How To Naturally Rejuvenate Your Body & Mind

By the time the new year rings in, most of us have a long list of sweeping resolutions: lose 20 pounds, take a step up in the career ladder, hit the gym 5 to 6 times a week. But don't feel terrible if your resolutions end up flatter than day-old champagne. According to ancient healing tradition, winter is not the time to start harsh new changes. Our body's natural rhythm wants to take it easy during the winter.

The cold winter months are the best time for our bodies to rejuvenate before spring. Winter is time to finish things, not start them. To help our body end the cycle and prepare for the new one, we need to remove the physical, emotional, and environmental junk we acquired over the past year. So instead of making dramatic changes, a gentle detox ties it up and readies us for the rebirth of spring.

Your Body

A detox is the perfect goal you can expect to meet instead of a deep cleanse which can wait for the warmer months. During detox you simply reduce your intake of toxins and support your body's natural detox systems. Doing this supports your anti-aging goals. On the outside, we take in polluted air and water and foods like sugar and alcohol. On the inside, the body reacts by making more free radicals which end up damaging our DNA and cells, contributing to diseases and aging.

To help your body get rid of toxins, try a detox that removes the excess mucous and acid that has accumulated. Elson Haas, MD and author of The New Detox Diet (Celestial Arts,2004), recommends taking a week off to eat only cooked vegetables, brown rice, seaweed, and miso broth while incorporating massage, steams, and saunas. Another choice is his three-week plan. He recommends you do not intake sweets, caffeine, wheat, dairy, and alcohol, and instead consume steamed vegetables and warm broths.

After your one or three week detox, build up strength by eating more proteins, starches, and seasonal foods including sweet potatoes, pumpkin, kale, and winter squash. Fresh, local foods have more nutrients. Nettle tea, broths, and small amounts of lean meats keep your body warm during the harshness of winter. Hearty, nutricious foods such as brown rice, garlic, seaweed, miso soup, potatoes, broccoli, kale, cabbage, chard, collard greens, cauliflower, and onions replenish your reserves.

An often over-looked part of maintaining optimal health during winter is hydration. Warm teas and broths will keep you in top condition. Chamomile tea strengthens your kidneys while rosehips tea strengthens the adrenals. Keeping the adrenals in top shape prevents or improves common health problems including allergies and asthma. If you suffer from bladder infections, uva ursi infusion or tea will likely cure it.

To keep your body looking great, go for yoga or t'ai chi. They promote deep breathing and soothing movements that won't exhaust your body.

Your Mind

Now is the perfect time to not only clean out the clutter in our closet and garage, but also the emotional baggage in our mind. Conflicts that gnaw at us in the back of our mind only lead to anxiety, anger, or depression. Unresolved feelings eventually take up too much of our energy which can be used for better thoughts and emotions. It's time to get rid of emotional toxins such as behaviours, patterns, and beliefs that interfere with having healthy relationships and living fully.

**Address your issues when you're ready to come to terms with your emotions. You will feel better for facing the truth.

**Surround yourself with a positive and loving environment -one that makes you feel relaxed.

**Learn to let go by creating your own ritual to release the emotional toxins you've identified.

**Make new choices which include not recreating the old problems you just let go of. It's too easy to relapse, so you must commit to creating an intention which honors your commitment. Go with specific, measurable, and realistic goals.

An emotional cleanse will allow you to feel more alive and rejuvenated. The energy you were using to suppress pain is now available for creative choices.

This rejuvenation is a process and by spring you will be more able to implement new goals in full force. Enjoy the gentleness of the detoxification and the peace it brings into your life. You will definitely be living an anti-aging lifestyle if you take care of your body and your mind this season.

Lose Weight and Reduce Fatigue Naturally

1. Boost the Energy of Your Spleen to Raise Metabolism

In summer, we tend to drink and eat cold foods. Yet, cold foods and drinks can suppress the energy of the spleen to create sluggish digestion and metabolism. Cold foods and drinks can also aggravate low energy and fatigue so that you feel less motivated to exercise.

In Asia, where obesity rates are lower than in the U.S., warm beverages and foods are used year round as digestive aids to warm the spleen, improve digestion, and increase metabolism.

Adding a bowl of miso soup or vegetable soup to meals can help counter the cooling effects of cold salads and other summer dishes. Soups are also a great addition to cold sandwiches. Stick to the low sodium and low fat varieties for optimum benefit.

Consider replacing iced beverages with warm tea to give further support to your spleen. Try a soothing cup of peppermint, spearmint, chrysanthemum (available in Asian supermarkets), or chamomile tea at room temperature or warmed. All of these teas:

Provide antioxidants to help detoxify the body (a necessary process to achieving successful and long lasting weight loss).

Energetically cool the body to help you acclimate to hotter external temperatures.

Cool the energy of the liver which can help improve sleep, avoid agitated states, and lower blood pressure naturally.

2. Use an Online Caloric/Fat/Carbohydrate Tracker

No more hunting for calorie counters. SparkPeople (http://www.sparkpeople.com) makes journaling food choices easy and empowering.

This free service allows you to input your current weight and height to determine a body mass index.

Next, you can set weight and dietary goals based on your BMI. The program will generate menu items and allow you to input your food choices for daily meals to determine calories, carbohydrates, fats and other nutritional qualities of each food listed.

You can also enter custom foods to create your own meals. The system has a database of over 10,000 food items to make tracking customized meals easy.

The website also has a handy fitness tracker that complements the nutrition tracker. Demonstrations of exercises are also given online.

Blogs, newsletters, health articles and community support are also helpful resources that empower you to reach your weight loss and fitness goals.

3. Move that Body with Qi Gong!

Yes, moving the body for 30 minutes or more a day will benefit you whether you hike, swim or run.

However, internal healing exercises such as qi gong not only raise your metabolism and increase cardiovascular fitness but also:

Improve core strength.

Improves the energy flow of internal organs.

Detoxify the body at a profound level.

Decrease fatigue and increase energy.

Increases meditative states to reduce stress.

Qi gong also greatly increases your body's capacity to absorb oxygen. Also, the European Journal of Cancer care published a report in 2005 that showed that qigong has a positive impact on a cellular level for cancer patients.

Qi gong movements are gentle and Tai-Chi-like which makes it easy for all people, young, old, healthy or recovering from illness to participate.

Heal Depression and Sadness Naturally

Turn the Lights On!

From fall through winter, we can be impacted by the lower exposure to natural sunlight. During this time of the year, we can be more prone to manifestations of seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a condition that can result in:

depression

lethargy

sleep disruptions

weight gain or loss

loss of enjoyment of social interactions

Researchers with the Baker Heart Research Institute in Australia correlated a decline in sunlight with a decline in the production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter found in the brain that helps us to regulate moods and body rhythms.

By increasing the amount of full spectrum light (light that mimics sunlight), we can help our bodies to produce more serotonin, which diminishes symptoms of SAD.

Therapeutic full spectrum lights contain at least 10,000 lux (a measurement of the light intensity) and have filtered or eliminated harmful UV rays. These lights range in price from $150 to $300 depending on the manufacturer.

Non-therapeutic full spectrum light bulbs are available at local hardware stores and shops like Ikea. These affordable bulbs are more economical and may provide some benefit for improving symptoms of SAD but with less dramatic results compared to more intense therapeutic lights.

Boost Serotonin with Healthy Foods

You can also increase your serotonin levels by incorporating serotonin-rich foods.

Foods that are high in serotonin include avocado, banana, kiwi, pineapple, plums, eggplant, tomatoes, butternut squash, pecans and walnuts.

Also, herbs such as valerian, and hypericum, also known as St John's Wort, help to rebalance serotonin levels. However, St. John's Wort can cause sun sensitivity particularly in fair-skinned individuals. Be mindful to wear adequate levels of sun screen or wear protective clothing such as hats or long sleeves when exposed to sunlight when taking St. John's Wort.

Did you know that 95% of the serotonin in your body resides in the tissues of the small intestine? Balancing the small intestine with a good source of acidophilus from foods like miso soup and yogurt can also help to maintain healthy levels of serotonin.

Exercise Away the Blues

The Mayo clinic found that exercise for at least 30 minutes a day, three to five times a week, can significantly reduce anxiety and depression. Yet, as we move into cooler fall and winter weather, many people become more sedentary.

Why not incorporate gentle qi gong movements and massage as a loving way to get more exercise and balance your serotonin levels?

Qi Gong Emotional Balancing Movement:

Bend forward slightly and swing arms side to side as if swishing through a pool of water.

Increase the vigor of the movements as you inhale deeply for a count of 3 and exhale for a count of 5.

Qi Gong Self Massage:

Large Intestine Pathway: Massaging this energy pathway (meridian) helps to facilitate release of sadness, grief or disappointment. It also stimulates the metal organ of the large intestine to help build immunity.

To begin the massage, use your right hand to vigorously tap and slap the top side of the left index finger from nail bed along the finger towards the hand and wrist.

Continue tapping and slapping along the top of the wrist to the top side of the elbow. Continue tapping along the top of the upper arm to the shoulder and sides of the neck. Massage the area near your right nostril with small circular motions.

Repeat on the right arm with taps and slaps to the top of the right index finger, along the hand to wrist. Continue up to the elbow and along the top of the upper arm to the neck. Massage the area near your left nostril with small circular motions.

Lung Pathway: Massaging this energy pathway helps to facilitate release of sadness, grief or disappointment. It also stimulates the metal organ of the large intestine to help build immunity.

Vigorously tap the chest on the left side and continue tapping down the inner side of the left arm toward the inner side of the elbow, lower arm, wrist and inside of the thumb.

Repeat on the right side of the chest and down the inner side of the right arm and right thumb.

Small Intestine Pathway: Massaging this energy pathway helps to stimulate the small intestine to help maintain healthy serotonin levels and the ability to separate pure (positive) from impure (negative) experiences. By surrounding ourselves with positive experiences, we can help prevent depression and anxiety.

Massage in circular movements along the outer side of the left hand starting with the smallest finger, moving toward the wrist, along the outer edge of the arm to the elbow, along the outer edge of the shoulder, top of the shoulder and reach back to tap the shoulder blade.

Repeat on the right hand, arm and shoulder.