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Home Remedies for prickly Heat- July 2010
Prickly heat is a rash that appears on the skin due to excessive sweating, especially in the summer season. They are also popularly known as heat rashes or sweat rashes. In medical terminology, prickly heat is known as miliaria rubra or simply miliaria. Prickly heat occurs because the excessive sweating caused due to the external heat temporarily blocks the sweat glands, due to which a proper purification of the blood does not occur.
The common symptoms of prickly heat are small eruptions on the skin which are small and grainy in nature. They could be red, or they could even be just a shade darker than the colour of the skin. These eruptions are always itchy and they are accompanied by a prickly burning sensation. For children, prickly heat is always very uncomfortable. In addition, there is always a chance of a more serious bacterial infection once the prickly heat has occurred.
Home Remedies for Prickly Heat
When they occur, the natural instinct is to buy some cream or powder readily available in the market and apply it on the skin. This does work most of the time, but we must remember that each of us has a unique kind of skin. Hence, the patent formulations may not work, and may actually aggravate the condition.
Therefore, it is much safer to use some herbal and natural remedies, which will not have side-effects even if used in an excess amount. The following is a list of some of the most effective home remedies for prickly heat to apply when heat rashes occur.
This is a very elaborate, but certain method to remove the prickly heat. Take an earthen vessel. Fill it with clean water. Take about fifteen to twenty gooseberries (amalaki, Emblica officinalis). Wipe each gooseberry in turn and add it to the water in the pot. Then cover the earthen pot with a lid. Let the gooseberries remain in the pot for one whole night. In the morning, the fruits will have become soft. Mash the gooseberries in the water itself. Then strain the water, add sugar in it and drink. Drink as much as you need to quench your thirst. This remedy removes the heat from the body. The prickly heat is treated within about seven days. There are other benefits too. The stomach will remain clear and digestion will be improved. This is one of the useful home remedies for prickly heat.
Make a paste of cornstarch or baking soda in water. Apply this paste onto the portion of the skin affected by the heat rash. Let this paste remain there for about half an hour. Within this time, the paste will dry completely. Then take a cold water bath and wash the paste away. Otherwise, you can use a towel soaked in cold water and apply this cold compress onto the skin. Either way, your skin will cool down and you will get relief from the prickly heat inflammation. This is one of the important natural remedy.
Drink several glasses of citrus fruit juices, especially limejuice in a day. You can have juices from oranges, sweet lemons, watermelons, pineapples, etc. These cool down the body and arm it against the external heat.
Neem soaps are easily available in the market. Having a bath with this soap, especially in the summer season, will keep the prickly heat away. It is also a good remedy if you already have prickly heat eruptions.
You can make a fine powder of sandalwood and dust it all over your body. This will also be very helpful in keeping the prickly heat in check.
Cut open a watermelon. Then take it peels off. Eat the fruit. It will provide coolness in the body. Then apply the peels on the prickly heat affected areas. Use the inside portion to rub on the skin. Such a remedy cools the body from the inside as well as the outside, and helps to get the prickly heat treated soon. This is the best diet for prickly heat.
Precautions for Prickly Heat
(i) Avoid hot and humid climates as much as possible.
(ii) Do not exert yourself so much that you produce more sweat.
(iii) If sweat occurs on the body, clean it off as soon as possible. If you can, have a bath to remove the sweat, or at least wipe off the body with a rough towel in order to unclog the sweat pores.
(iv) Try to use air-conditioning wherever possible.
(v) In summer air circulation is very important. If there is no air conditioner, at least keep the room well-ventilated. Also wear loose cotton clothes to allow the air to pass through.
(vi) Have a bath several times a day in the summer season, if your work involves a lot of sweating. Also, very important to remember, have a bath in the night before going to bed. Or else the sweat will dry up on the skin and will possibly cover the sweat pores by morning.
(vii) Drink lots of water in the summer season. This helps to keep the sebaceous (sweat) glands functional.
Health Matters- kickstarting your health-card application (Targeta Sanitària) & the medical translation service March 2010
As all reputable complementary health professionals do, I like to work alongside existing medical services wherever possible and indicated, working together as a combined health team for our patient's benefit. Stereo vision usually helps, and whenever I have been health-challenged myself I have wanted all the available perspectives to make the best informed choices for myself.
However, a lot of us moving to this new country here find ourselves vulnerable & disempowered around our health needs because of the long delay in getting hold of the actual health card. Or forking out a lot on flights to get healthcare back home. Some people have applied for their health card, often at their local health centre, but may still be waiting for the card even up to a year later. This puts people off getting important medical help & check-ups that they need.
When this happened to me the local health centre explained that their help in passing on my application was discretionary, a favour, & that they were unfortunately therefore unable to help me follow up to see what had happened to my application. They advised me to go straight to the CatSalut (health service) office, so I went to the local office in Tortosa where the service was efficient & I was given a temporary document to cover me until the proper card itself was ready 2 weeks later.
So to get your long-awaited health card you can go direct to your local CatSalut office (eg. for Tortosa, C/ St Joan Baptista La Salle, 8, on the corner of La Salle & C/ Despuig, tel. 977 448 170).
To apply for the health card in the first place you need to provide proof of identity (passport/NIE), your Certificate of Empadronament (some places seem to ask for an original, not a copy), and to complete the application form, available at your local CAP (primary healthcare centre/doctors). Details of the targeta sanitària, eg.conditions for accessing it, etc., can be found on the government´s health service website: http://www10.gencat.net/catsalut/eng/index.htm, (you can access an English language version), or tel. 902 111 444. The CAISS office (Centre for Attention & Information for Social Security) is also useful for information about health cards - our local office, for example, has 2 people who speak English & very helpfully field enquiries.
Another useful service is Sanitat Respon, a translation service where you & your doctor can call a translator during your consultation: phone 902 111 444. Translation is available in English & other languages, such as Arabic, Rumanian, etc.
Also good is the internet service where you can change a doctor´s/clinic appointment by entering your health card number into the webpage www.catsalut.cat
And finally, of course, it's always good to know the emergency medical number here, 061.
So, good luck with being well-prepared and informed about your healthcare.
Taru Burstall, Licensed Acupuncturist & Psychotherapist , Massage Therapist, 629 301 509, taruyes@gmail.com
new eu regulations from may 1 2010
Changes to EHIC regulations affect British pensioners in Spain. Changes are underway to the system of issuing the European Health Insurance Cards to British expatriates living in Spain who are in receipt of a UK state pension. UK state pensioners are eligible for free public healthcare through the form E121 in Spain as their country of residence, and, just as with Spaniards travelling within Europe, may currently apply for the Spanish equivalent of the EHIC for temporary trips to another member state of the European Union. The card is known as the Tarjeta Sanitaria Europea , and is available from Spain’s INSS Social Security Authority.
But that’s all set to change on 1st May next year when the UK will become responsible for issuing the EHIC to UK pensioners who are resident in other EU countries. It’s understood to be part of a new system to coordinate EU social security schemes which is to be implemented across member states next May. The imminent changes in the issue of the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), as required under the new Social Security Coordinating Regulations 883/2004 which come into effect on May 1 2010. As from that date the payment of a citizen’s health care, when using the EHIC, will also become the responsibility of the state issuing the form E121, which is available to Pensioners as well as those in receipt of long term sickness benefit and entitles them to state health care in Spain.
The UK is still working on its processes for the implementation of the new regulations and, according to a statement on the British Embassy’s website in Madrid, everyone it affects in all EU member states will be contacted once the processes have been finalised.
The Embassy notes that the INSS has issued some EHICs to British residents in Spain which are due to expire on 28th February 2010, based on a previous planned date for the new regulations to come into effect. The advice to anyone that may affect and who wishes to travel before the new system is in place is to contact the INSS for an extension to their EHIC.
The European Health Insurance Card covers travel in the EU’s 27 member states, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, where it is valid for unforeseen medical treatment during your trip.
Important information for UK State pensioners living in Spain appears in the official statement issued on the NHS web site see details below:
"Due to changes in European Union regulations, from May 1 2010 the United Kingdom may be responsible for the issue of your European Health Insurance Card instead of the member state where you live.
This will apply if you are a national of an EU member state and live in an EU member state, and you either:
* receive your state pension or other long-term benefit from the UK and you have registered the form E121 with the health authorities in the member state where you live; or
* you are dependent on a citizen working in the UK and have registered the form E109 issued by the UK
You will need to send your application by post. An application form, along with an explanatory letter, will be posted to you during February 2010. This application form will be different from the EHIC application form available in the UK, and will be modified to prove your entitlement to the new UK-issued EHIC card.
These cards will be sent out from April 2010 onwards. If you return your completed application form by the end of March 2010, your card should arrive before the new regulations come into force.
If you are not a national of an EU member state, or you live in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland, then the country where you live will remain responsible for issuing your EHIC. In these circumstances, please contact the authorities in your country of residence."
For more information please call the Overseas Healthcare Team on 0191 218 1999. Or visit the NHS website.
http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcareabroad/Pages/EUregulations.aspx
ocd-Therapeutic Intervention using Hypnosis and NLP march 2010
Hello and welcome to our next article on Hypnotherapy. Those who have read the earlier interesting features will by now remember that Hypnosis is very safe and that you are not unconscious or asleep as many people suspect. If anything you are more alert when in the Hypnotic trance than you are when out of it. Many people are surprised they can hear my voice and that they remember hearing my wife walking along our hall floor. Remember no Hypnotist or Hypnotherapist can make anyone do anything that would be against their own code of ethics. Forget what you have seen in pubs and clubs or on television with the stage hypnotists, those people on stage actually want to get up and be the star of the show and a good stage hypnotist will let them do just that. Most of us will have read adverts for Stop Smoking with Hypnosis and as this seems to get lots of publicity it would be easy to assume that this is its main use. Not so!
Let us take a look at something, that if you have it can absolutely control your life and spoil it for you and others. One such difficulty is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or OCD and in its mildest forms can be a nuisance but in anything above mild can ruin your life. Some of us will recognise OCD And others might recognise it as you read through this interesting feature. What is OCD And how can Hypnotherapy and NLP help? I can assure you I have treated many clients who had OCD Successfully and helped them improve their lives. So let's look at what OCD is.
OCD Affects a good proportion of the population. It is characterised by obsessive thoughts that cause anxiety. This leads to rituals or repetitive actions, for example, constantly washing your hands, to relieve the anxiety.
OCD has two main features:
Experiencing frequent, disturbing, unwanted thoughts that result in fears, and compulsions,
Acts or rituals carried out in response to fears caused by the obsessions.
The overwhelming urge to carry out a certain ritual is known as a compulsion.
Examples of (OCD) Compulsions include, excessive hand washing, cleaning, counting, checking, touching, arranging, hoarding, measuring, excessive neatness (e g pencils lined up neatly on the office desk, look around the office tomorrow), and repeating tasks or actions. People with OCD carry out these types of compulsion in a desperate bid to calm the anxiety caused by their obsessions. However, once they have carried out the compulsion, they feel slightly better. This feeling is only temporary, because once the obsession comes back, the whole ritual starts again. If the person is unable to complete the compulsion it usually results in severe anxiety or panic. This is because they think that something terrible will happen if they don't finish or don't do it properly. The thoughts and actions of OCD may become so upsetting and time-consuming that it gets in the way of work and family life. This can lead to anxiety or depression. In some cases, a person may have only obsessive thoughts without showing compulsive behaviour or vice-versa.
Examples of obsessions are worrying excessively about germs, contamination, dirt, fear of having harmed others, intrusive sexual thoughts or urges, death and illness. People with OCD are usually aware that their compulsions and obsessions are irrational or excessive. However, just knowing is not enough to stop the obsessions and compulsions and treatment is needed.
The following disorders also display obsessive symptoms that are similar to OCD:
Compulsive hair pulling.
Compulsive skin picking.
Eating disorders such as Bulimia or Anorexia
Body dysmorphic disorder (Extreme anxiety over body appearance).
Hypochondriasis (Irrational ideas or fears of having a serious illness).
OCD Symptoms. The symptoms of Obsessional Compulsive Disorder (OCD) might typically begin during the teenage years or early adulthood. However, it is not unusual for children before the age of five to develop the condition. Research shows that at least one-third of cases in adults began in childhood. Only a very small minority of people develop OCD after the age of 35.
Symptoms and behaviours linked with OCD are wide-ranging. A person with OCD has either obsessions, or compulsions, or both.
Obsessions are unpleasant thoughts, images or urges that keep coming into your mind. Some of the common obsessions include:
Unwanted thoughts, often of a disturbing nature, such as sexual or violent urges.
Feeling the need to confess to something.
Fear of making mistakes or behaving in an inappropriate way.
Fear about causing harm to other people, and needing everything to be perfect.
Compulsions are thoughts or actions that you feel you must do or repeat. Some of the common compulsions include:
Fear of contamination and germs, leading to constant cleaning.
Repeatedly checking things, such as doors and locks, counting, while performing routine tasks.
Needing to do things a certain number of times or in a certain order,
Touching or arranging items in careful and neat order.
Hoarding objects, usually of no value.
Repeating numbers, words, phrases, prayers or a particular song over and over again, either under your breath or internally in your mind.
The physical symptoms of OCD are very similar to those of a panic attack and include:
Sweating, Racing heart, Dizziness, Shortness of breath, and Trembling or shaking. Social Phobia and Panic disorder are also more common in people with OCD.
Causes. The exact cause of Obsessional Compulsive D
isorder (OCD) is unknown, but it is probably caused by a combination of factors. Something happened in earlier years that caused your subconscious mind to make you behave in this way and it may well have been a good thing to do…ONCE! Stress does not cause OCD. However, a stressful event or trauma seems to trigger the condition in some people. OCD sometimes runs in families and it may be due to copying the OCD behaviour of another family member. A learned behaviour! This would be similar to how many people develop Phobias. Personality type may also be a factor - for example, perfectionists seem to be more prone to developing OCD.
Diagnosis. Those with OCD do not always understand what they have and don't like to ask for help because they might be worried about what others will think of them. This is particularly common in situations where the person goes to great lengths to keep their OCD secret.
Test yourself, do you answer yes to any of the following?
Do you have symptoms that cause considerable anxiety and distress?
Do you have symptoms that are present on most days for at least two weeks?
Do you have symptoms that take up more than one hour a day?
Do you have symptoms that significantly interfere with work, personal relationships, social activities and daily routine?
Do you recognise that you or someone close to you has obsessions and compulsions that are unreasonable or excessive? How do you treat it? Your GP should be your first port of call and he/she will make recommendations and may well suggest a complimentary therapy instead of medication. Hypnosis and NLP are a complimentary therapy and can often obtain a relatively quick change in your behaviour and thinking. By utilising the full resources of the subconscious mind it might be necessary to uncover the root cause of your OCD and then from that point we can then help you re-programme your own mind so that your subconscious learns how to behave in a new way or in the way it did before you developed OCD (if appropriate). Using NLP (Nuero Linguistic Programming) and some of the many guided visualisation techniques whilst in the Hypnotic trance can transform your behaviour and your life.
If you are reading this and would like an informal discussion, then call me. Paul Parker, tel 0044 (0)7766 885350 or 0044 1926 811129 or www.pauljparker.co.uk.
is sleep the new sex?
sex or sleep-what does it for you? Feb 2010
Trends run in cycles and now, after suffering years of angst about whether we’re getting enough quality sex, it seems that people are deciding to roll over and grab some sleep instead. That is, according to international trendspotter Marian Salzman, the woman who previously predicted “singletons” and “low-carb diets”. Her new year prediction is that “sleep will be the new sex. Sleep as a luxury. Sleep as a fantasy. Sleep as a naughty little secret indulgence.
“Look around, there are so many clues that a good night’s sleep has come to beat a great orgasm,” says Salzman. “The big airlines are advertising fully-reclining beds for business class travellers. Prozac has fallen out of fashion and organic sleeping aids are springing up in its place.
“Women’s magazines are full of tips for sleeping as a beauty treatment, advising everything from herbal tea at bedtime to learning a whole new set of breathing techniques. 
And, this time of year, when most people are booking their summer holidays, ask your friends what the are looking forward to most. Nine times out of ten they’ll tell you, ‘a good rest’.” One sign that sleep is being placed higher on people’s agendas is the latest fad in America for “Nap Centres”. (Japan has actually had them for some time.) These are spa-style outlets where stressed customers can walk in off the street and pay $30 to take a 20-minute catnap in a specially-designed pod. Lights are dimmed and soporific music plays.
The Nap Centre trend began in Stress City, New York and now it’s headed for Europe. Instead of power lunches, executives are preferring to nip out and unwind horizontally. Newsweek columnist Gersh Kuntzman, writing about the new phenomenon after spending time at a Nap Centre reported, “Look, I’m a man, I have needs. A few minutes between the sheets. It happens sometimes. And I needed it so badly I was willing to pay for it.
What, you thought I was talking about sex? Please. Any idiot can get sex, but I have found that it’s almost impossible for me to get enough sleep nowadays.” He isn’t alone. Studies have found that one in three people suffers from some form of insomnia. We now sleep for just under seven hours a night, on average – one hour less than 30 years ago and two hours less than 80 years ago. Increased working hours, greater entertainment options and larger intakes of alcohol are also conspiring to keep us awake. Tiredness is one of the most common problems reported by couples to marriage counsellors. Sleep is certainly the topic of the moment. Even pop stars are talking about it.
The 17-year-old singing sensation Joss Stone says sleep is her favourite hobby and pop idol Christina Aguilera recently confessed that “some of my best sleeps are under my piano”. It may never replace it but lack of sleep is certainly the enemy of sex. It would pay to invest a few hours in the former to guarantee plenty of the latter.
The Journey – an amazing healing process- jan 2010
The Journey, developed by Brandon Bays, is a deceptively simple process that helps people clear out emotional blocks which give rise to physical and psychological problems. Brandon’s own healing journey began after she was diagnosed with having a basketball sized tumour. Rather than undergo surgery she embarked on a soul-searching journey in which she uncovered a means to get access to a cell memory associated with the tumour and to tap into the boundless healing potential inside all of us. Only six and a half weeks later she was pronounced tumour free, text book perfect without the use of drugs or surgery. She then developed a profoundly effective process which uses practical techniques that help people clear longstanding emotional issues and physical challenges through tapping into the body’s infinite wisdom
Her bestselling book, “The Journey”, has been widely read and, as the tools are so user friendly, many organizations have incorporated them into their workplace. Businesses, universities, schools, hospitals, prisons, alternative centres, counselling groups, youth groups, churches and all manner of social and spiritual organizations are using The Journey to liberate people’s highest potential and facilitate lasting healing.
Since its inception in 1994, Journey work has been expanding worldwide and Journey seminars are now conducted in over 30 countries with the book translated into 20 different languages including Spanish.
JOURNEY OUTREACH is the charitable arm of the Journey. It was born in 2004 when a generous group of individuals made donations with the prayer that a Journey Centre be built in South Africa so that its youth-orphans, children with AIDS or drug addictions, those who had suffered the hurt and pain of violence and sexual abuse would have a free-of-charge way to find freedom, love and healing. The results have been amazing and Journey Outreach now has active programmes in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, India, and with indigenous communities in Australia and New Zealand.
For further information on this amazing healing process, please contact: Bríd Ní Ríordáin on 977 444703 or e-mail Bríd at: bridniriordain@hotmail.com. Or visit www.thejourney.com
Cognitive reactions to smoking relapse
By Elliot Wald, Tami J Eggelston PhD & Frederick Gibbson PhD-feb 2010
Hypnosis is the most effective way of giving up smoking, according to the largest ever scientific comparison of ways of breaking the habit. Willpower, it turns out, counts for very little.
Smokers are coming under increasing pressure to quit.
Earlier this month the Institute of Actuaries published the results of a study it commissioned which showed that the mortality rate for smokers is twice as high as for non-smokers, and that on average a smoker dies 6 years earlier than a non-smoker. Surveys suggest that three in four smokers would like to give up, according to the anti-smoking campaign Action on Smoking and Health (ASH). To find the most effective way to give up smoking, frank Schmidt and research student Chockalingam Viswesvaran of the University of Iowa carried out a meta-analysis, statistically combining the results of more than 600 studies covering almost 72,000 people from North America, Scandinavia and elsewhere in Europe. By combining the results from so many separate studies, the meta-analysis enables the real effectiveness of each technique to be picked out from the statistical ‘noise’ that often blights studies involving smaller numbers of subjects.
The results, published in the current issue of the journal, show that the average success rate for all methods was 25%: that is, only about two in five smokers is likely to succeed using methods covered by the study. Patients told they had serious cardiac disorders, and so a clear incentive to stop immediately, had the highest quitting rate, at 36 per cent. But for most smokers the most effective technique was hypnosis, which included 48 studies covering over 6000 smokers, gave an average success rate of 80 per cent for this method. ‘Combination’ techniques, combining, for example, exercise and breathing therapy came second with a success rate of 29 per cent. Smoke aversion, in which smokers have their own warm, stale cigarette smoke blown back into their faces, achieved a 25 per cent success rate, followed by acupuncture at 24 per cent.
The least successful method turned out to be advice from GPs, which appears to convince virtually no one to give up. Self-help, in the form of books or mail-order advice, achieved modest success – around 9 per cent, while nicotine gum was little better at 10 per cent.
‘We found that involvement of physicians did not have as big an impact as we expected’, said Schmidt, ‘We speculate that the reason for this is that it is the content of the treatment that matters, and not the status of the person giving it.’ David Pollock, director of ASH, said he was surprised by the success of hypnosis, which anecdotal evidence had suggested was not very effective. One organization not surprised by the results is the British Society of Medical and Dental Hypnosis. Christopher Pattinson, the society’s academic chairman, said that current hypnosis techniques are a far cry from their popular image of music hall tricks involving swinging fob watches.
The latest relaxation techniques achieve success rates of up to 80 per cent from a single session, he said. Richard Doll, the epidemiologist who carried out the pioneering studies of the risk of smoking, said that the apparent success of hypnosis and the high quitting rate of patients with heart disease backed his own observations. He added, however, that he was somewhat surprised by the low success rate of those who resorted to willpower alone: ‘The majority of people find it too difficult to give up, he said. ‘The only way to succeed is to want to do it enough.’
Article taken from New Scientist vol 136 issue 1845-31 October 92
If you are reading this and would like an informal discussion, then call me. Paul Parker, tel 0044 (0)7766 885350 or 0044 1926 811129 or www.pauljparker.co.uk.
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How good would it be to get rid of excess fat without a diet?
Weight Reduction Using Hypnosis & your own mind - Let me explain how. JAN 2010
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As a Certified and Registered Hypnotherapist and Trainer of Hypnotherapists I understand some of the concerns people have surrounding the myths and fairy tales that abound on the subject of Hypnosis. Let me tell you about the good work that can be done utilising the power of your own mind. At this time of year many of us make a promise to ourselves to ‘lose weight’ and go on diets of many different kinds. Well, what a waste of time! You will be on a diet of some kind for the rest of your life. What happens when you come off the diet? Dieters in the main fail and let me explain the reason. When I work with my private clients on weight reduction there is no diet and we do not focus on ‘losing weight.’ There are no forbidden foods! I do not want my clients to have any forbidden foods. How can it be right for someone, whom you have never met to tell you what you can and cannot eat?
OK got your attention now? We are all programmed in our subconscious mind, from childhood to go and find whatever we lose. Remember when you were a child losing your shoe or toy and your parents telling you to go and look for it and find whatever it was. So now when you ‘lose’ weight your subconscious mind kicks in and tells you to go and find the weight you have lost. Using Hypnosis and the power of your own subconscious mind we start by changing your thinking to the fact you are deliberately getting rid of something you have no need for, your excess weight. As you deliberately get rid of ‘it’ your subconscious mind realises this and gets on with something else. So far so good, many of you are nodding your heads now in agreement because you know this makes sense, don't you?
How do we get to this stage and what happens at a Hypnosis session? Firstly decide how much weight you want to loose and the reasons for this before calling me.
At your session I will take details of your eating habits before deciding what process we will use together. Then explain what we are going to do without going into great detail, after all that's the reason you are here. We may even set a realistic target date for your weight reduction to be achieved.
Approaches can vary depending on what you tell me. For example if there are cravings, say for chocolate, this could easily be dealt with without hypnosis utilising TFT or thought field therapy and involves self tapping on certain points of the body to remove the cravings. Once the desire for chocolate has gone then you simply do not eat it or eat a reduced quantity, you decide before we start. If there are other foods that you want to stop eating completely, then I could use a different method, commonly known as BUSTER therapy and again we are not yet using Hypnosis. (Some of this I do in public, at exhibitions or when giving talks freely to local groups). If alcohol is an issue and we all know how fattening alcohol is, this can be dealt with. All the decisions are yours and yours alone, no one telling you what to do. Deep down if we are being honest we do know how we would like to behave with food and eating and this is where we start utilising Hypnosis. Once you have allowed yourself to enter into the Hypnotic trance we can then start the process of you reprogramming your mind with my assistance. Notice I wrote the words allow yourself to go into Hypnosis as no one can be Hypnotised unless they are willing to be. Those of you who know a little about hypnosis will know that you the client are in control and no Hypnotist or Hypnotherapist can make you do anything which would be against your own code of ethics. You will be awake; you will be conscious and fully aware of everything that is going on. I liken the Hypnotic trance to deep relaxation, a bit like drifting into a dream world before you fall asleep, very pleasant, and very relaxing. All I ask is that you follow my voice and my instructions and providing you do that you will enter into Hypnosis. Then using various techniques we can help you change your eating habits to what you really want, deep down in your own mind to do.
Many people say they do not have enough will power and whilst this is true for some, we all do have will power. Often this will power is increased through Hypnosis and makes the whole process of getting rid of excess fat, very easy, surprisingly easy they say. With Hypnosis it is possible to get rid of excess weight by an average of 2 - 5 pounds per week and all you have to do is what we agreed with your subconscious mind and follow my golden rules. There are only 4 of them so this will be very easy.
Rule 1 When you are genuinely hungry EAT
Rule 2 Eat what you want, not what you think you should
Rule 3 Eat CONSCIOUSLY and ENJOY every mouthful
Rule 4 When you first feel full STOP eating
In some cases people are fat for a reason(s) and this has been done by the subconscious mind for a positive reason. A clue might be in someone saying for example ‘I am always hungry’ ‘I never feel really full’ ‘If I don't have a pudding I feel cheated.’ This could point to the need for regression. Your subconscious mind may have started this a long time ago for the right reason in its opinion at the time, and sometimes there is a need to go back in time and visit and or learn what was going on at the time your subconscious decided this was the route to go down. Time passes but your subconscious keeps behaving in an old way based on old information. There is nothing to be worried about in doing regression if you have chosen an experienced Hypnotherapist, he or she will guide you in complete safety and help you to make the necessary adjustment. Once the past event has been successfully dealt with your subconscious mind can then learn how you wish to behave in relation to food from now on.
So in simple terms your subconscious mind is working with old information and needs updating. Weight reduction or weight control is an area I specialise in and have extensive experience of, although it is only the tip of the iceberg that Hypnotherapy can help with. How many sessions will I need is a common question and not an easy one to answer. I can tell you that all of my weight clients will have a minimum of two sessions and more if required, it really depends on each individual and what their goals are. A lot easier than going to classes each week for the rest of your life, isn't it?
Hypnotherapy has been around for a long time and must not be compared to the stage shows you may have seen. It is used by some medical practitioners and certainly in the past Hypnosis was used widely around the world for surgical operations long before we had anaesthetics. A professional Hypnotherapist gives a completely confidential service so you can talk in the certain knowledge that no one else will know anything about you. If you are reading this and would like an informal discussion, then call me. Paul Parker, tel 0044 (0)7766 885350 or 0044 1926 811129 or www.pauljparker.co.uk.
HOW TO MAKE SURE YOU'RE NOT DRINKING HUMAN FAECES, CHLORINE, LEAD, PESTICIDES, AND PRESCRIPTION DRUGS
When you drink a glass of water from the tap, you probably think that it’s 100 percent pure H2O; you know there is fluoride in there for healthy teeth and other various chemicals used to kill bacteria and improve taste. What you don’t know is that you are probably also drinking a big, cold glass of the remnants of someone else’s medicine.
The quality of our drinking water has been steadily declining. So far governments have turned a blind eye to the problem. They continue to dump chlorine into our drinking water, ignore corporate pollution, and fail to address the newest threat to the public health - prescription drugs seeping in to our water supplies.
You have the right to know what you and your family are drinking, and how you can keep your water safe.
The 5 Biggest Health Risks Found In Drinking Water According to the Mayo Clinic the average person in made up of 60% water, and needs to consume 2 liters, or just over 8 glasses of water to stay healthy. Every system in your body is dependent on water - the problem is that most people are not nourishing their body with clean, safe drinking water. If you're not using a quality home water filtration system here's what could be lurking in your drinking water.
* Human Faeces
* Chlorine
* Rust & Sediment
* Prescription Drugs
* Chemicals / Farm Run Off/Corporate Waste
Faeces Right now many areas are pushing to introduce "recycled water" into the public drinking supply. That might sound harmless until you learn that "recycled water" is the waste that gets flushed down the toilet. The methods in place to separate the water from the human excrement include the use of chemical disinfectants.By comparison, drinking water laced with human faeces is a small health risk compared to the more serious chemicals, and toxic substances found in your public water supplies listed below.
Chlorine Chlorine is used by municipal water systems to remove microorganisms from water. There's only one problem, chlorine is poison! While it's safer than having pathogenic organisms in the water, it isn't truly a safe ingredient in your water. The National Cancer Institute believes that those of us who consume chlorinated water have a 93% increased risk of many cancers, in part because it combines naturally with organic matter in water to make trihalomethanes—molecules that contribute to the formation of cancer.
Rust & Sediment Even if your local water treatment facility did manage to remove 100% of all contaminants from your drinking water (which is highly unlikely) you could still be at risk. If you were to go down into your basement, remove one of your water pipes, and look inside, you would likely find rust, lead, and other sediment built up on the inside of your water pipes. There's also the potential for contamination coming from the pipes that bring the water from it's source into your home, which you have no control over.
Prescription Drugs THERE ARE NOW MANY REPORTS SHOWING- there's a new threat facing every water supply in the developed regions of the world. Prescription Drugs are now being detected in our water supplies. After being ingested, excreted, and flushed down the drain these drugs are not being filtered out by water treatment facilities. What that means is you could be getting a small dose of 1000's of different drugs including, Prozac, Valium, uppers, downers, steroids, and all the other drugs you see stacked up behind the counter of your local pharmacy with every glass of water you drink.
The thought is frightening. What's worse is that there are no government standards restricting any of these drugs from being in your drinking water!
"Some experts fear that even low levels of antibiotics fouling the nation's water supply may help create superbugs: microorganisms that have evolved to survive an antibiotic's lethal assault.
Public health experts already have noted the rise of infection after infection that cannot be stopped with the usual arsenal of antibiotics.
And the superbugs may be causing "tens of thousands" of deaths in the USA each year, says Abigail Salyers, an expert on antibiotic resistance at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign." ~ Source: USA Today
Chemicals / Run Off / Corporate waste
It's almost universally agreed upon that big corporations really don't care much about anything except making a profit, and nothing hurts profits more than following environmental guide lines. The problem is that the fines these corporations face for not properly disposing of waste (assuming they get caught) are not enough of a deterrent to keep them from doing it.
What You Can Do To Make Sure Your Drinking Water Is Safe
It's almost impossible to remove 100% of every possible type of contamination from city water, but by using a home water filtration system you can greatly improve upon the quality of the water you consume. You have to be careful when selecting a water filter for your home. Many of the water filters being sold are relatively ineffective, and overpriced. THERE IS A SOLUTION THOUGH FOR NOT ONLY TOWN WATER BUT RIVER AND CANAL WATER TOO! General Ecology, Inc. started with a single objective - to create an ideal water purification technology with an ecological and chemical free balance. Developed by multi-disciplined scientists and engineers to protect against modern environmental and ecological water borne problems, "Structured Matrix™" purification technology combines truly advanced concepts and purification techniques not available from any other product. It is independently certified to meet the Environmental Protection Agency's very rigorous Microbiological Standard for Drinking Water Purifiers, which encompasses pathogenic cysts, disease bacteria and viruses. The outstanding success of "Structured Matrix" purification technology is continually unmatched in laboratory tests against other systems and by over 27 years of customer satisfaction through service to a wide range of sophisticated users worldwide.
Call Purewater Spain the suppliers of these products for the benefits of refreshingly pure, great tasting water.
www.purewaterspain.com or
Call 977 059 364
Call Purewater Spain today 977 059 364
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Seagull 4 is a EPA certified micro-biological purifier, clinically proven to remove 99.99999% of viruses, bacteria, chemicals and heavy metals, up till the last drop.
Do not be confused by water filters or fancy so called high technology units that are not clinically proven.
Clinical tests done at the University of Arizona, USA and Institute Pasteur, France.
great benefits of carob NOV 2009
Carob, or “Ceratonia Siliqua”, is cultivated in the Mediterranean region. It is mostly cultivated in the eastern and southern area of Spain. It's natural habitat is Cyprus, Syria, Greece, Spain, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Israel and Libya. It is an evergreen tree with large and shiny leaves. It grows in warm climates and may live to be 120 years old. Carob contains carbohydrates, tannins, proteins, minerals and dietary fibers. It is included in dairy products, baked goods, snacks and cereal as dietary fiber. It favours arid conditions which are naturally alien to fungus and pests so little or no chemical sprays are needed in its cultivation. It is a large tree and grows to 15m in 50 years. It produces no fruit for the first 15 years of its life, but will fruit well into its old age. A large tree can produce one ton of beans in one harvest.
The carob tree flowers in September and October. The flowers on female carob trees must be pollinated by pollen from the male trees.
Developing carob pods have the appearance of green broad beans but they turn a dark glossy brown with maturity. They are between 4"and 10"long and weigh 0.75 to 1.5 oz\. The pods contain four series of oval holes, each bearing a seed like a watermelon seed. Each pod can contain up to 15 seeds. Carob seeds and pods are edible. The ground seeds are used as a substitute for cocoa and as a food (also known as algarroba, St. John's bread, and locust bean gum). The pods are commonly used as cattle feed. Carob powder is also used as a food stabilizer and as a darkening agent.
Carob was consumed in ancient times. It's name is referenced in the New Testament. According to the legend, St. John survived on carob beans mixed with honey during his crossing of the desert. Hence, it is also known as Saint John's Bread. The seeds of carob were used to weigh gold. It is eaten on the Jewish holidays and it's juice is consumed by Muslims during the Islamic month of Ramadan.
Many know the carob tree (or locust tree) but they don't know of the health benefits. This article covers the benefits of carob for health. Here is a great list of benefits of the locust tree.
1.Improves digestion.
2.Lowers cholesterol level in the blood. Carob seeds don't have a cholesterol agent.
3.It acts as an antioxidant.
4.It can be used to treat diarrhoea in children and adults.
5.It contains an active substance that is effective against asthma. Carob is also used for asthma problems caused by allergies.
6.It is a good expectorant. If smokers use it for a few days, they will soon feel the benefits.
7.It doesn't contain caffeine. It works well for patients that have high blood pressure
8.It can help to prevent lung cancer, if used regularly.
9.It contains vitamins E and is used for the treatment of cough, flu, anemia and osteoclasis.
10.Carob tannins have Gallic acid. Gallic acid is analgesic, anti allergic and antibacterial. It is also antioxidant, antiviral and antiseptic.
11.It is used for the treatment of polio in children, as the Gallic acid in carob tannins helps to prevent polio.
12.It is rich in phosphor and calcium. For this reason, it is used in the fight against osteoporosis.
I want to remind you, that you should apply the cure in the way that is described here. Do not take an over dose to get a faster result. Follow the times and amounts that are given.
Application: In the case of general shortness of breath and allergic shortness of breath. First wash 6-7 medium size Carob in water and then break them into pieces (each 3-4 cm), put them into the half liter boiling water. Bring to the boil cover and simmer for 7-8 minutes. After it cools down, pour the juice into a glass bottle. Its shelf life in the fridge is 3 days. Drink a glass of it every morning, during breakfast, and before dinner. You should prepare a new cure every three days. Apply the cure for twenty days without a break. After twenty days, keep applying the cure for fifteen days but add a spoon full of honey into the glass of juice and drink it during breakfast and before dinner. Don’t consume additional honey at breakfast while you are applying the cure. Attention: If the patient is a child who is between 5-12 years of age and having shortness of breath or allergic shortness of breath, you should apply the cure only during breakfast. Attention: Don’t eat honey at breakfast while you are applying this cure. Don’t add more than one tea spoon full of honey to have a stronger effect.
Alternative to chocolate
Carob has rightly been coined the healthy alternative to chocolate. As most of us are now aware, carob is free from the stimulants caffeine and theobromine found in chocolate. It is also naturally sweet, so carob products will generally contain substantially less sugar than their chocolate counterparts. Carob powder can be substituted for cocoa powder in any recipe.
Advantages of Carob over Chocolate
Carob is free from caffeine and theobromine which can be addictive and can cause allergies. Caffeine and theobromine are stimulants. Caffeine is the most active and works directly on the brain stimulating the senses, inspiration and alertness. It can be transmitted through breast milk and pregnant women are advised to restrict their caffeine intake. Caffeine has analgesic properties but also has side-effects such as anxiety, nervousness, nausea, and palpitations. Caffeine not only stimulates the brain and other organs but also increases the heart rate. It can provoke emotional reactions. It stimulates the gastric juices and acts as a diuretic and so can cause excess loss of the water soluble vitamins B & C. Caffeine stimulates release of the body's stored energy reserves, meaning that sugars are released into the blood. This can increase the risk of diabetes and possibly obesity and can cause mood swings.
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Health Matters- training ourselves to work with pain May 2010
Usually we put up resistance to pain & try to avoid uncomfortable experiences. Unfortunately, though, this doesn't always work & life continues to relentlessly send us messages of all shapes and flavours. However, studies on coping with pain demonstrate the role of the mind in adjusting our pain threshold, & it is clear that resistance to pain is often a greater source of tension & fear than the pain itself we are seeking to avoid. So learning to lower the resistance and acknowledge our experience as it is can have huge benefits, in coping with chronic physical pain for example. Since this means a reversal of our usual pattern we tend to have to practice lowering our resistance somehow. The traditional method of 'sending and taking' from the East is designed to help us do this. It helps make the mind less rigid in its habitual categorizing of good vs. bad so that the physical or emotional pain we all have to work with at times, whether our own or as witness to others, becomes less frightening.
1. Settling
Find a comfortable sitting position with a straight spine, or lie down, and just be aware of your body on the chair or earth & your natural breathing for a few minutes, simply going in & out…
2. Working with the texture of the breath
Once settled imagine you are surrounded by dark, heavy, hot smoke & breathe it in through the pores of your body. As you breathe out imagine yourself radiating out light, cool, openness, ease & spaciousness. Do this for several minutes, Quite naturally the mind will get distracted, sleepy, whatever; when you notice that just bring your attention back to working with the alternating sensations.
3. Your pain, others´ pain
Once you have a feel for that alternating cycle of dark and light allow your feelings to rest briefly on whatever sensation, thought or emotion that comes up as you breathe in the dark, heavy sensation - it can be your pain or someone’s else’s. Just acknowledge that you are feeling it & breathe it in. Continue to breathe out light & spaciousness. Keep alternating for a few minutes.
4. Extending outwards
Nothing we feel is not something felt by innumerable others around the world, so as you breathe in now encompass every being anywhere who is feeling similar pain. As you exhale, send that light, spacious peace to all of them as well.
5. Resettling
Finally, return to just being aware of your body and placing your awareness on the breath going in and out, just as it is.
This is a powerful practice for training our minds to work with a suppler, open approach. Just take it little by little; if it bring up strong feelings, just relax; and always wrap it in the settling practice as above to ground yourself and allow the balance of simplicity.
Taru Burstall, Licensed Acupuncturist & Psychotherapist , Massage Therapist, 629 301 509, taruyes@gmail.com
Health Matters - Preparing to beat seasonal allergies April 2010
Prevention can play an important part in making the wearying symptoms of the allergy seasons easier to cope with for those who suffer from allergic rhinitis, or hay fever. This condition is characterised by a highly sensitive immune response including symptoms such as sneezing, watery nasal discharge &/or blocked nose, eye redness & irritation, headaches, irritation & depression. It can be seasonal or throughout the year. Spring allergy reactions tend to be to tree pollens; summer ones to grass pollens; & autumn ones to weed pollens. Drugs such as antihistamines can help control symptoms but may produce undesirable side-effects such as severe drowsiness.
About 1 in 10 people in the western world are affected by this condition, and there is a link to a history of repeat antibiotic treatment as children, as well as to a diet high in sugars, fruit juices, dairy products & yeasted grain products. Reducing intake of these products in the months prior to the allergy season is therefore an important step in reducing the severity of symptoms, and by creating a build-up effect using any or all of the following self-help tools in the 2 -3 month period before your allergy usually kicks in.
Horseradish is a powerful herb which can clear out your sinuses immediately, but take care when using it as it is so strong it can burn sensitive tissues. Quercetin is an extract from oak & onions and is sold with vitamin C as capsules which help reduce histamine (an immune reaction chemical) formation and release.
A traditional folk remedy is a teaspoonful of honey daily, a sort of homeopathic treatment to prepare your immune system pollen-wise. Bee pollen itself works similarly: the bee's collection of plant pollens in the product helps prepare the body for the coming peak pollen periods. Start off slowly and build up gently towards the peak season.
Homeopathic treatments can be very helpful. I find I have to experiment with homeopathic remedies; one tends to work for a few years, then stops, and I have to find a new one by asking in the chemist about available remedies, or in a homeopathic shop identifying my specific collection of symptoms/ constitution & choosing accordingly.
Likewise using self-acupressure points ahead of time can help soothe an over-reactive immune response. Use of the points also helps reduce symptoms during the allergy season, a quick treatment 2 or 3 times a day can make a real difference, as well as for an emergency treatment like on extra high pollen days when you find yourself picnicking in a meadow.
To treat, press some or all points listed below firmly for a minute or two.
A key point is Large Intestine 4, at the web margin between the thumb & first finger; it governs facial problems as well as being a calming & pain-reducing point & helping headache. (This point is too strong for use by pregnant women, however, please note.)
Yintang between the 2 eyebrows helps clear nasal congestion & calms the mind.
Bitong, on either side of the nose above the nostril (where the finger can't move any higher) helps dry up mucus in the nose. Similarly helpful is Large Intestine 20, in the groove at the outer flare of the nostril.
Bladder 2, in the slight groove at the inner edge of each eyebrow helps soothe eyes.
Stomach 36, four finger widths below the kneecap on the outside of the leg, strengthens the immune system so prevents & treats over-allergic response.
And Bladder 10, half an inch below the base of the back of the skull, & a half-inch out on either side from the spine, helps headaches, eye problems & the exhaustion caused by the over-reaction.
Good luck with your preparation so you can enjoy the spring and summer to its full potential.
Taru Burstall, Licensed Acupuncturist & Psychotherapist , Massage Therapist, 629 301 509, taruyes@gmail.com
Health self-help toolkit: stepping beyond addictions -JAN 2010
Well, we made it, we passed through the deepest, darkest turn of the year yet again, the winter solstice, & now the days lengthen little by little once more, almost invisibly. For most of us, the heart of winter brings a time of reflection, sitting with the quiet at those depths, with the gift of time we can look at the shadows inside, the real rich story of how we are beyond the mask of personality and the face we usually keep on for the world of relentless progress. It's the time when seeds rest deep in the earth, true to themselves; ready to become who they are expressing their unique signature of the pattern of reality. And traditionally it's a time we use to make resolutions to be true to ourselves, to go beyond the habitual patterns that seem to promise lightness of being, spirited-ness & diversions, but in fact end up weighing us down. The means we thought would lead to the goodies end up instead becoming a smokescreen sapping our energy & preventing us from achieving the very things they promised to deliver. We become addicted to the highs and familiar-ness of a very narrow band of experience. And so we miss the everyday feast of small miracles & ordinary magic that occurs on a daily basis if we don't insist on editing reality and putting a lid our genuine responses and insights.
Paulo Coelho has a story about how some Moroccan desert tribes perceive original sin in his fine book, 'Like the Flowing River.'
Eve was out walking in the Garden of Eden when the serpent slithered over to her.
'Eat this apple' said the serpent.
Eve, who had been properly instructed by God, refused.
'Eat this apple,' insisted the serpent. 'You need to look more beautiful for your man.'
'No. I don't,' replied Eve. 'He has no other woman but me.'
The serpent laughed. 'Of course he has.'
And when Eve did not believe him, he led her up to a well on top of the hill. 'She's in that cave. Adam hid her in there.'
Eve leaned over and, reflected in the water of the well, she saw a lovely woman. She immediately ate the apple the serpent was holding out to her.
According to this same Moroccan tribe, a return to paradise is guaranteed to anyone who recognizes his or her reflection in the water and feels no fear.
So here's to any of you getting real & using this time to stop smoking, comfort eating, avoiding exercise (me!!!), over-watching TV, lying comfortably-uncomfortable under the 'duvet of despair' as a friend of mine calls it, or whatever your particular pattern of sapping your life energy is. May a good appreciative look at your shadow, your messy, creative and vital depths, usher you through the gates to a freer, juicier year ahead.
Taru Burstall is a registered family therapist, masseuse & acupuncturist; Tel: 629 301 509, taruyes@gmail.com.
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Health self-help toolkit: Meditation - Training the Mind DEC 09
This month I have come across all kinds of venues where people are using meditation as a body-mind linking tool to restore health and balance to their lives, from Mora to Vilafranca. These places offer useful practices which can stand alone, along with or without any other belief systems. This is a refreshing & medicinal development in these complex & demanding times. A poster I saw for an upcoming weekend meditation workshop puts it well:
"TURNING YOUR MIND INTO AN ALLY
The majority of us are slaves to our own mind. Our own mind is our worst enemy. We try to keep our centre, but our mind scatters. We try to keep stress at bay, but our anxiety keeps us awake at night. We try to be good to the people we love but we forget & end up more preoccupied with ourselves. And when we want to try and change our lives we hurl ourselves into spiritual practices, hoping to get immediate results, but lose our way once our initial desire for change cools down. "
By training our mind through the practice of meditation we can stabilise and forge an alliance with ourselves which allows us to use our mind instead of it using us. It is a simple practice which anyone can do. If we want to lessen our confusion & the pain we habitually feel and be of help to others & the planet, we need to accept the responsibility to learn what our mind is and how it functions, independent of any of our belief systems. When we see how the mind works, we also see how our life works. That transforms us.
And a group started on a monthly basis in my local village of El Perelló to do a full moon meditation, organized with the help and blessing of the local Ajuntament. There were 45 of us in the room, about 30 Catalan women and assorted others, a fine turnout. We were given a beautiful, clear description of the mindfulness meditation technique used by Tibetan buddhist schools as a grounding presence practice, by Antonio Grandon of the Kagyu Samye Dzong school. The introduction to the practice was in Castillano, which we English-speakers all managed to understand enough to do pretty much what everyone else was doing (I think!) & in future there will be a resumé in English if needed. The room was like a deep quiet river at times, the questions/answers afterwards were great - completely unphilosophical, about how this related to our everyday lives - and it felt very sane.
The full moon meditations will explore meditation techniques from various traditions, the next one being asana techniques used in the yoga path. This broad approach perfectly embodies the respect needed for the multiple wisdom traditions which exist that needs fostered so dearly to get us through these coming times.
Taru Burstall, M.A. Psych, Dip. Massage, Licenced Acupuncturist, 629 301 509, taruyes@gmail.com
Please feel very welcome to contact me & for details of any of the above workshops/meetings.
Health self-help toolkit:
UNDERSTANDING our major organ systems: The Gallblader NOV 2009
Continuing the series looking at what our major organ systems do for us & what we can do for them.
In chinese medicine the Gall Bladder is all to do with
- decision making
-flexibility
The gall bladder, the working partner of our Liver, has a pathway through the body that begins at the outer edge of the eye, zig zags round the head (that's why you get a headache if you abuse the Liver) and proceeds down the side of the trunk and leg to end at the 4th toe.
So the Gall Bladder's meridian pathway starts with the eyes & vision, giving us the ability to see where we need to go and helping its partner the Liver to choose the strategies we need to get there. A weak & challenged gallbladder energy in the body often shows up as indecision & timidity, apologising whilst others stand on our toes & camouflaging ourselves, whilst an overflowing gallbladder energy can lead to behaviour characterised by anger & rash decisions, bullying others as we rush to get to our aims. Life of course involves a balance of being decisive enough to manifest and execute but without being rigid, so that our path ahead is clear & we can reach it through flexible & co-operative means. The Gall Bladder helps supply the sensitive courage needed to continue our journey effectively.
The Gall Bladder also stores Bile made by the Liver, which stored well avoids the nausea and indigestion which can occur if the Gall Bladder is weak in performing its digestive role. In TCM Bile also is said to have a pure & fluid aspect which nourishes all our tendons and ligaments so that they flow in an elastic, ready way, both relaxed & taut enough to allow us to reach our purposes. Ligaments wrap around joints to hold them in place, whilst tendons attach muscles to bone. Both need to be hydrated, stretched and exercised, & need us to avoid holding rigid positions in our lives, emotionally or physically.
2 useful points are Gall Bladder 29 & 30, which can help release rigidity and immobility of the hips & pelvic girdle, straighten a twisted lower torso and reduce one-sided sciatic pain. 
Imagining a Kung-fu style kick by Bruce Lee, for example, we can see an image of the readiness & generosity of being willing to be ourselves, clear in our boundaries and generously extending them through our legs, so we can flexibly adjust our position to ride the ever-changing realities of our lives. In the East they call practising the flexible stability this requires 'riding windhorse' – you ride phenomena, they are not allowed to ride you. It's certainly more fun that way!
Taru Burstall is a family systems therapist, licensed acupuncturist and massage therapist. Any queries are welcomed, please phone 629 301 509.
Health self-help toolkit:
UNDERSTANDING our major organ systems: The KIDNEYS oct 2009
From a chinese medicine view your KIDNEYs are the root source of your creation of power, skill and ability. They are the storehouse of the energy we inherit from those before us which governs our progression through the stages of life like adolescence. The strength from our Kidneys helps make those transitions smooth if we nourish the Kidneys when there are bumps during those times of life, like the menopause, and as we emerge into old age. The kidneys re-assure our feelings and trust of having a place where we came from and can return to, and as such are an antidote to fear. Weak Kidney energy makes people fearful and lacking willpower as that trust in having a place to stand on is undermined.
We all have two Kidneys: they contain the creativity of difference. The Kidneys have both Yin (cool/moist/liquid) & Yang (spark/flame/fire) aspects and just as the oil and flame of an oil lamp together make light, the Kidneys help supply the meaning and depth we need in our lives, illuminating the treasure of who we are and where we need to put our energies. Their capacity to hold the balance of opposites also gives rise to the joy and power of sexuality and reproduction.
They are related to the WATER element and govern the deep structures of the body, the bones, brain, skeleton, sexual & urinary systems, ears, lower back & knees, as well as head hair, strong silky hair suggesting plentiful Kidney energy. Water-related activities or connections can help nourish Kidney energy, like using the colour blue; eating cucumber, watermelon, oysters; swimming or walking by the sea; as well as activities balancing the dual needs for stillness & expression of energy in our life.
The point Kidney 6 (just below the inner ankle) is called 'Illuminated Sea'. We can all imagine the sea when it is so still its depth is reflecting the stars and moon. The stillness and silence can be so strong it goes beyond the quiet of just sitting still, becoming so potent it is almost magical. Sometimes we touch the power of that depth of stillness entering a grove in a forest, or a church or temple - we know instinctively not to interrupt those moments. That stillness, blessing and power in our lives is a gift from the Kidney part of our system. If we are quiet enough to take the time to listen we can see through stillness into the vast mirror of ourselves.
Taru Burstall is a licensed acupuncture & massage therapist & psychotherapist. You are welcome to phone 629 301 509 if you have any queries.
Health self-help toolkit:
UNDERSTANDING LOWER BACK PAIN & SCIATICA AUG 09
For most of us, understanding what is going on helps us cope when dealing with pain, whether by helping us deal with uncertainty or by finding pointers as to how to take better care of ourself. Over half of the Western population has to deal with back pain at one point or another, so some understanding as to what goes on in this often mystifying and vital part of our body can be useful.
Sometimes lower back pain seems to arise from nowhere; at other times it's clearly related to a fall, accident, over-lifting or digging, for example. Back pain can be caused by many conditions, the most common of which are the following four:
(1) LIGAMENT strain – a general term applied when there is no other clear problem seen for chronic recurrent lower back pain, where the back muscles are weak or overworked and fail to protect the ligaments (which attach to bone) so they get overstrained. This type of back pain is usually better with rest & worse with exercise. From the traditional Chinese medicine view (TCM) boosting the Liver & Spleen to help ligaments and muscles respectively helps, alongside treating the back itself.
(2) Problems of the JOINTS where vertebrae meet (spondylosis)- Here a disease (usually ankylosis) causes hardening, or ossification, of the joints between vertebra. Movement over the troubled joint(s) is restricted and causes pain, and the muscles along the spine are stiff and spasm. In TCM, boosting the Liver to support ligaments and cartilage helps this condition along with treating localised pain points with massage or acupuncture.
(3) Problems with the SPINE's BONES/VERTEBRAE themselves (spinal osteoarthritis)- Osteoarthritis mainly affects the cartilage (protective tissue at the end of bones) which becomes worn away so that there is no cushioning between bone surfaces, &/or little bony spurs develop like bird-beaks which can put pressure on nerves travelling away from the spinal cord, causing pain in the back & sometimes the areas the nerves relate to as well. In TCM helping the Kidneys strengthens the bones plus there are special points to boost the bones themselves bordering the spine which you can massage or treat with acupuncture. We can also see if there is Cold or Damp to clear, which can accumulate causing lower back pain, or general Kidney weakness.
(4)Prolapse of the lumbar DISC- The discs are cartilage pads between 2 vertebrae which allow the spinal column to move when the pad is compressed. Within the pad is a sac of fluid-er matter which can burst through (prolapse) the cartilage ring holding it in if the cartilage is weak or over-pressured. This condition is often referred to as a slipped disc, but actually the disc doesn't move, just the sac inside bulges out. As the disc's outer ring hardens with age, prolapse/bulge becomes less easy & this mostly happens to people in their 30s/early 40s. The bulge can interfere with the nerve roots leaving the spinal column as above in (3), and will often come on as a sudden shooting pain in the back, often down the leg (sciatica), and sometimes numbness.
A person with a disc prolapse pressing on a nerve root will find it hard to lift one straight leg up when lying down, when flexing from the hip; the pain on trying to do so is on the side where the nerve root is compressed. When acute it can be hard to get any comfortable position at all. However the outer ring of the disc can heal and the torn (herniated) inner sac can be reabsorbed; complete bed-rest is needed to allow this to happen. With TCM we boost the Liver to support cartilage in order to speed up healing of the disc, along with local back points to reduce pain, compression & spasm.
Back pain responds well to acupuncture, and unlike many other conditions treatment is less related to the length of time the problem has been there, and cases of very chronic backache can sometimes be cleared in a few sessions. Treating and relaxing muscles & ligaments allows the spine to realign itself properly. Lack of regular exercise is one of the main causes of back pain, so even regular walking is a good way of preventing back pain from re-occurring, along with gentle stretching and twisting exercise. Caution lifting weights is essential if you are prone to back strain – easier said than done, if you're living in the campo!
Taru Burstall is a Licensed Acupuncturist and Massage Therapist, ph. 629 301 509.
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HEALTH SELF HELP-EAR ACUPUNCTURE/MAGNETS JUNE 09
In the 1950s a French surgeon noticed that people who had been treated on the ears with acupuncture had successfully recovered from sciatica, chronic lower back pain. A Hong Kong doctor also noticed that treating a patient with lung disease with ear acupuncture also by chance helped the patient go through heroin withdrawals with far less difficulty than usual. This led to a mapping of acupuncture points on the ear which treat related areas of the body, echoing the form of a baby in the womb. Chairman Mao began to train China's 'barefoot doctors' in ear acupuncture as a cheap effective form of mass medicine, & the Black Panthers in the 60's occupied a clinic in the Bronx & set up a free drug detox program using ear acupuncture for local people addicted to heroin or cocaine.
Since then thousands of people throughout the world have been treated with ear acupuncture to help them detox from many different substances, from cigarettes & alcohol to crack-cocaine, using this method because of its ease of access and effectiveness in lessening the pain of withdrawal symptoms. People tend to sleep better, have less of the crazy feelings, muscle spasms & stomach pains, & get through it faster. It is still a challenge to stay off, but easing detox is one major obstacle lessened.
We use the Liver points to kickstart the detox & flush out toxins; nervous system points to help sleep, to calm, to reduce cravings, & to boost endorphin production (our natural painkiller/pleasure hormones); Kidney points to cool and nourish an exhausted system; points like Stomach for pain & help energy; & mouth points on the ear if for smoking, whether cigarettes or heroin, or for compulsive/comfort eating.
This treatment nourishes the Yin of the person's system, the fundamental stillness and capacity to be peaceful, which we lose when we get addicted.
Tiny gold-covered magnets can be stuck onto the ear points instead of, or after, acupuncture needles; they work to slowly and steadily stimulate these points, flushing out toxins and nourishing Yin. You may have seen people like Kate Moss photographed in the papers sporting rather natty ear magnets.
The landscape of the ear points is straightforward enough to learn yourself so you can treat yourself or those you care about, either with simple touch or with magnets, which are cheap and easy to buy. Feel free to email me for a more detailed ear map if you are interested to try, via taruyes@gmail.com. Good luck.
Taru Burstall, Acupuncturist and Massage Therapist.
629 301 509
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health self-help toolkit/ balance between the 5 elements
One of the most useful things I have come across from Eastern views is the model of the 5 elements, or 'Wu-Xing' in Chinese, related to but slightly different from the elements traditionally found in some Western traditions.
Looking at the Wu-Xing as below you find that each of the 5 elements is connected with an array of properties/experiences, such as an organ system of the body, a colour or season, or sense organ. The related emotions are shown both when the element is in balance or with the negative side which comes up more easily when it's out of balance (e.g. The flexibility/acceptance of Wood can flip to irritation & rigid views.)
Each element is said to be the 'mother' of the following element, so if one element is weak & out of balance, then to strengthen it you can nourish its mother element.
Each element is also said to be the grandmother of the element two places ahead. As we know, over-active grandchildren sometimes ”insult” their grandparents, & grandparents can have a useful role in controlling their grandchild element. If for example, the Heart was over-active, e.g. at a time of great joy or grief, of emotional opening, if that isn't kept balanced you might find insomnia (when the Heart is not sufficiently anchored). Strengthening the Water element could help control the over-active Fire. Walking by the sea, dressing in or emphasising deep blue in the house, eating shellfish like oysters & watery vegetables (e.g. cucumber), could all be methods to balance the Heart/Fire.
I find the Wu-Xing useful because it makes me curious to look that bit further & be more aware of the flavours I come across in the world, elements I can choose to strengthen in my environment or not.
In this point in our Western culture there is a tendency to over-emphasise the Wood and Earth elements, visible as preoccupation with the over-dramatic soap-opera & political/military story-ing (Wood imbalance) and (over) consumption (Earth imbalance). In times like these we must try and support the Fire–Water axis which will help to interrupt the ricochet between the Wood and Earth elements. For example, speaking the truth to each other 'from the heart' (the Heart opens to the tongue) instead of reaching for yet another substance/cigarette to consume, is one way of not going along with the cultural pressure to be variously addicted. So much addiction has roots in early trauma in the first 7 years of life (the time dominated by the Kidney), creating a sense of not belonging. Strengthening the Water/Kidney element can give us back that sense of connecting with our bones, the support of our forebears, and having a right to stand in the place we come from just as we are.
Good luck playing with the elements, shaping the parts we can affect to find your balance.
Taru Burstall, Massage Therapist & Licensed Acupuncturist. 629 301 509
Health self-help toolkit: joint pain
Many of us get affected by pain in the joints, whether through overuse, bad posture, injury or chronic build-up of tension and inflammation. It takes care to keep the invaluable fluidity of our joint system, & appropriate exercise & rest. In Chinese Medicine we find the following strategies useful to help reduce joint pain:
strengthening the Kidneys - as they govern the skeletal structure (like the body's tent poles)
nourishing the Liver – as the Liver governs the tendons (supporting the strength of the body's guy ropes)
clearing blocked Qi (energy) & Blood (nourishes and detoxes the area) – pain is often an expression of stagnant energy in the area so we can boost the circulation (like maintaining the flexibility of the tent material itself)
clearing any invasion of excess Heat, Cold, Damp or Wind lodged in the muscles or joints (Heat - joint feels hot & red; Cold – dull, aching pain; Damp - weather-dependent; Wind - pain moves from one joint to another.
So you can try some of the following acupressure points to support the main organs relating to the body's ability to be a flexible & sturdy home. Steady gentle pressure a few times a day can strengthen the muscular-skeletal system.
Gallbladder 34 (Master Point for the tendons & muscles): below the knee, one inch below and in front of the head of the Tibia, which runs up the side of the leg
– helps Liver maintain flexibility, clears Damp Heat
Gall Bladder GB20: under the skull, on either side of the spine in the hollows that lie 2-3 inches apart
- relieves neck pain & stiffness, clears Wind
Triple Warmer TW5: 3 finger-widths above the wrist on the outside of the arm in the dip between the 2 bones
- tendinitis, wrist pain
Large Intestine 11: by the elbow where crease ends when you bend it
- clears Heat, elbow pain
Large Intestine LI4: (Note: don't use this point if pregnant, as it can start contractions) in the web between thumb and 1st finger, at the highest point when you squeeze them together
- analgesic, anti-inflammatory
Stomach ST36: on the outside of the leg just out from the shin bone, 4 finger widths below the base of the kneecap
– knee pain, helps Blood & Qi circulation
Liver LIV3: between the 1st & 2nd toes, run your finger up to where it can go no further & press in
– boosts the Liver for flexibility of tendons
Next month I will outline more of the local points to treat specific joint problems to add to these core muscular-skeletal support points. The local area acupoints help increase circulation, reducing inflammation & gradually increasing joint movement & comfort.
So, good luck & here's to dancing when we are 80!
Taru Burstall, M.A. Psychology, Dip. Massage, Licensed Acupuncturist.
Call 629 301 509
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Health self-help toolkit: insomnia MARCH 09
Insomnia is a common complaint, especially as we get older, either not falling asleep or waking easily and not getting back into the drift zone again for hours. We can also tend to get easily rattled when we think we have had too little sleep, especially if we have something demanding to cope with coming up. As one of those, I was delighted to be advised years ago that it is good practice to always have an hours' less sleep than you think you need to keep the mind that little bit clearer. And that since fighting sleeplessness always tends to increase it, the best approach is often to just get up and do something useful and stop trying so hard.
That said, herbs like passiflora tincture or some of the vervain-catnip-camonmile-skullcap mixtures can work wonders taken in the evening, helping to relax the system without making you sleepy at the time, so that later on the falling-into-the-sleep zone can allow itself to happen. Vetivert is a good powerful essential oil to burn or put in an unscented moisturising cream, or in a bath, plus lavender or camomile are also good. Reducing tea & coffee intake is important, and making sure to get some regular exercise.
In Chinese medicine one of organs most linked with sleep is the Heart; if the Heart energy is particularly challenged (e.g. at a time of a lot of excitement, or grief) then the Heart cannot anchor the mind at night, the deepest Yin time. So to help the Heart, processing emotions is important, like through talking with friends. Watching the diet for excess fat also helps strengthen the Heart's ability to do its job and therefore our sleep pattern.
Excess vivid disturbing dreams or restless easily-disturbed sleep is often a Liver-related pattern; reducing alcohol, fatty & spicy food intake helps the Liver by creating less heat in the system, we are more able to roll with stressful circumstances rather than fight them if we take care of our Liver. Meditation and chill-out time helps calm the emotional soap-opera feeling an overworked Liver causes, hence the dream-disturbed sleep.
Using certain acupressure points can help rebalance the system so that the naturally needed time for regeneration is allowed to unfold. Choose some of the following points, the ones you are drawn to and particularly any which are tender when you press them, meaning that they are active points needing rebalancing, and use a firm and gentle pressure for a few minutes, several times a day if you want to see results. Build up to use enough pressure so that you can feel it strongly but not so that it hurts, the pressure tends to reduce as you rebalance the flow of energy in the channel/related organ system you are working on. Find the pressure points where your fingers just fall into them, usually in little dips you can feel; the points are like wells where the energy channels of the body converge and are therefore easier to directly effect there.
If you are working on someone else's points, you may find they fall asleep if you do this for a longer session then wake up relaxed and alert, but a couple of month's regular use of these points either on yourself or an other is usually necessary to change the overall sleep pattern. People will tend to find they both sleep deeper & are more alert the next day.
Points to help insomnia
There are 3 groups: head/neck/chest , wrist , & ankle points (& some additional uses are added)
Gall Bladder GB20: under the base of the skull in the hollows that lie just past the big cord of muscle which borders the spine - also relieves neck pain & stiffness, headaches
ANMIAN (Peaceful Sleep) AN: at the base of the skull level with the top of the ear lobe, just behind the bone which curves up behind the base of the ear - also calms agitation, tinnitus & high blood pressure
YINTANG (Hall of Impressions) GV24.5: between the eyebrows in the dip where the nose meets the forehead
also calms anxiety, helps frontal headache, dizziness, stuffed nose, hypertension, eye problems
CV 17 (Sea of Tranquillity): on the breast bone at the level of the nipple-also helps heart, stress & breathing problems
Heart H7 (Spirit Gate): just above the wrist crease in line with the little finger- also helps depression
Pericardium P6 (Inner Gate): 3 finger-widths above the wrist crease on the inside of the arm, in the space between the 2 tendons- helps relieve nausea, indigestion, palpitations, & tight chest
Kidney K6 (Calm Sleep): in a dip under the inner anklebone- also helps heel & ankle pain, hypertension & anxiety
Bladder B62 (Joyful Sleep): in the dip right behind the outer anklebone- also helps back pain which disturbs sleep
Wishing you good rest & much bright energy off the pillow as a result.
Taru Burstall, M.A. Psychology, Dip. Massage, Licensed Acupuncturist. 629 301 509
Health self-help tools (2) for finding balance: Paying attention: using mindfulness meditation – what is it?
Many people these days have a sense that meditation could be a useful tool for helping find some kind of sanity in a complex & challenging life, but don´t know what it is and whether you have to be like the Beatles or Tibetan to do it properly. There are many forms of meditation but one particular method called mindfulness (paying attention) meditation is being increasingly used to help people with heart problems, stress and for chronic pain control.
It is a self-help practice, a standalone practice free of any other trappings though originating in Buddhist meditation, where you learn to pay attention to (or be mindful of) where you are, of whatever is going on. It works in fact mainly by your learning to notice those moments when you are not present, when your mind is off wandering telling itself stories - as minds do - about all the things you've done or need to do, shopping lists, projects,...... You notice pretty fast if you try to rest your mind on one ordinary object of attention - like your breath in your body, or how your feet feel as they meet the ground when you're walking the dog - that your mind wanders all over the place half the time – well more, in my case! Minds endlessly tell us stories, & there is of course nothing wrong with that, it´s just what they do, like waves' energy is to move in the sea. But we all know how you can ride a bike down the road and suddenly realise you were completely unaware of where you were for the last 3 blocks, or be eating pizza whilst thinking how much better it might have been if it was from the restaurant next door. As it can be a pain, that tendency to miss the current slice of pizza, when we practise meditation for a few minutes a day at the moment we notice that we've spent the last 10 minutes rehashing the list for the hardware shop, we then place our attention gently back to the present, to being back with our feet on the dirt track or sitting on the chair.
Practising coming home to the present over and over again tends to give you more chance of doing likewise in everyday life. Or when circumstances around are a bit rockier, like in the middle of an argument with your neighbour you might suddenly lose conviction in the rightness of your position as you have a flash of noticing how rough he looks this morning. Out of that flash a whole different way of tackling the argument might happen. Or we find that if we lean with softening our breath into the pain in our back, as current chronic pain research is showing, strangely it reduces rather than increases.
Training in paying attention to those ordinary moments when nothing particular is happening except – just sitting, cleaning the engine or pruning the tree - tends to make that 'nothing' turn out to be a more and more rich nothing. Paying attention helps us be less wary of our own experience & we notice that we can always manage the current moment however bad we think it is. We taste its texture (sad, edgy, excited, or whatever), let go & feel the space we are in. Then comes the next moment.
Julia Cameron says in 'The Artists Way´ that the quality of life is in proportion to the capacity for delight and that the capacity for delight is a gift of paying attention. Paying attention is always good medicine - both for us and luckily usually for others too - as the art of connection.
Taru Burstall is a psychotherapist who has practised this form of meditation for 25 years, is trained to teach it and is always happy to pass it on & practise with other people. 629 301 509. She also practises massage & acupuncture.
YOGA FOR ALL 7 CHAKRAS- July 2010
An Intro Guide to the 7 Healing Chakras
Chakras are energy centres that run from the base of your spine out the top, or crown, of your head. The word chakra is a Sanskrit word, meaning wheel or disc. There are seven major chakras, each a circular wheel of light spinning in your energetic system, associated with certain body parts, a colour, stone, element, and function. By learning to tune into the energy of our chakras, we can bring our bodies and minds into balance and embrace life fully.
Blocked energy in our 7 Chakras can often lead to illness so it can be important to understand what each Chakra represents and what we can do to keep this energy flowing freely.
What does each charka represent?
1. RED- Root Chakra - Represents our foundation and feeling of being grounded.
Location: Base of spine in tailbone area.
Emotional issues: Survival issues such as financial independence, money, and food.
2. ORANGE- Sacral Chakra - Our connection and ability to accept others and new experiences.
Location: Lower abdomen, about 2 inches below the navel and 2 inches in.
Emotional issues: Sense of abundance, well-being, pleasure, sexuality.
3. YELLOW- Solar Plexus Chakra - Our ability to be confident and in-control of our lives.
Location: Upper abdomen in the stomach area.
Emotional issues: Self-worth, self-confidence, self-esteem.
4. GREEN- Heart Chakra - Our ability to love.
Location: Centre of chest just above heart.
Emotional issues: Love, joy, inner peace.
5. BLUE- Throat Chakra - Our ability to communicate.
Location: Throat.
Emotional issues: Communication, self-expression of feelings, the truth.
6. PURPLE- Third Eye Chakra - Our ability to focus on and see the big picture.
Location: Forehead between the eyes. (Also called the Brow Chakra)
Emotional issues: Intuition, imagination, wisdom, ability to think and make decisions.
7. VIOLET/WHITE- Crown Chakra - The highest Chakra represents our ability to be fully connected spiritually.
Location: The very top of the head.
Emotional issues: Inner and outer beauty, our connection to spirituality, pure bliss.
Next month ……. How to balance our charkas with simple at home exercises for health and well being.
Sarah Good is a Sivananda trained yoga teacher offering weekly drop in yoga classes and also private tuition. Call on 663 140 297
www.yogaholidayspain.com
YOGA FOR ALL JUNE 2010
Finally, it’s beach weather again, yet we face that unwelcome moment when it’s time to reveal our winter weary bodies to the sun. A few days of yoga and detoxification can really make a big difference. So how does yoga help?
When the mind, body and spirit have been purified through the various practices of yoga, the overall result is an increase in the flow of prana (energy) through the whole body, improving our capacity to work, think, digest, taste, feel, and experience life. And not only do these practices make us feel more alive, they also foster our spiritual development, inner awareness and equanimity.
Purification (saucha) is a central aim of all the yogic practices, and is the first principle of self-discipline (niyama) in Patanjali’s eight-limbed approach. The yogis have discovered that impurities in our internal body adversely affect our state of mind, and prevent the attainment of real enjoyment of life. Through the yogic practices of asana (yoga poses), pranayama (breath work), tapas (self discipline), and shatkarma (cleansing of the body), the body and the mind become cleansed and our enjoyment of life is accelerated. The physical postures of yoga purify the body through movements that increase and improve the flow of blood, oxygen and prana (life force energy) in the tissues, muscles and organs. The yoga poses squeeze and massage the muscles and organs to move out old stagnant blood and bring in fresh blood full of nutrients and oxygen. In the more dynamic postures, heat is created and sweat is produced to facilitate the release of toxins through the pores of the skin.
The breathing techniques of pranayama purify the mind and body through the balance and cultivation of energy throughout the whole body. Different pranayamas have different actions on the body and thus different purifying effects. Kapalabhati (breath of fire) is warming and energizing, purifying the body through the creation of heat and the movement of energy. Nadi Sodhana (alternate nostril breath) is calming and cleansing, purifying the body through reducing stress and removing blockages in the nadis (energy channels).
The self-discipline of Tapas purifies the mind and spirit through the “burning up” of the desires in our mind. Basically, Tapas is engaging the will to do some action you do not want to do or not doing some action you want to do (Cutting down on cigarettes for example). This creates a conflict between our will and the desire of our mind producing an internal “fire” which illuminates and burns up our mental and physical impurities.
The six cleansing practices of shatkarma purify the body by physically removing excesses of mucus or phlegm. These are primarily esoteric practices that must be learned and performed with the supervision of a qualified teacher. The shatkarmas are described as six groups of yogic cleansing techniques: Neti: nasal cleaning and irrigation, Dhauti: cleansing of the digestive tract, Nauli: abdominal massage, Basti: colon cleaning, Kapalbhati: purification and vitalization of the brain, and Trataka: blinkless gazing.
The goal of these practices is to purge out toxins and simply bring our body back to a natural, healthy state, making us feel positively vibrant and alive as we move through each day.
Sarah Good is a Sivananda trained yoga teacher offering weekly drop in yoga classes. Affordable group tuition within the comfort of your own home is also available.
Please call for more details 663 140 297
www.yogaholidayspain.com
YOGA FOR ALL MAY 2010
Studies that have looked at children and yoga have shown overwhelmingly positive benefits. Not only does it help to build body awareness and self-esteem, it shows children how to achieve inner relaxation in the face of stress and builds flexibility which can be useful for certain sports and other physical activities. The effects of yoga may extend far beyond this for children.
In 2006, researchers looked at the relationship between children and yoga training in terms of academic and school performance. Children who participated in yoga classes not only had a higher self-esteem but they also scored better on tests. In addition, the children who were yoga participants experienced less disciplinary issues. It seems that yoga helps children focus better and concentrate on their school work and the increase in self-esteem gives them a “can do” attitude towards school projects.
Another benefit for children who receive yoga training is it teaches them early how to deal with stress in a positive, constructive way. This type of learned adaptive response to stress can carry over into the teenage years when life becomes even more stressful and complex.
Even children, as young as 3 years old, can benefit from the practice of yoga. Because children have inherently shorter attention spans than adults, children’s yoga classes are often adapted to suit their particular needs. For example, a child might be encouraged to assume the role of an animal or a flower and make the sounds that particular entity might make while holding poses. This adds an element of fun and also helps to stimulate the imagination which may help with the development of creativity.
When children are exposed to yoga at an early age, they get a variety of mental and physical benefits that may allow them to be more centred and focused as well as handle stress better as an adult.
We look forward to hearing from you,
Namaste, Sarah
www.yogaholidayspain.com
For more details please call
663 140 297
YOGA FOR ALL APRIL 2010
Finally, after what seemed like a long cold winter, spring has arrived!
Yoga can be the ideal form of exercise to give our bodies a spring clean at this time of year. You can use your yoga practice to bring your body back to life, just as the earth is awakening from its slumber.
The abdominal region, including the gastro-intestinal system, is a great place to focus, as it can be in need of some cleansing and rejuvenation. To purify your insides as part of a personal spring cleaning nothing is better than a good healthy twist. Twisting poses are often the best way to untie both physical and emotional knots. Try incorporating a few of these twists into your life this month, allowing the breath to move deeply into your centre, and let the rejuvenation begin.
As you move through these postures pay particular attention to lifting the entire spine, long and tall, up and away from the hips. When you feel the length in your entire spine, then it’s time to take a deep inhale and twist on the exhalation. Maintain steady, deep breathing as you hold the twist. Always examine the pose, scan the body and only hold the position for five to ten breathes if beginning a yoga practice for the first time.
Sarah Good is a Sivananda trained Yoga teacher offering fun weekly drop in classes and private tuition within the comfort of your own home
For more details please call
663 140 297
www.yogaretreatsinspain.com
YOGA FOR ALL MARCH 2010
It’s good to remind ourselves that yoga isn't just a form of mental or physical toning. It was originally conceived as a lifestyle, creating a feeling of harmony with oneself, our community and the environment. The work done in yoga is designed to affect all moments in our lives. Here are some simple yet effective tips you may find useful to allow your practice to have a positive influence throughout the following month.
1. Refresh and restart as many times as you need to throughout the day. Don't let events from the previous day or even the previous hour bring down your mind and your mood. Remember that no matter what you are doing, yoga or otherwise, it is a matter of where you are now, not where you have been.
2. Maintain a relaxed posture throughout the day. Let your shoulders drop away from your ears, and maintain a long, straight spine. It's okay when we forget, just adjust your posture when you remember. Tension can build up in the shoulders and the back. Release the muscles to release tension.
3. Instead of allowing stress or anxiety to overtake you, practice Ujjayi, or loud breathing. Deep breathing will automatically lower your heart rate, and concentrating on the sound of your breath will empty your mind of harmful thinking.
4. Practice Savasana (relaxation pose) 2-3 times a day for 10-15 minutes. It can refresh you mentally and physically, and will prepare you for a positive mood. It can be used instead of a nap and is just as reviving.
5. During moments of anger, loneliness, or sadness, meditate upon the meaning and purpose of the Sanskrit word "namaste." Take it to refer to the respect that one owes all other sacred living creatures, including yourself. Use this to let go of negative emotions and replace them with positive, healing ones.
Sarah Good is a Sivananda trained Yoga teacher offering fun weekly drop in classes and also home tuition. Contact Sarah on 663 140 297
SELF HELP FINDING THE BALANCE JAN 09
The start of the new year often reminds us to renew our efforts to find the balance we need in our lives & to help make up for any excesses that may have left us a bit tired and toxic as the last year ended. Just attending to the basics again, like eating better & a little exercise, we know can give us back the balance and stability we need to enjoy our lives & bodies more, and help keep our resistance up to the winter colds this weather can bring. Another simple way to support the body to detox & boost the immune system is to practise self-help acupressure, using the body's pressure points which you can easily find on the body - or on each other. These pressure points are the same points we use in acupuncture, located on the meridians or channels of energy which run through the body joining the dots, but they can be just as effective used with pressure alone, without needles. Using gentle pressure at these points where the energies of the different main organ systems converge can relieve many unwanted problems, from muscular pains & arthritis to hangovers.
The pressure points are usually just like wells, as they tend to be in a small dip or place that your fingers just naturally fall into. Trust your fingers to find the point that is most intense in the areas pointed out in the diagrams, and gently build up to using a pressure that is strong enough that you can feel it - but not so strong and it is painful so that the body tenses up, obviously - to get the most benefit. Use pressure on the point for a couple of minutes. It's usually best to do whichever ones are most tender as they are the ones that most need rebalanced. With Chinese medicine tools like this you have to be strong if necessary, though always gentle, in order to make the change the system needs to make things better. You can either use steady pressure or a pulsing style, releasing and increasing the pressure, whatever your intuition tells you. People find that using some of these points for a few minutes a day over a period of time can make real changes to their well-being – and it's free!
Governing Vessel GV 24.5: between the eyebrows, in the little dip where the nose meets the forehead
- calms anxiety, helps headaches, dizziness & insomnia
Gall Bladder GB21: on the highest point of the shoulder, 1 or 2 inches out from spine, on the tightest spot
- helps relieve neck pain, shoulder tension and irritability
Gall Bladder GB20: just below the base of the skull, on either side of the spine, in the hollows that lie 2 to 3 inches apart
- relieves neck pain & stiffness, & headaches
Triple Warmer TW5: 3 finger-widths above the wrist crease on the outside of the arm, in the dip between the 2 bones
- helps rheumatism, tendonitis, wrist pain, & increases resistance to colds
Large Intestine 11: by the elbow where crease ends when you bend it
- strengthens the immune system, helps colds, fever, constipation & elbow pain
Large Intestine LI4: (Note: don't use this point if pregnant, as it can start contractions) in the webbing between your thumb and 1st finger, at the highest point when you squeeze these together
- relieves pain anywhere in the body, calms the mind, helps headaches, colds, constipation & allergies
Conception Vessel CV6: two finger widths below the navel
- strengthens the immune system, boosts energy and helps digestion
Stomach ST36: on the outside of the leg, 4 finger widths below the base of the kneecap just out from the shin bone
boosts energy, immune system & clarity, relieves knee pain, helps digestive problems & anxiety
Liver LIV3: between bones above 1st and 2nd toes, run your finger up to where it can go no further & press in
boosts the immune system, helps clear headaches, hangovers & moodiness, and sore/tired eyes, helps memory & concentration
So good luck exploring what these points can do for you - some of them may become your really good friends
Taru Burstall, M.A., Dip. Mass, Lic. Ac. practises massage & acupuncture in El Perello
CALL 629 301 509
YOGA FOR ALL FEB 2010
If you’re looking for a simple New Years resolution that will help make you feel alive and youthful, you may like to try this quick, simple yoga pose each day for the next month.
Downward Dog enlivens your body—from your hips to your spine to your fingers and toes—making you feel more vibrant and alive. As you discover the subtleties of the pose on a daily basis, you'll find it gets deeper and more enjoyable. Downward facing dog works its magic by deeply stretching the back, opening the chest, and building upper body strength. This posture stimulates the brain and nervous system, improving memory, concentration, hearing and eyesight.
Adho Mukha Shvanasana looks so easy and so beautiful, and its benefits are far-reaching. It both strengthens and stretches your entire body and requires you to balance the effort in your arms, torso, and legs so you don't overburden any one area. Hold it for a few breaths and you'll see what I mean.
When you first try Down Dog, you may feel tight in areas you never knew existed. Your lower back might round and your elbows may bend and bow, as they did when I first practiced. But with daily or weekly practice, you'll love the sensation of unfurling your body into the pose, feeling long and lithe like a dog stretching after a good nap.
How to Begin
Come onto the floor on your hands and knees. Set your knees directly below your hips and your hands slightly forward of your shoulders. Spread your palms, index fingers parallel or slightly turned out, and turn your toes under.
Exhale and lift your knees away from the floor. At first keep the knees slightly bent and the heels lifted away from the floor. Using straight, strong arms, press the hips up and back, making an inverted ‘V’ shape with the body. Keep the spine straight and long, stretching from fingers to tailbone. Breathe deeply.
Then with the next exhalation, push the top of your thighs back and stretch your heels onto or down toward the floor if possible. Straighten your knees but be sure not to lock them.
Firm the outer arms and press the bases of the index fingers actively into the floor. From these two points lift along your inner arms from the wrists to the tops of the shoulders. Firm your shoulder blades against your back, keep the head between the upper arms in a straight line with the rest of the spine.
With practice you’ll feel comfortable in this pose anywhere from 1 to 3 minutes. Then bend your knees to the floor with an exhalation and rest.
Free trial class offered to all beginners this month!
Sarah Good is a Sivananda trained Yoga teacher offering local drop-in classes for beginners and beyond.
Private tuition is also available.
663 140 297
YOGA FOR ALL JAN 2010
Happy New Year to all Olive Press readers and a special thank you to all of my wonderful students whose dedication and devotion are received with love and gratitude.
Early in your yoga practice, you’re faced with what seems to be a contradiction as you move into unfamiliar, awkward, and difficult postures, you’re asked to let go of tension in your body, mind, and breath. While you struggle to hold the pose your teacher gently reminds you to combine effort and surrender—to be both alert and relaxed at the same time. This is an essential teaching that comes from yoga philosophy. The idea is that if you can balance these qualities simultaneously while you practice, you’ll create a state of internal balance that you can call upon when faced with life’s everyday challenges.
I’ll admit, when I first started yoga, combining effort and surrender seemed laughable. Having been an aerobics fan for many years, I couldn’t comprehend how they could coexist. But I was eventually willing to entertain the concept even though, in reality, my Sun Salutations and standing poses were strenuous, yoga was all about relaxation.
The reclined position of Supta Padangusthasana (Reclining Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose) naturally encourages a sense of surrender. It also targets your hamstrings without stressing your lower back; the floor stabilizes your back and you can adjust your strap to suit your needs.
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How to begin
Lie on your back with your knees bent and the soles of your feet on the floor. Release your shoulders toward the floor. Relax into the ease of this moment.
Draw your right knee toward your chest. Wrap a belt around the arch of your foot, holding one end in each hand. Slowly extend your right leg toward the ceiling, and, keeping the backs of your shoulders on the floor, straighten your arms. Make sure to keep your hands as far apart as your shoulders.
Next, straighten your bottom leg and press your thigh toward the floor.
While your bottom leg presses into the floor, extend your other leg until you create a thorough, sustainable stretch in the hamstrings. Depending on your flexibility, your top leg will be more or less vertical. If you’re tight—as I was for years—you’ll need to give yourself plenty of slack on the belt and move your leg farther away from your torso. Wherever you are, breathe smoothly. As you reach your top leg up, remember to keep your bottom leg rooted into the floor.
Now that your body is fully awake, you can try cultivating relaxation. Relax your temples, loosen your jaw, and release your tongue. Hold the belt with just the effort needed to support the pose. Stay for 10 to 20 breaths if possible.
If you’d like to deepen the pose try raising the chest towards your leg. Eventually your chest will float closer to your top leg. This is the most difficult stage in which to meld relaxation with alertness because it requires the greatest amount of muscular work. But even when you are at the peak of your effort, focus on breathing evenly, softening your forehead, releasing your jaw, and trying not to judge yourself. After 5 to 10 breaths, slowly release your upper back and your head to the floor. Soften your abdomen and observe the breath circulating in your belly. Savour this moment as preparation for working on the opposite leg.
The Pearl of the Pose
While it’s great to open and loosen the back of your legs by doing the Supta Padangusthasana series, it’s even more essential to cultivate a balanced state of body and mind while you practice this posture. As you learn to combine alertness and relaxation in class, you’ll be better equipped to face life’s stresses with a sense of calm presence. With practice, we can respond with compassion, rather than falling back into habitual frustration. This is the work of a lifetime and it begins with this one simple pose.
Sarah Good is a Sivananda trained yoga teacher offering beginners weekly drop-in classes and home tuition. Please feel free to call for more details on 663 140 297 www.yogaholidayspain.com
YOGA FOR ALL DEC 09
Maintaining a strong immune system in the body is a basic requirement for staying healthy in the winter months. To avoid falling sick and to maintain good health, Ayurveda advises a number of simple formulas which are very effective to increase immunity or 'Ojas'. Along with a healthy diet and regular yoga you may like to try some of these tasty tonics.
These simple Ayervedic tonics bring balance back to the body for all ´doshas´(body types). These are especially beneficial for those who are physically weak, underweight or suffering from colds and flu. The tonics given below nourish not only the body but the mind too, and all ingredients are easily found.
Eat 3 or 4 figs and drink 250ml warm milk in the morning. One or two teaspoons of honey may be added to the milk for sweetening. Soak the figs in water if they´re dry. Its a very good tonic and also cures constipation and anaemia.
Take 2 walnuts, 4 almonds and 7 raisins. Soak them overnight in water and eat the next morning with 250ml of warm milk. Chew well. It's good to add one or two teaspoons of honey to the milk for sweetening.
Take 1 part dry dates (without seeds), 2 parts dried coconut and 3 parts honey and mix together. Take about 50 grams of this mixture every morning. It's specially good for children and the elderly and prevents common ailments like tonsillitis, cold, cough, and indigestion. The dose for children is 2 teaspoons and 4-5 teaspoons for adults. Do not drink water immediately after eating this mixture.
Take equal quantity of unpeeled apples and carrots grated. This mixture should be taken on an empty stomach in the morning. Dose can be up to 200 grams. Do not eat anything for 2 hours after eating this mixture. It is very effective in reducing extra fat, specially for women. For increasing weight the same mixture should be taken immediately after lunch.
Special Ayurvedic tonic for infants:
Take 1 almond and soak it in water overnight. In the morning remove the skin of almond and make a fine paste by grinding it. Mix in 1 gram of honey. Give to babies who are 4 months or older. It is a nice tonic for both mental and physical development of the child.
Take 2-3 dry dates and soak them in water every morning. In the evening boil them in 250ml milk until half the quantity of milk remains. Cool and add one teaspoon honey as a sweetener. Eat the dates and drink the milk. This can be taken one hour before going to bed. This tonic helps to give strength to lungs, increases blood circulation, cleans the bowels and alleviates Vata and Pitta imbalances.
Sarah Good is a Sivananda trained Yoga teacher offering weekly classes in the area. Please call for more details on 663 140 297 www.yogaholidayspain.com
YOGA FOR ALL NOV 2009
As we head into the winter months we may feel the natural vibrancy that we felt in summer begin to slip away. Yet regularly bringing our bodies back into balance with Ayurveda can help us to retain a healthy body and a happy mind.
What is Ayurveda?
Ayurveda simply means “science of life” (a Sanskrit word, ayur meaning life, veda meaning science or knowledge). It’s an ancient philosophy based on a deep understanding of the human body, mind and spirit. Unlike orthodox medicine, it’s not based on the frequently changing findings of specific research projects, but rather on permanent eternal principles of living which can be applicable to modern day life.
Although it originated in the East several thousands of years ago, Ayurveda is particulary relevant to present-day Western society. The logical, common sense approach to health and living is combined with philosophy, psychology and spiritual guidance.
How does Ayurveda work?
It's a system of healing that examines our physical constitution, emotional nature, and spiritual outlook. According to Ayurvedic philosophy, we predominately manifest as one of three different energies, or doshas, known as vata, pitta, and kapha.
Ayurvedic practitioners believe we're all made up of a unique combination of these three forces. Although everyone has some of each, most people tend to have an abundance of one or two of the doshas. This unique combination is said to be determined at the moment of conception, and is your own personal blueprint, or prakriti (nature).
As you move through life, the proportion of each of the three doshas constantly fluctuates according to your environment, your diet, the seasons, the climate, your age, and many other factors. As they move into and out of balance, the doshas can affect your health, energy level, and general mood.
Which dosha are you?
Next month we’ll take a look at simple ways to bring each dosha back into balance using a combination of easily found herbs and yoga techniques.
Sarah Good is a Sivananda trained Yoga teacher offering local weekly drop-in classes and private tuition within the comfort of your own home. Please contact Sarah on
663 140 297
yoga for all oct 2009
Health,harmony, endorphins-rich happiness—We practice yoga for all of these reasons and can extend these feelings into our daily lives. Perhaps this autumn you’d like to take better care of your body, help others, or reduce your impact on the planet. Whatever your intention, when you make positive changes grounded in self-awareness, you can connect with the truth of who you are and why you do what you do. Here are five small acts that can help you understand yourself, connect with the world around you, and live happily through the cooler months.
1. Shift Your Perspective
To radically shift your outlook, break out of your regular routine. Go a different way to work, try a new food, take a class with a yoga teacher. Then notice how one seemingly simple change affects the way everything else appears to you. Our whole world is basically what we perceive. The opening verse of the Dharmapada—an anthology of quotes attributed to the Buddha—says, ‘We create the world with our thoughts and our perceptions.’ This means that the only thing we know about this world we are living in is how we perceive it.
2. Waste Not
Commit to a single day free of disposable products. Bring your lunch to work in a reusable container, use a cloth napkin, and bring your own water bottle to yoga class. Carry a reusable bag for everything you buy, not just groceries. Notice what you’re obliged to throw away, whether it’s the plastic wrap around your sandwich or the cotton in a new bottle of vitamins. And don’t be discouraged if achieving a waste-free day proves harder than you think. Just becoming aware of what you’re discarding is likely to usher in other changes that will eventually have an even greater effect on the environment. People say they’re throwing stuff away, but ‘away’ is a euphemism. There is no ‘away.
3. Experience Silence
Spend some time in silence. Silence can be one of the best ways of cultivating self-awareness. Practicing silence can also be a way of conserving prana, or “life force.” When you speak a lot, you are using up prana. So unplug your iPod, hide your mobile phone, and commit to a period of silence—as short as a 10-minute tea break or as luxurious as a whole day. Initially, being quiet can feel agitating, but simply notice your urge to speak or to take in other people’s words or ideas. See if you can appreciate all the ambient noises: the sounds of birds, wind in the trees, the movements of other people, even traffic. Soon, you’ll likely find the respite from speech to be deeply restful.
4. Be a Creator
Bake bread, knit a cap, build a birdhouse, design your own thank-you notes. Creating something may feel like a small way of enriching the world, but making something with your hands can be an active meditation, an opportunity to take a break from conscious thought and allow yourself to freely engage with your creative side. Like the practice of yoga, creative acts are about the process, not the result; your sense of satisfaction when you pull on a warm hat you made yourself, mail a beautiful card to a friend, or bite into a sandwich on homemade bread is just an added benefit.
5. Make an Offering
Commit to one selfless act each week. Bring a meal to a busy friend; babysit your neighbours kids; give a few hours to a community garden. These moments are a chance to share someone else’s experience of the world and see the richness of your own existence. “All yoga begins with karma yoga, which is action done as a service to others and as a form of worship of the divine,” writes David Frawley in Yoga: The Greater Tradition.
Sarah Good is a Sivananda trained Yoga teacher offering local drop – in classes and also private tuition within the comfort of your home.
Sarah can be contacted on
663 140 297
YOGA FOR ALL SEPT 2009
Sometimes it's hard to see that yoga is far more than a physical activity confined by time, space, and a mat. Perhaps we rush to a class or put in a DVD without taking note of our surroundings. We may compare our poses with those of others; we can get distracted by people wandering in and out of class or manoeuvring for elbow room.
By getting out of the house or studio and into nature, you can experience yoga as it was originally intended. Yogic teachers believe that being outdoors gives you access to a whole other world of sensations, "helping you feel part of a boundless existence, at one with an intelligent and sympathetic universe". The pure unpredictability of being outside and exposed to the elements can strengthen an existing practice or inspire a new one. Perhaps it’s best not to practice in a thunder storm though!
Tips for Outdoor Practice
To refresh your experience when you go outside, keep these four points in mind.
Find Your Place of Peace
Everybody has access to some spot of natural power or beauty. It doesn't have to be a Pyrenean mountain top – a favourite tree or hillside perhaps – somewhere you enjoy returning to regularly.
Be Present
To some people, the outdoors is a transitional place - something to rush through on the way from one indoor environment to another; not being fully conscious of the world itself. The rewards of being present in nature are fulfilling and easy to cultivate.
Start with Your Breath
Do a few deep breaths to relax and slow down. Breathe slowly through your nose, allowing your belly to expand; slightly contract the back of the throat as you inhale and exhale to create the audible sound of what is called ujjayi breath, almost like ocean waves rushing over pebbles (some students describe it as Darth Vader breathing!) Listen for the gentle rhythms of nature and allow your breath to fall in sync with it. With each breath, reach your sensory awareness toward your inner self and out into the world around you.
Go Slow
When you practice yoga outside, it's not about how many asanas you do, but the quality of movement that enriches your practice. Think of moving from the inside out, following your body's natural inclination and rhythms. Feel the currents of the air across your body and let that direct you. Enjoy the flow of one pose into another, and remember to take your time….
There's another element at work outside - negative ions. These negatively charged particles in the air are found in great numbers in forests and around trees, oceans, rivers, or streams. Negative ions make you feel alert and invigorated and reduce anxiety and depression. According to researchers, this is because they increase our capacity to absorb and utilize oxygen so that it reaches our cells and tissues more quickly. That's a remarkably similar effect to that of hatha yoga, so why not combine the two for a double dose of feel-good energy!
Sarah Good is a Sivananda trained Yoga teacher offering weekly drop- in classes in Rasquera and L’Ampolla. Private tuition within the comfort of your own home (or finca) is also available.
Please call to discuss your goals on 663 140 297
YOGA FOR ALL AUGUST 2009
Jennifer Aniston does it. Reports are that Liv Tyler, Halle Berry, Madonna, David Duchovny and supermodel Christy Turlington do it, too. Many professional athletes are said to be doing it in an effort to improve their games.
The "it" is yoga, a sophisticated mind-body exercise many believe can do everything from tighten your bottom to change your outlook on life.
But can this no-strain, work-at-your-own-level exercise really help you lose weight?
It's true most types of yoga don't have anything near the calorie-burning power of aerobic exercise. A 150-pound person will burn 150 calories in an hour of doing regular yoga, compared to 311 calories for an hour of walking at 3 mph. But it is exercise, after all, and many practitioners believe yoga can indeed help people take off extra pounds.
"Yoga is a phenomenal way to put you in touch with your body the way nothing else can, and yes, you will lose weight," says instructor Dana Edison, director of Radius Yoga in North Redding, Massachusetts.
Celebrity yoga trainers Ana Brett and Ravi Singh, who have worked with such celebrities as Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow, also believe in yoga's weight-loss powers.
"We have seen it in ourselves, we have seen it in our clients - yoga can give you a real workout even if you are a beginner," says Ana Brett.
How Does It Work?
In 2005, medical researcher and practising yogi Alan Kristal, DPH, MPH, set out to do a medical study on the weight-loss effects of yoga.
With funding from the National Cancer Institute, Kristal and colleagues at the F H Cancer Research Centre in Seattle led a trial involving 15,500 healthy, middle-aged men and women. All completed a survey recalling their physical activity (including yoga) and their weight between the ages of 45 and 55. Researchers then analysed the data, teasing out other factors that could influence weight change - such as diet or other forms of exercise.
The end result: They found yoga indeed helped people shed pounds, and at the very least save them from gaining weight.
"Those practising yoga who were overweight to start with lost about 5 pounds during the same time period those not practising yoga gained 14 pounds," says Kristal.
For the study, he says, practising yoga was defined as at least one 1 hr. session per week for one or more years.
Kristal says it's not clear just how yoga might help people keep off the pounds, at least from a scientific standpoint. His own opinion is that the effects are subtle, and related to yoga's mind-body aspects.
"The buzzword here is mindfulness -- the ability to observe what is happening internally in a non-reactive fashion," he says. "That is what helps change the relationship of mind to body, and eventually to food and eating."
Yoga makes you more susceptible to influence for change - so if you are thinking you want to change your lifestyle, you want to change the way you think about food, you want to get over destructive eating patterns, yoga will help give you the spiritual connection to your body that can help you make those changes. Another idea is that yoga forges a strong mind-body connection that ultimately helps make you more aware of what you eat and how it feels to be full. Essentially, in yoga you learn your body is not your enemy, and the conscious awareness of the body that you gain translates into better appetite control.
Making Yoga Work for You
One thing all experts agree on is that yoga can be a terrific introduction to the world of fitness.
To help get you started, they offer these tips:
1.Practice in a room without mirrors, and put the emphasis on your internal experience rather than your outer performance.
2.Learn to experience the sensation of movement, down to the tiniest micro movement.
3.Always try to find your "edge" -- the place where your body feels challenged, but not overwhelmed. When you achieve this, keep an open, accepting state of mind and breathe deeply.
4.Give yourself permission to rest when you're tired.
5.Combine your yoga session with positive self-talk. Appreciate your efforts and praise your inner goodness.
6.Go to a class regularly. If you work out at home, set a specific day and time for your yoga session and stick to it.
7.Recognize that you are not only working on your body, but are also working to develop qualities like patience, discipline, wisdom, kindness and gratitude.
8.Look for a teacher (in a class or on a video) who you feel offers a balance between gentleness and firmness, and who inspires you to practice.
9.Recognize that simply buying a yoga DVD or attending the class is a step toward creating a better you. Use it as momentum to keep going.
10.Realize your efforts are not just inspiring you, but also inspiring others as you become more attuned to who you are, inside and out.
Sarah Good is a Sivananda trained Yoga teacher offering weekly drop- in classes in Rasquera and L’Ampolla. Private tuition within the comfort of your own home is also available.
Please call to discuss your goals on 663 140 297
YOGA FOR ALL JULY 2009
It’s one of those hot, sweltering summer days, when it feels as though every ounce of energy has been drained from you. So how do you meet the demands of your day when your body and mind feel lethargic due to excessive temperatures?
Take some time to try a few yoga techniques. These postures require very little energy to perform, but will have the effect of cooling and re-energising your body, and calming your mind.
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Legs up the wall pose (Viparita Karani)
-Lie on the floor with your buttocks as close to the wall as comfortable, hips raised slightly.
-Keep your legs up and resting firmly against the wall. Your arms should be relaxed by your side, with palms facing upwards. Adjust yourself so that you have no discomfort in this position. Let your eyes be closed and relaxed. A beautiful variation is to cover your eyes with a herb scented eye pillow.
Stay in this position for 5-15 minutes, breathing deeply and slowly from your diaphragm. Mentally scan each part of your body, releasing any tension in those areas with each exhalation. Let your mind become tranquil as your body restores itself in this deep stillness.
When coming out of the posture, slowly lower your legs by bending your knees and bringing them close to your chest. Gently roll onto your right side, and when you feel ready, slowly resume a sitting position.
This posture allows the blood and other bodily fluids to flow more easily from the legs back to the heart and vital organs, flooding them with nutrients. The anti-gravity effect means the heart doesn’t have to pump as hard, thereby slowing the heart rate and cooling and re-energising the body.
After emerging from this restorative pose, you should feel calmer, more balanced, and less fatigued. It is a wonderful pose for those suffering from tired, aching legs, and can also be used to combat travel fatigue.
Extended Childs pose (Balasana)
Excessively hot days can often drain your patience as well as your energy. The following posture has a very calming effect on the mind, as well as releasing pressure on the spine and rejuvenating the entire body.
-Kneel on the floor with your toes together, knees apart. Lengthen your spine and bend forward from your hips on exhalation, arms outstretched in front and forehead resting firmly on the floor. Your knees should be as wide apart as comfortable.
-Breathe fully and slowly, and with each exhalation, feel your body melt into the floor. Hold for 5-10 breathes, and then very slowly resume an upright position.
This is a beautiful posture for delivering a freshly oxygenated supply of blood to the brain, thus enabling it to function more clearly and efficiently.
Pranayama
Prana is the Sanskrit name for life-force/breath, and correct breathing is an important part of yoga. Practicing pranayamic exercises increases lung capacity, thereby enabling more oxygen to be pumped throughout the body and to the brain.
Shitali breathing
Shitali means cooling, and is a particularly good pranayamic practice to cool you down in summer.
-Curl the sides of your tongue into a tube and breathe in air over your outstretched tongue. As the air travels over the wet tongue it is cooled down. Close your mouth and hold the cool air in your lungs for a second or two before gently releasing it, breathing out through your nose. This works much the same way as a dog that pants to regulate his body temperature. Repeat the process 5-10 times, but do not practice more than 10 rounds of this breathing.
This summer, be sure to stay cool and keep your cool with yoga!
Sarah Good is a Sivananda trained Yoga teacher offering weekly drop- in local classes in Rasquera and L’Ampolla. Private tuition is also available in the comfort of your own home. Please call to discuss your goals on 663 140 297
YOGA FOR ALL JUNE 2009
Finally, Summer is here , and as you lie in the shade, perhaps you may enjoy reading what others have to say about my favourite subject!
WHY PRACTICE YOGA?
“Practising asanas began to teach me about myself. The body is such a great school of learning. It makes you pay attention.” Lilias Folan
“The challenge, and the opportunity, that Yoga presents to us is the possibility of breaking the conditioning cycle. We do this by becoming aware of the depth and pervasiveness of our patterns and, at the same time, by working to change them. And true transformation begins at the moment that we become aware of our actual condition.” Gary Kraftsow
“What I want to say is that there is a strong relationship between yoga on the mat and yoga off the mat. I’ve really come to believe that the energy accumulated in practice has a lot to do with my ability to get clarity about the reality of things.” John Friend
“I did not come to yoga to stretch. I came to live.” Maya Breuer
ON HOW YOGA HAS CHANGED THEIR LIVES
“People sometimes ask me what difference practice has made in my life. The answer is it’s changed everything for me. And, in a funny way, it’s changed nothing." Lama Surya Das
“The most profound benefit of yoga and meditation for me has been a natural relaxing into my life. Obstacles are not so scary. I am more fluid, more curious, and at the same time more patient. I have more options for happiness because I don’t require specific conditions. It is a relief to discover that I can be happy even if the world doesn’t revolve around me or my agenda.” Cyndi Lee
“When I started doing asana, the yoga postures, I had a very strong feeling of many unnecessary things dropping away – especially tension and inadequacy.” Patricia Sullivan
CHOOSING JOY
“When you’re experiencing peace, it’s coming from within you, you’re ‘doing’ peace. And this is true of anything else you might be looking for. Love, happiness, contentment, well-being come from within. Nothing external needs to change for you to have what you want…..If you want to be happier – be happier. If you want to be more relaxed – relax. If you want more friends – be friendly. Sounds simple. It is.” Cheri Huber
ACCEPTANCE
“If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.” Jack Kornfield
“Through practice, I’ve come to see that the deepest source of my misery is not wanting things to be the way they are. Not wanting myself to be the way I am. Not wanting the world to be the way it is. Not wanting others to be the way they are. Whenever I’m suffering, I find this ‘war with reality’ to be at the heart of the problem.” Stephen Cope
“These days, my practice is teaching me to embrace imperfection: to have compassion for all the ways things haven’t turned out as I planned, in my body and in my life – for the ways things keep falling apart, and failing, and breaking down. It’s less about fixing things, and more about learning to be present for exactly what is.” Anne Cushman
“One day, [teacher Jean Klien] said to me, ‘Your very trying to change yourself is actually taking you away from what you are.’ ” Richard Miller
“If you begin to understand what you are without trying to change it, then what you are undergoes a transformation." J. Krishnamurti
“I was caught in the conundrum of believing that I needed to be different, that the way I was right now was not all right….Eventually I came to understand that it was this very non-acceptance that was keeping me stuck in my patterns.” Judith Lasater
CHANGE
“Whether things get better or worse depends to a considerable extent on our own actions. The recommendation of a yoga practice follows the principle that through practice we can learn to stay present in every moment, and thereby achieve much that we were previously incapable of.” T.K.V. Desikachar
“I feel certain that the change wrought by my practice also changes the world. I don’t see how it can be otherwise. Everything is interconnected in the fabric of oneness. Awakening affects the entire world.” Richard Miller
Sarah Good is a Sivananda trained yoga teacher offering weekly drop-in yoga classes.
Please call 663 140 297 for further details.
yoga for all may 2009
If, like many of us, you’re thinking longingly of the warmer days of early summer you may also be worrying about the stress of revealing a winter weary body in your favourite summer clothes. With a little dedication and practice you’ll gain benefits beyond your expectations by practicing ‘Hot Yoga’.
What is Hot Yoga?
Hot Yoga is a form of yoga exercises practiced in a hot environment with humidity at roughly 30-40%. Founded over 30 years ago by Bikram Choudhury, this form of yoga in its purest form is also known as Bikram Yoga. The warm temperature of the room allows for greater flexibility, minimises muscle strain, lactic acid build up and reduces the chance of injury, it allows for greater cleansing of the body and helps build tremendous stamina and endurance.
All exercise programs focus on warming up our bodies before vigorous activity. The temperature of the Hot Yoga room is similar to our body's own temperature and this accelerates improvement in many of the benefits of your yoga practice. Regular exercisers recognise that peak performance occurs when fully warmed up and your body generates heat from the inside radiating out and into your muscles.
The heat means we can get into postures more deeply and effectively - plus the benefits of the postures come quickly. Like many before you, you will find that practising yoga in the warm room creates a satisfying and almost addictive feeling of achievement, known as the ‘Yoga Glow’.
What Are The Benefits of Hot Yoga?
• Your body burns fat more effectively, fat may be redistributed and burned as energy during the class. It is common to lose centimetres of shape in a very short time
• The heat produces a fluid-like stretch allowing for greater range of movement in joints, muscles, ligaments and other supporting structures of the body
• Capillaries dilate in the heat; more effectively oxygenating the tissues, muscles, glands and organs and helping in the removal of waste products
• Your peripheral circulation improves
due to enhanced perfusion of your extremities
• Your metabolism speeds up the breakdown of glucose and fatty acids
• You benefit from a strengthening of willpower, self control, concentration and determination in this challenging environment
• Your cardiovascular system gets a thorough workout
• Your muscles and connective tissue become more elastic and allow for greater flexibility with less chance of injury and improved resolution of injury
• Sweating promotes detoxification and elimination through the skin - which is the body's largest eliminating organ
• Just as when your body raises its temperature to fight infection, the raised temperature in the room will assist in improving T-cell function and the proper functioning of your immune system
• Your nervous system function is greatly improved and messages are carried more efficiently to and from your brain
• Metabolism improves in your digestive system and in the body's cells
We are lucky to have use of the perfect environment for Hot Yoga at the Hotel Flamingo Spa in L’Ampolla each Thursday morning from 11am -12. The humidity is within the ideal range, ensuring we gain all of the well documented benefits from each session. Please feel free to drop in on Thursdays. Classes are ideal for beginners and exercise mats are provided for your use. Just bring yourself and dress in comfortable clothes that allow free movement of your legs and arms.
Sarah Good is a Sivananda Trained yoga teacher offering weekly drop-in yoga classes. Please feel free to call and discuss your health goals on 663 140 297
YOGA FOR ALL APRIL 09
Spring has finally sprung and we’re turning our thoughts to spring cleaning our homes, and perhaps our bodies. The benefits of yoga such as weight loss and toned muscles are available to us all.
There are however three keys to enjoying yoga’s undisputed benefits. They are 100% under your control, and affect not only your enjoyment of your practice, but just as importantly, the benefits you receive from each practice.
1. Challenge yourself
One of the purposes of yoga, like every exercise regime, is to incrementally improve your body's physical capabilities. Yoga of course has the added advantage that it also helps to improve many aspects of your health and well-being that general exercise cannot.
Even with these increased benefits, yoga is not a magic cure-all. Achieving these benefits requires your commitment and effort each time you practice. Achieving incremental improvements to your capabilities requires (and allows) you to further challenge your own physical limitations. Over time improvements result in large gains in your yoga abilities and the health and weight loss benefits of your practice.
In every posture you should be looking to make sure first that you are stable and comfortable in the posture. You should then be aiming to slowly and smoothly deepen the stretch as far as it remains pain free for you to do so. In all postures you should feel the stretch in the relevant muscles and deepen into the stretch in a controlled manner to avoid damaging your muscles and ligaments. You should challenge your own abilities in order to achieve new yoga abilities, but also listen carefully to your body to know when to stop.
2. Breathing
There is a lot of discussion and research into the importance and health benefits of yoga breathing. While these may well prove to be real benefits, adopting relaxed, controlled yoga breathing definitely helps to improve your overall yoga practice.
The natural tendency, when practicing an asana (yoga posture) that tests your physical abilities, is to shorten your breath and in some cases, to start breathing through your mouth. This stressful breathing technique encourages you to tense your muscles and fight against the asana and the stretch. This is the opposite of the desired state for practicing yoga.
Instead it's important that you concentrate on your breathing, completing a long, controlled inhale exhale cycle that fills your lungs to capture the maximum amount of oxygen for each breath. Focusing on your breathing in this way, helps you to remain relaxed and allows you to be more aware of your physical condition enabling you to better feel the stretch, be aware of tension in your muscles and concentrate on releasing that tension and to loosen the muscles you're working on. Through this increased awareness of what you body is telling you and by noticing and releasing tension in your muscles, it's easier to accept each stretch and go deeper into each asana and hold it for longer without injury.
3. Practice, Practice, Practice.
As with all exercise, the benefits only come with a commitment to regular practice. Only through regular practice of exercise does the body start to develop, strengthen, adapt and change according to the physical demands you are placing on it. Practicing yoga is no different. Regular practice helps to build the muscle strength required to hold asanas. More than that, you'll develop increased lung capacity and provide the regular stimulation to the internal organs that helps balance chemical and hormone levels. Frequent practice helps to learn any new skill or ability and yoga is no different. In particular, repetition helps your body learn the correct position balancing postures, to the extent that it becomes second nature - just like riding a bike. Another area where frequent practice is highly beneficial is learning how to slow and calm your mind, to purge your thoughts of the worries and stresses of the day. This increased serenity, along with welcome weight loss benefits, can be taken ‘off the mat’ and into the rest of your life.
Sarah Good is a Sivananda trained yoga teacher offering weekly drop-in yoga classes.
Please call 663 140 297 for further details.
YOGA FOR ALL MARCH 09-INSOMINIA
Restorative sleep is vital to our health and wellbeing, yet enjoying deep, restful sleep doesn't come easily to all of us. If you suffer from interrupted sleep patterns Yoga can help combat insomnia and is in fact one of the best remedies for sleep disorders.
Yoga is one of the most wholesome of all fitness regimes, and even in the context of sleep disorders it can help in many ways. Yoga stimulates the nervous system, particularly the brain, and this improves the quality of sleep itself. The practice of certain yoga postures helps improve blood circulation through your body and to the brain as well. This helps to normalize sleep patterns.
Yoga not only focuses on the physical. Breathing exercises or Pranayama(lengthening of the breath) improves the oxygen supply throughout your body. This improved oxygen supply to the brain improves its functioning. Regular practice of Yoga and breathing techniques also facilitates the expulsion of toxins from the body, which helps to rejuvenate us.
Insomnia has become very common and can be a disturbing disorder that seems to be inescapable for some of us living in the modern world. As we struggle to keep pace with the progress around us and the rising stress levels and pressure at the workplace our health suffers tremendously; both physically and mentally. Insomnia can be caused by both or either. Yoga is ideally suited to treat insomnia, as it addresses both physical and emotional or mental health.
If your insomnia prevents you from falling asleep, try practicing some of the deep relaxation exercise and meditation techniques that are an integral part of yoga. Do this around twenty minutes before attempting to sleep. This will relax your body and calm your mind, giving you a chance to rest peacefully. If your insomnia stems from disturbed or interrupted sleep try to practice gentle and rhythmic breathing exercises, whenever you wake up. This will help you fall asleep. Moreover the problem of disturbed sleep can be resolved if you practice some simple yoga poses each day.
Insomnia is not a disorder that occurs independently in most cases, and can therefore be treated by eliminating symptoms that cause insomnia. This is where daily yoga workouts will come in handy. A daily yoga routine will help you to stay in shape, both stretching and relaxing muscles. It will help relieve stress, anxiety and fatigue, whether physical or mental. Tending to one aspect of your health while neglecting another never bodes well, so make it a point that you also follow a healthy diet and lifestyle. Cut down on your intake of caffeinated drinks too and avoid them completely for at least six hours before your sleep time. Similarly, avoid consuming any alcohol or having a heavy meal for the hour before bedtime. Sweet dreams
Sarah Good is a Sivananda trained yoga teacher offering weekly drop-in yoga classes. Please feel free to call for more details on 663 140 297
YOGA FOR ALL FEB 09
Living with chronic pain, can be a cause of constant discomfort, with an attack on your reserves of strength, energy, and feelings of well-being. Using Yoga techniques for pain management can help minimize medication usage and help you lead a happier and fuller life. The best techniques for pain management are Yoga breathing (pranayama), relaxation, and meditation. These three aspects of Yoga act to distract your mind from pain, reduce your body’s tension in reaction to pain, and provide an opportunity to "move through" the pain instead of resisting it so it loses its full impact.
Yoga is believed to reduce pain by helping the brain's pain center regulate the gate-controlling mechanism located in the spinal cord and the secretion of natural painkillers in the body. Breathing exercises used in yoga can also reduce pain. Because muscles tend to relax when you exhale, lengthening the time of exhalation can help produce relaxation and reduce tension. Awareness of breathing helps to achieve calmer, slower respiration and aid in relaxation and pain management. The act of controlling the breath in yoga also helps reduce pain. The body has a natural phenomenon built in to the nervous system, which keeps tension in the muscles "on stand by" when the lungs are full, or "pressurized".
Lengthening the time of exhalation can help produce relaxation and reduce tension in the body.
Relaxation training is a step - by - step process of relaxing each of your body’s muscles; this helps to counteract the body’s natural tendency to increase muscle tension in an unconscious effort to "push" the pain away – which only causes the pain to increase. Mental relaxation is more effective in the relief of chronic pain, when combined with meditation and rhythmic breathing.
Meditation training is a conscious effort to reduce your mind’s constant chatter and to concentrate instead simply on the feeling of not thinking. Regular daily practice of meditation builds a foundation of internal strength by opening a door to a part of yourself that is not governed by the demands of your physical body. Start with five minutes. Build up the time slowly until you can do 20 minutes. You might want to try two 20 minute sessions eventually, one in the morning and the other at night. If you can only do five minutes, don't worry, you´ll still feel the benefits.
Yoga's inclusion of relaxation techniques and meditation can help reduce pain. 
Part of the effectiveness of yoga in reducing pain is due to its focus on self-awareness. This self-awareness can have a protective effect and allow for early preventive action.
Sarah Good is a Sivananda trained yoga teacher offering weekly drop-in yoga classes. Please feel free to call for more details on 663 140 297
YOGA FOR ALL JAN 09
Happy New Year. The fun and festivities may have taken their toll and perhaps you´re ready for a fresh start, a detox. From reading the celebrity mags we may be forgiven for believing that detox is something you do by either checking into a cushy rehabilitation facility or consuming nothing but liquids for 21 days. It seems overly arduous or something only the rich and idle have time to do. But your body is designed to engage in detoxification every day. We can help these natural processes along by adopting a regular yoga practice. Yoga, with it´s focus on systematically stretching and compressing every part of the body, is particularly well suited to keeping the waste removal departments of the body functioning well.
In a well rounded yoga practice, every part of the body is pushed, pulled, twisted, and turned. This facilitates the removal of waste products such as carbon dioxide, lactic acid and lymphatic fluid from the deep tissues and extremities of the body that a jog or bike ride just don´t reach.
How detoxification works
There are three main systems of the body that play a crucial role in the elimination of wastes – circulatory, digestive and lymph. The circulatory system pumps blood throughout the body, delivering oxygen to and carrying waste products from cells. The digestive system processes the food we eat, separating nutrients from waste and eliminating anything the body doesn´t need. And the lymphatic system collects intracellular fluid from throughout the body and transports it to the lymph nodes where anything harmful (such as bacteria or other contaminants such as excess alcohol!) can be removed before the lymphatic fluid is returned to the bloodstream. It´s a robust system that works well on it´s own. But in order to help your body keep up with the demands of our sometimes stressful lives, and nutrient poor modern diet place on these systems, the trick is to give your body some help so that it can perform it´s natural detoxing functions. And yoga is the ideal companion.
New Year, New You
To kick start the New Year why not give yourself the gift of a weekly Yoga for Detox class. Classes start on Wednesday 7th January 11am - 12 at the Hotel Flamingo Spa in L´Ampolla, and are held weekly. After the poolside class feel free to swim in the heated indoor pool, then complete the detoxification benefits by stepping into the sauna. Give yourself the gift of health – all for only 10 euros.
Sarah Good is a Sivananda trained yoga teacher offering weekly drop-in classes.
Please feel free to call for more details on 663 140 297
YOGA FOR ALL DEC 08
Tis the season to be jolly ... but mention the christmas present list, last posting date to the UK or preparation of the turkey with all the trimmings, and most of us feel a little less jolly, perhaps a little bit stressed.
By setting time aside each week to destress through exercise and relaxation we will be repayed with a noticable increase in vitality and peace of mind. Relaxation is a tonic for the body and spirit, expanding our energy levels throughout the day. By remembering that the state of our minds and the state of our bodies are intimately linked we are able to create a healthy and happy life for ourselves.
If your muscles are relaxed, then your mind will be relaxed. If the mind is anxious, then the body suffers too. All action originates in the mind. When the mind receives a stimulus that alerts it to the need for action, it sends a message via the nerves to contract the muscles in readiness. Everyone has their own trouble spots – whether it´s a clenched jaw, a furrowed brow, or a stiff neck. This unnecessary tension can be a drain on our energy and a major cause of ill health and tiredness. So how do we fully relax? Watching TV, for example, may feel relaxing to us but the body and mind are still not in a full state of relaxation. A typical exercise such as Savasana (relaxation pose) can be experienced at home or in a yoga class and will completely relax the body and mind, and top up our energy reserves for a full and active life.
Savasana (Relaxation pose)
To fully relax the body, you lie down in the relaxation pose and first tense then relax each part of the body in turn, working up from your feet to your head. This alternate tensing then relaxing is necessary because it is only by knowing how tension feels that you can be sure that you have achieved real relaxation.Then through a process called autosuggestion you´ll consciously tell each muscle in turn to release any further tension and a feeling of heaviness will be felt as your body relaxes further onto the floor. To relax and focus the mind you breathe steadily and rythmically and concentrate on your breathing. As you relax you´ll feel sensations of lightness and warmth. When all muscular tension is gone, a gentle euphoria suffuses the whole body, often referred to as ´the yoga glow´. Even a few minutes in deep relaxation will reduce worry and fatigue more effectively than many hours of sleep and produce a calmness that reaches deep into your core.
Sarah Good is a Sivananda trained Yoga teacher offering weekly local classes.
Please call for the latest times and locations this month. Tel: 663 140 297
BACK TO TOP
YOGA FOR ALL NOV 08
There are so many good reasons to begin a regular yoga practice, gaining a healthy, correct posture can be counted among them. Contrary to the Victorian idea of a rod straight back a healthy back has natural curves and yoga gently encourages the spine to return to this natural state of health.
To correct the posture through yoga the first emphasis should be on poses that help to realign the spine and promote healthy postural habits. The full sequence of postures experienced in a yoga class will enable us to achieve our goals. 
In a normal adult who is standing erect, the spinal column curves slightly in four parts. Beginning at the head, it curves slightly forward (cervical curvature), then in a sweeping curve backward under the shoulders (thoracic curvature), forward over the haunches (lumbar curvature), and backward at the end of the spine (pelvic curvature).
All four spinal curves lend resilience and spring to the vertebral column. This ´spring ´is essential for shock absorption while walking, jogging and other physical exercise. We all slump from time to time (you at the back, sit up straight…) but long term bad postural habits formed through years of sitting at an office desk for example can produce rounded shoulders and a slightly hunched effect (Kyphosis). Symptoms may be experienced as neck pain.
Those of us who have worked for many years on our feet may find we have a different problem. Our lower backs have an exaggerated curve (Lordosis). Symptoms regularly manifest as lower back pain.
A sideways ´kink ´in the spine (Scoliosis) may be produced by a lifetime of carrying uneven weight on our shoulders. Tension between the shoulder blades and headaches may be experienced.
If you recognise any of these symptoms there is no need to suffer in silence. Yoga has been proven by chiropractors and back care specialists to realign the spine and restore health to this area. While practising yoga for realignment emphasis should be placed on keeping the head aligned with the upper body and trunk. The standing poses also help us to become more aware of postural alignment.
A regular practice which includes Mountain pose, Tree pose and Triangle pose will really be beneficial here.
Strengthening the back muscles, particularly the muscle which runs vertically along the length of the spine, is also important when improving postural alignment. The increased strength in the muscles will prevent scoliosis from progressing further to one side.
The Cobra pose works this muscle and helps us bring the spine into natural alignment.
With greater spinal flexibility comes grace and fluidity of movement. Where the body goes the mind flows – greater flexibility in all areas of our lives soon follows a regular yoga practice.
Sarah Good is a Sivananda trained yoga teacher offering relaxing, friendly weekly classes and private tuition in the area.
For further info or to discuss your goals Sarah can be contacted on 663 140 297.
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YOGA FOR ALL OCT 08
O.K, hands up who´s feeling the twinges of arthritis as the nights are getting colder? Arthritis can be experienced as a minor nuisance – or it can be incapacitating. Most doctors agree that some regular exercise is beneficial for arthritis because it keeps muscle tone intact and helps to prevent stiffness in the joints.
When the pain of arthritis strikes, it has the effect of stiffening up the rest of the body, as if to protect the part that hurts. Most people respond to this by decreasing their activity level. Inactivity, however, is often the worst thing to do because it weakens the muscles and actually increases stiffness and pain. Yoga encourages you to keep moving gently while your body is healing in order to maintain muscle tone, good circulation, and joint flexibility. Each asana (exercise) brings fresh blood and nutrients to muscle tissue and can be likened to accupressure with similar deep felt benefits.
Arthritis does not have to be a disability. By practicing a few gentle yogic exercises each day you can take control by reducing pain signifigantly. With increased strength and flexibility we can maintain our daily activities with health and renewed energy.
What is arthritis?
Arthritis affects the joints, the areas of the body where two or more bones meet. In addition, there are several different parts of the joint that may be affected by arthritis, such as, cartilage, synovium, tendons, and muscles. The neighbouring ends of bones that form the joints are covered by a soft, protective material called cartilage that cushions the bones and keeps them from rubbing together. The joint is also enclosed in a capsule and lined with a tissue called synovium. The synovium releases a slippery fluid that lubricates the joints and helps them to move freely. Finally, tendons and muscles are responsible for moving the joint area. When a person has arthritis, each of these areas can be affected in some very specific ways, creating a different pain for each person.
Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis, affecting both men and women as they grow older. Because the disease causes pain and stiffness as bones and cartilage progressively break down, osteoarthritis is sometimes called ¨degenerative arthritis¨.
Rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is a specific type that causes inflammation of the joints due to abnormalities in the body´s own defense system against infection, the immune system.
Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia usually affects women. It affects the the muscles at their attachments to bones. Although the condition is often characterized by painful,
tender points in areas of the body that are more susceptable to pain, the disease does not do actual damage to muscles or joints.
Sarah Good is a Sivananda trained yoga teacher offering local classes and also private tuition. She can be contacted on 663 140 297
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YOGA FOR ALL
As a yoga teacher I find that one of the most frequently asked questions is one centred on the students concern for their sensitive back. There is sometimes be a pre-existing belief that we need to be super flexible before we begin practising yoga to avoid further back pain. The truth is that anyone can practice yoga. The yoga asanas (postures) give muscles and ligaments a slow, non-violent stretch, easing sensitivity and pain in the spine and entire skeletal system. At first glance it seems to be little more than a series of strange physical postures. But in time, anyone who continues with a regular practice becomes aware of a subtle change in their approach to life and a tremendous freedom from long held physical stiffness and back pain.
Muscles that are stiff and weak with under use will cause them to be permanently tensed and make each day to day action doubly tiring. Over time our ligaments (the muscles attached to our bones) may shorten resulting in incorrect posture, ultimately leading to undue stress on the lower spine, hips and pelvis. Even a simple action such as carrying a bag always on the same shoulder can soon throw the whole frame out, with muscles overdeveloped on one side a vertebra may be displaced.
The good news is that for all common back problems adopting a regular practice of a gentle, full asana sequence is the key to regaining the lost vitality many of us seek. A yoga class is designed to stimulate the circulation, and to work systematically on every part of the body so that muscles are healthy and in balance. Back care yoga will keep us young and agile throughout our lives easing our passage through the later years.
Sarah Good is a Sivananda trained yoga teacher offering local weekly yoga classes and also private tuition. She can be contacted on 663 140 297.
YOGA FOR WEIGHT LOSS...AND SO MUCH MORE
Many people will enter a yoga class with the goal of becoming slimmer, or changing their physical abilities in some way. Months later they find they are not only physically changed but their lives have changed too. Yoga works on the body, mind and emotions in positive, life-changing ways.
Starting with weight loss, let´s look at why yoga works successfully as a path to fitness. Muscles metabolise calories when they are stimulated. One pound of muscle uses 35 – 50 calories every twenty four hours. However, the more muscle used, the greater the stimulation, and in turn more calories are burned. A muscle that is put through it´s entire range of motion, as in yoga, will burn more calories than a muscle which is only partially used as in jogging. A typical yoga practice will stimulate each muscle in the body through nearly 100% of it´s range, therefore the practice of yoga postures is an efficient use of muscle tissue with a high calorific expenditure.
Asanas (postures) such as the Bridge, which increase blood flow to the thyroid gland in the neck, are also of great benefit for those looking to lose weight. Anyone who suffers from an under active thyroid will feel lethargic and put on weight easily, yet with regular practice of the Bridge pose a rich supply of blood is supplied to the thyroid gland. The increased flow provides stimulation and a massaging effect, ultimately restoring a healthy metabolism and regulating the body´s weight.
In addition to weight loss yoga is an exercise which builds strength and flexibility with minimal risk of injury. By moving into and out of postures in a controlled way, and holding the pose for a length of time, the yoga student uses his or her own body weight as resistance. A recent study by the university of California found that one hour of yoga practice, four times a week over a period of eight weeks increased muscular strength up to 31%, muscular endurance up to 57%, and flexibility up to 188% in a group of previously sedentary participants.
Beyond it´s purely physical benefits, yoga increases your body awareness and helps to decrease stress. The increase in awareness leads to better decisions about what to eat. Instead of fuelling your body with foods that digest slowly, the body begins to ask for lighter foods higher in nutrients.
Also by reducing stress, yoga reduces eating as a stress response. Our sometimes stressful lives increase the hormone cortisol which produces a sensation of false hunger. By lowering our stress levels we lower the amount of cortisol in our bodies.
With yoga´s awareness and attention to detail, comes strength, flexibility and self mastery, bringing unlimited benefits to the body and mind.
You may enter a yoga class for the physical benefits, and within a short time find that you've received so much more. So what do you have to lose?
Sarah Good is a Sivananda trained yoga teacher offering weekly drop-in yoga classes in the area, ans also private tuition. You may contact her on 663 140 297
THE OLIVE DOCTOR
“Inflation.....oil prices rise again”. Is there nothing else in the news at the moment?
Hang on a minute, I'm talking about vegetable oil prices here, not crude oil and one of the most expensive....olive oil. Read on, however, before you remove it from your shopping list, I'm hoping to persuade you that there are some things worth paying extra for and that olive oil is definitely one of them.
'Good' fats v 'Bad' fats
The majority of vegetable oils are classed as either polyunsaturated ( e.g. Sunflower, maize), saturated ( most animal derived fats, coconut and palm oils.) or mono saturated e.g. rapeseed .Olive oil is a mono saturated fat and this, along with other qualities makes all the difference.
The 'amazing health benefits' of polyunsaturated margarines have been pushed on us through advertising for years. What a con! They were processing the oils in such a way that the health benefits were reversed. This is because the oils were altered by hydrogenating to make them more solid,( e.g. many oils used in margarines.) This process is now known to increase the risk of cancer and heart disease and there has been pressure upon the food industry to either cease the process or make customers aware of it through better labelling of food. Palm oil is another contentious issue. It is a saturated fat and is used in many manufactured foods. In addition to this it is causing massive habitat loss within the rainforests as land is cleared for it to be grown. Butter is a saturated fat and should be used in moderation, however due to the effects of hydrogenation many health experts would recommend that we use this on our bread, spread thinly, rather than a margarine containing hydrogenated fat. Better still use olive oil!
I don't want to be accused of scaremongering but looking more closely at what manufactured food contains and its cost to the environment would seem to be a good idea.
Using olive oil instead of other fats can:
Reduce blood pressure by lowering cholesterol and preventing the build up of plaque within the wall of the artery.
Inhibit the growth of some cancers including breast and colon cancer due to its high level of beneficial antioxidants.
benefit people at risk of, or with diabetes by helping to stabilise blood sugar.
Lessen the severity of asthma or arthritis due to its anti-inflammatory properties.
help your body maintain a lower weight.
Feeling the benefits. Simple steps you can take now.
Buy good quality virgin or extra virgin olive oil. Support your local co-operative and buy locally produced oil or perhaps harvest your own olives if you haven't considered this yet!
Drizzle olive oil over salads or cooked vegetable. (oils help with the absorption of vitamins and minerals.)
Use olive oil for shallow frying instead of sunflower oil, etc.
Baste meats and fish with olive oil when roasting.
Resurrect the traditional Mediterranean habit. Ditch the margarine and drizzle olive oil over bread instead. ( OK, maybe not so great with toast and marmalade.) Try 'Pa amb tomata.' The locals will be very impressed!
Consider making your own flavoured olive oils by adding herbs such as wild rosemary, thyme or oregano. ( all available in the wild for free.) Pack a punch with some garlic or a zing with some lemon.
If you are organised enough to bake your own bread you can use olive oil instead of butter of margarine. In Italy they call it ciabbata.
Question: “ This is all very well but I've been out all day 'olive bashing' and I'm aching all over-surely that can't be healthy?
Answer: congratulations, you have had a great workout! Now gently warm some olive oil and ask your partner to massage it into those aching joints and muscles. I guarantee this will revive your flagging spirits!
A source of good fortune....The olive branch.
Olive leaf extract has recently had a huge amount of attention and is being hailed as “ nature's antibiotic” due to it's powerful antioxidant properties and ability to treat a range of bacterial and viral illnesses.
In fact it is not a new discovery and was held in high esteem by the Ancient Egyptians. Olive leaf was the first botanical cited in the Bible ( Ezekiel 47:12) as a natural healer.” The fruit thereof shall be for meat and the leaf thereof for medicine”.
Before you rush off and buy expensive extracts or capsules here is a recipe I have found. If you have access to fresh olive leaves why not try it?
Olive leaf tea.
Use approximately 5grammes of dried, crushed olive leaf, place in a tea ball or herb sack and drop into half a litre of boiling water. Immediately reduce the heat to a medium simmer for 20 seconds and then turn off heat. Allow to brew for 3 to 10 minutes depending on desired strength, occasionally stirring. Tea should be a medium amber colour. Can be served with honey, sugar or lemon. You can also experiment by mixing with black or green tea. ( olive leaves should be air dried for one month before crushing. Spring is recommended as the best picking time for leaves as the beneficial properties are at their height.)
* Caution: not recommended for pregnant or breastfeeding women, diabetics or those on medicine to lower blood pressure. If uncertain consult your G.P.
It does seem ironic that we are burning all that olive brash when there are companies selling packets of of dried olive leaves at five pounds for a 100g bag. Food for thought perhaps?
Vicky Palmer. (The Olive Maintenance Company)
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DEALING WITH BEING A BUGS MEAL
Symptoms
Insect bites leave venom in the skin and cause a usually mild but itchy skin reaction. Scratching may infect the wound and leave lasting scars. Infection becomes obvious if the bite swells and reddens on the second day or after the initial skin reaction seemed to improve. Some people react to bites with allergic rashes, which can be dangerous if the swelling blocks air passages. Insect bites are also a serious problem if the insect carries disease. In several tropical regions, mosquitoes carrying malaria cause dangerously high fevers. In some wild areas of North America, tick bites may cause Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Since tick bites are not painful, they can easily be overlooked. Lyme disease causes flu-like symptoms to develop within one month of the tick bite, often with a rash.
Weeks later, it can cause lingering arthritis, heart problems, neuritis and other nervous system disorders, which usually go away after several months. In rare cases, symptoms last indefinitely. Rocky Mountain spotted fever causes a dangerously high fever, headaches, muscle pains and a rash. These symptoms develop within two weeks of a tick bite. Other biting insects are horseflies, ants, fleas, lice and scabies mites. None of these carry diseases, though they can be troublesome.
Insect Bites (Spiders, Ticks & Fleas) Causes
Mosquito and tick bites can be prevented with sufficient clothing. Insects prefer dark clothing and bright floral designs to pastel colours and whites. Sweet, flowery perfumes, hairsprays and sun-screens also attract mosquitoes and other insects. In hot climates, mosquito nets help, especially near water and after sunset, when mosquitoes are most prevalent. Natural insect repellents including garlic and cider vinegar (diluted chlorine) will help. Alcohol dilates the blood vessels in the skin, which attracts insects, including mosquitoes and horseflies. Ticks thrive in wooded areas, so wearing adequate clothing helps to repel them. Since the bites are painless, checking for ticks after a day in the woods can help prevent infection.
Household pets are often a source of fleas and ticks, and can also carry worms. Head lice are passed on among children very quickly regardless of hygiene, so head lice are difficult to avoid. Body and pubic lice are less easily contracted, since they are spread through contaminated clothing and sexual contact.
Insect Bites (Spiders, Ticks & Fleas) Nutrition
To prevent bites from mosquitoes and horseflies, avoid alcohol. Alcohol causes the skin to flush and the blood vessels to dilate, attracting insects. Eating garlic or rubbing it on the skin helps repel insects. Yeast also helps reduce susceptibility to bites. Eat nutritional yeast daily for three weeks before going into the woods to discourage mosquitoes and black flies from biting. After a severe insect bite, drink plenty of pure spring water, light soups and diluted juices to flush out residual toxins.
Insect Bites (Spiders, Ticks & Fleas) Nutritional Supplements
As a prevention for insect bites, garlic and vitamin B1 (thiamine) supplements are effective, as they give off an unfavourable scent to the insect. A vitamin B complex can be added to B1 for several weeks to prevent imbalances. Use brewer's yeast supplements for pets, or nutritional yeast for humans. Garlic is more effective against ticks. Take these supplements several days before and throughout a trip to wooded, damp areas.
Very high doses of vitamin C, taken together with calcium, can be used effectively to combat the allergic and toxic effects of all kinds of bites, even against venomous spiders and snakes. The calcium also seems to markedly reduce the pain.
Daily dosages:
Most Important to take:
Vitamin C, with bioflavonoids, 4,000–10,000 mg immediately following a bite and 1,000 mg every few hours
Vitamin B1, 50 mg twice daily
Garlic, 2 capsules three times daily
Vitamin B complex, 50 mg daily
Helpful to take:
Calcium, 1,200 mg
Insect Bites (Spiders, Ticks & Fleas) Herbal Remedies
Herbal remedies can promote healing of the skin, decrease inflammation, help the body cleanse residual toxins from the blood and boost the immune system.
Yarrow reduces the itching and swelling, while lemon balm, plantain and ivy leaves soothe and heal. Crush or gently rub leaves on the bite.
Aloe vera gel is excellent to soothe and heal the affected skin.
Citronella oil is a natural insect repellent that should be rubbed on the skin and is safe for children and pregnant women. Keep away from eyes.
Intense swellings should be treated with hot hay seed compresses.
Spider bites:
Spiders inject a toxin into the blood and lymph system that affects internal organs and can cause the formation of harmful free radicals in the body.
To boost the immune system and purify the blood, take 10to20 drops of echinacea tincture in liquid or 1to2 capsules or tablets three times daily for up to a week. After the venom is removed and the bite thoroughly cleaned and disinfected, apply comfrey and plaintain salve to speed healing. Make sure all traces of venom have been removed from the area before applying comfrey, as this herb almost instantly rebuilds tissue over the area.
Insect Bites (Spiders, Ticks & Fleas) Homeopathy
Homeopathic remedies are excellent for insect stings and bite reactions or pain. The recommended dosage is 2 tablets under the tongue in a 6c strength, repeating every fifteen minutes for three doses. If symptoms persist, repeat every four hours for an extra day or two. Stop once symptoms improve.
For any stings or bites, Ledum can be used immediately. Typical symptoms include a cold feeling to the skin around the bite and cold applications to the skin provide relief.
For swelling, heat and stinging pain, use Apis.
Hypericum should be chosen in those cases where shooting pains develop along a nerve, common in horsefly bites.
Insect Bites (Spiders, Ticks & Fleas) Tissue Salts
The tissue salt Nat mur can be made into a paste by adding a little water, and applied directly to the bite to soothe the irritation.
Insect Bites (Spiders, Ticks & Fleas) External/Physical Therapies
Place a slice of fresh onion on the sting.
To disinfect, dab the spot with alcohol.
Apply ice to the area to slow absorption of the venom.
For first aid, if nothing else is at hand, rub saliva into the bite.
If stung inside the mouth, gargle with liquid whey or, if not available, with salt water (2 tbsp. salt to 3 cups of water).
A cabbage leaf poultice applied to the neck will further help in reducing the poison's effect.
For ant, mosquito, tick and chigger bites, wash the area thoroughly with soap and water. Use a brush and scrub chigger bites, then apply damp baking soda.
Once a tick is found on the skin, it should be removed with tweezers by pulling the head, which is closest to the skin. Once removed,the tick must be burned. Trying to remove the tick with the hands can cause the head to embed even more firmly in the skin.
A capsule of vitamin E emptied onto the skin supports healing and alleviates pain.
Insect Bites (Spiders, Ticks & Fleas) Other Suggestions
Take charcoal tablets to draw the toxine out and chamomile tablets to reduce the irritation. Applying natural(greek) yoghurt to the bite immediately takes the inflamation down. Mosquitoes are attracted by sour sweat.
Wasp stings can become infected. If the inflammation seems to worsen on the second day, consult a physician.
From the Enyclopedia of
Natural Healing
A HEALTHY LIVER
Top 10 tips for a Healthy Liver and Lymph
Your liver has many functions; stores certain vitamins, minerals and sugars for use as fuel, cleanses/filters the toxins out of your blood and controls the production/excretion of cholesterol. Your overall health and vitality, to a great extent, depends upon the health of your liver. The thousands of enzyme systems that control virtually every body activity are created there. If your liver fails to create even one of these enzymes, overall body function is impaired, creating greater metabolic stress on your body.
THE LYMPH composed of
Lymph fluid consists of; The 'tissue fluid' in which all of our cells are bathed, and the fluid within the 'lymph vessels'. These are 'blood vessel' like tubes, which connect the lymph glands of the body. The Lymphatic System is also called the Immune System.
Modern lifestyles can overstress your liver. Alcohol, tobacco, environmental pollutants, food additives, agricultural pesticides, popular cosmetic ingredients, common household products, stress, pharmaceutical and OTC (over-the-counter) drugs (including oral contraceptives and caffeine), gallstones, home repair materials, artist materials, garden chemicals and building materials can all kill liver cells.
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Symptoms of liver imbalance include headaches, bruising easily, anxiety, depression, confusion, fatigue, jaundice, impaired libido (sex drive) and mental function, food allergies, multiple chemical sensitivities and PMS, as well as conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease. When your liver is damaged it cannot remove toxins, which then build up in your blood and eventually, your brain.
Try the following tips for a healthy liver and lymph:
1•Avoid any foods of which you suspect you may be intolerant:
They will produce toxins in the gut that can cause stress to the detoxification mechanisms. Bacteria, viruses, too much alcohol, coffee and other caffeine-containing drinks, smoking and the medicines that have powerful effects on the liver, stomach and other parts of the body can prove toxic Chew your food well to help release the enzymes that aid digestion.
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2•Consume plenty of foods containing:
Consume plenty of foods containing folate, flavonoids, magnesium, iron, sulphate and selenium and B-vitamins 2,3,6 and 12, since toxicity in the body can be caused by deficiency of the nutrients that the liver needs for detoxification as much as by exposure to toxins. Think along the lines of salads, beans, fresh juices, stir-fries cooked in a little good-quality olive oil, nuts, seeds, yoghurt (full-fat is fine). Steaming is a quick and healthy way of cooking vegetables, and the only vegetables to avoid are potatoes. Aim for a diet build on complex carbohydrates (brown rice), lean protein (beans, lentils, eggs, chicken, fish and a little lean red meat) and organic fruits & vegetables.
3•Cut down on stimulants:
Such as tea and coffee, and depressants such as smoking & alcohol. Aim at drinking at least 2.5 litres of water a day.
4•Eat foods rich in antioxidants:
Which aid the natural detox mechanisms like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, and Brussels sprouts and Soybean products. Nutrients that enhance our immune system are Vitamin C, Vitamin E, the B-vitamins, Zinc and Magnesium. These nutrients are either potent anti-oxidants capable of stopping the free-radical cascade of tissue damage or are involved in the enzymes that help detoxify damaging chemicals.
Artichoke contains both liver-protective/restorative powers. It acts as a blood purifier and has been proven in clinical studies to lower cholesterol, triglyceride levels and other metabolic waste products
5•Take a daily does of Echinacea , milk thistle or dandelion root:
(as tablets, tincture or teas) – all herbs with a long – established reputation as blood cleansers and skin tonics. The usual recommended dose for milk thistle is 350mg three times a day for a couple of weeks.
6•Don’t use antibiotics or antacids unless absolutely necessary:
Antibiotics can destroy the useful bacteria in the gut that eliminate toxins; antacids decrease the natural acidity that is necessary for complete digestion.
7•Take a dose of activated charcoal twice a week:
This is a medical form of charcoal with the capacity to absorb whatever molecules it encounters, including toxins. Don’t take it with food or medicines though, or it will absorb them.
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8•Take some gentle exercise:
too, which increases lymph activity within the body, causing you to sweat and generate more urine, encouraging liver activity and stimulating the gut to get rid of waste products, all of which can help to detoxify your body. Gentle exercise is the key, however, because although you'll find walking, swimming and cycling beneficial, you can really feel out of sorts when your body starts cleansing itself, and strenuous exercise will just make you feel worse. Wind up the exercise routine by carrying out deep breathing to use the Lungs more fully, this will get more oxygen into the blood, remove waste products from the blood - especially carbon dioxide - more quickly; and help to speed up the circulation of the blood.
Quick exercise massage for the Liver and Gall Bladder: Place the heel of the right hand on the side of the body under the rib cage, and just above the hip bone. The fingers should point straight across the body. Pressing firmly, move the hand slowly across the body to the middle of the abdomen; you should end up with the hand over the navel. Repeat this action 10-20 times.
9•Avoid excess of salt & sugar:
Instead of excess salt use fresh herbs, pepper, chillies and lemon juice to enhance the flavour of food. Too much sugar isn't healthy for anyone but especially those with an impaired immune system.
Ginseng is an adaptogen that helps to stabilize blood sugar through glucose metabolism, boosts your immune system and improves mental and physical stamina, allowing the body to better manage stress.
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10•Laugh, Rest and feel good! :
One more really good way to boost your immune system and it's free. Laugh, Rest and feel good! A depressed mind can cause a depressed body. Laughter actually increases production of an antibody that is responsible for our first line of defense against bacterial infections. Laughter, lovemaking and exercise are the best medicine of all!
Over time, the health of the liver and lymph may be restored. Taking beneficial herbs regularly and following a detoxification process can help to provide protection to either the sick or healthy liver during the course of daily life. This stabilizes cell membranes and encourages the regeneration of liver cells destroyed during their normal functions.
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WATER IS THE FIRST CHOICE FOR YOUR HEALTH
DID YOU REALISE that by the time you get a bottle of water home from the supermarket you have already moved it 6 to 8 times. Why not treat yourself and have a whole of house water purification unit and have drinking water from all your taps in your home. It is possible to purify river, irrigation and canal water with this unique SEAGULL IV X6 system.
It’s a fact – we should all drink water, as it is the body’s most important food. Having purified water from your tap encourages your children to drink more water instead of fizzy drinks plus you always have water on tap without taking up valuable fridge space. We can survive several weeks without a meal but only the maximum of three days without water! Next to the air we breathe, water intake is our most vital need. Giving yourself a steady supply of pure water does your whole body a big favour. Your body is about 70% water, and water makes up 80% of our blood. It transports body wastes, lubricates our joints, stabilizes our body temperature and is a vital part of cells. We lose around 2 litres of fluid every day and when you exercise you lose water at the rate of about one litre per hour.
When you increase your pure water intake you fill yourself up 
with benefits and it is refreshing, invigorating and completely natural, free of caffeine, chlorine, calories, preservatives, sugar, and artificial ingredients.
A healthy water intake keeps your inner organs and digestion functioning properly, water flushes out toxins and impurities, it helps to transport disease fighting cells through the bloodstream, and it benefits your body’s largest organ, the skin, keeping it supple and smooth. Water increases your body’s resistance to stress. It thins your blood. Fights fatigue, helps your cardiovascular system, and fights stress. It is essential to your health to have a source of clean fresh water not only to drink but also to wash in as many diseases can be taken in via your skin, eyes and ears.
Remember your family deserve the best and when you have a water purification unit in your home you will wonder how you ever lived without it.
CALL PUREWATER SPAIN TODAY 977 059 364 FOR MORE DETAILS
Washing away diseases
By Henrylito D. Tacio
Health 101
“THE water and sanitation crisis does not grab headlines, but far more people suffer from it than what you would think,” said Eveline Herfkens, UN general-secretary’s executive coordinator for the Millennium Development Goals campaign.
“While water-related diseases vary substantially in their nature, transmission, effects and management, adverse health effected related to water are organized into four categories: water-borne, water-based, water-related vector, and water-scarce,” explains Hinrichsen.
Water-borne diseases are “dirty water” diseases--those caused by water that has been contaminated by human, animal, or chemical wastes.
Worldwide, the lack of sanitary waste disposal and of clean water for drinking, cooking, and washing is to blame for over 12 million deaths a year.
Water-borne diseases include cholera, diarrhoea, typhoid, shigella, polio, meningitis, and hepatitis A and E. Human beings and animals can act as hosts to the bacterial, viral, or protozoal organisms that cause these diseases.
“Where proper sanitation facilities are lacking, water-borne diseases can spread rapidly,” Hinrichsen said. Untreated excreta carrying disease organisms wash or leach into freshwater sources, contaminating drinking water and food.
Water-based diseases are caused by aquatic organisms that spend part of their life cycle in the water and another part as parasites of animals. These organisms can thrive in either polluted or unpolluted water.
The parasitic worms enter the human body through contact with infested surface water, mainly among people engaged in agriculture and fishing. It has also been known to infect women who do their washing in parasite-infested rivers, or children who swim in them.
What is alarming is that cases of water-related vector diseases are increasing. There are many reasons for this: people are developing resistance to drugs; mosquitoes are developing resistance to insecticides; environmental changes are creating new breeding sites; migration, climate change, and creation of new habitats mean that fewer people build up natural immunity to the disease; and many disease control programs have slowed or been abandoned.
Meanwhile, many other diseases--including trachoma, leprosy, tuberculosis, whooping cough, tetanus, and diphtheria--are considered water-scarce (also known as water-washed) in that they thrive in conditions where freshwater is scarce and sanitation is poor.
Infections are transmitted when too little freshwater is available for washing hands.
According to the United Nations Environment Program (Unep), the incidence of water-related disease and death around the world could be cut by three quarters if there were adequate supplies of safe drinking water and adequate sanitation.
Water is, literally, the source of life on earth. The human body is 70 percent water. People begin to feel thirst after a loss of only one percent of bodily fluids and risk death if fluid loss nears 10 percent.
What you can see in the water may not kill you but the problem is what you can’t see possibly could.
How pure is your water?
A water purification treatment system for the whole house is recommended based on scientific conclusions. It has been proved that up to 50% of all harmful substances in the water and its vapour is not only absorbed by drinking but also through the skin and the respiratory system. Skin ageing and allergies are also a reason to eliminate harmful substances out of the water. Our system should be the first choice. The passive absorption of chlorine, germs, pesticides, herbicides etc. by having a bath/shower or other personal hygiene has unfortunately been underestimated in the past.
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Worried about cholesterol?
See how the right diet can help stave off heart disease
You hear so many stories these days about diet, cholesterol and heart disease that you could easily be ‘frightened to death’. NHS registered Dietitians at Eatatease.com help unravel the tales from the truth with clear, sound advice.
Diet and coronary heart disease
The food we eat affects our health both directly and indirectly in lots of ways. There is, for instance, a direct relationship between diet and heart problems, so having the wrong eating habits can help increase the risk of heart disease and even stroke through contributing factors such as cholesterol, blood pressure, blood clotting and body weight.
Like most of these factors, cholesterol only becomes a problem when its concentrations in the blood are too high. Although it is a fatty substance, this in itself is not a problem, as the body actually needs a certain amount of it – producing some itself and absorbing the rest from animal foods such as dairy products, eggs and meat.
Cholesterol is carried around the body in the blood, where it is attached to a protein in a fat-protein combination known as a lipoprotein. These are categorised as high density (HDL), low density (LDL) or very low density (VLDL), depending on the amount of protein in relation to the fat.
It doesn’t take an Einstein to work out that it’s the low and very low-density lipoproteins that can cause serious damage to our coronary system if they become too highly concentrated in the blood, adding to blood pressure and blood clotting, while a good level of HDLs actually helps to combat cholesterol build-up in the arteries.
To further complicate matters there is another type of fat to look out for: triglyceride’s. Triglyceride’s are derived from calories that are stored up in fat cells, theoretically as a reserve for later use. Although most are stored in fat tissue, low levels are also found in the blood, where they work with VDLs to increase the risk of heart disease.
How do you know if your cholesterol is high?
High cholesterol itself does not cause any symptoms, so many people are unaware that their cholesterol levels are high. The only way to know if you have high cholesterol is by a blood test.
Foods that ‘build’ cholesterol
Avoid a high intake of saturated fats, found mainly in animal products such as lard, butter, cream and hard cheese. These foods are fine in moderation, but can contribute significantly to cholesterol levels, so try to keep to an occasional treat, limit to a 2-4 times a week.
Limit cholesterol-rich foods such as prawns, fish roe and offal (kidneys, liver etc.) to no more than once every two weeks and eggs to no more than 3-4 times a week. Egg white contains no cholesterol and can replace yolks. Substitute two whites for one egg
Reduce your intake of salt and sugar-based products such as cakes and sweets, and greasy foods such as chips, chorizo, pies and anything fried in oil. If you enjoy these foods, treat yourself once a week.
Remember, all fats are high in calories and will create fat pockets that are unsightly, unhealthy and will strain your heart and other organs, so moderate your intake of fatty foods, watch your weight and exercise. It need not be a strenuous programme; just get off the sofa and make sure you move more
Foods that help prevent cholesterol build-up
We can’t avoid consuming fat altogether, nor would it be healthy to, so make sure you choose healthier fats such as mono unsaturated fats like those found in olive oil, olive oil spreads and rapeseed oil, as they give us the fat content we need without building up HDL levels.
Polyunsaturated fats, such as those in vegetables and seeds like sunflower, soya, maize and fish oil are good in moderation. The omega-3 contained in oily fish such as mackerel, sardines, kippers, salmon, trout and fresh tuna are excellent in combating heart disease, so try to have a portion at least twice a week.
Fibre helps to break down cholesterol, hence the doctor’s advice to eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, but these and other fibre-rich foods like beans and oats will also give you a healthy, natural energy boost.
Fats are less likely to build up in your arteries or as unsightly belts on your body if you burn them up through exercise. Again, the amount of exercise should be in proportion to your fitness levels, so it’s better to do little often than try being overly ambitious only to give up shortly afterwards. For those not keen on physical exercise or sport just walking is a relaxing but healthy way to keep fit.
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The Stroke
Dear reader, it makes me happy to invite you to the world of naturopathic therapies.
In the first topic I would like to provide information about a serious and very important subject, which unfortunately can hit us also here in the country of our dreams.
We normally first take interest in such a topic when we have been affected by it ourselves or at least a person close to us.
However, we are not quite helpless when it comes to these illnesses: Nowadays we are able to do quite a lot to enable the return to a fulfilled and self-determined everyday life.
What is a stroke?
A stroke is an acute impairment of the blood circulation within the brain. Arteries or veins could be affected; vessels could be blocked or there may be bleeding to the brain. These disorders may recede and if they are treated in time, the chance of long term consequences can be drastically minimised. For this reason it is very important that one is able to recognise the main indications for a stroke.
How can I recognise a stroke?
The symptoms of a stroke depend on where the damage is being caused within the brain. It is quite often that one half of the body (left/right) suffers from paralysis with disturbances of equilibrium meaning that the person may fall to the side of the paralysis. In most cases, hearing, sight and speech is also affected. There is a good test if you’re in doubt: let the person smile and try to put his eyebrows up. If he or she isn’t able to do this, call 061, so that an ambulance and the emergency doctor can be sent to help.
What can I do?
The most important thing: remain calm!
If you are alone with the person, phone first before taking any further action.
Apart from that, as the first person providing aid it is your job to stand by and help the person suffering. If possible, the persons head should be propped up a little higher than the rest of the body to take a little of the pressure off the brain. Also, tight clothing should be loosened enabling a better supply of oxygen. If unconscious, patients should always be put into the lateral recumbent position; breathing and pulse should be controlled just as one learns during first aid courses.
What happens when the person affected leaves hospital?
After leaving the clinic, the main point of the therapy will be the swift mobilisation of the patient and the commencement of self-help training. Depending on the intensity of the stroke, rehabilitation should take place whilst still in hospital.
The correct type of activating-care is of importance whilst planning the future approach. The emphasis is on the building of individual coping strategies for ones personal situation following a stroke, with rehabilitation always being the task of a team. The person affected is also an important part of the team; others are the family and friends. Not only doctors and nursing staff play an important role, but also the well trained therapist. A well trained alternative practitioner is in the position to provide entire individual and intensive care. He helps patient and relations with the organisation of nursing and rehabilitation, if possible in ones home. His tasks include speech and exercise training, physiotherapy, social care, the choice of accessories and the training of the patients integration into everyday life.
Your German alternative practitioner in Cambrils,
Petra Naumann. Tel: 977 792 145 or 637 120 648
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