Author:Vancouver Health Coach

September 23, 2014 In Food and Recipes, News, Spotlight By Vancouver Health Coach

As Stocks Decline, Should We Really Be Eating Salmon?

This year once again, the Fraser River sockeye salmon fishery has been completely shut down. No sports fishing nor native fishery allowed either. We need every salmon possible to make it upstream to spawn if we want to have any salmon at all in 4 years. It was 4 years ago in 2009, when 10 million salmon failed to return to the Fraser to spawn. So it should be no huge surprise that the offspring of those that did make it would be few in number this year. I wrote this post in 2009 on possible reasons for the salmon...

September 23, 2014 In Fitness, News, Product Reviews, Spotlight, Yoga, Yoga By Vancouver Health Coach

REVIEW: The Basic Poses package for iYoga Premium

As a yoga teacher and trainer, I can fully appreciate the amount of work it must have taken to create this beautiful app. The images are anatomically gorgeous and move in a very lifelike way, which can make it relatable for students. However, I found the repertoire to be far more anatomically-inclined than asana-inclined. This would make a good post-yoga teacher training reference for students who would like to refresh their memory regarding which parts of the body are affected and how. The multiple views and visuals of muscles contracting, stretching or both are great references. I also really enjoyed the different...

September 22, 2014 In Ask The Expert: Health & Fitness Advice, Green & Healthy Living, News, Spotlight By Vancouver Health Coach

Hormone Q+A

Ask The Expert is a health & fitness advice column. If you have a question for one of our Fitness Goop experts, please email [email protected]. What are bioidentical hormones? Bioidentical hormones are hormones with an identical chemical structure to the hormones your body produces naturally.  Derived from plant sterols from soy or diosgenin (wild yam), these hormones mimic exactly the actions of the body's own hormones.  A prescription from your ND (with prescribing rights) or MD is required, and bioidentical hormones are dispensed from a compounding pharmacy, usually as either a topical cream or oral pill. Bioidentical hormones...

September 22, 2014 In Fitness, News, Running, Spotlight, Video, Yoga By Vancouver Health Coach

Going with the Yoga Running Flow: Yoga Heals Injuries

If you are a runner or an athlete, life may throw you a curve ball. The important part is how you react to this curveball. Injuries are an unfortunate but common occurrence with runners. Yoga can help move the healing process along. From a yogic standpoint, going with the flow means to modify as things change, on and off the mat. When our circumstances change, we must make conscious decisions about how we can continue to flow, even with the changes. Healing the injury is very important. Relaxing and trusting the whole process is even more important. The meaning of yoga...

September 21, 2014 In News, Yoga By Vancouver Health Coach

Laughter Meets the Practice of Yoga

If happiness is what you seek, put the proverbial cart before the horse during laughter yoga sessions and form will follow function. World-renowned author Dr. Deepak Chopra recently presented his latest findings concerning overall well-being. With ample research to support his teachings, Chopra communicated that a major influence in one reporting personal well-being is the degree to which that individual socializes with happy people. Have a look around your office and you will surely conclude that such simple advice is easier said than done. But “Laughter Yoga” – a new form of classes during which students are guided through laughter exercises until...

September 20, 2014 In Green & Healthy Living, Health & Wellness, News By Vancouver Health Coach

Want to Lose Weight? Try Deep Restorative Sleep

If you are someone who is interested in losing body fat, gaining muscle, slowing biological aging, maintaining the health of your brain and feeling fantastic, getting a good night’s sleep is no longer optional!  If we could only conquer the mysteries of sleep, we potentially could unlock the secret to longevity itself (and lose a few extra pounds in the process). Unfortunately, loss of deep-sleep is cumulative and is often referred to as our sleep-debt and as we know sleep-dept is not an easy debt to repay. Research presented in the prestigious journal The Lancet, shows that sleep-debt can exert a...

September 20, 2014 In Ask The Expert: Health & Fitness Advice, Family Fitness, Green & Healthy Living, News, Spotlight By Vancouver Health Coach

Ask The Expert: Exploring Naturopathic Medicine for Fertility Treatments

Ask The Expert is a health & fitness advice column. If you have a question for one of our Fitness Goop experts, please email [email protected]. This question was asked on the topic of naturopathic medicine and fertility. My husband and I want to explore naturopathic medicine (we don't want to try IVF) as a way to help with our infertility issues. Can naturopathy help?" Naturopathic medicine offers fertility treatments as alternatives to in vitro fertilization (IVF) and fertility medications.  Before starting treatment, it is important that both you and your husband be assessed for causes that may be contributing to why you...

September 20, 2014 In Fitness, Green & Healthy Living, News By Vancouver Health Coach

Excessive Sweating: Exploring A Sticky Topic

When you workout on the treadmill, take a hot yoga class or barely survive a boot camp, you will notice several things happen to your body. Your heart will beat quicker, breathing will be heavier and you will most likely begin to sweat. The human body will sweat in a response to keep itself cool and safe when our internal temperature increases above 98 degrees. Sweating during exercise is a sign of an efficient cooler and this mechanism is extremely vital for avoiding heat illness such as heat exhaustion, muscle cramping and the most dangerous of all, heat stroke. While fit...

September 19, 2014 In Eliminating Toxins, Emotional Health, Green & Healthy Living, News, Spotlight By Vancouver Health Coach

Feel Emotionally Lighter by Cleaning Out the Clutter

Clutter produces harmful energy that sabotages us from achieving our personal best—it is the nemesis to success. It is deceptive because it manifests itself in various guises. Physical clutter is the stuff we fill our houses with to the point some people actually go into deprivation mode and develop an illness known as hoarding. In our society, we have learned to purchase stuff not for the stuff itself, but for the emotions that stuff evokes in us. What we buy no longer serves a basic utilitarian purpose, but has come to denote status and a luxury lifestyle. The more we own,...

September 19, 2014 In Fitness, News, Spotlight, Yoga By Vancouver Health Coach

Homeopathy for Bikram Yoga

As an experienced homeopath who has reaped the benefits of Bikram Yoga for many years, I would like to share some holistic and homeopathic tips that will help Bikram/hot yoga enthusiasts with their yoga practice. Balancing Electrolytes This is one of the most common problems encountered with Bikram Yoga practitioners. The intense heat and sweating can lead to an imbalance of electrolytes, which can then lead to dizziness, nausea, tiredness and/or headache. It is now trendy to sell coconut water in Bikram Yoga studios. Drinking a can or bottle of good quality coconut water before, during or after practice will balance electrolytes. Personally,...