Stress Series Part 1: Don't Push Me Cuz I'm Close to the Edge, Trying Hard Not to Lose My Head

So Grand Master Flash is speaking from the view of living in the projects, and I'm speaking from the view of being a young career gal in downtown Toronto - but its safe to say that we're both stressed.

Stress oh, stress. Its one of those afflictions which are so easy to aid because its within in our own control to limit, but so hard because its up to our control to limit. And I admit, I'm the worse when it comes to stress management - I sometimes feel I have made a sport of worrying. No, I definitely am not a person who easily goes with the flow.

"Kristen gets many things done, but she insists on making herself so uncomfortable doing it," my mother announced at a family dinner last week. This was a response to being told that my easy going cousin lets life fall into place and somehow always ends up successful.

But I find it so difficult to put my thoughts in a drawer and leave them there for another time. There are so many pressures today that I think many of us feel like we are in a space of going somewhere instead of being somewhere (this is something I have only recently began to overcome). And in this Vata weather I think its amplified. So many of my clients this week have come into the spa breaking out and telling me about their anxieties as they juggle work, relationships, children and change. And of course, on top of this, as many of them are uber ambitious and self-aware, they also take extra courses, volunteer, network and worry about worrying so much. But often this time-poverty also is married with forgetting to care for themselves; skipping meals, forgoing sleep and losing their hair.

And while I have known for many years now that I need to make a point of calming down - recently it really impressed itself upon me while reading the book "Your Life is in Your Hands" by Dr. Krishan Chopra (Father of Deepak) outlined a study conducted on rats to study the effect of stress on our tissues. One group of lab rats were used as a control group, and one group was put under stress by being put into a tank of water for a few minutes everyday to stimulate the stress of drowning. What they found was that these stressed out rats would experience dramatic physical changes within three weeks or less. their hearts, livers, lungs and other organs would harden and become dark and fibrous. If the experiment persists, these rats also will die of "old age" as opposed to the normal, control group of rats who live for two to three years! The effects of stress on our bodies is extremely damaging to their function and health.

In vain terms: this depletion of our tissues will affects our skin and bodies, aging our skin faster than an IPL pulse! And I take this very seriously because God knows I just had an eye bag competition with one of our clients at our Midnight Madness sale yesterday. ("I have bad eye bags!" "What?! No, no, I have bad eye bags!")

So as much work as we put into exercise, eating well, getting monthly facials, performing our skincare regimes and making-up our faces, we need to put into committing to resting our minds. I know, not an easy task.

To quote the wise Mr. Flash: Its like a jungle sometimes and I wonder how I keep from going under.

My next few posts are devoted to discussing how to "keep from going under"...and look great doing it. Feel free to post comments on stress-relieving practices you find useful or you would like me to explore.

Ending up with egg on my face

I have not been sleeping well lately. I think its the Vata time of year. Vata is the air element which governs movement in around our bodies, propelling change and activity. Summer moving into fall is a time of change and transition - a join in time if you will - and during this time we will have a tendency to feel stimulated, restless and possibly overwhelmed.

Well, my skin has exhibited this accurately as it looks tired. And today - as its my day off and I'm feeling in need of some rejuvenation, what better way pamper myself than to do a home-made mask?

As a Beauty Aficionado (Self-proclaimed), I feel its my duty to experiment in the kitchen with fresh, easy-to-do treatments. And despite Ben getting confused to why I have a litre of Apple cider vinegar at the side of the tub (hair rinse) and even more perplexed with the sesame oil next to my toothbrush (oil gargling), its unveiled some very interesting discoveries.

So, feeling a bit like an unmade bed of a person, I pump up Eurythmics and look around to see what I have in my fridge.

Avocados? Too messy for today.
Bananas? Didn't really see results last time
Eggs? Perfect!

Its decided - I will do an Egg White Mask. Egg whites are full of protein and contain Lysozyme, which has been said to account for digesting bacterial cell walls, marry this with the claims its fantastic for absorbing oil (what I did it for in the past) - and its the perfect little skin pack.

And its as easy as 1-2-3

1. Crack egg into bowl separating out the yolk. And at first crack you feel good that its fresh, preservative-free and creates no unbiodegrable waste.
2. Apply onto skin. You will find one egg more than enough - to do your face, neck and decolletage.
3. Wait. Sweet Dreams are made of this - doo -doo -doo.

Now, you can't do much while you have this mask on - and while I usually like to multi-task, leaving masks on while I work, clean and cook - this mask is so tightening that it feels like you are on a rollercoaster ride, wind suctioning at your skin. You move your facial muscles, impeding the ability to speak, taste or wince at all with it on.

The egg whites will dry clear and look like you have saran on your skin. You will know it is done when there is no trace of wetness on the surface(15 mins approx.). I advise to wash it off in the shower so you can be thorough as it takes a few rinses to remove. After the treatment my skin felt so much smoother and my pores tighter. The tiredness to my complexion was relieved as the mask seemed more hydrated as well.

Now, I have read reviews in which people claim it erased their wrinkles and diminished their pores - and I definitely won't say its that effective. It is a mask which only treats the superficial layers of our skin. But for pennies per application and the no-fuss freshness, I certainly don't mind ending up with egg on my face.

I Wear My Eye Zone At Night... So I can, So I can...

Anyone who knows me, knows I am abnormally preoccupied with my under eye bags. I consider myself a fairly reasonable person - I try to have a grounded perspective on life, set realistic goals and accept the beauty of human imperfection. But somehow, the wires in my mind disconnect when it comes to my eye bags. So when I saw "diminishes eye bags and dark circles" in the description for the Eye Zone Eye Massager, it was like my fingers were on autopilot clicking "Buy! Buy! Buy!"

Now, before you laugh at loud at the image of what the Eye Zone looks like - the premise of it is only half silly. While the website states that it stimulates the acupuncture points around the eyes and helps remove toxins which build up in the delicate eye area, the pure circulation increase on its own promises drainage and anti-aging.

Maybe its because this week I have performed a number of Lymphomaniac Facials on press, but the importance of circulation has been on floating around in my head - and I wanted to highlight this importance in a posting. Many people think of massage as important to relax their minds and relieve tension in their muscles, but the simple increase in circulation promotes the reoxygenation of our tissues and transportation away of waste via our blood. This, to me, is the biggest benefit of any physical manipulation.

Circulation keeps our skin bright and youthful looking - and we should note how dry and devitalized the skin on our extremities (hands, feet and scalp) become when our circulation is low (this is evident most obviously in winter in we are especially taxed). It also increases our collagen production. If you examine any anti-aging treatment, whether it is Microdermabrasion, Chemical Peels, Light therapy or Laser, it involves the increase of circulation and blood flow.

So, when Ben scoffs at my new Eye Zone, I inform him he won't be laughing when I maintain my youthful looks and he doesn't - then I do a model's strut with the white plastic goggles strapped around my head and put it on the double time vibration setting.

Yes, Movement is an important concept in Eastern Medicine as the flow of Qi and Prana is thoroughly discussed. It is when we have stagnation within our bodies do we accumulate blockages - which can be seen in the form of cysts, dullness, heaviness and fluid turbidity. Acupuncture's role itself is to puncture energy centres to release stagnation.

Unfortunately, the Eye Zone doesn't solve all my problems. Like I thought, the Eye Zone does make a difference and takes away superficial swollenness moving the excess water and lessening the retention of fluid around my eyes. I am happy to see my morning puffiness if gone - and I keep thinking about the time my mother asked my people call Puff Daddy "Puffy". Who wants to be called Puffy? I do everything I can so I'm not to be called Puffy?!! But it doesn't take away the perma-puff along the lower portion of my eye socket. Sigh - Back to the drawing board - revisiting my kidney function and adrenal examination.

My only other complaint about my new vibrating glasses is that it leaves pink marks on my face so I can't use them if I'm in rush to get to work as I need to wait for the indents to fade.

Ah well, I guess I will just have to use my Eye Zone at night while listening to Corey Hart. Don't put the blame on the gal in shades.

Eating a Lazy Girl's Lunch

One of the few vices I have in life is that I eat out... a lot.

Its not that I particularly love restaurant food, its that I love the convenience. Like many young professionals, Ben and I often work late (when I am not actually physically at work, my time is swallowed up by the constant flow of emails that my narcissistic streak allows). We often go for runs or take a yoga class after work to try to stay fit, take night classes and spend time doing extras (like blogging). Usually 7:30pm will roll around when we start to think about preparing dinner (which project actual eating time at 8:00 or 8:30pm). But by that time, along with the fact I don't think eating late is good for digestion, the idea of pulling out the double steamer and wooden cutting board couldn't appeal less.

My dilemma is that I know how important eating well is to maintain a healthy body and healthy skin, but eating out is laden with tasty but unhealthy ingredients hidden in sauces and marinades.

So, upon my return home from our epic Paris-Dublin-Worcester-London trip, I did a smart thing and hired a meal service. For those of you who don't know what a meal service is, it is a company which prepares your meals and delivers them to your door. The ultimate in convenience - you don't even need to wait to be served or spend time deciding on what takes your fancy. I thought this was an especially fabulous idea to aid us while we waded knee-deep in work. Ben did not.

After a bit of online research, I found Toronto-based "Green Zebra" - a vegan, macrobiotic and raw foodism-inspired meal service which even pre-soaked their legumes (!). This also did not particularly excite my Ben. Neither did their declaration that they were "100% vegan, 90-100% organic and local when possible." He was looking at the priciness of it all (what do you expect with organics?). But after much prodding (we won't call it nagging) I got my way and filled out the convenient online order form, choosing the 9 meal option for $155- which I tallied up to be 4.5 meals each (or 3 meals each and lots of snacking for me).

To my delight, any initial order is 25% off and it appeared they threw in a jar of soup. As soon as we got our cooler of goodies, I read aloud the menu "oooh"ing and "mmmm"ing at Ben as if to say "See? See!".

Our menu included: Smoked Tofu with Barbecue Sauce, Roasted Yams and Cauliflower with Maple-Dijon Dressing, Basmati Rice with Spicy Kim Chi and Arame, Broccoli Squash and Quinoa Salad in a Cashew Sesame Sauce, Black Beans with Onions, Peppers and Cinnamon-Cilantro Dressing, Grated Beet, Carrot and Apple Salad, and Roasted Corn and Tomato salad, Adzuki Beans with Golden Vinaigrette. The Soup was Potato Leek with Fresh Herb and the weekly dessert was a quartet of Banana-Maple Pecan Cornbread Muffins. Yum! Just as good as homecooking (?). This list came with a complete ingredients list which I appreciated.

Well, let me tell you it was much more than 4.5 meals each. I was eating the stuff for breakfast and lunches (and I'm ashamed to admit, but would not bother warming it up eating it cold as salads)-- it saved me from my bad habit of delaying eating to fit in more work, then becoming an uber-wench when I realize that I am starving but also incredibly picky.

And to my surprise, Ben was enjoying it too. He was probably also enjoying not having to deal with the mood swings that come with me being hungry (he calls it the spirit of "Angry Girl").

Now this isn't something I want to do routinely. Firstly, I was raised in a family that doesn't believe in eating left overs...ever - but in all honesty, the food I was eating out-and-about may not be all that fresh either (an employee of an unnamed high-end, organic grocer whispered to me that their prepared foods are usually about a week old...gross). Secondly, despite finding the meals truly tasty, I felt they were simple enough that I could've made them myself.

"...But you didn't," Ben said to my surprise. "...I don't want to waste what little free time we have cooking. Let's order again next week."

www.greenzebrakitchen.com

Kidney-Care: An essential in Anti-aging

I am very protective of my kidneys.

Now, you may think its obvious that we should all be protective over every part of our precious bodies, but unfortunately, I often am not. In the past, I have washed my colon out with colon irrigation, wrung out my liver and gallbladder of stones with vile tasting detox programs, and I have pushed my poor little lungs so hard that I would cough up mucous. But when it comes to my kidneys, I have been wise enough to be gentle - because I know it is the organ which will cause me to show signs of aging if I do not. Yes, the kidneys regulate water metabolism in our bodies - and dysfunctional kidneys will disrupt the dispersion of water causing dehydrated skin, fine lines, under eye bags and circles as well as edema.

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, the kidneys are such important organs as they govern every essence and fluid in our bodies. This not only relates to the water-levels in our skin and other organs, but also influences our reproductive systems and its fluids. My TCM doctor has often commented on the increase of infertility and menstrual irregularities and how they are related to the stress we often put on our kidneys in the modern age.

But it is very difficult not to stress our kidneys out because the kidneys are taxed by stress itself. My mother calls our family "a family full of kidney people" because we over-think and make a hobby of being high-strung. Unfortunately this has also translated into bouts of nausea which follow the feeling of unquenchable dehydration. Our digestive systems also become very sensitive when our kidneys are especially depleted.

But it isn't just emotional stress which will deplete our kidney energy, but physical stress as well. The following are kidney-abusers:

Interrupted sleep
Excess protein consumption (especially animal protein)
Being an avid traveller (especially engaging in habitual dehydrating air travel)
Over-exercising (cardio: especially running)
Excess water-consumption
Deficient water-consumption
Inconsistent eating habits
Taking too many supplements in pill form
Low body temperature and exposure to cold
Excess sodium consumption


So what are we to do? While I feel like I am already so regimented with my habits, my eye bags beg a differ. Below are recommendations for kidney support:

Keep warm: Our kidneys need warmth. While I never thought I wore skimpy clothes, my grandfather doesn't understand how I protect my kidneys running around in yoga pants and a T shirt. To truly keep up our immunity and collect our energy, we are to bundle up and layer up- especially in the kidney area (which is on our backside right under our rib cage. Actually, Ayurvedic Doctors will often knock that area to see if there is pain to scout out a weak kidney.)... So burn all of your crop tops from 1993... Its probably a good idea to do for more reasons than for your kidneys.

Another way to keep warm is by oiling our bodies with sesame oil. Oil infused with warming herbs and spices are even better.

Maintain perfect hydration: We must try to not drink too much or too little. 10 glasses of water is said to be ideal, but of course this is dependant on your body's size. If you already eat a low-sodium diet, it can actually be beneficial to add a pinch of salt as it will help water stay and be retained in the body.

Limit supplements: I used to think that more was better. But while my days of taking supplements by the handful are over, I will still take some cherry-picked vitamins and minerals in liquid form. This is much easier for us to process and absorb.

Sleep deeply: Sleep quality is so important to nurture our kidneys. Interrupted sleep, or the inability to get REM sleep will not allow our organs to regenerate properly. This is one of the leading factors of kidney dysfunction.

Avoid animal protein: Too much dense protein will overwork our kidneys. A vegetarian diet is much more beneficial for those of us with kidney issues.

Eating ample kidney cleansing foods: Eating as many hydrating fruits and veggies will cleanse both the kidneys and the blood. But spinach, dandelion, ginger (warming - and also good for Vata pacifying), asparagus, blueberries, cranberries, string beans and parsley are especially good for detoxifying the kidneys. When I first discovered I was getting permanent bags under my eyes I began to juice raw parsley. While its sounds unappetizing, it was actually a refreshing addition to fresh squeeze apple or carrot juices.

Why go to Vegas when you can visit the British Museum?

Someone once told me that you could see the world by going to Vegas. There's an Eiffel Tower, Venetian Gondolas and more buffets than a person could ever eat through. But I can suggest one better - the British Museum in London. If you really want to see the world from the beginning of time, here is the place to do it. Disco, Ben's brother in law suggested it saying it was a massive display of "all the stuff we nicked while building the British Empire". And when he mentioned it was free - I thought, hey, I can get in some culture without further spending my RRSPs in this un-Godly expensive place.

And, like most things I experience, I quickly found that looking through history can relate to beauty and wellness. I know, I usually like to write postings about pampering treatments and new gadgets (I bought two face massagers in the UK!) - but I thought a bit of history would be fun - as well as looking back really started to tell me about us today and how we treat ourselves.

The first thing I noticed was that human beings are completely impractical when it comes to beauty. Get a load of these finger nail covers from China!

I wondered if they would display our ridiculous vanity and have exhibits with spray tan shower stalls in the future.

But moreover than impractical, I began to see how uncomfortable women through the ages have made themselves. Heavy gold anklets which made me wonder if women in the past had better muscle tone than we do today. This question continued to go unanswered while in the jade exhibit where I discovered Jade hair covers (you would cover your hair bun with a dome of jade and stick a jade needle through it to stay in place. And somehow still hold your head up..?).

But this sort of rigorous beauty exercise still goes on today as woman traipse around in five inch heels and maintain a hip-hugging wardrobe in sub-zero temperatures.

Yes, beauty has been prized since the beginning of time - with luxuriousness like hand carved make-up bowls from Egypt. They were used to put eyeshadow in (Kohl). But before we scoff at this remember, we come from a culture of caviar creams and moisturizers containing real gold flakes.

But the most interesting was a contemporary display called "Cradle to Grave" in the Living and Death exhibition room. Here, the installation displayed a mesh blanket stuffed with the prescription pills prescribed to one elderly couple over their entire lifetime. This amounted to over 14,000 different medicines, 40,000 individual pills, and the cloth piece must have been about 60 metres long as it was doubled up. It was a comment on how we solve our health problems and the public health system today. And despite how funny and uncomfortable I may think adornment and beauty were in the past, today we take much more abusive measures to treat our bodies.

J'adore Paris! Finding the aesthetics of joie de vivre

As a reformed carboholic, Paris is the perfect place to relapse.

With its buttery french bread and jewel-like pastries (which they proudly display in the window like the opening scene of Breakfast at Tiffany's), its hard not to have a carb fete. But as I guiltily filled my gob with tarts and baguettes, I had to wonder how Paris sustained its quotient of such beautiful people. The streets were full of model-esque beings - so much so that as I shopped in Marais, I was almost sheepish asking the gorgeous sales boy to fetch me a larger size.

And it wasn't just the copious amounts of bread they serve (they gave Ben a side basket of warm bread with his sandwich) but also that they seem to smoke and drink wine and coffee abundantly without much afterthought. This to me, as a Yoga twisting, clean-eating, smoke-avoiding (my mother's nose to cigarettes is like a bloodhound) Torontonian, just did not seem fair.

Was it genetics? Was it the air? Something in the Seine?

No, no and no. While perhaps it is just as it is to be fabulous in France - I did notice a few things which I think would be excellent to integrate into North American culture. Firstly, I observed the laid back nature of the city (laissez-faire, non?). While like any other major city there is an obvious bustle in the streets, there isn't the franticness I feel in Manhattan or Toronto. I was surprised to see that almost all businesses outside of the tourist hubs were closed on Sunday (some Sunday and Monday - and one bakery had a sign that they were closed Tuesdays and Thursdays). And when work did resume, the workforce itself seemed mighty casual. In restaurants and cafes it was common for our servers to be smoking and texting on their phones between orders. This may not seem significant, but stress is a major culprit in unbalancing our bodies. Stress dehydrates our skin through overactive kidneys as well as increase internal inflammation. My mother just did a yoga and digestion workshop which outlined how stress effects how we absorb nutrients. According to her, we ideally should do some pranic breathing before meals as it is impossible to properly digest our food if our abdominal muscles are full of tension (and mine certainly are). So, all these year of digestive supplements, food sensitivity examination and agni increasing herbs, I could have avoided with a bit of calm and breathe? (Or in the Parisian case, a cigarette?)

Secondly, I observed the necessity to stay active in Paris. Well, actually, I simply noticed myself huffing and puffing my way through the city. With absolutely no escalators in the metro and many tiny, winding, uphill streets, it is no wonder that people seem more fit. Circulation is essential to keep yourself youthful, and I found that while it may be a nightmare for anyone in a wheelchair, it was definitely invigorating for those of us trying to stay agile and our qi (chi) flowing. They even had this fantastic system in which you can rent bicycles all over the city. Not unlike the machines we use to pay for parking in Toronto, in Paris you can hire a bike by swiping your credit card for less than one Euro per hour. Not only does in promote us to be more physically mobile but also is great for reducing car usage. At home, while I think many of us make an immense effort to spend chunks of time at the gym or in our respective pilates studios, the Parisians simply have activity as a part of their life.

So Ben and I have decided - one day we are moving to Paris for good. Not only did we feel wonderful, surrounded by such culture and beauty, but think that any place in which you can stuff your face with pastries and still maintain poise is a place for us. And we have the pictures to prove it.