Allergies

What aren’t we allergic to these days? According to a report by ABC news, people can be allergic to water, cell phones, allergy medications, the heat or the cold, chocolate, exercise (Yes, I did say that. The condition is called exercise-induced anaphylaxis), and the laundry list continues. According to the American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology, “More than half (54.6%) of all U.S. citizens test positive to one or more allergens.”

Western medicine says that allergies result from an imbalance in the immune system due to an overreaction to the stimuli of pollens, dust, fungi, and other airborne irritants. In the system of Chinese medicine, allergies result from a combination of imbalances in the body. Each person may require different treatment. A surprising area of imbalance with allergies for some may be connected to hormones. If you’ve had a lot of stress in your life, your hormones may not be in balance. When they are out of balance, you may begin reacting negatively to any number of stimuli in your environment. This is also why allegies might get worse with menopause.

Researchers from the European Centre for Environment & Human Health, along with several Australian institutions found that children living in areas with lower levels of sunlight are twice as likely to develop food allergies, compared to those in areas with higher UV. Clearly there is more than an immune system overreaction at play.

Natural treatments can alleviate the severity of allergies and even prevent them from coming on. Using acupuncture and Chinese herbs several months or even a few weeks before allergy season arrives will prevent symptoms and possibly cure your allergies. Conventional allergy medications might help symptoms as well, but they tend to have more side effects and don't solve the problem.

Western herbs, homeopathy and some basic nutritional supplements also can alleviate symptoms of allergies. Many natural products actually work the better than some antihistamines work, by stabilizing your immune system so it doesn't react.

According to Chinese medicine each season is associated with a major organ that is more sensitive to imbalance during that time of year. Springtime is the season of the liver. Amongst other functions, the liver rules the smooth flow of energy in the body, deals with stress, and regulates the menstrual cycles. It is sensitive to wind and rules the emotion of anger.

Over the years of working with Allergies and Chinese medicine, I’ve observed that people tend to be somewhat irritable in springtime, especially on windy days. Sneezing is called rebellious qi, where the energy of the lungs is going in the wrong direction. This is usually provoked when wind stirs up the liver energy. In my experience I have many clients who find it hard to live in our high paced, modern lives. We’ve forgotten that we were once much more connected to our earth and our environment. Perhaps allergies are a way of rebelling.

Spring Cleanse

Happy spring time – the time of renewal, refreshment, and starting new life. It always feels like this is really when the new year should be, because everything begins bursting forth from the earth full of abundance. It’s the perfect time for cleaning inside and out after a long winter of hibernating.

I invite you to join me on a ten day long spring cleanse, to tidy up our insides as much as our homes. With a fresh start you can tune into your body and life more deeply to listen to what it really wants.

There are 5 main components to this cleanse: 1) Green drinks, 2) fiber and intestinal cleansing, 3) Lots of vegetables - 50% of your food, 4) Yoga or qi gong moves every morning, and 5) the Forgiveness meditation. While doing this cleanse, I would recommend that you stop dairy, sugar, gluten containing foods, and alcohol. If you have caffeine, I would suggest tea rather than coffee, with no milk or sugar in it.

1) Green Drink Recipe: Make a green drink every morning, using a blender, vitamixer, or other superblender. Take a small apple, 1/2 banana, some blueberries, strawberries, or raspberries and add 3-4 leaves of chard, spinach (a handfull in this case) or kale, and dandelion leaves, a piece of ginger (depending on your taste), a tablespoon of chia seeds or ground flax seeds, a tablespoon of sunflower seeds or 3 walnuts, and 1/2 a lemon. Pour water over the top, and some ice if you like, blend until everything is liquefied. Pour into mason jar. Drink a glass for breakfast and then sip it all day. Another option for a green drink is using Organic Raw Protein Powder from Garden of life, greens powder from Garden of life, water, blueberries, a handful of spinach or chard, and a date.

2) Options for fiber and intestinal cleansing: The easiest is to buy Yerba Prima all fiber capsules, beginning on the first day of the cleanse. Take 2 capsules twice a day, then increase to 3 the next day. 4 the day after that. On the 5th day of the cleanse, begin taking bentonite clay - 1 tablespoon twice a day, with lots of water. You will only do this for 3 days. Drink plenty of water with all this fiber. If you want to use liver cleansing herbs, Amazon herbs makes a product I like, Fiberzon, which has herbs for cleansing in it. You can just use 2 doses of that per day instead of the fiber and bentonite clay. The point of this cleanse is to make it easy for you to do, which will make it more likely that you'll do it.

3) Diet: 50% vegetables, meaning that all day, everything you eat, half of it should be vegetables. You can steam, bake, boil, stir fry, whatever works for you. You can eat any protein you like, meat, fish, chicken, beans, whatever feels good. Toasted walnuts are another good source of protein/fat that you could have with your breakfast. You can also eat grains. Fruits are okay but I would only have them in the green drink for this diet.

The Dieting Don’t List: Don't eat any white foods at all - ie bread, sugar, milk, dairy, cheese, even bananas aren't great. Do not skip meals. Have at least 3 meals a day. You can have the green drink for a snack or you can have some veggies and protein for a snack.

4) Yoga or qi gong moves in the AM: Practice moving your body in a gentle way. You can take a class or find a dvd that has some poses. Or, if you know some yoga, practice what you know and make it your routine. You should do some form of slower movement for 20 minutes a day. If you decide to do some cardio, try to go outside and take walks. Be more reflective in your exercising this week. If you know the sun salutation, you can do it 12 times a day for the week.

5) The Forgiveness meditation: The liver is the organ that is most active in spring time. It has to do with the emotions of anger and frustration. The best way to heal anger is to find that place of forgiveness inside of ourselves. In the 5 elements system, the liver leads to the heart, which represents the emotion of joy. To find joy, you need to find forgiveness. For our cleanse, since we are focusing on the liver, I would like to have everyone do 5 minutes a day of forgiveness meditation.

Propel your mind, body, and spirit forward with this great experiment. Even if you can’t do every component, or last for a full week….

The Secret to True Love

The Secret to True Love

Last year on Valentines Day, I went with three girlfriends to Santa Rosa dressed to the nines. We were headed to a Professional Singles Society event. Within three feet of walking into the Flamingo Resort in Santa Rosa, we saw that there were only ten people there, all over the age of sixty, and only one male. I left the premise depressed as we headed towards Petaluma.

There we were- four attractive single women sitting at a Taqueria in Petaluma on Valentines Day, trying to connect but with no one to connect to. This year, if you are finding yourself single on Valentines Day, and you have this empty feeling inside because you are not with someone, be rest assured that you are not just okay – you are sexy and amazing. Make it your mission to really be with yourself and have fun!

Most of us don’t want to be alone. In fact, many of us suffer a lot just to not be alone. We focus so much of our thoughts and time on our desire to be loved and to love. However, the relationship that we all so often overlook is the one we have with ourselves. So, let’s start there.

What does it take to be okay with yourself? Every person has their issues, their point of pain and insecurities. Here are my suggestions for making 2012 the hottest year yet.

Start by doing things for yourself that you like. Ask yourself, what do I love doing that I am not doing now? Don’t let not being in relationship keep you from doing things in your life. I always like going to coffee shops by myself, bringing my laptop, and working beside a nicely brewed cup of coffee. And don’t limit yourself- why not take the dream vacation that you always wanted?

When you are exploring these new possibilities for happiness in your life, also take the time to really be within yourself. Learn who you are and what you like. Find the strength to start healing and freeing those parts of yourself that are stuck and in pain. Discover the secret to true love by starting to become your own best friend.

A spiritual master once said, that if people spent just five percent of the energy they spend on relationships seeking god, they would achieve true happiness. This 2012, focus your love on yourself. It may be hard to do at first. The emptiness inside feels so huge. But keep trying, and slowly watch your heart expand and grow.