Trust, A Complicated Relationship

My relationship with trust is a complicated one.  In life, I generally fall back on the sentiment that ‘whatever’s meant to be, will be’. But my instinct is to protect before I trust.  To protect my energy from burn out.  To protect my ego from judgment.  To protect my happiness from disappointment.  Not wanting to feel affected if things don't work out as I may have hoped, I constantly temper my expectations.  I rarely fall into the ease of trust.  Not allowing myself certain expectations or hopes, because on a deeper level, I don't want to become tied to the outcome.  Wanting to be okay with however my life ends up playing out, I choose to avoid the vulnerability of trust. 

Trust doesn’t come that easily to me.  It’s something I have to remind myself to ease in to.  On a slow day in practice, trust that my practice will grow.  When any little symptom pops up, trust that the body can heal.  When I don't feel connected to anyone, trust that the right person will come along when the timing is right.  When I feel hurt by someone, trust that most things aren’t personal.  When I struggle with making a decision, trust that the answers will come.  I mostly exercise trust, as a tool to dispel the tension I feel around something.  Trusting the process is an ease that often takes effort.

I had one of those moments the other day at spin class when oxygen deprivation kicks in and the daydream zone strikes.  I asked myself what I most wanted to trust.  What came up?  …that I am capable.  I was surprised how quickly that answer popped up.  I think there’s a lot of doubt subconsciously around my capacity, and I tend to favor a safer route.  There’s a lot of things I hold back on, mostly from a place of fearing burn out.  A place where I have been, and no longer felt like myself; a place I dread.  I want to trust that I am able to push, that I am resilient, and that I can thrive. 

This mostly comes up for me around career and sport.  I want to push to take on big goals, but in the last few years, I have had a big block around that.  My justification for holding back was that I felt I needed to rest and recover, but I know that the fear of burn out and not feeling like myself was in that tangled mess.  On a subconscious level, I had stopped trusting my capability and capacity.

Lucky for us, we have the privilege of choosing our thoughts.  We can catch ourselves, and alter our instinctive thought patterns.  We can choose trust, and a feeling of ease when tension starts taking over.  Mindfully evaluating where our behaviors are driven by fear, and where our attempts to protect ourselves are no longer serving us.  We can only know the balance between fear and trust by constantly checking in and re-evaluating what we allow to propel us.  We need a healthy amount of both fear and trust, but a state of trust propels the confidence to progress and grow.  So… I’m going to choose to trust more this month and see what happens.  BIG THINGS! Hah ;)

Your Summer Guide to Naturally Glowing Skin

One of the most important things to understand about our skin, is that it is a key organ of elimination.  Along with the liver, kidneys, and intestines, the skin acts to rid the body of impurities and wastes.  When these organs aren’t functioning optimally, we start to see outward symptoms of dysfunction such as changes in bowel habit and skin health.  Because of this, it is important to understand how to decrease the burden on our organs of elimination, and optimize their function in detoxification.

Dull, dry, or acne prone skin can be a sign that our organs of elimination, need support. 

Detoxification has a lot to do with lessening the burden on the organs of elimination, namely the liver.  This means watching what we expose our bodies to; chemicals (pollutants and pesticides), toxins (including alcohol), allergens, and even stress!  By lessening burden, we allow our organs to function optimally so that they can carry out regular body functions.  The liver in particular does many things, and plays a big part in hormone regulation.  A burdened liver may result in imbalanced hormones, which often leads to skin issues. The liver also produces bile, which is crucial for digestion and proper elimination; this function can be affected when the liver is burdened also.  So here are a few ways to support our processes of detoxification, that will in turn, facilitate that beautiful natural glow!

Add these foods into your diet:

Lemon water: rich in vitamin C, stimulates enzymes to improve digestion, and promote liver detoxification.

Greens: spinach, kale, parsley, cilantro, dandelion greens, and sprouts.  Greens are rich in minerals, enzymes, and chlorophyll which help detoxify the body, and improve oxygenation of cells.

Soluble fiber: chia, pectin/apples, vegetables and legumes.  Help bind wastes in the colon and promote elimination.

Water:  necessary for effective elimination via the kidneys and bowels.

Limit these foods:

Limit inflammatory foods that put a burden on the immune and detoxification system: dairy, processed sugar, alcohol, caffeine, processed foods, wheat, and red meat.  Start taking notice of how you feel from certain foods, food sensitivities result in inflammation, an immune reaction that causes burden on our systems.  Signs of food sensitivities may be bloating, bowel habit changes, stomach pain, headaches, and skin changes including breakouts, eczema, rashes, and facial puffiness.  Avoid these foods!

Optimize lymphatic drainage:

Exercise, and hydrotherapy (jumping in a cold lake on a hot summer day) improve circulation and therefore the exchange of nutrients, and elimination of wastes from the body.  Proper hydration is also essential to the function of the lymphatic system.  Ridding the body of wastes and decreasing inflammation, decreases toxic burden on the system.

The skin benefits from a few specific nutrients:

·Omega 3 fatty acids: anti-inflammatory, moisturizing, and essential for skin cellular repair and function.  Omega 3 fatty acids have also been shown to improve wellbeing and happiness; that shows on the skin too!

·Vitamin E: an antioxidant that fights free radical damage, and therefore prevents early aging.

·Vitamin C:  supports collagen production, and is an antioxidant.

·Vitamin D: helps to fight free radical damage, and prevent aging.  This one we can get naturally in the summer, but it is important not to overdo our exposure to the sun which can damage our skin, and ultimately have the opposite effect we are looking for!

·Zinc: helpful for clear skin and acne prevention, regulates inflammation and helps deliver vitamin A to the skin.

·Antioxidants: Vitamin A/C/E, selenium and zinc (available as ACES and Zinc) help promote liver function, detoxification and prevent premature aging due to free radical damage.

Rest/Sleep:

Sleeping results in improved blood flow to the face, and decreased stress hormones.  Managing stress is crucial for minimizing inflammation in the body.  This is our time for our body to repair.  Proper sleep is essential for all body functions, including detoxification and repair.  This time is very important for cellular regeneration, and skin health.

Lastly moisturize!

We need to do this on the inside and out.  Healthy fats and proper hydration allow you to maintain proper fluid balance from the inside, and effective moisturizing techniques help from the outside.  Make sure to moisturize within 1-3 minutes after a shower or washing your face to lock in all the moisture and get that extra boost of glow!

Ever tried dry skin brushing?

The more chemicals, environmental toxins, pesticides, processed foods and allergens that we are exposed to, the more work our bodies have to do to eliminate these things….on top of carrying out normal metabolic function.  It’s no easy job! 

When the burden becomes too heavy, our organ systems are unable to manage it all and therefore inflammation, colds, and diseases can set in.   So what’s the newest, greatest superfood to save our bodies now??  I'm just kidding…no superfoods to the rescue this time.  Instead, I am going to tell you about the benefits of dry skin brushing and how it is a valuable tool in maintaining health.

Dry skin brushing is amazing! It is such a simple habit to take up, but one that can do an immense amount of good.  Most importantly, it helps to increase circulation and improve lymphatic drainage.  By doing these things, dry brushing supports our body’s ability to effectively eliminate the waste and toxins we are exposed to in our daily lives.  Any time we can help the body in the process of detoxification, we minimize the toxic burden on our organs and immune system as a whole.  By spending less energy fighting to protect our cells, our bodies can put more energy toward optimal function.

Dry skin brushing is a simple, and inexpensive way to boost our body’s ability to function on a cellular level, and enhance overall health.  Best part?  This health tip doesn’t require you to have to spend more and more money continually refilling it, it lasts for a long time.  I picked mine up at a wellness store for $15!

Some other reasons to try it:

• Exfoliation
  • Removes dead skin cells, and clears pores to allow your skin to breathe better.
• Increase Circulation
  • Improves elimination of wastes.  If you’re too busy for exercise one day, keep dry skin brushing in mind to keep up good blood flow (delivery of nutrients, and elimination of wastes).
• Reduce Cellulite
  • May soften fat deposits below the skin’s surface, and help improve the appearance of the skin.  By removing toxins, it also supports the health of our connective tissue.
• Stress relief
  • Meditative process that helps relieve muscle tension, calm the mind, and relieve stress.  Similar to the effects of a light massage.
• Improve Digestion and Kidney Function
  • Supports elimination of toxins and wastes via lymphatic drainage.
• Energy
  • Improved circulation helps increase energy, and it feels really nice!

The technique:

• Start at the feet, using light sweeping motions towards the heart.
• Move your way up the legs, to the abdomen, arms, chest and back.
• Avoid any sensitive areas- you don't want to further irritate the skin!

Make sure to pick up a brush that has natural bristles.  The bristles don’t have to be too rigid to stimulate the lymphatic system, brushing shouldn’t hurt.  It's best to get in the habit of doing this practice once a day, but anything helps!  You can take your time and do your dry brushing for as long as you want, for 2 minutes or 20…up to you.  Try dry brushing before you jump in the shower in the morning to help wake you up!