In both Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the liver, ensures energy and blood flow smoothly throughout the body. It also regulates bile secretion, stores blood, and is connected with the tendons, nails, and eyes.

Emotions like anger, resentment, frustration, irritability, bitterness, “flying off the handle” are also connected to the liver.

Both TCM and ayurveda attribute liver challenges to heat that is trapped in the liver, and they seek to clear and cool the organ through lifestyle changes and herbal treatments.

Ayurveda views the liver as “hot” or “pittic” because the fiery, dynamic energy of pitta—one of the three doshas (along with vata and kapha) that regulate the physiological functions of the body—guides and supports these myriad functions of the liver. Too much fiery energy, can accumulate in the liver and lead to physical problems. Ayurveda describes symptoms caused by excess pitta that are very similar to what is called “liver fire” in TCM: headaches; flushed face; red, burning eyes; acne; nosebleeds; and outbursts of anger. Ayurveda adds inflammation, allergies, and symptoms of indigestion (like heartburn) to the list.

Live for Your Liver

Overall, both ancient wisdom and modern science agree that how we live has a huge effect on our livers. So even though you can’t avoid chemical contaminants completely, you can keep your liver healthy if you just take care of it by following these 5 suggestions:

Eat Light

• Eat good-quality food when you are hungry. Avoid overeating (more liver burden) and refined or heavily processed food.

Move your Bowels

• High-fiber diets help keep the bowels, liver, and blood clean by facilitating elimination. Drink water throughout the day.  And if you drink coffee or tea, add a glass of water for each.

Take a break

• Fast on fresh juices for a day—or even just a meal—every week or two. Take time to breathe deeply, relax, and meditate.

Cut Down on the Chemicals

• Minimize exposure to chemicals of all sorts—from food additives and cosmetics to caustic cleaning agents. Remember that the liver needs to break down every chemical entering the body either for use or excretion.

Bitter is Better

• Experiment with bitter salad greens or a liver tonic like Milk Thistle for six to eight weeks. Note any changes in body, energy, or mind.

This is very tasty recipe that has been used traditionally for liver heath.

Beet and Carrot Casserole

1 bunch beets

1 LB carrots

2 bunches scallions chopped

3 cloves garlic minced

4 -6 TBS Olive oil or Ghee (clarified butter) or Butter

Braggs Liquid aminos and Black Pepper to taste

Grated cheddar or soy cheese to taste

Scrub beets and carrots. Steam beets whole. When half done (ten to twenty minutes) add carrots. Cook until tender yet firm. Remove beet skins. (They slid off). Grate beets and carrots with coarse grinder. Loosely (so colors stay distinct) mix them together. Sauté the scallions and garlic. Toss this mixture with the beets and carrots, Braggs and black pepper. Put in casserole dish. Cover with grated cheese and bake until cheese is golden.

For an excellent Yoga practice and meditation for the liver – check out thsi week’s podcast at www.yogavision.com/podcast

On Sunday, May 26 from 9am to 10am at Metro Hall in Toronto, I will be leading a Yoga segment for Seniors at the World Partnership Walk.  Come out and support this amazing event and bring your friends and family.

Here is a selection of exercises to get everyone warmed up for the Walk:

These basic moves promote flexibility by loosening the muscles.  These movements should be practices slowly with focus on the breath.  Focusing on the breath encourages the mind to relax.  For anyone with pre-existing conditions or a sedentary lifestyle check with your doctor before starting an exercise program.  And most importantly – you know your body best – if it hurts – don’t do it.

Alternate nostril breathing

Use the thumb of your right hand to block off your right nostril, fingers are pointing straight up like an antennae.  Breathe long and deep through the left nostril  1 minute. Switch sides.  1 minute.

Neck Rolls

Drop your right ear to your right shoulder and inhale as you circle your neck back and inhale as you circle your neck forward.  5 x and then go in the opposite direction 5x.

Shoulder Rolls

Roll your shoulders up and back 5x.  roll your shoulders forward.  5x.

Tricep Stretch

Bring your left arm up over your head, palm touching the back of your shoulder.  Using your right hand, press your elbow back to further the stretch.  1 minute.  Switch sides.  1 minute.

Chest stretch

Interlace your fingers behind your back. Inhale as you extend your arms up, breath long and deep.  Relax the pose and inhale as you bring the arms up again.  3 x

Wrist Rotation

Pull the fingers of your right hand back gently with the left hand hold for 10 seconds.  Switch sides for ten seconds.

Ankle Rotation + Point and Flex

Extend your legs out in front of you, toes pointing toward the sky.  Rotate your ankles in one direction, alternatively pointing and flexing your feet to stretch the Achilles tendon.  1 minute.  Rotate in the opposite direction.  1 minute.

Hip rotation

Stand up slowly and bring your hands onto your hips.  Gently rotate your hips in one direction.  1 minute.  Rotate in the other direction.  1 minute.

Archer Pose

Bring your left foot forward and bend the knee.  Bring left arm up and the thumb up.  Hold 1 minute.  Switch leg and hold for 1 minute.

Take a deep breath.  Close your eyes.  Concentrate this next breath through
your left nostril.  Use your mind to control your breath.  Repeat eleven
times.  In the thirty seconds it takes to  practice this technique, your
body, mind and breath shifts.  It is a fact.

Part 2

See, sense, feel or imagine the place in your life, in your body, in your mind
where you hold the most tension.  Hold that knowingness.  Come to an
awareness of where you are gripping, holding, or judging. Be with it.

Part 3

Offer that experience over to your highest consciousness. Turn it over to be forgiven, loved and healed.  It is a choice rather than a request.  It is a here and now experience of consciousness.  It’s you.

Surprisingly, this is all it takes to relax.  Being in the flow. Acknowledging when something feels right and knowing when something is off and respecting that too.

Tension is created when we are out of spiritual alignment.  We might call it a moral crisis, an ethical dilemma, or a judgement call.  In the end, our discomfort usually comes from a conflict between our ego demands and our angelic nature.

Relaxation is an essential practice for physical, spiritual and mental well-being.  In our culture, we’ve mistakenly trained ourselves to relax by watching tv, eating, or by drinking or smoking.  This really isn’t relaxation.  These are stimulating activities.

The body becomes our repository for all these residual thoughts and experiences.  The practice of Yoga is a perfect way to purge the tension.  That is why after each Yoga practice there is a period of rest called Sivasana.  This time allows the opportunity to soak in the effects of the practice, carving out a connection with our own natural state.  True relaxation is rejuvenating to the nervous system, promoting glandular shifts and promotes self understanding.   This is especially true for women.  From a Yogic perspective, we can create anything.  From this magnificent power comes the requirement to rest, recharge and reposition ourselves on a constant basis to ensure that our light shines brightly.

Here is a short invigorating Kundalini Yoga Kriya designed to release stress in the body.  This Kriya has a relaxation period built in.  You can follow with this meditation:

All of this is available on our new podcast available through iTunes.  Click YogaVision – Love Serve Uplift

Love and light,

Salimah

Come on be honest.

Did you swear under your breath when someone cut you off in traffic?

Did you grimace after talking a phone call from your mother, your mother in law, your partner?

Did you get pissed after stubbing your toe?

Anger is an ancient part of our human psyche.  Back then we used it for dealing with danger, like running away from a wild animal or a rival tribe.  Anger releases a flood of chemicals including adrenalin, putting our body and mind on high alert.

In the here and now  anger doesn’t serve this purpose. It is more of a learned response. Most times anger is a reaction to a situation long past but triggered by current events.  Prolonged periods of this emotional state lead to fatigue, pain and mental confusion. As I was researching this article,  one of the most interesting and liberating lessons was the revelation that past anger is often disguised as problems that we don’t associate with anger – traits like depression, fidgeting, being secretive, feeling victimized, and being a workaholic.

Unresolved anger stays trapped in the body. According to Chinese medicine anger resides in the liver which corresponds to the navel chakra in Yoga.  When our navel chakra is strong, we have the energy to take action and accomplish things. When it is weak, we have difficulty taking action for ourselves. Not taking action on our own behalf and falling prey to the manipulation of outside forces, breeds more inner anger and rage.

Kundalini yoga is a safe and effective way to release the energy of anger.  You don’t even need to know why you are angry or be able to identify where it came from.  You just need to know that everyone has it and everyone needs an opportunity to let it go.

Check out this weeks podcast for a powerful kriya to release inner anger.

I have just started a 40 day practice with this meditation. Join me and add your comments on our YouTube page.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62yShkYxXaE

Your mouth is the beginning of your relationship with the food you eat and your place in the universe. Let’s explore these topics from a yogic perspective.

Conscious Eating
When you eat you interact with the energy of the Universe.  There is a connection between the thoughts we think and the food that we eat.  A yogic diet is mostly plant based; easy to digest and easy on the mind.  One way to bring consciousness to your meals is to make food time relaxing. Take the time to notice when you are hungry versus thirsty. Savour the experience, eat without distraction.  Chew forty times before swallowing and give your digestive system a chance to utilize all the nutrients in your meal.

When preparing food listen to uplifting music.  As you select your produce, touch the food and look at what you are doing, infuse these actions with love.  Remember the farmers who tilled the soil, the vast potential in a seed and the earth that provided the abundance.  Make your meal an experience of yoga – a connection between the finite and infinite.

Here is a meditative kriya for healing and intuition. This kriya uses a powerful mantra to experience the relationship between you and the Universe.

Conscious Speech

Do you have a favorite mantra? Is it I’m so busy or I’m so tired or I’m so fat?

“Mantras are not small things, mantras have power. They are the mind vibration in relationship to the Cosmos. The science of mantra is based on the knowledge that sound is a form of energy having structure, power, and a definite predictable effect on the chakras and the human psyche.” ~ Yogi Bhajan

There are 84 meridian points on the roof of the mouth.  when you speak or chant either outloud or mentally, your tongue stimulates those meridian points, and they in turn stimulate the hypothalamus which makes the pineal gland radiate. When the pineal gland radiates, it creates an impulse in the pituitary gland. When the pituitary gland gives impulses, the entire glandular system secretes and a human being experiences a state of bliss. This is the science.

Choosing your words carefully makes all the difference to your experience. What you say is communicated to each cell of your body.  Your body starts to reflect the nature of the language you use. The sound of your words sends a message out to the Universe and draws experiences to you that reflect that frequency. This is true of any conversation that you have with another, with yourself or when you use a mantra during meditation.

All of this power belongs to you.  How you use your mouth is up to you.  Use it wisely, use it to love, serve and uplift.

Here is my favourite mantra:

http://www.yogavision.com/videos/yogavision-meditation-for-transformation/#

Join us via podcast for more Kundalini Yoga.  Click Here.

A. Sit in Easy Pose or in a chair with a straight spine. Pull a gentle Root Lock and Neck Lock. The eyes are closed and focused at the third eye point. The left hand is in Gyan Mudra resting on the left knee. Block the right nostril with the thumb of the right hand as the other fingers point straight up and the palm faces toward the left. Breathe long, deep and completely through the left nostril for 2-3 minutes. As you breathe, visualize and feel each area of the body. Consciously survey the body from the top of the head to the tip of the toes. Be systematic and thorough. Sense the movement of the prana as it circulates to all the areas you survey.

B. Switch hands and nostrils. Do the same breath through the right nostril for 2-3 minutes. Then inhale deeply, hold briefly and relax.

PART TWO

A. Place the hands together in Prayer Mudra at the middle of the chest. Press the middle joint of the thumbs into the center of the sternum between the 5th and 6th ribs. Apply 5-10 pounds of pressure. Concentrate at the brow point. Breathe long and deep for 2 minutes.

B. Then begin Breath of Fire for 1 minute.

PART THREE

Still sitting in Easy Pose, immediately raise the arms up to 60 degrees over the head. Form Gyan Mudra with each hand. The palms face toward each other with the wrists straight. Breathe long and deeply for 3 minutes. Inhale and hold

PART FOUR

Still sitting in easy pose, apply Root Lock and Neck Lock. Place both hands in Gyan Mudra on the knees with the elbows straight. Close the eyes to 1/10th open. Concentrate at the brow point and chant:

EK ONG KAAR-A, SA-TA NAAM-A, SIREE WHAA-A HAY GURUU

The chant has a kind of spin to its rhythm. Mentally you “spin” the sound from the base of the spine up through the crown of the head into the cosmos. Apply Mulbandh throughout. On the “a” sound consciously lift the diaphragm firmly. Start the chant on EK by pulling the navel point in sharply.

TIME: Continue 11-31 minutes.

End: Inhale deeply and hold the breath as long as you comfortably can. Then relax.

Deepa wanted to clear up her skin.  She was tired of the flare ups, the expensive lotions and potions that never quite covered the spots or stopped them from showing up in the first place.  She wanted to explore natural remedies.

Your skin is the largest organ in your body.  It is your perimeter, regulating temperature, allowing interaction with the environment through the sensation of touch.  Your skin is porous, whatever you put on your skin eventually makes its way into your body.

Your skin is a mirror of what is happening inside your body.  Toxins in the organs, unresolved emotions, genetics, drugs, alcohol and eating habits all play a role in the health of your skin.  Think of your skin like a filtering system, as important to your digestion as  your colon and liver.  Most of us will blame our skin issues on the choice of food we make.  There is usually much more at play.

When Deepa reflected on what else was happening in her life she admitted that she was undergoing a stressful transition at work. These changes at work left her feeling angry, her sleep was disrupted and her eating habits were taking a turn for the worse.

Here are some new ideas for Deepa.  When dealing with an emerging emotion, it is best to eat the opposite of what you are craving.  Fresh, raw food allows the body to cleanse and brings emotions into our awareness.

A regular yoga practice offers support when introducing  new habits and shifts in behavior. Long term these options provide relief where heavy make-up and medicated creams cover up issues or hide our true selves from the world.

Natural Remedies

Heal yourself from the inside out with these simple fixes for troubled skin from the Kundalini Yoga tradition

1) Drink 2-4 cups of chamomile tea daily as an inner cleanser for the skin.

2) Green grapes can be eaten for a clear complexion.  They are high in vitamin C, magnesium and potassium.

3) Dry skin brushing – a soft bristle brush used over your body before showering helps remove dead skin cells and promotes good circulation.

4) Make a paste out of tumeric and water spread over the face and then rinse with warm water.

5) Make a face exfoliant using sea salt and sesame oil. With light pressure massage scrub onto face and then rinse with warm water.

Try this meditation:

Sitali Pranayam is known for its anti-inflammatory properties. It’s an ultimate quick fix when skin flares up! It’s great to curb symptoms of rosecea. It’s also a gentle liver cleanser. Inhale through a curled and extended tongue. Exhale through the nose. Do 26 of these breaths per practice session. Ideally do 26 in the morning and 26 in the afternoon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on8xoyeMPGY

2. Continue same motion but move the hands and arms up and down as well, 5 times per second or faster for 5 minutes.

To open the glandular system to full capacity. Creates a sweat.

3. Lying on back, arms at sides, bounce the hips up and down, moving quickly for 2 1/2 minutes.

4. Lying on belly, bounce the pelvis up and down for 3 1/2 minutes.

5. Cat stretch, alternately to the left and right, over and over for 1 minute. 6. Lie down on back and relax, breathing slowly. Let yourself go for 6 1/2 minutes. ]]> http://www.yogavision.com/kriyassets/kriya-for-the-skin/feed/ 0