Amy Joy Yoga

Private Yoga Teacher, Mentor, and Healthy Aging Coach

Help! I can’t sleep

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We are within a week of the season change. While we are eagerly awaiting the arrival of spring here in Minnesota, not everyone is transitioning smoothly. I have had several clients over the past couple of weeks complain about not being able to sleep. The energetics of the season change are much to blame.

In Ayurveda, the elements of air and ether have been with us throughout the fall and winter. What this does is increase vata. When we are out of balance in vata, we wake after 2 am and find it difficult to fall back asleep. We may also find ourselves sleeping lightly and restless so when we wake, we feel as though we have hardly slept. When Vata is out of balance, we may experience restless, disjointed thoughts, become forgetful, and perhaps, experience fear and anxiety throughout the day.

So, what can you do to help sleep better? Applying vata reducing guidelines and following the laws of the Ayurvedic clock can help.

How to Combat a Vata Sleep Imbalance at Bedtime:

        • Avoid too much stimulation at night. This includes electronics. Try going “screen-free” for 90 minutes before night-night time.
        • Take a warm bath infused with fennel, orange, and tulsi oil.
        • Try hot almond milk with any or all of the following: chopped dates, coconut flakes, cardamom, ginger, or honey.
        • Before going to bed, rub your feet with warm sesame oil (sesame oil can stain – be sure to use old socks to protect your sheets.)
        • Try Alternate Nostril Breathing for five minutes. Breathe in through the left nostril and out through the right, closing the opposite one.

        • Follow this with 30 seconds of Bhastrika (Bellows Breath) by taking full, deep breaths like a bellows in and out through your nose, using your full lung capacity. Afterward, do a minute of meditation. Repeat this until your agitating thoughts subside.

      • If you wake in the middle of the night, get up and have chamomile tea. Don’t just lie there thinking.

How to Balance Vata Throughout the Day

        • Eat foods that balance Vata.
        • Schedule your day so you can eat three warm, cooked meals, with the biggest meal at noon. Eat dinner before 7:00 p.m., so it has time to digest before bed.
        • Go to bed well before 10 pm., if possible by 9:30. This allows you to use the sleepy, duller Kapha time of night to help you fall asleep.
        • Use practices like a grounding yoga sequence, meditation, and Yoga Nidra to reduce mental worries or mental stress in your life.

Because we are approaching the change from vata (air and ether) to kapha (earth and water), we are smack dab in the middle of what we call a “glitch” in Ayurveda. It’s like a big speed bump when the characteristics and imbalances in the doshas are most noticeable.

If you are either having trouble falling asleep or you are waking up before 2 a.m. and can’t get back to sleep for several hours, you may be experiencing a Pitta imbalance, read more about pitta here.

Want to learn more? My upcoming course: Ayurveda 101 will teach you how the elements affect us and how to live in balance and ease. Be the first to hear when registration is open by signing up for email updates.

Want customized recommendations? Email me to learn more about one-on-one Private Yoga Sessions to get personalized Ayurvedic recommendations and yoga sequences that help you live better. Email me to learn more!

Self Care – More than a “To-Do” List

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During my advanced Yoga Teacher Training, I was also in the process of getting my Ayurvedic Yoga Specialist training. Ayurveda is a system of self healing by learning to live in balance with the elements.

Part of our homework for this program was to begin to follow a daily self care ritual (called a dinacharya). I had good intentions with this list of 5 or 6 items I was to incorporate into my morning routine, but who has time for that. I need to get up and moving in the morning. Things to do!

It took me several months of looking at the list and ‘shoulding’ myself over it. I did eventually start the daily rituals. I was scraping my tongue, using the neti pot followed by nasya (nasal) oil, dry brushing my skin, and some days doing the warm oil massage (abhyanga). I was going through the motions of doing the tasks. Just another chore to check off my list.

I began to notice slight changes in my overall feelings toward life and the curve balls it throws. My overall demeanor was a little more laid back and a little bit more go with the flow. But I still had LOTS to do on a daily basis and that oil massage and meditating in the mornings? Come on, that is when I get stuff done. I just didn’t have time except for the occasional weekend. So I continued to go through the motions.

Then one morning, my life as I knew it changed. I was just preparing for a client to arrive when I got a call from Lifeline. Lifeline is a service that monitors the well being of people who are elderly, or in less than optimal health. The client wears a panic button, if you will, on a necklace.

When I answered the phone, the Lifeline representative told me that my mother had used her Lifeline to call for help. Paramedics had come and transported her to the hospital. She had no more details for me than that.

A little later, (I was not so with the flow or calm at this point at all!) the ER nurse called and let me talk to my mom. She said, “Something about my heart and maybe needing a catheter.”

I got in my car and drove to the hospital. The front desk couldn’t find my mom anywhere.

A few minutes later, a patient representative escorted me to the heart center. A nurse informed me that my mom had been rushed into the Operating Room for emergency open heart surgery. Her aorta, which is the main artery that feeds the body blood from the heart, had essentially ruptured. The technical name for her condition is Dissected Aorta.

The surgery was over eight and a half hours. When the surgeon finally came out to talk to me, he said they were going to keep my mom in a medically induced coma because they had sewn a graft, or patch, onto the diseased part of her aorta. The tissue that was left wasn’t very healthy, and his exact words were, “I do not want her to move a muscle.” He said that night was going to be critical.

My mom was 59 years old. This happened right before Christmas.

Those daily practices from my yoga and ayurveda training homework that I had been doing half-heartedly as tasks, I embraced them in a new way. I not only started doing them, but I clung to them because they were the only ‘known’ I had in my life during that time. I knew I could get up in the morning and support myself with these acts of self compassion and love. I sat on my cushion and meditated because my breath in that moment was the only thing that was a given. They became my center and my way to ground.

My mom’s one night coma turned into two, then three. She wasn’t breathing on her own, and they had to keep her on life support. A social worker talked to me and my sister to see if my mom had a living will and asked if we knew what mom’s wishes were. None of the doctors or nurses were giving us any indication at all if she may recover or not.

Over the next couple of days, mom did start to move restlessly, frantically wiggling her foot, she would start to try to open her eyes.

Watching my mom start to wake up from the coma with lost and wild eyes was the most heartbreaking thing I have gone through. She still had to have the breathing tube in her throat. She had no clue who she was and when the nurses told her to stop pulling at the tube her eyes just got big and there was no connection there. No one home. Sometimes she would nod or shake her head, but again her eyes were missing their soul. Her eyes were hauntingly glossy, distant, and lost.

They were going to do a tracheotomy and make an opening in the front of mom’s neck to put a long term breathing tube in. All of this was going on around me, and the only reason I was able to react calmly and with a clear head and continue to be the point person for the family was because of my practices.

The only reason I had strength to continue to get up in the morning was because of my practices. They nurtured and supported me and most importantly built ojas, vital essence, that I needed.

Surgery was scheduled for the tracheotomy the next morning. I got up early and drove for what felt like the millionth time to the hospital. I walked into her room and there she was without her breathing tube and looking mostly at me. The tears I managed to hold back while around her all came out at that moment. I hugged her around all the tubes and wires, and I didn’t want to let go.

This past December marked two years since her surgery. She calls it her re-birthday. The road to recovery has been rocky. Mom stayed another couple weeks in the hospital cardiac care unit and then at Sister Kenny Rehabilitation Center for another week. She lost a lot of cognitive and physical skills in the three weeks she was in a coma.

She still has a lot of memory issues, but she is my mom. – and she is alive! Because of her ordeal, I learned how to love myself for maybe the first time ever in my life.

Yoga is a powerful tool.

Spring Has Sprung!

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We survived Old Man Winter! Despite some aspects of winter still remaining, we are officially in the spring season. Notice how the qualities have changed? The snow is wet, heavy, dense. The air is more damp. The air is more damp, and there is a sense of slowness. Many of you may have been experiencing a difficulty in getting out of bed in the morning. Perhaps wanting to relish in the warm cocoon of blankets for “just a little longer.”

Welcome the Ayurvedic season of Kapha. Kapha is a combination of the elements of Earth and Water. This is supportive for growth as we see in the spring. Kapha governs the structure of the physical body. It holds our cells together forming muscle, fat, bone, and sinew. It is Kapha’s job to protect.

Everything in moderation applies to the science of Ayurveda. When we are “in balance” with our inherent constitution, we function like a well oiled machine. When certain elements go out of balance, we begin to see symptoms which left untreated may progress into becoming disease. Using the theory “like attracts like,” we can reduce the incoming Kapha qualities of: heavy, slow, steady, solid, cold, soft, and oily by choosing things that are the opposite. The tools we use are the foods we eat, our lifestyle, yoga practice, meditation, and breath work.

When Kapha builds to excess, weight gain, fluid retention, and allergies manifest in the body. When out of balance, Kapha may become overweight, sleep excessively, and suffer from asthma, diabetes, and depression. People with an excess of Kapha tend to hold on to things like jobs and relationships long after they no longer serve them. Excess Kapha in the mind manifests as resistance to change and stubbornness. During times of stress, the typical Kapha response is “I don’t want to deal with it.” The seat of Kapha is in the chest. Oftentimes illness this time of year will manifest as chest colds with a lot of mucous/phlegm (those Kapha qualities of moist, damp, slow moving). Prevention is key in Ayurveda, like attracts like, so we must adjust our routines to avoid imbalance.

A few tips for reducing Kapha:

  • Get up! As hard as it may be, be out of bed by 6am every morning.
  • Get moving! Add some vinyasa to your yoga practice. Include heart openers and backbends in your poses. Explore other types of daily vigorous exercise.
  • Get warm! Stay warm in cold, damp weather.
  • Eat plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables and legumes.
  • Favor pungent, bitter, astringent tastes in your food and light, dry and warm foods.
  • Reduce heavy, oily, cold foods and sweet, sour and salty tastes.
  • Explore! Seek out variety and new experiences.

Want to learn more? My upcoming course: Ayurveda 101 will teach you how the elements affect us and how to live in balance and ease. Be the first to hear when registration is open by signing up for email updates.

Want customized recommendations? Email me to learn more about one-on-one Private Yoga Sessions to get personalized Ayurvedic recommendations and yoga sequences that help you live better. Email me to learn more!

Cleansing

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‘Tis the time of year that we make resolutions, set goals, and make changes in our choices. For many of us weight loss and healthy eating habits top the list. Whether we overindulged during the holidays or have a longer past with eating habits that haven’t supported us well, this time of year gives us pause for reflection and setting new goals.

The buzz word this time of year seems to be about cleansing. Cleansing traditionally is a process of detoxifying body systems and flushing the toxins from the body. Some cleanses involve drinking certain mixture of beverages, juicing, adding supplements to your food intake, and more. In Ayurvedic medicine, cleanses are a powerful way to restart your system, detoxify, and build your digestive fire so you can more efficiently digest your foods and absorb the fullest amount of nutrition. We use whole food as part of our cleansing process to support your ojas or vital essence during Ayurvedic Cleanses.

In Ayurveda we observe the seasons and the elements that make up the seasons. We are in Vata season. Vata is made of the elements of air and ether. There is a whole lot of movement this time of year and we are generally depleted. Since cleansing is a process of breaking down and rebuilding this is a poor time of year to cleanse as it is too taxing on an already weakened system.

You can begin to take these next few months to prepare for a cleanse in the spring when the seasonal elements are supportive for cleansing. Making gradual changes over time in the foods you take in, when you eat your meals, and observing the elements at work to stay in balance will help you to sleep better, digest better, have a calmer mind, clear skin, and help you body to find it’s ideal weight.

Start slow. Ayurvedic nutrition revolves around eating food that is close to it’s source and in season. Ditch the pre-made, boxed, and frozen meals in exchange for fresh cooked, organic produce, and free range meats. Begin cutting sugar out of your diet. Start your day with a cup of warm water and lemon. Observe the Ayurvedic clock with your meals. Breakfast around 7 am. Lunch (your largest meal of the day) around noon, and a light dinner around 6 pm. This eating schedule ensures adequate time for full digestion and a light dinner allows your body to detox at night during sleep.

Ayurvedic wisdom incorporates nutrition, yoga, meditation, pranayama, and lifestyle choices to create an entire system of self healing. When we are out of balance with our true nature, symptoms of disease will surface. These symptoms can be anything from insomnia, heartburn, skin rashes or acne, sensitive eyes, congestion, gas/bloating, anxiety, etc. Our goal in Ayurveda is to create balance with the elements so that these symptoms do not progress to disease.

A comprehensive Ayurvedic consultation will look closely at any symptoms that may be presenting and offer you a customized plan based on your specific needs. Small changes can make a huge difference and bring relief to symptoms you may be experiencing. I am offering a $30 discount on 90 minute Ayurvedic consultations. You will receive a comprehensive review of your current state of wellness, an explanation of why these symptoms are presenting, and a written easy to follow plan to bring you blanche and relieve symptoms.

Ayurvedic consultations during the month of January are just $95.
I am only offering 8 of these sessions at this amazing price. Please e-mail me for your consultation today!

(This offer applies to appointments held before Jan 31, 2014)

What is up Lately?

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Many people, myself included, are recently noticing change in more than just the weather. Many people are commenting on the fact they are unable to sleep through the night without waking multiple times. A general sense of restlessness, fidgety movements, ringing in the ears, dizziness or lightheadedness are also becoming common. And then there are the forgetful moments, leaving keys behind, forgetting why you entered a room, etc. Couple this with racing thoughts and scenarios playing themselves over and over in your head, you may feel like you are just stuck in your head. Vata presents also with gas, bloating, and constipation. You may also notice a shift in the foods you are craving. Many people are telling me they want crunchy, light snacks even if it isn’t normally in their diet. Welcome to the Season of Vata.

In Ayurveda, Vata is a combination of the elements of air and ether. Vata is all about movement, airiness, vata is dry, brittle, crunchy watching the vegetation changing around us is a great illustration about what Vata is. Everything is losing it’s moisture. Soon the leaves will fall from the trees and the winds have already begun to pick up. We want to help to balance Vata by reducing Vata producing foods, activities, etc. Basically speaking, like attracts like. If we are eating raw, crunchy, brittle, dry foods, we will increase Vata. We want to bring in the opposite. In our yoga practice, we want to focus on grounding poses, and poses that increase apana, or downward, releasing energy. Meditating on the root chakra is also quite beneficial at this time.

If we don’t balance Vata, the signs and symptoms we are seeing eventually can turn into more serious long lasting disease.

Want to learn more? My upcoming course: Ayurveda 101 will teach you how the elements affect us and how to live in balance and ease. Be the first to hear when registration is open by signing up for email updates.

Want customized recommendations? Email me to learn more about one-on-one Private Yoga Sessions to get personalized Ayurvedic recommendations and yoga sequences that help you live better. Email me to learn more!

Wishing you Health, Healing, and Harmony,

Amy Signature

Keeping Your Cool

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The heat of Summer is upon us! That May snow is a foggy memory as we are in the middle of 80 and 90 degree temps. Factor in the humidity and some days you can work up a sweat just letting the dog out. Ayurvedically speaking, we are in the middle of Pitta season. Pitta is a combination of the Fire and Water elements. When Pitta gets out of balance some ways we see this manifest is:

  • Short Tempers
  • Red, itchy, or dry eyes
  • General irritability or uneasiness
  • A strong push to get things done or to tackle large projects
  • Intense hunger / excessive thirst
  • Loose Stools
  • Heartburn
  • Skin rashes, hives, or acne
  • inflammations or “itis” in the body tissues and organs

In Ayurveda our goal is to balance the elements. If left untreated these symptoms progress intoo disease. Some easy ways to help balance the iintensity of Pitta are:

  • Eat cooling, non-spicy foods (watermelon, cucumber, rice….)
  • Favor sweet, bitter, and astringents tastes
  • Eat light meals that digest easily
  • Drink room temperature water with lime (no ice)
  • Avoid oily, fried, and salty foods
  • start your day with a coconut oil massage before showering
  • Join me for classes that focus on pacifying Pitta through the summer heat!

If you are experiencing any of these or other symptoms, please contact me for your Ayurvedic Consultation. Your light sensitive eyes and acid reflux are realted and can bell helped eaily and naturally!

Wishing you health, happiness, and harmony!

Spring Cleanse online course

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Are You Sick and Tired of Suffering?

Toxins in your body contribute to the cause of:

• Headaches

• Digestive discomfort

• Skin irritation/rashes

Ayurveda Herbs• Weak immunity

• Allergies

• Sore throats

• Cold hands and feet

• Water retention

• Chronic sinus infections

• Inability to lose weight, despite lifestyle changes

• Anxiety and Depression

• Insomnia and Restless Sleep

I Can Help You Feel Better in Under a Month!

Relieve the burden imposed on the body and mind due to externally and internally derived toxins. Experience less aches and pains, improved digestion, better energy, calmer mind, better skin, loss of excess weight, a deeper connection with yourself, and a sense of empowerment that comes from taking your health in your own hands. In the Yogic and Ayurvedic tradition, periodic cleanses are done to purify the body. Cleansing is most effective when done in the Spring or early Summer.

The purification techniques of Ayurveda have been used for thousands of years to optimize the body’s inherent ability to heal and rejuvenate itself. For just $39.95, your personalized e-Course will include:

• Almost 90 minutes of educational videos covering Ayurvedic techniques and the cleansing process as well as access to additional how-to videos.

• A self assessment of your personal constitution and a tailored program to support your specific needs.

• Access to daily support, knowledge, and techniques to support your wellness goals.

• A detailed 21 day cleanse outline to print.


You will be emailed access to the course within 24 hours of receiving payment. Please contact me if you have any further questions! Once you have received confirmation, visit the course log in page.

Please note:  Cleansing is NOT appropriate if you are:     Underweight     •    Debilitated     •    Under 18 years of age     •    Pregnant or nursing     •    Recovering from surgery     •    Suffering from severe mental distress     •    Diagnosed with a serious physical illness (i.e. cancer)     •    Diagnosed with an eating disorder     •    Experiencing severe gastrointestinal tract inflammatory conditions  •
Check with your doctor prior to starting any cleansing program

 

The information included in this program does not constitute medical advice. You must not rely on the information in this course as an alternative to medical advice from your doctor or other professional healthcare provider. If you have any specific questions about any medical matter you should consult your doctor or other professional healthcare provider. If you think you may be suffering from any medical condition you should seek medical attention immediately. You should never delay seeking medical advice, disregard medical advice, or discontinue medical treatment because of information in this course.

Dinacharya

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Dinacharya is the daily practice of helping the body to release ama or toxins from undigested foods or experiences. Most of these practices occur in the morning so you can start your day fresh and revitalized.

Some examples of dinacharya rituals include:
• Wake up time  of 5:30am (work in baby steps beginning to move up 30 minutes at a time)
• Prayer of Gratitude before leaving bed
• Set daily intention
• Tongue Scraping
• Massage gums with sesame oil then Sip hot water, gargle, spit, brush teeth
• Dry Brush skin
• Abhyanga or self oil massage
• Neti Pot
• Nasya Oil
• Pranayama Practice
• Seated Meditation
• Cup of hot water with lemon and a little raw honey in the morning
• Morning Evacuation
• Home yoga practice
• Journal observations

These of course are just a few suggestions. I suggest choosing three to start with and then adding more in one at a time to your daily routine. For specific information, I have Ayurvedic Consultations availble either in person if you are in the Coon Rapids, MN area, or via Skype. Appointments arre limited, be sure to contact me soon!

 

 

Detoxifying – beyond the digestive tract

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Our body releases toxins in many ways. Many of us are familiar with the idea that undigested food leaves through the urinary tract and also through the intestinal tract. Are you also aware that as we sleep the body works to detoxify through our largest organ – the skin?

while you sleep, your body is hard at work cleaning and clearing toxins. Most of this work happens during pitta time (10pm-2am) when your agni or digestive fire is at it’s highest. It is important to eat only a light meal in the evening hours and to be in bed by 10pm so that optimal detoxifying can happen.

Even the healthiest of eaters have toxins. These are in the shape of undigested food, from eating in chaotic situations (standing, eating in the car, at your desk, etc.). We also breathe in toxins from the air around us, the electronics near us, and the things we put on our skin. While we sleep we shed toxins as we digest our food from the day, the impressions and experiences we took in, as well as our environmental toxins.

As we sleep, our body excretes these toxins out of our skin and even through our tongue. The undigested items show up as ama.

Several ways to tell if you have ama are:
• a heavy feeling in your body
• Stiff joints
• a tongue that is coated when you wake up in the morning
• unpleasant body odor
• a dull or sleepy feeling after eating
• a foggy mind

If left unattended, ama can lead to: Diarrhea, constipation, joint pain, sadness, dullness, lowered immunity, frequent colds and flu and to progress into long term diseases.

One of the ways we detoxify in Ayurveda is by Cleansing at the season change. Specifically the seasons of spring and fall. We also work to remove the toxins on a daily basis through daily practices referred to as dinacharya. Some brief examples of dinacharya practices arre: dry brushing the skin upon waking, warm oil massage, using a tongue scraper and a neti pot. You can read more about dinacharya in another blog post. Please contact me if you wish to schedule your personalized Ayurvedic Consultation either in person near Coon Rapids, MN , or via Skype.

 

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