Eating for Spring

• Leafy green vegetables (chard, spinach, kale, mustard greens, bok choi)
• Young plants such as asparagus, pea shoots and chives
• Sprouted beans and grains (alfalfa, clover, mung bean sprouts, wheat grass)
• Flavorful herbs like rosemary, dill, and basil
• Light teas: green, rosebud or chrysanthemum

Beat seasonal allergies 

• HONEY – Eat locally collected, unpasteurized, unfiltered honey. Studies have shown that by daily eating 1-2 tablespoons of local honey before and during allergy season will greatly reduce your allergy symptoms to local flowering plants. By ingesting these pollens regularly, your body becomes accustomed to them, and when the same pollens are present in the air, your body does not react as though they were foreign bodies. A great place to find local honey is at Farnsworth Farms

• NETI POT – Nasal irrigation is an ancient technique that has been used in the yogic and Ayurvedic traditions for generations. In the past few years, the Neti Pot has gained tremendous popularity in our Western world and can be purchased at most local drugstores.   Research has demonstrated that nasal irrigation is a safe and effective way to flush away allergens and sinus mucus.

• ACUPUNCTURE – Acupuncture is a great way to both treat symptoms of seasonal allergies, stuffiness, headache, itchy eyes, etc. and bring the body into balance so that you don’t suffer seasonal allergies in the future.  When the body is in balance, symptoms disappear and health is restored. The main benefit of acupuncture is bringing a person into balance so that the body may heal itself. 

Yoga Seasonally 

Traditional yoga poses are based on bringing energy (chi or prana) to the meridian channels located through-out the body. Some spring time Yoga poses will help bring balance to your body and life during the shifting season.

 

 

1.   Sit on the floor with your buttocks supported on a folded blanket and your legs straight in front of you. Press actively through your heels. Rock slightly onto your left buttock, and pull your right sitting bone away from the heel with your right hand. Repeat on the other side. Turn the top thighs in slightly and press them down into the floor. Press through your palms or finger tips on the floor beside your hips and lift the top of the sternum toward the ceiling as the top thighs descend.
2.   Draw the inner groins deep into the pelvis. Inhale, and keeping the front torso long, lean forward from the hip joints, not the waist. Lengthen the tailbone away from the back of your pelvis. If possible take the sides of the feet with your hands, thumbs on the soles, elbows fully extended; if this isn’t possible, loop a strap around the foot soles, and hold the strap firmly. Be sure your elbows are straight, not bent.
3.   When you are ready to go further, don’t forcefully pull yourself into the forward bend, whether your hands are on the feet or holding the strap. Always lengthen the front torso into the pose, keeping your head raised. If you are holding the feet, bend the elbows out to the sides and lift them away from the floor; if holding the strap, lighten your grip and walk the hands forward, keeping the arms long. The lower belly should touch the thighs first, then the upper belly, then the ribs, and the head last.
4.   With each inhalation, lift and lengthen the front torso just slightly; with each exhalation release a little more fully into the forward bend. In this way the torso oscillates and lengthens almost imperceptibly with the breath. Eventually you may be able to stretch the arms out beyond the feet on the floor.
5.   Stay in the pose anywhere from 1 to 3 minutes. To come up, first lift the torso away from the thighs and straighten the elbows again if they are bent. Then inhale and lift the torso up by pulling the tailbone down and into the pelvis.

 

1.   For this pose you might want to pad the floor below your pelvis and ribs with a folded blanket. Lie on your belly with your arms along the sides of your torso, palms up, forehead resting on the floor. Turn your big toes toward each other to inwardly rotate your thighs, and firm your buttocks so your coccyx presses toward your pubis.
2.   Exhale and lift your head, upper torso, arms, and legs away from the floor. You’ll be resting on your lower ribs, belly, and front pelvis. Firm your buttocks and reach strongly through your legs, first through the heels to lengthen the back legs, then through the bases of the big toes. Keep the big toes turned toward each other.
3.   Raise your arms parallel to the floor and stretch back actively through your fingertips. Imagine there’s a weight pressing down on the backs of the upper arms, and push up toward the ceiling against this resistance. Press your scapulas firmly into your back.
4.   Gaze forward or slightly upward, being careful not to jut your chin forward and crunch the back of your neck. Keep the base of the skull lifted and the back of the neck long.
5.   Stay for 30 seconds to 1 minute, then release with an exhalation. Take a few breaths and repeat 1 or 2 times more if you like.

1.   Lie prone on the floor. Stretch your legs back, tops of the feet on the floor. Spread your hands on the floor under your shoulders. Hug the elbows back into your body.
2.   Press the tops of the feet and thighs and the pubis firmly into the floor.
3.   On an inhalation, begin to straighten the arms to lift the chest off the floor, going only to the height at which you can maintain a connection through your pubis to your legs. Press the tailbone toward the pubis and lift the pubis toward the navel. Narrow the hip points. Firm but don’t harden the buttocks.
4.   Firm the shoulder blades against the back, puffing the side ribs forward. Lift through the top of the sternum but avoid pushing the front ribs forward, which only hardens the lower back. Distribute the backbend evenly throughout the entire spine.
5.   Hold the pose anywhere from 15 to 30 seconds, breathing easily. Release back to the floor with an exhalation.