Why I Do Yoga Nidra Almost Daily

I wanted to share the practice I do almost everyday: Yoga Nidra. 

Ever heard of it?  Yoga Nidra means "yogic sleep."  Just 20-30 minutes of yoga nidra is the equivalent of SEVERAL HOURS of sleep on the body, mind, and nervous system.  So even though you're not sleeping, your body can experience the healing benefits of sleep.  (I'm talking to you, friends, who wake up at 3am and can't go back to sleep!)  Intrigued?  Keep reading (and for links to free recordings)! 

So What Is Yoga Nidra?

Yoga Nidra is a guided meditation, practiced while lying comfortably on your back. Although the body rests deeply, the mind remains gently aware. This state between waking and sleeping allows the nervous system to reset and the mind to release accumulated stress.

The modern practice was systematized in the 20th century by practitioners from India, who inspired our Westernized models and systems of yoga, though yoga nidra's roots trace back to ancient Vedic, yogic, and tantric meditation traditions.  My main teacher in Ayurveda, Dr. Marc Halpern, is the first teacher to introduce me to the concept and practice of yoga nidra.

Benefits of a Regular Practice

Research suggests yoga nidra can support both mental and physical health. Studies published have found that consistent practice can:

• Reduce stress and anxiety
• Improve sleep quality and insomnia
• Lower blood pressure and support heart health
• Help manage chronic pain
• Improve symptoms of depression and PTSD
• Support hormonal balance and nervous system regulation
• 
  

Some research has also shown benefits for people with conditions such as Hypertension, Type 2 Diabetes, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.  With regular practice, many people experience greater emotional resilience, improved focus, and a deeper sense of calm in daily life.  Just a few sessions per week can create meaningful shifts in how the body handles stress and restores balance. 

Need more help with regulating your nervous system and healing disease?  Email [email protected] Meghan Hays Ayurveda Salt Lake City to learn how to use the ancient practice and natural medicine of Ayurveda, check out my website: meghanhays.com, or book an appointment here.  

Personal Insights

I practice yoga nidra most days of the week as a part of my midday routine, after lunch.  It helps me with digestion, mood regulation, hormonal balance, chronic and acute pain/injuries, energy levels, and afternoon focus...just to name a few.  It also helps me sleep more soundly at night.  I often recommend it to clients as part of a "wind-down" routine before bed.  

I recommend yoga nidra to basically everyone, but especially to those stressed-out, burnt-out, and/or sleep-deprived individuals, who need to build their immune systems, reset and rebalance their nervous systems, and receive more energy and healing to simply make it through the day (so again, basically everyone). 

Since Western medicine and modern science are beginning to prove and support the effectiveness of this ancient practice, proponents like Dr. Andrew Huberman (of hubermanlab.com) have been extolling the virtues of yoga nidra for years now.  You can find plenty of free recordings on YouTube and apps like Insight Timer, and you can even search for "NSDR" ("Non-Sleep Deep Rest"), which is what the science communities are calling it these days. 

My personal favorite practitioner is Ally Boothroyd.  She has over 100 FREE yoga nidra recordings on YouTube.  

Here is the link to Ally Boothroyd’s Yoga Nidra Playlist on YouTube, where you’ll find over 100, free yoga nidra recordings, varying in length from 15 minutes to over an hour.  

Here is the link to my own playlist with some of my favorite Ally Boothroyd yoga nidra recordings.  

If you prefer to download any of the recordings for purchase (most are around $4-5) so that YouTube ads don’t play and wake you up, here is the link to Ally's webpage with yoga nidra recordings for purchase.

Need more help with regulating your nervous system and healing disease?  Email [email protected] of Meghan Hays Ayurveda Salt Lake City to learn how to use the ancient practice and natural medicine of Ayurveda, check out my website: meghanhays.com, or book an appointment here.  

Ayurvedic Tongue Cleaning, or Tongue Scraping, How and Why to Perform this Amazing Daily Practice 

Meghan Hays Ayurveda Salt Lake City

​Ayurvedic Tongue Cleaning - How and Why - Tongue scraping/cleaning is an integral part of an Ayurvedic morning and hygiene routine.  The tongue is the first and most visible part of the digestive system.  Cleaning the tongue first thing in the morning not only improves oral hygiene and freshens breath, but it also stimulates the digestive system, promoting a healthy appetite and morning bowel movement. 
 
The tongue communicates to the stomach and small intestine that food is on its way.  A healthy tongue improves the ability of the stomach and intestine to do their job of digesting food.  Cleaning the tongue improves agni, which means “fire” in Sanskrit and which is the force of digestion that we are seeking to balance for complete harmony and perfect health in Ayurvedic medicine. 
 
The tongue is also considered an important site for reflexes to the organs (see map of the tongue handout).  By massaging the tongue, the organs are also massaged and stimulated.  This removes toxins from the organs and helps keep them healthy as well. 
 
Tongue cleaning is different from “brushing” the tongue with your toothbrush: while a tongue scraper removes coating and toxins from the tongue, a toothbrush pushes them back in. 
 
The coating on our tongues, from an Ayurvedic perspective, indicates the presence of ama.  Ama is toxicity from poorly or improperly digested food.  As the body processes the toxins and puts them back into the gastrointestinal tract for elimination, it also spits them out onto the tongue.
 

• White, thick coating, mucous, or excess saliva indicate kapha imbalance. 

 

• Yellow or greenish coating or a red/bright pink tongue indicate pitta imbalance. 

 

• Grayish or brownish coating or dryness indicate a vata imbalance. 

 
The coating on our tongue can change daily, based on what and when we ate the day before, so it’s important to check yours each morning, before scraping, to note any changes.  You might see more coating after a heavy meal, after consumption of certain foods, or even during illness.  You might notice less coating when you are feeling more in balance. 
 
The tongue cleaner is the most superior method of cleaning your tongue.  One study compared a traditional tongue cleaner (which they called a tongue scraper) with a toothbrush. They found that the tongue scraper decreased volatile sulfur compounds by 75% as opposed to 45% with the toothbrush.  But again, bad breath is only one benefit of scraping your tongue with a tongue cleaner. Doing so will support your entire body by helping maintain a healthy bacteria amount in the mouth and by stimulating the cleansing of the entire gastrointestinal tract.  It is also a great way to stay in touch with your overall health.

Here is a link to the tongue cleaner from Banyan Botanicals (affiliate link) that I give all of my Ayurvedic health counseling clients at their first visit so that they can begin this practice right away.  
 
To properly clean the tongue, gently scrape from back to front 6-10 times, first thing in the AM, before even brushing your teeth.  Rinse the scraper between each pass.  Finally, rinse your mouth out with warm water and then drink 8-16 oz water to further stimulate digestion and regular elimination patterns.  I recommend a stainless steel or copper tongue scraper for their naturally anti-microbial qualities.  Allow your scraper to air dry between each use. 
  
Summary: Ayurvedic Tongue Cleaning - How and Why

How to: first thing each morning, before eating, drinking, or brushing your teeth, scrape gently 6-10 times from back to front. (Don’t go too far back if you have a sensitive gag reflex.) Then you can brush your teeth, etc. (note, brushing the tongue just pushes crap further into your tissues…just stop.)

Why tongue clean???

1) Tongue cleaning improves oral health, removing sulfuric compounds, dead skin cells, mucous, excess saliva, and all the crap your digestive system purges and “detoxes” overnight. BONUS: this WIPES out morning breath in a jiffy!

2) Tongue cleaning stimulates your digestion/metabolism first thing in the morning. Your tongue is the first part of your alimentary canal (digestive tract).

3) The tongue is a microcosm of the whole body (think: reflexology, etc), so you massage all organs of the body by scraping the tongue (see video for more on this).

4) You can check the coating on your tongue (or lack of coating…yay!) to see if your digestive system is running efficiently (no coating), or things need assistance (coating that doesn’t come off when you scrape the tongue). Coating on the tongue that doesn’t come off with cleaning tells us that there is toxicity (called “ama” in Ayurveda), formed from inefficient/incomplete digestion.

Do you tongue scrape??? Inquiring minds want to know!
Let me know if you have any questions or if you'd like to book an Ayurvedic Consultation with me! 
Reach out to me via email [email protected] or book here!
Meghan Hays Ayurveda Salt Lake City

How to Travel and Practice Ayurveda at the Same Time 

Ayurveda Salt Lake City

Holidays can be tricky, when we’re trying to eat a healthy diet and stay on top of basic, self-care routines, like quality sleep and regular exercise.  We all know these are the building blocks of a robust immune system and lifelong vitality, but throw in parties, tempting foods, and travel, and everything can seem to fall apart, quicker than you can say, “Happy Holidays.” 

Over the last several years, Tim, Stewie the dog, and I have been taking longer trips around the holidays to visit family and friends down South.  We’ve been able to figure out a few things around how we like to travel, like staying in short term rentals instead of hotels in order to have all the conveniences of home (like cooking and preparing our own meals).  I’ve much more easily been able to secure many of my lifestyle practices around just that. 

If you’re familiar with Ayurvedic lifestyle, you’ll know that there are lots of practices, oils, and herbs that go along with it, and it’s not always easy to figure out how to bring all of that on the road (or fit into a carry-on).   So I’ve compiled a few tips and tricks that have helped me over the last several years stay fit and healthy and adhere to my Ayurvedic daily routines and practices while traveling, even for a month-long road trip.  Every single one of these Ayurvedic practices is absolutely FREE!  So staying healthy won’t cost you a dime.  Hope you enjoy!  I’d love to hear about what you do to stay well during travel.

-Keep at least a 12-hour fasting window, preferably from 7pm – 7am (or later). 
Ayurveda teaches us that our liver is most active, performing detoxification duties, from 10pm – 2am.  If we eat too close to bedtime, food interferes, and the liver will have to perform digestive duties instead.  When this happens, we often toss and turn all night or wake up really hot around 2am.  To avoid all of these issues, finish dinner by 7pm so that you have ample time to digest your meal before a 10pm bedtime.  You’ll sleep SO MUCH better and avoid weight gain from late-night eating.  If you do overindulge at night, you can prolong your fasting window into the later morning, waiting to eat your first meal closer to lunchtime. 

-Avoid overeating – eat until you’re about 70-80% full. 
Ayurveda teaches us that we can be “satisfied” without being “stuffed,” if we aim to feel about 70-80% full at mealtimes.   The Japanese call it “hara hachi bu” (“belly 8 parts [out of 10]”).  This can take some practice and trial and error, but if you get it right, you’ll be able to easily find the appropriate weight for your frame and avoid putting on extra pounds over holidays and trips.  Two tips Ayurveda gives for getting this right for you is to 1) eyeball your portions—if your meal will fit into your two, cupped hands, that’s about right for you (everyone’s hands are differently sized, after all) and 2) eat without distraction, chewing your food thoroughly, so that you can notice the “first burp.”  What is this first burp, you ask?  It’s really subtle, and you have to slow down, put down your phone or book (or turn off the TV) to notice it.   

-If you do overeat, take a walk to aid in digestion and decrease blood sugar fast, AND, most importantly, don’t eat again until you are actually hungry. 
Fasting is nature’s solution to overeating.  Your gut will tell you when it’s done taking care of your last meal by sending your brain the chemical messages to start that rumbling (hunger pangs) that say it’s time for food again.  Honor that process by waiting to eat, even if it means going to bed without dinner.

-Avoid needless snacking; leave at least 3-4 hours (or more) between each meal for proper digestion. 
If you eat an appropriately-sized meal (see above for what that feels like) with a moderate amount of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, it takes about 3-4 hours for your food to make it through the stomach and most of the small intestines, which then signals you to be hungry again (“hunger pangs,” stomach “growling,” etc.).  For many of use, we can prolong the fasting window between meals to more like 5-6 hours.    This allows the body to use up stored sugar (glycogen) and even some fat.  If your blood sugar drops around this time more dramatically, however, you’ll probably need to go head and eat instead of trying to stretch out your fasting time (don’t be that “hangry” person, please).  

-Take walks! 
I aim for 5000 steps a day, even when traveling.  This is my “magic number” for much easier weight maintenance.  (Studies have shown that health benefits plateau around 8000 steps a day, but you’ll certainly burn more calories if you aim for a higher number, especially if you’re regularly overindulging while on vacation.) We try to stay places that have a park or easily walkable neighborhoods nearby (especially since we always travel with Stewie the dog).  I try to build in at least one good walk each day or a few shorter ones after each meal.  This helps with digestion, blood sugar spikes, and prevents unneeded weight gain during travel.  Bonus: you get to see the sites that you might miss in a car, and it’s free!

-Move your body in different ways. 
When I travel, I usually have extra time to workout.  I don’t do anything elaborate, but I love to start my day with 20-30 minutes of yoga, Pilates, or calisthenics.  I often start with some gentle stretching, then do a few push-ups, variations on lunges and squats, some mat Pilates exercises, and few sun salutations or yoga poses to work up a little sweat and clear my head for the day.  We travel mostly by car, so I always bring my yoga mat, but you can grab a hotel towel or two and put them down on the floor as well.  This also helps prevent pain from prolonged sitting in the car or on planes. 

-Don’t ditch your morning practices…but move them around / be flexible as needed. 
Again, if you’re familiar with Ayurveda, you’ll know that the morning routine is where it’s at.  Over the last 10 years of practicing, studying, and teaching Ayurveda, I’ve developed a 3-hour morning routine that I really enjoy.  I stick to it on the road…but I’ve become a bit more creative about when and how I do it, due to necessity.  Tim likes to drive…and drive…and drive.  We often pull a 14-15 hour day on the 1st or 2nd day to get to where we need to go.  So I shift around my routines a little to accommodate. 

• I often do my meditation, pranayama (breathing exercises), and journaling (all three or AM non-negotiables for me) in the passenger seat.  This works out pretty well and is a great way to pass the time for me, while Tim listens to an audio book or podcast. 
• I’ll also often move my abhyanga (self-oil massage) and nasya (nasal oiling) practices to the evening.  I usually perform them after showering in the morning, but after a long day of riding in the car, these practices, following a hot shower, are an awesome way to wash away the day and wind down for a great night’s sleep. 
• For ease, you can streamline your nasya, abhyanga, ear oiling, and even oil-pulling practices by using just one oil for all practices.  I find refined sesame oil (no sesame-oil scent!) like the one here from Banyan Botanicals (this is an affiliate link) the most versatile and works for most constitutions.  For air travel / carry-on items, I put it in a 2 oz dropper bottle and carry a small bottle of essential oil to add a few drops for my abhyanga practice.  For longer road trips, I do carry all the different oils with me—it’s worth it to me to pack it all, but I didn’t always do this.   
• And if there’s not enough time to workout in the morning before we hit the road, I sneak in walking, stretching, and a few lunges at every stop.  I sometimes get more activity over a day of driving than I do on normal days…go figure! 
• Oh, and I always travel with a collapsible electric tea kettle to boil my water for teas and neti pot (nasal and sinus irrigation) while we’re on the road.  ​Here’s one I purchased from Amazon a few years back. 

Phew!  I hope that was helpful and gives you a few take-aways for your next trip!  As always, let me know if have any questions, and I hope you have happy travels, wherever your next adventure takes you!  
Meghan Hays Ayurveda  
[email protected] 
Ayurveda Salt Lake City

Meghan Hays Ayurveda [email protected] Ayurveda Salt Lake City 

Inflammation has been a buzz word and popular topic lately, especially in relationship to the COVID pandemic, an aging baby-boomer population, and an uptick in the diagnosis of autoimmune disorders. 
 
So, first let’s answer the question:
What is inflammation?
 
Inflammation is an essential part of the regeneration and healing process in the body.  Inflammation is actually a beneficial process that keeps up healthy.  Inflammation as one job: to wake up the immune system and stem cells.  It says, “Hey, something is wrong!  We need to either wake up the healing system, the immune system, or both.”  Which systems become activated depends upon the illness or injury.  Once the healing is done or your illness has run its course, the anti-inflammatory system activates and shuts the process down to get you back to normal. 
 
Problems come in when this system doesn’t shut off.  This sets us up for a myriad of health problems; in fact, chronic low-level inflammation is the underlying cause of weight gain, early development of various diseases, and acceleration of the aging process.  It’s estimated that about 60 percent (that’s over half!) of American live with an inflammation-related chronic condition, such as Type 2 Diabetes and autoimmune disorders, like Hashitmoto’s Thyroiditis, which is the leading cause of hypothyroidism. 
 
And when you start out with high levels of inflammation, it’s a vicious cycle.  Take, for example, obesity: the adipose, or connective, tissue in the body produces its own inflammatory proteins.  So then the fat cells, residing in the adipose tissue, sense the extra inflammatory proteins, and this induces them to make more…which not only causes more inflammation, but can also cause even more weight gain. 
 
Often, by the time the inflammation causes a real health problem, it’s been going on for a long time and doing loads of damage behind the scenes, AND, quite often, we’ve been ignoring the subtle warning signs that the body has been trying to give us: skin redness, swelling, join pain, and digestive problems, which Ayurveda would tell us is the first indication that there is something wrong – fix your digestion, heal your entire body).  But most people take a pill, or some Pepto, or get on a prescription, which just masks the symptoms so that the inflammation can continue to go unchecked and wreak havoc. 
 
But not to fret!  There are SO MANY WAYS to immediately reduce your inflammation and take charge of your health.  Some are obvious and some are more subtle.  They include (and we’ll go over these in more detail and how they affect inflammation): stop smoking, moderate your alcohol consumption (no more than one drink a day for women), eat more plants, don’t overeat, get at least 7 hours of sleep each night, exercise most days of the week, and reduce stress through purposeful breathing exercises, mindfulness, and meditation daily.   It’s all the stuff we work on in an Ayurvedic health and healing plan.  Small changes each day have PROFOUND results…when done consistently.  That’s truly the key: creating daily habits that you can stick with everyday.
 
So let’s talk a little more about the inflammatory process. 
 
What triggers inflammation?
 
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) classifies inflammation as your immune system’s response to an “irritant” – which could be an everyday injury like a cut, sprain, or strain, to a serious infection, and everything in between.  Some of the common symptoms of inflammation are redness, heat, pain, swelling, and loss of function…all the things that come up around a simple ankle sprain to a major infection. 
 
One of the most common inflammation triggers is infection from a virus or bacteria.  You feel miserable when you get the flu for 2 reasons: your respiratory symptoms come from the flu virus itself, like runny nose, cough, and shortness of breath, but your muscle aches and fever are from the inflammatory response.  They’re actually a good sign that your body is doing its job of fighting the infection.  Here’s what’s going on behind the scenes:
-When acute inflammation (your body’s immediate and natural response to an injury or infection) happens, your immune system starts producing cells and hormones it needs to heal, so some of those cells dilate or expand your blood vessels to allow for more blood and immune system cells to get to the affected area.  So this can cause some general “achiness.”
-Fever is also part of the inflammatory response in that a higher body temperature creates an inhospitable environment for pathogens—they can’t survive at even a degree or two higher than our normal body temperature.  This, in turn, can affect other body processes in that urination, elimination, and sweating are a way for the body to release heat, so you might urinate more frequently, suffer from some loose stool or diarrhea as the body moves food through the system more quickly, and you might sweat in an attempt to allow the skin to cool off as the sweat evaporates.  This is why it’s a BAD idea to take fever reducers, even at high fevers of up to 103*; it disrupts the body’s natural healing process and takes longer to heal.  A better use of your energy would be to fast, according to Ayurveda, so that your body can devote energy to this natural inflammatory, or healing, process, instead of having to digest and deal with food.  Staying hydrated, however, is key, so consuming natural electrolyte drinks, like water with a little sea salt, lemon, and maple syrup (vs. Gatorade or Powerade, which is full of sugar) is best. 
-If you have an injury, you will notice other symptoms like swelling, redness, and pain at the local sight of the cut, sprain, or break.  Your body responds to injury by sending molecules like white blood cells and platelets, which aggravate the injured area and draw in other chemicals, to start the repair process. 
 
So these processes are great, healing, and will stop on their own (or should stop on their own), when the healing or repair has occurred.  The problems come in when this process doesn’t stop, is too powerful, or targets the wrong place at the wrong time. 
 
So let’s talk about when inflammation is “bad.” 
 
1)Infection: When the immune system stays active for too long or too strongly, something called a “cytokine” storm occurs.  This is when the body is overwhelmed by an infection, and the immune system works too hard to protect itself, resulting in an overproduction of inflammatory proteins called cytokines, which can result in multi-organ shutdown.  We saw this in COVID-19 patients as a result of other infections, autoimmune conditions, or other diseases. 
 
2)Autoimmune disorders: Normally, our body produces cytokines in an orderly fashion, and everyone knows where they need to go.  If the body is overwhelmed with danger, however, inflammation can become systemic (all over the body), and could even cause death.  In other instances, too much inflammation can occur when there’s no infection at all, and this is the case with autoimmune disease.  We’re not actually sure why this happens, but autoimmune diseases are characterized by an overactive immune system which mistakenly attacks healthy tissues.  These disease often result in inflammation and, sometimes, irreversible damage of organs, muscles, joints, or other parts of the body. 
 
3)Aging: Unfortunately, increased inflammation is a “normal” part of the aging process (often called “inflammaging”).  As our immune systems decline with age, our protective (“good”) inflammation declines as well, which could trigger “bad” inflammation in that, if you can’t handle everyday irritants, injuries, and infections, the ongoing inflammatory response won’t turn off, resulting in an increase in health problems…which also cause more inflammation. 
 
4)Diet and Lifestyle: Too little sleep, poor quality diet, and/or sedentary lifestyle / not enough exercise can case “oxidative stress.”  This is the situation that occurs when there’s an imbalance of free radicals and antioxidants in the body.  This triggers the immune system to respond with inflammation.  The problem is that there’s no specific disease or injury to respond to, so that body ends up targeting normal cells.  Then the body has to repair cells its actually damaging, which causes more inflammation.  The results are subtle but can include muscle and joint pain, fatigue and insomnia, weight loss or weight gain, depression and anxiety, digestive issues, and frequent infections.    
 
So let’s talk about weight and inflammation b/c they are related. 
 
Here’s one way inflammation can cause your weight to fluctuate.  Low-grade, chronic inflammation can cause fluid from your blood vessels to seep into your tissues, which then manifests as “water retention” and “weight gain.”  If you don’t drink a lot of liquid (or alcohol) before bed, and always have to wake up in the middle of the night to pee b/c your bladder is full, your body is releasing inflammation while you sleep and, therefore, this excess fluid that builds up during your day.  If this is you, begin to improve your diet and reduce your stress, and this will stop happening.  I think it’s a good, natural indicator of how much low-grade inflammation you have. 
 
Inflammation also sets you up for weight gain in that it affects your insulin and blood sugar responses.  Remember when we talked about fat cells producing more inflammatory chemicals?  And remember that cytokines are a type of inflammatory protein?  Fat cells in people with Type 2 diabetes actually produce higher levels of these cytokines; cytokines activate certain proteins that suppress your insulin response.  So if your body isn’t responding to insulin, which is what tells your body to uptake glucose, or blood sugar, after you eat, your body will produce more insulin and more insulin (b/c it sees that you still have high levels of sugar in your blood).  This, in turn, raises your blood pressure, makes you unnecessarily hungry, and makes you gain even more weight…eventually leading to pancreas and liver problems—not to mention the complications of diabetes to your eyes and extremities. 
 
There’s also a direct relationship between stress and insulin in that, when you are stressed all the time, your body is always producing cortisol (the hormone that helps you get ready to run from a perceived threat).  When you have more cortisol in your system, your body suppresses insulin so that you have more sugar, or glucose, in your blood (so that you have the energy to run from that danger your body thinks is always right around the corner when you’re chronically stressed).  Having high levels of blood sugar also leads to Type 2 diabetes, which then leads to more inflammation through the extra fat cells and cytokine they producing. High levels of blood sugar also cause damage to all of your organs over time. 
 
Inflammation also leads to a decrease in leptin, the hormone that tells you you’ve had enough to eat, so this also contributes to more weight gain, and in turn, more inflammation.  Fun, huh? 
 
Couple that with the possibility that you’re one of the many people who suffer from inflammation of the thyroid, the organ that regulates our metabolism, and this could compound the problem by eventually causing the organ to shut down and stop working altogether.  This is a topic for another time (considering it for October or November), but suffice it to say, our diet is the place to start, and COMPLETELY REVERSE, inflammation. 
 
There are new studies everyday proving that our gut health (also called the microbiome, which is the name for the trillions of organisms living in your digestive tract that control just about every bodily process and affect every gene we have)…proving that our gut health is the link between humans and disease manifestation.  Science is proving what Ayurveda has said for thousands of years: you ARE what you eat; therefore, all health (or disease) begins in the digestive tract.   (Learn more about the 5 elements, or foundational principles of Ayurveda here!) 
 
So our “standard American Diet” (SAD) and lifestyle are huge culprits.  They cause this “bad” inflammation as well, which then leads to type 2 diabetes, obesity, cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer's just to name a few.   These are all diseases that can be directly attributed to lifestyle choices.  Sure genetics come into play, but over 99% of inherited diseases are non-determinant.  This means that just because you inherited a propensity for the development of a disease, doesn’t mean you will actually develop it.  In other words, your diet and lifestyle choices turn on or off your genes.  YOU HAVE THE POWER TO DETERMINE YOUR HEALTH (OR DISEASE).  This is great news and also scary news for some b/c, more often than not, we don’t want to take ownership over our health.  Sometimes it’s easier to be a victim and blame our genetics than take ownership of how we got there.  And there’s no shame or blame in owning up to the lifestyle and choices that brought you were you are; there’s opportunity to CHANGE.  You can absolutely your health into your hands and reverse what’s going on.  I’ve heard someone put it this way, “If genes load the gun, your environment pulls the trigger.” 
 
So here are the big inflammatory foods that you should first work to eliminate:
 
-Processed foods (anything with more than 4-5 ingredients on the label or anything you don’t recognize as food)
-Sugar and sugar-filled foods, like soda, candy, pastries, and cereals
-Fried food
-Anything with “partially hydrogenated ­oil” or trans fats
-More than one drink a day for women and 2 for men (the higher the drinks per day, the higher the inflammatory markers go)
-And if you smoke, now’s the time to quit in that it spikes inflammation
All of these foods led to higher inflammatory and autoimmune diseases as well as higher inflammatory markers
 
Once you reduce these inflammatory foods, make sure to introduce more anti-inflammatory foods:
-Blueberries
-Apples
-Broccoli
-Cauliflowers
-Cabbage (If cabbage gives you gas, eat it as sauerkraut or kimchi – have a tablespoon or two on the side of your meals each day)
-High fiber foods (oatmeal – great delivery vehicle for blueberries and apples – whole grain bread – look for low sugar – other whole grains like bulgur, quinoa – actually a seed – and barley, as well as fruits and veggies)
-Micronutrients such as Vitamin D (salmon, canned tuna, and mushrooms – I supplement – good to have tested – levels higher than 50ng/dL associated with lower risks of all cancers and greater neuroprotective benefits) and magnesium (nuts, legumes, avocado, and spinach – I also supplement)
-Fish oil (I supplement) and turmeric (use on food or take capsules or you can order here from Banyan Botanicals – I can make for you – 1-4 caps twice daily depending on symptoms – I increase dosage around times I need more healing), cinnamon (natural blood sugar regulator), and ginger (natural digestive and anti-inflammatory)
-Tips:

• Include blueberries or apples + walnuts (omega-3’s + fiber) in your morning oatmeal each day.  Or have them over yogurt or just have them alone if you’re not a big breakfast eater. 
• Have fish (cod, halibut, salmon, or tuna – all should be wild caught – farm-raised won’t cut it) at 2 meals a week
• Have legumes at 2 meals a week (make a big batch, freeze in batches; eat for an easy lunch, served alone or over rice, quinoa, or barley – more whole grains!)
• Commit to one or more servings of cruciferous veg a day (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage/kimchi, kale, bok choy, collards, or arugula) – if you are prone to gas, cook these in oil with seasonings and eat with a squeeze of lemon or lime juice
• Eliminate or severely restrict lunch meat, sausage, and all processed meats from your diet – they’re linked with cancer and heart disease (therefore, inflammation) more than any other animal product out there. 

 
All of these foods lower inflammatory markers. 
 
*BTW: Inflammatory markers in blood testing, which you can ask your dr. for are:
- CRP (C-reactive protein)
- ESR (Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate)
- PV (Plasma Viscosity) – not as widely used
*Raised levels of these are indications of inflammation in the body. 
 
So eating these foods in the right way is also a BIG part of the picture:
 
1)Eliminate distractions and CHEW YOUR FOOD.  This is a game-changer for most people with digestive problems.  If you’re about to swallow your food, stop for a split second and ask yourself, “If I spit this out, would I recognize it (aside from obvious colors)?”  If the answer is yes, you need to keep chewing.  There’s no magic number of times to chew; just make sure it’s a consistent texture. 
2)Leave at least 3 hours between meals before you eat again (if you’re genuinely hungry, eat a snack or have your meal at that time, even if it’s less than 3 hours, but DO tune into that).  By leaving yourself time between meals, you allow your body to break down and assimilate all the nutrients properly, and by actually getting hungry, you allow your liver an opportunity to take stored fat and turn it into fuel.  (Talk about 3 digestive stages and raw rice analogy.)
3)Similarly, everyone should be giving themselves a natural intermittent fasting window of about 12 hours at the least.  You should be done with dinner at least 3 hours before you go to bed.  If you’re aiming for a 10pm bedtime, you’ll want to be done eating dinner by 7pm; likewise, dinner should be a smaller meal, while lunch the largest to reflect your metabolic levels at those times of day (metabolism is higher in the middle of the day, just like the sun).  This gives your liver plenty of opportunity to get rid of toxins and for your body to release any inflammation built up over the course of the day—to go from fight-or-flight mode to rest-and-digest.  If you go to sleep with good on your stomach, the liver has to, instead, assist with digesting it.  This is one of the easiest ways to use fasting (a natural way to decrease inflammation) every day.  (including your mini-fast between meals).   
 
Losing weight generally lowers inflammation and decreases load on joints, which are a common place to experience inflammation symptoms for many people.   So reducing portions, giving yourself proper fasting windows, and staying active / moving purposefully for 30 minutes 5 days a week (doesn’t have to be 30 minutes all at once) are all key.  People who exercise the most (but not the most intensely b/c that can cause chronic inflammation if you’re always damaging your body without enough recovery time) have the lowest levels of inflammation markers. 
 
You don’t have to run a marathon or go to Cross Fit.  30 minutes of moderate walking, dancing, calisthenics, gardening…anything that gets your heart rate up, warms your core body temperature, and makes you just break a sweat before you cool down is all you need.  Stressing the body and causing a little, temporary inflammation is good; you come back stronger once you’re repaired.  This also strengthens the muscles around and, again, takes load off the joints that may have been damaged from chronic inflammation, whether you suffer from osteoarthritis or an autoimmune disease like rheumatoid arthritis. 
 
Exercise also reduces stress, which let’s face it, is a reason many of us overeat, gain weight, get sick and/or have chronic levels of inflammation.  We live in a world in which we have “unnatural” stressors.  We don’t have to worry about where we get our food or even cooking or preparing it most of the time; we don’t have to worry about the next tribe over invading our village or whether we will get attacked by a lion when we’re out hunting for dinner.   The human body adapted over millennia to deal with these stressors by creating a stress response, or an inflammatory response, and then going away once the danger went away. 
 
Today, we have constant stressors from media, which shows us war in other countries, natural disasters all over the world, and violent crime…we are bombarded with worries about dramas we can’t control.  Not to mention that many of our work environments are overly demanding, ask too much of us, and refuse to take into account other responsibilities we might have, like family, children, or even our own well-being.  Many of us are in chronic fight-or-flight mode, so it’s no wonder that inflammation and auto-immune disorders are on the rise. 
 
We have to intervene with stress-reducing practices, like connecting with other humans through regular social activities and meaningful interaction (which is a huge component and a common thread among all the communities of the world that live the longest) AND daily mindfulness practices like breathing and meditation.  Even 5 minutes a day, everyday, can have PROFOUND healing effects and can lower inflammation greatly by giving your immune system a (good) boost, clearing your mind to focus on something other than daily drama, and by initiating the rest-and-digest (parasympathetic nervous system response, which is the opposite of fight-or-flight / sympathetic nervous system).  You have to develop a daily practice that gets your body to this state while you’re awake to truly have a meaningful impact on your stress: 20 minutes of yoga nidra, 5 to 10 rounds of breathing (alternate nostril or inhale/retain/exhale), and/or 5-10 minutes of meditation in which you focus your mind on your breath, a mantra, or a guide.   
 
You also help calm and ground the nervous system and reduce stress when you eat at the same time, sleep and work at the same times, and do your mindfulness and exercise practices at the same times each day.  Your body knows what’s coming and can relax.  This greatly reduces stress and, therefore, inflammation. 
 
I have a feeling you already know and are working on all of these things, so I hope this gives you more reasons to continue to work on these things.  Inflammation is fascinating: on the one hand it’s useful; when it goes on for too long, it can be deadly; the most important thing that I want you to take away from this is that it’s completely reversible.  Start with one thing: diet, sleep, exercise, or mindfulness practices.  Do that for one month regularly; make it a real habit; a real part of your lifestyle; then move on to something else.  Let me know if I can support you in any way by emailing me at [email protected]!
 
Meghan Hays Ayurveda [email protected] Ayurveda Salt Lake City