Monthly Archives:August 2014

Start Your Day By Helping Your Body Clean Itself with Warm Water with Lemon and Cayenne

Ditch the coffee! Drink this, instead, and your body will thank you!

There are so many benefits to starting your day off with this.  My morning routine typically consists of oil pulling, then warm water with lemon and cayenne, then green juice about 30-60 minutes later.

I won’t lie, it took some getting used to, and I would skip days of drinking this.  However, every single one of those days I’ve skipped, I’ve noticed a considerable difference with the release of fluids from my body.  Because of that, I now drink this every single morning that I can.  Maybe this is TMI, but I do notice a difference in color of my morning urine as well as volume.  The reason this happens is because the fresh squeezed lemon helps clean out the liver, which is one of the most important organs in your body because that is what clears out the toxins from your body.  However, it gets bogged down when it is overwhelmed with toxins to process, resulting in diseases, allergies, weight gain, a poor complexion, etc.

What are some other benefits?  Glad you asked.

• vitamin C from the lemons = boost in the immune system
• provides your body with natural energy in various ways, including by hydrating your lymph system
• pectin fiber from the lemons aids in colon health
• alkalyzing power balances the pH in the body (meaning it fights against your body becoming too acidic)
• aids digestion and encourages production of bile
• great source of citric acid, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium
• dissolves uric acid, thus reducing pain and inflammation in joints and promotes healing
• helps against acne and wrinkles
• relieves tooth pain and gingivitis
• helps prevent kidney stones
• assists in weight loss
• and again, it helps cleanse your system by getting rid of unwanted substances from your liver!

Okay you convinced me.  How do I do it?

Quite simple, actually.  Take a cup of filtered water and heat it up over the stovetop (nuking it just takes away the whole point).  Mine is strong so it only takes a few seconds.  Meanwhile, squeeze half a lemon into a cup and add a pinch of cayenne pepper.  Add water and drink.  This should be the first thing you consume in the morning.  Try to wean off the coffee – it’ll just negate what you did for your body.

Enjoy the benefits!

Previous Detox Post – How to Naturally Relieve Sinus Congestion

Next Detox Post – Face Clearing Exfoliator

Standing bow is sometimes also called dancer’s pose.  It is one of the 26 asanas or postures in a Bikram hot yoga class, but it does make appearances in other classes as well.

Some people seem to can’t figure out how to get further in this pose so I’m going to give a few not-so-obvious tips to help you out.  Obvious tips would be to work on your balance and to keep practicing.  Well, while you do that, try these tips as well!

Tip 1: Bend your back

One thing that many people don’t realize about getting into a deeper standing bow is how much back bending is involved to get into the posture.  As you raise your leg, you are supposed to keep yourself upright before folding over.  Many people start folding their torsos over as soon as they feel any discomfort, but try to take notice of that discomfort and pull your leg up a little higher while staying upright (hence the back bend) before folding over.  Obviously, keep that leg in the same position or higher as you fold over.  This will help open up your hips some more as you fold over.  As you can see in an old picture of myself in class, there is a bend in my back as I’m folding down.

Tip 2: Work on opening your hips

I suggest that you work on other postures that will open your hips, and start practicing hanumanasana (monkey pose, or put simply, a split).  Once I started incorporating a split into every class, this pose started becoming easier to get into, as you can see from this picture about a year later:

One thing to keep in mind, however, is you want to try to level your hips.  It is easier for us to open up your hips in this pose, but you want to try to get both hipbones parallel to the floor.  If you can see in the below picture (I know it’s not perfect), my standing leg looks pretty stable, and that’s because my hipbones are facing the ground instead of opening up.

Tip 3: Start lowering your hand

As you get deeper and deeper into this pose, try to see if you can bring your hand down to your shins, which will help you pull your leg closer to your body and, thus, bring the foot closer to the sky.

Previous Yoga Post – Knock Out That Headstand!

 Next Yoga Post – Crow Pose

So easy and so quick to make, and a great way to get some potassium, zinc, iron, and manganese, not to mention vitamins A, B, C, and E!  This raw vegan, gluten free delight is my favorite way to eat fruit!  You can use other fruits, of course, instead of mango and pineapple, but the banana is necessary to sweeten it.  I find that raspberries result in a slightly unpleasant texture due to the seeds.  The easiest way to make this is to use a juicer with a homogenizer attachment, which should be found with most single and twin gear juicers.  I’ll provide a recipe for use with a blender but I cannot entirely vouch for it, and it may result in more of a soft serve than a sorbet.

Ingredients:

• 1 frozen ripened banana
• 1/2 package frozen pineapple
• 1/2 package frozen mango

Juicer Method

1. Break up the banana into 6 pieces.
2. Put through juicer using homogenizer attachment, alternating fruits.  I put a couple pieces of pineapple, followed by a piece of banana, and then a couple pieces of mango.

Blender Method

1. Let banana sit out at room temperature for about 10 minutes.
2. Blend pineapples and mangoes to break them up, then add the banana.
3. You may have to stop the blender and scoop the sides many times before everything comes together.

There you go!