Primal Dance Therapy

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I had a chance to attend the Sustainable Cosmetic Conference in New York City last week and took the opportunity to stay for the New Life Expo , http://www.newlifeexpo.com/newhome.php , on the following weekend. I am a big fan of the Whole Life Expo, http://www.wholelifecanada.com/ , here in Toronto and love walking through to discover useful healthy food and time proven alternative therapies. But most so called "Health & Wellness" Shows are too “fringe” for me with the usual psychics and esoteric healers selling "miraculous" supplements and unattractive wire pyramids and other questionable devices.

My perusal of the program ahead of attending the show made the New Life Expo seemed heavy on the subject of “energy” with seminars like “I put a Spell on You and Now You are Mine: I put a Spell on You and It is Strong” and “Lemurian Seed Crystals, Sacred Tools for Personal Transformation“. When I entered the Expo, I felt visually crowded by the small, unattractive booths of mostly “snake oil” type products.

But I am glad I visited the Expo, as my picks for seminars helped to increase my personal awareness. My first class was “Primal Dance.” This dance therapy was taught by Heidi McClure of Spirit Freedom, http://spiritfreedom.net/about.html . She is the dancer in the photo above.

Based on the belief that our bodies hold emotional memories from our experiences starting from the womb until the present, Heidi lead us through dances where we released our physical body parts. These exercises helped us become aware of which areas were negatively affected by past emotions. We became aware of how the effects of past experiences affected our postures and our movements. In that short hour, I understood how the emotional affects on the body lead to a legacy of illness. I love the idea of how fun exercise like dance could also improve my knowledge of my emotional life. I didn’t even mind dancing to Madonna’s “Like a Pray”. As one who loves a good "2 for 1", I plan to use my next vacation learning from her in NYC.

In my next blogs I will intend to share with you other interesting seminars like "Yoga and Digestion" with Dee Dee Benray, the Yoga Master in the book, Aveda Rituals , http://www.amazon.ca/Aveda-Rituals-Natural-Health-Beauty/dp/0805058001 , and how a lower body temperature can cause you illnesses like Cancer, Diabetes, and Thyroid Disease with Dr Tasumura Hillyer, http://www.cancercontrolsociety.com/bio2008/hillyer.htm . If you like, I can also report on how you can use semi-precious and prescious gems for self transformation and to protect you from negative energy. Let me know your interests.

Aging Gracefully but Really Slowly

I am on my way to New York City to attend the Sustainable Cosmetic conference but what I am really looking forward to is my Korean Body Scrub booked at Yi Pak.

I have been suffering from extreme peri-menopause. My PMS has escalated with an increase in the duration and number of hellish symptoms and along with the increased incidences of brain fog and intolerance from internal heat.
I look like I am tired even when I am not.

I know from experience and research that this is caused by the dance of poor circulation and dehydration. So the thought of a wet hot sauna and then a vigorous body scrub spelled relief.

Constance Gaud, author of “The Energy Prescription” – (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dus-stripbooks-tree&field-keywords=The+energy+prescription&x=10&y=21) a shaman and pharmacist wrote that. “…what is dry is dead”.

This seems to be the story of my physical body. As I age, I struggle more to keep my body from drying out. My skin needs more attention to stay healthy and hydrated warning of internal dehydration. My mucous membranes are more irritated by the lack of moisture in my body. Even my eyesight is affected by my hydration levels.

What causes this increasing drying of our bodies. I found that my hot flashes or the less dramatic but constant higher heat in my body causes increased dryness. The lower circulation brings less moisture and nutrients to our skin cells, especially the ones at our extremities like our head, hands and feet.

So what can we do about this?

We can take more care in making sure we eat more moist foods like vegetables and fruit. Fruit is especially good if you are in a hot spell as sweet tastes cools down the body. Reaching for a chocolate bar or a piece of cake - even a slice of Dufflets - is temporary with side effects.

Body treatments like massage can help our body’s circulation and relax us (less heat).

Making sure your skin is moist and warm will help maintain or increase circulation to those areas.

I have been receiving Intense Pulse Light Treatments and Sea Salt Microdermabrasion to help me look more youthful. Both of these treatments increase collagen production and the Sea Salt Microdermabrasion was a great treatment to increase the skins ability to appear more hydrated.

But Georgeta one of our senior estheticians has a following of clients that received only micro current facials and the occasional Sea Salt Microdermabrasion to look their youthful best.

A month ago, my long time client Alice showed me her NuFace hand held microcurent machine for home use. She claims it help her facial skin to tone up. While the results were minimal, she was satisfied.

In the fall, I had been crazy busy with moving a spa and then I was off for PanchaKarma. When I got back I had to start preparing franchise plans for an interested party from China. So I was way past the ideal time to do my annual course of Sea Salt Microdermabrasion and Intense Pulse Light Treatments.

So I gave the less used micro current a try. A great decision because I found that the treatment increased circulation so that my sinuses were released and my eyes were less puffy while my skin looked more toned, radiant and dewy. While we have offered this treatment to clients for years, as a Vata, the results were not fast or dramatic enough. Also the more frequent treatments required to keep results were not attractive to my more change-oriented nature.

I am not alone. When we help our clients choose and plan their skincare maintenance, the possibility of multiple monthly treatments were not a time or budgetary commitment they were ready to make.

I am in the third week of my treatments and to keep up the improvements I need to have a micro current facial here in NYC. I want to find a good one so I can bring back something new for our staff.

But my seven weekly treatments end soon so when I get back I will be exploring the market of hand held micro current machines. I have a call into NuFace but it is not in my nature to take the first option. I am looking for the best one.

This will give an viable alternative for those of us who want to age gracefully but slowly to be able to benefit from Micro current treatments by extend our professional treatments to monthly. Sure the results may be less and of course it’s not as enjoyable but we lean to trade off in our time insufficient world. Wish me luck as I am finding lots of crazy concepts for thses hand held units.

Eating for Your Health + Beauty

Becoming Vegetarian has revolutionized my life. It was not my first time at eliminating flesh from my diet, but this time it felt less about following a diet. While my vegetarian fast had proven the benefits of better physical energy and mental clarity, I was wise enough to customize it to my allergies to common vegetarian sources of protein like legumes and dairy and intolerances to some grains.

My commitment to change my diet was greatly influenced by my two week visit to the Ayurvedic Institute in New Mexico for PanchaKarma. Unlike my other entries into vegetarianism, fear was not my companion. Instead I planned the changes in my life to maintain this diet that was giving me better life energy and a better opportunity to contribute positively to my community.

The biggest change was cooking for myself. Focusing on developing my business left me eating out and trusting strangers to nourish me. Cooking for myself was not just healthier but I finally was giving myself time to nurture myself. My trip and my new diet strengthen my emotional detachment. It was changing how I perceive my relationships and interactions with others without losing my passion in life. Instead my love for others increased and deepened.

My life right now is in chaos as I am still experimenting with different foods and recipes as I try to create routines. When I indulge in my old ways, I treat myself to a couple of meals at Kale Eatery at 2366 Yonge Street north of Eglinton. The food is vegetarian and delicious. All of the dishes are labeled with ingredients for us who need to avoid allergic ingredients. I have eaten vegetarian in old favourite places but the experiences just increases my tendency to choose to eat at Kale.

And for a healthier alternative to Starbucks, I meet friends for “coffee” at the Organic Oven at http://www.organicoven.com/. Gluttonfree bake goods with organic beverages make this freindly time healthy as well. And while I still cannot eat as much bread as I would like to, the goods from the Organic Oven help me keep my home meals interesting and satisfying without causing me any adverse reactions.

After decades of herbal remedies from Naturopaths, Traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic Doctors; numerous detoxification fasts, my body has become intelligent enough to decide what was the best nutrition for it.

In this second half of my life I have finally embraced "food is the best medicine". Eating well is about prevention but best of all it means optimum health daily. An ancient Chinese sage once declared that the best doctors are ones that can keep us healthy with just food and lifestyle.

You can do this for yourself by using Ayurveda to help you monitor your health and your external environment and help you balance your mood, health and productivity with food.

But I am not a Vegetarian Evangelist. Eating for your health does not mean a philosophy of eating by principles as in vegetarian, low carbohydrate or raw food diets. It is about eating to contribute to your overall health. No one diet is perfect for everyone.

How can you discover your perfect diet?

It is a combination of self discovery and experimentation. Ayurveda's individualized diet recommendations for different body types is a great aid for those who do not know where to start. For thin Vata Types eating rich foods like meat, oils, dairy and nuts are excellent. Avoiding dry crunch foods is advisable. I avoid uncooked foods and gassy foods like cabbage and broccoli as a Vata and especially in Winter. Grazing is an excellent way to get all your nutrition without over working the stomach.

Pittas can indulge in bitter foods like greens and sweet foods like dairy. They should avoid fatty foods like meat and oils and acidic foods like citrus and vinegars. Hot temperature as well as hot spicy foods. In summer a raw food diet would be an excellent chose for fiery ambitious Pittas.
Kapha types can eat warm light crunchy spicy foods. These foods help to keep Kaphas alert and energetic. Heavy sweet foods like dairy and sweets and fatty foods like meat and nuts can slow down Kapha metabolism and energy.

For more information on the Doshas, you can read my earlier blogs or get a book on Ayurveda. For those who want more indepth information on Ayurveda and diet I would recommend Jennifer Workman’s “Stop Your Cravings” (http://www.amazon.ca/Stop-Your-Cravings-Satsify-Sacrificing/dp/0743217063/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268522035&sr=1-2 ) this book offers advice on common food issues of cravings, food sensitivities, weight management and protein versus carbohydrate

But that is just a start. As you gain more awareness of your relationship with food you may want to explore other ways foods affect you. “The Body Ecology Diet” by Donna Gates (http://www.amazon.ca/Body-Ecology-Diet-Recovering-Rebuilding/dp/0963845837/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268522230&sr=1-1 ) Here you will learn how to care for your digestive system along with the healing treatments and foods for the areas of concern.

Robert Thayer’s “Calm Energy” helps you find foods to include in your diet that can help you find harmony in our stressful overly ambitious society.

While I use Ayurveda as the basic structure of how I stay healthy and happy, I am open to any positive influences. I take what I find suitable for me and I may also pass on any information I feel may help another.

One such source is Dr Peter D’adamo’ “Eat Right for your Blood Type” Find it at http://www.amazon.ca/Right-Your-Type-Peter-Dadamo/dp/039914255X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268522456&sr=1-1

What ever your goals are food can have a great influence in your success. To help our clients achieve the beautiful skin they covet, our estheticians find that diet advice increases their success.

My Vegetarianism is reinforced by my desire to grow more connected to my world. This time with the role model of Dr Lad from the Ayurvedic Institute along with David Frawley's book "Yoga and Ayurveda" (http://www.amazon.ca/Yoga-Ayurveda-Self-Healing-Self-Realization-Frawley/dp/0914955810/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268523649&sr=1-1) I found my path to self discovery is aided to by a vegetarian diet and mindful exercise like Yoga and Chi Kung.

If you are interested in Vegetarianism go visit the the Toronto Vegetarian Association site at http://www.veg.ca/. It is great for encouragement, recipes and important health news not reported in the mainstream media

Self Discovery, Self Worth and the Pursuit of Beauty

Attraction to beauty is based on our primal instinct for survival as species.

The above scientific claim may surprise you. As a bookworm, I found the statement delightfully enlightening but unjustly vindicating the males species whom I had long scorned for being the more shallow sex for choosing beauty over brains. Years ago a TV program (CBC) proclaimed that men were programmed by nature to select the most beautiful as their mates to ensure the propagation of the human race.

Then to make me really feel I was raised on another planet --- it claimed that females naturally are atracted to mates that can support the family. This was one moment of enlightenment for me! I no longer was so sure of my embrace of idealistic principles or my perception of being human.

No, I did not become an advocate of plastic surgery to successfully use modern science to mimic male fantasy. After all we women no longer yearn to be chosen for our abilities to mate. Not consciously anyway. - So why then work at being deemed beautiful?

If we remove the time sensitive values out of the scientists' argument, we can learn that our primal instinct for "beauty" is basically a preference for wellbeing.

So redefining beauty as the unveiling of our awareness and our uniqueness can reconnect us with our true nature. Therefore, contrary to our conditioning, it is ideal to look into a mirror and use the information found in your eyes, tongue and skin to tell you about your day to day health.

If your skin is dehydrated - you can maintain a youthful appearance by moisturizing your skin more more to keep up good circulation. But since dehydrated skin is signally the beginning of internal dehydration -- ensure internal health by increasing the consumption of hydrating foods like herbal teas, vegetables, and soups on such days.

If you still have a white coating on your tongue after the morning is long gone; it is telling you that your body is sluggish and need help with digestion and elimination. Spice up your next meal and forgo the sugary snacks along with other "Kapha Carbs". Pump up your exercise from a relaxing Yoga class to a high impact aerobics one. If the condition is chronic then your skin will scream at you by being dull and congested. While you can improve your appearance temporarily with good skincare, you really need to change diet and lifestyle to increase your internal fire or "Chi"

So as you see, a moderate regard for your external appearance is healthy and very advisable. Taking time daily to keep skin in good condition will not only help to keep skin attractive but also promote good circulation and body temperature control.

Where it can be a bit over the top when we become self critical and adopt a belief that our beauty is based on some one else's definition of beauty.

And extreme solutions are very poor substitutes for daily maintenance. They cheat us of our self discovery. Self love leads to true beauty which spirals back to feed our self confidence and so on and so forth - So goes the circle of growth and wellbeing.

Belated Valentine : Being Loving to Ourselves

Gotcha!

It's now three weeks since my last entry. This delayed blog entry is an indication of a blip in my time management resolution. This transition period where I have been mildly successful in not over working to complete what is on my to do list (Pitta) I have not been able make that list short enough to allow time for them or to say no to last minute diversions. (Vata).

When I am working with my clients I noticed most of my female clients instinctively help me even when they need to strain their muscles to do it. I use that moment as an opportunity to help them realize how they are always cognizant of the needs of others and their inability to just receive.

My male clients seem to have no problem just receiving even though they have heavier bodies and therefore there are times I strain myself to give them the same bodywork as my female clients.

So while the resolution to manage time in a more balanced manner and one to lose weight may seem unrelated, it may share a common desire to finally focus on us and our needs.

This Saturday Kristen and I along with a staff member, who is also a Holistic Nutritionist worked a conference for Holistic Nutritionists. Both Kristen + I probably were the best qualified to present the Holistic Health approach to beauty, but we were both there mainly because we both considered the needs of our staff before ourselves.

I observed that all the attendees were women. They all had the passionate to increase their knowledge to better help their clients but they share a struggle to create a career as they cared so much for their clients they were not fairly compensated for their valuable advice. Tahlia our staff member who also is a Holistic Nutritionist is able to practice her second profession with the help of another career in Esthetics. The other nutritionists were able to practice with the help of a supporting life partner.

These very dedicated women know their work is valuable as good nutrition is the best way to leading a disease free, healthy life. While client should appreciate the worth of their counsel, the Nutritionists need find a means to create this recognition and be fairly rewarded for the value of their guidance.

Can we all see how we can use this in our own life. A good start will be to sell ourselves first!

New Years Resolutions

Happy New Year!

I started the New Year with a resolution of organization and consistency. Since I have not written here since the end of last year, it looks like I have already broken this one quicker than any past New Year’s resolutions.

But don't be quick to judge. This resolution has a better chance of sticking and it has already changed my life in a profound way.

This is not my the first time "getting more organized" was my resolution. I have even bought books on how to organize my work to my home. Even a book enticingly named , "The Organized Executive" by Stephanie Winston.

From my experience at try to create more order in my life, I realize my problem was not that I was not an organized person or that I needed to learn more about how to organize myself. The problem was my desire to do too much resulting in over scheduling and being receptive to last minute changes and additions to that list.

Therefore to keep promises of positive change – whether it is about how we look or how we behave --can only occur with a clear understanding of ourselves and the real cause of the unwanted situation.

My workaholic lifestyle with its vicissitudes was creating excess Vata (for information on Yata and other Dosha types at http://our-metamorphosis.blogspot.com/2009/04/ayurvedic-doshas.html) and all my knowledge of anti-aging skincare was not hiding the extreme dehydration and fatigue that unbalanced my body’s systems and will lead to disease. Negative Vata tendencies in my thoughts and emotions were negatively affecting my cognitive abilities and my relationships.


So last fall when the Vata energies were in full force, I arranged to began the New Year at Dr Lad’s Ayurvedic Institute in New Mexico. I was looking forward to have the two week cleanse and rest help me create the needed balance in my daily life and to clear away the unwanted symptoms of my obsessive habits and indulgences. But it was up to me to rein in Vata's love of change and freedom with a more organized and predictable life.

Dr Lad and my personal Ayurvedic Counselor Suzana prescribed herbs and treatments that would balance my Doshas which in turn gave me the ability to realistically create a more structured life that was based on my individual needs and wellbeing.

I had planned to write my blog and to do some administrative planning during my two weeks of Panchkarma. Instead I let go of my over active mind and the counter-productive plan and spent the time contemplating with the guidance of Dr Lad and Suzana where I wanted to go in personal growth. I was given herbs to help reduce my Vata tendencies to be active and impulsive and to build back my energy and reduce symptoms of imbalance.

I finally develop a clear plan I knew I could follow. I did not just organize my work but included my daily routine for diet and exercise along with time out for a real personal life. My personal life had deteriorated to just dinners with my daughter and my partner. I was so addicted to my work, I could not easily plan extended time with them.

I have been back two weeks now. There has been no blog entry but not due to not staying on my plan. I had to postpone writing my blog to assume unexpected duties of bookkeeping. ----If there ever was a activity that could be considered the antithesis of Vata, it would be bookeeping.---

Since the resolution' main goal was to create organization and balance in my life, I had the difficult task of priortizing my work duties and not give up personal time to unexpected work demands. Good sign number 1 - I took up the duties of mundane but critical duties of bookkeeping -- Good sign number 2


So if you have a poor record of keeping New year's resolutions or any promises other time os the year, perhaps the problem is not your character but your understanding of yourself and the unique aspect of the unwanted predicament.

I find the popular resolutions to lose weight or joining a gym are also the most likely to be broken --- as early as February. Perhaps one needs to understand what activities one enjoys before palnning and committing. If you need help in keeping the promise of increasing physical activity, I recommend using Ayurveda to guide you in finding a health promoting activity that is more suited to your individual make up.

When it comes to weight loss, I recommend also recommend the help of Ayurveda to know yourself better before choosing one of the multiple ways to weight loss. The "one diet for everyone" do not take in account the underlying cause of the unwanted weight. I have known people who gain weight due to food allergies and others due to insulin resistance. Some people like Kaphas (for information on Kapha and other Dosha types at http://our-metamorphosis.blogspot.com/2009/04/ayurvedic-doshas.html) and diabetics have a slower metabolism. Depression and some prescription medicine can affect weight gain. I also do not recommend weight loss programs that ask us to buy precooked packaged food. Not only is this food the least nutritious but according to Ayurveda, Kaphas should not eat leftovers as they slowdown metabolism further.

We should not be discouraged when we encounter difficulty or fail to follow our new plan to the letter. Focus on the big picture - the overall plan - and the overall outcome not on the dailyups and downs.

Celebrating without a Wrinkle

Christmas is a joyous time when we celebrate the best in us as we become more focused on the needs of others.

And for mid life baby boomers this festive time can momentarily depress us with the sudden appearance of sagging skin at our cheeks or additional lines around our eyes and mouth- known or not known to us to be suggesting the negative occurrences in our bodies.

We put our personal needs aside to indulge our love ones. We exhaust ourselves shopping for just the right gifts and preparing to host and attending celebrations.

Then there are the late nights with too much food and drink - hopefully just - while partying.

Add in the cold dry weather and the decreasing sunshine to further challenge our bodies’ endurance.

So what can you do to minimize the affects of holiday celebrations on your looks and your health.

Here are 5 easy suggestions that will give you big results for your efforts.

Get enough sleep by napping before a late night. This “beauty sleep” will give you the energy to keep your metabolism optimal
Keep your skin moist to ensure capillary health and good circulation. A quick and simple way to do this is to wear a serum under a rich moisturizer.
Keep warm so circulation is optimal so cells are nourished. Easily done by wearing a hat and gloves anytime you are outdoors. A hat helps with hair health too.
Exfoliate and moisturize your body to keep it youthful. It also improves circulation and you will find you feel warmer than usual this time of the year. And if you make it a habit your skin will be irresistibly soft by Valentine’s Day.
Drink warm liquids. Calming herbal teas, nourishing soups and comforting hot chocolates can help keep you warm and moist inside out.

“What Should I do when I get home late and don’t have enough resolve to cleanse off make up?” is a common question from client. Cleansing facial skin nightly of make up, dirt and pollution debris is important. But if you can only manage to drop into bed, then I would highly advise applying a rich mask, heavy moisturizer or facial oil over your unwashed skin before sleeping.

This will help you reduce the negative effects of self indulgence as moist skin is healthy skin and is therefore more resistant to old make up and pollution debris. This simple act will keep skin cells moist so that your morning after skin will be more normal and less dehydrated, dull or sensitive.