Top Tips for Getting Moving

Get up with the Sun Set your Circadian Rhythm by rising with the sun and taking a 5-10 minute walk. This helps set the body’s sleep/wake cycle and the mental tone for the day.

Stay Hydrated
We live in a country where the reality is, it’s very possible to drink ourselves to diabetes by consuming unnecessary high sugar beverages that are sometimes marketed as hydration remedies.

Ideally, we should be drinking great filtered water that doesn’t have heavy chemicals like chlorine in it. One thing you might not realize, is that drinking water alone is not going to hydrate you. We need sodium and potassium and magnesium to be hydrated. Many people are deficient in these minerals. One simple trick is to add lemon and pink Himalayan salt to the water to make it more active in these essential minerals. Drinking water with an electrolyte supplement that is not full of sugar is also helpful. For optimal hydration, you need all of these electrolytes. Also, avoid drinking out of plastic bottles which are harmful to our health in several ways. Instead, order a glass, steel, or copper water bottle to drink from.

Move Intentionally
It’s often said that exercise is essential to weight loss, and it is, but that doesn’t mean what most people think. At the end of the day, exercise creates added stress on the body. It raises cortisol. While it has great benefits, it’s important to be intentional with it. For decades, we have felt the pressure to exercise with the intention of looking a certain way. Oftentimes, that involves stressing the body to the max and still not seeing visible results. When this happens, it’s because of stress (high cortisol) inhibiting your progress! Researchers have long known that rising cortisol can significantly impact your ability to maintain a healthy weight. It can also prevent you from losing weight.

Focusing on movement that serves the body is different. We have to let go of the “body transformation” mindset. Movement, even a simple walk in the morning and night after dinner, helps lower insulin, lower cortisol and helps you sync up your circadian rhythm, leading to better, more restful sleep.

Weight training is key. I recommend 3x per week for about 30 minutes. Movement (walking) is also essential every day.

Recovery Incorporate more moments of stillness each day to help lower cortisol

People can nail everything with their nutrition and fitness but still struggle to reach their weight loss goals. Oftentimes, that’s because they’re not getting enough rest and are putting too much stress on the body (again, rising cortisol). If you sleep 5 or 6 hours when you really need 7 or 8, you keep your body in a chronically sleep-deprived state, impairing your body’s ability to regulate several key hormones.

• Ghrelin levels rise, triggering hunger.
• Leptin falls, so it takes longer to feel full.
• Endocannabinoids increase, making your perception of foods seem more pleasurable.

Recommended stress reducing breathing techniques to incorporate:

1. Nadi Shodhana or Alternate Nostril Breathing

A yogic practice that immediately helps you to feel calmer whenever you are feeling anxious or agitated.

Inhale deeply through your left nostril while holding your right nostril closed with your right thumb. At its culmination, switch nostrils by closing off your left nostril and continuing to exhale smoothly through your right nostril. After exhaling fully, proceed to inhale through the right nostril, again closing it off at the peak of your inhalation. Lift your finger off the left nostril and exhale fully. Continue alternating your breathing through each nostril and practice for 3 to 5 minutes. Ensure that your breathing is effortless, and your mind gently focusing on the inflow and outflow of breath. The above description is a beginner’s version of alternate nostril breathing. More advanced versions include regulated breathing on a certain count for inhalation and exhalation as well as breath retention. The Rajadhiraja system of pranayama is a highly advanced practice, which combines alternate nostril breathing with focus on a certain chakra while repeating a mantra. It is only taught individually, hence for those interested to learn more, please email us.

2. Ujjayi or Ocean’s Breath

*A cooling pranayama that can help soothe and settle your mind when you feel irritated, frustrated or angry. *

Inhale slightly deeper than normal. Exhale through your nose with your mouth closed and constricting your throat muscles. If done correctly, this should sound like waves on the ocean. You can also try this practice by exhaling with your mouth open and making the sound “haaaaah”. Try to make a similar sound with your mouth closed, with the outflow of air through your nasal passages. With some practice, you should then use the same method while inhaling, gently constricting your throat as you inhale. Even though Ujjayi can be practiced once in a while as described above, daily Ujjayi must be prescribed by a teacher, and is given when the Sushumna nadii is sufficiently cleared, hence the need to practice under the guidance of a teacher. It is calming, but has a heating effect, stimulating the process of oxidation. It is