Author name: Llewellyne Arden

Are you feeling the intensity of the season? Summer is the season of high heat! Ayurveda is the “sister science” to yoga for balancing diet, lifestyle and routine. According to ayurvedic principles this time of year is related to primarily the element of fire called the “pitta season”. Fire energy aids in transformation and digestion. In our bodies the fire energy is facilitated by the element of water for metabolic process. When this elemental influence of the season is unbalanced in us, we can become overheated, swollen from water retention, quicker to inflame into anger and impatience, skin conditions flare up, and sleep becomes more difficult in the heat. With the brightness of the sun, our eyes can become red, dry and irritated and our digestion can be overheated, leading to a burning sensation and uncomfortable elimination. So how do we bring balance? Let’s Take a Closer Look Ayurvedic wisdom states that: “Like increases like and the opposites balance”. So when we are feeling hot and overheated, we must look towards qualities throughout our diet, routine and lifestyle that are cooling, grounding, and calming to create balance. This may seem obvious, but it is surprising how much we engage in the qualities of heat without even knowing it. Ayurveda offers some helpful suggestions that can be considered when we are experiencing signs of too much heat in our bodies. When we need to balance or do dynamic movement we can stabilize and mobilize from the inside out! A Pitta Balancing Diet Pitta qualities are oily, sharp, hot, light, spreading, and liquid. To balance these qualities Ayurveda recommends eating foods that are dry, mild, cooling, grounding, stabilizing, and dense when we are experiencing excess pitta. Reach for freshly cooked and raw food with the qualities of sweet, bitter and astringent. Think cucumbers, salads, fresh veggie dishes, steamed or lightly sautéed greens, beans and whole grains. Light dressings and sauces with olive oil, and lemon or lime. Fruits such as melons, berries, and peaches, fresh yogurt and the occasional ice cream or fruit sherbet for a treat. Cool mint and citrus teas, coconut water and lime water are also balancing along with cooling herbs and spices such as dill and cilantro, turmeric, fennel and parsley. When feeling overheated, what is good to moderate or avoid? Pungent, spicy, salty and sour foods such as fried food, red meat, hot chilies, raw onions, alcohol, chips, and vinegary dressings. To find out more about a pitta balancing diet click the button below. Click Here Summer Mint and Berry Cooler 16 oz coconut water 2 sprigs peppermint or spearmint; remove stems 1 cup fresh or frozen berries (raspberries, blueberries, straw berries, etc) squeeze of lime or lemon Put all the ingredients in a blender and serve in two tall glasses with a wedge of lime or lemon on the side. From my kitchen to yours, Enjoy! Cooling Practices Lifestyle and Routine Rise early in the cool of the morning. Exercise in the cooler times of day. Use cooling oils such as coconut and sweet almond to soothe your skin. Wear cool colors, (such as blues, greens and whites) and light, natural fabrics. Do watery activities like swimming, cool showers or cold foot soaks. Give yourself time to relax and play. Protect your eyes and skin with sunglasses, breezy long sleeves and a wide brimmed hat. Set yourself up for a good nights sleep with cool cotton sheets and a regular bedtime routine. To learn more about a pitta balancing lifestyle and routine go here. Ayurveda is Specific to You! Diet and lifestyle balancing is very unique to your innate constitution and your current conditions called your “dosha”. This includes the environment you live in; for instance, is summer where you live a dry kind of heat or moist and humid? The suggestions above are general guidelines. But if you would like to know more about your individual dosha and more specific suggestions for you, take the Ayurvedic dosha quiz by clicking on the button below.  Click Here

In stressful times like these it’s important to give yourself a pause to reset your body, breath and mind. Somatic movement and yoga nidra mindfulness practices are all about taking a pause, checking in and allowing yourself to relax, reset and rejuvenate. The next 6 week series begins May 6th, keep reading to find out more! What is Clinical Somatic Movement and How Can it Help to release stress and tension? Clinical somatic movement is a specific method of mindful movement developed by Thomas Hanna to repattern the nervous system from identifiable stress responses in the body. These responses are part of our nervous system’s survival mechanism, and when activated on the short term can support us to deal with the inevitable challenges of life. However, when these body brain patterns become ingrained over time into how we hold tension in our bodies, then it starts to cause trouble. Pain, difficulty breathing and emotional holding often becomes part of our everyday lives and impacts our quality of life. We can become so habituated to living in these stress response patterns that we don’t recognize the imbalance, in fact it begins to feel “normal”. As a result, we don’t know how to get out of the patterns that keep us stuck in pain and discomfort. That’s where clinical somatic movement comes in! With a specific slow and mindful body release, we start to become more aware of the tension that we are holding; not only in our bodies, but also in our breath and minds. Little by little, with this intentional and gentle movement, along with slow and relaxed breathing, we begin to recognize and unwind these patterns. We learn how we hold our stress, and how to come back into balance. To experience a short 12 minute Somatic Movement video practice click here. “I didn’t even know I was holding so much tension until it was gone!” ~ HW Somatic movement and yoga nidra class participant The Magic of Yoga Nidra In yoga nidra meditations you are gently guided to drop into a dream-like state of deep relaxation with awareness. On this journey of roving consciousness, you release all body tension, flow with the rhythm of your breath, visualize your hearts desire, regulate your nervous system and restore balance throughout your whole being. A full immersion into peace, joy and calm! Somatic movement and yoga nidra are a potent combination to help you come into balance and improve your quality of life. The next 6-week series starts soon! Give yourself a luxurious pause to relax, reset and rejuvenate by: Relieve anxiety and stress Improve sleep Reduce pain and body tension Establish a deeper, slower breathing rhythm Increase energy and vitality Bring ease into everyday movement Somatic Movement and Yoga Nidra Tuesdays, May 6th – June 10th, 3:30-5:00 p.m. At the Healing Energy Arts of Lopez (H.E.A.L.) Limited space! Get in touch to reserve your spot today! Contact Me Interested but can’t make it this time around? Get in touch and I’ll let you know of upcoming opportunities.

Let’s Face it, Stress Happens! But the real question is, how do you deal with it? Do you spin out and get taken over by the overwhelm? Lose sleep and have big reactions to small situations? Or do you retreat into yourself and just want to throw the covers over your head and try to forget about it all? Or are you the one that wants to run around and fix everything to make it right and then burn yourself out? If any of the reactions above sounds familiar, the good news is that there is another way. In the science of the brain and stress resiliency there has been identified a “low road” response, like the examples above, and a “high road” response. Neuroscience describes the “low road” as “involved activation of the amygdala, a structure in the midbrain that serves to detect a threat to our survival and set into motion a biobehavioral response that would facilitate fighting or fleeing. This response involves faster breathing, rapid heart rate, sweating and other physiological reactions that we subjectively experience as fear.” * Taking the “high road” is a more sustainable route. Research found that on the high road in the brain “information travelled to the prefrontal cortex (the CEO or executive functioning center of the brain) first where it was processed before being relayed to the amygdala. This pathway was slower, allowing time for a more thorough analysis of the situation”.* This means that you can respond to stress in a way that is thoughtful and allows for choices. You approach the stressful situation by taking a pause, a quiet breath, and are able to step back for a moment to assess the factors involved and make informed choices about how you are going to proceed. This response also helps to maintain good relationships by not getting flooded by emotions such as anger or impatience with others, rather, you are more able to listen to another’s point of view and can more easily find resolution. * https://www.psychologytoday.com So how do you get to the high road of responsiveness rather than taking the low road of reactivity? The direct doorway in is to work with your nervous system through embodied practices like movement, breath work, and your attention to sensations and thought patterns. Whether you feel up-regulated in an anxious mind-spinning state, or down regulated in a dull fatigued brain fog or somewhere in between, the way to balance is the same; embodied practices adapted to your needs to help regulate your nervous system and get you on your way to the high road.