Hangover Yoga

Can alcohol and Yoga mix? Absolutely. Just not at the same time. Can Yoga cure your Hangover? Yes it can!

In general, I advise students not to eat for at least an hour before his or her Yoga practise. An empty stomach allows you to pay attention to the positions and breathing techniques without being distracted by digesting something you ate. Many of the postures involve twisting, laying on the stomach, and constricting the abdominals -  so being on an empty stomach makes for better comfort in general.

Last week one of my students asked me if he can be a Yogi and drink alcohol. Apparently some schools of Yoga do not advocate drinking alcohol at all. If this is your decision, awesome. But, I do not advocate purism in any form. So, to answer this question, I repeat something one of my Yoga teachers once said: Yoga may interfere with drinking. But the two are not mutually exclusive.

As we often find ourselves in circumstances that involve an alcoholic beverage or three, be it a dinner party, a vacation, or relaxing at home. Do not panic. Just because you have had a glass or two of something, does not mean you can not practise Yoga.

While I do not advise bringing a beer into the Yoga studio. It is perfectly acceptable to have said beer, wait an hour, then practise.

A Yoga class after a glass of wine = Advanced Yoga (insert laughter here).

As an extension to this line of thinking. Here we present Hangover Yoga. Relevant this weekend  after dinner at Alan Wong's in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Sake was really good.

My first advice to cure a hangover is simple:  drink 2 litres of water and consume some protein (in this case macadamia nuts). If you have a cold ocean or shower nearby, get wet.

Afterwards, even though your body does not want to work out. Do it.

I have a Chiropractor friend in Calgary, Canada who swears by sprinting off his hangovers. You may not achieve record time, but you will rebound to normalcy.

Sprinting is really hard on your body. Therefor, I recommend trying a little Yoga practise that emphasises standing postures. Standing postures require balance. Your balance, after a cocktail or an evening with a bottle of Sake, is off. Finding balance when you feel off is an amazing challenge. The act of trying =  succeeding.

Wobble fearlessly my friends!

For your amusement here is my "Hangover Yoga."

Whether or not you were getting into the Sake, whenever your life seems to lack in stability -  create balance through a standing Yoga practise.

xoxo
Laaila
The Yoga Bunny

Yogi Glow - Homemade Facials

Our skin is our biggest organ. We should all want radiant skin. As someone who's suffered from terrible skin incidents all her life (rashes, mild eczema, zits, redness, dryness, etc) I have spent a lot of time and energy researching different ways to achieve and maintain nice skin.

If you're interested in some of the NOT TO DOS here are the top ones that come to mind:

-picking at your skin

-getting sun burnt

-leaving a chemical/acid peel on for too long

-drinking alcohol or using medication

Our skin actually mirrors our liver. So, if you're skin looks nasty, it's safe to assume that your liver may need a cleanse.

The practise of Yoga can help, aesthetically, on several levels. First of all, Yoga reduces stress. Stress causes bad skin and wrinkles. Yoga also helps you to get better sleep. Lack of sleep = general ugliness.

Furthermore, the postures of Yoga help your blood to circulate. On the level of the organs, this is detoxifying and also nourishing. On the level of what you can see on the outside, the general appearance of cellulite diminishes. Plus you build toned muscles.

If you don't believe me, then simply take a look at a group of Yogis after they practise, you will notice a group of glowing people! Just make sure you're not assessing those who've practised in a HOT class....these people often look beet red and 3 degrees short of a minor heart attack. This is another topic all together. And one we won't get into.

Instead, let's explore the concept of taking the practise of yoga and the yoga diet one step further -and consider at-home skin care / spa treatments.

A Yogi diet involves using healthy oils and drinking plenty of chemical-free water. So, your kitchen already contains several key-items that can be used to make exfoliates, masks, and cleansers. 

If you are sceptical about using food on your skin. Simply look at the products used by top spas around the world. You will typically see many food-based treatments and ingredients. Even my girlfriend said to me today how amazed she was by the natural ingredients used at the spa she visited recently in Vietnam. Ingredients like honey, milk, and oatmeal were  making their way off the breakfast table and into her treatment room.

 

One doesn't even have to travel to top-spas around the world  in order to treat themselves to a world-class skin-care regime.

Look no further than the kitchen!

AT HOME SKIN CARE INGREDIENTS

1. Sea Salt - this general exfoliant and antiseptic can be used as toothpaste or to slough away dead skin from your face / body. Use with water or add to a natural soap / oil.

2. Oil - Can be used as hair serum, skin / facial moisturiser, lip-gloss, or makeup-replacement.

Can be applied to wet or dry skin / hair.

Different oils have different properties. For example, Coconut Oil is considered to be cooling. Which makes it great to use in the summertime. Oils like Walnut Oil are considered to warming. Try this one in the winter-time or if you generally feel cold.

I like to have an array of oils to choose from. Moroccan Argan Oil is absolutely amazing for the hair. And if you're undecided on which oil to start with for your body, I recommend Olive Oil because it's easy to find and neutral smelling.

3. Avocado - good at breakfast and good as a moisturising face mask.

4. Cacao - A mild exfoliant and helps with oil-control.

5. Eggs - Oil control

6. Oatmeal - Mild oil control and exfoliant

7. Coffee - Medium exfoliant, enhances blood circulation, can have a bronzing effect.

8. Wine -  Detoxifying and nourishing. Add some to your bath while enjoying a glass.

9. Pomegranate Juice - natural lip or cheek stain

10. Lemon - Antiseptic and exfoliant

11 Jasmine Oil - An exotic and floral natural perfume

Happy skin-care and at-home spahhhhing everyone :)

Reconnect with Nature - A Vacation from Electronics

Cell phones, iPads, microwaves, cameras, the Internet, WiFi, watches, alarm clocks, television, washing machines, laptops and other electronics interfere with our body's natural cycles.

Ask yourself. When is the last time I took a vacation? Not a retreat towards the sun. A real vacation, living without electronics or unnatural influence.

The ancient writings of Hatha Yoga describe Shat Karma, or bodily purification. There are six basic practises (of Kriyas) which include

1. Neti - Irrigation of the Nasal Passages/Sinus

2. Dhauti & 3. Basti - Cleaning the digestive tract through Colonic, Enema, Tongue Scraping etc

4. Nauli - Breathing Exercise to Manipulate the Abdominals

5. Kapalabhati - Breathing Exercise of rapid, abdominal (diaphragmatic) breath.

6. Tratak - Cleaning of the tear ducts / Candle Meditation

What the ancient Yogis missed (due to the fact that in ancient India there were no cell phone) is a 7th form of Purification - Cleansing from Electronics.

Recently, I went cell-phone-less for a month. It was amazing because life went on. If I needed to make plans, I did so in advance using the Internet. If making plans in advance did not work then I defaulted to option:

b) pay phone

c) using someone elses phone

d) leaving all meetings to chance. 

To many of my friends, not having a cell phone required an apology. But it was an amazing experience. One I invite all of you to try. Start by putting your phone away at nighttime, then for an entire evening, then an entire day.

You will be amazed at how much more PRESENT you feel.

Small steps like this are how to start a lifestyle that includes Shatkarma or bodily purification.

Step 1: Since some of the Yoga Shatkarma practises are advanced, I do not recommend trying them.

As always, do some research and talk to your Yoga Teacher for guidance.

Step 2: Otherwise, dive in and experiment. Depending on your lifestyle and environment some of these activities will serve you better than others. For example, if you are sensitive and live in a polluted city (or even a dusty apartment) try cleaning your nasal passage/sinus once a week. The result is delightful.

Step 3: Treat yourself to a colonic irrigation. Through talking to friends or referencing a directory find a professional colon hydrotherapist in your city.

He or she will provide a safe, clean, and informative environment to learn how to take water into your colon. 

Step 4: Laugh

Step 5: Once you are comfortable with the notion of cleaning your colon, go buy an Enema and use it.

By cleansing the body we improve our health and create a lightness. One day you may find yourself living more simplistically.

Recently, I took my practise to the next level and went totally natural for 7 days: No makeup, no suitcase/closet of clothes, no watch, no phone, no Internet, no camera, and no commitments. If I was tired I slept. If I needed to cry, I cried. If something was interesting, I went for a look.

What happened during these 7 days was amazing. I reconnected with nature and reconnected with my body's natural cycles. At certain points it was as if I was hearing things and seeing things for the first time. My surroundings became sensational. A natural high.

Even better. The quality of sleep I experienced was the deepest, most tranquil and invigorating sleep of my life. During the night on a few occasions I had dreams - vivid ones - where I revisited troubling and stressful events. During the dream there was dialogue and observation and a letting go. I often woke up crying. But it was as if I was crying to say goodbye. I know that certain things that once haunted me, will no longer affect me. Countless weight and stale emotion has left my being.

In my opinion, this is a REAL vacation. This is how you decompress from city living and re-charge your battery. By going without electronics and living moment-to-moment one can re-set for real life. Because real life includes public transit, arguments, annoyances, relationship drama, alarm clocks, and computers. Real life is hard.

So, as you plan your next vacation, your next day off, or start a lifestyle that involves Shat Karma (Yoga bodily purification). Try the 7th Practise: Vacation from Electronics. You may really like what you discover.

Ending Yoga Class in Tree Pose (Vrksasana)

Tree Pose (Vrksasana)

This pose strengthens your legs, opens your hip flexors, and grounds you.




Steps to practise Tree on Right Leg:

1. Stand up strait, on two legs, feet are slightly less than pelvis width apart

2. Relax your mind

3. Place your hands on your hips

4. Shift your weight into your left foot

5. Slowly place your right foot on the inside of your calf, lightly by the knee, or the upper thigh

6. Fix your gaze on a focal point, a drishti, for balance and to silence your mind

7. Extend arms strait above your head

8. Prress your palms together over your head, keeping a gentlen bend in your elbows

9. Relax your shoulders

10. And Breathe

Steps to practise Tree on Left Leg:

1. Stand up strait, on two legs, feet are slightly less than pelvis width apart

2. Relax your mind

3. Place your hands on your hips

4. Shift your weight into your right foot

5. Slowly place your left foot on the inside of your calf, lightly by the knee, or the upper thigh

6. Fix your gaze on a focal point, a drishti, for balance and to silence your mind

7. Extend your arms strait above your head

8. Press your palms together, keeping a gentle bend in your elbows

9. Relax your shoulders

10. And Breathe

Detox Cleanse Day 3

I am on my third day of a Detox Cleanse. I'm sure many of you wonder, what exactly is a Detox Cleanse? Essentially, it is fasting (meaning not consuming food) in combination with assisting the body to eliminate toxins.

A good cleansing program should always begin by removing colon waste since the colon is last portion of the food processing chain and the largest area for storage of all sorts of garbage. It's disturbing how much mucus, heavy metal, gal stones, bile, foreign particles, and toxins will start coming out of your body during a cleanse. But it's also amazing. By cleaning the bowels, you can then clean your liver, blood, and lymphatic system. The result is an incandescence, a lightness, and an entire new relationship with the food you choose to eat.

On this cleanse, I am drinking a "shake" of Bentonite Clay mixed with Psyllium Husk about 3 or four times a day. Drinking this on an empty stomach allows the Bentonite Clay to absorb toxins and the Psyllium Husk husks to scrub out the corners of the intestines.

To help with the elimination of toxins one can use several options:

1. Colonic

2. Enema (there are different enema recipes) i.e. coffee to cleanse the liver, lemon for antiseptic, or garlic for anti-candida.

3. Taking alkalising minerals or foods i.e. a broth prepared by boiling potato skins

4. Drinking LOTS of water

5. Salt water flushes

6. Steam rooms / Saunas followed by Cold Baths or Cold Showers

7. Lymphatic Massage

8. Yoga

9. Reiki

To help ease the side-effects of the detoxing process I have been using the tools listed above. The most inspiration to me was a Reiki session. The power of healing energy is immense and I do not want anyone to allow his or her own Prana (internal energy) be affected negatively by the hands of the wrong person. So, do not search at random for a healer. Instead, go to someone on a referral basis.

During my session with Reiki Master Georges, he hooked me up to electrodes (to create a internal currency which is known to kill candida) and performed traditional Reiki. During the session, with my eyes closed, I went to many places. Various colours and images and sounds and sensations emerged. It was other worldly. After the treatment, I was subdued. Relaxation and silence was my demeanour for the rest of the day. 

Geroges is a very powerful healer - although he would never call himself that! During a brief chat afterwards, he told me that he draws his energy from the ocean. This was amazing because during the treatment on several occasions I felt and saw rain, wetness, the ocean, diving, and waves. 

Since arriving in Koh Samui, I too have been inspired to draw energy from both the ocean and the moon during Yoga, Meditation, and Swimming. The effect of this interaction has been a calming serenity. Something I can't really explain.

Super Savory Breakfast

I'm munching some Mango slices, therefor inspired to write about food.

My first compilation to share is a breakfast. It has become my go-to staple and was inspired by the type of food my body craves but also a lecture I sat in on with the author of Food As Medicine,  Todd Caldecott. He is a father, husband, medical herbalist, practitioner of Ayurveda and member of the American Herbalists Guild since 1997. Basically he is a busy man.

In his lecture, I was struck by the notion that NO culture in the world, typically consumed pastries or sweets for breakfast (typically, as in before the advent of the Starbucks grande latte, blueberry muffin, frosted flakes cereal, etc). This made sense as I too, naturally crave savoury and hearty food in the morning.

Todd went on to reiterate that by eating a breakfast that is high in fat (yes fat), protein, and grains - we are providing our body with long lasting energy for the day. The sugar/caffeine rich alternatives I mentioned above, simply spike our blood sugar. So we come crashing down and are starving soon after eating. A travesty. Several of his clients (some of them formerly vegetarian) completely changed their lives by starting their day with something such a lamb stew.

While whipping up a lamb stew in the morning may not always be on the agenda. A hearty dish (which just so happens to be vegetarian) of:

-eggs

-lentils

-cherry tomato

-half avocado

Does the trick. If you eat like this, you will be able to power through your day, with amazing energy & focus, and you will not need coffee.

Seriously. You can do one favour for yourself, in your diet, and modify how you eat breakfast. Make it your power meal. Also, try the lamb curry option too. It may just change your life for the better.

Q: What is Yoga & How to get Started

A: Yoga is a journey. Most people start by learning about the Asanas (physical postures). This can be intimidating, hot, and all kinds of fun. I invite you to discover a style of yoga that suits you and what you need it to be. After time, with practise and enhanced self awareness, you'll see where the Yoga journey has taken you.

Pranayama (breathing techniques) at the Spa

Practising Pranayama at the Scandinavian Spa.....

If you’ve never been to a Scandinavian-style outdoor spa experience, stop reading this and go.

At first the idea to submerge in hot water than cold water seems odd or even intense. It’s actually invigorating.

The other day I was preparing for a hot yoga class. This yoga class was going to help me refocus after receiving an upsetting email.  Maybe it’s time to start email-free Sunday, or have my policy: that if the content of your email is extremely personal, than an in-person conversation needs to be had - imbedded in my signature.

 “Grab your bathing suit because we’re not going to Hot Yoga. We’re doing something better.”

What can be better than Hot Yoga? A Scandinavian Spa. That’s what.

About an hour out of Montreal, northward, in a township called Rawdon. I arrive at the home of La Source BainsNordique. It is breathtaking.

The receptionist hands me my towel and locker key.  Moments later, in my suit, I am ready. First up the 35 deg hottub. As the soft sound of the water cleanses my stress away, muscles relaxed, I can actually see intricate detail in the snow-blanketed gardens. With clear eyes, I am present for the first time today.

Skipping up the hillside wearing a huge smile, my towel casually draped over my shoulder, I didn’t even notice it was 2 degrees out. I enter the dry sauna.

On the cherry wooden bench in a seated cross-legged yoga position (Sukasana), I softly gaze out the window at the white blanket of snow and bits of vegetation.

Pranayama is the breathing part of yoga. In a yoga class the most typical pranayama is called Ujjayi. This is breathing through the nose while restricting your glottis (throat). It lengthens the inhale and lengthens the exhale. Your breath, becomes the ocean, sounding like the ebb and flow of waves breaking on a shore.

The main reason a yogis breathes through the nose is because it calms the nervous system. Also nose-breathing creates backpressure, so the lungs can better absorb oxygen. Breathing brings lifeforce (Prana) into the body.

But I’m not in a yoga class, I’m at the spa. Chillin in the sauna. In this type of scenario it is best to not practise any sort of special breathing exercise. This is because the point of meditation is effortlessness. Special breathing takes effort. So here I breathe slow and heavy. Into the belly on an inhale, my tummy rises, and then falls inwards as I exhale completely.

I am in total peace.

Up next the super fun part. A dip and wade through the ice bath. Wow. My skin feels subtle and taught. My heart is alive. But not racing. Icy cool water and crisp fresh air, bites me. If meditation in the sauna is flying then the cold, wet aftermath is standing on earth. And what a beautiful earth it is.

After a few minutes at outdoor temperature on a chair, I moseyed into an indoor viewing lounge.

I feel somber, relaxed.

Next door is another outdoor hot tub. 40 degrees. I hear light laughter and silence.

Gracefully striding down the hillside,  up next is the steam sauna. Tucked perfectly into a rocky cliff. The eucalyptus steam billows airily. In thick grey steam I feel myself walking on my feet, like the very act of walking, it as an entirely new sensation.

From the bench in the steam sauna. The juxtaposition between hot and cold has awakened my circulation.   Tiny veins and capillaries in my arms and legs are snapping. It’s like they are once of those static balls, that sends a brilliant electrical current from the centre of the globe to your hand or whatever happens to be touching it. This is what I imagine. Lightening shots of blood, shunting to parts of my skin that haven’t been nourished quite like this before.  

Next, another cold pool. Hello world.

In the second viewing lounge. I am staring at a rock cliff. It’s more entertaining and beautiful than anything I have seen before.

Time to do the circuit again.

After round two, I head into the dark room. It’s pitch black, aside from the faint glow of a small embroidered emblem on each  reclining chairs.

In the blackness, something amazing starts happening. I hear vibrations. Maybe there was faint music playing. Crystal bowls. And maybe there wasn’t.

Maybe it was my breathe. The only sound in the world. Ahhhh. Just like music.