pure body balance blog

The winter months in nature are focused on a conservation of energy and like nature pushing ourselves too hard physically will only leave us tired, unwell and prone to injury at this time of year, if we are not careful.
Working In and being outdoors in winter is crucial to our physical health so this month’s exercise focuses on bringing energy or Chi back into the body. Try this exercise each day in the morning for an instant burst of uplifting energy. We love defying the winter chill and getting out barefoot in our garden as the sun rises to perform this simple pattern, giving us a reall boost of energy and vitality!

Adrian enjoying his practice on the beach in Sardinia last year 🙂

• Stand with your rams raised straight out in front of you

• Inhale and bring your hands back in towards your body

• Exhale and push your arms straight out with the intent of projecting energy from your core out of your arms and hands

• Repeat, pushing to the centre, front left, front right and back left and back right

• As you push to the sides and back, keep your feet planted and turn your body towards the direction you are pushing

• For the back position, only go as far as you can comfortably. Do not over rotate your spine.The motion through the rib cage massages the organs of digestion

After a disastrous weekend where we ran out of our ‘order online’ only organic toothpaste we decided to make our own, with very good results. Organic toothpaste can be very pricey, this is economical as well as being organic and very very health promoting!
Both coconut oil and oregano oil are highly antibacterial, and fungal so are great for keeping the oral area free from a nasty build up of toxins, fungus and yeast overgrowth such as Candida.  The Oregano oil, is a strong taste but it leaves your mouth zingy and fresh for hours.

Image supplied by William Warby

Ingredients:
2 tbsp organic coconut oil
2 tbsp organic GF Bicarb
5-10 drops oregano oil (www.northamericanherbandspice.com)

1.    Melt the coconut oil on a very low heat until just liquid. Pour into a ceramic/glass bowl and leave to cool, nut not solidify
2.    Stir the bicarb and half of the oregano oil into the coconut oil and taste a little drop. Add more oregano oil if you wish
3.    Decant into a lidded glass jar and pop in the fridge to set. Store at room temperature

Waking with the Sun – Lumie Lamp
Do you hate those dark winters mornings? Find it difficult to get out of bed to a dark, cold bedroom? Me too. A few years back Adrian brought me a Lumie Bodyclock which has revolutionised my winter morning routine and gets me leaping out of bed with a spring in my step, even on the coldest wintery day.

Lumie has invented Bodyclock, to wake you gradually with increasing natural light. This provides a natural signal to your body to adjust hormone levels, keeping your sleep cycle on track and boosting mood, energy and productivity levels all day. Bodyclock is an effective winter blues option and can be a useful complement to a lightbox in treating more severe SAD.

To purchase visit: http://www.lumie.com

This time of year we are all dutifully abstaining from the sweet treats after a Christmas/.New Year overload. However sometimes we just need that little bit of comfort food without the guilt. Enjoy this healthy, grain free, chocolaty banana bread as a little treat to banish those winter blues.

Image supplied by Mallory Dash

Prep Time: 10 minutes        Cooking Time: 35 minutes

4 very ripe large organic bananas
4 large organic eggs
140 g organic coconut oil, melted
4 tbsp organic ghee
75g organic coconut flour, sifted
1 large bar organic 80% dark chocolate
1 tbsp organic cinnamon powder
1 tsp organic GF baking powder
1 tsp organic GF bicarbonate soda powder
1 tsp organic vanilla essence
Pinch of sea salt

1.    Preheat your oven to 175°C, 350°F
2.    Blend your  bananas, eggs, coconut oil and ghee in a food processor until a smooth batter is formed.
3.    With the motor running add the coconut flour, cinnamon, bicarbonate soda, baking powder, vanilla, and sea salt and blend until combined.
4.    Stir the pecans in by hand.
5.    Grease a small loaf tin with coconut oil or ghee then pour the batter in spreading evenly across the pan.
6.    Bake for 30-35 minutes. It should be cooked through buy still moist so do not overcook.
7.    Remove from the oven, cool on a wire rack and leave to set.
8.    NOTE this tastes amazing after resting overnight, the flavours intensify and the consistency becomes more sticky, Yum!

For more great tasting recipes visit http://www.endibsnaturally.com or http://www.facebook.com/mealsthathealuk

Or join Karen on one of her Gluten, Grain and dairy Free cookery workshops: http://www.purebodybalanceshop.co.uk

Overcoming the Winter Blues Naturally
In the UK it has become a bit of standing joke to talk about the weather. I am sure we are known in other countries as the country who incessantly moans about the weather 😉 Now unless you are planning to up sticks and move to a different country the general pattern for our weather is not likely to change drastically anytime soon. Winter brings with it, shorter daylight hours, colder temperature, grey skies and plenty of wind and rain.

This time of year particularly January and February can also feel depressing after all of the fun and frivolities of the festive season so how do we combat the winter blues so that we don’t drive everyone around us crazy with our depressed and lethargic demeanor?

Well getting clear on how you are actually feeling is step one. Stop; take a minute and truly feel your feelings and think your thoughts… sounds weird right? BUT it really works. Once you have felt and thought, joy down what you have noticed. Are you experiencing:

• Lethargy
• Low mood / apathy
•  Low libido
• Increased hunger Cravings for carb based foods
• Withdrawal from friends and family / social situations
• Poor sleep quality
• Difficulty waking and getting up in the morning

Image supplied by David Goehring

Most of will have a ticked a couple of these, no matter what time of year it is, however if you have ticked most of them, or notice a marked difference in how you feel in the summer months to the winter months then you may be suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) or a big, black, cloud shaped dose of the Winter Blues.

SAD defined:
A combination of a change in seasonal light, our hectic lifestyles and the periods of darker days and poorer weather, can result in dramatic effects on our circadian rhythms. These factors have diminished the body’s natural ability to regulate the body clock and this work/life change has resulted in a dramatic increase in light deficiency symptoms.
Historically we only ever worked outdoors; two hundred years ago 75% of the population worked outdoors now less than 10% of the population work in natural outdoor light. Whilst this is fine in the Summer months when there are longer daylight hours, in the Winter months, people tend to go to work in the dark and go home in the dark and don’t get to enough natural daylight.
Like many mammals in the natural world, the human body responds to light. As a result our bodies are tuned in to the daylight hours in order to maintain our circadian rhythms. These rhythms regulate many important bodily functions and if you do not receive the correct daylight signals at the correct time this can have significant affects on your well being. Circadian Rhythms help to regulate and control; food digestion, appetite for food, energy levels, sleep quality and length, and mood. Your Circadian Rhythm are effectively your body’s internal clock and if these rhythms are disrupted it can result in you suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder (excerpt taken from http://www.sad.org.uk )

Combating the Winter Blues Tips:
1.    Get to bed on time and create consistency. The ideal time is 10:30pm, with 8 hours minimum being shown as the bare minimum we should be looking to get for optimal health
2.    Get out in nature every day for at least 15minutes. A simple walk around the block is better than nothing
3.    Purchase a lumi lamp to help regulate and balance hormone levels http://www.lumi.com
4.    Avoid excessive caffeine and sugar consumption as it will only make your peaks and troughs in mood and energy worse and disrupt your sleep further
5.    Join some type of social activity that you find fun, engaging and inspiring. We have just started Salsa classes with some friends, we are terrible at it but it is incredibly good fun and releases a big dose of feel good hormones as we laugh off our poorly timed dance steps!