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Why Nothing Is Working (How to Unlock the Key To YOUR Radiant Wellness)

You eat right.  You exercise.  You’re generally pretty healthy.  So why is it that you’re still gaining weight?  Why are you still so exhausted all the time?

You’re probably feeling frustrated and disheartened by the never-ending cycle of diets, quick fixes, and wellness trends that just don’t seem to work for you. I hear you, and I want you to know that you are not alone on this journey.

I get it.  It can be so frustrating to feel like you’re doing everything right and still not seeing the results you’re seeking.  Especially if you’re over 35 and have gone through the beautiful transition into motherhood at any point over the last several years, there are some really specific reasons why nothing is working.  As an empowered, strong, amazing woman (and mama), you deserve to feel vibrant, energized and confident in your body.  AND you deserve to unlock the key to making your beautiful body work for you.

So, let’s dive deep into the reasons why those cookie-cutter approaches aren’t cutting it and uncover the transformative solutions that will light up your life!

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Feeling Irritable and Angry? Ayurveda Can Help.

I don’t know about you, but this past year and a half of COVID parenting has turned me into mean mommy. Gone are my endless stores of patience for the tantrums and messes and snark. Gone is my happy-go-lucky, go-with-the-flow, find-humor-in-the-chaos mentality (insofar as I ever had one). No, sadly, I have not yet recovered from being stuck at home for 18 months with a toddler and kindergartener, from the Zoom school, and lack of help and 12 straight hours a day of momming. Things may be better now — one kid is back to full-time in-person school and the other has a little toddler class a few days a week; we had a part-time nanny; I have a semblance of my old life back — but my mood has not improved.

What gives?

The truth is, many of us (particularly those of us with children, or who worked amidst the front-line terrors of this pandemic, or both) went through a level of stress and adrenal fatigue that we may never have experienced before. Our nerves were shot, our cortisol levels sky-rocketed, and that’s not just something you can always bounce back from the second things get better.

For many of us, we are still dealing with the after-effects of that treacherous time, which can feel extra frustrating and confusing since in many ways, life is back to a semblance of normalcy.

So what are we to do?

I, for one, am fed up with feeling this way. I’m fed up with snapping at my kids and husband, and I’m sick of having a hair trigger that probably doesn’t make me the most fun person to be around. My kids will only be 6 and 2 once, and I don’t want to look back and feel like I missed these sweet, chaotic years by existing in a perpetual haze of annoyance.

In Ayurveda, the energy that is behind all things heated — inflammation, irritability, anger — is the Pitta dosha. Some of us have Pitta as one of the primary elements in our constitution, others may just be experiencing a Pitta imbalance due to all the insanity that we have recently gone through.

Take this quiz to find out your dosha!

Regardless, there is so much Ayurvedic teaching can offer us in terms of strategies to cool this Pitta fire, reclaim our calm, and become kind, patient people yet again. As always, the strategy requires looking at the the main pillars of wellness: diet, lifestyle, and supplementation.

The Pitta-Reducing Diet to Soothe Irritability

As with all things health-related, diet is probably the most important and central element to our balance. Unbeknownst to us, we put things in our bodies every day that make us feel worse, both physically and emotionally. Generally, when we’re looking to decrease pitta with our diets, we want to focus on the opposite energy. Pitta is heating, so we want to increase cooling foods and decrease heating foods.

Here are the 5 foods that irritate pitta the most:

  1. Heating spices: People with high pitta in their constitution tend to LOVE spicy foods (I submit as evidence my husband, who puts sriracha or hot sauce on literally everything), but that spice is going to make you more irritable, angry and inflamed. Avoid spicy foods, chili peppers, jalapeños, and cayenne.
  2. Sour foods: The same applies for the sour taste (I submit as further evidence my husband, who also puts vinegar on everything, along with hot sauce, and lives for pickles). Avoid too much sour citrus (limes are best for pitta), lots of vinegar and anything else too sour.
  3. Coffee: Stimulants, and specifically coffee, are super aggravating to fiery pitta. If you’re super dependent on caffeine for your daily survival (no judgement here), try green tea or matcha instead, which has cooling properties that will keep your pitta in check and actually serve to soothe that irritability!
  4. Red meat: Red meat is really heating in the body, which is of course no good for pitta, increasing anger and inflammatory conditions. If you eat meat, opt for chicken or fish, which are much lighter, or better yet, rock some beans instead!
  5. Alcohol: I know, I know, you hate me. But believe it or not, that nightly drink is actually doing more to increase your stress, tension and crankiness in the long run. Shoot for keeping drinking to just a few nights a week, and stick to white wine like a dry chardonnay, which is less heating.

Ok now that you officially want to kill me, here are the foods you can increase to keep pitta at bay!

  1. Naturally sweet foods like root veggies, bell peppers, fruit, oats, alliums, and rice. Sweet is a flavor that literally sweetens that pitta fire, helping you feel calmer and happier. Obviously processed sugar isn’t going to help anything, but foods that have a naturally sweet flavor are just the thing!
  2. Naturally cooling foods like greens, cucumber, and fruit. Salads are amazing for pittas any time of year, but if you have any Vata in your constitution, opt for cooked greens in the colder months.
  3. Cooling herbs like coriander, fennel, cardamom and cilantro are awesome for pitta, cooling your jets from the inside out. Try cooking with them or making a yummy digestive tea by mixing equal parts cumin, coriander and fennel seeds.
  4. Green or white tea: Unlike coffee, green and white teas are light, cooling and contain EGCG and l-theanine, which have calming, stress-relieving qualities.
  5. Ghee: clarified butter (from grass-fed cows) is a form of dairy that is actually wonderful for pitta. It’s cooling and soothing to the nervous system and the gut (the seat of so much pitta instability) which translates into a calmer mood (and happier tummy) all day long. Try starting your day with a Bulletproof Matcha by blending a tablespoon of ghee into matcha, and adding a cooling milk like coconut or oat. Sweeten with a non-stimulating sweetener like stevia or monk fruit.

Pitta-Reducing Supplements To Relieve Stress and Anger

  • Gotu Kola: This cooling adaptogen is amazing for relieving stress, promoting mental clarity and calm, and improving sleep quality. It’s one of my favorite Ayurvedic remedies for irritability. Sometimes I take an extra dose in the afternoon if I need a bit more calming balance!
  • Tulsi: Dubbed “the incomparable one” in Sanskrit, this adaptogen is a brilliant multi-tasker, promoting stress relief, calm, happy mood, immunity and digestion.
  • Shatavari: This hormone balancer is particularly good for women, and soothes the hormonal aspect of that pitta irritability. It promotes a calm mind and feelings of love and devotion, as well as immunity and digestion. It also relieves symptoms of PMS, helps regulate your menstrual cycle, and can soothe symptoms of perimenopause.
  • Fish oil: Omega-3’s are amazing for relieving stress and irritability, and unless you eat fatty fish (like salmon or sardines) several times a week, you are likely deficient. Pop one of these twice a day.
  • Vitamin D: Here’s another nutrient that most of us are deficient in (especially if you live in cooler climates), which causes all kinds of physically and emotional issues ranging from compromised immunity to depression to irritability. 2000 IU per day is enough for most people (check out this fish oil + D combo), but if you’re in the midst of winter and don’t get any sunlight on your skin, I would rock 4000 IU during the colder months.
  • Mint: Teas made from peppermint or spearmint are cooling to pitta all-around, soothing the gut and the mind. Try this combo Tulsi Peppermint Tea for bonus stress-busting magic.
  • Rose: Rose has a particularly soothing quality to fiery pitta, promoting calm, pleasant feelings that are the ultimate antidote to all that irritability. I’m a big fan of Tulsi Sweet Rose Tea, which combines several calming herbs making for a perfect evening soother.

Pitta-Reducing Lifestyle Changes to Cool Your Jets

Soothing irritability and frustration requires more than just cooling food and herbs. In fact, making some crucial changes to your lifestyle habits is where the true changes will take hold.

Here are some of my favorite lifestyle Ayurvedic remedies for irritability:

  • Increase your downtime. Pitta energy is what makes you go-go-go — it’s ambition, perfectionism, control. But when that energy is allowed to fully take hold, the mind has nowhere else to go, and it’s only a matter of time before the imbalance spreads to the rest of your body, causing issues ranging from digestive disorders (ulcers, IBS, loose stools) to migraines and inflammatory skin conditions to heart disease. Make sure to take ample time at the end of the day to relax and unwind, and force yourself to slow down on weekends to ensure time for some R&R.
  • Focus on YOU. For some of us, especially moms, this irritability comes from feeling stretched thin, overwhelmed and unappreciated for all that we do (which is, in all seriousness, everything). So to loosen up some of that energy, make sure you do something for yourself every day.
  • Increase time in nature. Natural beauty has a way of soothing pitta irritability and anger, so make it a point to hit up a park, go hiking, get to the beach, or even take a walk outside every day to calm those fiery feelings. Bonus points if there’s water involved, which is particularly soothing to pitta.
  • Incorporate some yoga into your workout routine. Pittas can get really intense with their workouts, which can sometimes actually serve to increase those angry pitta feelings. Balance out your higher intensity workouts with vinyasa yoga (NOT hot yoga) that focuses on the breath and calming, fluid movements. But even if you’re not a pitta dosha, yoga will be just the thing to get you out of that irritable, frustrated head space. It moves energy through the body, helps balance hormones, and calms the the mind. Start with once a week and increase if it feels good! Try this 18 minute yoga for anger sequence.
  • Meditate. Meditation does wonders to calm the mind and lower those stress hormones that have us snapping at everything little thing. Ideally, start your day with a 15-20 minute (or more) meditation practice, but if that’s not doable, a few 3-5 minute mini-meditations throughout the day will help a lot as well. I love the Breathe App on my Apple Watch for this. Try this 10 minute meditation for inner peace.
  • Avoid overheating. This is more for those with pitta already in their constitution, but even if you don’t, letting your body overheat is going to exacerbate those hot feelings of irritability and anger that you’ve got going on. Make sure to dress in layers, so you can easily shed one if you feel yourself getting hot, and avoid doing strenuous exercise in hot weather or in a hot room. Basically, you need to keep your body cool to keep your mind cool.
  • Get enough sleep. This one should be obvious, but honestly, there’s nothing like a crappy night’s sleep to make you a crabby monster for the day ahead. Make that several nights of crappy sleep, and you’re looking at a chronic condition of crabbiness. Eight hours a day can feel like a long-shot for many of us, but even a consistent seven can do the trick. Use a sleep mask and a noise machine to maximize your deep, REM sleep, and for god’s sake, go to bed earlier! No one needs that 3rd episode of The Bachelor. If you have trouble falling asleep, try some Tulsi Sleep Tea or pop 1-3mg of melatonin 30 minutes prior to bedtime to get yourself primed for sleep.

There are so many factors that contribute to our feelings of irritability, and some are sneakier and more difficult to detect than others. If you’ve tried the strategies above and are still feeling out of sorts, it’s time to get some more detailed answers. Schedule a full hormonal panel and metabolic panel with your doctor to get a sense of how your body is working. You can get your cortisol levels tested as well.

Personally, even just writing this was a good reminder for me on what practices I’ve been sliding on. This week, I’ve been swapping my cacao chai lattes for matcha lattes and have been sneaking in 3 minute meditations throughout the day. That, plus adding in an extra dose of gotu kola in the afternoon (before school pickup) has really been helping me get my irritability in check. Now I’m going to add in a few more strategies in the evening to help me not become scary mommy during all the pre-bedtime drama. Here’s to keeping our cool and being the people/parents/humans that we want to be!


Need some more support with your diet, supplementation or lifestyle habits?

Book a consultation with me to get started!

Homemade Elderberry Syrup

Homemade Elderberry Syrup

This time of year, and especially with the COVID-19 craziness going on, elderberry is one of my top supplements for the whole family to boost immunity and stave off illness.

Elderberries are loaded with antioxidants and vitamins that can decrease inflammation, boost immunity, decrease stress, and have heart benefits to boot!

If you have access to dried elderberries in bulk, making your own syrup can be an easy and economical way to stay stocked up with elderberries for the whole season.

I have my whole family on elderberries (either in syrup or supplement form) through the entire cold season — November through April.

This recipe is easy to make and delicious. Kids love it!

Dosage: Kids can take 1/2-1 tsp a day // Adults can take 1/2-1 tbsp a day.
When sick, you can take 3 times a day.

SEE THE RECIPE

How to Restore Your Gut After Antibiotics

How to Restore Your Gut After Antibiotics | The Organic Beauty BlogMy early 20’s were characterized by a few things: opera, boys, NYC, and digestive issues.  Though the origins of my digestive disorder were a medical mystery at the time, in retrospect, I can pretty confidently point the finger at the overuse of antibiotics (due to recurrent UTI’s thanks to.. boys) that completely wiped out my intestinal flora.  My symptoms ranged from stomach aches, sudden extreme weight gain, and food cravings to depressed mood, fatigue, and headaches.  I was miserable, and my doctor’s could do nothing to help me.

DID YOU KNOW?

Candida overgrowth can cause so much bodily and mental drama, including:

  • gas, bloating and distention
  • food sensitivities
  • sugar and carb cravings
  • alcohol cravings
  • diarrhea and/or constipation
  • indigestion
  • brain fog
  • chronic fatigue
  • anxiety and panic attacks
  • depression
  • irritability
  • migraines or headaches
  • impaired focus and concentration
  • attention deficit and/or hyperactivity
  • mood swings
  • oral thrush
  • bad breath
  • recurrent UTI’s
  • persistent cough
  • frequent ear infections
  • recurring sinusitis
  • frequent colds
  • sore throat
  • chronic pain
  • joint pain
  • muscle weakness
  • vaginitis
  • anal itching
  • PMS
  • low libido
  • skin rashes
  • acne
  • toe or fingernail fungus
  • eczema
  • hypersensitivity to fragrances and/or other chemicals

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I meditated every day for a month… here’s what happened.

I meditated for a month.. Here's what happened | The Organic Beauty Blog

About 6 years ago, after many failed attempts, I decided I was finally going to learn to meditate.  I had tried so many times before, with no success (or so I thought).  I was convinced that I just wasn’t the type of person that could meditate.  But being a generally anxious person, prone to a heightened stress response, I knew I had to give it another go.  So I signed up for a free online 28 day meditation series led by two people I loved (from a distance, at least): Deepak Chopra and Oprah Winfrey.  Not too shabby a combo, right?

After much a frustrating first two weeks, which felt like me “meditating” meant sitting there trying not to think about all the shit on my mind, but then thinking about it anyway, and realizing that I just spent 10 minutes thinking about my to-do list…. le sigh.  But suddenly, a little over two weeks in, I realized that I had turned a corner. I was able focus on my breath and the mantra for longer, bring myself back from distractions faster, and finally reap the benefits of meditation.

Though I’ve done several Meditation Challenges since then, and meditated on my own sporadically, I have not had a solid one month streak in many years, certainly not since becoming a mama. So with the mounting stressors over the last few months of being a work-from-home mom with a strong-willed, precocious toddler, starting an intensive year-long Ayurvedic practitioner program, and starting a new business with my husband (more on that later), I was starting to feel my meditation practice calling to me again.

My neck and shoulders were perpetually tight, I was feeling bouts of anxiety, my patience with my kid and husband was dwindling, and I felt like I was developing much more of a temper than I would like.  Something had to change.

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How to get through the rest of winter

How to get through the rest of winter | The Organic Beauty BlogAs we head into this final stretch of winter, we all seem to be getting a little fed up with the cold and the havoc it can wreak on our bodies and minds.  I moved all the way across the country from New York to sunny Santa Monica to escape winter, and even here, in the temperate 60 degree winter temperature range, my feet are cold, I’m sipping hot tea all day long, and I’m pretty much living in my long, chunky knits.

Cold weather, even Santa Monica-style cold weather, can dry us out, stress us out, make us feel depressed and unmotivated, and majorly hamper our glow factor.  But with a few Ayurvedic tips and tricks, we can heat things up, boost our mood and immunity, and get through the rest of winter with our glow on!

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What you can do in your 30’s to look (and feel) better in your 40’s

SPONSORED POST
BY: STACEY GAVIN, FARMACY BEAUTY

They say 40 is the new 30, and we think it’s by design; with a slew of new health and beauty boosters available that are backed by science and nature, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t look and feel your best as you get older. If you’re savvy about it — which you are, since you’re reading this! — you can take a few simple steps in your 30s to ensure that you feel like you’re in your prime at age 40 and beyond. Here’s what you can do to look and feel great in your 40s.

What you can do in your 30's to look (and feel) better in your 40's | The Organic Beauty Blog

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5 Ayurvedic secrets to digest better this Thanksgiving

5 Ayurvedic Secrets to Digest Better This Thanksgiving | The Organic Beauty Blog

I’ve always been super irked by that image we all have in our heads of post-Thanksgiving bloat, fatigue, and fullness. Truth be told, it is totally possible to eat a big, filling and festive meal and not go into a food coma immediately after, or worse yet, throw off your digestion for days. All it takes is employing a few Ayurvedic secrets to digest better this Thanksgiving!

Try these tips and enjoy this lovely holiday with no side effects:

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A Bioenergetic Scan to Unlock the Mysteries of Your Health

As a holistic practitioner, I am always looking for new ways to support my clients in creating balanced health in their bodies.  I assess their bodies and health with Ayurveda, I use various personality assessments to understand more about what makes them tick (and therefore what lifestyle factors may be contributing to their imbalances), and I take into account every minute aspect of their diet, health and life to create a holistic diagnostic picture of what’s actually going on.  The one thing that has been lacking is an effective and comprehensive health test or bioenergetic scan of their bodies.

As both a practitioner, and someone who has had my own fair share of mysterious and problematic health issues in the past, I know how unreliable (and expensive!) the usual blood work and food allergy testing can be.  I was once told by my gastroenterologist that I tested allergic to pretty much everything from lactose and fructose to gluten and legumes (which was obviously insane, and had I not known better, would have surely led me down a rabbit hole of unnecessarily restrictive diets and a lifetime of frustration).  I’ve had clients come to me with tests showing inconclusive and mysterious results across the board, which their doctors immediately started treating with even more medication — always treating the symptom, never the cause.  So I was incredibly excited when I learned about bioenergetic scanning, which I’ve found to be the most comprehensive test for creating balanced health out there.

Comprehensive Testing for Balanced Health

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Best Natural UTI Treatment

Best-Natural-UTI-Treatment

Without getting into TOO much detail, natural UTI treatment is an area in which I have become quite the expert over the years.  UTI’s (urinary tract infections) suck, hard. And the worst part is, once you’ve had one, you are that much more likely to get them chronically.  Unfortunately, chronic UTI’s aren’t just an inconvenience — they are one of the leading causes of over-prescription of antibiotics in women, and overuse of antibiotics can lead to even greater health problems: antibiotic resistance, digestive disorders, and candida, just to name a few. I myself was once hospitalized with a severe case of colitis after using antibiotics on and off for several months, upon my doctor’s urging.

After years of needing to take antibiotics several times a year for UTI’s, and even more years dealing with the long-term effects of overuse of antibiotics, I said enough is enough.  I developed a protocol of natural treatment for UTI’s that works, and 98% of the time, eliminate the need for antibiotics.  This is big news for those of you out there who are prone to this not-so-fun affliction.  I’ve also perfected a strategy for preventing UTI’s to begin with, and am happy to say that I haven’t needed to take antibiotics for a UTI in several years!

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