 I'm changing things up a bit, starting with this post.
Join our BestYOU community for regular blogs, inspiration posts, and for the first time, I'm sharing a recipe. I hope you enjoy this delicious and healthy apple crisp recipe I've created since I've been helping my mom, who recently broke her ankle. Trying to make tasty and healthy food to aid in her healing process, I adapted an old recipe (eliminating the sugar and flour, after trying to use half the sugar). Healthy can definitely be tasty - Enjoy! Apple Crisp Recipe: Preheat oven to 375 degrees (bake for 40 -45 minutes) 6 cups of Macintosh or other tart apples cut thin in smile shaped slices (with skin on) Place apple slices in 2-3 inch high baking dish, leaving one inch for topping Squeeze 1/2 - 1 fresh lemon over the apples (lime can be substituted) *1/3 cup brown sugar is half the original recipe - if using no sugar, add 1 tablespoon water Topping: Mix with a large spoon in a separate bowl: Quick cooking oats - approximately 1 1/2 cups Ghee (clarified butter) - enough to wet the oats - approximately 1/3-1/2 cup Cinnamon to taste - I add liberally - I use 2-3 teaspoons Nutmeg - 1 teaspoon Spoon the topping over the apples Drizzle Grade A Maple Syrup over all This recipe can easily be adjusted for more or fewer apples. Just make sure to leave 1 inch of space in the baking dish for the topping. Serve warm in a bowl with almond milk for a nutritious treat! CALLING FOR GUEST BLOGGERS! In order to provide BestYOU followers with a variety of writing and thoughts to ponder, I plan to share 'guest posts' each month. Some of the guest posts will be solicited, after reading particularly good articles or posts, I'd like to share with all of you. Some will hopefully come from you, BestYOU followers. If you are interested in sharing a 'guest post', please send me an email at mary@BestYOULife.com. I can't wait to read and share what you have to say with our BestYOU community. Some simple guidelines: Please keep BestYOU 'guest post' topics to life issues and how they may benefit from Yoga, Ayurveda, nutrition, healing, spirituality, meditation or general well-being of mind, body and spirit. Other great, healthy recipes would be welcomed too. Thank you for taking this journey with me! Loving Life and Living Love, Mary If you haven't signed up for the blog posts, please do. I welcome you to leave a comment below or post one on my BestYOU Facebook page. Sharing your thoughts is a gift to all of us!  Check out the new look of BestYOU at www.BestYOULife.com!
From the 5 Points of Yoga, to information on Ayurveda and Diet, to Resources for a healthy, happy and joyful life, my new site awaits YOU! I hope you will join the special community of followers of my journey, by signing up for regular updates. Special Bonus - you will receive a free audio with 3 Practical Strategies that could help you in Coping With Everyday Stress! If you feel like you need some extra encouragement, you can sign up to Jumpstart your own journey with Skype coaching sessions. I’m excited and honored to be a part of your journey, and to hopefully inspire you in creating a life you love to live – YOUR Best Life! Thank you for taking this journey with me! Loving Life and Living Love, Mary If you haven't signed up for the blog posts, please do. I welcome you to leave a comment below or post one on my BestYOU Facebook page. Sharing your thoughts is a gift to all of us!  Care-giving for my mom, while she is recovering from a fall down the stairs and broken ankle, has been a blessing in many ways. Not the least of which has been the opportunity for me to observe in myself, a real and significant change that can be directly attributed to my time doing the year long, Ayurvedic-Yogic lifestyle study at the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat in the Bahamas.
In the past, I shied away from anyone's health problems, including my own. I've often stated that I just wasn't a 'nurse type'. The site of blood made me feel nauseous. I accepted that I was uncomfortable, often became overheated, light headed and even felt physically weak, around people who were sick. I'm the one who fainted in hospital settings - once, even falling to the floor on top of my kids, as I tried to make it to the water fountain in the hallway. The smells in the hospital and seeing my aunt all hooked up to tubes, did me in. Luckily, both of my children were generally quite healthy, and I was able to muster the fortitude to care for them with the few illnesses that they had. What's so different about today? I am different. I eat a mostly vegan diet, maintain my daily meditation, pranayama (breathing) and asana (yoga poses) practices in order to keep healthy myself and maintain balance. I'm up before the sun, and Mom and I have a routine figured out so that she has everything she needs in the way of help. I have cared for my mom in ways I never thought that I could stomach in the past. Not only was I fine with what was called for in order to help her, I actually felt good about helping Mom. Not once have I felt weak or uncomfortable. In the month that I have been in this care-giving role, I can honestly say that I've felt love toward my mom and happiness in the feelings of being able to help her. Those are pretty amazing blessings from a 'non nurse type'. It will still be another month or so until Mom is up and on her feet comfortably again. I'm really happy that what I feel is blessed in the opportunity to help her. We've had lots of laughs, and I've had plenty of chances to practice my culinary and domestic skills. Mostly, it's been fun! Before the Ashram experience, I would have never thought that. I like the new me. ANNOUNCING: NEW BestYOU WEBSITE COMING SOON! I can't wait to share my new website and new offerings with you. Loving life and living Love, Thank you for taking this journey with me! If you haven't signed up for the blog posts, please do. I also welcome you to leave a comment below or post one on my BestYOU facebook page. Sharing your thoughts is a gift to all of us!  In turbulent times, whether it's life threatening weather, terrorist attacks, confrontational politics or economy related, the number of words expressed on these topics can be overwhelming. Sentiments supportive and oppositional to the many sides of such issues are voiced on TV news programs, in newspapers, on social media channels, in the workplace and at social gatherings. The words it seems, flow endlessly. The words can add up to undesirable stress to add to our already stress filled lives.
Last week's blog focused on breathing to help you bring balance and calm whenever you find yourself in stressful situations. I shared how regular, easy breathing when challenged by stressors such as anxiety, fear and pain could be maintained using a calm, practiced approach to the breath, in any stressful situation. This week, I'd like to suggest adding 'meditation' to the toolbox of stress relievers as a way of maintaining balance and calm in our lives. Meditation is a silent practice - no spoken words - that combined with focus on the breath is one of the simplest ways to achieve the desired balance and calm. Research has shown that even 10-15 minutes of meditating per day, for several weeks, produces detectable, positive brain wave changes, resulting in reductions of stress, anxiety, and an increased sense of well being. Sitting in a comfortable cross legged position with a straight back and hands resting gently on the legs in a traditional yoga hand position (chin mudra) with first finger and thumb touching and palms facing up with the other three fingers out is the most typical way to meditate. But, sitting in a chair with back straight and feet flat on the ground and hands lying gently on the lap, works just as well, and also effective is walking meditation in a natural setting. It's not about clearing our mind, but rather about focusing our mind and observing it when our mind wanders. Becoming familiar with our own mind and noticing where it naturally wanders is part of the practice, bringing it back to the focus whenever it wanders. Focusing on the breath or focusing on the universal sound 'Om' are two common techniques. Whatever is your preferred method of meditating, consistency and practice will make it the most helpful in alleviating stress and maintaining balance and calm in your life. My you be blessed with a calm and balanced week. Namaste and Love, Thank you for taking this journey with me! If you haven't signed up for the blog post updates, please do. I also welcome you to leave a comment below or post one on my BestYOU facebook page. Sharing your thoughts is a gift to all of us!  Did you struggle to wake up, after a restless night? Did you then have to rush to get ready for work, juggling other family members' needs while getting ready? Did you run out of the house, perhaps quickly eating on the way to work or school, frustrated in heavy traffic or standing on a crowded train or bus - only to get to work late or just on time, with a meeting underway or having forgotten that you were supposed to attend one? Do these high stress situations usually continue throughout your day?
Generally, when the body faces stress, it goes into the 'fight or flight' mode of response. Our heart beats faster, we generate heat and we breathe faster and shallower - The body reacts to stress as though we are facing an emergency situation, designed to anticipate the need to fight or escape the huge bear or other predator that we might be facing. Not many bears in most of our lives, but stressful situations are greater than ever. Hormones are activated in a stressful situation by the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system and rush into the bloodstream to signal a potential threat to our well being. These stress hormones are necessary and good in emergency situations, but chronic stress results in the excess release of stress hormones, which can then lead to immune-system malfunction, gastrointestinal issues, and blood vessel deterioration, among other health complications, according to the Heart MD Institute website. Further noted on the site, "over time, such symptoms can evolve into degenerative diseases like diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease." In numerous studies, utilizing high tech brain scans and heart monitoring, the yogic breathing that I learned doing yoga and in my training to be a yoga teacher has been shown to help. Pranayama (life force) breathing exercises calm and regulate the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and can benefit all of us, off the yoga mat as well as on the mat. While we cannot control when or how stressful situations will surface and challenge us, we can manage the physiological reaction to the stressors by using yogic breathing to relax the body. "Relaxation counteracts the effects of the 'fight or flight' response by helping to boost the immune system function, reduce blood pressure and cortisol levels, and protect tissues from damage caused by stress-hormones." (Heart MD Institute) Dr. Stephen Sinatra, board-certified cardiologist, certified bioenergetic psychotherapist, and certified nutrition and anti-aging specialist spoke at the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat in the Bahamas last year about the benefits of yogic breathing. "The solution to stress lies within us. Nature has given us a defense mechanism with which to combat the physical effects of stress: parasympathetic nervous system activity catalyzed by diaphragmatic breathing." Breathing yogic breaths, using the diaphragm in slow and focused movements, helps to immediately calm the autonomic nervous system (ANS). YOGIC BREATHING - HOW TO GUIDE It's best to practice the breathing techniques and become very familiar with them, in order to use them comfortably and most effectively. With practice, the diaphragmatic and alternate nostril breathing techniques can be used with ease. When something is routine, we can “just do it” (i.e. let our thoughts go because we don’t need to think so much about what we are doing). In a stressful situation, use the breathing as long as needed. Diaphragmatic breathing is simple and will quickly have impact on the body. To Practice:
Alternate nostril breathing is another breathing technique that is helpful in balancing and calming the ANS. To Practice:
Next time you are in a stress filled situation or stuck in traffic or are elbow to elbow with others on public transportation and feeling the effects of stress..... or feel a headache developing or experience an unexpected sharp pain.....focus on your breathing and notice the immediate calming sensation. I hope this information will be helpful to you. Namaste and Love, Thank you for taking this journey with me! If you haven't signed up for the blog post updates, please do. I also welcome you to leave a comment below or post one on my BestYOU facebook page. Sharing your thoughts is a gift to all of us! |
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