Monthly Archives: July 2014

ayurveda, health and wellness, healthy living, stress reduction, Uncategorized

11 Ayurvedic Tips To Deal With Sleepless Nights

On a typical day in the United States, there are millions of people who wake up feeling exhausted because they didn’t get a good nights’ sleep. Getting adequate rest is becoming more difficult because of technology and the fast pace of our every day lives.

Fatigue caused by sleeping difficulties is becoming one of America’s top health problems. Researchers say lack of sleep can lead to health problems ranging from blood sugar and blood pressure issues, to increased levels of stress hormones in the body, to weight gain and even to shorter lifespan.

Tranquilizers and sleep aids, although frequently prescribed, are not a solution to curtail that problem. Drugs like this are highly addictive and can increase stress during the day. Although they may knock you out, your body still doesn’t get the deep, peaceful sleep cycles it needs, and you may still wake up feeling tired, sluggish and un-rested. The next time you experience difficulty sleeping, try the following tips to assist you with getting a good night’s slumber.

11 tips to naturally enhance the quality of your sleep:

Tip #1: Give yourself a morning and nightly massage with coconut oil, almond oil, sesame oil or olive oil. Feel your body become stimulated and receptive as you massage the muscles. Before bed, this will help you fall into a deep slumber.

Tip #2: Exercise during the day. It doesn’t have to be intense exercise, but if you take a walk, do yoga, or use a stepper or treadmill for even 20 minutes, you will find it much easier to fall asleep at night.

Tip #3: Sip water throughout the day. I recommend 4 -6 ounces of warm or room temperature water to stay hydrated. This will also help your body flush out toxins.

Tip #4: Avoid eating too many heavy, sweet, sour or salty foods. Instead, balance the flavors on your plate and don’t eat too much food. Overeating will interfere with your ability to fall and stay asleep.

Tip #5: Eat a light meal at night. Especially as we move through the summertime, keeping things light will help your body come to rest easier. Try putting a little fresh ginger or black pepper on your food for a flavor bonus.

Tip #6: Drink tea such as chamomile, lavender or ashawaganda in the evening. This  is a nice and gentle way to help prepare your mind and body to get ready for bed.

Tip #7: Drink a glass of warm almond milk with a dash of nutmeg, this is the spice that helps with insomnia. This is a phenomenal  and natural way to fall asleep faster and stay asleep all night long.

Tip #8: Keep the pressures of the day away from your sleep area. Remove any electronics (including your phone) from your bedroom. The goal is to make this room a comfortable, warm, loving and intimate space where your body feels nurtured.

Tip #9: Avoid watching suspense movies, dramas or violent movies before bedtime. Turn off the TV at least 15 minutes before you go to bed.

Tip #10: Draw a warm bath as you prepare for bedtime. Put a little lavender essential oil in the tub, and let your muscles melt into the warm water and the scent of the lavender relax your mind.

Tip #11: As you lay in bed, do this relaxing exercise: mentally scan your body from the crown of your head down to the bottom of your feet.  Now imagine that all your muscles are relaxing deeply and sinking into the mattress, as if you are floating on a cloud.

What bedtime routines do you have to help yourself fall asleep? Leave a comment in the area below to share your best tips.

 

Wishing peace to your mind, wellness to your body and tranquility to your spirit!

 

Namaste,

 

Rochel Marie Lawson, RN,AHP,CMS

The Queen of Feeling Fabulous

Host of “Blissful Living”

Author of : “Intro to Holistic Health, Ayurveda Style”

Co Author of:  “Answering The Call, ” “Rapid Change For Heart Centered Women”  and “The Live Sassy Formula”

http://www.rochelelawson.com

http://www.healthhealingwellness.com

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info@healthhealingwellness.com

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ayurveda, blissful living, health and wellness, healthy eating, healthy living, stress reduction

Feeling Constipated? These Tips Will Help

At some point in their lives, everyone has experienced issues with constipation and elimination. Here are some Ayurvedic tips you can use to help get your system flowing naturally and more consistently.

Become Aware

Constipation and elimination tend to be sensitive topics that people don’t normally like to talk about. Even if it’s embarrassing, it’s important to become aware of your elimination patterns. Are you someone that goes every day? Once, twice, three times a day? Are you someone who goes once every other day or every couple of days? Notice the timing in your cycle.

It’s also important to notice the consistency. If you only go once a day, is there a large amount of stool? Does it float? Does it sink? Is it small? Is it hard?

Stay Hydrated

It seems simple, but a major cause of constipation is dehydration. Make sure you’re drinking 8-10 glasses of water per day. I recommend 8 oz. every hour. If you drink more than that per hour (some people like to guzzle it down), you will urinate it all out probably within 30 minutes and your body doesn’t have a chance to absorb the liquid into your digestive tract.

If you’re drinking plenty of water and it doesn’t seem to help, add a little bit of oil to your water. You can add coconut, sesame, almond or even olive oil. Just a tiny bit will make a huge difference: it will help moisturize the colon and enable your body to absorb the oil. Since the colon is a dry part of the body, it’s important to make sure it has some degree of moisture so the stool can flow through easily.

Alternatively, you can also just take a tablespoon of whatever oil you choose in the morning or at night before you go to bed.

Get Moving

If you’re constipated due to a mobility problem, that is, if your colon is slow or sluggish regarding moving things through, then you want to increase your exercise. You core muscles, or your abdominals, are especially important: when they contract and expand, that will help the stool move along the colon instead of getting stuck, stagnant and dried out.

Eat Intelligent Foods

Leafy green vegetables (lettuce, kale, spinach and broccoli) act as a colon sweep and are great to help the colon get the stool moving along. My recommendation is to incorporate a leafy green vegetable into every meal, particularly dinner. When you’re eating, consume the leafy greens last. So if you’re eating a pasta dinner and there is spinach on your plate, eat the pasta first and the spinach last. This will help move the stool through your body because raw vegetables are generally cool so you want to eat them last. This way your digestive fire stays stoked through the meal.

Was this helpful? What other tips do you use to help yourself stay regular? Leave a comment in the area below.

Wishing you much health and wellness!

 

Namaste,

 

Rochel Marie Lawson, RN,AHP,CMS

The Queen of Feeling Fabulous

Host of “Blissful Living”

http://www.rochelelawson.com

http://www.healthhealingwellness.com

info@healthhealingwellness.com

http://www.doublewidenetwork.com/index.php/Shows/detail/blissful_livng

http://www.youtube.com/rochelelawson

http://www.facebook.com/rochelelawson

Twitter: @rochelelawson

 

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ayurveda, blissful living, health and wellness, healthy living, stress reduction

10 Ayurvedic Secrets To Uplift The Emotions And Create Inner Peace

The power of the Ayurvedic approach is all about simplicity. Keeping things simple can be somewhat deceptive, but it can also be extremely powerful. We work to make some lifestyle adjustments to form a powerful package that will support emotional balance.Within this powerful package, there are a lot of simple things we can do to uplift our emotions and create inner peace. Try some of these secrets today and see what a difference they can make.

Secret 1: Go to bed at a consistent time. Be sure to be in bed by 10 pm every night. If you can get to sleep a little earlier, that’s fine, but the key is to make sure that you’re getting the right amount of sleep for your body. If you know you need 7 hours, plan for that. If you need 8, make that a priority. Getting enough rest is essential for emotional health. When we have a consistent sleep schedule, we are able to fall asleep more easily: our melanin knows when to kick in and our sleep process begins before we even get in bed.

Secret 2: Wake up with the rising sun. Now that you’ve gone to sleep at 10 pm, I suggest waking with the sunrise. That varies during the season, but right now (early summer) the sun comes up about 6 am. Waking up early is important for emotional health. If we sleep too long, we build up toxins, or Ama. If we don’t sleep enough, the mind won’t be fully rested.

Secret 3: Walk outdoors. Breathe deeply when you go for a walk outside. Focus on taking in fresh air and stimulating your respiratory system. The perfect time to go for a refreshing walk is as the sun is rising: just as it brings energy to the earth, it activates the energy centers in the body.

Secret 4: After you go on your walk, eliminate. Sometimes people suffer from constipation that causes headaches or a feeling of dullness. Low moods and a sense of sluggishness often accompany constipation as well. Drink some warm water with a little bit of lemon essential oil or lemon juice to get the digestive system moving. If that doesn’t help you to eliminate, eat some prunes, figs or even cooked apples at night before you go to bed to get that sludge moving along.

Secret 5: Eat intelligent foods. These are organic, unprocessed, non-GMO foods that are quickly digested because there are no toxic chemicals that the body has to sort through or filter out. These foods give your body natural fuel and boost immunity. Apples, pears, almonds, yogurt, walnuts, cloves, almond milk, kale, spinach and broccoli are just a few examples of intelligent food.

Secret 6: Give yourself a nice daily body massage with yummy oils. Coconut oil, sesame oil or even almond oil is perfect. A massage increases circulation and helps clear toxins from the tissues. It will invigorate the body, calm the mind and sooth the emotions.

Secret 7: Practice yoga. Even as little as 5, 10 or 15 minutes in practice of asanas or yoga postures will stimulate the digestive fire within and cleanse the colon of toxins. Yoga is also great for uplifting low moods.

Secret 8: Add spices to your intelligent food. I love cumin, turmeric, cayenne pepper and black pepper. Spices help the body assimilate food and create less toxic buildup in the colon.

Secret 9: Spend a few minutes by yourself in peace and gratitude. Think about something for which you are grateful. This can be done any time through the day, maybe even during your morning walk. Allow yourself to be completely wrapped up in that feeling of gratitude. When you do that, the anxiety dissipates and you welcome in a warm, loving and positive energy, creating a sense of inner peace.

Want more tips to reduce stress, naturally? Visit http://www.freegiftsfromRochele.com to get “21 Tips to Instantly Reduce Stress” for more ideas.

 

Wishing you much health and wellness!

 

Namaste,

 

Rochel Marie Lawson, RN, AHP,CMS

The Queen of Feeling Fabulous

Host of “Blissful Living”

http://www.rochelelawson.com

http://www.healthhealingwellness.com

http://www.facebook.com/rochelelawson

www. youtube.com/rochelelawson

Twitter: @rochelelawson

info@healthhealingwellness.com

http://www.doublewidenetwork.com/index.php/Shows/detail/blissful_livng

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