get over negative feelings and a critical-judgmental mind that permeate your system when energizing the wrong thoughts. Good creativity doesn’t emerge in non-loving attitudes.

But, you can change the channel or get your relaxed self back as quickly as you got in your tense state. Like in the shower, the ideas can come. Or in a joyful activity where you lose track of time.

And, if you’re feeling balanced and calm throughout the day as the normal way, that changes everything. You can switch to your creative self when you want without losing valuable time.

And those steps take you to your next move in life, passions, and pursuits.

And if that’s where you are ready to go and be your very best today, but maybe feeling off or not quite there yet, start with the body balance quiz that shows symptoms on the body as part of the mind-body connection.

Using Ayurvedic Ways For Calm and Balance (Part 1)

living an Ayurveda calm and balanced lifestyle — …I was told 🙂 I should show my face more, so here I am checking in on my avocado plants They look good 🥑

…Ok, today I’m sharing about Ayurvedic ways and living, my favorite topic.

This is a longer blog post than I usually write, so grab a beverage and get comfy because today is about getting calm and balanced.

Because getting consistent daily calm and balance is achievable with Ayurveda… and I believe has never been more needed in our world.

And yet in America, calm and balance are seen as nice-to-have intentions that aren’t built into our busy lives.

We’re used to running into stress, and at times have grown numb to our underlying stressful ways of living… despite short-lived self-care practices, unwinding on weekends, and happy hour-type fun that aren’t enough for our health and wellness.

Finding daily balance is dismissed in priorities and daily noise. It’s often seen as unobtainable or overmentioned. Plus living sustainably whole and healthy is not excitingly trendy …But when you’re 100, it will be!

And getting mind-body balance is part of the Ayurvedic ways, and what most people need to be the best version of themselves that would transform the daily stress and busy overwhelm into healthy and happy lives. That’s a mouthful that says it all.

…And with the right insight, a whole and healthy lifestyle is attainable by this or next season. And even better yet, using consistent balance as a predictable strategy springboard for better things ahead in life! (More on this point below.)

…You know you can’t always trust the external world to come through for you, but you can count on your intuitive and intelligent mind-body that has better answers and insight to your health.

Your mind-body follows you along the ride of your life’s journey and its good health is the difference maker to your getting the life you want, that can free you from what’s holding you back.

Like, living with accumulated stress (linked to inflammations and aging) is not doing you and your mind-body any favors… even though that’s baked into the Western world culture, lifestyle, and the air we breathe.

And a common reason why two people at age 45 look like they’re decades apart in age.

In a 2018 study, an international group of researchers led by scientists at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that adopting 5 healthy habits could extend life expectancy by 14 years for women and 12 years for men:

eating a diet high in plants and low in fats
exercising at a moderate to vigorous level for several hours a week
maintaining a healthy body weight
not smoking
consuming no more than one alcoholic drink a day for women and two for men

Ayurvedic Ways For a Heatlhy Lifestyle

We know a healthy lifestyle that takes care of the body is necessary for longevity and to prevent debilitating diseases.

And having or starting a stress-free, calm, and happy life optimizes your health in the mind-body connection.

It’s never too late to prioritize your physical and mental health.

One way to improve your life is to pay attention to your daily moods and symptomatic flare-ups. And not just brush them aside. When you’re 20 that’s fine, but as you get closer to mid-life, the accumulated wear and tear shows up.

And moods are subtle beginning signs of your balanced mind-body drifting, and what’s impacting your health inside you.

The Mind-Body Connection and The Past

Ayurvedic ways is all about the mind-body remedies for balanced living. Your mind-body is a part of you, but you are not the mind-body. You aren’t your thoughts, your gut, or arm.

Then there’s the mind-body connection based on the concept that your thoughts can be connected to body symptoms and your physical health. Like acne sprouts due to stress.

But not so quickly obvious are your past thoughts or traumas that show up in signs of aging (wrinkles and aging maladies), and your inflammations. The dots are not so easily connected. But they play havoc on your calm and balance, and mind-body.

…All unbeknownst to you.

And when you carry baggage such as buried childhood wounds (thoughts), they overflow into and affect your daily current health and life, through the mind-body connection. They still show up in the workplace, in your current reactions and attitudes.

It’s invisible trauma you may not know you’re carrying, but your mind recorded and has not forgotten.

And if triggered, can show up when you least expect, and where you don’t recognize the link to past trauma.

And, then there are some past traumas that you are fully aware of, and you may have never felt comfortable sharing with anyone. Or you haven’t purged the feelings enough to get all the wound hurt out of your system yet, so you can scar heal.

TED Talk presenters who share a trauma story rehearse over and over, and in the process, they get the poison out even if their wound was decades ago!

While Shark Tank presenters are asked on the fly about their personal tragedies related to their business, where tears are shed on the spot and healing begins or continues.

And that can be part of what frees them when they’re present, let go, and let their guard down. When trauma is acknowledged, a person can heal back to their natural essence.

Your Natural Mind-Body Now

Now is the present. And the present is a gift. It’s where you can be most aware and find your calm and joy.

And if you add being balanced, then you’re unstoppable!

Being balanced in Ayurvedic ways means leaning into your natural and primary mind-body dosha. That’s the way you’re wired.

“Natural” here also means favorable to the mind-body.

Like your favorite foods that you naturally like. Or your desire to do a certain exercise. Those are natural to you, but not to everyone else.

…And here earlier I was leaning into my Vata for a late afternoon sweet snack (…you know it’s healthy! 😉).

A healthy snack like these Samoa Bars is an example of Ayurvedic ways. — I shared the recipe last week for my healthy, no-bake Samoa bars… and I made a new batch that I’m enjoying for longer than the 5-minute break it took to make 😊

And Vata could be your natural way too, but we all have Vata in us that can throw us off balance.

And same goes for the mind. One way to get off balance can be from what we think of as our natural thoughts. The negative ones are not helpful if you put energy behind them that impact your mind-body. You’re best to ignore or replace those ASAP if they’re not helping you noodle out a productive solution.

Like… a negative thought pops up in your head and you want to blurt out what you’re thinking, but in a professional environment or amongst strangers, you don’t do it when you’re unsure as you don’t know how it will be perceived.

And later on in reflection, you’re glad you didn’t say anything. Or else you wish you had said something and now have slight regret that you missed the moment.

…Which can then turn into a negative thought that turns into negative energy.

Holding onto negative energy no matter how it sticks, spills into the mind-body and can cost you time and energy. That can turn into an attitude, mood, and imbalances that show up in the mind-body.

So it’s best to just nip it in the bud.🌹

Restoring Our Mind-Body Imbalances, Moods, and Ayurvedic Ways

If we’re lifelong learners, we’re constantly wanting to grow and improve, and recalibrating our balance makes good sense.

With those intentions, you can ask yourself:

Do I have… repeated anxiety, anger, burnout, tiredness, lazy mind or body tendencies, irritation, or excessive worry? …holding onto these types of moods and feelings can cause stress.

As a habit, we can check in with ourselves often and daily to see what’s off, just like checking the daily weather in our own part of the world keeps us on our toes …it was actually hailing small ice chunks in my neck of the woods over the weekend (in May!). 🌨

…And if we zoom out of our world, we see a bigger global world in organized chaos and crisis that affects us.

Gradual shift is omni-present happening everywhere and all the time, even when we can’t see. And that grows into stressors on earth, and to us and our mind-body.

For example, take a framed wall photo that you’re constantly straightening. Over time, it naturally shifts and becomes crooked. And in a new house especially, when the living earth below is still shifting.

But you know how to easily straighten the photo frame with a light touch tilt to bring it back to alignment the way it should be.

Or, you could “permanently” iron-clad anchor the photo to the wall, so the framed photo doesn’t shift again. But then one day, you decide to take down the photo to paint the wall behind it or to change the picture… or you completely move to a new house.

The framed wall picture is just one change away from its original “permanent” state. And like life, we don’t know what will happen next that can be stress-causing, or when our life could use some healthy adjustments even when we don’t have awareness.

Stress comes in all shapes and sizes, from earth-shattering situations to slight tilts, like slowly growing bored.

And change can help spice it up. But we also need some permanence for balance and alignment. Even if it’s temporary.

Balance is the natural desired order of this world and of your body, and mind-body.

And adopting Ayurvedic ways (the science of life) as a healthy way back works to bring back the order in us.

It works in the modern Western world to restore, prevent, and bring back natural balance. And it works for those who live in noisy cities as well as slower-paced towns, as all roads can lead to a desired healthy life taking different paths.

And that’s what I did and do. And you can too!

It doesn’t have to be just yoga or meditation… those are just a couple daily common practical household practices. 🧘🏻‍♀️…and maybe you didn’t know those were Ayurvedic ways 😉

Ayurvedic ways could be new or foreign to you, as it may sound like an ancient mystical or woo-woo set of Eastern healing practices. And it was to me too in the beginning.

But how I powerfully use it today, is as a West meets East approach to healthy living, with the West running the show in our busy American lives.

And that’s just scratching the surface on the description for all the benefits it adds.

One simple health benefit that’s achievable, is to change the course of our annoying mind-body symptoms daily through our lifestyle choices. That could be our higher standard goal and preventative norm so long-term stressors and symptoms don’t settle in.

And doing so helps your health and teaches your mind-body you’re on the same team 😊. That’s integrating Ayurvedic ways into daily balance.

Always Invest In Yourself (You and Your Mind-Body)

Another way you can help yourself is not accepting “just getting through the season.” That’s not effective ayurvedic ways in practice. You can do something today to start restoring or help along your natural healthy self as best as it can shine.

Only when we’re not conscious, do we not have a say in our lives.

Instead, adopt the norm of living each season blissfully, and enjoy daily!

Remember the old saying about your life isn’t a dress rehearsal. 🎬

You can be joyful and find joy every day (and not just some days!) even amongst the chaos. And while you’re going through difficult times.

Each year can have its challenges, but that’s part of growth and change. As you become more resilient (feeling less stressed about situations) that will help your health, balance, and calm.

When you get daily balanced health, you get the opportunity to show up as your best self, and unleash creativity every day that you may not even know you have today.

…And, find your purpose and true calling, that will give you your greatest life satisfaction and lead to your best foot-forward life.

And that can also lead to your leaving a miserable day job for a better-chosen life that fits you uniquely where work doesn’t feel like work, if that’s what your heart desires. You don’t end up where you started or in an unhappy middle.

…So, that’s what I have for you today to hopefully inspire and encourage you this season and the upcoming ones that will be your best ones yet (in your belief).

Next week I will share part 2 about how you can learn more about Ayurvedic ways (and even if you’re not sure exactly what it is today), and how you can start uniquely implementing mind-body restoring techniques into practice if it suits you. Talk then! 🧡