Outdoor Therapy: Planting the Seed

Have you noticed that in the midst of uncertainty, confusion, and heartbreak, taking a healthy seed, dropping it in soil, exposing it to water and sunlight, and watching it grow can bring a sense of peace. 

I know that I am eager to care for everyone but myself. I am quick to share a kind word with a friend but I am my harshest critic. I am patient with my family but I placed myself on the shortest leash. Caring for my garden is a way for me to remind myself what self-care looks like.

As I check on my plants’ health, presence, and location, I start to tap into its needs and desires. Slowly, this simple act of caring for my plants help me connect with myself and begin paying attention to my own needs. I am able to understand that, sometimes, pruning is required in order to grow. That you need to expose the roots (sometimes quite literally) to see what is affecting the overall health of the plant. It takes some time, but eventually I am able to see how tender I am and to appreciate that I need to be seen and heard, felt, and catered to. I begin to uproot the stories written for me and begin to write my own. And I think, in some way or another, this happens to all of us. We grow so accustomed to hearing our stories from other people, or maybe even ourselves, that we forget the impermanence of it all and our ability to rewrite those stories. 

Grow at Your Own Pace

• On average, it takes a flowering plant up to 100 days to complete its growth cycle. So as you begin to write your own story, be patient, and remember that any good story takes time. 

• In the beginning, a seed needs daily attention, but once its roots are anchored it can flourish with minimal maintenance. We too need constant reminders in the beginning when we want to make a change. As the change becomes routine, we can loosen the reigns.

• There will be times when the external environment puts extra stress on the plant and they need special attention. It’s ok to take time for yourself and be selfish when your world becomes stressful. Relax with a massage or enjoy that piece of chocolate cake!

• Oftentimes, you plant a seed not knowing what is going to emerge from the soil. Sure, the packet of seeds you picked up at the supermarket might say kale but you never really know until it starts to sprout. A certain idea may sound good at first, but as it develops you may find that it’s not for you. It’s ok to uproot an idea if it not working for you.

With plants, we don’t have to give too much or more than what’s needed; we just need to take the time to pay attention to its needs. The same is true with us. And as we reflect, we can begin to discover. As we take the time to pay attention to engage in a moment of self-discovery, we can begin to write our stories with authenticity and patience. 

Self-Care in Athletes

When we look at athletes we see strong, healthy bodies. What we don’t see is how play and practice affect their bodies. Occasionally an athlete becomes injured and must go through rest and rehab to heal their body, but what most people don’t know is that the daily stress of giving 110% can cause major issues in the long run.

High-level athletes put extreme expectations on their bodies every day. They push themselves to and sometimes past the limit on a regular basis. This is a must when playing amongst the best.

This continual stress put on the body is called microtraumas. Microtraumas occur every day in everyone; however, the extreme stress athletes put on their bodies are more likely to produce deep seeded microtraumas that if left untreated can produce lifelong physical and mental disturbances.

Think of microtraumas as cracks on a road. A freshly paved road (or a young athlete) is smooth and crack free. Overtime, as cars continually drive over it, the roads composition (an athlete’s body) begins to weaken. If the road remains uncared for the weakness turns into cracks and potholes (an injury). Eventually the road will need to be repaved (surgery). If, however, the road is cared for and initial cracks are filled (self-care), it will last much longer.

On the surface, microtraumas are not felt or are injuries that need to be cared for immediately which can make them so harmful. Athletes unaware of what microtraumas are go about their training not thinking about what they are doing to their bodies until they experience pain. Only then do they think about their bodies. Imagine if the athlete understood how daily training affected their body and took care of it 3-4 times a week, 20-30 minutes at a pop. They would be stronger, less injury prone, and recover quicker.

Signs an athlete is developing deep seeded microtraumas:

• Fatiguing faster than normal

• Soreness after most or all training days

• Ongoing or recurring injuries

• General stiffness

• Irritability, moody

• Unfocused

Options for selfcare:

Myofascial Release:  techniques to target pain “bound” by tight fascia. When performed on an injured area, myofascial release therapy liberates bands of scar-like tissues (adhesions) and trigger points to restore function to the affected muscle and joint, which minimizes pain and boosts recovery time.

Yoga: helps become more peaceful and in turn achieve greater focus, and returning the body to its natural state that they could dramatically improve physical capacity.

Meditation and mind work: athletes who perform mediation regularly cope with injuries and pain very proficiently.

The Vata Dosha; In-Depth

Imagine the typical fall day; cold, windy, dry, cloudy. This is a perfect description of the qualities of the Vata Dosha. This Dosha is responsible for movement of our body, mind and senses.

A person dominant in Vata will most likely be thin and have trouble gaining weight. Their body is narrow, skin is cold and dry, hair is thin. They tend to have a quick mind, are flexible with their schedule, and resourceful. They are the ones that are always on the go, forget to eat meals, and seem disorganized.

A person not dominant in Vata can still go out of balance in this Dosha in many ways. If your anxiety or stress levels suddenly increase, you consume high amounts of cold, raw, bitter foods, or you become overworked, skip meals, and don’t sleep you can aggravate your Vata Dosha. The Fall and Winter seasons also naturally increase your Vata.

What does an aggravated Vata Dosha look like?

• Constipation, IBS, gasy

•  Aching joints

•  Dry, rough skin

•  Muscle spasms

•  Worry, anxiety, impatience

•  Overactive mind, lack of focus

•  Insomnia, fatigue, restlessness

•  Low appetite

Don’t worry, there are things you can do to prevent Vata from going out of balance and to help bring Vata back into balance. The easiest way to do this to adapt Kapha-like qualities into your routine.

•  Movement that is slower, calming, stabilizing, restorative

  • Ex. Yoga Nidra

• Warm, soothing, nurturing foods

• Soups, stews, root vegetables

• Include warm baths and oils in your self-care routine

Looking for more information and advice on creating a balanced lifestyle?

Email me at info@katieschlieppwellness.com for more opportunities to learn about developing your best life.

Intro to Ayurveda and your Doshas

Ayurveda is the oldest form of healing. It has been around for 5000 years and developed as a preventative medicine focusing on maintaining balance rather than what we see primarily in todays society, a more passive approach that focuses on treating illness and disease.

Ayur translates to life, veda to science. Ayurveda is the science of life. Followers of this healing science equate health to balance in lifestyle, diet, environment, and thoughts. In other words, what we do, eat, think, where we live, the climate, the people we surround ourselves with, how active we are all help determine how to remain balanced in our lives, AKA healthy. It is holistic and unique to each and every individual as we always look at the whole life and yet each person is completely different. There is no one textbook way to balance everyone.

So, how does this all work?

Ayurveda believes everything in nature has specific qualities: heavy, hard, liquid, soft, hot, sharp, light, mobile, clear, pervading, etc. They group similar qualities together into 5 categories, the 5 Elements: Earth (qualities of solidity), Water (qualities of fluidity), Fire (qualities of transformation), Air (qualities of movement), Ether (qualities of space). We, as humans, are apart of nature so we have all 5 of these categories within us which makes up our constitution. Our constitution, like a fingerprint, is unique to you. We all have different levels of these categories.

If the Elements are qualities from Nature, our Doshas; Vata, Pitta, Kapha; explain the interplay of these elements within us and describe our physiology and psychology. Similar to the 5 Elements, we are made of all 3 Doshas, just at different levels. Vata is the Dosha of movement combining the energies of Ether and Air. Pitta, the Dosha of Transformation, combines Fire and Water, and Kapha combines Water and Earth to make the Dosha of Structure.

Vata Basics:

- Movement, breath, muscles

- all tissues, heart

- Balanced: creativity and flexibility; Imbalanced: fear/anxiety

Pitta Basics:

- That which breaks things down

- all transformation, metabolism, assimilation

- Balanced: understanding, intelligence; Imbalanced: anger, hatred, inflammatory illnesses

Kapha Basics:

-Cohesion, lubrication, moisturizes, maintains immunity

- Balanced: expressions of love, calmness, forgiveness, or attachment

- Imbalanced: greed, possessiveness, congestion

Ayurveda uses the knowledge of your constitution (the elements you are made of) to determine what is needed for balance, for health. The way we live our lives, the food we eat, the thoughts we have either takes us toward or away from balance, but maintaining balance is harder than it sounds. Ayurveda believes in the Law of Continuity, or like follows like, which means if you are Vata you enjoy doing Vata like things, so you continue doing more Vata things; however, too much of one thing is never good so you need to incorporate Pitta and Kapha to maintain balance. The hard part comes when determining when too much of a good thing is too much.

Curious about what Dosha you are? Take this quiz to find out: The Ayurveda Experience - Dosha Quiz

I hope this was a good introduction to Ayurveda but there is so much more. I focused on some of the basics, but I plan to go further in next months blog diving deeper into the Doshas and how the climate, the food we eat, and thoughts we think affect our balance.