Massage and aromatherapy

Massage and aromatherapy

The manipulation of soft tissue is what we refer to when talking about massaging, but with aromatherapy we introduce the power of essential oils into the equation to bring their intrinsic therapeutic properties to the massage.

Massage is beneficial in more ways than simply being relaxing, and helps with various aspects as discussed on our massage therapy page.

There are various methods of massaging and include the following:

Swedish

This method of massaging is the most popular type of massage and includes a variety of strokes and was developed by the Swede Professor Ling. This type of massage is beneficial to promote the feeling of well-being and also helps to reduce emotional and physical stress.

Neuromuscular massage

This way of massaging forms the basis of aromatherapy massage and evolved from the work of Stanley Leif. It is also referred to as “Trigger point” therapy and the overall effect of this massage is to restore the balance of the autonomic nervous system.

Lymphatic massage

This massage helps to improve the flow of lymph and some techniques developed by Marguerite Maury are incorporated in aromatherapy massage. Lymph drainage massage is particularly useful in detoxifying the body and to boost the immune system.

Acupressure massage and Shiatsu

This method of massage is focused on the meridians (channels) of the body and to relieve “blockages” through pressure on certain points of the body. It can be performed while the person is fully clothed and requires no needles such as in acupuncture.

Reflexology

In reflexology the feet (although the rest of the body can also be used) are manipulated and massaged and focus is placed on certain points on the feet that are said to have corresponding body parts or organs.

This technique was developed by Dr. Ida Rolfand focuses on massaging the fascia – the connective tissue enclosing the muscles – to bring the body in alignment again.

Aromatherapy massage has a more holistic approach to the massage and may include some of the principles on the list above, yet will concentrate on more relaxing strokes, but of prime importance is the selection of essential oil/s used during the massage, since they are chosen for their therapeutic effect, and not the fragrance as such.

Effleurage (gliding)

Effleurage is the main or principle stroke to warm up the muscles and to prepare the soft tissue for deeper treatment. This free-flowing continuous movement is done with the flat palm of one or both hands with steady pressure.

This effleurage motion is used on the back, chest, legs and arms to stretch and manipulate tension away from the muscles.

Feathering

The feathering stroke is an extremely light stroke and is barely perceivable by the person receiving the massage, yet has a profoundly soothing effect.

Petrissage (kneading) massage

With petrissage specific muscle groups are worked where tissue is easily grasped, and can be performed superficially or deep. Deep petrissage is helpful in promoting circulation and to loosen muscle tightness.

Friction and pressure

Friction is mostly used around joints and helps to increase circulation and the masseur’s fingers do not slide over the skin and in sports massage it is often referred to as cross-fiber stroking.

Vibrating

Using vibrating strokes uses the muscles of the masseur and can take the form of striking the body (especially bony areas) lightly with the fingertips or jostling the muscles (good for sore muscles) where the masseur places his/her hands on the person’s body and shaking his/her hands while moving the hand along the muscle.

Tapotement (percussion)

These alternate drumming movements are normally performed on broad areas of the body, such as the back.

Pummeling

While forming a loose fist strike the body with the outer edge of the hand.

Rapid chopping motions are performed with the outer edge of the hand, and the fingers slightly separated so as not to do a karate chop and is used mostly on the fleshy areas like upper shoulders or legs.

The hands are cupped and the body is struck with the fingertips and the heels of the palms.

Caution for massage if the person: aromatherapy

Recently consumed a large meal, alcohol or addictive substances, do not massage

Underwent surgery, do not massage, unless with the permission of his/her medical doctor

Suffers from heart attacks or strokes should at most only receive a very gentle massage to help circulation

Has cancer, massage should not be performed

Has a fever or infectious disease, do not massage

Has varicose veins, do not massage directly over the varicose veins and never massage a person with thrombosis or phlebitis

Has inflamed joints, gout, arthritic or rheumatoid pain, rather massage above the area and not on the site as it would be too painful

If the person is pregnant, first obtain permission from the doctor to massage

Original article and pictures take www.corespirit.com site

Managing PMS Through Ayurveda Nutrition

Managing PMS Through Ayurveda Nutrition

Often clients come to me with several health needs such as hormonal imbalances, skin issues, digestion, mood swings, etc. Of course my scope is to tackle those with a tailored nutrition plan, but I also take a look at their entire picture of health, including hormones. The topic of hormones affects every single one of us, but today I wanted to specifically tackle women’s health and hormones, including how hormones affect mood swings, signs of hormonal imbalances, and what you can do about both through a unique nutritional perspective of Ayurvedic medicine. I’ve been fascinated with alternative forms of medicine and Ayurveda was one of many I studied on the sidelines during my academic career. Although I’m a nutrition expert, my expertise isn’t in Ayurvedic so I turned to Dr. Kulreet Chaudary to help give us a primer on PMS, hormonal imbalances, and how we can tackle those pesky monthly symptoms with nutrition. I’ll let her take us from here, and be sure to check out the Guide to Healthy Hormones: A women’s health ebook download at the bottom if you want to dive in a little deeper!

For most women, that “particular time of the month” is something of a nuisance — a time we wish we could skip. In fact some women even opt for birth control methods that completely abolish their monthly cycle. But in reality, a woman’s menstrual cycle offers a uniquely significant opportunity for both detoxification and rejuvenation. Honoring your body and the monthly cycles that it goes through is a way of increasing vitality and productivity for the many years to come.

In Ayurveda, menstruation is viewed as a time of purification and rejuvenation for women. In fact, there are certain conditions that are considered to be curable if they occur in a menstruating woman that would otherwise not be treatable due to the added benefits that her monthly cycle provides. During menstruation, your body removes built up toxins, called ama in Sanskrit. These toxins are the nidus for disease and a woman’s ability to remove this ama on a regular basis significantly strengthens her ability to stay healthy. This is particularly important in our modern world, where we are bombarded with environmental toxins as well as toxic ingredients added to our foods. But for so many of us, our daily demands don’t allow us to honor these natural cycles, resulting in imbalances in both our body and mind. This imbalance can result in PMS and menstrual discomfort since menstruation is a time of rebalancing. So in essence these uncomfortable symptoms are simply the body and mind trying to purge itself of toxins accumulated over the month. Rather than completely blocking this critical monthly detoxification process with birth control methods that stop menstruation in order to escape the discomfort, Ayurveda offers suggestion on how to reduce toxins throughout the month and ways to honor this critical time of rejuvenation. Below are natural ways to heal PMS and menstrual discomfort.

Try it! CCF Tea. Drink this throughout the month. This tea is a cornerstone of a healthy monthly detoxification program. It helps heal the gut mucosa, improve the absorption of nutrients, flush out excess wastes and stimulate the lymphatic system. The tea helps move fluid through and out of the body, so you may urinate more, which is a good sign. Here’s how to prepare this pleasant-tasting savory tea:

• Boil 4 to 5 cups of water in a pot. As the water is heating, add the following to the pot:
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1⁄2 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 1⁄2 teaspoon fennel seeds
• Let the water boil for five to ten minutes with the seeds, depending on how strong you want your tea to be. Afterward, strain the seeds out of the tea, then pour the tea into an insulated vessel (like a thermos) to keep it hot all day. If you have a tea ball, use it for less cleanup. Then sip the tea throughout the day until it’s all gone. Try to finish it before 6 p.m., so you don’t have to use the bathroom multiple times during the night.

Support detoxification with ginger. The Ginger Gut Flush is one of the best ways I know to ignite your metabolism, warm the body, and really burn off toxins. I use this remedy in the winter because that is when I notice a dip in my digestion and so its warming properties aid me in not accumulating ama. Here is how to make it:

• 1 fresh lemon (or enough to make 1⁄2 cup juice)
• 1 inch peeled fresh ginger
• 1⁄2 teaspoon sea salt (preferably Himalayan sea salt)
• Squeeze the lemon to make 1⁄2 cup fresh lemon juice, strain out any seeds, and put the juice into a lidded jar. Cut the ginger into thin one-inch strips. Add these to the lemon juice. Add the sea salt to the mixture and stir until the salt dissolves. Cover and refrigerate. Eat one to two pieces of the soaked fresh ginger before each meal. Make a batch at the beginning of the week and it will last for seven days in the refrigerator.

A final tip on meal times using Ayurvedic medicine; make lunch your largest meal… In U.S. culture, it is traditional to eat the largest meal in the evening, but this is much harder on your digestion than eating the bulk of your calories during the middle of the day, when you most require energy. This is an ancient Ayurvedic concept, but it is practiced in many other cultures as well (such as in Europe). There is some research to back this up, too, such as one study that showed that eating out of sync with your circadian rhythm, which uses more energy during the day and less energy at night, can lead to insulin resistance, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. Another study showed that eating a larger breakfast and lunch and skipping or having a small dinner resulted in more weight loss and better blood sugar control than eating six small meals during the day.

In Ayurveda, your agni (digestive fire) is linked to the cycles of the sun. When the sun is the strongest (at noon), that is also when your agni is the strongest in your body. Eating more at lunchtime is simply more efficient—you absorb more nutrients and create less ama when your body is running at full steam. I always have a big lunch and if I’m going to have a heavy food or a dessert, I try to have it at lunchtime. Dinnertime is when your body begins to prepare for detoxification, which predominantly occurs during the night when your body is at rest. (This is also why most people have a bowel movement in the morning—the body is expelling the waste it was processing while you slept.) If you have a large dinner, not only does it tend to disrupt sleep, but it also makes detoxification less effective because your body has to expend extra energy breaking down the food you consumed at dinner. To learn more about Ayurvedic detoxification therapies read Dr. Kulreet Chaudary’s newest book, The Prime and the Prime Club.

A huge thank you to Dr. Chaundary for sharing Ayurveda nutrition with Nutrition Stripped. So what do you think? Have you implemented any Ayurveda practices into your lifestyle already, and have you seen any improvements? Or is this the first time you’ve heard of it and thinking about trying some of its methods? Let me know what you think in the comments, or share on Instagram with #nutritionstripped!

xx McKel

WANT MORE?

Learn more about nutrition and the tips and tricks I’ve learned along the way. Download the new Guide to Happy Hormones, a woman’s health ebook. Learn what to eat on a daily basis, how to stock your home and kitchen with foods that support your hormones, and other lifestyle tips for keeping hormones balanced and healthy!

Original article and pictures take nutritionstripped.com site

Management of Phakka Roga in Ayurveda

Management of Phakka Roga in Ayurveda

Kashyap samhita is one of the important ancient documents of kaumarbhritya. Kaumarbhritya is one among the eight branch of ayurveda. Kaumarbhritya consist from birth of baby up to he becomes capable of independent existence. During this phase physical and mental development takes place. It consists of various descriptions of diseases and their treatment. Phakka roga one of the most important diseases happens in childhood period and has been described only in kashyap samhita elaborately.

Bala: samvatsara (panna:) padaabhyam: yo na Gacchati |

Sa Pakka iti Vidneya: || – Kashypa.Sa.Chi 17/3

Phakka has been defined as inability of a child to walk even by the age of one year. The word Phakka denotes sluggish movement due to poor physical development associated with psychomotor changes. Phakka roga mainly classify into three groups on the basis of their causes as follows.

Kshiraja Phakka

Garbhaja Phakka and

Vyadhija Phakka.

Kshiraja Phakka:

Dhatri shlaishmikdugdha tu Pakkadugdhetisadnyeta |

tatkhirpo bahuvyadhi: karshyat Pakkatvamapnuyat || – Kashyapa.Sa. chi 17/4

Stanya vitiated with kapha dosha is called Phakka-dugdha. This Phakka-dugdha causes obstruction in rasa vaha strotasa and cause nutritional deficiency in a child resulting in to Kshiraja Phakka roga.

Garbhaja Phakka:

Garbhinimatruka: kshripra stanyasya vinivartanat |

Kshiyate mriyate va-api sa Pakko garbhapidit: || – Kashyapa.Sa. chi 17/4

When a nourishing Dhatri conceives during breast feeding period, deficient milk secretion results. There by the Balak gets emaciated due to malnourishment and even dies. This condition is called a Garbhaja Phakka.

Vyadhija Phakka:

Nijragantubhischev………..Jwaradhibhi: |

Itetaiya: karanaer vidyat Vyadhija Pakkata shisho: || – Kashyapa.Sa. chi 17/4

In some diseases if proper care and treatment is not provided it leads to emaciation with improper formation of metabolites (Rasa, mamsa, meda and asthidhatu), leading to severe malnourishment associated with weak limbs as well as mobilization of subcutaneous fat from gluteal, chest and extremities with increase in frequency to stool and urine, irritability untrimmed nails and uncleanness to skin indicates the children of poor socio-economic condition is also known as vyadhija Phakka. It shows growth and developmental deficiency. which stimulates with protein energy malnutrition, marasmus, rickets, chronic malabsorption states like celiac diseases. Most of the characters are correlating with marasmic child. Kshiraja and Garbhaja Phakka comes in to acute malnutrition where as Vyadhija Phakka is a state chronic malnutrition with general debility and reversible motor disability owning to malnourish state.

Principles of management of Phakka roga:

In Balyavastha , there is more vitiated condition of Kapha dosha. Due to these Balaka more prone to kaphaj vikara. There are references for the treatment of Phakka roga available in Phakka chikitsa adhyaaya for normalization of kapha and-vata dosa.(Ka.chi 17/4).

Bastay: snehapanani swedaacch uadwartanani cha |

Vaat rogeshu balana sanshrutheshu visheshat: | – Kashyapa.Sa. chi 17/4

……………………karayet kriya ||

Klyanak pibet Pakka:Khatpal Wa yatha amrtam |

saptratrat par chaina Trivvrut kshiren shodhayet ||

shudrakoshtata: Pakka: | – Kashyapa.Sa. chi 17/4

Kshiraja Phakka:

The whole treatment can be broadly classified in to two parts.

For Dhatri,

For Balaka

For Dhatri:

In Dhatri stanya vitiated with kapha dosha , acharya kashyapa explains the severity of vitiation of stanya and stated that samprapti due to sannipataja dushti , results in Balaka with the symptoms jadatva , mukatva, and pangutva.

In the etiopathogenesis of phakka , agnimandya due to dusta stanya, stanyabhava as well as vyadhi leads to improper dhatu-nirman especially rasa, mamsa, meda and asthi dhatu, so treatment should be aimed at prakruta rasa nirmana with the augmentation of agni by mrudu shodhan followed by deepana, pachana, balya and bruhana therapy.

This etiopathogenesis can be controled by two upakrama. In Kshiraja Phakka, shodhan upakrama done to the dhatri having kaphaj stanya. According to vagbhatacharya tikshna shodhan vamana dravya we use vacha, sarshapa, pippali dravya . After vamana sansarjana karma should be followed, and for shaman internally dipana and pachana dravya like vacha, ativisha, panchmula ghana kwatha should be given. Then nasya, dhum , gandush, pradeha, parisheka, and kapha shamak aahara indicated.

For Balaka:

According to acharya kashyapa Balaka snehana can be accomplished with Raja taila and Abhyantar snehana with amruta ghrita , kalyanaka ghrita, shatpala ghrita, bramhi ghrita for seven days given internally after followed by virechana carried out with trivrutksheeram basti Basti best during this period with the predominance of vata dosha and mamsa as well as vataharaka dravyas .

In Shaman chikitsa internally we should give dipana dravya like raasna, madhuka siddha ghrita then pachana for stroto shodhana (udavartanam) milk mixed with gomutra for pana then bruhana dravya includes mamsa-rasa and kshira siddha with raasna madhu, shatpushpa, ekparnni indicated.

Garbhaj Phakka:

In this type it closely resembles with balshosha, Parigarbhik described by Vagbhatt. This relationship should be explained on the basis of stages. In initial stages shosha leads to kshiraj Phakka, parigarbhik then garbhaj Phakka. For graham Phakka we should treat parigarbhik in which agnidipan chikitsa is ideal. In which we use dipan and pachan dravya includes. Nutritious food siddha with vidari, yava , godhum, pippali with sufficient ghrita should be given in such cases then anupana rich in milk mixed with honey and sugar, this all nutritious food covers vitamin deficiency disorders.

Vyadhija Phakka:

In vyadhij Phakka a main cause is dosh dushya samprapti due to the nija roga and agantuj roga. Due to mandagni and dushta grahani the nutrition of food cannot nourish the tissue .Due to this, disordered grahani, sara sanhanan of body get deteriorated. These all symptoms seen in accordance with related disease. For vyadhiaja Phakka the treatment should be classified on hetu‘s in treatment swalp-aahara proper quantity of nutritious food including kshirapeya indicated. For the strength of agni various lehya dravya and kalpas described by acharya kashyapa of highly nutritious value of both animal and vegetable origin should be internally given to the balak.

Bahya chikitsa: oil for massage (abhyanga) raj-taila made of earanda , shaliparnni , bilva this may be given internally too. Oil siddha with mamsa, yusa.are also useful. As per the experience of vaidyas, Sudhavarga ausadhi dravyas like Sudhasatak is very much helpful for nourishment of Asthidhatu.Samvardhan Ghrita described in Lehadhyaya is successfully practised in developmental disorders is of high therapeutic value.

Physiotherapy: For disabled child, Phakka ratha has been advocated which is specifcally made by skilled and technical person should be manufactured in order to support disable balaka keeps resemblance with modern physiotherapy.

Original article and pictures take www.corespirit.com site

Low Carb Teriyaki Turkey Bowls

Low Carb Teriyaki Turkey Bowls

Happy Tuesday guys! Just 5 more days until Christmas, eeeeeep! Pretty lights are everywhere, holiday music is in full effect (let’s be honest, that all started the day after Thanksgiving) and my bank account is in a constant plea for me to calm down. Ahhhhh, isn’t it great?

I’m so happy because for the next two weeks, I get a vacation from work and even though I’m already missing my kiddos dearly, it feels great to soak up all that good ol’ family time! So good in fact, that I’ve been on the prowl lately for deliciously healthy recipes that are super quick and super easy. Key word here is quick, ‘cus…you know, trying to optimize all of that family fun time.

With that being said…these Low Carb Teriyaki Turkey Bowls do not dissapoint. Quick? Yep. Easy? You know it. Delicious? uhhh BOWL LICKIN’ WORTHY.

This entire recipe comes together in under 30 minutes, including the time that it takes to make that deliciously flavorful teriyaki sauce that you’re looking at below. 30 measly minutes for the whole shebang. I’m a HUGE fan of 90% lean ground turkey as it’s a super versatile healthy substitute to ground beef with great taste and texture. It’s not only AMAZE in the recipe, it’s been a low fat lifesaver in other recipes too including:

Oh and of course, my superhero veggie had to make its big debut in these Low Carb Teriyaki Turkey Bowls. Cauliflower rice…you’re the real MVP. I simply used a head of cauliflower and pulsed it in the food processor a few times then fried with a little soy sauce. NOM GUYS.

-Recipe & Nutrition Info Below-

For more LOW CARB recipes, check out:

Nutrition Facts Serving Size 1 cup cauliflower rice w/ 4oz Teriyaki Turkey Servings Per Container 4 Amount Per Serving Calories 272 Calories from Fat 81 % Daily Value* Total Fat 9g 14% Saturated Fat 0g 0% Trans Fat g Cholesterol 30mg 10% Sodium 1606mg 67% Total Carbohydrate 46g 15% Dietary Fiber 13g 52% Sugars 23g Protein 35g 70% *Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

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Original article and pictures take www.itscheatdayeveryday.com site