Another kind of R & R

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Where's the RELAX button please?

There was no other way of saying it, the truth is I was trying to force some Rest & Relaxation into my life after an extended period of nonstop going, oh the irony of this... 

I'm well aware Vegas is not a place to unwind, especially when we weren't planning on leaving the Strip. But with only a few days off work, it'll have to do. It ended up being a good escape with a change of scenery. We sampled lots of food, saw an amazing show, Beatle's LOVE, and experienced the surreal culture of the city that never sleeps. So did I find the R&R as scheduled? I did but it's a different kind. 

Let me tell you about the "before" part of this trip. Besides wrapping things up for the school breaks to start, the little guy got sick and missed 4 extra days of school, nursing sick kids always adds to the load. Then they was a leak in the house. "the ceiling is dripping mom" as the homebound sick kid tells me. 

A faint optimistic inner voice says " thank goodness this didn't happen while we were away." The weekend before the getaway was also filled with volunteering duties at the Judo Tournament, I was pretty much done when I underestimated how tired my body was and sprained my thumb badly ( good thing it wasn't my left thumb)  at the clean up.

Ready to throw in the towel, white flag going up, will this trip help me decompress?

Get into the proper Mindset 

Once I got off the hamster wheel, Surrendering started the process of unwinding, letting go of control and embracing Acceptance allowed progression to take place.

We arrived at Sin city with my family hoping for a few days of sun, warmth, well warmer anyway, 3 days... Ready set chill!

The first day of getting there went smoothly, no hiccups, despite jumping in the taxi with wet hair to catch the morning flight, that was a first for me. 

Arriving at the hustling and bustling city was exciting but also a little daunting. The step tracking took a toll on the family and after feasting at famous Wicked Spoon Buffet, the family caught an early night of shut eye.

Me? I was still charged up by a mixed of factors. From the excitement of the day, the buildup of the week, and the best part, fuelled up by the amazing all you can eats, I wasn't ready for sleep yet. So I went out for a walk to watch the colourful lights the strip offers. Sometimes it doesn't take much to satisfy me,  I was happy to do my usual hydration run and got enough water for the next day. While I was at the 24hrs Walgreen's,  it was eye opening to browse through groceries and personal products I don't usually notice at home,  it was fascinating to see all the products available for many quick fixes. From energy drinks to puffy eyes patch. Does anyone else get a kick reading labels? Besides water,  I had some fun finding bottled iced coffee with nothing else added. Wow, that's a victory!

On the food front, I'd loosen up my eating protocol. Since Hangry isn't a thing anymore, with my fasting skill in place, I easily lost track of time until my family starts discussing what to eat for lunch. Knowing the variety of foods available, and the teenager's anticipation to critiquing the chefs he follows on social media, I pack digestive enzymes, probiotics and activated charcoal pills, for anyone who needed it.

Ask me more how to get these at wholesale prices 

Hard lesson to learn, where's the relax switch? Boundaries, I was still receiving emails and texts concerning the restoration and work. So I ignored the ones that don't require a respond, can wait till I get back, and sent replies of I'll respond after a certain date. It felt good to set my boundaries. 

Learning  learning  learning 

Vegas is an interesting creature of its own, we used to come for the fashion trade shows before the kids, 3 days was always max, and this time was the same. We came, we saw, we ate and now home to homemade bone broth, reasonably priced veggies and coffee. 

Yes, I'm not excited to deal with the restorations from the leak, but it's a good opportunity to get rid of stuff we don't need. Spring break with spring cleaning. 

What did I learn from this quick trip? I was doubtful the day we arrived whether this trip would serve its purpose. My husband wasn't in favour of the choice of destination, especially for the kids, so that negative voice played on my exhausted state and dripped on some guilt. But after I caught up on rest, I realized no matter where you go, you can and should make the best of the experience. Vegas is not the magical Kona we went to last year, but building memories with loved ones can happen anywhere. Watching the fountain show at Bellagio, seeing the awe in our kids' eyes with every new experiences. 

So can you speed up the decompression process?

No it takes time, conscious mindfulness can help.

What would I do differently? Recognizing the importance of ongoing selfcare while at home. Sure it might be easier said then done. Getting away to change the setting maybe the most effective way to chill out, but it would be best to maintain a level of mindfulness through regular meditation. My yoga practice is my moving meditation, but the ego may play with the mind when the body is tired from the physical aspects. Sometimes, we might just need to quiet the mind without tiring out the body. 

By the time I finished writing this post, I released some expectations that comes with the conventional R&R that just sit right. So when I was searching for an image that suits the title, I decided to coin it Regroup and Refresh, it seems more fitting. 

What do you think? 

Can grief make your sick?

Photo by  Christian Newman

What is grief? According to the Cambridge Dictionary, "to feel or express great sadness, especially when someone dies." Everyone grieves differently, most people are sad, others get angry, some might even show little to no emotions. Whichever way you express your emotions, know that this difficult time too shall pass.

Grief is an intense emotion, which can often cause stress to the body and trigger a flare for those of us with an autoimmune condition. I used to grieve quite differently before I knew about the connection between grieve and wellness. I hope by sharing my new found way to grieve, along with my tools to aid this transition which are journaling, self care and essential oil, I can help ease your passage smoothly into the" life goes on" phase without doing much damage to your body.

As most of your know, the AIP and IBD community lost an amazing woman, Martine, the blogger behind Eat Heal Thrive last week. Like many people, I was shattered by the news.

It was in the very beginning of my healing journey, shortly after I started following a Paleo way of eating but still desperately trying to get rid of all my Ulcerative Colitis symptoms when I met Martine over at Instagram.   Following Paleo had helped calm gut, but I was still controlled by many symptoms IBDers are familiar with. I was physically weak and trying to recover from the drastic weight loss that comes with IBD. That's when I learned about a positively charged blogger with Crohn's, who also happens to be Canadian,  known as the Paleo Partridge back then. She shared about a protocol she was following called AIP (Paleo Autoimmune Protocol) and gave me hope that I could have a future that is less trapped in between the four walls of my IBD symptoms. Besides looking into this healing protocol, AIP,  I began practicing gentle yoga and immersing myself in art to distract my mind from my consuming health. Martine and I connected through our mutual love of yoga,  I was immediately drawn to her contagiously positive energy. Seeing someone who also battled IBD with her enthusiasm was so encouraging. I was inspired by her spirit, her cleverness and her brilliance with words. She was such a great writer.  Martine showed me a different world about IBD, her firm mantra says it all, " I have Crohn's. It doesn't have me".  So I decided to model my healing after this remarkable woman. We chatted over IG comments mainly about yoga and art. Our brief conversations sparked me to create a fun project of legging designs, mainly to take my mind off of my limitations. Leggings were just starting to trend then, so I went with the flow and transferred some of the floral paintings onto the leggings designs. I was so excited when Martine supported me by being the first to buy a pair.

As I got more into blogging, I would cross paths with Martine here and there about recipes and yoga. She always brought a smile to anyone she interacted with and that is no exception for me. We might not have been close, but we were friends, and I felt her support alongside me on my IBD journey.

A new way of grieving

Martine's passing shocked and devasted me. Naturally, I fell into my old way of grieving which was to be sad, be very very sad. I cried and wanted to be consumed in sorrows. I always thought that the longer I stayed in sadness means the more I cared about the person I am grieving for. This is how I watched my mother grieved when my father passed away, 10 days after our wedding, so I recognized that to be the way to show your love. As it turns out this was a very unhealthy way to grieve. When my father died unexpectedly, my mother and I felt completely destroyed. I held on the grief far too long because that was what my mother did.  As a result, I helplessly watched her neglect her health through grief. I remember my then new husband asking me "how long are you going to grieve for?" and my thought was "how insensitive of him?" But now I know how lucky I am to have married someone who can be up front with me.

Now I have finally learned that unhealthy ways of grieving got me in big trouble with my health. My prolong period of grieving was probably part of the cause of my autoimmune disease. Why? Because grief is a stressor, stressor raises cortisol. Read more about this HERE

After a week of teariness and moping around, something lit up in my head,  I was reminded of Martine's mission, her essence, and how she always empowered people. She made them feel Good! So I thought,  Heck NO! I am not going to bury myself in my old habits and go against everything Martine stood for.

What did Martine teach me even after she left this earth? She taught me to look into my approach to grieving. There are different stages of grieving. Anger and Sadness are the ones most people are familiar with, the important thing is not to dwell on it for too long. Give yourself the time to BE with it, then RELEASE it and move on.

As for the tools I used to help me through these heavy times, here they are.

Journaling

I wrote and wrote and wrote. Sometimes, I wrote so fast that I did even know what words or letters were pouring out of the pen. This is how this blog post began. The pen to paper action was very therapeutic and freeing for me. If you are used to typing, I encourage you to try the old fashion way of writing and see if it makes you feel more connected with your feelings.

Self Care

I really stepped up my self-care. I guess it is a way of honouring the emotions and being with it.  Beside sleeping more and taking Epsom salt baths, I took full advantage of the freshly finished backyard with the hammock my husband built. I think everyone needs hammock time often, it is quite magical to be wrapped up like a baby and feel completely safe and secure.

Essential Oils

For emotional support, I pulled out my Young Living essential oils blends like Release, Valor, Believe to focus on my intentions. I liked putting drops of Believe on my head to diminish doubt,  Release on my heart dissolve tension or pain and Valor on feet for the courage to move forward. All of Young Living's blends are specifically created with the frequency to match their purposefully chose names. And Yes they work!

Through exploring essential oils as part of the process, I learned about a fascinating healing technique that uses the oils to facilitate an emotional transformation called Aroma Freedom Technique. You can read more about it HERE but I plan to dedicate a blog post in this technique in the near future.

So, whoever you are grieving for, cry if you want to but don't dwell on the sadness for too long. Honour your loved ones and keep their legacy alive. #herworkliveson because so will ours. I hope by sharing how I grieve and using journaling, self care and essential oils as support,  I can offer some comfort in easing yours during a time of need so that this necessary process will not secretly harm your health.

How I got moving again

The importance of getting active again

Recently, I increased my physical activities from gentle restorative to more vigorous forms and have seen improvement in my well being. These newly incorporated physical activities have helped increase my energy, brighten my mood and improve my stamina in only a short few weeks. I know, it's only logical that exercise will make people feel better right? Not always, for someone who manages a chronic health condition, too much exercise can easily trigger stress hormones and set one up for a flare. I had been struggling to find the right balance of exercise to support my healing but think I have found what works. If you are looking to add exercise to compliment your healing, I hope my process will give you some ideas to consider.

Energy

Everyone benefits from gentle restorative exercises, since my gut symptoms were so unpredictable, it was easy for me to remain in my comfort zone of rarely breaking a sweat. Don't get me wrong, in the past, my impatience have led me to exercise routines I wasn't ready for. Afraid that my spurt of energy was fleeting, I would push myself too hard when I had the urge to get active. This became a roller coaster ride that brought me down to a low until I reach a grinding hault. Feeling defeated, I would question my foolishness to hop on the exercise wagon without considering my current abilities. At this point I would slowly slip back to a sendentary lifestyle to avoid further stress on my body. Even with improvement, I was reluctant to increase exercises to a moderate level like going for longer walks or taking an exercise class. As my activity level stayed stagnant, my energy remained the same. In the dead of this past winter, hormonal changes got my attention with unexplained weight gain and big energy drop. I knew I had to make some changes in order to feel better. Through research on hormonal changes and weight gain, I drafted up a plan that began with slow and gradual changes. Before I got my heart pumping, I began to tweak my AIP diet by reducing carbs and increasing healthy fats ( post to follow). A few weeks later, I noticed my energy level slowly climbing up and remained steady throughout the day. I took that as the opportunity to increase my physical activities and hopefully get my groove back. Well, it worked! I started with 20 mins walks which extended to an hour 4 -5 days a week. The positive effect didn't take long to reveal even though I was taking it nice and easy with increasing the duration and frequency of my physical activities. Now, I am enjoying a steady progressive pace to improve my health through a sound phyicial routine.

Mood

Before I paid attention to getting more physical, there were many days when my head was filled with trepidation. Moving just wasn't always comfortable and the fear of needing to find a bathroom with little notice was always lurking in my mind. The restrictions of my chronic condition often led to mood swings and sadness. Since I found my exercise routine, I have a much better outlook of my future. I have learned not to force myself if I am tired and switch into “will tackle it tomorrow” mode when I have reached my limits. In fact, I am less anxious and frustrated with my limits and welcome my improving abilities to return.

Stamina

With my energy level improved and my mood perked up, I am able to better pace myself to tackle simple every day activities and set realistic expectations. Before I knew it, my stamina is following up the ladder of better health. After sheding my doubtfulness that plagued me in the past, I am better equiped to focus on strengthening my able body and move forward. I am happier.

The following are some of the activities I am practicing to add some fun and sweat into my day. Bear in mind that I do not practice all of these activities every day but it's certainly fun to have a variety of things to rotate and keep fit with. 

Yoga keeps my flexible, centered and calm. ( 3-4 times a week: 20 -30 mins per session )

There are many ways to include yoga in your daily routine, you can attend classes, develop a home practice through books, podcast and dvd.  I use yogadownload.com in my restorative style home practice usually to start my day or prepare for a good night sleep. I find using podcasts are easy to fit into my schedule especially when I am on the road.

Roller Skating is just pure FUN! ( planning on once a week )

Recently, I rekindled a childhood love by purchasing myself a sweet pair of teal velour roller skates with purple wheels. I fell in love with roller skating as a teen after watching the movie, Xanadu.  About 6 years ago, I had the urge to put on some wheels again but before my thought hatched into action, I got pregnant so I had to wait.  Now there are no excuses to wait and I look forward to getting my skater legs back while catching some vitamin D outside.

Belly dancing ( 5 days a week; 30 - 45 mins per session)

Like all forms of dance, Belly dancing is empowering through it's ability to ground me. I took a few classes in my 20s but it wasn't until the past couple years when I got back to it pretty full force. I took classes at my local community center and even got some private one on one lessons to refresh the "vocabulary" and techniques. I enjoy strengthening muscles without repetitive exercises. As a result, I am meeting my obliques for the first time and my arms and shoulders are more defined. Of course all the belly work improve digestion too. It also tap into my creative side with making cool costumes. These day I start my morning with a sweaty routine via daturaonline.com


Walk (4-5 days a week; 45- 60 mins per session)

Walking seems so easy to do for the healthy person, but for someone with IBD, it took me a long time to build the confidence to make this a regular practice.  My fear of not being close to a bathroom prevented me from going on walks for some time. Now that I am in remission, I go for a brisk 45 mins walk while plugged into my favorite audiobook or podcast. My favorite walking companion has been humorous audiobooks. Besides downloading from my local library via  Overdrive and OneClickDigital, Audible.com offers a great selection to choose from ( click here for free downloads). 

To track my progress, my friend at Movement Revolution recommended the MOVES app that tells me where and how far I have walked everyday. My other must haves on my walks are my new my bluetooth ear buds ( these are the ones I recently bought). I love the freedom of not having tangled wires and my five finger minimal runners that strength the over 100 muscles in my feet. 

Swimming (once a week; 30 mins)

I took enough swim lessons as a child to keep me afloat if I fell in the water, but it was watching my older son progress from a hesitant to a confident strong swimmer that inspired me to take a private lesson to brush up on my skills and technique. He is still the best swimmer in the house and I enjoy asking him for swimming advice which has brought us even closer. 

I love how swimming stretches my body like nothing else I practice. Floating weightlessly in the water relaxes me. Furthermore, swimming helps maintain my flexibility, build muscle strength and increase stamina all at the same time. 

In conclusion, I encourage you to revisit your childhood passion, embark on something you never had a chance to pursue to create your personal fun routine so that you can better your body and soul because you deserve feeling great. 

AIP/ Paleo in Vegas

My hot yoga balcony studio

I am finally sitting down to finish off my Vegas travel post after listening to Phoenix Helix's podcast on Paleo Travels. If you haven't listened to it, I highly recommend you do even if you don't have a trip planned in the near future.

I was a bit apprehensive about this trip to Las Vegas mid August. Firstly, it was the first flight travel since my diagnosis; packing my kitchen in the van for a road trip is easier than condense packing that involved security checks and liquid limitations. Secondly, I wasn't sure how I would take to the extreme hot desert temperature. Thirdly, we were there for work ( tradeshow time ) so it was easier and cheaper to stay on the strip and not rent a car. I was unsure where I would buy fresh produce. However,  my excitement to be traveling sans children for the first time - EVER overcame all my distresses. 

What I packed: the million dollar questions for AIPers

Beside the usual canned and dried goods ( canned smoked oysters, plantain chips, coconut apple bars ), I cooked up this seared ahi tuna, broccoli and purple yam meal and packed it in a cooler bag to eat on the plane. Luckily, I wasn't hungry on the flight so I ate part of this as my late dinner at the hotel. Note the children utensils for airport security purpose?

I haven't been to Vegas for probably 7 years so when my husband said that he would books a nice hotel because I was coming, I didn't know what to expect. To my delight, we stayed at the Cosmopolitan which were originally built as apartments so the rooms had a fridge, dishwasher and microwave. The fridge part was already filled with overpriced beverages but there was room in the freezer to put my food. The tuna lasted well in the freezer as I snacked on it over the course of my stay. To prevent temptation I covered the tray "moment of weakness" candies and snacks on the counter with a towel. I also pre-made and froze some of Kaiku lifestyle's plantain pancake as another source of AIP carbs. 

Testing the heat

I start my day with hot yoga on the balcony. The reason why people pay more money for hot yoga classes is because the heat makes you more flexible and bendy. 20 minutes later and I was sweating.

Then I went to the pool for a dip, I was the only person in the oddly shaped pool trying to do some form of laps.

After I cleaned up,  I made my way to the trade shows to meet my husband. If you have been to Vegas, you will know how every hotel looks so much closer than the seem.  You can usually see the hotel you are heading to but because they are so big, you still have be walk at least 15 mins. I was sure glad I packed my snacks for the tradeshow because their prices for fruits was crazy - a banana or apple was $5US. In the evening, I was pleased to find a little market place where I bought some fresh produce at decent prices for the rest of our stay.

Here are a couple dinners I had on the Strip.

Taro chips mushroom avocado ceviche appetizer at Carson Kitchen. I gave the cherry tomatoes to my husband.

BBP ( Bobby' Burger Palace ) - burger on salad greens, again hubs got the tomato 

For lunch on our last day in Vegas, we tried the buffet at the Wicked Spoon. Here is the true test how I fare with all the food.  - selective, not quantity but quality. Meats, Roast beef, house cured bacon, crispy pork, smoked salmon, carrot mango ginger lime juice, gluten free dessert

Grilled salmon

Being very cautious with my selection

smoke salmon

Carrot, ginger, mango juice

My Five finger shoes stood up to the test

So how did I do with all my initial concerns about this trip?

On the Strip with no car? No problem as I was prepared with compliant food, I was not bothered with walking as long as I stayed hydrated and look for shade if I am out in the sun. I think the extra Vitamin really powered my body.

Food? The heat actually decreased my appetite, with the extra activities like pool time, tradeshow and  just plain experiencing this surreal city, I ate less. And I did find some normal priced produces while we were off the strip. The buffet wasn't as scary an experience as I imagined. Just because it was there, doesn't mean I had to eat it. I really enjoyed the foods I chose and went back for seconds. 

How did this trip improve my health? My body really benefitted from the sunlight and heat, I am unsure whether my body reacts to heat differently comparing to before but the extreme heat seems to be what my body loves. I joked that I will become a leather faced retiree living in Palm Spring. This was such a great little recharge getaway. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids but being able to just focus on myself and my husband is a real treat for any parent once in a while. All I focused on was getting enough water and how to get to my next destination - the simple joy on wonder!

Yoga for digestion

I have been practicing yoga for over 15 years. I am grateful to have learned this amazing practice because it has played a very important role in my recovery and healing.

These are the benefits I have receive from practicing yoga;

• Yoga has helped me deliver two healthy children naturally. I believe an established yoga practice pre-pregnancy and pre-natal yoga prepared my body for childbirth however I was also blessed pregnancies with no complications and small babies 
• Yoga has helped me strengthen my muscles around my mobile joints to prevent injuries. I was constantly injuring my self as a child because of my mobile joints. I often sprain my ankles just from a simple light run. It wasn't until I was an adult that I learned my flexible joints was causing me my childhood pains. 
• Yoga has helped me through tough times of being a care giver and facing the unknown future of my IBD diagnosis. Yoga became my escape when I was dealing with caregiving stress. During my early Ulcerative Colitis days, I relied on my home practice especially when I was too weak and sick to attend classes at yoga studios.

Here I would like to share with you the few yoga poses I found exceptionally helpful to aid my digestions and provide comfort from IBD/ IBS symptoms.

Bridge

After I get into this pose, I slightly tapping around my belly starting from lower right hip up around down to lower left to stimulate my colon's function.

Twists 

I find supine twist to be more gentle as shown here, but a seated twist also helps aid digestion by wringing out the body.

Seated Twist

Plough to Shoulder stand 

In the plough or shoulder stand pose, I make soft fists with my hands and lightly "pound" along the sides of my lower back. It helps release trapped gas in my colon.

Wind removing pose  

After loosening up the trapped gas in the last post, this wind removing  pose does exactly what it sound like. It is quite affective so you might want to practice in a private setting, if you know what I mean.

Legs up the wall 

This restorative pose is great to relaxation and edema. Perfect pose to wind down before a good night sleep. 

I hope you find these yoga pose helpful for your digestion. Let me know if you feel any improvements.

Moving Forward - Heal me through my feet update

Happy New Year everyone! I am really excited that 2015 is here and thought it would be fitting to report about my feet retraining progress. Get it, moving forward! This is also an update to my post in September " Heal me through my feet"

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This past summer, I reconnected with an old friend who had quit her desk job and become a Restorative Exercise Specialist Our catching up conversations brought us to sharing our healing journey, me on my gut and hers on her alignment. I was inspired by her to go more bare feet and attempt to rebuild my fallen arches.  I had watch my body go through so much amazing healing that I want to give my feet a go. After all, I am physically lighter and my feet are much stronger from my dedicated yoga practice. I bought myself a pair of Five Finger running shoes to walk around in, they feel like I practicing yoga all the time. Another thought is since I spend so much time standing in the kitchen, I thought I would do my arch retraining there too. Here is a photo of my feet lined up along the tile lines for alignment. Apparently, you are supposed to line up the outside of your feet to be parallel instead of the inside.

Always on my feet while cooking, might as well strengthen those little muscles to better support my body

I brought up the idea up to my chiropractor and his vague responds was " it's possible but not probably"

The other day, I stepped out my shower onto the wooden stool, mainly used to help the little ones climbing in and out of the tub, and noticed the shape of my foot print were narrower. There were less print around the middle of the feet where the arches are, which means... I am regaining some arches.

I am pleasantly surprised to rediscover my long lost arches and wanted to thank my friend for the knowledge and encouragement.

Here is my friend's link that explains more about who to strengthen those feet and better your alignment. http://www.movementrevolution.ca/dear-friend-get-yourself-some-alignment-here-part-1/