Balancing Vata in Autumn

-->

Dry Skin and Absent Mindedness are part of middle age because they both are the result of the same energy.

The days are getting shorter. The weather is telling us to sleep longer. While you are beginning to become more absentminded or feeling spacey your Vata is becoming unbalanced and sleep is an excellent way to regain groundedness.

It is harvest time for hearty ground vegetables like potatoes, carrots yams and for nourishing gourds like squash and pumpkin. These are excellent food to nourish and moisten our insides.

While you may be oblivious to your internal dehydration and the lapses of mental acuity may be overlooked or forgotten, excess Vata in the windy turbulent autumn environment gets you right in your face. There in your mirror is dry dull skin that looks years older than just a week ago.

My secret to the fountain of youth is to wear a hydrating gel mask to sleep. Night time is rejuvenation and repair time. While skin is in protection mode in the day time it is hard at work repairing damaged skin cells and producing new ones through the night.

Make sure you wash your skin of pollutants and dirt first. A real convenience is Pure + simple Skin Smoothing Collagen Mask. No need to fuss with toners and serums before apply it. Just apply it straight after you cleanse and you wake up looking fresh and your skin looks plump.

During the day, apply a high quality serum like Collagen Elastin Plus before a richer moisturizer like Martina Gebhardt’s Evening Primrose Face Cream. This cream is natural, rich and great for those of us loosing our Estrogen,

For a skincare routine that is customized to your skin’s needs and to your personal preferences, visit one of Pure + simple’s 4 locations and enlist the help of a natural skincare specialist to create your own special routine to beautiful skin even in fall and winter.

Whether you follow my routine or develop one more suitable to you, commit to keeping it until next March. If you don’t waste energy second guessing your decision you will have one less thing cluttering up your active mind.

Now that you feel better about yourself, you can look at ways to balance the excess Vata in the environment and in you. No matter what Dosha is your main Dosha, you are in the Vata stage of your life (forty plus years old). This strong creative energy can lead you to increased spiritualism but also contributes to your forgetfulness, indecisiveness and dryness.

Increase your time for healing metabolism and energizing with more sleep as days grow shorter. After September 21 days are proportionally shorter with intensity of sunlight

Create more routine in your life. Vatas need to discipline themselves in conserving energy with less change and impulse with regular routines.

I have taken more time away from work. I found that somehow there is no great urgency over this. Hmmm, so I am not so indispensable.

You will find that planning is easier once you edit the list of activities on your to do list. Trying to plan them all in is so Vata.

Rest and eat a hearty meal before you make your choices as excess Vata will increase your indecisiveness.

Then after you have completed your plan, warm and hydrate yourself by treating yourself to a steamy hot sauna.

The Autumns of Our Lives

It is still August but the weather has turned cool and dry. This Vata energy affects how we feel and look. Vata time is about change and transformation.

Those of us who are naturally dehydrated know how to cope with the dry skin. But those of us entering this time of our life may resist the change from youthful adulthood to midlife maturity can learn from Plato who advises, “He who is of calm and happy nature will hardly feel the pressure of age, but to him who is of an opposite disposition youth and age are equally a burden.”

While those of us, who are naturally more Vata, welcome change, the cooler, lighter fall energy can create unbalancing affects our physical body, our thinking and feelings. Fall can cause Vata skin to look more dehydrated, thin and dull.

For the younger oilier Kapha skin types, this cooler weather can cause more congested and blemished skin.

And for the sensitive Pitta skin types the internal dehydration can trigger outbreaks of Rosacea and eczema.

Get immediate relief with a change in your skin care. Increase skin cell hydration with the regular use of serums and slow down the moisture loss by increasing the richness of your moisturizer
Then change your diet. The physical nourishment of richer foods and skincare can help balance that spacey feeling and hydrate our bodies. Eat warm moist foods to lubricate from inside out. In this transitional time eat warm salads and grains. Choose nourishing stews with root vegetables.
To further rejuvenate take strengthening herbs like Ashwaganda and Ginseng. You can get individualized formulas from your Ayurvedic or Traditional Chinese Doctor. You can take Ashwaganda in tablets alone or in formulas like Healthy Vata

If you prefer Ginseng, you need to both understand your own body constitution and the different types of ginseng. The safest one to take without advice is Canadian Ginseng. The smaller sweeter roots are best for Pitta types. The larger, older roots are best for Vatas types. The best way to get them is to go to a Chinese herbal store and select your roots and have them cut into slices. Then you can make tea by dropping 4-6 slices into a cup of boiling water and let it steep for 20 minutes.

If aging or Vata imbalance is a concern then Autumn is also a good time to detox your kidneys. In Ayurveda kidneys are considered a Vata organ and can influence our emotions negatively with worry and fear. According to Caroline Marie Dupont in her book, Enlightened Eating, we can support our kidney function by developing our ability to process fear, letting it flow through us while retaining the lessons.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine the kidneys determine how well you age. My Traditional Chinese Doctor recommends caring for the Kidneys start in your Thirties to ensure healthy aging.

Kidney detoxifiers are available at most health food stores. My favourite is Kidney Support from Alpha Science Laboratories . It is very effective and easy to do. Just take 2 tablespoons until the bottle is done.

Caroline Marie Dupont advises on maintaining kidney health with a diet high in vegetables and low in fat, salt and animal protein. Drink an average of 8 glasses of water - pure spring water, or purified water from distillation or reverse osmosis.

Time for Self Transformation

-->

September is approaching. While it is not the beginning of the New Year, it is a popular time for self transformation.

After a couple of months of detoxification, I have experienced emotional transformation. Along with the surfacing of repressed emotions, I have been also wizened up to new habits and behaviors that are more suitable to my new awareness.

My annual visit to Steven Dao has confirmed that becoming more succinct in my communications is my home work for the next year. I go to Steven not so much for future predictions but his uncanny ability to tell me what I am ready to hear.

Steven foretells of increase of negations and warns against my regular verbosity. (This is the only time I am quiet so how did he know! ;) My “long form” of communicating has endured through a cousin in law telling me that “while I don’t consider you a big mouth, you sure talk a lot” and to the constant dismay of my more reserved daughter.

So I preparing for September with a new look to solidify the revamped internal me. I will cover my grey hairs with a natural but convenient hair colour, a more conservative -- so longer hairdo from Sharon at John Steinberg (because she can give me a hairdo that is pretty but not boring) and I will save my usual yoga chic dressing for the weekend. ( a lovely site with menopausal tummy)

I have committed to a look that takes more maintenance and is more appropriate to my half century age. I still wanted natural and easy to care for but now it will take more time and money.

While I believe that many of my habits, like over activity, lack of routine and lack of sleep, have sped up my aging , my ability to reflect on my past behaviors and to embarking on new ones have rejuvenated me.

So what are you plans for yourself the next year?

If you are looking to do some self renovation here are some great ideas.

Rejuvenate your appearance with better care for your skin. Fall is a great time for sun sensitizing treatments like Microdermabrasion and Intense Pulse Light. Intense Pulse Light is an excellent way to erase lines and plump up your skin tone. But don’t neglect your daily care routine to help you maintain your youthful appearance. See a video of our Microdermabrasion Treatment. While you are there look over at the sidebar for our other facial treatment on video.

If you are over 35 years old – invest in a good serum. I may be bias but I totally recommend our most popular product, Collagen Elastin Plus for the job. It's like my child as I dictated the ingredients in this seaweed based serum. It will give your face an improved day to day appearance while helping you lessen long term expenditures on skin rejuvenation.

To help you update your fashion statement with accessories consider the advice of Jezebel.com. an e-news for alternative minded women’s http://jezebel.com/5616391/dress-code-accessories-101?skyline=true&s=i.

If your health seems sluggish, you may need to detox. After reading Gilles Marin’s book Healing from Within with Chi Nei Tsang, I would advise against any detox products that contain alcohol. Alcohol, according to Gilles, intoxicates our organs thereby needing to be detoxed. You can visit my past blogs for some ideas. Just avoid the liver detox if you want to avoid alcohol.

If you need some help in deciding your future, you can call Steven Dao at 416-846-0588 and get a objective reading. See my past blog for more on Steven.

An now for a deserved feel good break -- go to Jezebel.com to see the controversy over untouched photos of Jennifer Aniston. While she looks older I believe she looks more beautiful without the touch ups.

Skin -- More than a Thing of Beauty

Taking care of your skin may first be a thing of beauty. But you intuitively understand your skin is connected to the rest of you from the flash of red in your cheeks from feeling embarrassed or eating spicy food.

Your skin encases and protects the body physically. When you sweat it is maintaining your internal temperature.

It holds and influences efficiency of your blood and lymph systems by distributing moisture and nutrient to the rest of your body.

It comes to the rescue of overworked lungs and kidneys in eliminating excess waste and toxins.

According to Gilles Marin Healing From Within with Chi Nei Tsang “Skin is the main storage space of the body, not only of storing excess and waste but also nutrients, vitamins, minerals and chemicals needed to restore metabolic balance.“

Listening to our skin can guide us get more beautiful and healthier skin but it can also help us know our selves better.

An example is a case of Acne, (you can substitute rosacea and aged-looking skin)

You can merely try to erase the acne with harsh ingredients like retinol cream, harsh cleansers and high tech treatments like Microdermabrasion and Intense Pulse Light.

I am not against ridding the skin of acne quickly but I strongly advise that you deal with the underlying causes of problem skin. It can take courage as it leads to increased awareness of who you are physically, emotionally and mentally. Then and only then can you benefit for the long term from the quick results.

We always start at the physical level by determining what the base skin type is. This information is nonnegotiable. Successful long term results can only be achieved if the solution is individualized to your true physical nature.

Then it is the determination of the external physical cause that has unbalanced the skin. Finding the solution of how to help the skin live harmoniously with climatic conditions is easy but not always successful.

For a person suffering from acne due to oil production stimulated by a lack of skin hydration can be as simple as a few treatments of Sea Salt Microdermabrasion and a regular home routine of hydrating serum and protective moisturizer.

But lets say the problem has improved but not to your expectation, i.e. flawless skin —then we need to look at some internal causes like the digestive system.

If the blemishes are accompanied with dehydration and redness in the cheeks – the problem can be poor digestion or an over acidic stomach – so adding a digestive aid like Pitta Digest could help with digestion and acidic stomach. Or you can visit an alternative healer for solutions to boost digestion.

If acne is mainly along the jaw line – your real problem could be constipation or a toxic colon. You can try a gentle detox program as mentioned in Getting Ready for Detox or get the guidance of an alternative healer . Go to alternative healer to see who we have found to be successful in helping us, the staff at Pure + simple get healthier.

Long term health and healthy beautiful skin reflects a good digestive system. Good digestion relies on healthy clear organs. And healthy clear organs need regular internal cleansing.

So if you are feeling that you need more than digestive enzymes, you are now ready to go deeper.

What is preventing you from attaining good digestion regularly?

Now what was mere acne has started to open doors to self understanding. This non-threatening but annoying physical problem has become your “gateway to your feeling”. (paraphrased Gilles Marin Healing From Within with Chi Nei Tsang)

More information on how emotions can affect your organs go to Detoxing Your Way to Sanity

Detoxing Your Way to Sanity

-->

Why refrain from eating your favourite foods or forgoing any food for any frame of time?

Or, why have reflexology and shiatsu massage to improve organ function?

Annual and semi-annual bowel, liver and other internal organ house cleaning is widely accepted as beneficial for physical health. But according to Asian health followers it is also good for our psychological and emotional health.

Mantak Chi (it’s hard to define him so follow the link) advocates that psychological treatment with Chi Nei Tsang (Chi Internal Organ Massage) will give clients better results

-->described in his book and that of his disciple, Gilles Marin .

Conventional medicine supports this theory in the New York Times best seller, The Second Brain by Neurobiologist, Michael Gershon

I have personally experienced this while doing Julia Chang’s Liver Gallbladder Cleanse. Even though I have been doing internal cleansing since I was in my twenties, I still experienced facial breakouts and increased anger and irritability in my day to day encounters as my repressed anger is being cleared as well. It is common knowledge in Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine that the condition of the liver and gallbladder can affect the emotions with increased anger, bitterness, irritability and frustration. And excess anger and bitterness can affect the functions of the liver.

“"Sickness of the liver," the Nei Jing tells us, "causes...people... to have fits of anger." Anger causes Qi-and tempers-to rise. Maciocia reminds us that anger can be considered to include irritability, frustration, rage, indignation, animosity or bitterness. Anger, when expressed appropriately, may not cause harm; when chronic or suppressed, it may become pathogenic. (quote from Qi: Journal of Traditional Eastern Health and Fitness”

Other emotional / organ partners are fear / kidneys, grief and sorrow / lungs; worry / stomach; joy / heart. (for more information see the Qi: Journal of Traditional Eastern Health and Fitness)

If you do not like to do internal cleansing with diet, you can do it with massage and exercise. Yoga postures are an excellent way to stimulate and detox the organs. While all Yoga exercise stimulate your organs to detox, I find the meditative, restorative yoga of Iyengar as taught at the Yoga Centre of Toronto may be more fitting for this purpose than the more aerobic or energetic schools..

While Yoga postures can be customized to your body and flexibility, some people who are not very flexible (many males), who are elderly may prefer to practice Tai chi at the Taoist Centres in Toronto. http://toronto.taoist-tai-chi.org/content/standard_ca_to.asp . Here you will be encouraged and guided patiently through the Tai Chi sequence of over 100 movements. If done correctly these movements are designed to strengthen your core as well as detox the organs. This may explain the popularity of this organization with those who are elderly or recuperating from major diseases.

Those who want to combine organ health with martial arts can learn the original Tai Chi practiced by the Shao Lin warriors. This is being taught worldwide by Master Wong Kiew Kit. He travels over the world and come to Toronto regularly but you can learn from his Canadian group of teachers by going to his site.

If you prefer to detox when completely relaxed then order a Lymphomaniac Facial at any Pure and simple and receive a stomach reflexology massage with your facial treatment. If you ask (nicely ;) the esthetician will help you design a stomach massage routine you can do daily each morning to give yourself a great start daily.

If you are too sensitive for direct stomach massage or would like the added benefit of better foot and leg health, get foot reflexology massage. You can even receive this treatment in the comfort of your home or office with Jean Louie (http://jeanlouiereflexology.com/ . Her rates are competitive with in clinics treatments.

Foot reflexology is an excellent ‘ two for one ‘, for seniors and those suffering from foot problems. I highly recommend foot reflexology for people with high blood sugar and diabetes. It will help to alleviate symptoms and problems from poor circulation like edema, numbness while stimulating the chi to your internal organs.

Getting ready for Detox

August is here and I am preparing for my fall detox.

For the novice a great way to start is to get professional assistance from a Naturopath, an Ayurveda doctor or a Traditional Chinese Doctor. Click here for a listing of health professionals my staff and I have found to be helpful.

If you are planning to start your own detox, you will find the following pointers helpful.
1. Eat only vegetable for a period of time from 1 day to a week is a gentle way to start. Strict fasting (liquids only) is not recommended for Vatas
2. Clean your bowels and kidneys first
3. Then your liver

Some people who cleanse regularly advise having a colonic at the beginning to clear the large intestine so that toxins from the small intestine and other organs can be released.

I find the people at Supplements plus a great help in recommending a great colon cleanser program.

Renew Life has two good colon cleanse programs. One regular colon cleanse and one for those with Candida

My personal favourite, for those of us who are not fibre friendly, is Alpha Science Laboratories “Ultimate Fibre Plus”. It supports psyllium with slippery elm, apple pectin and a good combination of acidophilus to give a gentle and balanced colon cleanse. Click here for more info.

Due to my satisfaction with “Ultimate Fibre Plus”, I am planning to use Alpha Science Laboratories “Kidney Cleanse”. I like the ingredients list and that no sugar has been added. I have high blood sugar.

I have been cleansing my liver every long weekend for a couple of years. Yes, when you have had 55 years to pollute your internal organs with city air and some very indulgent food choices, don’t expect to clear all toxins out in one shot.

My favourite is the Liver/Gallbladder Flush from Prime Health Products. You need to prepare 6 weeks in advance before you actually do the flush. It is gentle and not disruptive to your daily life. There are no diet restrictions except for the 2 days before the flush when you consume only apple cider and water. Click here for the link.

An excellent support to an internal detox program is body work like massage and body scrubs. Pick up a bath mitt like the ones the Korean Body Scrubbers use (soon you can get it at www.pureandsimple.ca) and use it in your daily shower.

Pure + simple has put the Lymphomaniac Facial on sale for $85.00, so you can get a great facial and have your stomach massaged like never before. This massage, if you allow us, will give your internal organs a direct rub down that will make Reflexology will seem so remote. We are happy to show you how to do for your self daily. This is an excellent daily routine for those of us who suffer less than optimum digestion or elimination.

The Lymphomaniac Facial targets your major lymph nodes so those tender areas surrounding your breasts will also get a boost to increase circulation and cleansing.

Here’s to that wonderful feeling that we get with Beauty through Health!

Get Happy Feet

It is almost August and you have been exposing your feet in strappy sandals for over a month. The pedicures are not lasting as long. The polish is okay but your feet and especially your heels are dry.

Exposing feet tends to allow the skin to dry.

Dry skin gets callused easily.

Dry skin also slows down circulation which results in drier skin still.

Dry skin also lets in bacteria and fungus to possibly cause future problems of athlete’s foot, foot fungus, and nail fungus.

Many people use nail polish to hide nail problems but the chemicals in the polish just increase your problems especially with yellow nails and nail fungus.

Diabetics are more prone to suffer from foot infections, ulcers and fungus even athlete’s foot. And we all are more prone to these foot diseases as we age.

What do these too groups have in common? – Poor circulation. Blood that is not re-circulated often enough can be toxic. The lack of circulation is also the cause of dry skin, edema and cold feet.

To help increase circulation if you are diabetic or a Kapha you can do aerobic exercise, follow a Kapha diet and keep skin on the feet moist with a body lotion.

For conventional medical advice similar to the Kapha diet to prevent the above diseases go to http://www.reversegangrene.com/foot_gangrene_diet.htm

For Vatas-- keep feet warm and moist to maintain good circulation and prevent future problems.

For more information on foot and nail fungus go to http://seniorhealth.about.com/cs/footconditions/a/toenail_fungus.htm

When we are not afflicted with defined diseases, we can be neglectful of our feet.

But prevention is the best way to avoid foot problems and to maintain beautiful legs and feet.

Some easy rules are;

1. Keep skin on feet moist. Vatas can use a rich cream like Martina Gebhardt Chamomile Cream.

Pittas are recommended to use a medium rich body lotion in the summer like Pure + simple’s Intensive Body Lotion

While Kaphas can use a light hydrating lotion like Jurlique Citrus Hand + Body Lotion

2. Use a nail brush and a gentle cleanser like Pure + simple Shower Gel to clean feet and toe nails daily.

3. Maintain the circulation with exercise and reflexology massage. Jean Louie will bring her healing hands to you. Learn more about jean at http://jeanlouiereflexology.com/

4. In the winter protect circulation of the feet and legs by keeping feet warm.

Digestion: Your Path to Beauty

-->

Beauty can be your path to good digestion too

Everyone one of us is beautiful and our beauty is most evident in the glow of our healthy minds and bodies. The foundation of this health is our digestive system.

Negative changes in our skin and our eyes are indications of the first signs of trouble in our circulatory system which is caused by trouble in our digestive system.

I have been trying to remedy food allergies and intolerances for 40 years. I started out very conventionally with allergy shots. My major allergies then sugar, grains, legumes and dairy and they remain my allergies now.

But while the 40 years of Naturopaths, Ayurvedic and Traditional Chinese Doctors have not given me a cure their advice and care have lessened the symptoms. The improved digestion has given the benefits of better mental and physical health along with smoother skin and a fitter body.

No – my happiness in my physical appearance is not the attainment of the model’s figure I wanted in my youth but in the beauty of the fleshiness of a fit compact stocky one.

I had found contentment with the improved but not resolved situation until I began to get gas from eating the above 4 food groups. The digestive upsets prevented me from staying healthy on a vegetarian diet which was important to me.

So I began a new search for better digestion with Dana Zangari, a Registered Holistic Allergist and Nutritionist, http://www.pandechiropractic.ca/Dana-Zangari/dana-zangari.html .

She uses Biofeedback to treat me for allergies to legumes which included some of my favourite flavours like chocolate and coffee and some fruits, vegetables and grains.

I found that though she had reduced my allergy symptoms when I ate the allergic foods, they still gave me gas.

At my third session I was pleased with the improved overall feeling but the gas was still a problem for me. So she advised me to take digestive enzymes but I was hesitant as I found that these enzyme caused me to feel acidic. Dana tested the enzymes and found I was allergic to some of them and clear them for me.

Digestive problems can cause our internal organs and our circulatory system to become too toxic which leads to illness and skin problems.

Skin problems like Rosacea, sensitive skin (redness in the cheeks) and acne are symptoms of impure blood in the capillaries.

Chronic dry skin or dull skin usually indicated a slow moving constipated bowel system.

While vanity is no a virtue, it can be an aid in keeping our bodies healthy. An excellent way to prevent illness s to listen to your skin when it tells you your bloodstream is too full of toxic materials.

And be even more proactive - by listening to your stomach (gas, abdominal pain, bloating) to prevent having to be told by your skin you need to get help to change your ways.

How to be Radiant without Redness

-->

How to Survive Summer Heat when you have Sensitive to Rosacea Skin.

While summer is a welcomed reprieve from the long still cold of winter, it is not so true for those who suffer from the heat.

For those of us with Pitta imbalances, the heat makes us tired, irritable and it can be seen in our red and puffy faces. And to really make summer life more frustrating the redness can be the accompanied with acne.

What causes this Pitta Imbalance?

In Ayurveda, Pitta is heat. We all have this in our individual make up. Those of us who genetically have it in abundance can claim to be a Pitta - secondarily or primarily.

It is only an imbalance when we suffer from unhealthy or unwanted symptoms of this heat energy. Any one can suffer from a Pitta Imbalance. And a primary Pitta does not necessarily suffer from a Pitta Imbalance

Over abundance of Internal heat that imbalances Pitta can be caused by a stress out or aggressive lifestyle, an unbalanced diet of too many heating foods, medication, alcohol, caffeine, smoking, menopause, extreme exercise, a high level of toxins and aggressive skincare and over sun exposure.

Air conditioning can give us some reprieve as it cools down our bodies but the dehydration just worsens the appearance of our skin.

So how can we improve our plight in such an otherwise delightful time of the year?

From the list of causes, it is wise to start with diet. Any book on Ayurveda will list the foods for Pitta. They are cooling and alkaline foods which are great for any summer meal. Star foods are cucumbers and melons. Substitute coconut oil for your salad oil. You can cook with it but eat as much raw food as you can. Favour lean light proteins like white fish. If you want your omegas then eat either low salt smoked salmon or go for sushi. Avoid high oil foods including meats, salt and acid foods like vinegar. Replace it in salads with lemon or lime juice.

Raw foods can be a challenge as Pitta imbalance can come with digestive problems. Usually if you suffer from rosacea or redness in the cheek area your body is telling you,”you do”. Pittas are also more sensitive than other Dosha dominant types so are more prone to allergies. Make cucumbers more agreeable by removing the seed section.

The best solution would be to get advice from a naturopath or an alternative allergist. I am currently experiencing great reduction in my food allergies and great improvement in my digestion with Dana Zangari, a Registered Holistic Allergist and Nutritionist. You can find her at http://www.pandechiropractic.ca/Dana-Zangari/dana-zangari.html

To decrease stress and other extreme behaviors, find relaxing exercise like Yoga or Tai Chi and find time to do daily meditation.

Try to avoid excess sun and heat exposure by choosing shadier and greener paths to your destination.

Once you have lessened the macro causes of your internal health, you can start to repair the visual damage this energy has caused by reducing the redness and puffiness in your skin.

Redness in the skin is an indication that your capillaries are dilated and your circulatory system is not working properly. This is due to the capillary walls being dry and inelastic.

This compromised circulatory situation results in less moisture and nourishment being delivered to the skin cells in the area- in turn this causes more inelastic capillaries and more redness.

The puffiness and acne is caused by the inactive circulatory and lymph system. The result is excess toxins and fluids left in the area which causes localized edema and breakout when stress or body heat -as in PMS- is increased.

The ideal solution is a facial treatment that will turn around the situation. The best facial to quickly reverse the dehydration redness spiral is our Deluxe Lumi-Lift Facial. It will stimulate circulation and drainage with micronized current while improving skin hydrating with galvanic current improving the effectiveness of our own collagen gel mask . While you may breakout after the first facial due to the increased circulation and hydration - the end result is both less redness/puffiness and less breakouts. Another bonus of this facial is better facial tone and less wrinkles. It is not a one off deal though if you want long term effects. Depending on your skin condition and the results you want you will need to have a series of the facials weekly. It can vary from 3-10 per week. http://www.pureandsimple.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=103&Itemid=42

For those who are more timid to try new things you can choose any facial treatment that will clean your pores, hydrate up your skin and include a good face massage like our Super Hydrating Facial. The hydration effect of this facial is pumped up with a collagen sheet mask and oxygen treatment. Again if you are doing these facials with results in mind you will probably need to do a few of thsi facials weekly for 3 weeks or more. http://www.pureandsimple.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=5&Itemid=42#SuperHydratingFacial

Then get advice from a knowledgeable skincare expert on creating a daily care routine. Beautiful healthy skin comes with a seasonally adjusted daily regiment that includes gentle cleansing, hydration and protection. A must-have item for all that want hydrated skin throughout the year, is our facial serum Collagen Elastin Plus. It is not only our best selling item but it has the most loyal client following.

This serum with a suitable moisturizer for your skin type will keep your skin hydrated without a lot of fuss throughout your day. http://www.pureandsimple.ca/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=553&Itemid=27

For more detailed advice on the above please feel free to contact me or any of our professional staff.

A Face of a Thousand Stories

Yes You have a Face of a Thousand Stories

Along with the influence of your character, behavior and beliefs - your diet and your environment can determine your physical appearance. This is not contradictory to Ayurveda. With the help of Ayurveda I rebalanced my body to benefit from the fluctuations of the weather.

Spencer Wells, author of The Human Journey: A Genetic Odyssey and an anthropologist and geneticist, explains with scientific data how your features reflect the journey taken by your ancestors.

You will discover that a stocky build or a short neck is not an unfortunate distribution of attractive features. And that having “excessive” body hair give question to your femininity. Along with other “unique” features, they are nature’s way in helping your ancestors thrive in their environment.

But contrary to common thought, our genetics is not linear or clear cut as in the differences between siblings. I personally have suffered the feeling of injustice as my sister who inherited the features of the accepted beauty with chiseled features, slim build and large feminine eyes and well endowed figure.

While I, somehow I seemed to have gotten all the less feminine, chunkier features from larger frame, short stocky legs and chubby face but with a flat chest.

I did not feel less attractive on my own. Most people and society supported this truth in words and action.

But as I learned Ayurveda and began to understand the message in my physical attributes I started to love each feature as I loved the character that help form it . And I of course shared this with my staff and clients. But even with the knowledge of Ayurveda and evolutionary science - it’s a hard sell to some – so if you are not convinced you are not alone.

When I started to read about the evolution of human kind, I started to see the beauty in how my stockier frame and shorter legs contributed to the survival of my ancient ancestor in the ice age.

While I may have envied my sister in the past, I am now at peace with physical appearance. My personal experience has given me an empathy with those clients that are coming into their middle years and have not yet accepted their physical appearance. They punished themselves by trying to imitate the beauty of others, sometimes with drastic measures.

I believe that but using both Ayurveda and the history of our human journey I along with my clients come to love our selves and others in a genuine way.

We can invest more into our appearance without trying to imitate but to protect and highlight our uniqueness.

“Unique Beauty”, eh…, hmmm?

-->

“Unique Beauty”, Part 1

What is does unique beauty really mean? - to you.

When I was young and felt short changed on the distribution of beautiful features - I interpreted "You have an unique beauty” to mean "I am diplomatically saying you are not beautiful”.

But now wiser, I define “unique beauty” as the infinite faces of diversity. This change of perspective cannot be attributed to increased self confidence. Actually the real changer is also the cause of this increased self love. It is came from an interesting merger of Ayurveda and a growing understanding of my place in the external world.

We all can easily appreciate the diverse beauty of Nichole Kidman’s fragile Vata beauty along side the strong Kapha beauty of Beyonce Knowles. But we do we feel “unique beautiful” when comparing our physical features to that of camera friendly faces of celebrities.

According to Ayurveda, our “unique beauty” refers to the physical manifestations of our mental and emotional energies. But I found that the uniqueness of our features from colour to shape to size also tell a story of our human journey.

When we understand the importance of our character and our thoughts in shaping our external beauty and the foundation our genetic history in our overall health and beauty, we are less prone to embrace a self defeating definitions of beauty. And we are also less likely to believe or feel that as we grow older we grow less attractive,

A Vata Beauty is fine and delicate. He or she is small boned with small, chiseled features. Due to Vata’s spiritual strength, the physical features tends to be weaker with light pale definition. Vata’s slenderness can be attributed to speed – fast metabolism, fast thinking, quick change and fleeting emotions. Her delicate ethereal beauty evolved from light, cold and dry energy.

Pitta Beauty is in the sharpness of his/her focus. Piercing eyes are hallmark on this logical competitive person’s features. The strength in the mental realm with strong charisma are the characteristics of born leaders. The passion for order and perfection can create imbalance leading to skin sensitivities, rosacea and acne. Her intelligence leads her to strive to become President (of a business, government or organization) and that would trump any desire to be a Miss Universe.

.

Kapha Beauty is sensuous and voluptuous. Because Kapha’s strength is in the physical; they are strong, beautiful and large. They have large curvaceous features from large eyes fringed with abundant lashes to full lips and thick hair. They have large bone structure and usually have a stocky appearance. She/he is not your average “super model”, but his/her longevity and sensuousness will keep her alluring into old age.

When Kapha understands his/her uniqueness, she/he stops feeling “fat” and start feeling voluptuous and strong.

And Pitta feels beautiful and fulfilled when he/she pursues life work without needing to be a “beauty queen” as well.

Vatas are fortunate to be born with the socially defined characteristics of slim poetic beauty but are even luckier if they start early to develop spiritual or creative talents.

From the foundation of self appreciation and understanding we can see the beauty radiating from our own spirit and to that of others as well.

Next week –how to love our “unique beauty” by discovering our ancestral journey

Sun Drenched Beauty

Summer can be a boost to our feeling of attractiveness.

When I was a teenage, a suntan covered up blemishes and as I grew older and less plagued with acne, the tan evened out my skin’s blotchiness.

Now I am noticing women my aging using a tan to camouflage signs of skin aging from brown spots, redness and even wrinkles. Yes, this is just one of the examples of how irrational our pursuit of beauty can become.

So what are better ways of looking our best with positive long term results? Most anti aging technologies like Intense Pulsed Light and exfoliation like Microdermabrasion and Chemical Skin Peels make our skin more photo sensitive so are not advisable for most of us in the summer. Only the most meticulous of us will avoid more sun damage with proper sunscreen application.

While the consequences like sun burn, hyper pigmentation or dehydration are not irreversible when tended to right away, it is still wiser to accommodate our behaviors along with our aspirations.

If there is a need for improving your skin’s appearance from a special occasion to lifting self esteem, there is a safe and effect anti-aging treatment. Micronized Current can take years off your face by reducing the appearance of brown spots, chronic redness and wrinkles. It does it by stimulating the production of collagen and elastin while toning up facial muscles.

Our experience with Micronized Current for anti aging has not been all up hill. Our first machine required operator skill along with operator knowledge of the clients muscle placement to attain good results.

Our new machine has eliminated the disappointment of both the esthetician and the client by allowing the current to be dispersed over a larger area. It has the added benefits of red LED to support better collagen production and another current type to help dehydrated skin cells to absorb moisture. We have developed a special lifting gel that doubles as a mask to plump skin cells with skin protein, seaweed and aloe vera .

If some one my age has a special wedding coming up – our children’s or our own – to get our faces camera ready in a pinch – we need only to do three of these treatments a week before the date.

For those of us looking for long term rejuvenation, weekly treatment for two to three months (really depends on your expectations and the condition of your skin) with monthly treatments after can do the trick.

There are smaller ways to look more youthful in these summer months. A gentle exfoliation with jojoba beads at night can give you a fresher look without making skin more vulnerable to sun damage.

Of course using sunscreen, a natural one, with a suitable moisturizer daily will do much to help you avoid the “crêpey” look now and slow down the visible signs of aging long term..

When I wake up disappointed with what I see in the mirror I usually pile on the collagen serum to quickly plump up skin cells and rejuvenate my face. This also helps get circulation in my face going so puffiness in the face or eyes are gone before I walk out the door.

If you have stayed in the sun too long and are worried about the long term consequences, apply a collagen gel mask to hydrate up and repair on skin cells immediately then book a hydrating facial for major repair.

My person favourite is to constantly have your face photographed so that you grow to love the changing beauty that wisdom and life experiences have shaped. I believe some of us want to look eighteen because our emotional needs have not matured. After all we only need to look eighteen if we want to attract an eighteen year old J

When aging is just out of control

When aging is just out of control -- your control

As boomers, we have a choice of chasing youth by merely looking younger with magical serums and plastic surgery or by staying healthy and relevant by understanding the importance of the relationship between ourselves, mind and body, with our environment.

Recently I have begun a series of Micronized Current (Micro Current) facial treatments. I had been too busy through the winter to do my annual Intense Pulse Light (IPL) treatments to buy myself enough time to accept the “old lady” in the photographs.

While Micro Current is less invasive than the medical procedures, I recognize that it still is merely a means to looking younger.

As I age and learn to respect the limits of my body, I am more observant of the physical changes created by the external environment, the nourishment I devour and the fluctuations of my relationships and interactions with others.

I started my Micro Current treatments in March. The treatments’ success in lifting my sagging skin is evident in the disappearance of the deep wrinkle in my nasal labia fold (those aging brackets on each side of our mouth) and the wider look of my eyes. Compare my photo of a year ago with the one here.

While I have more dramatic “before” photos due to weight loss and the addition of one more year, the change is still noticeable. More anti-aging advice—don’t lose weigh after forty as skin is not so resilient. But no worries – you just need to work harder.

This weekend, I have suffered dehydration due to hotel living and a lack of sleep due to the strange bed. I have also been eating all my meals in restaurants or the Whole Foods buffet table. Therefore I ended up with edema which was my already weak kidneys’ way of saying the food was way too salty and fatty.

When the edema was gone I was left with a tired look, making me feel depressed and that my efforts to find time to get in for my Micro Current Facials and my extra moisturizing skincare were futile.

On Sunday morning I am awaken by a fluttering of the drapery in my hotel room. It was the turbulence caused by the tail end of a tornado in the American Midwest.

Did I tell you that I was also in the middle of a stressful personal life as I had grown impatient with a life partner that doesn’t know the existence of planning and “ was in the middle of helping” him see the light?

And I was commuting to one of our locations due to unexpected staff absentism to cover client appointments. I who always lived near work because I find commuting stressful.

While all this was happening, a client’s photographer husband asks to photograph me as he thought I would make an interesting subject. He proudly shows the photographs he coached me to pose in. But alas!--I only saw a middle-aged woman.

The Micro Current has helped me looked better, and yes even younger. And that definitely made me feel better to know that I could have some control over the speed of aging in my appearance. But the photograph told me that it was not the whole answer!

Therefore the anti aging choices we make ---whether they are safe and natural like Micro Current or more invasive like injecting Bovine toxins into our foreheads or a snipping skin around our eyes or faces – need to expand to include our lifestyle and environment.

To successfully perform and look younger, we need to balance the drying effects of a windy or cold environment, a stressful event and hard to digest dehydrating foods. If we have weak organs like kidneys or flawed circulatory system we need to follow habits that strengthen them.

But again no short cut to a fix -- medication by the way like recreational drugs, alcohol, cigarettes and coffee will negatively affect your day to day appearance along with your long-term health.

So start you anti aging by designing some healthy routine for yourself with the help of the appropriate health professionals.

No moisturizer, please, it’s summer

No moisturizer, please, it’s summer

As the heat wave arrives, I find it uncomfortable to moisturize in such humidity. But I know that proper care of my skin from now and throughout the summer will determine my satisfaction with my skin at the beginning of September.

Those of us who live in climates that have changing seasons will find challenges in our health and beauty at different times of the year. We in Canada are pretty good at caring for our skin in winter. We hydrate to prevent dehydration of our skins and protect our skins with a rich moisturizer.

But many of us just bare it all when the warm weather comes. Now the weather is unseasonably warm and wet, it is causing us to feel discomfort even when applying natural sunscreens.

But the warmer more humid weather has brought other changes. The increases of insects and molds have resulted in higher incidents of disease in plants and animals. Compared to the Ontario Government warning to gardeners of the rise in lyme disease due to the increase of ticks, our skin problems seem trivial.

The changing climatic conditions have created acne even in those of us who have never experienced it in our adolescence. Skin sensitivity leading to rosacea, which was mainly the concern of fair skinned people is now pervasive for our multicultural population.

The advice of the government to prevent lyme disease is to cover up when gardening. That too will help with the above skin problems.

Moist skin is healthy skin. Moist skin meaning plump skin cells fill with water and protein that are gently cushioned by a light oily fluid with the skin’s surface protected by a waxy oily film to slow down moisture loss (trans-dermal water loss). To keep skin cells healthy and hydrated it is important we protect them from over exposure to the sun as well.

Your skin feels moist so why moisturize?
Your moisturizer and your sunscreen feels uncomfortable so why moisturize?

The answer to both is to maintain optimum moisture in your skin cells. When you are perspiring profusely, the skin cells deep in you skin are probably not as plump as they should be. Therefore it is important that you supplement your skin cells with a hydrating serum. On dry days an application of a light oil further reduce the “crêpey” appearance of dehydration. Then apply a light (less oily) moisturizer to have longer term moisture protection and a flawless looking skin all day.

A sunscreen will not just prevent sunburn and lessen the chances of skin cancer but extend your youthful appearance. When you injure your skin cells as evident in sunburns and tans, you lessen the plumpness of the cells. This not only gives you a poorer looking complexion leading to acne or sensitivity but also exposes your dermis, the second main layer of your skin, to damage. A compromised dermis produces dehydrated skin cells with poor quality and lower levels of collagen and elastin which leads to premature aging of the skin. The sun damage to the dermis doesn’t just make us look old but creates a blotchy and red complexion with enlarged pores giving our skin, an orange peel texture.

Moisturizing and protecting your skin in the summer also lessens the disappointment in your skin when the weather becomes cooler and dryer in the fall. At this time skin conditions like dryness, sensitivity (rosacea) and acne increase. While the weather can be blamed, the real cause is the chronic dehydration in the deeper layers of the skin happening all summer.

Not convinced? Then look for proof in nature. The closer our ancestors lived to the equator, the oilier our skins genetically. The abundance of oil like a moisturizer prevents moisture loss through heat and also gives natural sun protection. Therefore darker oilier skin types are more resistant to photo aging.

In Canada, the weather pretty well gives all of us a time of year when our skins are thriving happily. But at 50-75% of the time, our skin’s are out of their element. At these times we need to compensate with our skincare. In the winter people with darker skin types need to take more care in hydrating their skin before moisturizing to compensate for the cold dry weather, while in summer those of us with fairer skin tones need to add more oils and sun protection to our daily skincare routines to compensate for the warmer weather. But even those of us with darker skin tones need to keep our skins moist in summer to balance our skin conditions with the ever-changing humidity and temperature levels of the season. Another occasion we all need to give our skins more moisture in the summer is when we have been out in the sun or wind too long.

So I would like to leave you with good advise I have paraphrased from my dental hygienist, “You don’t need to moisturize all of your skin. Just the parts You would like to keep looking good”.