Body Scrubs for Diabetic Patients

Recently we treated a 78 year old Diabetic lady who just underwent a surgery on the foot. She has been suffering from Diabetes and Neuropathy since more than four decades now.

A typical sign of diabetes patients is that their skin starts showing black spots and patches. Especially for those suffering from Neuropathy (a condition where feelings are numbed in the feet), it is difficult to keep the feet clean and maintain healthy skin. The skin needs to be kept moisturized regularly and dry, black skin needs to be exfoliated and removed regularly.

My daughter and I used our whole gamut of treatments- Body Scrubs, Body Wraps, a few Reflexology techniques, Reiki as well as massage techniques to help maintain the health of her feet. (Of course, this was done with the permission of the doctor).

The doctor visited her every alternate day for dressing her wound and had suggested scrubbing the feet (exempting the wound area) to rid her of dry skin and the danger of more infection. I must say that we saw great results with our home-made body scrub. After just the first session, the doctor exclaimed about the change in the look of the feet. They looked cleaner, whiter and healthy. Another one or two sessions and all the dry and dead skin would be completely gone.

The patient felt very good and positive on seeing such a drastic change. It gave her positivity and faith during her healing process. The scrub was warm in property and gave a soothing warm sensation to the aching and healing feet. It was a relaxing and luxurious, first-time experience for her.

I am specially sharing this experience because there is a common belief that body scrubs are only for beauty and are an unnecessary luxury. But in most cases, it helps in moisturizing the skin, keeping it healthy, removing dead skin, thereby giving a nice soft glow and helps in healing. The herbs used in the scrub help detoxify the body, increase blood circulation, in many cases help in pain relief and most importantly, make a person feel good and positive. Positive state of mind is very important for giving hope, will power and strength to a patient to cope with the long and tedious task of healing after a surgery.

As an additional remedy for any dark pigmentation on the skin, we added an application of honey and lemon after the treatment, to keep the skin moisturized and to help bleach it.

Anyone suffering from dry, dead skin and also dark patches on the skin, should give scrubs and wraps a try. Most people feel the difference from the first session itself. However, a word of caution – make sure you get the treatment from a trained therapist who knows about different kinds of skin conditions and how to treat them. Also, in cases of a diabetic patient or someone who recently has undergone surgery, one must have the permission of a medical practitioner.

Pinakin Shah

Body-Mind Therapist, Owner and Trainer at Pristine Senses Academy, 

Massage Trainer, Reflexologist and Reiki Practitioner.

New Year, New Changes. Are We Ready?

Every new day, every new year brings some changes with it. We are hopeful, fearful, wishful and determined of many things that lay ahead of us this year. But are we ready to handle changes- big or small?

Let’s learn two Yogic practices (taught at The Yoga Institute, Santacruz) that will help us cope with change.

Practice 1 – Reflection

When you look into a mirror, what does it show you? Unless it’s a magic mirror, it will show you exactly the way you are. It will not judge you and say you are good looking or ugly or fat or thin. It is our mind that does that analysis. The mirror just does its job of showing you what you are.

In the same way, Reflection as a practice helps you see all events of the day just the way they are, without judging them. It helps us become objective.

How to do it?

•         Sit in a meditative posture (avoid lying down).
•         Visualize every single event of that day from waking up in the morning to sleeping at night.
•         Avoid spending too much time on one event or analyzing why and how it happened.
•         Just move from event to event.
•         When you come to the end of this practice, open your eyes.
•         This practice would approximately take 15 minutes.

Note: Avoid writing the events instead of visualizing them. Writing tends to become planned as we have to think of the right words. This way, we end up evaluating things. Instead, we have to train the mind to become objective. Just watch events pass like a TV show.

Practice 2 – Anitya Bhavana (Anitya- Impermanent. Bhavana- Attitude)

After the practice of reflection, let’s concentrate on the following statement:

“What was in the morning is not at mid-day. What was at mid-day is not at midnight; for all things are transitory. Why should I be attached to anything when nothing is permanent and everything is changeful?”

When doing reflection, you must have noticed this. Nothing is the same. Your moods, the environment, the world around you; is constantly changing. Still many times, we get uncomfortable with change. When passing school and going into college, we are scared of what lies ahead of us, when passing college and going out into the big bad world, we fear if we will survive and do well. When getting married, we are scared of all the responsibilities and changes it will bring into our lives.

We know things will change, still we somehow expect the next day to be the same as today. We expect the housekeeper, milkman, everyone to be the same as always. But if one of them doesn’t show up, we get upset.

With every birthday, we get upset thinking we’re a year older. We get scared of becoming old, of losing things or people we cherish. But some day it all goes, in the same way that we’ll die one day.

So why is it that we don’t like change inspite of it being inevitable?

Fear of the unknown, fear of losing out on our comfort zone?

But we all know that the only constant thing in this world is change. Then why fight it when we know that we can’t do anything about it? Why not accept change and adjust accordingly and move on?

By accepting, we will be able to tackle it better than wishing it had never happened. If we think we can change something, go ahead and change it. But if we can’t, accept what is not in our hands.

Anitya Bhavana helps us accept and tackle all kinds of changes in life with a balanced mind.

Now keeping this in mind, let’s practice reflection again with Anitya Bhavana at the back of our mind. Let’s see if it makes any difference.

By regular practice of reflection and Anitya Bhavana, there is an automatic understanding that comes, about the impermanence of things. It is not really something we can force ourselves to do or intellectualize. It is a feeling that is generated, a kind of understanding of the changefulness of the material world. This will help us remain in a balanced state of mind always.

So here’s wishing you a Happy, Changeful and Balanced New Year !!

Pinakin & Ankita Shah

Body-Mind Therapists & Trainers

Pristine Senses Academy

                                                                                    

Image courtesy:

http://www.ideachampions.com/weblogs/change-architect-sign1.jpg

This Winter, Keep Healthy With Herbs

In the winter time, we find almost everyone around sniffing, sneezing and coughing. Changing of the seasons is the time when our immune system is trying to adjust and the body is most vulnerable to infections. 

At such a time, diet is of the utmost importance. Why resort to cough syrups and medications when Nature has given us food substances with naturally warm properties? 

Two main herbal foods which are a must-have are:

Ginger

Ginger tea is great to prevent and cure common cold. When added to your food it gives great flavour and aroma. Ginger can even be applied on the body to soothe aching joints and muscles. 

It helps fight infections, boosts immunity, is used in hot formentation in arthtitis, gout, oedema and other forms of joint and muscle pain. It provides relief from respiratory disorders like cough, cold, pneumonia, asthma, bronchitis etc. A powder of dry ginger mixed with sesame oil and massaged on the joint provides relief. Dried ginger powder made into a paste with warm water can be applied on the forehead, cheek bone area and nose to help melt congested sinuses. However, it can bring out skin reactions in those with sensitive skin so use with care. 

Tusli

This is my favourite remedy. Tulsi or Holy Basil is easily grown in the garden or balcony. This holy plant is anti-asthmatic and anti-infective. It increases respiratory resistance. It helps in instant relief from cough and one can even put 3-4 Tulsi leaves in the jugs of drinking water. Tulsi juice made by pounding its leaves with a few drops of ginger and honey helps strengthen immunity.

Also, do try and spend some time sunbathing in the warm soothing rays of the morning or evening sun. 

These little things when put in practice go a long way in preserving one's health. 

Remember, Nature's wonders are always at our disposal. However, I would not recommend self-diagnosis in severe cases. Always consult a physician or medical authority in case the matter is more than just a slight cough or cold. 

Stay Healthy!

Mr. Pinakin Shah- Head, Pristine Senses Academy, 
Body-Mind Therapist and Trainer, Reiki Practitioner and  Naturopath.

Suffering from White Heads?

I used to suffer a lot from White Heads. This was not just due to hormonal changes in the body, but as I later realized, one of the major factors that made them worse was my diet.

Being very fond of chocolates, I used to eat one almost every day. This caused a lot of ‘chemical imbalance’ in the body, leading to not just white heads but also to allergies.

Many of you who must be suffering from the same might know that white heads don’t look good, can increase in size to resemble a boil and can even be painful. One challenge I faced in tackling my problem was that I cannot use scented creams. Unfortunately it is difficult to get unscented creams around here. So the only other choice (I thank my stars for it) is to find home remedies for the same.

Through my research I found that there are a few possible causes for white heads:

1. Hormonal changes in the body
2. Accumulation of hardened sebum (oil) in pores of the skin
3. Exposure to sun and dirt
4. Lack of hygiene
5. Unhealthy lifestyle, disturbed sleep, unhealthy food.
6. Impurities in the blood.

These are a few tips for Diet changes:

Always stick to seasonal, nutritious food with lots of fibre, including fruits and green leafy vegetables. They will never fail you in any condition under the sun.

Drink adequate water.

Include food with Zinc, Vitamin B2 and Vitamin A like spinach, pumpkin seeds, beans, tofu, carrots, apricots, sprouts, alfa-alfa seeds, brown rice, potato, yoghurt mushrooms, green beans, sunflower seeds, whole grain foods, legumes, turnip greens, beets, lotus stems, radish leaves, papaya, raisins etc.

Avoid non-vegetarian, fried, fatty and junk food.

Avoid alcohol, caffeine, pastries, chocolates and soft drinks.

Home Applications for White Heads

·       Rub your face with lemon skin and wash off. It helps open the pores.

·       Take facial steam once a week to prevent whiteheads.

·       Make a paste of sandalwood and rose water. Apply on affected area and wash off after 20-30 minutes with lukewarm water.

·       Apply paste of Fenugreek leaves in water over face every night and wash with warm water.

·       Take 50 ml raw milk, add a mix of a pinch of salt and 2 tsp lime juice in it. Use it as a cleansing lotion. It helps clean the deep pores of the skin.

Beware of:

·       Left-over make-up on skin at night.

·       Excessive use of chemical cosmetics.

·       Squeezing the white head (If you do so, it will spread on the face and even leave scars)

·       Stress

Must Do’s

·       De-stress through relaxation techniques and massage or reflexology once a week.

·       Exercise on a regular basis.

This may sound like a lot, but is actually very simple to follow. All you need to do is start with any one of the above tips and make a regular and healthy habit out of it.

Slowly you will notice the improvement… as I have.

Stay Well!

Ankita Shah.

(Director & Trainer at Pristine Senses Academy, Yoga Teacher, Writer, Reflexologist, Massage Trainer and Reiki Master)

Dry Hair in Winter?

The air is slowly turning cooler and with it come a host of skin problems. 
One most worrying problem is that of dry hair. 


Here is a tip for keeping hair healthy, thick and dandruff-free in the winter.
Take 1tsp Almond oil.
Add 1 tsp Amla juice to it.
Massage the mixture onto the scalp.


This mixture helps thicken and grow hair and prevent dandruff and graying.


Stay Well !!

Nip in the air causing despair? Fight that dryness using secret weapons from your kitchen!

Chapped lips, flaky skin and dry itchy hair and dandruff mark the onset of winter. 

A wonderful natural way to keep the skin hydrated and healthy is to eat fruits with high water content like strawberries, apricots, orange, carrots and green leafy vegetables. 

Drink enough water during the day and avoid eating processed and fried food. 

Avoid using chemicals on the skin like harsh soaps, cold creams, cleansing creams and make-up. 

Protect yourself from harsh sun.

Use the following recipe for keeping the skin moist and hydrated naturally:

• 2 tbsp yoghurt
• 1 tsp honey
• You can add some oatmeal to this mixture.

 - Apply the mixture on the face, wash off after 10-15 minutes. 

- You can use the same recipe for the whole body too.

- Yogurt and honey moisturize the skin. 

- Honey is an antimicrobial agent and also helps heal minor abrasions and burns.

- Oatmeal heals and soothes dry skin and helps remove dead skin cells.

You can also add 1 bowl of honey to your bathing water to make your skin rich and smooth. 

Try it and do give us the feedback!

Stay Well, Stay hydrated!

Reflexology Treatment for Snoring

In one of the seminars on health that I had attended, a doctor once said that if a person snores, his/her sleep is a disturbed sleep. I had never snored in my life. However, one day I had caught a terrible cold and had an almost completely blocked nasal passage. That night I just could not breathe without the snoring noise. It was pretty embarrassing as I was travelling with colleagues and they were disturbed by the sounds.

Later when I was introduced to Reflexology, I did some more research on snoring and its causes. So here I'm sharing with you some of the ways we can tackle the problem.

If snoring is your regular problem, it won't just be uncomfortable for you, it will disturb the sleep of your spouse or sibling whom you share the room with. This later results in disturbed state of mind, irritability and lethargy during the day. So do not take snoring lightly, treat it immediately.


So what causes snoring?

• As my experience proves, snoring occurs due to blockage of the nasal passage which can occur due to  cold/ infection.
• When sleeping, the throat muscles relax, narrowing the air passage, resulting in snoring.
• Faulty sleeping positions.
• Excessive smoking and alcohol intake.
• Accumulation of fat around the throat or obesity.
• Throat weakness or disposition of the jaw.

Treatment:

Reflexology on the respiratory areas of the foot helps cure snoring. This is because reflexology on respiratory region results in deeper, more relaxed and slower breathing, which prevents forceful intake of breath through the throat. 

Also, in case of cough or cold, reflexology helps in releasing the mucus and removal of toxins. Curing the infection can open up the nasal passage.

The areas shown in the picture are the ones to work on:

Note: The corresponding area on the upper surface of the foot should also be worked on.

Other Necessary Lifestyle Modifications:

• Avoid smoking and alcohol.
• Avoid sleeping on your back.
• Avoid breathing through the mouth.
• Reduce excess body weight.
• Practice Pranayamas regularly- Ujjayi Pranayama, Brahmari Pranayama, Yogendra Pranayama 1-9.
• Practice Asanas that involve chest expansion and also Simhasana  which is extremely good for the throat and voice.  
• Keep your nasal passage clean through Kriyas like Jalaneti and Jihvamulashodhanam.
• It has been found that Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) has also been very effective in curing snoring.

Caution: Reflexology Treatment should be done by a trained Reflexologist.

All Yogic practices must be done under the guidance of a trained yoga therapist. 

Sleep Well !!