The Wellness Routine You Should Follow This Winter

 

Three tips to help you adapt to the seasons for better health.

Before the invention of the chair, squatting was part of everyone's daily life.

Today, few people can squat without pain or injury. The YogAlign squat helps release tension in your hips & legs.

This is a pose that will tone your pelvic floor & abdominal organs & in particular, your bladder. In cultures where squatting is done every day, people stay flexible & aligned well into advanced age.

Prostate & colon cancer, knee & hip replacements, & osteoarthritis are rare in cultures that still squat. This pose also aids the digestive & elimination processes & brings a feeling of lightness to your body. 

Unless you are a seasoned squatter with excellent knees, it is best to use a strap for support in this pose, to keep compression off your knees.

Place a strap around a post or tree, holding one end in each hand. Slowly drop into a squatting position, with arms straight & engaged strongly through your lats to your hips & into your trunk. Activate your shoulder blade muscles to keep the blades stabilised & your neck elongated. Position the strap just below shoulder level, & keep your feet slightly turned out. Stay on the balls of your feet as you slide back, pulling on the straps while you squat with a lift in your waist, curve in your lower back & your entire spine & skull in natural alignment.

For further details consult your local YogAlign teacher or check out Michaelle Edwards's book YogAlign - Pain-Free Yoga From Your Inner Core www.yogalign.com

Normally I'm not one for detoxing as the body does an amazing job constantly! But after a fabulous holiday which included much over indulging I feel like I'm going to give my liver and other organs a helping hand to start the Spring Season with a little more vitality and energy.

I like the following guideline from MBG by Tiffany Cruikshank and decided that I would be more likely to follow through if I had a plan :) 

After an inspiring evening from Dr Libby Weaver last night, I purchased her Bio Blends www.bioblends.co.nz Liver Love, and I shall use Welleco's www.welleco.com.au Alkalising Greens and Protein Powder and the Detoxify Tea Blend from www.wellingtonapothecary.co.nz. So modify the following plan from Tiffany Cruikshank www.yogaglo.com as you need to and join me! Take it away Tiffany ...

Below is my 7 day detox, I recommend reading it through and tweaking it a little to fit your lifestyle if you need to. Remember anything you do will be helpful but try to make a plan that you can stick to. The most important items I recommend are doing the smoothies, not eating after 7pm, trying to keep dinner smaller than breakfast & lunch and the Gymnema is key for the sugar cravings and balancing the blood sugar so you feel better in the process.   

7 Day Detox

Yes: Veggies, fruit, nuts, water and plenty of fresh, organic, local produce

No: Sugar, alcohol, caffeine, gluten, dairy, soy, eggs, peanuts, artificial sweeteners

Water: Half your body weight in ounces daily 

Day 1-2 & 6-7:

• 7-8am: smoothie
• 10-11am: snack
• 12-1pm: steamed veggies & nuts for lunch with olive oil, lemon and sea salt
• 3-4pm: snack
• 6-7pm: smoothie

Day 3-5:

• 7-8am: smoothie
• 10-11am: snack
• 12-1pm: smoothie
• 3-4pm: snack
• 6-7pm: smoothie

Snacks: a piece of fruit & nuts, celery & almond butter, snap peas & nuts, rice crackers & hummus, plain rice cake with almond butter, steamed veggies & nuts, avocado with sea salt, even just a few nuts will do if you don’t have time to plan ahead 

Simple Smoothie:

• Fresh or frozen fruit (½ a banana or ¼ avocado make a good creamy base)
• Veggies (pick 2-4:spinach, cucumber, kale, chard, collard, fennel, celery, carrot, parsley, mint, avocado, etc- careful with some of those if you don’t have a heavy duty blender like a Vitamix)
• Handful of hemp seeds, almonds or walnuts
• 2 scoops Mediclear Plus protein powder by Thorne
• Water to desired consistency (maybe half coconut water)
• Greens powder supplement (Earth’s Promise, Vitamineral Greens, Greens First or Paleogreens)

With Meals (optional): Liver-GI Detox by Pure Encapsulations 1 pill 3xs a day with meals/smoothies, Gymnema Sylvestre 400-1000mg 3xs a day with meals/smoothies (to help balance the blood sugar and eliminate sugar cravings), B complex 100 by NOW with lunch (for an energy boost) 

Yoga: 3-6 times/week & meditate at least 10 minutes a day 

The supplements, greens & protein powder above are available for purchase online, just Google them.   

I love this detox because it is really simple (not easy) and if you’re busy and don’t have a lot of time to cook and prepare food this detox is for you. If you drink a lot of coffee take a week to ween off prior to the detox don’t just go cold turkey. The gymnema will help a lot with the food cravings & appetite and will help regulate the blood sugar so you feel better during the detox.   

Since you won’t be spending as much time cooking or eating out, try to keep it simple and enjoy your down time even if it’s brief. Feel free to modify this detox as you need to (make it longer/shorter, easier/harder, etc), doing part of it is better than nothing at all. 

When you’re finished you can continue on the day 1& 2 regimen as long as you like if you’re feeling good. I find that I get hooked on it and like to continue it this way for a while and maybe take a day off here and there to have a glass of wine from time to time.   

Happy Detoxing!