April 2019 Newsletter

PATONGA YOGA RETREAT IN OCTOBER. Anyone interested please contact  me this month.

HEART TO HEART - AYURVEDIC WELLNESS
Christmas was a very busy and stressful time for me this year. The heat didn’t help and my Mum breaking her ankle whilst she was here for 9 weeks holiday. My yoga teaching and home practice supported me and allowed me to step away into peace and calm. I practiced a lot of meditation and restorative yin yoga...lovely !
A pitta imbalance. The fire element aggravated by a very hot summer. I occasionally suffer from eczema and it flared up over Christmas, as well as my hot flushes getting worse. To cut a long story short I finally went to the Docter for some cortisone cream and while I was there she checked my blood pressure. It was slightly high!
The whole learning curve from this has been amazing. I got out my Ayurvedic books, I found an organic online supplier of tonic Ayurvedic Herbs, these were very hard to source 10 years ago. The most important thing it has given me is a reason to rest and say no without guilt. 
I have this lovely, nurturing treatment plan...no surprise that high blood pressure is connected to the heart chakra and family. My slightly high blood pressure is pitta in origin…
If you have high blood pressure due to Pitta here are some positive changes you can make in your life. Do not stop taking any medication without consulting your Docter, luckily mine is only slight and has already returned to normal.
The first thing I did was buy myself a journal to write a list of things to bring into my daily life.

Notes on whether they are helpful and reminders of things I forget to do. Nothing is daily just as often as possible. I have 17 lovely things to do in my life and here they are...I haven’t the space to explain why but they also help with eczema and stress as they are of course interconnected.

-Cooling and calming Sandalwood essential oil on the brow before bed for undisturbed sleep.

-Wear a silver ring with emerald, pearl or moonstone on my right middle finger of the right hand. I've had fun with this one…”I have high blood pressure and need to buy an emerald ring.!". Dave joked it has kept his blood pressure low as I found a silver and freshwater pearl ring for only $25 at the Rocks Market which I love wearing...the Emeralds looked too flashy and showed off my scruffy garden hands! Crystals and gems are powerful healing for the mind in Ayurveda.

-Avoid alcohol, spicy food, peaches, tomatoes and yoghurt as much as possible.

-Limit exposure to the sun.

-No strong exercise.

-Herbal teas such as Gotu Cola, Calamus, Valerian, Skullcap and motherwort. I love Tulsi and gotu cola and have found a delicious bed time tea called Tulsi Sleep by Organic India...the whole family love this one so I need to buy some more !

-Heart Meditation. I will teach this in class this month.

-Peace, love and forgiveness meditation with my heart chakra singing bowl. Some of you will have practiced this one already in class. Don’t forget to let me know if something really works for you it encourages me to teach it more often.

-Extended physical and mental rest...Restorative yin yoga is wonderful for me. I am not very good at sitting doing nothing. I have to have some thing to focus my mind.

-Yoga Nidra.

-A special yoga routine written by Iyengar for high blood pressure.

-Creativity - I have started painting again and will get my knitting out when the weather cools down.

-Sitting watching my breath.

-Viloma Breathing ( I’ll teach this in class also it’s lovely and relaxing.

-Take time each day with my shower or bath and massage the face, hands and feet.

-Dog walk in the cool and dark.

-Ayurvedic tonic herbs such as ashwaghana, shatavari, gotu cola and triphala. They are cheap and last for ages so I did a big order. I was very excited to find them online.

If you would like to become a student of your health and well being and learn from your own health problems and develop a wellness plan with me. Starting with learning what interests you the most .

I recommend starting the course who knows what imbalance will be next and you will have understanding and if you are guided through my knowledge as well.

Or make a Heart to Heart appointment and come and visit me at home or zoom consultation 
Namaste Julie

PS My Blood Pressure is back to normal but I will continue with my wellness plan because it is lovely!                     

It was checked after a month.