Spotlight

October 15, 2012 In Food and Recipes, Holistic Health, News, Spotlight By Vancouver Health Coach

Building Your Blood Ayurvedic Style: Blood Building Syrup

All systems of traditional medicine make extensive use of the medicinal properties of both fresh and dried fruit, cooked with water to make a compote, or prepared as medicinal jams and syrups, such as blood building syrup. Ayurveda maintains a large class of medicinal jams called lehyas, which means ‘to lick’, referring to the method of administration. While they aren’t exactly like deserts, compotes, jams and syrups are a very pleasant to get the medicine down, and are particularly suited to both vata and pitta conditions. The following Blood Building Syrup is an excellent preparation to help build up the...

September 28, 2012 In News, Spotlight, Yoga By Vancouver Health Coach

Yoga vs. Pilates: The Best Workout For Flexibility

There has to be amazing reasons why so many individuals choose either take yoga or pilates to get fit, tone up, and even lose a significant amount of weight. After countless attempts with lifting weights, running, and various other workout regiments, many are realizing the ultimate differences between yoga vs. pilates, and how each offer similar yet unique benefits. Certainly a majority of people will prefer to immediately start with the most effective form of exercise for them, instead of wasting time trying and learning just to give it up later. Most are not aware of the differences between the...

August 24, 2012 In Fitness, News, Spotlight By Vancouver Health Coach

Lessons from the Vancouver Grouse Grind

This morning I did the Grouse Grind. If you live in Vancouver, and possibly if you’ve visited Vancouver, you know about the Grouse Grind. Maybe you’ve made the climb. I find the Grind to be somewhat of a meditation for me. Yes, it’s challenging, but step after step after step, breath after breath after breath, becomes alternately a good thinking time and meditation for me. Here’s what I learned today. Lessons on the Grind as lessons in health and in life: 1. The hardest part of many journeys is making that first step.  I had planned to do the Grouse Grind many...

August 22, 2012 In News, Product Reviews, Spotlight, Supplements By Vancouver Health Coach

Does Grapefruit Seed Extract Really Work?

Today I stopped in at one of the local natural health pharmacies here in Vancouver, and saw one of the staff recommend a product called grapefruit seed extract (GSE) to a lactating mother whose baby was suffering from oral thrush (candidiasis).  Not to be confused with grape seed extract, which is commonly used as an antioxidant supplement, grapefruit seed extract is used as an all purpose antimicrobial in the natural health industry that is touted as being both safe and natural.  In 2005 the journal Medical Herbalism [2005:14(3)] printed a letter I wrote outlining the problems with grapefruit seed extract, which cited several...

August 10, 2012 In News, Running, Spotlight, Workouts By Vancouver Health Coach

Run Faster: The 30-20-10 Interval Training Formula Brings Big Benefits to Runners

Tried Tabata Training check. HIIT training check.  Yasso  800 repeat Training check.  So what is new to write about when I am running out of time to find a new challenge in my cardiovascular workouts? Well I can now give gratitude to the Danish, not for their delicious desserts, but for their research on a new running formula called the 30-20-10 or the 10-20-30 interval training method. The best part is you can complete this intense workout in less than 35 minutes. And it can be a total calorie burning blast. Exercise researchers at the University of Copenhagen, in Copenhagen Denmark,...

June 4, 2012 In Ask The Expert: Health & Fitness Advice, Fitness, News, Spotlight, Workouts By Vancouver Health Coach

The Powerful Benefits of Plyometric Training

Summer months are near and the warm weather brings exercise participants out into the sunshine, surf, and sand. If you are pressed on time and interested in changing up your workout regimen to reap the results of a complete body transformation for improving fitness levels, exercise experts weight in on the benefits of plyometric training, as well as the risks to prevent injury, and examples of exercises that can be done anywhere sans expensive gym memberships. "Plyometric exercise is a conditioning format that is designed to improve muscular force and power through quick, powerful movements. When done correctly, over time it...

May 18, 2012 In Food and Recipes, News, Spotlight By Vancouver Health Coach

Cucumber, Mint & Blueberry Smoothie

Celebrities seem to dictate food trends for weight loss: low-carb, gluten-free, vegan and now juicing. And juice bars are sprouting up in every major city across America. So what really is the buzz? Just like any healthy diet, it is about eating more fresh plants in their natural state. I love the idea of juicing but not the cleanup and I don’t live near any organic juice bars. My solution? Smoothies of all colors: green, pink, yellow and today purple, made quickly in my blender at home. This invigorating Cucumber, Mint & Blueberry vegan smoothie delivers not only taste but also...

April 30, 2012 In Family Fitness, News, Spotlight, Yoga By Vancouver Health Coach

Yoga After Pregnancy: Get in Shape with Peaceful Postnatal Practice

Starting a physical activity program after pregnancy provides numerous physical and mental benefits to new mothers, and yoga is an excellent form of exercise for this special time in life. In general, new mothers should wait six weeks after giving birth before starting a fitness program. It is important to get approval from a physician before starting a new program of physical activity, particularly if the baby was delivered by c-section, or if there were complications with the birth. Pregnancy has profound health effects on a woman’s body and mind, and practicing yoga helps her regain physical strength and fitness...

April 2, 2012 In Green & Healthy Living, Holistic Health, News, Spotlight By Vancouver Health Coach

I heart Traditional Chinese Medicine

One of the inside jokes we have as Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners is that TCM has two hearts and no brain. It may sound like it, but it’s really not a dig. In TCM we discuss function more than form. The two hearts are the physical heart and the emotional heart. The “no brain” is because we don’t discuss the physical form of the brain on its own. We discuss the brain as being encompassed by the marrow and that is most linked to the energy of the TCM Kidneys. Long-term memory is also more directed to the TCM Kidneys. Short-term...

March 28, 2012 In Food, Food and Recipes, Green & Healthy Living, Holistic Health, News, Spotlight, Uncategorized By Vancouver Health Coach

Eating Ayurvedic: A Diet for Balancing Kapha

The diet to balance kapha corresponds to the many of the low-fat, mostly vegetarian diets out there including that recommended by health and wellness guru Dr. Dean Ornish, as well as those who advocate for raw food veganism. This diet is proportionally rich in antioxidant and anti inflammatory nutrients, and typically low in protein and fat. In Ayurveda this diet is suitable for people that have a sluggish metabolism, that tend to gain weight easily on a rich, nourishing diet. This diet is also an excellent choice to promote detoxification, by shifting energy balance in the body towards elimination. As...