Salubrious Life

Kicking Out the Internal Dust Bunnies

A confluence of events has led me to where I am today.

Where is that you might wonder?   Well, I'm on day 13 of a 14 day whole body cleanse and I could not feel better (or could I.....what happens on day 14?)

It began with my seasonal ritual of spring cleaning.  I mean the real kind. Pulling out furniture and getting in behind it to remove trapped dirt. Pulling open long shut windows to clean off grime collected over the long winter.   Getting rid of the "dust bunnies" as it were.

As I was doing this work, I began to wonder if, just like my house, had my body stored up its own share of dust bunnies during the interminable winter?

Then, reading Salubrious Life I find our very own Anita Thompkins  had chosen to write on just such a topic.   Say no more........off I went to whole foods to find me some all purpose body cleanser.

There was much to choose from, but a very helpful consultant led me to a 14 day system by Enzymatic Therapy called:  "Whole Body Cleanse"

The cleanse is a three part system made up of:

1. Laxative Formula purging the intestine of built-up toxins.  The formula contains Magnesium hydroxide which draws water into the intestines, making waste material soften and swell (tmi??)   Also Slippery elm bark supporting healthy intestinal mucous, marshmallow root supporting immune and digestive health, peppermint leaf extract helping to soothe intestinal muscles and finally burdock and red clover supporting detoxification of the lymph and circulatory system
2. Fiber Fusion.  Of course, for a healthy cleanse, you need the fiber to move the toxins out of your body.  In this formula are: Pectin from Citrus fruit for fiber and immune health, Psyllium husk which absorbs more than any other bowel regulating fiber.
3. Super Milk Thistle.  This product supports healthy liver and gall bladder function and detoxification.  Super Milk Thistle contains: Milk Thistle, purported to be one of natures finest liver-supporting herbs and anti-oxidant, artichoke extract to support healthy bile production, Licorice and dandelion for the support of healthy bile flow.  (bile transports the toxins that the liver neutralizes to the intestines where they leave the body as waste)

In this two stage system, the first week is dedicated to cleansing and the second week is called "transition".  The formula is altered in this second week to assist in greater liver cleansing.

The first three days were awful.  I felt incredibly tired, irritable and slow.  It's as if all of the "dust bunnies" had risen for one final hoo ha before leaving my body.

Now on day 13 I do feel good.  No dramatic weight shift (though none promised)  My skin appears clearer and I feel sharper.  It makes sense to take care of your digestive health and I think that a whole body cleanse with the change of each season is something I'll be incorporating into my health and wellness plan from here on in.

Thanks for the tips Anita!

Walk this way

Like I often tell my husband as he looks toward me horrified, my face covered in a caking green slime mask, hair dripping with oils and heating towels and hands in heating mitts:  "Beauty isn't pretty hon"

Case in point:  Ever the faithful guinea pig for readers of Salubrious Life, I am test driving a pair of shoes that have intrigued me since I first saw a person wearing them in Asia last summer.

Called MBT (Masai Barefoot Technology) these shoes shift the balance of the body from backward leaning (toward the heel) toward the middle of the foot behind our center of gravity.

Because the balance of these shoes is out of the norm and imitates an "uneven" walking plain, wearing these shoes forces you to work harder, using muscles that are not ordinarily engaged when walking or running with normal footwear.

Not only are your core muscles now engaged but MBT is reported to tighten and tone the feet, ankles, calves, hamstrings, upper and inner thigh, buttocks, stomach and back.

It's as if you've got a gym - all in a shoe!  Can it be this easy?  Can a shoe multi-purpose so exquisitely?

The shoe takes its name from the Masai tribe of Eastern Africa who are known for their elegant and upright posture.  This stance is a result of walking barefoot on irregular natural surfaces and working not only the various muscles in legs, stomach and buttocks but standing erect to preserve the skeletal system.

These ungainly and clunky shoes come with an instructional dvd and even some starter exercises to get your balance intact before hitting the road.

I took my bright red "Lifestyle" MB T's out for their first test drive this morning and I can report that my calves, buttocks and that oh -so tough to reach part of the very upper thigh are all tingling with fresh blood flow.  I did feel my core engagee in order to help me stand upright on the pivot point in the centre of the shoe.

Worried about the unappealing look?  I got so many questions and comments on these unusual looking shoes during my usual morning walk, I'd cooled down long before I was finished the walk.  In fact,paired with the right outfit....you can actually make these rather orthopedic looking shoes seem rather "of the moment".

I'll be reporting back in a week to let you know how it goes, but some reports have wearers showing reduced signs of cellulite after a two week period of using their MBT's in the course of a normal day.   

Stay tuned...............

Nine Ways to Balance Digestion

     You have heard the saying "you are what you eat." Actually, "you are what you digest" is more accurate and more critical because digestion converts food into energy producing nutrients that sustain and support your body.  Poor digestion can lead to gas as well as a heavy feeling, which is usually a build up of digestive impurities.  Good digestion begins with a balanced appetite.  Some people do not have an appetite, while others can not fully taste their food.  And others, never feel satisfied during and after eating.  When a meal is savored and enjoyed, it helps the body prepare for proper digestion and assimilation of the nutrients in the food.

     Listed below are nine ways to help you balance your digestion.  If you are experiencing gas or other digestive discomforts, try these techniques to see if you get relief.

     1.  Eat your biggest meal at mid-day, when digestive fire is strongest.

     2.  Eat fresh food.  Avoid left-overs.

     3.  Eat only when hungry.  That is an indication that your previous meal is digested.

     4.  Maintain regular meal times. 

     5.  During your meal, chew slowly, take your time to eat, and sit quietly for five minutes after each meal.

     6.  Do not divide your attention by reading, working, or watching TV while you are eating.  Savor your meals.

     7.  Avoid cold or iced drinks.  They decrease the digestive fire and slow down digestion.

     8.  Eat only until your are satisfied, which is about three-quarters full.

     9.  Boil milk with ginger or cinnamon and drink it warm or cool.

The art of (having your kids) do nothing

Sitting at my Son's soccer game a couple Saturday's back, I listened to a woman describe her two children's schedules to another set of Soccer parents.

She went on for what seemed like hours, listing the various activities that she and her husband ferry the kids back and forth to.  Piano, Math club, dance, hockey in winter, soccer and baseball in summer.  One of her kids was a master Horse rider, the other a champ at lacrosse.  Not to mention homework, play dates, sleep overs, school functions.

What's worse, rather than sounding exhausted herself........she seemed to be bragging.

What's to brag about????  Her life seemed utterly out of control to me.  Who's running the asylum?

What is up with parents and societies that feel the more a child does, the busier we keep them - the more accomplished we are?   Are we projecting our competitive need for accomplishment on our children?

I have a friend who is still dealing with the guilt she feels about not allowing one of her sons to do a fourth sport because it took too much out of her to get him to games at 4AM.   Guilt???  I take my hat off to her.  Now she's only running around 18 hours a day.

My husband and I have long felt out of place in over-achieving New England due to our polar opposite viewpoints on how to schedule our minimal free time. Down-time,  quiet family time spent reading or just horse-playing.  How about watching a movie together snuggled up on the couch covered in blankets and munching popcorn? (Shock, horror, yes we have on-demand.....)

One of our children is too young (we feel) to be in any organized activity outside of pre-school, while so many of his little friends are already heavily commited to things. Our older child is involved in one sport, that's it.  With two practices and a game per week......none of us (including him) want to commit to more.

I would miss the spontaneity of seeing what happens with the day if it were all so scheduled.  What about the creativity it takes to "make-up" things to do?

And when questioned by curious parents as to the kind of things my kids are involved in, I proudly say "just soccer and actually, just the older one."  Stunned silence.  What I really want to add is  "We enjoy our children, we like to spend time with them"

I was relieved to read a piece in Sunday's New York times about this very phenomenon.  That grass roots organizations are springing up protesting the overload of activities that take away from quality family time.

www.puttingfamilyfirst.org,  www.balance4success.org and  www.readysetrelax.org have sprung up as testament to the fact that perhaps families need to take back some time for themselves. 

As I took my attention away from the brag-a-docious Soccer Mom and watched my glorious son scoot down the field with his team-mates, I felt at peace with my choices for family.    Quiet day ahead with plenty of time for who knows what?

OM: Meditation becoming more widely accepted

A recently written article in the Boston Globe indicated that more than 60 percent of companies offer wellness programs, up from 53 percent in 2001, and one-third of workplaces offer acupuncture or coverage for this treatment, up from 18 percent five years ago. Workplace Meditation statistics are still not available, but we can only imagine that it is becoming more accepted as part of these other alternative wellness and therapy programs.

Meditation is a directed concentration and involves focusing your awareness on a direct object: your breath, a phrase or word (ie. mantra), or an image in your own eye.  Some of the benefits of meditation include:

1. Restructuring of the mind in order to detach the self from thoughts that cause emotional swings.

2. Increase Attention Span and reorganize thought processes

3. Greater mindfulness

4. Lower blood pressure

5. Decreased heart and respiratory rates

6. Increased blood flow

7. Enhancement of immune function

8. Relief of chronic pain due to arthritis and other disorders

Meditation in your area can be found by looking online or by asking your local yoga instructor or alternative medicine educator.   

Fast Pass or Cash Only – should we be given a choice?

I was driving on the Mass Pike into Boston this morning, as were thousands of other cars.  There was so much traffic on the pike that I began to wonder if maybe there was an accident further ahead.  As I got a closer toward the $1.00 toll, with my $1.00 in hand, I realized the traffic buildup was not due to an accident, but due to so many people trying to move into the fast pass lane.  The several lines for the fast pass lane were dreadfully long, and the few “cash only” lines were absolutely empty.  I thought to myself: Even if I were a registered driver for fast pass, I would’ve still opted for the cash only lane this morning.  With the majority of people intending to get somewhere faster in the morning, is the Fast Pass/EZ-Pass really making it faster and easier?  I wonder if some of the morning commuters who already have a monthly fast-pass payment do occasionally pull out a dollar bill from their wallets just to save time…and frustration.  OR, would it be easier to not be given a choice at all?  This would certainly free up congestion that happens now when cars have to quickly shift into the appropriate fast pass or cash only lane.

Too many options are increasingly creating much of the congestion and confusion today.  This same dilemma goes for snail mail versus Internet.  As technology, society and the service industry all continue to get more innovative and efficient, will the outdated alternatives just create more overall confusion, indecision, and congestion?  Maybe it would it be best if I signed up for the fast-pass device afterall and help free up the highway commute and facilitate steady, constant lanes without having the hesitation as to which lane to weave into at the onset of a toll. 

Stress and Performance: Are you a racehorse or a turtle?

It’s tax season.  The April 15^th deadline is coming upon us, and many of us scramble to detail our finances, organize our files, collect receipts, and endlessly stare at an excel spreadsheet filled with numbers piled up from the last 12 months of heating bills, gas mileage, mortgages, charitable donations, and other such items.  Every year we promise ourselves earlier preparation, but every year we end up waiting until the week before.  Sound familiar?  Do you wait until the last minute?  Do you perform better under pressure?

In a recent survey conducted by the Canadian Mental Health Association, 41% of respondents said that they feel as though workplace stress has a positive effect on their performance. This is up 30% from the same survey conducted 6 years ago. 

Depending on how we react to short-term stress, doing work under the pressure of an upcoming deadline can actually be a positive influence on performance level.  By activating the “stress mechanism,” often we fight through the stress and are compelled to action, suddenly given a high level of “psyched-up” energy in order to fulfill the task at hand…last minute. 

Everyone reacts differently to stress at any level, and much of this is genetic; Some people are born racehorses and others are born turtles.  The racehorses are less affected by physiological stressors.  The turtles, however,  “flight” in a stressful situation - their brain functioning shuts down, blood pressure increases, and all of this impedes his/her ability to perform. 

Waiting until the last minute is not a practice that everyone should adopt. While some may frame a stressful situation in a positive light, it would be important for others to plan accordingly, practice antianxiety techinques prior to an upcoming deadline, and be sure to start early to avoid any inevitable stressors.