Pure Yoga Panel (L to R): Marco Rojas, Oz Garcia, Tata Harper, Aleta St. James, Dr. Richard Ash
Last night I had the honor of moderating a fantastic panel of experts last night at Pure Yoga in Manhattan:
Marco Rojas, one of the most popular yoga instructors at Pure Yoga. He teaches and studies Iyengar, which emphasizes precision--you learn placement. And, trust me, having taken his class, you really learn it. Til you sweat.
Oz Garcia, nutritionist to the stars and bestselling author of several books, including Redesigning 50. He also calls himself a fully urbanized animal, since he was raised in one of NY's rougher neighborhoods--which also makes him a wise-cracking cut-up.
Tata Harper, creator of a 100% natural, premium skincare line. And she has probably the most amazing skin I've seen. She simply glows. She's hands-on with the formulation, creation, marketing, and distribution of her skin care, much of which happens on her 1,200-acre farm in Vermont. (We've also featured her right here on this blog recently!)
Aleta St. James, energy healer, bestselling author of Life Shift, and a woman who made headlines when she became the most mature mother in the U.S., giving birth to twins just before her 57th birthday;
Richard Ash, M.D., integrative physician and founder of the Ash Center for Comprehensive Medicine in Manhattan. He also hosts a live, call-in radio show called Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired.
How to Make Positive Changes to Your Health This Year
A pithy roundup from the evening's experts.
Relax. I asked Marco if my assumptions were correct, that he leapt out of bed every morning to do 500 sun salutes. Not so, he says. It's not about the studio, the class, how hard it is, etc. It's about learning to be present and to relax. He led us in a short exercise of being present, and his voice is so sonorous and lovely, you wish you could put it on a pair of headphones and hear it all day long.
Detox your body. I was curious as to the experts' take on detox, and all were in agreement--our bodies are confronted with far more toxic chemicals than they know what to do it, and detoxing is essential to lessening what's called your "toxic load." This bordered on freak-out stuff (b/c it's in the air, in your food, in your moisturizer, etc), but they said that one person's detox doesn't look like another necessarily. No question, though, the more you can do to reduce your exposure to environmental toxins, the better. And that, says Oz, can be as simple as taking your shoes off when you come in the house. Dr. Ash is a firm believer in supplementation, and takes them himself (full disclosure: He also has created and sells his own line of supplements which he fervently believes in). As always, please consult with a doctor before starting any new regimen.
(By the way, if you're looking to do a safe, gentle, food-based detox, we have one for you! Check out the Whole Living 28-Day Challenge.)
Detox your soul. But it's not just about getting out or keeping out the gunk: Aleta St. James talked about how our emotions can be toxic if we don't process and metabolize them. Doing some quiet mediation and visualization can help. Aleta talks a lot about color, visualizing color coming into the body, etc, in order to create calm and healing. She talked also about how, in Traditional Chinese Medicine, organs are associated with different emotions (liver=anger, kidneys=fear, etc). Seems a little out there, but she and Oz both cited some researchers who have identified molecules found throughout the body that point to some evidence of emotion or feeling happening in the body--outside of and beyond the brain. Fascinating stuff.
Bone up. Oz and Ash were in agreement: Don't let your TV be the sole source of your health education. Read. Research. Learn about what's real and what's little more than propaganda in the world of health. Don't be fooled by soft-focus pharma ads, and instead, find out what your needs are--and what risks you are and are not willing to take when it comes to medication. Do your homework. Read all you can get your hands on; weight the different opinions and evidence. Marco said that the best doctor is inside of us--not that you stop going to one of course, but that you take your own intuition and wisdom seriously.
I was also really moved to meet a few folks who are Whole Living fans (thanks to all of you!), and hearing the lovely support and feedback made my night.
It was all in all a great event, and we hope it's not the last!
...You also might get a kick out of mom-blogger Dana Wood's recap of the evening's insights. I know I did!
Terri Trespicio is senior features editor at Whole Living magazine and the host of "Whole Living" on Martha Stewart Living Radio, which airs every day at 10a East / 7a West on Sirius 112 / XM 157. Follow her on twitter @TerriT or subscribe to her videos on youtube at TerriT73.
