Self-Healing Solutions Relieve, energize and renew the natural way

        May 2010

        Review of NeilMed Sinus Rinse kit   

It's been a busy Spring and I have been meaning to offer this "review" since early April, right after my last Yoga and Ayurveda workshop. This fits in beautifully with the last short piece I wrote below on the practice of "Jala Neti."

People frequently ask me for opinions on products and want to tell me about new things they've found. It's difficult for me to comment on something I have not tried, so when a couple of the participants in the last workshop mentioned this Sinus Rinse kit, I wanted to check it out.

I went into CVS and was surprised to see that the Neti Pot has been honored (sort of) -- CVS saw a sales opportunity and decided to make their own generic, hard plastic version. And there are several other options available -- two that use a soft plastic squeeze bottle (Ayr and NeilMed Sinus Rinse). The Sinus Rinse kit retailed for about $14; the plastic neti pots were selling for $15-$20.

Before I go on to review the plastic bottles, I want to share that the real, old-fashioned (centuries old, that is) neti pot looks something like a genie lamp. There's a reason this design and this practice has been around since about 5000 B.C. -- it works!!  The idea being that you place the spout up to the nose to create a seal and, once you've mixed your warm water and sea salt solution, you tilt your head and allow the water to flow from one nostril up, over and through your nasal passage and out the other nostril. It might sound kind of gross or uncomfortable, but it's not -- it takes a little getting used to and the benefits far outweigh any messiness or inconvenience. The ideal material for a neti pot is lead-free ceramic -- it's the most sanitary -- a hard, solid, smooth surface is much easier to clean and disinfect, and they are usually dishwashable.

Getting down to the actual use and comfort factor: I was surprised at how forceful the bottle was! I squeezed and the water shot right up and over. I found it jarring and uncomfortable, regardless of the saline solution inside. I wondered if this had been the only experience of the folks who were raving about it at the workshop!!?? I found this drastically different from the gentle flow of the neti pot.

Re: soft plastics and sanitary matters, again, I was surprised that a medical doctor would have designed and endorsed this -- not that it is "bad" perse, The bottle shoots the water straight up and over, but not all of it goes over -- I noticed for myself there was "backwash", that is some of the solution flowed back down into the bottle. There's really no way to prevent this. That kind of defeats the whole purpose of nasal cleansing -- if some bacteria and other irritants are constantly being washed back down into your container, this does not make sense. The beauty of the pot design is the tilting of the head -- when the head is tilted, everything flows out the other nostril; no backwash! No lingering bacteria in the container.

Now, if the container were solid and hard and we could scrub it out with a brush or put it in the dishwasher, that would be different. In this case, it is specifically printed on the side to "Replace bottle every 90 days."  That's because soft plastic is not truly sanitary. Replacement bottles cost $3.00 if ordered from the company -- not sure what CVS charges.

I also noticed, as with all soft plastics, that there was a strong chemical smell when I first took out the bottle. Even now, I just took a sniff of the bottle and it has an odor. These are extra chemicals that are being added to the mix every time you use it to rinse out your nose.

Always keep in mind is that there are many companies, doctors, etc. who are re-inventing the wheel and putting it in a pretty, shiny new box with lots of words on it like "#1 Physician Prescribed OTC Nasal Rinse" but it doesn't give any indication as to where that rating came from. This nasal rinse "system" was designed by an Indian medical doctor. That's fine, it doesn't mean it's the best way to go. I thought it was also interesting that the box advertised another version of the neti pot called "NasaFlo Neti Pot." It's hard plastic and looks like a teapot.

So, you are probably thinking that I really hated this thing!! And for the most part, you would be correct. I will say that the "kit" came with a box of 50 pre-mixed packets of salt and baking soda. I really liked these -- more for traveling, but I can see the value in the convenience. The only I would question is the cost -- I believe a replacement box of these packets sells for $10.99. A canister of sea salt sells for $2.00, and baking soda is actually a new addition to the picture and not really necessary for your solution. For the past 5 years, I have enjoyed Jala Neti with just the dissolved sea salt -- everyone needs a slightly different amount for comfort.

As always, I would say take in this information and use what you need. If you have one of these squeeze bottles and you like it (?) and you have a steady practice with it and you are feeling positive results, then great. Keep going. Just beware of the sanitary issues -- make sure you get a new bottle every 90 days (saying that does bother me -- more non-recyclable plastic being dumped into landfills!), or better yet for $15 to 20 bucks, buy yourself a ceramic neti pot that you never have to throw out and you can easily disinfect and re-use for the rest of your life.

       The Wonderful World of Jala Neti!

This is a great time of year to start your Jala Neti practice if you don't already have one. This is yet another form of yoga (yes, it's true) that involves a small ceramic "pot", some water and your nose.

The term is from the Sanskrit, with "Jala" meaning water and "Neti" meaning nasal cleansing. The neti pot and the practice of Jala Neti have come into the spotlight in the last few years thanks to the rise in awareness around Ayurveda and that story on the "Oprah" show didn't hurt either!  I now include a neti pot demonstration in my seasonal Ayurveda workshops -- I remember how much easier it was to begin this practice after watching my mentor give a demo.

In winter, unless you are lucky enough to still have the old steam heating system, you are dealing with the extreme dry heat of the indoors. In addition, many Americans suffer year round from allergies and extreme sensitivities to our breathing environment. Using a neti pot will help you to flush out debris or excess mucus in the nasal passages with a saline (salt water) solution. This practice can alleviate congestion, facial pain and pressure, and reduce the need for antibiotics and nasal sprays. Here is a list of overall benefits of Jala Neti:

• removes dirt and infectious microorganisms from the nasal cavities and passageways
• reduces the frequency and duration of colds
• reduces allergic problems such as hay fever
• improves your nose breathing generally and therefore reduces diseases such as asthma and bronchitis
• moistens dry nasal cavities and passageways
• reduces the symptoms of chronic sinusitis
• flushes the tear ducts and increases eye sight
• improves your sense of smell and taste, is therefore very good if you want to stop smoking
• can be beneficial for some types of ear disorders
• stimulates Ajna-Chakra (Third Eye – between the brows)
• has a harmonizing and calming effect on the mind
 

It is recommended to practice Jala Neti at least once a day, year round. I use about a half pot of water for each nostril.  Body-warm water is best and it's better to use a natural sea salt (with no anti-caking agents) and not desirable to use iodized salt -- this introduces more chemicals into the mix and why complicate matters, right?

Use the neti pot over your sink, placing the spout in one nostril and tilting the head to the side. You want to make sure you don't get water running down the back of the throat -- if this happens, re-adjust your head position.

Any side effects an individual experiences using the neti pot usually subside by changing the temperature of the water, the frequency of use, or amount of salt in the solution. The pot should be thoroughly cleaned after each use to prevent infection. Periodically, the utensil should be placed in the dishwater for a thorough sanitizing. Like other personal hygiene devices, the pot should never be shared.

If you would like to learn more about using the neti pot, check out my upcoming workshop on Saturday, March 27th at The Center at Westwoods on the Events page.

           Begin from Within: A New Approach to Goal-setting

          As we leave one year and move into the next, it’s quite a common practice to review our list of goals from last year, evaluate our progress or performance around them and make up new “goals” for the coming year. Here are some goals that appear on many traditional lists:

          I will pay off all of my debts.

          I will buy a house.

          I will get a new and better-paying job (or better yet, I will retire to an island in the Caribbean.)

          I will win the lottery jackpot.

          I will move to Paris and write best-selling novels.

          I will find the mate of my dreams and get married.

          What do they all have in common? They are “external goals” which depend on elements and events to happen – and most of the time these elements and events are things that we could not possibly control. We also tend to make goals that are not realistic or practical to achieve within the span of a year.

          With a list like the one above, at the end of the year, we invariably focus on all of the things we did not get done, even if we did accomplish some of what we had committed to paper. Our ego will take any opportunity to bring us down. The more it can keep us in that place of “not being enough,” the more it is in control of our lives and blocking us from our dreams.

          As part of the deep, personal transformational work I am doing with my teacher, Barbara DeAngelis, she offered to me that I make a list of “soul goals”. As she reminded me, we really can’t control what will and will not happen to us out in the world, but we can ask ourselves, “what is it that you need to do for your SOUL this year?”

          Here are some of my Soul Goals for 2010:

          Allow more of my light to come through and shine in the world.

          Share and contribute my brightest light and my highest vibration at all times.

          Check in with gratitude as many times a day as possible – every waking hour.

          Open to and receive abundance and prosperity, 24/7.

          These are goals that cannot be measured in the traditional way. They are “feeling” goals. If I allow more of my light to come through and shine, I WILL FEEL IT and so will those around me. When you shine, people do notice and they feel better and lighter too. I will see evidence all around me of my “goals” in process already.

          Likewise, another wonderful practice is to look at the “gifts” that you received in 2009. What are the things in your life that really mattered – that you really felt and are grateful for?  Some of mine are:

          My father surviving a stroke.

          My opportunity to be a Mom for a short time and make a difference in a child’s life.

          Nine months of deep personal work in Transformation Circle with Barbara DeAngelis.

           My healthy body and mind.

Try making your list from a FEELING place and see what happens! Let your soul speak up and take notes. I can tell you, it will be very different from your usual “to do list” and it may inspire you to take some chances and make some unexpected choices in the coming year.

As I am fond of asking each week in class – “what do you need to let go of?  And what do you need to cultivate more of?” The answers will be a great way to begin your “soul goals” list!  And here’s wishing you a New Year of peace, light, love and blessings – may you learn what your soul needs and wants and feed it accordingly!

This was a perfect subject for me since I started to receive information and ideas for a new workshop, just before the New Year.  I will be starting a 12-week creative recovery workshop on Monday, February 1st. The title of the workshop is “Begin from Within: Reclaiming your Creative Self”. What is it inside of you that needs to come out?  This is the question we will be exploring through the format of Julia Cameron’s book The Artists Way.  This is something I have wanted to offer for sometime, but it has taken years for the pieces to come together from all of the wisdom I have gathered on my own path and from all of my wonderful mentors and teachers along the way. This workshop will take place at the Center for Westwoods, in the meditation hall. Anyone is welcome, but space is limited to 8. I want to keep this small and intimate. I have posted more details on my “events” page. Please contact me by email for more information.

 
November 2009

                 Baby Ayurveda Tips
                    Ancient remedies for the little ones too!

Well, I've been thrown into motherhood head first with a two year old! And already I have been able to use many of the tools in my yoga and Ayurveda tool box to help little Bryn adjust. Here are a few tips that may help you Moms out there!

For constipation/gas -- email me for my Kichari recipe. This is the same recipe I share with my workshop participants. You can leave out the black mustard seed and the cumin if your babies are too young -- or you can subsitute cumin powder. The spices are aromatic and they can help to gently stimulate the digestive tract, along with the ghee butter and basmati rice.

Yoga poses such as knees into chest and happy baby (holding the toes and rocking), boat, child, bridge and even down dog can be great for relieving these conditions in combination with the Ayurveda. And kids love these poses -- they take to them very easily, especially the toddlers!

For settling down to sleep -- warm some milk and mix it with a dash of stevia powder (to make it a little sweet) and 2 dashes of cinnamon powder. This is particularly good for vata imbalance (too much air/gassy), but it is calming for all babies. It also helps to turn off TV and any other devices, keep the lights low and be quiet with them yourself. Warm touch is wonderfully healing and soothing -- stay close to them and give them a rub on the back or stroke their hair if they are having trouble settling down.

For a dry, stuffy nose -- gently apply nasya oil (medicated sesame oil) around the nostrils and a little inside with a q-tip, if they will let you!  If you can get hold of a Neti Pot stick, they are great. It reminds me of the old Vick's Vapo-rub inhaler sticks they had when I was young. Just gently hold the stick under their nose and let them inhale the menthol/camphor to help them breathe easier.

I am also using Reiki for Bryn as well -- Reiki is an ancient Tibetan system of hands-on energy healing. It works beautifully with the yoga and Ayurveda. I have a feeling I will be collecting a lot of these rememdies now -- stay tuned for more!

        September 2009

Yoga and Animal Medicine: A Wake Up Call from Skunk
 

The other night as I was driving home from a visit with my mother, I came upon a little creature in the middle of the road. It was running around in circles, chasing its tail and it appeared to have something covering its head.  I had to pull over.  I couldn’t allow this animal to get run over on my watch.

As I moved in for a closer look, I saw a baby skunk that had gotten a yogurt cup stuck on its head – one of those Yoplait cups where the top is skinny and the bottom is wide.  This struck me as cute and comical at first, but the poor kid was using all four feet to run around in the middle of the road with no way to dislodge the cup. Another animal-lover pulled over and we both approached the little skunk tentatively.

“Should we call the Animal Rescue League?” she asked.

“Yes, that’s a good idea” I said and got out my cell phone.

As I made the call, the skunk inched closer to the busy intersection and the other woman and I tried to corral it back the other way. We succeeded on getting it up onto the sidewalk by waving our arms and whistling and cooing at it and making other ridiculous noises. The baby stopped and wavered on its little legs and toppled to one side and then regained its balance.

“Sometimes when animals run in circles, they are rabid,” my new friend said.

“I think it’s just confused because it can’t see or breathe.”  I said, but the catastrophist voice inside of me was panicking -- “What, are you crazy? Are you up to this task?  Are you ready to get sprayed?”

No one answered at Animal Rescue, not a great surprise after 9:00PM, so I called 911.  The State Police connected me to the Boston Police and as I explained where I was and what was going on, the little skunk ran directly towards me, bumped straight into my ankle with the yogurt cup and got knocked back on its haunches. I hung up my phone and stared down at the baby in front of me. I knew I was lucky to get this close and it might be the only opportunity to save it.

I reached down, grabbed hold of the cup on its head and pulled.  The cup didn’t budge, so I lifted it straight up and the skunk came with it.  I held onto the cup and gave it a couple of firm shakes until the little guy fell back onto its four feet, free again.  I quickly turned and ran, dragging the other woman with me.
A little ways down the street, we turned to see the baby skunk scamper across the road and through the iron gates surrounding Roxbury Latin School.  It was so small and so startled that it hadn’t even thought to defend itself by spraying, or maybe, somehow, it knew that it was receiving help and that there was no danger from the helpers.  Who knows for sure?  I did not have to touch it, so hopefully mother took back her baby.

The woman who had given her moral support to the effort, turned to me and said “I want to give you a hug! You saved the little skunk!”

“You saved it too, we both did.  I am glad you were here,” I said, my heart still racing.

As we hugged and then took off in our separate containers on wheels, I thought about what had just happened: this was a wake-up call from the universe if nothing else, to pay attention. This was also an opportunity to consider all the ways I “go blind,” unable to see what is right in front of me, or, conversely, from seeing the “bigger picture” in life; how I fool myself into stepping into containers and putting on “hats” that really aren’t right for me or are even harmful. The skunk must have been so tempted by the sweet smell of the cup that nothing else mattered – and whammo! A trap. Let’s face it, we’ve all taken that dive and tried to lick the bottom of that cup at one time or another and gotten our heads stuck.

 Even with two legs, a larger brain and opposable thumbs we are still susceptible to same traps as a skunk. So what does your “cup” look like? Are you wearing one? Do you even know? What shape is it?  Does it cover your eyes, your face, or your whole head? Does it have a name (toxic relationship, soul-draining job, fear of failure, magical thinking, etc.)?  Perhaps you’ve had this thing on your head for a long time, but you’re kind of used to shallow breathing and you’ve painted pretty pictures on the inside and poked some eye holes for yourself just to survive and be able to function. Perhaps the cup is large enough that it may not even seem uncomfortable, but it’s keeping you small. Who put it on you and when? Or did you step or dive into it yourself?  Do you remember what made you go “unconscious” in your life? And are you really that stuck or do you just need a good wake up call and a few shakes? Are you proud of your cup? Do you use it as a victim story and excuse for not living? What, exactly, is holding you back from life? It became quite an intense evening of asking myself all of these questions and I am amazed at where a word, a sound, a smell or an experience can take us.

As a yogi, I always think about “building a stronger container,” that is, strengthening the body as a container for mind and spirit. A strong body is better able to withstand the storms of life that wash through and over us. When we forget to focus inside, breathe, and stay in awareness, we forget who we really are. We go unconscious and get distracted; lose our path or our footing and may get pulled into a wide variety of external containers, allowing them to define us, shape us and have power over us. As long as we can wake up and be in awareness, we have a choice. There is always a way in, out, over, around or through whatever you are experiencing.

For me, the purpose of life is simply to awaken and be aware of my own thoughts, actions and choices; and to listen and watch with my heart and not my head. I am so grateful to skunk for crossing my path, and reminding me that all I need to do is remember who I really am, show up, offer what I can and stay the course.

 
August 2009

What the heck is "Ayurveda" anyway?

Deepak Chopra was one of the first big names in Ayurvedic Medicine here in the U.S. and is a master teacher/medical doctor in his own right. Here's his explanation of Ayurveda:
 

"The guiding principle of Ayurveda is that the mind exerts the deepest influence on the body, and freedom from sickness depends upon contacting our own awareness, bringing it into balance, and then extending that balance to the body."

Ayurveda is all about "self-healing." As a consultant, I feel like it is my job to "remind" people of how to heal themselves -- with no elders around any more to pass down natural remedies and wisdom to us, most of us have forgotten that we actually are capable of creating our own healing. (Likewise, we also create our own disease, but that's a dissertation for another day!)

In other words, the only difference between those of us who heal or recover completely from illness or injury and those who don't depends more upon those six inches between their ears than anything else. It has virtually nothing to do with the method or therapy. As Henry Ford once said, "Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right." It certainly applies here.

There are many ways to heal yourself -- Ayurveda is just one path, but it is the most comprehensive and simplest I have found. One of my teachers, mentors and a gifted Ayurvedic consultant herself, Rosy Mann, has this definition: "Ayurveda is a living science -- it's how we live everyday. In my consultations, I tell people that this is the beginning. Ayurveda is a journey. Once they live the principles, the changes will come."

One of the most difficult challenges comes from our modern expectations of "convenience": Rosy says: "We don't even come into contact with the elements. Recently, I was talking to someone in consultation and I told her, 'We're approaching the winter season, you should eat warm foods and beverages.' And she said, 'But I don't like them.'  Because she's used to artificial heat, her body never gets cold. If it did, she would automatically think "I want something warm." This is just one small example of how we sometimes end up sabotaging ourselves by not connecting with the natural world around us.

Interestingly, Ayurveda's very individualistic approach is something that does fit in well with the American mentality -- there is no "one-pill cure." Everyone is unique and has different needs and so the Ayurvedic suggestions for each person may be quite different, even if they present with the same physical, emotional or psychological issues.

I continue to be amazed at the way Ayurveda has impacted my own personal health journey and how I have witnessed it help my clients and students transform themselves. I have brought my digestion back into balance after years of difficulties with my stomach; I have helped my knees and other joints to stay healthy and avoid further surgeries; I can’t remember the last time I had a cold or sinus infection, thanks to my neti pot!  These are just a few of my personal “a-ha’s” and I have witnessed many with my clients. Yoga, meditation and pranayam (breath work) used in conjunction with Ayurvedic practices can create profound healing energy.

To learn more about this Ancient approach to your health and the world around you, come to the workshop on October 3rd and you’ll get to make a batch of “kichari” with me in the kitchen!