Routine Enhancers in the New Year

The tradition is to kickstart January 1st with the “new year, new me” attitude of self improvement. The start of a new year brings promises of a fresh start, strong intentions, and the hope of good things to come. While the common goals often set in this time of excited renewal are positive, they are often great, challenging, accessible, or unattainable due to lifestyle restrictions. Instead of starting the new year attempting to do a complete overhaul on yourself and life, there are small things you can add to your routine to boost your immune system, drain your lymphatic system, aid digestion, provide stress relief, increase focus, and overall support your body to help you along the way to achieving your larger goals.

Add mushroom powder to your coffee or oats

Medicinal, or functional and adaptogenic, mushrooms like reishi, turkey tail, chaga, lions mane, and cordyceps are highly nutritional and have numerous benefits like providing immune support, antioxidants, supporting a healthy immune response, helping to balance blood sugar levels, supporting brain health and cognition, supporting the nervous system, and increasing energy and stamina. By adding mushroom powder or extract to your morning coffee or oats, you will be supporting your body’s natural processes by bringing them closer to homeostasis. Each mushroom has their own unique benefits, so add a half teaspoon to your morning routine of whichever mushroom provides what you need most. Check out our blog on Medicinal Mushrooms to learn more!

Incorporate gua sha or dry brushing into your shower routine

The lymphatic system is a system of thin tubes and lymph nodes that run throughout the body, and is an important part of our immune system. This system’s primary function is fighting bacteria and infections. Illness can block the lymphatic system from draining, causing all sorts of issues like food sensitivities, brain fog, bloating, constipation, fatigue, depression, inflammation, swollen lymph nodes, to name a few. Adding gua sha or dry brushing to your shower routine can gently stimulate the lymphatic system to drain, removing toxins, bacteria, and swelling from your body. Here are some of our favorite gua sha tricks and tips!

Listen to a relaxing podcast or music while stuck in traffic

Getting stuck in traffic is rarely considered relaxing, especially when people are in a rush to get home after a long day. These extra moments stuck on the road are a chance for you to listen to a relaxing podcast or music to decompress, relax, and destress. Studies show that listening to music with drums and flutes, or sounds of nature like thunder and rain, have the ability to alter brainwaves and functions similarly to medication. Music has profound effects on emotions, stress, and relaxation. Music that is around 60 beats per minute has the ability to make the brain synchronize with the beat, causing alpha brain waves, which are present when we are relaxed and conscious. Giving yourself these few moments to relax can have a profound impact on your stress levels and emotions, and will benefit your overall health. We’ve got a collection of hand-picked playlists ready for you on our Spotify account.

Wear an essential oil diffuser necklace or bracelet

Aromatherapy is the practice of using essential oils for therapeutic benefit. Scent molecules travel from the olfactory nerves directly to the brain, stimulating the amygdala, the emotional center of the brain. Each essential oil has unique benefits and properties that can be used to target areas of your life where you need support. Lavender, ylang ylang, yuzu, orange, lemon, neroli, lemongrass, and bergamot are best for relaxation, stress relief, and to aid sleep. Peppermint is good for boosting memory and focus, and relieving headaches. These oils can easily be added to diffuser necklaces or bracelets, or when used as directed, can be applied directly to the skin. Apply your desired oil when you need a little extra help in your day, and support your body and mind in the process.

Add lemon to your water in the morning or before each meal

Drinking a cup of warm organic lemon water can energize the body, boost metabolism, stimulate the digestive system, aid in weight loss, boost brain power in the morning, and detox the colon, aid in weight loss, boost the immune system, help heartburn, and reduce inflammation at night. Lemons have the same anatomic structure as stomach acid, which tricks the liver into producing bile, stimulating the digestive system to break down food so it moves smoothly through your intestinal tract. Lemons also encourage white cell production, contain vitamin c which stimulates blood cell production and supports the immune system, contains antioxidants that fight free radicals, and helps the body produce collagen. When our body is stressed, our liver becomes stagnant, and lemon goes straight to the liver to encourage detoxing. While hydrating, treat yourself to warm lemon water twice a day and boost your immune system, promote liver detox, encourage cell production, and reduce inflammation. Make sure the water is warm or hot to best support the digestive system and prepare it for food.

Stretching in bed or while watching tv

While enjoying your favorite show or turning in for the night, practice simple stretches to increase blood flow, unblock areas of stagnant energy, and reduce pain. According to TCM, stretching also increases flexibility, loosens tight fascia, and improves mental wellness. Dampness settles in the body, causing excess weight, and makes people feel sluggish, foggy headed, or depressed. Vigorous exercise can deplete Qi, whereas gentle exercises can replenish Qi. Simple stretches, even while sitting, can be beneficial to energy flow and decreasing dampness in the body.

Adding enhancements to your routine instead of completely changing your routine can benefit your body in many ways by increasing relaxation, reduced stress, supporting your immune system, encouraging blood flow, or draining your lymphatic system. As you make greater changes in your life, help your body and mind keep up by supporting all facets of your health.

Resources

Snell, Melanie. “Lemon Water and TCM, is it worth drinking?” Retrieved from https://www.soulluxglow.com/post/lemon-water-and-tcm-is-it-worth-drinking.

Wong, Cathy. “Essential Oils for Stress Relief”. Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/essential-oils-to-help-ease-stress-89636.

“Aromatherapy: Do Essential Oils Really Work?” Retrieved from https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/aromatherapy-do-essential-oils-really-work#:~:text=What%20Is%20Aromatherapy%3F,emotional%20center%20of%20the%20brain.

“Ganoderma Coffee: 2 Healthy Drinks to Make at Home”. Retrieved from https://www.realmushrooms.com/ganoderma-coffee/.

“How Does Exercise & Movement Benefit Health from a TCM Perspective”. Retrieved from https://www.northshoreacupunctureandnaturalmedicine.com/north-shore-acupuncture-blog/tcm-exercise.

“Medicinal Mushrooms: 7 Kinds and Their Unique Health Benefits”. Retrieved from https://www.realmushrooms.com/7-medicinal-mushroom-benefits-for-health/.

“Releasing stress through the power of music”. Retrieved from https://www.unr.edu/counseling/virtual-relaxation-room/releasing-stress-through-the-power-of-music.

“What Are Adaptogenic Mushrooms?” Retrieved from https://ommushrooms.com/blogs/blog/what-are-adaptogenic-mushrooms-m2.

Traditional Chinese Medicine Cold and Flu Remedies

These cold winter months bring about all kinds of illnesses like the cold and flu. Our immune systems are challenged more than in the warmer months, and our body’s defenses are lowered. There are many remedies supported by Chinese medicine that offer relief and immune support to boost our body’s virus fighting abilities to maintain wellness. Depending on your illness, there are different foods, essential oils, herbs, spices, and tools to alleviate symptoms and aid healing.

Treating Colds

Traditional Chinese Medicine’s (TCM) approach to healing from a cold is to bolster the body’s first lines of defense- the skin, nose, mouth, and throat, and encourage sweating to expel the virus from the body. It’s also important to decide whether your symptoms are more “heat wind”- sore throat, fever, thirst, nasal congestion yellow phlegm, or coughing up yellow mucus, or “damp wind”- sneezing, runny nose with clear or white phlegm, itchy throat, coughing up clear or white mucus, and body aches. This determination will help you decide which remedy is best for healing your particular cold. Each type of cold is best treated with warm liquids and broth based soups, and foods that are easy to digest like rice. For “heat wind” colds, drink peppermint tea, and cooling fruits like oranges and other citrus fruits. In both cases, avoid dairy, sugar and fried foods. For a “damp wind” cold, add warming ingredients like cinnamon, ginger, green onion, and garlic to your soup.

Miso Soup with Scallion and Ginger

Fermented black beans and scallions are a TCM remedy for early cold treatment. These ingredients work together to warm the body. Miso soup is rich in essential vitamins, minerals, and probiotics, and combined with warming ingredients like scallion and ginger, it is ideal for boosting the immune system and pushing the cold out of the body. Drinking something warm and then bundling up for a rest heats your body inside and out, emboldens your body to be strong against external environmental factors, causes a light sweat, opens your pores, and fortifies your body’s defenses.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp miso paste

• 1-1.5 cups water

• 1 tbsp sliced scallion

• 2 tsp peeled and slivered garlic

Instructions:

• Bring the water to a boil, pour into a bowl with the miso paste. Stir until dissolved

• Add ginger and scallions

• Drink miso soup while it is still steaming

• Bundle up in warm comfortable clothing and get into bed, covering yourself with a warm blanket. You want to be warm enough to break a light sweat. Do not let your body catch a chill

• It is best to nap or go to bed for the night after drinking this soup, letting your warm body rest

Damp Wind Remedies

Sweat these symptoms out with a sauna or hot bath. Incorporate foods like ginger, garlic, mustard seed and greens, grapefruit peel, cilantro, parsnips, scallions, cinnamon, basil, soup, rice porridge, and eating less to avoid overwhelming the system with digestion

Other suggestions:

• Lightly boil garlic, ginger, green onion, basil, mustard, or cinnamon in water for 5 minutes. Drink the tea warm, go to bed and bundle up, allow sweating

• Brew cilantro and ginger together into a tea

• Brew scallion and basil together into a tea

• Make a tea from dried grapefruit peel

• Make a tea from parsnips and ginger

• Avoid shellfish, heavy proteins and fats, meat, and all vinegars because vinegar closes the pores and negates the benefits of sweating

Heat Wind Remedies

Incorporate mint, cabbage, chrysanthemum, burdock, dandelion, pears, apples, bitter melons, citrus, drink plenty of water, and get plenty of rest

Other suggestions:.

• Drink cabbage broth

• Brew cilantro and mint together and drink

• Drink mint, chrysanthemum, and dandelion teas

• Drink mint, dandelion, and licorice teas

• Drink burdock tea

• Use White Flower Analgesic Balm to ease nasal congestion

• Avoid shellfish, meat, vinegars, drafts, and hot foods

Tea Tree Oil and Salt Water Throat Rinse

A sore throat is a clear sign of an impending cold, and is usually caused by a post nasal drip. When the immune system is challenged, it produces mucus to capture and kill foreign pathogens. This extra mucus can irritate the throat membrane and cause a sore throat and infection. A simple gargle with salt water and tea tree oil is soothing and neutralizes invading pathogens and microbes, lessening the chance of infection.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup warm water

• 1 tsp sea salt

• 2-3 drops tea tree oil

Instructions:

• Dissolve a teaspoon of salt into very warm water, then add tea tree drops

• Tilt head back and gargle 5-10 times, letting the mixture penetrate into the sore spots on the throat

• Repeat 1-2 times a day until sore throat is relieved

• Keep your neck covered in a scarf to protect against the cold

Nasal Congestion Relief

Symptoms of the common cold like sneezing, coughing, and a runny nose are not caused by the virus, but by our body’s immune defenses increasing to expel the virus from the body. Within the nasal passage, there is a mucus membrane and tiny hairs that are intended to catch foreign particles and entities from entering the body. When the body is overloaded from pollution, chemicals, fragrances, pollen, or viruses, the body’s response is to generate more mucus, forcing us to blow our noses and expel the virus. An alternative to blowing your nose is a neti pot, which introduces a warm saline solution to the nasal passage, forcing mucus out while soothing and neutralizing any irritants.

Neti Pot Instructions:

• Prepare a saline solution with 1 cup of lukewarm water and ¼ teaspoon sea salt, and fill the neti pot- water too hot can burn, and too cool is not soothing. Ensure the correct proportions of salt to water to avoid burns and aggravation from the salt

• Lean over your sink and tilt your head to the side, with your forehead lower than your chin

• Insert the spout of your neti pot into your nostril, creating a seal

• Be very careful not to inhale

• Gently pour in and across your nasal cavity and out the other nostril- gravity allows the water to flow correctly. Be sure to breathe through your mouth and relax

• If it drains out your mouth, lower your forehead in relation to your chin

• Remove the spout from your nostril and gently blow your nose without closing off one nostril- blowing out one nostril with the other plugged can harm your eardrums

• Repeat on the other nostril

• Thoroughly clean your neti pot with soap and hot water

White Flower Analgesic Balm

Developed in 1927 by Gan Geog Eng of Singapore, White Flower Analgesic Balm, also known as Pak Fah Yeow and Bai Hua You, was originally intended for private use, but became popular through the demand of friends and family who liked it so much. The trademark was registered in 1935 and sold in Singapore and Penang, and in 1951, he entered the Hong Kong market. From there, it became a leading product in the Far East. It is made from camphor, menthol, Methyl Salicylate, as well as eucalyptus, lavender, and peppermint oil. It is used for minor aches and pains, sore muscles, sore joints, inflammation, hot areas, and to relieve nasal congestion and headaches.

Apply a few drops of the oil to the affected area and gently rub in. Use 2-3 times a day, and wash hands after each application. For nasal congestion, inhale the White Flower while holding the bottle a few inches from the nose, or apply 1 drop under the nose with a cotton swab. To treat headaches, apply with a clean cotton cloth to the temples, forehead, neck, top of head, or any other painful spot, while carefully avoiding the eyes, mucus membranes, sensitive tissue, or broken skin. Avoid applying to open wounds or damaged skin.

Colds and the flu can take their toll on the body, but recognizing your symptoms and treating accordingly will help pass the virus through faster. Make sure to eat warm foods that are easy to digest, keep your body warm, allow yourself to sweat, keep your nose, mouth, neck, and chest covered from cold winds, try a neti pot to expel mucus from the body, or white flower oil for symptom relief. Stay hydrated with peppermint tea to cool the body, or add ginger to warm the body. Treat based on your symptoms to best support your body’s natural immune responses,

Resources

“Benefits of White Flower Oil”. Retrieved from https://lkacupuncture.com/benefits-of-white-flower-oil/.

“Central Family Practice-White Flower Oil”. Retrieved from https://central-family-practice.myshopify.com/products/white-flower-oil#:~:text=White%20Flower%20Analgesic%20oil%20or,sensitive%20tissue%20or%20broken%20skin.

“Fight your cold and flu with traditional Chinese medicine”. Retrieved from https://www.allinahealth.org/healthysetgo/care/fight-the-cold-and-flu-with-chinese-medicine#:~:text=Eat%20plenty%20of%20broth%2Dbased,oranges%20and%20other%20citrus%20fruits.

“How Neti pots can clear your sinus problems”. Retrieved from https://www.orientalwisdom.com.au/2018/09/02/how-neti-pots-can-clear-your-sinus-problems/.

“TCM tea recipes to treat the common cold”. Retrieved from https://www.acupunctureinmichigan.com/tcm-tea-recipes-to-treat-the-common-cold.

“White Flower Oil”. Retrieved from https://www.modernherbshop.com/White_Flower_Oil_for_Simple_Headache_Congestion_p/whitefloweroil.htm.

Mindful Holiday Eating

The holiday season is upon us! A common tradition to celebrate includes feasting on rich foods and decadent sweets. What a perfect opportunity to really enjoy this abundance!

Here is a quick reference for using mindfulness to make your holiday dinner a unique experience and not just a delicious meal.  

Mindful Eating Exercise

1. Gratitude. Look at everything in front of you. Acknowledge your abundance. (Where did it come from? How long did it take to prepare? Who prepared this meal? How much money was spent to share such a bountiful meal?) Take a moment to be truly and genuinely grateful for all of it.

2. Less is more. Do not fill your plate. If you take heaping portions you may be eating to get full, when you really only need to eat until you no longer feel hungry. Try the different foods and get more of those things you really like if you are still hungry.

3. Slow down. Spend more time chewing, smelling, tasting, and talking with those around you. Get the most out of this special feast by making it last.

4. Breathe. It may sound silly to add this step, but it is pretty common to get so caught up in the  excitement of the holiday that you forget to really take those deep, satisfying breaths.  Take a few moments during the meal to take a nice slow deep belly breath with a slow peaceful exhalation.  Your digestion will be better and your body will be more relaxed.

5.  Savor. How does it smell? Is that a hint of cinnamon? When is the last time you enjoyed this food? Enjoy the taste, smell, and texture for as long as possible.  

Happy Holidays!