Spring Cleanse! Why You Need This!

Ahh Spring; the time for fresh new life to bud and blossom, the time to clear out winter sluggishness, and the time to be bombarded by pressure to do a spring cleanse of some sort or other. There is a very good reason why one sees so many advertisements for detox programs in the spring. Spring is the natural cleansing time. Spring’s melting snow and rain wash the earth and encourage new growth. The warming temperatures tempt all creatures out of the stillness of winter and into detoxifying movement.

It’s amazing how accommodating Spring is for the cleansing process. Every year it never fails to send up tender detoxifying greens for us to eat, along with energizing roots to deeply cleanse and nourish our systems.

People always used to cleanse naturally this time of year, because they depended directly on the land for food. Not only are the foods that grow in the spring natural detoxifiers and body builders, but they encouraged our ancestors to move their bodies in the gathering and planting of spring's bounty. People had no choice but to naturally fall into an ancient rhythm that  supplied what they needed for optimum health.

Today things are a little different. People can make themselves the same thing to eat day in and day out, no matter what the season.

A lot of people do just that and then wonder why they are achy, or feel sluggish and heavy, foggy headed, fatigued, depressed, or suddenly have to deal with health issues like high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, allergies, inflammation, autoimmunity, etc... Even those who vary their foods somewhat often end up choosing foods that seem easiest and convenient due to the frantic pace our society promotes. These foods are typically more processed, less fresh, and devoid of life force, and even those who make a concerted effort to eat good fresh wholesome foods find that by the end of the winter the food options are heavy, and lack vitality, causing many of the above mentioned, unwanted effects.

That is why the ancient science of Ayurveda, (the first comprehensive health system developed in the world from which all the other known health systems derive) has recommended for millennia that everyone do a major spring cleanse. For more on Ayurveda and cleansing click here.

Sound Daunting? Don't worry, the annual Healing Earth Studio Spring Yoga & Juice Feast Challenge, April 15 - May 13, can be a great help.

First of all, it will get you up and moving with thirty straight days in a row of 5:30 A.M. yoga. Early morning is the ideal time for this relaxing ,strengthening, and detoxifying ancient practice. 

In addition to daily yoga, the program also offers you your own personal food and fresh juice plan, because when it comes to cleansing the body, one plan does not fit all.

Not everyone needs the same foods or needs to eliminate the same foods because every body is different. During the cleanse we meet, in person or via phone or computer, at the beginning of each of the four weeks of the program to map out exactly what foods and supplements (if any) are right for you on each of the thirty days. It's your own individual program, within the support of a group.

So you don’t live in the greater Lenhartsville Pennsylvania area and want to join from a distance? With a good internet connection you can join the morning yoga and do personal meetings via telephone or zoom. Don’t know what zoom is? Don’t worry, if you have internet, and chances are you do because you are reading this, you’ll be fine. We can set you up to see the classes live via computer, iPad or smart phone. 

This is truly a life changing experience and it fills quickly so don't hesitate to save your spot!

Cost - $325 or $315 if registered and paid by April 1.

For more info click here

Phone or text: 610-756-6770

Email: healingearthstudio@gmail.com

A Miraculous Journey with Yoga

So I could write about 10 fabulous benefits of yoga and why you should be doing it. But since yoga is such a craze now, you’ve probably heard something similar already, perhaps many times over, and if I’m going to be truly honest I can’t say for sure what benefits you or any other given person may derive from engaging in a regular yoga practice. For me yoga was, and is an incredibly personal journey that unfolded seamlessly, restoring my lupus-ravaged body to health, and expanding my consciousness into realms of peace. I have no doubt that it literally saved my life, and continues to do so everyday.

So if you haven’t stopped reading this to run for the hills, perhaps you are curious as to how yoga did, and does the miraculous in my life. I’ll start with the semi-obvious fact that yoga is so much more than stretching exercises interspersed with the occasional OM. There are classes out there that basically seem to be just that, however, the poses that one holds or flows through in yoga release an incredible power in the body and the mind, and these poses represent just a tiny fraction of the whole of this magnificent mind-body-spirit science.

According to one of the most currently revered yogic ancient texts, The Yoga Sutra by Patanjali the poses are only one step on the yogic eight fold path. When Yogis from the Hindu and Buddhist cultures of the Himalayas deemed it time to share the ancient teachings of yoga with Western culture they perceived that it was through the physical poses that yoga would be able to be taught, understood and spread throughout the West, and they were not wrong.

I started yoga on my own in Junior High School without knowing that I was doing it.

I devised for myself a routine of breathing and stretching that I practiced every night before I got into bed. I called this stretching out, but it went much deeper. I’d hold certain poses for many minutes and focus on my breath, totally enthralled with the deep meditative state this brought me into.

When I was older and living in a rural setting, every other week I’d take my children to the bookmobile outside the tiny local postoffice. There I discovered a yoga video by Eric Shiffman that I’m sure spent more time in my house than any other in the county, as I was constantly checking it out and/or renewing it. I didn’t do the video everyday. Sometimes I was lucky if I did it once a week between teaching and laundry and three active kids, etc. I still had never been to a live yoga class, but the video not only made me feel challenged and good physically, it brought me joy and serenity which was saying a lot as my health and marriage were deteriorating rapidly.

At one point during this time I had been sent home from the hospital weighing seventy-nine pounds. My liver was under autoimmune attack and my body was in a cachexic state where all my fat and muscles were being consumed even though I was eating like crazy. I couldn’t get my right heel to the floor when I walked because my calf muscle was so obliterated. A good doctor friend of mine, who had the habit of saying out loud everything he thought, told me that if I managed to make it through this bout of illness my legs were never coming back to normal strength and function.

I had a bed set up in the living room as getting up and down stairs was not an option, and it was there in that bed that my yoga practice began in earnest. An Indian friend of ours named Lolli was one of the many natural health practitioners who showed up to be on my healing team, and he gave me a long mantra to say eleven times every day after I had bathed and put on clean white clothes. I had no idea what mantra was, or that it was a yogic practice, or how to say the words, but Lolli patiently taught me and assured me it would bring me energy and restore my life. I sat on my bed and did it faithfully. I felt incredible energy from the practice, and on mornings that for some reason I didn’t do the mantra my energy and strength waned. I often would meditate afterwords and do some simple seated yoga poses, and against all odds I not only survived, I thrived.

My body is stronger and healthier now than perhaps it’s ever been, and I know it is mostly due to the daily yoga I’ve incorporated into my life.

Now I am learning and teaching yoga on a daily basis, because yoga is and yoga does. It never stops. I am so grateful it has unlocked my passion for teaching health, wellness, ayurveda and yoga.

The wisdom of yoga is infinite, cutting across layers upon layers of built up excuses, fantasies about who we’re “supposed to be” and feelings of inadequacy or superiority. It is a total mind- body-soul exploration.

It opens doors one barely dares to dream of.

It gives one super powers such as allowing one to, as Antoine de St. Exupery puts it, see clearly, to see rightly, to see what is essential, which is invisible to the eye.

And the great thing is, Yoga is compatible with any ideology, religion or faith, giving one tools to deepen one’s spiritual tradition, or non-tradition. Yoga opens the door to one’s true Self, that which one is created to be. It is a personal journey. I encourage you to start or continue that journey. Find a teacher you like, take some classes, find a video, read some yogic texts, join an on line group, take an in depth training.

Once you allow yoga to open the door to your true Self enough to give you a glimpse of your vastness there is no turning back. Every aspect of your life will improve.

Ready to empower your yoga practice? Join Tulsi Thyme School of Yoga 200 hour yoga training beginning this fall.

Learn more.

Harness the Energy of Spring!

The vernal equinox marks the beginning of spring, and it is no accident that this miraculous season of rebirth and growth is ushered in on the day of perfect balance between day and night. Many ancient cultures tout the equinox as the most energetically powerful  time on the planet; the balance of opposing energies, light and dark, cold and warmth, masculine and feminine, left and right, yin and yang. Whether you are aware of it or not, you are affected by this equinox energy. It is this energy that draws you outside in the spring so that your subconscious, if not your conscious, can feel the change in the air and light. It is the energy of the equinox,  and of spring that inspires action.

Ahhh yes, the action of Spring! The season for planting, cleaning and all those endless posts about cleansing and detoxing the body. When you think about it, doing a cleanse in the spring makes total sense. Coming out of the winter many of us have a vague sense of not being quite on top of our game mentally and physically; a slight awareness of perpetual fatigue or feeling subpar somehow. This can make the idea of waking up and blossoming in our daily lives feel overwhelming at best, even though it is what we are designed to do. We are made to come alive in the spring, to feel new growth stirring deep in our souls, and a renewed energy and outlook permeating our bodies, minds and spirits. 

A spring cleanse is designed to help one harness the energy of spring and put it to work internally. According to the science of ayurveda (an ancient Indian system of health) Spring is the best time to cleanse the body, to give the digestion and the metabolic fire a nice big reset. When you reset the metabolic fire you reset all systems of the body and that feels amazing.

Here are just a few of the many benefits that may happen in one’s body, mind and soul from doing a cleanse:

• Brings peace to the mind and body
• Brings clarity to the mind, alertness to the brain, and strength to the body
• Improves vitality and an enthusiasm for life
• Brings one into the present moment, which is all we ever really have
• Improves quality of sleep and resets sleep cycles
• Allows the body to come to its ideal weight
• Improves digestion, gut health and restores proper elimination
• Promotes detoxification of tissues and organs from physical toxins and molecules of stored emotions
• Deeply nourishes and rejuvenates all systems of the body as well as the mind
• Reduces the effects of allergies
• Reduces inflammation
• Improves flexibility
• Relieves depression, headaches, joint pain, and anxiety
• Brings balance to all systems of the body and the mind

For the past several years I have run a thirty day yoga and juice feast challenge designed to reset the metabolism, as well as align one with the natural circadian rhythms of the earth. As a naturopathic consultant and a registered yoga instructor I combine individualized nutrition and yoga for an amazing cleansing experience.

 I would like to offer you the opportunity to join in this year’s challenge either in person or via the internet. Each person who accepts the challenge is invited to thirty days of yoga in a row at Healing Earth Studio starting on May 1st. These classes will run from 5:30 AM EST to approximately 6:40 AM EST. I know this may seem a bit early for some of you, but it will allow for the body to reset to its natural rhythm because this is the time of day that exercise and meditation are most beneficial to the body and mind. The yoga can be done via the internet or by attending class at the studio. Each student will also be given 4 personal consults with me, Kerry Smith, to determine the precise food and juice plan that is best for his or her body throughout the thirty days. This year I will be offering plans on three different levels: 

• A light cleanse which will focus on cutting out a few of the most toxic foods and drinks in your diet, and helping you to replace them with foods that are specifically beneficial for you right now, as well as adding in some fresh vegetable juices for nutrient enrichment and energy.

• A more intense cleanse specially formulated for you that will reach into the deep tissues of the body and remove layers of physical and emotional toxins.

• 30 days of yoga without a diet plan, for those who wish to have daily yoga be the sole means of cleansing. 

I know a cleanse like this may seem intimidating to some of you, but it is an ideal way to break old cycles, reset your entire metabolism and get back to the innate health and balance of body and soul. If you have any questions or if you would like to register please feel free to email me by clicking here: healingearthstudio@gmail.com I always respond personally to any questions you may have. You may also check out more info by going to the Healing earth website here: www.healingearthstudio.com

6 Personal Intentions to Help Make 2017 Fabulous

6 Intentions for a Fabulous Year

     It's new the year; the ball has dropped; the parties are over; the hangovers may or may not be real, and some of us may be wondering, now what? 

     Some people look at the new year with hope for new beginnings and a chance to do things right. Some people look at it as a time for setting unrealistic resolutions that may carry one through the first month, or week, or day, or hour and so have come to dread it as a time for reinforcing failure. Some pay little or no attention to it other than a time to get back to work after an over indulgent  holiday spree. 

     No matter how you look at it, it's happening, it's here; a new year. 

     Far be it from me to foist upon you any great plan to miraculously resolve all your unresolved issues, but here are six suggestions for possible intentions you may wish to incorporate this year that will improve your handling of all that life brings you. Notice I said intentions instead of resolutions. Why? Because an intention is gentler, and has more to do with evolving into awareness, and less about forcing and controlling. 

    First of all I suggest approaching this year with gentleness; gentleness for others, yes, but mostly gentleness for yourself, because if you can't be truly gentle with yourself, that gentleness that you think you are so sweetly exuding to your fellow life travelers will ring false. I'm hazarding a guess that your thinker spends way too much time treating you roughly. Why would I make such a guess? Because you are human.  So when thoughts start dominating that are particularly violent to yourself, you know, the harshly critical thoughts that you would never say to some one else; thoughts like, you're fat, ugly, stupid, unworthy, incapable, scrawny, the worst, a huge failure, uncreative, awkward, uncoordinated, (sheesh  I could go on all day), when those sorts of thoughts creep in, meet them with the intention of being gentle with yourself. When you make mistakes, be gentle with yourself. When you are late or sick or upset, or confused, be gentle with yourself. That seems so simple but, trust me, it can work miracles in your life. 

     I suggest setting an intention for gratitude not just for all that you have, and all the wonderful people you may have in your life, but for all that you are. Now I'm not talking about being grateful for what the thoughts in your head tell you you are, but for all that you infinitely and truly are, chief of which is a magnificent image and likeness of God that only can reach this world through you. Take a moment to own and be grateful for that, even when those pesky thoughts scream otherwise, which they will because, yes, you are still human. For some great info on the benefits of gratitude click here.  
   
     I suggest setting an intention for breathing. Yes I know, this is an automatic function of the body, but it's also the only automatic bodily function that we can control, which means it is an extremely powerful, ever present tool that is far too often overlooked. It is what connects our souls to our bodies, and focusing on it brings us immediately into the present moment which is all we ever really have. I hear over and over again about how people want to meditate but can't find the time or don't know how, or can't stop their thoughts yadayadayada... But the bottom line is no one can ever  stop their thoughts. Thoughts are always thinking unless one is sleeping. Trying to stop thinking is basically the opposite of meditation. Try breathing instead; long deep focused breaths. Spend just  a few minutes a day, or even a week, or whenever it occurs to you, and notice how it can reset everything physiologically, mentally and emotionally. For more on this click here.

     Set an intention to touch people daily, appropriately of course, but by all means touch people. Research has shown that human contact such as, hand shakes, pats on the back, massage and especially hugs can totally change one's attitude as well as the brain chemistry for the better. If you have no one to hug, go ahead and schedule a massage or a hair appointment. For some info on what you may expect from increasing your hug quotient click here.

     Set an intention to get yourself outside and into nature regularly. Why? It makes everything work better from the physical functioning of the body to your mental, emotional and spiritual well being. For eleven scientifically proven reasons for being outside click here.

     Finally, consider doing a little yoga. Anyone can do yoga and the benefits are extraordinary. No matter what one's physical or mental condition, there is yoga that can be done, even if one is laying in a hospital bed. You can trust me on this because I've personally been there and done that. In fact I believe that it is the yoga I practiced when I was hospitalized with lupus hepatitis (lupus liver failure) that was a huge factor in saving my life. At seventy-nine pounds I was so weak I could barely move, and though the doctors said they thought their intense medication was working, I was still losing strength, weight, and all my hair. I could see on everyone's faces who came to see me that they expected me to be transitioning out of this life soon. Though I had many interesting between-worlds experiences I knew I wasn't done here yet so I started doing yoga in my hospital bed; gentle stretches, twists and breathing which I could barely manage and would make my monitors all go off to the chagrin of my dedicated nurses. I didn't care because I could feel it helping. I could feel energy moving through areas that had been stuck and I started to gradually get stronger. I continued my daily yoga when I got home and haven't quit since. That was ten years ago and I'm stronger now than ever. The point here is, if you can breath, you can do yoga, and if you do yoga your life will be better.  For more on the benefits of yoga click here 

These are six suggestions for possible new year intentions. If you implement any one of them even semi-regularly your life will improve. If you find that you can't manage any of these right now, know that that's ok too, so please, be gentle with yourself!

Transform yourselfthis summer with this Yoga Retreat to In Sabina Italy. Click here for more information

Warm that Smoothie!

     Here we are at the height of winter. The holidays may or may not have been comforting and joyous, but for many of us they were pound packing, sugar glutting, and alcohol indulging, resulting in a general feeling of heaviness, in body, or spirit, or both. So now tis the season to attempt the unpacking of the pounds, toxins, or winter blues that may be dragging down the body and/or psyche. 

    For many of us that means cleanses or dietary shifts that often include some sort of healthy smoothie. Ahh the smoothie! This icon of a healthy diet can be amazing, and I drink plenty of them myself, but there’s a really big problem with most of them: They’re usually cold. In fact some recipes use ice as an ingredient. If you live in an area that has cold winters and you want your marvelous magic bullet concoction to have a prayer ofworking for you this winter, loose the ice and WARM THAT SMOOTHIE! 

    Ok, to that I know many of you will have an initial reaction of pure disgust. But here’s the thing: Cold is never good in the stomach unless it is outrageously hot outside and one is feeling outrageously hot. So at the height of winter when temperatures are dipping into the teens or lower, that cold smoothie is an extremely poor choice to put into the body. Granted it may be loaded with awesome organic ingredients, but your body is still not going to be able to digest it well, if at all. Instead your body will be stressed. 

    Why? Because cold puts out the digestive fire. This digestive fire that resides in the belly is the power source that drives metabolism. The weakening of the digestive fire is perhaps one of the most dangerously unhealthy trends currently in the western hemisphere. According to Ayurveda (which is an ancient method of health care founded in India five thousand years ago, and is still around today for the very fact that it works) the digestive fire is the key to health. In Ayurveda everything health related is about how one assimilates one’s food and experiences and turns them into one’s body and being. This digestive fire needs to burn steady and strong. If it doesn’t all sorts of issues may ensue, from heart burn to allergies to other major breakdowns that can eventually lead to diabetes, heart disease, depression, or even cancer.

    So just what happens when your nice, nutrient rich, freezing smoothie hits your stomach? The hydrochloric acid (think fire), becomes neutralized. When this happens it no longer has enough heat to break down your foods. Large protein, and fat molecules end up moving into the intestines in much bigger forms than they should and wreak havoc. Cilla, the tiny hair like fibers that line intestinal tract and sensitively draw in nutrients, and help move food along, get matted down. Food stagnates. The integrity of the gut wall becomes compromised, (think leaky gut), healthy flora is compromised, allergic responses get triggered, stress hormones are released and inflammation skyrockets. 

    People often respond to this disastrous cascade by eliminating foods with heavy proteins, such as dairy, and gluten, and eggs, etc. This seems to work for a while but the compromised gut will continue being sensitive to more and more foods causing one’s diet to include fewer and fewer options. At this point one often gives up and eats whatever, suffering the weight gain, indigestion, headaches or other unfortunate manifestations of poor metabolism their body is prone to.  Sometimes people go the other way and become food vigilantes who grill the party hosts or restaurant staffs on every ingredient down to what type of vanilla extract was used, and then more often than not end up eating undressed salad greens and carrots (cold mind you) with a forced smile over the knowledge that one is doing what’s right for the body. Some people spend a lot of time waffling between these two options, baffling both themselves and surrounding friends and loved ones alike. Now don’t get me wrong. There are very real sensitivities and allergies out there that need to be meticulously cared for and warming your cold food and drinks before you have them won’t magically cure you. But freezing the digestive fire is only going to add to digestive problems. 

    So please, warm that smoothie. Heat the milk, or almond milk, or coconut milk, or water or what ever liquid base you use for your smoothie before you pour it into the blender. At first it may seem strange, but give it a chance. Your body will enjoy getting something warm when it is cold out, and will eventually convince your mind, making the warmed smoothie a pleasant and truly healthy treat.