We’ve all heard the saying “you are what you eat” but what may be more true is that what you eat is a reflection of how you feel about yourself.
When we make healthier food choices, we're also making choices about the quality with which we want to live our lives.
A healthy lifestyle comes from knowledge through the proper resources but also through tuning in with the self. Adapting a healthy lifestyle means looking at all aspects of your life – your work, relationships and your diet.
We’ve all heard the saying “you are what you eat” but what may be more true is that what you eat is a reflection of how you feel about yourself.
When we make healthier food choices, we're also making choices about the quality with which we want to live our lives.
A healthy lifestyle comes from knowledge through the proper resources but also through tuning in with the self. Adapting a healthy lifestyle means looking at all aspects of your life – your work, relationships and your diet.
Where do you carry your stress?
If you're like most people, you accumulate a lot of tension in your neck and shoulders. And with more Zoom calls and time behind a desk, this tension can accumulate to a point that can leave you feeling stuck.
Luckily, something as simple as this 10 minute Yoga warmup sequence can help you open your neck and shoulders — and shift your mood.
We often think making a change in the body or mind takes time that we simply don't have.
But the reality is that doing a simple practice for just 5-10 min daily is all it takes to make a difference.
It's the little steps you take towards your self-care that lead to the biggest transformations.
Once you've practiced, let me know in the comments below how this short sequence left you feeling.
Want to learn more practices like this? Join the waitlist for the From Surviving to Thriving online course and be the first to know the details as soon as enrollment opens for a very limited time on March 16th.
by Setareh Moafi, Ph.D., L.Ac.
“The first wealth is health.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
The topic of health can instigate a variety of feelings and responses. If you’ve ever struggled with your health, the word alone can be a trigger.
You may even feel shame and guilt about your choices with your health or think that being healthy may be too costly.
And quite frankly, with all the information that’s available about the topics of health and wellness, it can be challenging to know what to believe or even where to begin.
By definition, health is “the condition of being well or free from disease.” But to be healthy means “enjoying health and vigor of body, mind, or spirit.”
So, to be healthy is to be free from disease and have vigor of body, mind or spirit.
Note that the spirit is embedded in this definition, which is why we’re going to look at why being healthy is fostered through a deeper relationship with yourself.
Having a healthy lifestyle does not mean letting go of all the fun and pleasure in life and it certainly doesn’t mean making healthy choices all of the time.
Being healthy simply means doing things that keep you feeling good physically, mentally and spiritually.
The World Health Organization’s definition of health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” illuminates just that.
We are all comprised of a physical body, a mind and a spirit. So why is it that most of us forget about at least one of these parts of ourselves throughout the day?
The most complicated element of the human experience is the mind—and it’s also the most difficult to condition. Luckily, if you notice that your mental state is imbalanced early on, you can use your physical body to reshape your thinking. Ancient practices such as Yoga, Qi Gong and Meditation are designed to help with this.
The ‘monkey mind’, as many of these ancient traditions call it, needs to be trained. Otherwise, the mind will run in all directions and lead you to the demise of both your physical body and your spirit.
But what if you have a problem with your body physically, perhaps as a result of an illness, an injury or some type of chronic pain?
When your body suffers, you have two choices—you can dwell on the pain or dwell on the process of healing.
When you’re able to change the station that’s playing in your head to focus on healing, you can more effectively uplift your spirit to then help your body recover. This can be done through a variety of spiritual practices and very simply through the daily and routine practice of gratitude.
Gratitude creates space for positivity and joy to flow into your life.
The more you focus on the good you have, the more you magnify those things and begin to cultivate better things to come into your life. This is the fastest way to heal your body, which is a reflection of the health of your mind and spirit.
To be healthy then does not necessarily mean eating the right foods, exercising and sleeping well.
In its very essence, health is cultivated through a sound, peaceful and positive body, mind and spirit.
Health is the state of ease you cultivate through an intimate relationship with your body and mind.
This means that you care about and pay close attention to both the body and mind.
To pay close attention, you have to be fully present.
When you’re present, you feel what you need and want in each moment and are therefore far less likely to make decisions based on impulse.
When you’re present, you often choose nutritious foods because you’re in tune with the impact of food on your body and mind.
When you’re present, you’re more more mindful of the people with whom you spend your time because you want to feel nourished by your relationships.
When you’re present, you listen to the cues to exercise not because you feel you have to, but because you actually enjoy it.
Paying close attention to your body and mind means being present with how you feel moment to moment, and this cultivates self-love. Self-love brings ease to the body, mind and spirit and prevents disease manifestation.
Self-love means that you care enough about yourself that you fill your life with the people, things, foods and activities you enjoy.
It’s more important to have your life be fullfilling than to have it be full.
For many of you this may mean that you do less, rest more and spend time in fewer yet more nurturing relationships and surroundings.
Tips on what foods will give you energy, which exercises are appropriate for your body, element and age, and which practices will help recondition your mind are certainly helpful.
But the truth is, no matter what I or anyone else tells you, the choice to be healthy must authentically come from you.
And once you really slow down and pay close attention to yourself, the realization of a truly fulfilling life simplifies making healthy choices.
Feeling grounded means that there’s a strong connection between your Lungs and Kidneys so you can be more present in your body and breathe more deeply.
In Chinese Medicine, the Kidneys are said to grasp the Qi of the Lungs, which allows you to take deeper breaths.
The Lungs also direct body fluids downward to Kidneys and Bladder. Dysfunction in the communication between the Lungs and Kidneys can result in wheezing and asthma or accumulation of fluids either from the failure of the Lungs to descend the Qi or weakness in the Kidneys that prevent the grasping of the Lung Qi.
Each of the organ systems according to Chinese Medicine house an aspect of your soul.
The Lungs house the Po, the physical or substantive aspect of your soul, while the Kidneys house your willpower, known as Zhi.
Zhi drives the intention and effort required to accomplish things in life. This includes both effort and perseverance.
The connection between these two aspects helps you feel embodied and grounded.
Embodiment is essential to authentically practice mindfulness as well as gratitude.
This 10 minute Yin Yoga practice nourishes the Kidney meridian and opens the Lung meridian to help you strengthen your Kidney-Lung connection.
Yin Yoga is a powerful practice for all levels that calms your nervous system to reduce stress and even help you digest a variety of foods during the holiday season and beyond.
Once you’ve had a chance to practice with this video, I’d love to hear from you in the comments below —was your experience with this practice?
Growing up I could hardly get past the front door without hearing my mother, my grandmother or one of my aunts yell at me to put on a jacket.
You might relate — the tradition of wearing a jacket, coat or scarf to protect you from catching a cold when you go outside crosses over many cultures.
The idea is not to just to avoid getting cold, but more importantly we’re told that keeping your body warm will help prevent catching a cold.
Western medicine mostly writes this theory off as an old wive’s tale. Naturally, colds come from viruses, not from a strong breeze, right?
The answer isn’t so simplistic.
According to the Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic, one of the most prominent texts of Chinese Medicine, “Wind is the chief [cause] of the one hundred diseases. When it comes to changes and transformations, other diseases result…[whatever] sets in does so because of Wind Qi.” (Unschuld, 2011, 631).
Wind is therefore considered to be one of the greatest challenges to healing according to Chinese Medicine. Wind can be associated with acute diseases like colds, flus, allergic reactions, and even chronic health disorders.
But how in the world can a breeze, or Wind Qi, cause illness?
Well, it’s because of how pathology can enter and move through your body’s meridian system and the protective barrier that constitutes your immune system.
Your Sinew Meridians are a system of channels that cover the entire surface of your body and are responsible for bringing information from your external environment to your senses.
Most importantly, the Sinew Meridians are conduits of Wei Qi, or defensive Qi, which protects you from your external environment much like your immune system.
When stimulated by Cold, Wind or Dampness - all of which are considered pathological factors in Chinese Medicine - these meridians instigate a defense that manifests as sneezing, sweating or a fever.
The pathological factor of Wind most easily and commonly enters your body through the back of your neck.
If the Bladder Sinew Meridian, which runs along your back and is your first line of defense, is not able to push the pathological factor back out (via a tight neck, sneeze and slight sweat), it enters the Tai Yang zone (Bladder & Small Intestine sinews).
If the pathological factor continues to challenge your body and cannot be pushed out, it can become a cold that impacts your sinuses and respiratory system.
One of the simplest things you can do to protect these meridians from invasion by external pathology is to wear a scarf, especially when it’s cold or windy.
By covering the back of your neck, a scarf helps prevent Wind from entering an important area that’s transited by the first protectors of your Wei Qi in the Sinew Meridian system — your Bladder Sinew Meridian.
Wearing a scarf armors this first line of defense to ensure that the factor of Wind doesn’t go into your body to become a cold or another type of virus.
Even if it’s warm and windy, you can still protect yourself by wearing a light scarf.
The health of your Kidneys is also vital to maintain strong Wei Qi, or defensive Qi, so it’s also essential to keep three additional areas of your body warm—your lower back near your kidneys, your lower abdomen where your kidney energy is stored and your feet through which your Kidney meridian runs.
In essence, keeping your neck contained by wearing a scarf, and making sure your lower back, abdomen and feet are warm helps protect your Wei Qi and immune system so as to prevent compromising your wellbeing during cold seasons.
Therefore, if you go out on a windy, cold day unprotected, the potential to catch a cold is not a myth.
Now that you know, I’d love to hear in the comments how you’re going to take action with these insights—does this empower you to keep your immune system strong?
My father has a sense of faith unlike anyone I’ve ever met. Though he's not at all religious, he's really embodies what it means to be spiritual.
I’ve learned over time that my father's Water type personality makes it easier for him to trust the process as he navigates the ups and downs of life.
According to Chinese Medicine, Water energy is associated with the Kidneys, which hold your essential energy, or Jing, your life purpose and the important virtues of trust and faith.
Faith and trust provide you with the perspective to let go of control and allow the process to unfold, but also have the willpower to know when to take action.
When the Kidneys are compromised through stress and overwork, not only can adrenal exhaustion (aka feeling wired & tired) result, but your faith and willpower can also be compromised. Strengthening your Kidneys and the Water energy is also important to temper the Fire of the Heart to calm your anxiety and help you regain a sense of hope.
In this Yoga Integration practice, you’ll learn Yoga & Qi Gong exercises to help strengthen your Kidney energy so you can trust the process and stay motivated, even in the most uncertain times.
Besides my yoga practice, one of the things I’ve most enjoyed about being at home while we shelter in place is having more time to cook healthy meals.
Cooking is definitely one of my passions. What makes it even more exciting is integrating the delicious influence of my Persian heritage with Chinese Medicine insights that turn food into nourishing medicine for the body, mind and soul.
So in lieu of a live practice today, I'm showing you how to make one of my all-time favorite soups that's super simple and has an array of health benefits.
This recipe from my mom makes the perfect springtime dish that helps detoxify your Liver and boosts your immunity to fight colds, viruses and of course allergies.🌷
Watch the video to learn step-by-step instructions on how to make this easy 7-ingredient recipe.
All you need is mung beans, turnips, onion, salt, pepper, oil, and broth or stock. Watch the video for all the details.
Creativity is so healing. And cooking can be such a fun, creative and nourishing way to support your health even in the most turbulent times.
Once you’ve tried the recipe, share it with your friends and family and let me know how it went below. I look forward to hearing from you!
If you're feeling discouraged or worried that things aren't getting easier, this Yoga practice is an important one for you.
This practice will focus on releasing and activating the energy through your arms, shoulders and chest, which is imperative to:
VItalize your immune system
Clear stagnation out of your lungs, throat and sinuses
Move stuck emotions so you can let go of anxiety and stress
According to Chinese Medicine, yin relates to quietude, contemplation, and the feminine aspects of ourselves and the world in which we live. Its opposite, yang, is the more outward expression which relates to assertion, action and the more masculine aspects. Yin Yoga is therefore designed to balance the more conventional Yang styles of yoga practice and exercise, as well as these aspects that keep our nervous system in fight or flight mode.
Yin Yoga is a quiet practice that involves mostly seated postures, or asana, that are held for at least 3 minutes and sometimes for more extended periods of time, to release the connective tissue and primarily open the spine, hips and pelvis.
At the same time, Yin Yoga can help release latency out of the body by freeing withheld tension from the deeper layers of the body where emotions are often stored.
In Yin Yoga Integration, I interweave Classical Chinese Medicine insights with the practice of Yin Yoga to help you find greater flexibility, emotional freedom and deep relaxation.
