My Favorite Self-Love Practice
February 8, 2018
Written by Kael Balizer
How to Enliven Your Self-Massage
As winter begins to soften into spring, our bodies often feel the shift before we consciously notice it.Skin may feel a little drier. Sleep may change. Thoughts can feel lighter or more scattered, especially if you carry more Vata qualities, air and ether moving through you.
If you tend toward Kapha, water and earth, you may notice something else, a sense of heaviness, puffiness, or stagnation that lingers from the colder months.
Seasonal transitions invite us to adjust gently.
One of my favorite ways to support this transition is Abhyanga, the practice of warm oil self-massage. It is simple. Quiet. Deeply nourishing.
With slow, steady strokes and warm oil, you are not only caring for your skin. You are calming your nervous system. You are encouraging healthy lymphatic movement. You are giving your body a signal that it is safe to soften.
As the oil seeps into the tissues and joints, there is a subtle sense of being held. Movement becomes smoother. Breath becomes fuller. The mind begins to settle.
In Sanskrit, oil is called Snehana, which also translates to love.
Self-massage is truly an expression of love toward your own body. It is a way of saying, I am here with you. I appreciate you. I accept you as you are. That quiet acceptance supports profound healing.
Su
pporting Spring Cleansing
In our Spring Cleanse, we work with oil both externally and internally. Oil helps to gently loosen what has become stagnant in the tissues and guide it toward elimination through the digestive tract. It is not forceful. It is not aggressive. It is a gradual invitation for the body to release what it no longer needs.
You can individualize your practice by choosing herbal oils that align with your unique constitution. If you are looking for supportive options, you can explore massage oils from Banyan Botanicals here:
A Gentle Ritual
I have created a short video to guide you through this practice step by step. As you watch, take your time. Warm your oil. Move slowly. Notice your breath. Notice how your body responds when you offer it this kind of attentive care. Even ten or fifteen minutes can shift the rhythm of your day.
If you are experiencing Kapha stagnation, you may begin with dry brushing to stimulate the lymph before applying oil. Afterward, a warm shower can help the oil absorb more deeply into the tissues.
Enlivening the Practice
If you have been practicing self-massage for some time and wish to bring fresh energy to it, you might try:
• Offering quiet appreciation to each area of your body as you massage
• Playing soft music and allowing gentle movement as you apply the oil
• Sitting in simple pranayama or a few slow yoga postures while the oil soaks in, wearing clothes you do not mind getting a little oily
• Playing soft music and allowing gentle movement as you apply the oil
• Sitting in simple pranayama or a few slow yoga postures while the oil soaks in, wearing clothes you do not mind getting a little oily
Self-massage does not need to feel mechanical. It can become a ritual. A moment of returning. A way of remembering that your body is not something to manage, but something to care for.
Spring is a season of renewal. Let this practice be one small, loving way to support your body as it awakens.
Healing Begins with Listening
February 8, 2018
Written by Kael Balizer
It is natural to look for the answer when we are dealing with a physical or emotional health issue.If you are dealing with a health concern you may find yourself spending a lot of time looking for the quick answer. Staying up late searching the internet looking for the right doctor, herb, lotion or potion that is going to fix what is wrong with you. There is so much information out there that we can find ourselves overwhelmed, jumping from one thing to next. I have been in this this exact place.
But in our searching, the thing that gets missed is what the body is really asking for. Discomfort is our bodies way of telling us to stop and listen, to pay attention. Instead, in our frenzy to find the answer, we can move further away, looking for answers outside ourselves.
The problem with this strategy for healing is that it doesn’t work. Not that you shouldn’t find supportive health partners to support you along your healing path; I think a healing team is essential, but where you are coming from makes all the difference. Coming from fear, (fix me or something is wrong with me) can lead you on a wild goose chase, never trusting any approach. Trusting and listening to your inner guidance (the body’s voice) can direct you to supportive practitioners that will work in partnership with you and your body.
Hand-In-Hand Parenting, a philosophy I appreciate for raising children, shares that misbehaving or “off-track behavior” is a symptom of the child feeling disconnected from themselves and the parent. When children are displaying “off-track behavior”, the initial impulse might be to discipline them or scold them to get them to behave and act better. But, based on this thinking, instead of berating, punishing or separating ourselves, we need to move in closer to find connection. When children are feeling good and connected, they are naturally cooperative and helpful.Same goes for our body. Our bodies naturally want to find balance, harmony, and ease – co-operate and play nice with the whole system. When our bodies are “off track”, what if, instead of blaming, shaming, ignoring, or moving away to find the answer, we moved in closer to re-establish that connection?
In Ayurveda, the word for healing is swasthya, which ultimately means to return to ourselves. The first step in returning to ourselves is slowing down and listening. We need to listen to our bodies first and foremost. There is a very particular type of listening that is needed.
Returning to the analogy of the child: I know for me, if I am listening to my children from an agenda, such as what is wrong, worry or fixing them, they all but shut down and won’t share. The same goes for our bodies – when we are listening from a place of fear, lack of trust, agenda, fixing it, or a time line, our bodies aren’t free to communicate with us or find a safe space to heal. This listening is a full body surrender.
Listening is the most powerful healing tool. Over the years, I have witnessed the extraordinary benefits of listening to my clients in consultation. I have also experienced the benefits in my own life being listened to. Being able to share our pain, fear and judgement from a place of acceptance is transformational. When we feel safe, deep relaxation takes place. Stress hormones decrease and the body is bathed in feel-good hormones, creating the foundation for healing.
When we are relaxed, safe to share and be ok as we are, another amazing thing happens – we can think about what we need and respond to our bodies signals to slow down, stop, breath etc. Our intelligence is liberated. We are the most brilliant healers for our own bodies when we listen.
I want to share a quick example of a client I worked with this week. He was dealing with a shoulder injury. We started by doing some EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) Tapping on his feelings around his shoulder.
We began with, “Even though I’m worried about not being able to play tennis again, I love and accept myself and I love and accept my body (tap-tap-tap…).” He then realized that he actually knew he was going to get better, but he felt impatient. I guided him in tapping on the feelings of impatience around his healing. After a couple rounds of tapping, he was feeling more relaxed around the healing process.
Then, I had him close his eyes and take a moment to connect and dialogue with his shoulder. He asked his shoulder, “What do you want to tell me, what do you need?” The shoulder replied, “I don’t like being abused and want you to pay attention and look after your whole body and not take it for granted.” Some tears started to flow (ahhh… more feel-good hormones being released). We tapped in this new information and he made a commitment to his body, to care for it. At the end of the session he was amazed at how much better his shoulder felt!
This practice of connecting and listening to the body is something you can do anytime, on your own. Right now, take a moment to stop and check in with your body. Is there a place that is drawing your attention? It might be experienced as pain, a place where the breath isn’t moving or an underlying emotion waiting to get acknowledged.
Begin by putting your hand or awareness on this area, connect with your breath, and start a conversation with your body. “Hi sweet body. How are you doing? I’m sorry you are hurting. Is there anything you want to share with me? What do you need?” Allow the conversation to unfold without an agenda.If you can really be with your body in a present, compassionate way and let go of the resistance, the path to healing may be a lot simpler and sweeter than you know. May you discover many jewels of wisdom on your journey.
If you have had a healing experience of listening to your body previously or in doing this practice today, please share your insights and inspire us all to be our own best healer.
March 4, 2019
Written by Kael Balizer
I want to tell you about some extraordinary results a client shared with me today during her follow-up Ayurvedic Consultation. She told me, “I look and feel 10 years younger in just 2-week.” You might be thinking she did something drastic to feel so much better. But what she did was so simple, which is what I love about Ayurveda. However, her body instantly responded with a big “Yes!”She started drinking water! Not the small amounts of iced water she was accustomed, but sipping adequate amounts of hot water throughout the day. Adequate is approximately ½ your body weight in ounces. In addition, she gave up her Coke Zero and went down to 1 cup of coffee instead of 3. She said, “I’m taking baby steps.”
Her body however, recognized this is as a big step in being able to function properly. Our bodies are made up of 70% water. Every function in our body requires proper hydration.
Most people are dehydrated at some level. Due to not listening to our bodies cry for water, over time our natural thirst detection mechanism gets shut down. Our bodies stop signaling us to drink water and we become chronically dehydrated.
If you have ever wondered how important water is, I’ll let her results speak for themselves.
She said her skin is more hydrated and softer and makes her look and feel 10 years younger. She said her hair is silky soft. She is loving it!
She also reported having way more energy. This was a surprising result for her. She was drinking the coke and coffee to give her enough energy to get through the day, but found she is actually more energized without it!
Her sleep improved drastically and she is now sleeping without her sleep medication! And she is no longer waking 2-3 times during the night to go pee. What?! Drinking more water and not getting up to pee? Our body utilizes H2O to hydrate our bodies on a cellular level, while caffeine from Coke and coffee is a diuretic and causes us to lose more fluid which furthers dehydration, not too mention aggravating our bladder.
She also shared that she is not experiencing swelling in her legs at the end of a long day of working on the computer. She attributes that to another practice we brought in of getting up periodically and laying on the floor with her feet elevated for a 10 min. mediation -yet another simple practice. I however think her water consumption, which is necessary to move lymph and activate circulation, is playing a part in the elimination of her edema as well. As a side, she has also lost a few pounds.All these results in 2-weeks with just a few simple changes. Imagine what you can do in 2-weeks by integrating the mind/body practices from the Spring Ayurvedic Home Cleanse. If you want to see quick results and incorporate lifestyle changes that are sustainable, join us for the Spring Cleanse beginning March 20. Start preparing by sipping hot water throughout the day and getting hydrated.
Created - April 17, 2019
By: Kael Balizer, Owner of Life In Balance Ayurvedic Rejuvenation
If you have spent anytime with Dr. Lad you may have heard him say in his singing dialect, “Bitter is Better for Pitta.” And I must add- for Kapha as well.
One of the keys to healthy digestion is getting all 6-tastes in each meal. The 6-tastes include; sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent. Each taste governs an important phase of digestion. Bitter is the least consumed in the Standard American Diet. While most people are aware and addicted to the sweet, sour and salty tastes, it takes some retraining to acquire a taste for bitter.
Bitter is composed of the elements of air and ether and has the dry, light and cold qualities. Thus, it balances the oily, hot qualities of Pitta (fire and water), and the heavy, damp qualities of Kapha (earth and water). In excess it will cause emaciation, depletion and dehydration for the Vata (air and ether) individual, given the increase in similar elements and qualities.
Spring is the perfect time to consumer bitters. It is what the earth is offering us to purify and rejuvenate the sites of Pitta and Kapha which include; blood, skin, liver, digestion, lymph and fat tissue. After a long damp winter, bitters help us to lighten up and loose winter weight, by scrape away fat.
The benefits of the bitters are vast. The bitter taste suppresses craving for sweet and balances blood sugar, so is particularly useful in the case of diabetes. Bitters are anti-inflammatory, cleanse the blood and all tissues in general to help reduce excess and tumors. It creates tightening of the muscles and skin. Bitter taste relieves inflammatory skin conditions and burning sensations. In small amounts it is stimulating to the digestion and kindles digestive fire.
On the emotional level, bitter helps to release suppressed anger and rage. The liver holds the emotion of anger. As you purify the liver with bitter foods, suppressed anger that has been lodged in the liver cells will begin to mobilize and transform.
Foods that include the bitter taste are:
- Bitter melon
- Japanese eggplant
- Turmeric
- Fenugreek seeds
- Leafy greens; including kale and arugula
- Basil
- Nettle
- Jicama
- Aloe vera
- Dark chocolate
3 simple ways to integrate the bitter taste into your diet:
Herbal teas – Herbs range from strong bitters like gentian to mild bitters like chamomile. You can add other digestives such as licorice, ginger and cardamom, to balance the bitter taste and dry, cold qualities. Enjoy 2 cups per day between meals.
Here are a few Spring Tea Recipes:
- Digestive Mineral Tea (Vata and Pitta Balancing) – 3-4 cups of water. Bring ½ inch of chopped fresh ginger root and add ½ tsp licorice root, bring to a boil. Turn off heat and add 1 Tbls fennel seeds and 1 Tbls nettle leaf. Turn Steep for 10 min. Strain.
- Blood Sugar Balancing Tea (Kapha Balancing)– 3-4 cups of water. Bring 1 tsp Fenugreek and ½ inch chopped or grated fresh ginger root to a boil. Turn off heat and add 1/4 tsp turmeric and ½ tsp cinnamon powder, ¼ tsp ground cardamom and let steep for 10 minutes. Strain. Fenugreek lowers blood sugar and cholesterol and can increase milk flow for lactating women.
- Liver and Blood Detox Tea (Pitta Balancing)– 3-4 cups of water. Bring ½ tps Burdock root, ½ tsp dandelion root, ½ tsp milk thistle seed, ½ tsp licorice root and ½ inch grated ginger root to a boil. Turn off heat and add 1 tsp nettle, 1 tsp red clover, ½ tsp rose and 1 tsp coriander seeds and let steep for 10 minutes. Strain.
- Have a side salad with tender leafy greens or add on the top of a soup or other cooked dish. Bitter Spring Greens include arugula, dandelion, endives etc. The best is to get mixed spring greens from the Farmers Market. The bagged or supermarket greens taste nothing like those coming straight out of the earth. Spring is the time for greens!
- Hardy greens like kale, chard, collard and mustard can be sautéed with ghee or olive oil, turmeric, coriander, salt and a squeeze of lime at the end. Add some baked beets on the side and you have all six tastes!
Enjoy your bitter foods, but balance with the other foods so you stay sweet!
