Meeting with a few of my coaching colleagues this morning, we started talking about change and transformation.

It seems that everywhere we look these days, we are offered transformation on a platter. It is the buzz word in the marketing industry and everyone hitches their bandwagon onto this newly used concept. “Transform your life” they shout from their marketing soapboxes, but do we?

What is change, and what is transformation?

First of all, we cannot have transformation without change, but we can have change without transformation. Change is an event, transformation is a process. Yes, I know…that starts to sound a little muddled but bear with me.

When we decide to change something, it requires introspection and a willingness to move things in a different direction, as in ” I want to be healthier, thinner, better, smarter, richer”…etc.  It is about taking action to effect these changes, like eating organic food, watching caloric intake, mending fences with someone you don’t like, going back to school or getting a part time job to make ends meet. Change is action, not the idea of action. We often obey our internal compass that guides us in the comfortable, predictable direction we are already going in. Change is about stepping off that path and making a course correction to head in a different direction. It requires us to make a decision to act, it is about being accountable to oneself.

When changes are successful, it is easy to measure the results and see if we are better off than before the changes were made. Is the scale showing a smaller number, is the bank account a little fatter, did you enroll in that new program or reconnect with the relatives you were not speaking to?

But change can be reversed and is not necessarily permanent. It can be quite short-lived when we decide, consciously or not, to revert to usual and comfortable behaviors. This is why the diet world is full of repeat offenders… They achieve results for a while, then revert to what is usual and comfortable and things come back just the way they were, sometime even more so, as in more weight to lose and less energy to do so.

Transformation is change at a far deeper level. Transformation is about finding the true you and letting it shine, it is about strengthening what you already possess to create the future you are looking for. This process can be achieved only by letting go of the past and coming up with totally new ways to bring about that future. Unlike change, transformation, when achieved, is irreversible. There is no going back.

Think of a butterfly: the caterpillar goes through transformation to become a butterfly. The caterpillar was a butterfly-in-waiting…By transforming, it became more of itself, opening up to the possibilities of a brighter future. The butterfly cannot go back to become a caterpillar though…transformation is for good.

Transformation in health requires a paradigm shift. It requires looking at things the way they were, acknowledging them, and starting down a brand new path where we allow ourselves to envision health in a whole new way. It is trusting that our innate intelligence can guide us, letting us know innately when we are on the right path, when we exercise the right way, eat the right food or have consumed the right amount or not. Transformation is acknowledging our personal power and not relinquish it to others, it is trusting our gut feeling, it is letting go of what is no longer serving us to make space for what is . Oprah Winfrey said it best: “The whole point of being alive is to evolve into the complete person you were intended to be.”

Transformation is a real journey and it requires courage and determination. It is not always easy to contemplate who we really are.

In my practice, I see clients make changes that often lead to personal transformations. That is what makes my life such a joyful journey.

I hope that your summer was rich in adventures, experiences and fun, rest, healthy foods and great friends and family to share it all with. Summer is such a wonderful time to relax and enjoy family life in a different way: no holidays to fret over, just sun, backyard barbecues, pick-up games of flag football or competing for the silliest pool jump! Bishop Desmond Tutu said it best about families: ” You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them.”
As much as we love the relaxed summer mode, our body and mind crave routine and fall is synonymous with back to school, early morning wake-up times and getting back into a rhythm.

In Ayurveda, the 24 hour clock is evenly divided in 6 periods, to represent the Vata, Pitta and Kapha times. It is called the Dosha cycle and understanding it is helpful so you can tailor activity and rest to maximize benefits. For example, it is beneficial to get up and start your day while in Vata time, before 6 am. Working out is most beneficial in Kapha time, between 6 and 10 am while eating a larger meal and expecting great digestion is best accomplished at lunch, the peak of Pitta time.

Fall is also a great time to do a reset on nutrition. Did you know that studies show that the average adult gains between 5 and 15 pounds between October 15th and December 31st?
If this gives you pause for thought, good… it should! Now is the time to learn how to “Eat for Life”! No need to make New Year resolutions to lose weight, only to fail, yet again, by March 1st! Eating well is a daily action, not a quick let-me-starve-myself-fix. Contact me at christine@satyawellness.com or 978 430 6122 for a free consultation, I’d be happy to help.

Cleansing is also a great tool to have in your nutrition toolbox. If cleanses evoke starvation, detoxing and endless evening meetings and you would rather run away, I have some gentle and easy solutions for you!
The first is a 7 day cleanse, done on your own without disturbing your daily routine. Is is easy to accomplish and the Ayurvedic herbs help get rid of toxins in a gentle yet very effective manner. The result? Better energy, radiant complexion, weight loss and less cravings. Deepak Chopra says it better than me, so watch  him in this 2 minute video.

If you feel a little more adventurous and would like to try your hand at an elimination cleanse, I have a home study program just for you. The 4 Weeks to a New You program is easy to follow. It contains 4 CDs and a workbook that can be used over and over again, each fall and spring. It can be condensed into 2 weeks if you choose to.
Both methods will deliver great results and I have been using them for myself and my family for years as well as many satisfied clients. Contact me at christine@satyawellness.com with questions or to order.
So this year, I hope you will fall into wellness, easily and effortlessly.
Remember, when you are looking at that cider donut, say this mantra under your breath: “Nothing tastes as good as good health feels”…
Wishing you crisp mornings and sunny days. Happy Fall!
Be well,
Christine

If you find yourself wishing you had eaten one less chocolate egg this Easter season, I am sure you are not alone!

The last few weeks have been a sugar fest for adults and children alike, and the most obvious results are a lack of concentration, poor sleep, sluggish digestion and a weakened immune system.

It is time to go on a spring cleaning mission and eliminate the sweet left-overs! One of the tastiest ways to do that is to embrace a few days of juicing. It is simple to do, it tastes fantastic and your cells are already smiling just thinking about all this goodness coming in!

You need very few things: a good quality juicer is a must, veggies and fruits – preferably organic – and a few add-ons like an avocado or nuts which will not go through the juicer.

For the rest, let your imagination take flight…I love to make my juices mainly vegetables, with a little fruit added in for sweetness. Lunch today was celery, carrots, zucchini, parsley, ginger, cucumber, an apple, a pear and one peeled lemon. Adding beets is fun, colorful and very tasty.

For a little twist, pour the juice in a Vitamix or similar mixer, add an avocado and a few nuts. It will become a creamy concoction that replaces lunch without leaving you feeling like you missed anything.

Do this consistently for a week, instead of lunch. You will feel energized, lighter in body and mind, and your cells will do a happy dance!

Spring always reminds me of a brand new box of colored pencils: vibrant yellow daffodils, soft pink petals and blue primrose.

But most amazing are all the shades of green that come up in the spring. I don’t know about you, but my lawn has turned greener by the day this past week…

There is nothing that heralds spring better than the first blades of new grass, that shout-out from mother nature that it is awake and ready to grow.

From a health perspective, there is a reason for eating spring’s glorious greens. In older times, before trucks and planes that transport our food from thousands of miles away, winter was a time for root vegetables, stored grains and meats. There was very little green food to be found, we ate local foods by necessity, not choice. Spring, and its first green growth, was a welcome change in a fairly bland winter diet.

The body, after having gone through the Vata season of late fall and winter, changes to the Kapha season of spring. Kapha is represented by cold, wet and humid conditions, melting snow and muddy fields.  Even though this year has been very uncharacteristic for a New England winter, Kapha season is here for the next couple of months and it may be the reason why getting up feels harder lately, why energy seems to be in short supply and why the couch is more inviting than the gym! If you feel this way, you are probably in good company…If your dominant dosha is Kapha, you are most certainly feeling it even more.

What’s a Kapha to do? Eat greens!

It is time to detox that winter lethargy and greens are bitter and astringent, two of the tastes that help when Kapha is acting out a little.

Today, it is not very difficult to find vegetables and fruit all year round. We certainly do not have to wait for months for the first green weeds and leaves to sprout. But our bodies still crave this bitter-tasting, energy-giving offering: dandelion greens, sorrel, lamb’s lettuce, fiddle heads, arugula or spinach. The health benefits of eating leafy greens are numerous. They are loaded with vitamins A and C, as well as several of the B vitamins. Just one cup of these greens provides 70 percent of the daily recommended intake for vitamin A and 20 percent for vitamin C. Greens are also a rich source of iron and calcium and numerous trace minerals. Dark leafy greens such as spinach and kale also are good sources of vitamins K and E. Eating organic greens ensures that you get a healthy load of phytonutrients that offer anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits.

If you are lucky enough to live a little off the beaten path, you can gather your own wild greens; fiddle heads and dandelions are plentiful if you know what to look for. If you feel unsure about the harvest, a great book is “Edible wild plants” by John Kallas.

Dandelion salad is still one of my favorites! When you pick them really small, they are still reddish in the center and tender. My mother used to serve it with a homemade oil and vinegar dressing, tiny pieces of crispy bacon and egg slices. With a piece of homemade bread, it was a dinner fit for health!

Picture courtesy of Patrick McDonnell “Guardians of Being”

Blog contribution by Lisa Kawski of LMK Interiors, ltd.

It appears we get to open our doors and windows a few weeks earlier than usual this spring. With the mild winter we experienced as well as the unusually higher temperatures the last several weeks, transitioning into spring is on everyone’s mind. Not only does that mean searching for lighter clothing options, but in many households with colder winters it means cleaning the home to welcome the warm temperatures.

One might be tempted to reach for cleaning products off of grocery store shelves. That’s okay, as long as they are not the toxic/chemical laden products that shout out to us with promises of doing this and that. By purchasing some basic ingredients at the grocery store you can make all of the recipes to follow to create natural cleaning products for your home. You might also find them to be more economical as well. I have selected some of the following recipes from Natural Home and Garden’s March/April Issue.

Ingredients for creating your own cleaning products:

baking soda – bicarbonate of soda can be found in the baking supplies aisle
citrus seed extract – powerful antimicrobial agent, often sold as grapefruit seed extract, available at most health food stores
essential oils – available at health stores, my favorite oils are Young Living Essential Oils. (contact me if you would like to purchase this brand). Make sure that you purchase pure oils and only use what the recipe calls for, do not add more – it will not make the formula stringer, if anything it may cause skin irritation. Common ones used for cleaning are citrus (grapefruit, orange, lemon or lime), rosemary, eucalyptus, tea tree, thyme, citronella and peppermint.
lemon juice – available at grocery stores
liquid castile soap – this is an olive oil based soap available at grocery stores or health food stores
salt – kosher salt for scrubbing
vinegar – purchase vinegar labeled grain alcohol or neutral grain spirits, you want to avoid buying one with petroleum byproducts.
washing soda – sodium carbonate or soda ash, can be found in the laundry detergent aisle
plastic or glass spray bottles – you can purchase 24 oz. plastic bottles at Staples or smaller one are available online
plastic squirt bottles – reuse from another product or can be purchased online

Let’s start in the kitchen -

Sink Cleanser for Stains

1/4 cup washing soda
1/4 cup baking soda
8 drops of essential oil – rosemary, eucalyptus or tea tree
3/4 cup vinegar for rinsing

Combine washing soda, baking soda and essential oil in an airtight container and shake well to blend. Sprinkle a small amount in the sink and scrub with a damp sponge. Rinse the sink with vinegar, then with hot water. For stubborn stains, allow the formula to sit on the stain for several minutes, then scrub and rinse with vinegar and hot water.

Citrus Dishwashing Blend

liquid castile soap
20 drops lime essential oil
10 drops orange essential oil
5 drops citrus seed extract

The wonderful lemony/citrus aroma is not only great to smell but it has benefits as a natural degreaser. Fill a clean 22 ounce bottle with castile soap (dilute according to directions if using concentrate). Add the essential oils and extract. Shake bottle before each use. Add 1-2 tablespoons of liquid to dishwater and wash as usual.

Automatic Dishwasher Powder

3 cups washing soda
1 cup baking soda

Combine all ingredients and store in a sealed container. To use, add about 2 tablespoons to the soap compartment of your dishwasher. If you find your glassware has a residual buildup, reduce the amount in each use to 1 1/2 tablespoons.

Herbal Disinfectant

2 cups hot water
10 drops thyme essential oil
1/4 cup washing soap

Combine all ingredients in a spray bottle and shake well. Spray on surfaces and wipe clean with a damp cloth or sponge.

Kitchen Wipes

1 cup water
1 ounce liquid castile soap
6-8 drops of favorite essential oil

Instead of using paper towels to wipe up spills or clean counter tops, store multiple squares of cotton cloth (old T shirt or pajamas). Fill a container with all of the ingredients (you may want to use a large glass jar), shake when ready to use, pull out a cloth, ring excess liquid back into jar and wipe surface. The cloths can be washed and returned to jar for reuse. Cap jar between uses.

Tough jobs:

For very greasy dishes, add 1/2 cup vinegar or lemon juice to dishwater.
To loosen baked-on foods from pots and pans, immediately add some baking soda to the dirty dish and wait 15 minutes before cleaning. If the pan has cooled before you have had a chance to add the baking soda – boil a solution of 1 cup water, 5 drops cedar (or other essential oil), and 3 tablespoons baking soda directly in the pot or pan. Allow mixture to stand until food can be scraped off easily.

Controlling Kitchen pests:

Ants – wipe cabinets with a damp sponge and 6-8 drops of peppermint or citronella essential oil. Then place 3-5 drops of the same oil on window sills, doorway cracks and in the corners of cabinets under the kitchen sink.
Centipedes, Earwigs and Silverfish – Place several drops of peppermint, eucalyptus or citronella essential oil in the areas that collect moisture – basements, garages and cabinets with plumbing fixtures.
Mice – place sprigs of fresh peppermint between pantry items in your cabinets, or make a solution of 2 cups water and 3 teaspoons peppermint essential oil and spray it wherever you find mouse droppings.
Mites and Weevils – Place a few whole nutmegs in flour containers.
Other insects – place loose bay leaves in kitchen cabinets.

Moving on to the bathroom -

Germs-Be-Gone Toilet Cleaner

This antibacterial spray cleaner is specifically formulated for cleaning the general surface area of the toilet, and under and behind the seat.

2 cups water
1/4 cup liquid castile soap
1 teaspoon tea tree essential oil
10 drops eucalyptus or peppermint essential oil

Combine all ingredients in a spray bottle and shake well. Spray on toilet surfaces and wipe clean with a damp cloth or sponge.
And Let’s Not Forget The Laundry Room -

Talk about chemicals and artificial ingredients – let’s talk the laundry aisle at the grocery store! I can not walk down it without a sneeze attack. The fragrances alone trigger a reaction in me. I began using fragrance and dye free laundry soap years ago. I don’t use fabric softeners nor dryer sheets with fragrance. Here is a simple recipe for washing powder and some additional tips.

Simple Washing Powder

This recipe makes enough powder to last a typical family of four for one year. You can easily reduce the amounts to make a smaller quantity for your use.

16 cups baking soda
12 cups washing soda
8 cups castile soap
3 tablespoons lavender, lemon or grapefruit essential oil

Combine baking soda, washing soap and soap flakes. If using, add essential oil and mix with a whisk. Use 1/8 cup per load.

Helpful tips

Eliminate the use of fabric softeners by using 1/2 cup vinegar in the rinse cycle.
Pre-treat stains with a combination of washing soda, water and baking soda.
Forgo dryers sheets. For fragrance, add a few drops of essential oil to a damp rag and throw it in the dryer with laundry. Use dryer balls (www.ecosisters.com) to reduce drying time, wrinkles and static.
Make sure your dryer vents outdoors and clean out the vent periodically.
Rid the washer of bacteria, soap scum and grease by running a cleaning cycle with white vinegar and hot water.
NEVER combine bleach with vinegar or ammonia – it produces a toxic chlorine vapor.
line dry your clothes. They smell great and don’t use any energy!

If you don’t want to make your own recipes for cleaning products, there are several nontoxic lines that you might want to try:

www.bonami.com (my grandmother only used their products as did my mother as am I)
www.vermontsoap.com
www.seventhgeneration.com
www.methodhome.com (I love their products and packaging)
www.econutssoap.com
www.planetinc.com
www.howardnaturals.com
www.twistclean.com
www.casabella.com
www.fullcirclehome.com (absolutely beautiful products!)
www.naturaldraincleaner.com

Keep things simple and healthy – we are bombarded by so many chemicals and toxins, keeping our cleaning products as natural as possible within our living space is essential.

Lisa owns lmk interiors: Intuitive, environmentally responsible interior design, offering services to residential and small commercial clients. Inspired to create beautiful and healthy environments, lmk interiors, ltd. can work within a specific budget, style preference and time frame. Let lmk interiors, ltd. make your vision a reality, using a collaborative and client empowering creative process. Contact Lisa at http://www.lmkinteriorsltd.com/contact.html

We love to feature guests blogs at Satya Wellness. The following is contributed by my friend and colleague Dr Patti Bartsch, PhD of Naturally Unbridled.

Is the Hippocratic Oath Hypocritical?

First, do no harm?

What would Hippocrates Say?

All medical doctors take the Hippocratic Oath which includes the phrase “First, do no harm.”  If doctors are so concerned with what Hippocrates believed, why aren’t they honoring his motto of “Let thy food be thy medicine”?

Something like 6% of medical schools offer a nutrition class and in most of those it is an elective.  We know that “we are what we eat” and yet people continue to eat things that do not occur in nature and therefore have no nutritional purpose in the body; in fact they can be highly toxic.

I was listening to NPR the other day and there was a discussion about saying Grace (Gracias = Thanks).  I was taught to say Grace in catholic school but I was never taught to be thankful to the food.  We were taught to be thankful to God for providing the food but we never actually focused on the food.  Native Americans and other cultures that are connected to the Earth honor their food.  They honor any animal that gave its life for the food and they honor the Earth for providing the weather to grow their food.  They recognize that food is life.  Food provides the body not only with calories as fuel, but with micronutrients and phytonutrients to optimize health.

If you had an ingredient label, what would be on it?  From a health perspective, I think it is important to recognize food as the ingredients that make up you.  Would you want to be made from natural ingredients like sweet potatoes, brown rice, green beans, beets, and garlic?  Or would you want to be made from sodium benzoate, FD&C Red 40, high-fructose corn syrup, and disodium EDTA?  The truth is that your body cannot build or repair itself with those ingredients.  It recognizes them as foreign and mounts and immune response against them.  I refer to these products as anti-nutrients because rather than providing nourishment, these foods make your body fight them.  And while your immune system is distracted by these anti-nutrients, it cannot keep up with normal demands so illnesses like colds, allergies, and cancer go unchecked.

Antioxidants are Nature’s Medicine

Food has tremendous healing properties.  Garlic has been used for centuries for its anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties.  It is recommended that at least one-quarter, preferably one-half, of the plants you eat are uncooked.  This is because heating foods above 118°F causes the destruction of valuable enzymes and other nutrients.  Try to eat a big salad at least once per day and try to have a rainbow of colors in that salad.  Consider using just olive oil and vinegar as dressing because many commercial salad dressings have lots of artificial ingredients.

I wrote an earlier blog about how I unintentionally cured my allergies when I transitioned to a whole-foods diet.  Why did my doctor never tell me that my diet of processed foods from cans, boxes, and plastic trays was likely contributing to my allergies?  Because she had no clue.  They don’t teach that in medical school.  They teach that a person with high cholesterol needs to be on a prescription medication to control it.  They don’t teach that a high-fiber, plant-based diet will help the body to rid itself of excess cholesterol before it is reabsorbed into the bloodstream.  Why?  Because there’s much more profit in drugs than there is in beans.  But guess what?  These drugs are toxic!  The pharmaceutical companies know they’re toxic and so do the doctors.  This is why they require regular blood tests to check to see how your liver is doing; because they know the drugs are damaging your liver.

Hey!  What happened to “First, do no harm”?  I think they should revise the Hippocratic Oath so that it focuses on “Let thy food be thy medicine” instead.  I’ll put my money on the healing power of foods over a handful of pills any day.

Patti Bartsch PhD and her horse Izzy.

Happy 2012!

The start of a new year is always filled with great promise; it is the time we chose to start fresh, to wipe the slate clean and start a whole new drawing! Like the Etch-A-Sketch of our childhood, we have a clean canvas.We make promises to ourselves: “This year, I will keep my resolutions. I will ….(fill in the blank)…every day and be happy forever!”

If age has taught me anything at all, it is that any change requires more than a New Year’s Eve promise to become an ingrained habit.

Change requires commitment, of course, but mostly, change requires taking responsibility and action. It takes follow-up and daily check-ins to stay on the right road; it takes a renewed commitment at every turn, when faced with the possibility of an easier path or a less-than-healthy choice. Change takes time and today’s success builds on yesterday’s success, however small, and together they eventually amount to a real shift.

Most New Year resolutions revolve around weight, or more precisely weight loss. It is a national obsession and, starting on January 1st every year, everyone is on a diet! By February 2nd, most resolutions have faded and are conveniently forgotten… We know that diets do not work. A study published in the Journal of the American Psychology Association states:

“Diets do not lead to sustained weight loss or health benefits for the majority of people.” 

There is something fundamentally flawed with the dieting process, teaching the body that feeling deprived is a normal state, thereby encouraging the storing of fat for the next “famine”.

Learning WHAT to eat and WHY is more important than going on any diet. Food is the fuel of life…would you fill your car with the wrong fuel? It is time to make changes that are sustainable on the long term, bring results and optimize the way your body works. When given the proper nutrition, the body normalizes and weight stabilizes naturally.

A great way to start is to go on a gentle, cleansing and detoxing period of a few weeks to give your body and your digestive system a real vacation!

   Cleansing is an ancient ritual, a tradition thousands of years old that spans all cultures. In our modern life, we are exposed to many environmental      toxins every day: pollution, chemicals, pesticides and dyes in our food, our water and the air we breathe. Cleansing will help rid the body of these unwanted elements in a safe and gentle manner and restore good digestion. In Ayurveda, all health is traced back to the digestive system. If the digestion does not work optimally, disease appears. A food-based cleanse is a great way to reset the digestion while eating beautiful, live foods and   not feel deprived. During a cleanse, you celebrate food and eat…this is not a fast!

Do you feel sluggish, have difficulty concentrating, suffer from unexplained headaches, carry too much weight and have a general feeling of being unwell? Then this program is for you!

In the program “4 Weeks to a New You”, you will be taken through 4 weeks of clean eating, progressively eliminating common allergenic foods to allow your digestive system to rest for a little while. The easy-to-follow program contains 4 CD’s, one for each week, explaining in detail the procedure to follow, giving tips and practical advice as well as recipes to make the journey easier to complete and more enjoyable.

You can track your progress as the weeks go on, charting your exercise routine and maintaining a weekly journal to keep you motivated. The course also contains a weekly health tip that will help you feel your best, during the process and beyond.

What can you expect after 4 weeks?

Some of the most common results are:  (and the list is not exhaustive)

♥    Increased energy
♥    Weight loss
♥    Less aches and pains
♥    Better sleep
♥    Glowing skin
♥    Improved mental focus and less foggy feeling
♥    Less allergies
♥    No more headaches
♥    Better digestion
♥    General awareness around food and its benefits on the body

Increased energy, weight loss, less aches and pains, better sleep, glowing skin, better focus and less foggy feeling, less allergies, no more headaches, better digestion, general awareness around food and its benefits on the body.

Some have noticed after a few weeks that they felt much better when eating less or no gluten or eliminating most added sugar. Every body is different and results vary from individual to individual.

So go ahead, take action today to make changes in your wellness routine…

“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” Martin Luther King Jr.

The program is available to PURCHASE HERE  or by contacting christine@satyawellness.com or calling 978 430 6122

You can also contact me for personalized nutrition programs and holistic life and wellness coaching.  Remember: It’s your life…be ALIVE in it!

Have you ever wondered where your food comes from?

Maybe I am different or just plain curious, but it is a thought I always have as I walk the aisles of my supermarket. Where does all of this come from?

How many miles away were some of these items produced and shipped from?

Nothing makes me happier than knowing where and who grew my food. This year, we grew pumkins, green beans and lots of tomatoes in the garden. We had some fennel, lots of herbs like basil and cilantro and we even experimented with melons…let’s just say that we have quite a lot to learn about melons! I enjoy gardening and picking fresh food right outside my door.

One thing I definitely do not have in my garden is chickens…We love eating farm eggs and if you have never eaten one, do yourself a favor and go buy some! The taste is completely different than the eggs you buy at the supermarket. The yolk is a brilliant yellow that is rich and nutritious.

I eat eggs that are produced by happy, stress-free, well-fed hens. They roam freely, picking at the ground. Some are even bold enough to jump into your car if you leave the doors open for a few minutes!

It is organic life at its best.

Farm season is slowing down and soon coming to an end. The pumpkins are ready for Halloween and Thanksgiving pies, we are picking the last flowers before the field is turned under and a cover crop is planted.

Even Otis, the farm dog, is enjoying a snooze in the fall sun!

Dogs always seem to have their priorities in the right order: eat, play, sleep…

I might just do the same today!

This is it…the first cool mornings are here and fall is not far behind. Mums have begun to appear everywhere, Halloween “goodies” are on sale and you can even find the odd Christmas item here and there. Did I just say that?  We would all like to hang on to summer for just a little while longer, but the calendar has decided otherwise.

Today, for the first time in months, I made a big pot of ginger tea to drink while I work in my office. Why ginger and why now?

Ginger, in Ayurveda, is the universal remedy. This king of spices has culinary as well as medicinal properties and has been used for thousands of years. It has heating properties and is well known to rekindle the body’s digestive fire. It has been studied for its many healing effects, from safely treating morning sickness in pregnancy to reducing nausea associated with cancer treatments or alleviating migraine headaches.

But the one property that has me paying attention this fall is ginger’s ability to improve circulation and reduce symptoms of cold hands and cold feet.

I don’t know about you, but my feet in the winter are always cold…whatever I wear! I can see pots of ginger tea in my future!

For all you fitness warriors out there, if you notice that your muscles are a little sore after a particularly hard work-out, add 3 or 4 teaspoons of ginger powder to a hot bath and soak for 15 minutes. It will help alleviate the after-exercise soreness. It will also be extremely effective if you are sore after raking too many leaves this fall!

Ginger has pungent properties and it is often used to treat respiratory issues. If you feel a cold coming, chewing on a fresh ginger root will     help clear congested nasal passages.  Add a saline rinse with a Neti pot, it becomes a winning combination to avoid a full-blown cold from developing.  (See here for a Neti pot use demonstration.)

Ginger can be used in different ways:

Make a tea with a fresh ginger root.  Cut a small piece from a ginger root, about 1 inch. Scrape it with a spoon to peel the very thin outer skin. Rinse and chop into small bits. If you can find an organic root, wash it well and use it  without peeling. Pour boiling water and let it steep for 10-15 minutes. You can add lemon or honey. You can find ginger tea bags in the grocery store, but the fresh root is cheaper, more pungent and just as easy to use. It is widely available everywhere.

To make ginger tea with twist: first, juice a 3 inch piece of ginger. Pour juice into a Vitamix blender, add 1/2 peeled lemon, 2 tsp honey and hot water. Blend until foamy.

Chew on the fresh root. Cut a small piece, peel and chew it, like gum. Beware that ginger is very spicy and potent; the taste may be more than you bargained for. If this is the case, make tea instead.

Use ginger powder. You can mix 2 tablespoons of ginger powder with a few drops of hot water to make a paste. Apply to the forehead to calm a migraine or tension headache.

Chew on a ginger hard candy. Ginger hard candy is very practical, especially for pregnancy. Keep a tin in your purse, so you always have some with you when needed. Make sure it is an organic brand. I always favor the use of tea over sugary candy, but for convenience, this can be a good choice.

Just a word of caution: Reduce or eliminate your consumption of ginger if you suffer from heartburn; ginger may be too pungent for you and cause over-heating.

Wishing you crisp mornings and beautiful colors, the smell of burning wood in the fireplace and warm hands and feet… Happy Autumn!

Today, something interesting happened…
A good friend of mine was raving about a smoothie she purchased in town because it tasted good and “has only 230 calories”.

When I asked her what was in the smoothie, she was not sure. So I went to the website of the business she had purchased it from, looked and found…….nothing!
Just smoothie names, but no ingredients. Upon further digging, it turns out they are promoting a specific product which is a component of their shake.  After carefully researching the company’s website, I still cannot find the shake’s ingredients. It must be a well guarded secret!

So, what is my point? I am sure that her smoothie was fine, tasted delicious, and was probably not loaded with any harmful chemicals, but it made me think.
Health is a daily choice. It is a journey, never a destination…It is a meal after meal decision, some better than others, no doubt, but we never arrive at a state of great health, we keep striving for it.

What is the most important element to health? Calories or ingredients? Organic or conventionally grown? Meat or vegetarian? Wheat based or gluten free?

And the answer is: It depends!

Calories are somewhat confusing…aspartame contains no calories, but has been proven to cause or worsen brain tumors, diabetes, fibromyalgia to name just a few.
Avocados are among the healthiest food on earth, containing essential fats for our body, but their caloric content is rather high.

There is no need to buy everything organic, some fruit and vegetables are perfectly safe while conventionally grown, while some others are really not.
Organic meat? Serve me some! Conventional eggs or chicken? Thank you, I’ll pass….

How to sort out the right from the wrong, the best from worst in this mass of conflicting advice?
Knowledge is power!
Once we have learned something, it is difficult to plead ignorance!
Life is made of choices, some good, some maybe not so good. But we have the privilege to be able to make an informed choice. Exercise your right! And be happy with the choice you made, regret and guilt will not make it any healthier. We all have some delicious poisons of choice!
As my teacher, Dr David Simon said, life is made of 2 choices: Yum or Yuck!
I would love to claim that most of my choices are in the Yum category, but I must admit that a few are definitely on the Yuck side… Life is an experiment in progress.

I posted favorite smoothie recipes in my newsletter yesterday. Check them out!

http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=9eb82bb8457133834b9e92add&id=74efb93acf

Be well!