Category: News

5 Ways to Get the Most out of Exercise

Posted on May 18, 2015 by - Movement + Mindfulness, News

Whether we love it or hate it, we all know that exercise is important to our health and longevity. Given that, why not have some fun with it and maximize our exercise routine for faster results?

Physical activity helps both your body and mind stay strong, healthy and resilient. It helps you detoxify, oxygenate and think more clearly.  Studies show that regular exercise:

  • Reduces stress
  • Combats disease
  • Boosts brainpower
  • Improves memory
  • Controls weight
  • Increases energy
  • Releases endorphins
  • Improves mood
  • Promotes good sleep

The great news is that you don’t have to climb a mountain. There are simple things you can do to stay physically fit (which also helps you stay mentally fit), and you can start from wherever you are now on the fitness spectrum, at whatever your chronological age may be. The important thing is to get moving.

Maybe you already have an exercise routine that you enjoy. Great!

Girls_jog_along_Morro_Strand_State_BeachIf you don’t already exercise regularly, you can start today and you’ll instantly add to your energy bank account. Choose something that’s fun for you. If going to the gym is intimidating or boring for you, head outside. If the weather is uncomfortable, find an indoor activity that you’ll enjoy.

Whether you’re a seasoned pro or new to a regular exercise routine, there are five things to keep in mind. For best results, you’ll want to incorporate the following elements into your routine to make sure that your body is getting everything it needs. Your weekly routine should include:

  1. Cardio activity two to three times a week. This can include energetic walking (vs. strolling), jogging, running, bicycling, dancing, tennis or other active sports, or other exercise that gets your heart pumping.
  2. Stretching and movement for flexibility two or three times a week. This can include basic stretches, yoga, etc. It can be simple.
  3. Core strengthening exercise and/or weight-bearing activity. Gyrotonic (we offer sessions at Tilo) and Pilates are great choices. The important thing is to strengthen and maintain the strength of the deep muscles in your abdomen—your power center.
  4. Energy redeployment. Gyrotonic is again a great choice., as are certain types of yoga; the idea here is that you want to reorganize your energy toward your center of vitality to nourish your internal organs.
  5. Set your intention clearly. Align with what you are doing so that your activity and intention match. It may sound odd, but it is very powerful, effective and enjoyable to have clear intention in what you do.

dt.common.streams.StreamServerThe greatest benefit from all this physical movement will come with a joyful mindset. Exercise can be fun! Have a good time with it. Try something new. Shake it up.

In good health,
Dr. Miles Reid

 

The One Label That Can Tell You What You Need to Know

Posted on April 13, 2015 by - News, Nutrition + Food

It’s being fought tooth and nail, but the US Food and Drug Administration is considering adding one line to labels on packaged foods telling you how many teaspoons of sugar have been added to the product. It’s something you’d like to know, right?

So why are food manufacturers lobbying so hard against it? It looks like there might be a LOT more sugar in our foods than we realize.

The plan unveiled by First Lady Michelle Obama last year caused an immediate uproar among US manufacturers, and even spurred international complaint, with the Australian government warming that the new labeling could violate international trade agreements.

One of the loudest arguments against the labeling proposal is that the total amount of sugar in a product is already disclosed. That total includes the sugars that are found naturally in a product as well as those that have been added, and some argue that sugar is sugar, so why is more information needed?

Our nation’s obesity and diabetes epidemics point to a reason for more disclosure say scientists and health groups. The new label is an effort toward greater transparency.

More sugar can mean less nutritive value. “Sugar that the companies put in, whether it’s corn syrup, table sugar, maple syrup, is nutrition­ally void. Period,” said Marion ­Nestle, a professor of nutrition at New York University, in a Washington Post article on the proposed labeling.

“Consumers already have the information they need to make healthy dietary choices,” said the Dairy Institute of California in a written objection to the proposal.

The cranberry industry shouted some of the loudest complaints, joined by a chorus of those representing familiar names in the grocery aisles: The Campbell Soup Company, Kellogg Company, Dannon, Coca-Cola and the Roman Meal Company.

Proponents of the labeling are showing otherwise. As reported in the Los Angeles Times last month, “When the Environmental Working Group analyzed 80,000 food products, it found that 58% had extra sugar added. That included even most deli meats on supermarket shelves.”

The labeling would make it easier to determine the amount of added sugar consumers are getting. For example, the American Heart Association recommends that women consume no more than about 6 teaspoons of added sugars daily. But how many teaspoons are in that bottle of cranberry juice? The proposed labeling aims to address just that.

Learn more about the proposal on the FDA website.

The public comment period has closed, and we look forward to learning what the outcome is. We think the labeling would be a positive move toward a healthier nation.

 

How to Train Your Mind and Flourish

Posted on April 7, 2015 by - Detox, News, Nutrition + Food

3 Ways to Detox This Spring

Whether you’re conscious of it or not, your thoughts can either block or accelerate your energy. Get the tools to make way for more joy and abundance in your life.

It seems like everywhere we turn lately, someone is talking about a detox program—juice programs, retreats, and all variety of programs vying for our attention. We have one, too! But what makes ours different from the rest is not only that it is doctor-supervised, but also that it incorporates your thoughts to support you. Intentions are a key element of the program—intentions to carry you through and take you forward.

This is a detox program for body + mind + soul!

Your mind can be your greatest ally. The thoughts you have and the words you use can either boycott your best efforts or they can focus everything to enhance what you’re doing so that you can meet your goals (and beyond).

Intentions focus your mind to align with the dietary changes, exercises, breathing practices and supplements that are part of the program. They help create the channel so that everything you’re doing flows together unimpeded.

An extraordinary truth is that when you begin to work with intentions you train your mind in the service for greater energy. Even more than learning about the effects of your food choices, movements and supplements to activate detoxification and sustain your vitality, the skills you gain for training your mind can create dramatic positive change for you. You might find it surprising!

Are you ready to refresh, reenergize and empower your vitality? Jump on board for our group detoxification program, beginning on Saturday, April 11 at 8:30am with our next Nutrition + Health class.

We think you’ll find that it’s a program that isn’t like any other program out there, and that you’ll take away tools that will have lifelong value.

Realize your New Year’s Resolutions in 2015

Posted on December 28, 2014 by - Movement + Mindfulness, News

Most of us start each year with one or more resolutions that we hope to accomplish. Maybe you want to shed extra pounds gained over the holidays, or to get to the gym more regularly. But by the time March rolls around, these resolutions can seem like a distant memory.

What happens? Usually, other things take our attention. To successfully meeting our goals, it helps to have support and information to inspire us to continue to improve our lives.

ELSI is here to support and inform you! Our community is diverse and its members often far distant from one another, but we come together with the goals of realizing our potential and feeling our best.

Each year, for example, regulars return and new people jump on board for our group Detox Program. Although you can do our Detox Program anytime of year, the group support seems to make it all the easier to stick with it so you can enjoy its benefits. The results from the detox are often amazing—more clarity, better focus, deeper sleep and more.

The group Detox Program is part of our Nutrition + Health online class series. We also have new great classes planned throughout the coming year to give you tools and practical information for improving your health and wellbeing.

Find out about your ideal body weight, how to apply your sexual energy to activate your life force even more, what it means to breathe for greater vitality (with a special guest teacher) and what neuroplasticity means and why it’s important, and more.

In fact, the research is in—our lifestyle choices do make a difference in our health, even at the level of our DNA. Learn simple things that you can incorporate into your daily life in our online Nutrition + Health classes. Plus we’ll have time for questions and answers after each class.

Recordings of past classes are also available in our online store for purchase.