Golden 'Yogi Tea' Recipe
Yogi tea will give you a natural “high” while your feet stay firmly grounded. It is a tonic for the nervous system, improves memory, gives you energy, prevents colds and flu, and naturally warms the body.
Yogi tea will give you a natural “high” while your feet stay firmly grounded. It is a tonic for the nervous system, improves memory, gives you energy, prevents colds and flu, and naturally warms the body.
Ingredients
4 Cups Water
12 Cloves
16 Green Cardamon pods
16 Whole Black Peppercorns
2 Cinnamon Sticks
4 Big Slices of fresh ginger root
1 tsp Black tea (optional - we make it caffeine free at the studio)
2 Cups milk (optional) - cow, rice, almond, or soy of your choice)
Method
Boil spices for 10-15 minutes. Add black tea and steep for 2 minutes. Add milk, then reheat to boiling point. Remove from heat and strain. Add honey or raw sugar to taste. Makes about 4 cups.
HEALTH BENEFITS
~ Black Pepper: to purify blood
~ Cardamon: for colon
~ Cinnamon: for bones
~ Ginger: strengthens nervous system and prevents colds / flu
~ Milk: aids in assimilation of spices and avoids irritation to colon and stomach.
~ Black tea: acts as a catylst for other ingredients
Ref: Foods for Health & Healing Remedies and Recipes, by Yogi Bhajan
10 Winter Self-Care Tips to get you through the Colder Months
The winter months can be a challenging time both physically and mentally with your health. Self-Care strategies are needed to get through the colder months to boost immunity and support your mental health. Here are 10 Winter Self-Care Tips to get you through the colder months:
The winter months can be a challenging time both physically and mentally with your health. Self-Care strategies are needed to get through the colder months to boost immunity and support your mental health. Here are 10 Winter Self-Care Tips to get you through the colder months:
Get some Sunlight Everyday. The lack of sunlight can negatively affect our health and mood. Try to get some time outside during the daylight hours everyday. It will help to boost your mood and sunlight directly on the skin is important for vitamin D production.
Stick to Regular Eating Patterns. It is common for people to gain weight over the winter as they eat heavier food. Irregular or unhealthy eating can contribute to negative moods and poor immunity. Aim to keep to a regular eating pattern with meals with the focus on eating lots of vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, kale, and silverbeet.
Enjoy a Hot Bath. Great way to warm up and relax tense muscles. A warm bath make the blood flow easier and allow you to destress . Taking a hot bath or spa can improve immunity and relieve the symptoms of cold and flu.
Exercise. Going to the gym, a walk, or a yoga class can help boost circulation and lymphatic flow to remove toxins from the body. Exercise can be challenging in the winter as we can be tempted to isolate and hibernate. Set a goal to move your body daily.
Meditate. Winter is a good time to establish a daily mindfulness or meditation practice. Create a daily habit by starting a meditation practice at home for 5-10 minutes.
Breathe. Long deep breathing is so simple and so good to oxygenate the body. The lungs clear waste from the body. When we slow the breath down and breath from the diaphragm it calms the Nervous System to relax the body and mind.
Make a Cup of Tea. Herbal tea is a great way to therapeutically heal the body and create warmth within. My favourite is Yogi Tea with ginger, cardamon, peppercorns, cloves, and cinnamon: https://goldenyogi.co.nz/blog/yogi-tea-recipe. This tea creates a lot of internal warmth and supports cleansing the body.
Listen to Your Body. If you feel like you are getting sick stay at home and take care of yourself. Make a big pot of vegetable or chicken soup and get some good quality rest. When you feel like you are getting sick start taking some more vitamin C to help clear the infection and boost immunity. Vitamin C in megadoses (1000mg / 3 x per day) relieves and helps with reducing the duration of cold and flu symptoms.
Read. Curl up with a good book in bed or on the couch. Quite often we get tempted to be on the phone or watching TV but reading books can be great way to relax. Simply opening a book and reading can change your mind and stress levels for the better.
Take a cold shower. While it may seem counterintuitive to hop in a cold shower when you are feeling cold but hydrotherapy has been used for hundreds of years to rejuvenate and boost circulation. Having a cold shower every day can improve skin problems, boost circulation, strengthen immunity, and allow you to feel more energised.
10 Essentials to Boost your Immunity Naturally
10 Essentials to Boost your Immunity Naturally
Eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole foods.
For our immune system to function optimally it relies on nutrient dense whole foods. Majority of people are deficient in one or more nutrients which can lead to poor immunity and disease. Vegetables are the foundation for a healthy diet as they provide the body with essential nutrients like Vitamin C and antioxidants. We should aim for at least two fruits and 6+ servings of vegetables everyday.
Hydrate the body.
Our body is made up to 60% water. Consuming adequate fluids supports the bodies functions for elimination of toxins. Dehydration can cause headaches and increase your susceptibility to illness. To prevent dehydration you should be drinking enough fluid daily to make your urine pale yellow. Aim to drink at least 8 cups of water or herbal tea throughout the day. Keep a bottle of filtered water with you at all times. If you struggle to drink plain water add cucumber, lime, lemon, or any other fruit into your water bottle for a little flavour.
Exercise
It is best to exercise everyday to support the immune and lymphatic systems. Avoid over exertion like long runs especially when you are feeling rundown. Do a variety of activities to stay active like walking, swimming, jogging. cycling, yoga and any other fitness routines you enjoy. Aim for at least 150 minutes per week which is about 20 to 30 minutes per day.
Get adequate sleep
Sleep restores and heals the body. The key component is deep sleep as this is the time where the body can do a lot of healing and repairing. Create a sleep routine to allow the body to have a set circadian rhythm. Aim to head to bed earlier before 10:30pm and aim to sleep 7 to 8 hours per night. If you struggle to get to sleep and have a busy mind try to incorporate relaxation and breathing techniques in the evening before bed.
The Trinity roots - Onion, garlic and ginger
These provides a wide spectrum of anti-microbial properties to help the body fight Infections. These are known to treat the common cold and ward off viruses with their anti-viral, antifungal, and antibacterial properties. Add these ingredients to soups, stir-fries, dips, and curries.
Stress Management - Yoga, Breathing, and Meditation
Long-term stress promotes inflammation and reduces the immune cell function. When we have prolonged psychological stress or physical stress it’s suppresses the immune system. We can reduce stress through the use of meditation, exercise, yoga, mindfulness, and journaling. Create a daily practice to be consistent. Choose one stress management tool and aim to do 10 minutes daily. Little and often is more beneficial than once a week. These techniques will calm the nervous system and reduce your perceived stress levels.
Supplements
Studies indicate that the following supplements strengthen your bodies immune system:
⁃ Vitamin C. Taking 1000 to 2000 mg of vitamin C can reduce the duration of colds and boosts your immune system to recover from infection.
⁃ Vitamin D. When we are deficient in vitamin D it may increase your chances of getting sick. Our main source of vitamin D is sunlight on the skin, however, during winter we may need to supplement to get adequate vitamin D.
⁃ Zinc. Supplementing with 50 mg per day is known to reduce the duration of the common cold.
Herbal medicine
The following herbs will enhance the immune system:
⁃ Astragalus
⁃ Echinacea
⁃ Elderberry
⁃ Andrographis
⁃ Goldenseal
Reduce sugar intake
Eating or drinking too much sugar reduces the immune system function and the ability to fight off infection. Research shows that consuming 75 to 100 g of sugar can hinder the body is immune function. The suppression of the immune system starts as soon as 30 minutes after the consumption of sugar and can last up to 4 or five hours!!
Eat more fibre.
Fibre is key for proper elimination of toxins through the digestive system. We need a Combination of soluble and insoluble fibre. Soluble fibre mainly comes through fruits like bananas mango avocado. This type of fibre helps to form soft stolls. And insoluble fibre is the more stringy rough fibre which comes mainly through leafy greens and vegetables. Fibre helps to move waste through the digestive system and maintain bowel movements daily.
Winter Motivation & Inspiration
Over the winter months our natural tendency is to slow down and hibernate from the cold. It is important to keep our bodies moving so we stay healthy. When we exercise and move our body it helps to boost circulation of blood and lymphatic flow through the body, and makes us feel happy.
Your lymphatic system needs exercise to work. The lymphatic system is known as the guardian system to remove waste products from the body. Unlike the circulatory system pumping the blood around the body, the lymphatic system has no pump so relies on us moving our body to stimulate this system. Whenever we move our muscles we are helping the lymphatic system move lymph fluid through the body. To remain healthy it is important that the body is removing toxins and waste products efficiently from the body.
Exercise keeps us happy. It is hard to stay motivated to keep active over the cold winter months when the circulation is sluggish. When we feel sluggish we generally have lower motivation and do not feel like exercising. Exercising regularly will benefit both our body and mind to keep you feeling great over the winter. The hardest part about exercising is having the motivation to get to a yoga class, the gym, or out for a walk in the cold. To keep motivated it is best to create an exercise routine for yourself. Once we start and our blood flow starts circulating we generally feel great!
Write yourself a weekly exercise schedule. This will help you to stay on track. Try to aim to do something most days as little and often is a lot more achievable than doing big long sessions. Set goals for the week and make them achievable for yourself so you can succeed with the plan. Aim for 20-30 minutes per day.
Yoga keeps you happy & healthy 😀Yoga is great to move your body but also stimulate the glandular system to keep you healthy. The Nadi Energy channels are like an energy highway system through the body and these energy channels link to the glands. Yoga postures create angles and shapes to pressurise the Nadi channels and stimulate through the glands in the body. Healthy glands are important for your health, immunity and regulate your mood.
With less natural sun light there is a higher incidence of depression and low mood over the winter months. Yoga and meditation helps boost your mood so you can feel happy. The important glands for happiness are pituitary and pineal glands. These glands regulate our neurotransmitters to allow us to feel happy and balance our mood.
By Erin O'Hara
5 Tips to Boost your Immunity
The dreaded winter cold/flu that inevitably strikes when the seasons switch. Try these top 5 immunity tips to boost your health and dodge the bugs this winter.
1. Reduce your stress externally and emotionally. When we are feeling stressed our immune system is also compromised. Try to add in 5-10 minutes of daily breathing or meditation into your daily routine.
2. Eat warming foods. Over the winter months we tend to want to eat more comfort foods. Instead of eating rich creamy foods switch to healthy nutritious vegetable soups and slow cooked foods. To build internal fire increase warming foods such as cloves, ginger, chilli, horseradish and pepper. Try to use fruit and vegetables that are seasonal and local so they are packed full of nutrients.
3. Reduce sugar intake. The negative effects of sugar starts within 30 minutes and last for over 5 hours!! Sugar typically reduces the ability of the white blood cells to destroy and engulf bugs by about 50%. Try to have less than 50g of sugar per day (12.5 teaspoons). The more sugar you consume the greater the negative impact on the immune system.
4. Take Vitamin C daily. Vitamin C is antiviral and antibacterial. It helps to enhance the response of white blood cells to fight infections and reduce the severity of a common cold. Take a maintenance dose over the winter of 1000mg per day and then when you are feeling like you are getting sick take small doses (250mg) every 2 hours. Increases interferon (chemical factor that fights viral infection and cancer). Vitamin C has a direct biochemical effect on white blood cells as interferon.
5. Boost your immunity with herbal medicine
- Echinacea root: Maintains upper respiratory tract health and supports the body's own natural immune system to bring effective relief from the symptoms of colds, flu and minor infection.
- Astragalus: A traditional Chinese herb to enhance immune function and has a mild antiviral activity to help prevent colds.
- Andrographis: Supports the body's immune system when dealing with cold symptoms.
- Withania (Ashwaganda): Enhances immune function and is a natural antioxidant.
- Goldenseal: It is anti-microbial, anti-biotic, anti-inflammatory and astringent. So it can help fight bacterial infections, and fungal disorders.
By Erin O'Hara
Strong Digestion in Summer = Strong Immunity in Winter
Yoga teacher and Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner Angie Gervan explains how improving digestion in summer can set us up for a robust immune system over the following winter.
Yoga teacher and Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner Angie Gervan explains how improving digestion in summer can set us up for a robust immune system over the following winter.
In summer we can easily think we are at optimum health but a golden glow isn’t necessarily indicative of what’s going on inside. Digestion can easily be compromised during the warmer months. While you probably already know over-eating and heavy foods can tax the digestive system, Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners also advise that eating too much “cold” food stresses the digestive system. Foods from the fridge and ice-cold drinks can put out our digestive fire, but cold foods are not just those foods cold in temperature, but also those that are cold in nature such as dairy, some vegetables, fruit and sweet foods - sugar is considered a cold food in TCM. You can balance cooler meals like summer salads with cooked vegetables - try adding some warm roast sweet potato to your plate. Think of soups as not just a winter dish, when made with seasonal green vegetables a summer soup can be really refreshing.
Cold foods can be enjoyable in the warmer months but be mindful of the time of day that you are consuming them – it’s best to start with something warm first thing in the morning, so save the cool smoothies and juices until midday or late afternoon. If you are making juices, add some fresh ginger as a healing agent (ginger is warm in nature and great for your digestive system) and consume at room temperature.
In tropical climates, people often drink hot tea which helps to maintain the digestive fire. In Japan during summer barley tea is commonly consumed; this brown tea is cooling in nature and sipped warm to perfectly balance the system. Protecting your digestive system over summer is said to avoid the late summer and autumn bouts of gastro according to TCM.
If you are craving ice cold drinks and foods, this is an indication that your system is internally expressing too much heat. There are a few indicators which you can look out for; redness is often a sign that too much heat is present. Look at your skin colour, rings around your eyes and if you are female you can also look at your menstrual colour – is it more red than normal? Other common signs are trouble getting to sleep at night and dry skin.
Drinking plenty of good quality water in summer especially is important. Adding a hint of lemon and mint to your water is really refreshing and will keep summer colds away. Lemon is good to move energy in the system and mint is cooling in nature and will help to reduce internal heat.
Swimming of course is great and fun in summer! But for women it’s important to be conscious of your body’s state before you take a dip. If you are menstruating or post birth, stay out of cold water - the cold energy can enter your body more easily at this time and lodge in your system. But if you do find yourself taking a refreshing swim, you can counterbalance this by changing into warm dry clothing soon after, drinking warm tea or adding a warm compress to your navel and back. Note: dark bleeding at your menses time, lower back pain, cramping are often an indication of cold lodged in our system - not a good feeling for your body.
It isn’t commonly known that the seasons preceding the cooler months can predetermine how your immune system will respond when winter strikes. But taking good care of yourself during summer will boost your immune system for the months to come. If your last winter was a challenging health-wise for you, think back to your summer - did you take time to rest, eat well, take in the warmth and enjoy nature at that time? Often our winter health is a reflection of the summer before in TCM terms so really enjoy and utilise the vibrant energy of summer to stock up on warmth and boost your immune system!
YOGI TEA
Yogi tea will give you a natural “high” while your feet stay firmly grounded. It is a tonic for the nervous system, improves memory, gives you energy, prevents colds and flu, and naturally warms the body.
Yogi tea will give you a natural “high” while your feet stay firmly grounded. It is a tonic for the nervous system, improves memory, gives you energy, prevents colds and flu, and naturally warms the body.
Ingredients
4 Cups Water
12 Cloves
16 Green Cardamon pods
16 Whole Black Peppercorns
2 Cinnamon Sticks
4 Big Slices of fresh ginger root
1 tsp Black tea (optional - we make it caffeine free at the studio)
2 Cups milk (optional) - cow, rice, almond, or soy of your choice)
Method
Boil spices for 10-15 minutes. Add black tea and steep for 2 minutes. Add milk, then reheat to boiling point. Remove from heat and strain. Add honey or raw sugar to taste. Makes about 4 cups.
HEALTH BENEFITS
~ Black Pepper: to purify blood
~ Cardamon: for colon
~ Cinnamon: for bones
~ Ginger: strengthens nervous system and prevents colds / flu
~ Milk: aids in assimilation of spices and avoids irritation to colon and stomach.
~ Black tea: acts as a catylst for other ingredients
Ref: Foods for Health & Healing Remedies and Recipes, by Yogi Bhajan
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