I’ve practiced ten years of seasonal cleansing at the start of every Spring and Fall (with one glaring exception in the Fall of 2010, the consequences you can read about here). I’ve experienced first hand the enormous benefits of resetting the body’s natural ability to function at its optimal level. Throughout my cleanses, the support of my Ayurvedic practitioner Pratima Raichur, and more recently my Living Ayurveda teacher, Cate Stillman, has been invaluable.

Many people in my life, including yoga students, have become curious about these cleanses over the decade. They’ve observed the beverages and food I consumed and brought to class and wanted to know more details. What was I eating and for how long? How did I feel, why were my eyes so clear, etc. In 2012, separately, two friends who are yoga teachers asked me to work with them privately, designing and coaching them through Spring cleanses. In the summer of 2012, a long time student asked if I would teach a group cleanse in the Fall for her friends and family. They were scattered across the country, so I designed the Reset and Renew Seven Day cleanse as a teleclass, which began with 19 individuals in late September 2012. 100% of the participants rated it as a positive experience, and 100% also said the seven day length was just right.

With 19 personal cleanses under my belt, I’ve experienced the profound benefits of cleansing, as well as pitfalls and mistakes. Surely as winter turns to Spring, and Summer to Fall, I schedule a seasonal cleanse on my calendar. For those new to cleansing, theReset and Renew Cleanseis a perfect way to create self care routines, add nourishing whole foods to your diet, and make room to release what no longer serves in all areas of your life.

Just about everyone will benefit from adding more whole (non processed) plant based foods including fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and beans to their diets. The more we add foods that grow in the ground, that are not processed, the more alive we feel, as we are adding nutrients that ARE alive. In the Reset and Renew Cleansewe also focus on daily rhythms, a hallmark of Ayurveda, the healing science of yoga. I describe it as not only what you’re eating, but how, when, why, and where you’re eating!

For the Reset and Renew Cleanse, I recommend eliminating animal products. One exception is ghee, or clarified butter, which has no milk solids. Also recommended to skip during the week are alcohol, caffeine, refined sugar, and processed grains. I focus on what we’re adding to the diet first because we can literally “crowd out” the stuff that is hardest to digest on the system and contains the greatest levels of toxins. The cleanse guides you to choosing and preparing more of your own foods. Some meals can be liquid, like smoothies, juices and raw soups, and a recipe packet is provided, although I encourage participants to be creative in the kitchen and spend some time listening to what types of food their body is really craving at this time of year.

The Reset and Renew Cleanse is not only focused on what to eat, but the daily rhythms of meal times, sleep, and self care routines. A seven day Reset can give your body the chance to let go of what doesn’t serve, and begin anew for the Spring. The first precleanse call begins Thursday April 4 at 7pm. All calls are recorded and available for download, and you can do the cleanse on your own schedule. Learn more about the Three Benefits of A Spring Cleanse on the recorded Teleclass here, as well as on the Reset and Renew Telecourse.

Please contact me with any questions at Marjorienass@gmail.com .

The springtime is just like that. As there’s more daylight, we begin to awaken, and in so doing, a deeper awareness of ourselves is possible. A similar process happens on the yoga mat. We do the same poses again and again until we start to notice the little toes and their connection with our outer shins when the toes are lifted. We become aware of how pressing our shins into a block gives us more freedom in our lower back.

So why cleanse in the spring? One main reason is to cultivate a deeper awareness of habits and routines, and to shift those patterns for a brief period of time.  Ayurveda, the healing science of yoga, teaches that when we align with nature’s rhythms, we experience a greater ease in our bodies, our minds and in all areas of our lives.

A simple cleanse could be to schedule a brief time frame, ranging from a few days to a week or more, and observe what you are taking in, what you are ingesting. Yes, this includes food, but what else is coming in through your five senses? Are you present when you’re eating, or are there always distractions, like the computer, smartphone or television? Are you savoring your meal and really taking the time for your food to  become part of you? After all, when we are aware of what we are taking in, we become more discriminating in not only what we are eating, but how, when, why and where we are eating. This is a challenging area for me, because as soon as I finish a meal, especially when I’ve eaten alone, I tend to jump up and start cleaning the dishes and kitchen. As I observe my pattern, one minute at a time, I remind myself to experience the meal, and the end of it, with a little more space to breathe and to settle. This aids in the digestion, assimilation and absorption of food, in order to receive its nourishing effects as fully and completely as possible.

A cleanse can be as much about what we are adding to diet and routines, and less about what we’re taking away. Choosing to be present with how, when, why and where you are eating can be a great beginning to create a greater awareness of your patterns this spring.

Learn more about the three ways you’ll benefit from of a Spring cleanse Monday March 18 at 7pm for a free teleclass/QandA. You’ll also hear about the upcoming Reset and Renew Spring Cleanse Telecourse which begins Thursday April 4 at 7pm ET.

Here are two videos illustrating the principles:

Downward facing dog with a block

Downward Dog with a Block between the Shins

Ski pose with a block:

• This pose is demonstrated at the wall in this video
• Variation: Practice in the center of the room with the hands resting on the thighs, or with palms together in front of the heart
• Extend the arms forward and up for chair pose

Ski Pose with a Block Between the Shins

Precision in the foundation of the feet:

• Align the middle of the second toes with the middle of the ankles, drawing an invisible line between the two points.
• Make the two invisible lines parallel with each other and the sides of the mat.

Enjoy the two videos and cultivate the practice at home this week. You could also practice with the block between the shins for a series of sun salutations.

With the block between the shins, create an imprint towards the midline, your center. Then repeat without the block, noticing the contrast.

• Start in tadasana, Standing Mountain Pose
• Fold forward uttanasana, standing forward bend
• Hop back to downward facing dog pose
• Plank Pose
• Cobra Pose
• Downward Dog
• Hop forward Uttanasana
• Standing Mountain Pose tadasana

Benefits include:

• Increased stability in the feet, ankles, and knees.
• Creating more space and freedom in the thighs, hips and lower back.

Please write your comments below with any observations.

Makes Two to Three Servings

• One tablespoon organic ghee or coconut oil
• One cup organic brussel sprouts, cut in half and tough cores removed
• Two cups organic swiss chard, chopped
• Two cups organic Russian kale, chopped
• One large organic carrot, grated
• One organic avocado
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Salt to taste

Heat the ghee or oil on medium heat. Sautee brussel sprouts for a few minutes, and add the carrots until slightly softened. Add the greens and stir for another minute or two. Sprinkle with the cayenne pepper and salt to taste. Add the avocado and serve for a lovely complete lunch or dinner, or as a side dish instead of a salad.

Daylight Savings Time begins Sunday March 10 at 2AM. This means we “lose” an hour as we “Spring Forward”.  On the one hand, this is great news as it will still be light at 7pm in the evening, resulting in longer daylight hours. This enables us to experience more light at the end of the work day as we approach the Spring Equinox, wonderful for those of us who enjoy spending time outdoors. However, at least initially, it also means that we lose the light at the start of the day, making it harder to get up in the morning. More good news is that the sun will continue to rise earlier each morning all the way until the Summer Solstice in June. But this coming Sunday, a full hour literally disappears, until it is “returned” next November when we “Fall Back” into Standard Time. This can wreak havoc on our body’s internal clock and aligning with natural rhythms, leading to mental and physical fatigue.

Last year I had it especially easy. I’d been on week long vacation in a time zone that was an hour ahead, and had seven days to “pre-adjust”. I returned Saturday night, so didn’t even notice the difference in Daylight Savings Time the following day. That transition was so easeful that it led me to designing the following method to help you avoid the discomfort that results in losing the hour, (or more) whether with Daylight Savings Time, or traveling through different time zones.

Most of us don’t give the time change much forethought. Maybe we learn the night beforehand, or simply find out in the morning, upon awakening to the newspaper or glimpsing the “new” time which now is automatically updated wirelessly on our electronic devices. Without any preparation, we may find ourselves physically, mentally and emotionally tired and depleted in the days following the switch to Daylight Savings Time. Within a day or so we quickly forget about the loss of the hour, and then are puzzled by various vague symptoms.

Here’s an easy method to help you avoid being tired next week.

Starting as soon as possible this week,  go to bed just ten to fifteen minutes earlier than your usual bedtime. Arise in the morning ten minutes earlier than usual. If you continue to go to sleep at the same time and just wake up earlier, this will not be as effective. Each consecutive day, push back your bedtime by this small amount, ten to fifteen minutes, for the next five or six days, and awaken an additional ten or fifteen minutes earlier. By Sunday morning, you will have reset your internal clock by a full hour, and the transition to Daylight Savings Time will be much smoother. You’ll be less likely to depend on caffeine and sugar to wake you up come Monday morning.

Small changes make a big difference in your health and well being and your ability to thrive.  This same method can be used when you are preparing to fly and change time zones.  The longer period of time you have to adjust your sleeping and awakening times in advance, the more easily you will make the transition. Please comment if you are making this change and following the shifting of your internal clock, and let us know how it goes.

If you wish, please comment, like and share so I can continue to contribute to their great online content.  Many thanks!

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2013/02/7-tips-for-aligning-with-the-change-of-seasons/

Here’s a simple green smoothie which also incorporates grapefruit, which are densely packed with vitamins and nutrients, as well as anti oxidants. Read more about the benefits of grapefruit on this great Ayurveda website, Joyfulbelly.com

Two cups leafy greens such as spinach, swiss chard or dandelion greens

One cup parsley

One large grapefruit

One small banana

One tablespoon chia seeds soaked in water (Soaking your seeds and nuts make them more digestable. If you can, soak the seeds overnight, but at least for 1/2 hour)

One tablespoon flax seeds soaked in water

Three cups room temperature** water – more or less water depending on your desired smoothie consistency.

Blend well and serve.

**Ideally, enjoy the smoothie at room temperature in order to keep your digestion strong. According to Ayurveda, cold, and especially iced cold water can dampen your digestion, and interfering with the absorption of nutrients.

Please leave your comments about this recipe below.

Every consecutive day has more light, from now until the Summer Solstice in June, in the northern hemisphere. Here is a great website to track the shift:

Depending on geographical location, you might experience just a few seconds more light per day, but by the end of January in New York City, each day is more than two minutes lighter than the previous day.  It might not seem like a lot, but in just one month, in early February, that means there will be an entire hour more of light each day. Small,seemingly unnoticeable shifts make a big difference over time. Let’s look towards nature for ways to shift ourselves, making small incremental changes as we create a home yoga practice.

The beginning of the year can be a time we look at our life and setting goals.  As someone who used to completely avoid goals for fear of failure, and who now regularly sets them, I now see the value of having a road map to one’s life. However, if we have lofty goals without any clear way to attain them, goals are often abandoned as being too big, or we believe just don’t have the willpower. The key to starting with a home yoga practice is scheduling the time, putting down your mat, and stepping onto it. Anyone can begin with just two minutes and four yoga poses.

Two minutes a day is so simple you so you can’t “not have the time”. After one week of a two minute daily yoga practice, the time commitment doubles. The second week, your practice will be four minutes. Then on the third week you have an eight minute practice, and on day 21 the time doubles again for a 16 minute practice.

If your goal is 15 minutes of yoga a day, you will be there in three weeks, the amount of time often recognized as the minimum to form a habit.

Here are some suggestions, but please listen to your body’s messages. If a pose feels good, stay there and breathe! This will help you to create a more relaxed relationship with your body.

What does a two minute yoga practice look like?

• Standing breathing: 15 seconds
• One sun salutation: 45 seconds (Forward bend, dog, plank, cobra, dog)
• Childs pose: 15 seconds
• Savasana: 45 seconds

What about a four minute yoga practice?

(You could also do the two minute practice twice through)

• Seated breathing: 30 seconds
• Cat/Cow: 15 seconds
• Two sun salutations: 1 ½ minutes
• Child’s pose: 15 seconds
• Savasana: 1 ½ minutes

What does an eight minute yoga practice look like?

(You could double the four minute practice, or do the two minute practice four times)

• Seated breathing: One minute
• Five Sun Salutations with lunge variations

Including low lunge, high lunge, lunge twists: Five minutes

• Pigeon Pose: One minute each side = Two minutes
• Savasana: Two minutes

Finally, your 15-16 minute practice

(You could also alternate with the 8 minute practice twice through, or some variation of the previous three practices that equals 15-16 minutes)

• Seated breathing: Two minutes
• Alternate nostril breathing: One minute
• Cat/cow: One minute
• Sun Salutations with lunge variations

Including low lunge, high lunge, lunge twists: Five minutes

• (Additional variations through the sun salutations can include standing poses like warrior 2 and side angle pose)
• Tree Pose: One minutes total for both sides
• Bridge Pose: 3x = Two minutes
• Savasana = Three – Four minutes

Please leave your comments below. I’d love to hear if this is helpful in designing your home practice.

For example, if your goal is to improve your diet, be specific.  What kinds of food do you want to eat most of the time?  In order to make those changes, you will need to start shopping differently, so particular foods are purchased and ready to prepare in your home. Do you want to get up a little earlier to practice yoga or meditation?  Going to sleep earlier is a simple step that will help you stay on track for your new morning routine, so plan accordingly.  Creating new habits which will help you to reach your goal are key.  And be sweet with yourself if you misstep.  Simply take a deep breath and begin again!

Here are some simple, low cost or completely free things you can start doing right now to improve your health.  They are in fact, so simple we think that doing them can’t possibly make a difference.  But it’s the small actions over time that create an accumulated effect.  Remember how you want to feel not only in a month from now, but also in the years and decades ahead.

• When you first wake up and head to the bathroom, scrape your tongue in the morning with a tongue scraper.  Your tongue is the start of your digestive tract, and overnight, as we fast, toxins are released and appear on the tongue.  In fact, in the healing science of yoga, Ayurveda, checking the tongue, which is a reflection of health, is used for diagnosing imbalances throughout the body.  By simply removing the “gunk” from your tongue, you prevent those toxins from being reabsorbed by the body.  From back to front, use a metal tongue scraper (you can buy them at most local health food stores or online) seven times. Clean it off, rinse your mouth with water, and then brush your teeth.
• Drink at least two glasses of warm water after scraping your tongue.  You’ve probably read this many times, but why is it so important?  We’ve been fasting since dinnertime, and it’s dry indoors, especially in the winter months.  We need to rehydrate, and giving the body fresh water first, before coffee or food, actually aids in elimination and readies your body to receive your next meal.  I’ve had several students significantly reduce or eliminate their dependence on coffee simply by adding this simple step to their day.  Make sure the water has been heated to warm, or at least room temperature.  Cold and especially icy water is shocking to the body and can interfere with proper digestion.
• Move your body for a few minutes in simple yoga poses. Try cat/cow or several sun salutations.  When you move before eating, you elevate your energy, and your body is ready to receive, digest and better assimilate and absorb your food.

To learn more simple ways to achieve Optimal Health, Join me and Laura Tulumbas Juell for a workshop, Optimal Health: Start the New Year Grounded Steady and Vibrant at Virayoga 1-3:30pm Saturday, January 12.  Bring a friend and you both attend for $80.

I’m pleased that one Monday per month I’ll be offering a free Health and Wellness teleclass and Q&A, Monthly Mondays with Marjorie.  We will cover how to Start the New Year Right, and Set your Intentions As We Enter Deep Winter.  Please Join me Monday January 14th 7-8pm Eastern time.  Register here.

Green Sweet Potato Smoothie/Soup

One small baked sweet potato (without the skin)(Quick tip:bake the potato the night before)
Two cups washed greens – spinach or swiss chard
One tablespoon coconut oil or coconut butter
One inch fresh ginger root or 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
One half teaspoon cinnamon
One quarter teaspoon nutmeg
Blend well with two cups hot water and drink, or eat with a spoon.