Nature provides us with a host of antibiotic substances and another huge army of immune system boosters.  This post is advocating careful thinking about how you can naturally boost your body’s defenses.

I have three stitches on the side of my foot – for the first time in my 37 years.  I was a little freaked out by the whole minor procedure.  Voluntarily harming my body to take off a mole that could be pre-cancerous (turns out that it was benign), seems strange.  The kind MD said that I should take an antibiotic, especially after I told him my profession – yoga teacher = barefoot a lot.  He said it was the best option since the stitches are on my foot, a difficult place to keep clean.  At first I agreed and he gave me a prescription, but before I filled it second thoughts began to creep into my mind.  Really is it necessary to put my body, especially my GI tract through this stress?  Just a few months ago there was a study published showing that a few rounds of antibiotics weaken immune systems over the long haul.

As an Ayurvedic practitioner, I decided that this was a perfect time to practice what I preach  - get over those fears instilled by the modern medical establishment

With my years of study of Ayurveda and natural healing methods, shouldn’t I be capable of preventing infection on a tiny wound on my foot?

Coincidentally last week I was reading Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s book – Super Immunity and I had already started to add mushrooms, allium family and cruciferous vegetables to my diet.

I have an arsenal of herbs at my fingertips that I use with clients, and a vast set of wisdom in ayurveda and other traditional medicines.

I change my tactic, much to the chagrin of my husband and mother.

Here are a few of the natural remedies that I decide to use

- Grapefruit seed extract – tablets – these are renound for boosting the immune system and their own antibiotic properties. I took 5 tablets per day. I also have the liquid extract which I can use for washing the cut and keeping my home clean from bacteria.

- Golden seal – Is a strong antibiotic, removes yeast and fungal infections.

- Mushroom extract – Usually I don’t take supplements, however I made an exception for this period, and mushrooms in the diet to strengthen the immune system.

- Honey – a very strong antibiotic on the skin, and also its astringent properties helps to heal the cut.  I applied honey a couple of times to the stitches, then covered with a large band aid.

- Garlic – antibiotic, anti-parasitic and antiseptic when consumed raw, and a boost to the immune system.

- Coconut oil – contains lauric acid, medium chain fatty acids that are antifungal and antibiotic.  Coconut oil is awesome for keeping the skin around the stitches moist.  I noticed that from all the cleaning my skin was getting red and tight.  Coconut oil remedied this immediately.  And it feels GREAT!  I’m putting it on my face, arms and legs.

- Probiotics help to keep beneficial gut bacteria in check.  I got these directly from coconut milk yoghurt.

Super charged immune boosting diet

- Green smoothie for breakfast

- Juice for snack.  Freshly made vegetable juices – beet, carrot, kale, lime, ginger, apple, etc.

- Coconut curry with cruciferous veggies, sweet potatoes and coconut milk

- Brown rice is a pre-biotic for those helpful bacteria

- So Delicious Coconu

t Yoghurt for probiotics

- Raw crackers with hummus, olive oil and raw garlic

- Dark chocolate for the antioxidants.  In moderation of course!

- Mushrooms – especially shitake, portobello, crimini, button.  Others like reishi are very helpful too, but more difficult to use in recipes, or even locate.  

The stitches are very clean and clear.  No sign of infection.  Looking forward to hearing what the doc says when removing them in a couple days.

So the takeaway message from this post is – think about what you will put into your body.  Try to use natural substances. There are many options out there!

May 12-13 catch us at Veggie Fest for a taste of these bars!

Eating healthy must be fun, tasty and satisfy all your senses. At Balance Yoga & Wellness, we love helping you to find a healthy lifestyle satisfies you deeply. We want you to be happy and healthy because we love you. The biggest prize from adapting a healthy lifestyle is that you will feel fabulous. Otherwise, what is the use? Each moment of this life must be enjoyed to the fullest. This is a devilishly tasty recipe developed by our resident ayurvedic mixologist and yoga teacher, Sharon Floyd.

Sharon has clearly mastered the use of spices…the hint of cinnamon and cardamom give these bars a great punch while helping your digestion to full asssimilate every morsel of goodnesss.

These bars are a good source of slow release energy when you need a quick pick-me-up in the afternoon or a breakfast on the run. Make a batch, cut into individual bars, then store in your fridge for those emergencies. How can you go wrong with all this goodness?

Balance-Loves-You Fruit and Nut Bars, by Sharon Floyd

1 cup toasted, shredded coconut

1 and 1/4 cups raw almonds

1 heaping Tablespoon ground flaxseed

2 heaping Tablespoons each raw pumpkin seeds and raw sunflower seeds

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground cardamom

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 dates (remove the pits!)

2/3 cup Turkish apricots

2/3 cup organic raisins

4 Tablespoons organic brown rice syrup

1/2 teaspoon good vanilla extract

1. In a large bowl, sprinkle the spices and salt over the toasted coconut and mix well, then add the rest of the dry ingredients.

2. Process the dried fruit and vanilla briefly in a food processor, then add the dry ingredients. Process well, then add the syrup.

3. Press the mixture firmly into a baking dish and refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight.

Enjoy! And try not to eat them all at once. Remember, moderation and balance are key words.

Do you LOVE these? What is your favorite energy bar recipe? Let us know with your comments.

May 12-13 catch us at Veggie Fest for a taste of this yumminess!

We want you to be happy, healthy and balanced.  Eat your greens and save room for a little bit of sweet.

In order to be healthy, why should we feel deprived of sweets?  I adapted these treats to use date paste instead of sugar and maple syrup.  They contain lots of vitamins and minerals and fiber from the list of whole food ingredients.

I LOVE these treats and I know you will too.  Growing up I absolutely love recees peanut butter cups.  I haven’t had one in a long time, but these remind me of those flavors….only hydrogenated fat and sugar are replace by dates, freshly ground peanut butter and roasted cocoa nibs.  No oil, sugar, or processed ingredient of any kind.  Who could ask for more?  Don’t tell your mama how good these balls are.

These are choc-full of great things – cashews, dates, oats, puffed rice, brown rice flower….I adapted these from one of my favorite blogs Oh She Glows.

Yield: 12-16 balls depending on size

1/2 cup unsalted raw cashews
1/2 cup regular rolled oats (Use gluten free oats if you want it GF)
1/4 cup brown rice flour (or any flour you like)
1/2 tsp kosher or sea salt salt
6 tbsp date paste, may take a bit more (see directions below, or use 2 tbsp cane sugar + 3 tbsp maple syrup)
3 tbsp peanut butter (you could substitute almond butter here)
3 tbsp pure maple syrup (add gradually until desired consistency is achieved)
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup roasted cacao nibs or 1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup diced peanuts (you could use almonds here too)
1/4 cup gluten free rice crisp cereal

Directions:

1. In a food processor, process the cashews and oats into a very fine flour consistency.

2. Add in the brown rice flour and salt and pulse until combined. Now add in vanilla and date paste gradually until desired consistency is achieved. Process until a dough forms. Stop to scrape the sides of the bowl as necessary. Dough will be very sticky! Don’t worry about getting your hands dirty.  That is part of the fun.

The type of flour used may alter the consistency so you may have to adjust it a little bit.

3. Add cacao nibs and peanuts into processor and pulse. Scoop dough into a bowl and stir in the rice crisp cereal. Form balls with the dough (lightly wet fingers if necessary). Store in the fridge or freezer.  I like to freeze these and pop one into my mouth when I have a craving for sweets.

I made a paste of dates, hence the name date paste.

Here is my method

1 cup of pitted dates (medjool is my favorite for their rich flavor)
put into a bowl, cover with boiling water.  Let sit for 10 minutes (sometimes I don’t have the patience and wait only 5).  Put the dates into the food processor, add around 1/2 cup of water, puree for a few minutes.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and blend some more.  Keep in a sealed container and use in place of sugar or other sweeteners in recipes.  Yum.

What is your favorite home made sweet treat?  Post your recipe here for a chance to win a free class at Balance!

Wednesday May 23rd 7:30 – 9pm
Followed by vegetarian snacks
Event is FREE, donations accepted 

Don’t miss this one of a kind event and opportunity!

Vedic Stories from the masters infused with a contemporary flavor “Old wine in a new bottle”

Kirtan (sacred music and chant) drawing from the timeless wisdom of Vedic India

Satsang – question and answer

Learn from someone who has sincerely chosen a path less traveled.

Meet Tamal Krishna Das

My name is Tamal-Krsna Das and I am disciple of Sri Srimad Bhaktivedanta Narayan Goswami Maharaj, the foremost ambassador of pure Bhakti-yoga (enlightenment via devotional love) in recent times.  I have practiced Bhakti for ten years under the guidance of my Spiritual Master, and in 2007 accepted the monk’s vow of brahmacarya (lifelong celibacy and poverty).   Half of the year I live in Vrindavan, India with my Teachers, and the other half of the year I travel and teach Bhakti.   For this service, I relish the “old-school” methods of storytelling and kirtan (sacred music and chant), drawing from the timeless wisdom of Vedic India and poetry of the Masters, but infused with contemporary flavor: “Old wine in a new bottle.”

I regularly lecture and lead kirtans in India, England, the United States, Guyana and Trinidad.

Learn more about Bhakti Yoga and Tamal’s Guru here.

Here is a YouTube video of one of Tamal’s lectures.

Has Jazzfest left you feeling sluggish?  You are not alone.  I started last week feeling tired, sluggish, and my nerves were even frayed from the copious amounts of coffee that I was ingesting to make up for my fatigue.  I decided to do something crazy – start a detox in the middle of jazzfest week 1 & 2.

So what is a “detox” anyway?

Out body’s detoxification is primarily handled by our liver, it cleans out the blood in the first pass, while the kidneys handle the rest.  A detox is helping the liver by cutting way down on the things that it has to work to eliminate – toxins from processed food, sugar, oil, and caffeine, to name a few.  Detox is really what you make it.

I decided to cut out coffee, sweets, alcohol and most other caffeinated beverages.  I sipped a cup or two of green tea during the week.

Even Cookie was dragging after chowing down on her weight’s worth of ribs at a party…

Cookie needs a detox

This salad was inspired by a recipe on Kris Carr’s Crazy Sexy Life Community, which you should check out if you haven’t yet….if you are at all interested in being inspired to change your diet to feel good.   I was attracted to this recipe because it contained both kale and red cabbage, both of which were in my fridge and cruciferous power houses.  Eating cruciferous vegetables is one of the best ways to boost your immune system – they are anti-oxidant, cancer-fighting power houses.  According to Dr. Joel Fuhrman, they offer twice the protection from hormone-sensitive cancers like breast and prostate of other vegetables.  I decided to substitute white beans for the black beans and feeling like I needed more detoxing, I also adde goji berries.  I love to blend up beans with other dressing ingredients to make a creamy no-fat and high fiber dressing.

I felt so good after eating this salad on Monday I had to make it again on Wednesday with some variations like grilled cauliflower and chick peas.  Stay tuned for that recipe.

Kale, Cabbage, White Bean & Avocado Salad

bunch of kale – around 4 cups chopped
1 cup chopped red cabbage
2 chopped green onions
1 lime
1 can of organic (BPA-free is best) Cannelloni beans, drained & rinsed, separated into half
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon miso paste

1/2 avocado
1/4 cup goji berries (optional)
1/4 cup walnuts or cashews

Wash and chop the kale finely, put into a large salad bowl.  Chop the lime and squeeze it onto the kale, massage the lime into the kale.  The acid in the lime helps the kale to soften. Add the chopped cabbage and green onion.  Put half the beans, balsamic vinegar, and miso paste into a food processor (if you do not have a food processor this can be done by hand, it is easiest if you heat the beans, then mash them with a fork with the other ingredients) and blend until creamy.  Add the avocado, goji berries, walnuts and the remaining beans to the kale.  Add the dressing and mix all together well.  Get your hands dirty and mash it all together.  Yum!

To make this a filling lunch, I paired it with quinoa with lemon and dried tarragon.   Quinoa is an amazing grain (botanists would call it a seed) which has all 9 essential amino acids, the things that we need to get from protein.  There is absolutely no need for meat in this meal.  Quinoa gives us the protein without all the other toxins.

Four week Prenatal Yoga Series with Tamar Starck
Wednesdays 6-7:15pm
June 6-27th

Prenatal Yoga helps moms-to-be reduce tension and prepare for childbirth through a combination of breath awareness, gentle and strengthening yoga postures, relaxation, and community with other expecting moms.

Recommended for women in their second and third trimesters of pregnancy.

No previous yoga experience needed.

Prenatal students should eat something light one hour before class and bring a snack.

Cost:  $44 if booked by May 30th, $52 otherwise.  Book now!

About Tamar Starck

Yoga has been part of Tamar’s life since she took her first class in college over 15 years ago, and she is in awe of the journey of self discovery it has taken her on. Tamar is a graduate of Wild Lotus Yoga’s Soul School Interdisciplinary Teacher Training Program and is also certified by Judith Lasater as a Relax and Renew® Restorative Yoga teacher.  While she respects and enjoys practicing many styles and forms of yoga, Tamar has been teaching gentle flow and restorative yoga since 2009. She completed a prenatal yoga teacher training at 8 Limbs Yoga in Seattle with Anne Phyfe Palmer in June 2011. Originally from New Jersey and New York, she has lived in New Orleans since 2006 and instantly felt at home in the vibrant and growing New Orleans yoga community.

Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy 
Seven Week Group Process
with Amy Archinal PRYT 

Wednesdays 7:30 – 8:45pm
July 11 – August 22nd 

Many years ago, I came to yoga with the idea that I was going to fix myself. Somehow 90 minutes at a time, I would feel relief from a continual feeling of being stressed out. The physicality of asana practice and hearing bits of positive philosophy in class would get me out of my negative thought patterns for a while. Practicing yoga was my way of “getting right” so I could get on with my life.

I thought that there was something fundamentally wrong in my wiring. Yoga was a “fix” that allowed me to function normally. My desire to feel good carried me deeper as a student, and I began to study philosophy. Through yoga scholar Douglas Brooks I heard the teachings of Dr. Gopalayer Sundarmoorthy, a South Indian professor and yoga scholar. Over the years, some of the most simple ideas have landed most powerfully in my mind.

One of these suggestions goes like this: “You are sufficient unto your own joy.”

 The invitation of this little phrase is a powerful one. It suggests that you already have everything you need to feel happy and free in your life. You don’t have to get rid of any part of yourself, and you don’t have to add anything to yourself. The best thing you could be is yourself, unfolding your own fullest potential. The word PURNA in Sanskrit means fullness, wholeness, a feeling of completeness within oneself. The best part is that it’s referring to YOU! Yes, you!  Many people spend their days with a low to medium grade irritation that permeates their experience and colors all of their perceptions of the world. Our yoga, which includes asana practice (poses) is to align with what is already present and working and good about ourselves.

When we feel badly about ourselves, it’s much easier to think that there is something wrong with us. “I’m just wired this way, I’m don’t have the genes to be a happy person.” Much more difficult, and a much more valuable use of time is to identify what is already working well and let that lead to solutions.  It takes and a genuine sense of curiosity to look deeper to see what is very right with us. What are my gifts? What do I honestly love about myself and being alive? When we ask these questions and can answer with authentic appreciation, it aligns us with a love of life that can spill over into everything we do. Positive solutions flow abundantly from this type of thought.

So, there is nothing to fix. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with you, you just might need a tune up, a mental restructuring to positivity. Isn’t that nice to know?

Vibrant health comes by balancing good diet, exercise, lifestyle and personally fulfilling activities. At Balance Yoga & Wellness we offer packages which address all of these areas: yoga has profound and deep effects on both the outward muscular form and inner strength.  Ayurveda and nutrition enable the body to become strong from the inside out; what goes into our mouths each day is the most direct and simple way to build up or sabotage our health. And finally, stress management practices such as breathing exercises (pranayama) and meditation influence the mind and thought process. Using all three tools: yoga postures, diet and breathing/meditation there is a synergetic effect more powerful than the three alone. The wellness packages give you the opportunity to experience a coordinated approach to your health.

You will get several individual sessions with Jessica, the studio co-owner, who has studied yoga for more than ten years, and has achieved Level 2 Authorization from Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Institute in Mysore, India. This has been given to less than one hundred people worldwide. She has studied pranayama and the breath, as well as philosophy with Sri O. P. Tiwari, one of India’s foremost authorities on yoga. Her knowledge of herbs, diet and nutrition comes from studying Ayurveda since 2003 with Vaidya Atreya Smith, director of the European Institute of Vedic Studies and more recently from enrolling in the coursework to become a Regiestered Dietician at a traditional university in Louisiana.

Healthy Ayurvedic Diet & Personalized Yoga

Yoga Class with Jessica Blanchard

This package is perfect for those who want to get started with both Ayurveda and Yoga and would like one-on-one coaching to get the process started. You will start with a 90 minute consultation, looking at your entire health history and any current concerns. This includes observation of your pulse, skin, tongue and a verbal inventory of your digestion, elimination, sleeping patterns and energy levels. At the conclusion of the first consultation you will be give an individualized diet, and recommendations for other therapies.

The next sessions will focus on kick starting a yoga practice, two sixty minute sessions scheduled at your request which will combine yoga postures, breathwork and meditation. This is a unique approach: these sessions will be individually designed to meet your needs, as per the recommendations of the initial consultations. After one month, we will schedule a thirty minute coaching session and follow up.  It is important that you feel supported in your new approach to diet and life. Following these sessions, it is recommended to have follow up sessions every six weeks, especially if you need that extra push to stay on track. If you wish to continue private yoga sessions, you will receive a 20% discount on the standard rate.

Package Cost $250 includes:
90 minute initial health inventory ($100 Value)
Two sixty minute private yoga sessions ($200 Value)
One thirty minute follow up session ($50 Value)
This package is a $100 savings off the individual sessions; because we believe that combining the three pillars of heath: physcial movement (yoga asana), diet, and mind (yoga, meditation and breathwork) you reap many times more benefits.

Restorative Yoga allows you to reach a deep state of relaxation by stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system resulting in a huge reduction of stress  This also helps to lower the heart rate, blood pressure and stimulate the immune system.

Does this sound too good to be true?

We want you to try it and see for  yourself . During the month of May, try and Restorative or Unwind class for $10!  You can even purchase a discounted card which will let you keep coming at this discounted price.

Sunday 6-7:15pm – Unwind with Amy Archinal

Tuesday 7:30-8:30pm – Restorative with Cheryl Golich

Thursday 7:30-8:45pm – Unwind with Amy Archinal

Friday 5:45-7pm – Restorative with Tamar Starck

Click here for a more detailed description of Restorative classes.

Restorative Yoga with Tamar Starck