Have you seen the decorations going up already? Many places, Christmas decorations were up with Halloween!
How do you keep balanced and calm during the holidays?
Do you ever get stressed?
Ever feel more on edge or more tense?
The more stressed you feel, do you ever feel like yelling:
“I just want to be left alone!”
… Or is that just me?
Believe it or not, that's a response to persistent stress and I know because I've done the research personally and professionally. But as the pressures of life ebb and flow, that feeling should not last too long, if at all. If it is, we are in need of a retreat treat!
Over the next couple of weeks I will be sharing strategies to reset! And uplevel our joy!
”Joy to the world!”… (I am working on my attitude here!)
This week I want to share some easy and fast resets from the Ayurvedic tradition.
Listen in to my podcast with Ayurvedic practitioner Richard Masla who is also a yoga master.
In our podcast, we share a few to key therapies and techniques that are truly balancing and resetting.
The first is alternate nostril breathing to sync the right and left brain. There is a science to this and it helps with coherence. First, get into a comfortable sitting position, exhale completely, close your right nostril, breath in with your left slowly to a count of four, then hold both nostrils, exhale right, inhale right deep and slow, hold, exhale left and repeat. Even 3-5 minutes of this relaxes you. Richard tells you more in our chat.
The second is absolutely my favorite and I affectionately call it the bumblebee breath. I really do love this one. If you find yoga and meditation hard because of a wandering mind you’ll love the bumblebee breath too. Listen in because Richard explains it really well but essentially you’ll cover your eyes with your hands and cover your ears with your thumbs and take a deep breath in through your nose and exhale while humming. Do this for 5 to 10 slow breaths.
Keeping our tanks full of the good stuff during this time can be challenging with all the temptations. Our diet tends to get a bit acidic, really important to get your greens in, avoid the sugars, and keep your sense of humor! We all feel good and bad stresses and energies during this time.
Another of the tools in my toolbox is our Vida Serene product which is a herbal blend. I actually call it my herbal Xanax and patients in my practice over the years have loved this product. We found it to be very safe and very well-tolerated. It’s available on our store. [ insert link] Give it a try if you need some additional support. Here’s what a client, Jane says: “I had been taking the Vida Serene for 4 weeks and felt great, like I was more tolerant and peaceful, I have been out for 3 weeks and feel the difference. I am so glad to have it for the holidays!”
Ayurveda is one of the oldest systems of medicine, dating back over 5,000 years to ancient India. It is the science of living in harmony with nature. In Sanskrit, Ayur- means life and -Veda means knowledge. Ayurveda utilizes various therapies including yoga, diet, massage and herbal preparations to bring balance and harmony to the body, mind, and soul. It is a truly holistic approach to achieving and maintaining that balance. Richard Masla has been a yoga teacher and Ayurvedic practitioner for over 20 years and shares with us some techniques for stress reduction and body balancing.
Vida Pura Lifestyle Tip: Do a daily gratitude meditation
Wishing you a vida pura,
Dr. Anna Cabeca, DO, FACOG, ABAARM
