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!

To supplement or not to supplement?

This is a question that comes up often for many people.  There are so many products promoted, where the end result is extremely desirable.  Of course we all want to have great energy, clear minds, pain free bodies, restful sleeps, beautiful skin, and to get through everything we do with more a little more ease. So can a supplement really do this?  Is it worth spending the money chasing this bliss?

Of course it’s worth spending the money if you get the promised results… but this isn’t always the case.  The reason for this is that every person has their own individual health picture based on their age, their lifestyle, their diet, their genetic susceptibilities, and how they manage stress.  So there isn’t one supplement that happens to be the missing link for everyone, you need to do some research and possibly get some professional help to streamline the road to results. 

The other thing that is important to consider is the quality of vitamins you purchase.  Although you can often find cheaper versions of supplements, sometimes that money is a complete loss because the quality doesn’t allow for proper absorption by the body.  The higher quality vitamins tend to be better absorbed and therefore utilized, having much greater results.

So the best way to save money on your supplement regime is to get specific and buy good quality vitamins that are appropriate for your current health picture.  If you are someone that tends towards higher stress, you may want to look into proper adrenal support.  If you have recurring digestive issues, you may be best off to start with probiotics.  If you get sick easily, you may want to look to see if you have some food or environmental allergies that are taxing your immune system, before you stock up once again on immune boosters.   Your health picture changes week to week, as well as month to month, and year to year, so it is best to understand what your body needs and when to supplement with what.