Beauty, Wellness, Recipes, Food
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Your body is equipped with programming to slow aging and prevent the concurrent diseases of aging: cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and dementia. The interesting fact is that the body only activates these protective pathways when it experiences a drop in food intake, extreme heat or cold.
You want to activate your anti-disease and aging programs regularly. I do this with a seasonal juice cleanse. Low sugar juice cleanses like we have a jolie mimic fasting, as does the first leg of the 10 Day Reset. Doing the juice cleanse is easier when you know what you are doing for your body. Benefits are motivating. What happens when you juice cleanse? By dramatically lowering calories and protein, your body perceives this as a time of scarcity and upregulates all systems to work more efficiently creating more mitochondria, cleaning up damaged cells, upping metabolism, and tapping into fat stores. The ideal length of time for a juice fast or cleanse is 3 days for maximum benefit with adequate nutrition. It is also important that the cleanse be low in sugar. You want mainly vegetable only juices and nut milk with one to two juices containing fruits other than lemon. Here is what is happening in your juice cleanse: Day One - You burn through stored glycogen in your liver and muscles and begin to transition into fat burning.
Day Two - Fat Burning and Brain Clarity By this point your body has fully transitioned into fat burning. This is the beginning of mild ketosis where the liver begins to produce ketones for brain energy. Ketones are made from fatty acids coming from your fat cells. This is how your stored energy becomes used energy. The ketones created by your liver from the fatty acids fuel your brain and other organs. The use of ketones is beneficial - it reduces inflammation, improves brain health and the creation of new neurons, and improves metabolism long term. At this point, most clients feel amplified brain clarity. Day three - Stimulated Healing and Fat Burning By day three, fat burning accelerates. Due to deeper ketosis, other healing systems are activated.
With all these positives in three days, why not continue? Here is where the principle of diminishing returns kicks in. With fasting you want adequate nutrition so that your body leaves the cleanse stronger than it entered. Prolonged fasting can create nutritional deficits that are not desirable. With a regular cleanse or fasting schedule you provide yourself with intense self activated healing that improves your immediate and long term health. Love, Julia xo I started Monday last week with a colonics session at Living Waters in Morristown. I would never choose to begin my week like that ever in my life again. However, I’m writing about it because it was truly opening, worth the discomfort, and helped me be more intentional about what’s going into my gut.
Colonics is a detoxifying therapeutic procedure where the colon is irrigated. (Yes, that’s a very santitized description as the reality for me was never ending water and sensations that reminded me too much of childbirth.) After the session, and being gifted with squeaky clean insides, I did not want sugar inside my gut, nothing processed - not even “healthy processed foods,” no dairy, no meat, no eggs, and no wheat. It was not even a feeling of good vs bad or plant based vs. not plant based. It was more that I got to consciously choose with what to repopulate my gut. What I did want was lots of water. I wanted fresh fruit, greens, broths, soups, green juices, tea, veggies, and sweet potato. I also wanted to do more yoga - interestingly post colonics my practice has been longer each day. I love ab exercises - I am doing more of those, and walking. I want to walk more. The feeling of lightness is something I want to preserve after the extreme feeling of lightness that comes about 12 hours after colonics. On reflection, after writing this, I may choose a Monday again, but I would clear my morning schedule beforehand and have broth and green juice waiting for me and set the whole week up as a cleanse week which is what it turned into. Unprepared - on Tuesday I made a huge pot of mineral broth to nourish me throughout the week. The colonics was like a turbo boost to detox more deeply. I’ve been doing a “reset” ever since, but it’s been super easy because my body just wants it that way. So far, I haven’t added dairy, gluten, or meat into my diet, but neither beans, rice, or other grains. For the last week or so, I have enjoyed what I am eating although I know the next steps are reintegration. Introducing back in more variety is important for my long term health. I am thinking of fish as the next step - as I was a pescatarian for a long while and fish digest easily in my body. So my recommendation: The long term benefit and the reframe the experience gave me was worth the process. It was like instead of renovating a house, you are given an empty plot to build it as you want. That is quite extraordinary! And I will say Living Waters was wonderful!! with love, Julia Autophagy is the key to delaying aging and possessing wellness as we age. It is the name of the process by which your body clears out old and damaged cells. Proteins, lipids, cell debris, damaged mitochondria, and other cell parts that are no longer functioning well are broken down or released from the body through autophagy. The rate and degree to which your body engages in autophagy dictates not only how long you live, but more importantly, how well you live. It is the process that allows us to thrive throughout aging, especially as it relates to our cognition. When the mechanisms for autophagy are overwhelmed or dysfunctional, your cells cannot function optimally, disease has more opportunity, and aging accelerates. Significantly, neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s are marked by the accumulation of damaged proteins and cell debris. It is clear through research that impaired autophagy causes disease although causality is not fully understood. We do know it is important. And to live our best life, we must support this natural process through nutrition, lifestyle, stress mitigation, and environment. So how do you optimize autophagy? 1. Leave a 12 hour window between dinner and breakfast. This creates a window of low sugar and low insulin which triggers autophagy, especially in the liver, brain, muscle, and fat. Regular detoxing of these systems contributes to cognitive function, hormone balance, and mobility. 2. Eat plants. Enzymes used to degrade damaged cellular material require vitamin cofactors found in plants. These cofactors are necessary for autophagy. In addition, plants provide antioxidants to reduce oxidative stress which inhibits autophagy. Foods that are especially helpful to autophagy are berries, sprouts of cruciferous vegetables, green tea, turmeric, and ginger. 3. Avoid pro-inflammatory foods like sugar and processed foods. Inflammation impairs the power center - the mitochondria - within your cells. Mitochondria play an important role by signaling the pathways for autophagy. When they function poorly, autophagy is impaired. 4. Exercise. Exercise increases blood flow and facilitates the release of degraded cellular material. 5. Nighttime sleep. The glymphatic system - the system responsible for performing the rinse cycle on your brain - and autophagy are extremely active during night time sleep. They work together to improve the health and function of your brain. Good sleep is supported by maintaining the circadian nature of your brain. Support this by having a regular bedtime and waking time. Go outside every morning for morning sun. Keep your meal and exercise times consistent. Routine and rhythm help you attain better sleep. 6. Reduce your toxic load by using clean beauty products on your skin, reducing chemical usage, avoiding environmental toxins, and eating pesticide free foods. The less time spent clearing these toxins means that energy, antioxidants, and cofactors can be direct to autophagy. 7. Seasonally detox with a cleanse. Occasional low calorie spurts help upregulate autophagy. This is one of the main long lasting benefits of cleanses and resets. 8. Release stress naturally with time outdoors, gentle exercise, and quiet time. Although it's not clear how, stress suppresses the immune system including autophagy. In the same way, emotional and traumatic stress inhibits autophagy. Resolving that stress is also important for longevity and youthfulness long term. Autophagy is a wonderful way the body works to protect our cognitive ability and overall health. Modern eating and life work against this process, but if we intentional support it we make an investment in our wellness and mind longterm. The beauty of the body is that it is never to late. Even at the point where we are seeing aging and cognitive decline, these practices can slow or stall the progression. For more guidance, feel free to contact me. with love, Julia xo Digestion is an interplay between your body and your food. The food you eat directly impacts your digestive health. This means that every bite is an opportunity to heal, protect, and support digestion.
Adding flavor to your food at home with herbs and spices is an easy add that will make a huge impact on bloating, indigestion, GRD, intestinal churning, and intestinal gas. Here are the top five that we use at jolie for maximum health impact and flavor. 1. Lemon. Technically not an herb, but in cooking it is used as one. Many digestive and absorption issues begin in the stomach. Low digestive enzymes prevent adequate breakdown of food prior to emptying into the small intestine leading to painful digestion and malabsorption. Adding lemon naturally increases digestive enzymes allowing food to be more completely digested. 2. Parsley is in many jolie dishes - finely chopped so the flavor does not become too strong. Parsley helps reduce intestinal gas and maintain regularity. We prefer flat leaf parsley for texture and flavor. 3. Cumin enhances the activity of digestive enzymes and aids in the production of bile which you need to digest fats - both plant and animal based fats. Using ground cumin is easiest. Add it when you are cooking the onion and garlic base of a dish or a sprinkle before roasting vegetables. 4. Ginger you know as an anti-inflammatory, but it also soothes the stomach, reduces nausea, gas, bloating, and intestinal spasms. We prefer to use fresh ginger in sauces and cooked dishes. You receive maximum benefit this way and can more easily control the flavor by how finely you chop or grate the ginger. 5. Coriander is an herb and spice. We use both. The fresh herb is added to a dish raw. The spice is used in the initial stages of cooking. Coriander is great for speeding up recovery from stomach illnesses and diarrhea. It is also being research as an plant medicine for colitis and ulcers. 6. Here is your + 1 - Turmeric helps the stomach by reducing bloating, heartburn, and gas. It too is an anti-inflammatory that also benefits digestion. Turmeric we use fresh and powdered. I prefer fresh turmeric for flavor, however, at home it is easier to incorporate a sprinkle of turmeric in your dishes. Many of these you can benefit from in a tea form. Our Digestive Tea (soon to be renamed Happy Belly) contains all the herbs above except parsley. It also has other spices that benefit digestion that we didn't mention. Another way to integrate these spices is with the jolie Digestive Spice blend which contains cumin, cardamom, coriander, ginger, turmeric, and a pinch of black pepper. You can also make your own by blending the above spices. Use 1/4 teaspoon per 2 person serving - if you want the spices to be more faint, use less. Just like we were forced to yield to the hormonal changes of our teenage years, in this other part of our life we also must surrender to and find new ways to take care of our bodies. with love, Julia xo  We are fighting coronavirus now. My hope in all this uncertainty is that it will focus our attention to how important our immune system is. Now and always, when our immune system falters it is an open door to infection. That is why washing our hands and social distancing is not enough, we have to keep our immune system healthy.
We are trying to protect ourselves and those that our vulnerable. The danger to older people is evidence of the decline that happens in our immune system as we age. It is interesting to read the science on this. It is clear that our immune system declines. The question is why? Is this a consequence of aging - a natural progression? Or is there another factor at play here? Under-nutrition is an important factor. In a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, it was found that increasing the daily servings of fruits and vegetables from 3 to at least 5 servings a day created an 82% greater production of protective antibodies in adults over 65. Antibodies are the very, very specific immune agents the body creates for each individual pathogen. This change happened in a matter of weeks. Decrease in immune system function is heavily influenced by nutrition. So, in light of COVID-19, you can start turning the tide now with more fruits and vegetables and helping those at high risk, the elderly or those with underlying health challenges, get more fruits and vegetables. How can you easily up your intake? I put every meal on a bed of greens or veggies - that will get you 1-2 more servings a day. The jolieLife pizza I posted on Instagram today is made of veggies with more vegetables on top. Use fruit and vegetables as dessert or snack food. A bowl of berries is a wonderful end to a meal. Baby cucumbers give the crunch mouth feel we often seek in snacks. Have berries or some other fruit every morning with your breakfast. At jolie, we usually choose berries because they have the biggest immune boosting punch, second to that we choose citrus or tropical fruits because they are high in vitamin C and antioxidants. Each effort counts and makes a difference! Love, Julia xo  When there is illness afoot, it reminds me of my grandmother - mother of 13 - who would say, “Cleanliness is next to godliness.” I think she was trying to preserve her sanity, but cleanliness definitely helps out the universal pull to wellness. So, in the current climate it is good to keep sanitation priority.
At the same time, humans have always lived with germs and the human body is a wonderful infection fighter when given the right tools - food, sleep, water, sun. Here are my five tips for boosting your immune system:
Julia xo  Feet are neglected in Western beauty culture, but are foundational in Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine. They deserve the attention that these alternative modalities advocate. Feet have pressure points which are connected to almost every area of your body. A foot massage affects not only your feet, but your organs also. Foot health also influences the health of your knees, hips, and lower back.
Here is my healthy foot routine to keep me spry. 1. Practice toe separation. If you practice yoga, you are use to the practice of spreading your toes. This helps to alleviate compression of the musculature and nerves of the feet making you more stable and grounded. Without a yoga practice, wear a toe separator for 5-15 minutes each evening. If your toes are too stiff or this causes any discomfort, start gently by weaving a paper towel between your toes. 2. Rub your feet 2-3 times a week with a pumice or exfoliation cream. This will keep your heels and ball of your foot soft avoiding painful calluses which throw off your gait and lead to problems in the knees, hips, and lower back. Do not do this if you have abrasions on your foot. 3. Massage the sole of your foot with a tennis ball daily to address tightness, to relax the foot, and to activate pressure points on the foot. 4. Moisturize your feet twice daily. I use a moisturizer in the morning with lots of botanical oils and another one with 20% urea at night. It will cure cracked heels and help hydrate the skin. It also helps with dry hands. Follow this and you will have fabulously healthy, beautiful feet which will benefit your mobility, agility, and joint health. love, Julia xo  I firmly believe our health is heavily influenced by our beliefs. Science now is backing this up with study results which show how repeated thoughts affect our behavior and cell health. Also studies have shown the power of mantra. When we tell ourselves something over and over it can shift our behavior, habits, and choices.
For example, a friend of mine used to be addicted to ice cream. To break the addiction, each day she would visualize herself eating ice cream and feeling terrible afterwards. Over time, this meditation built an aversion to ice cream within her. Likewise, the placebo effect can increase efficacy of treatments and overall health outcomes - a person thinks something will help her and it does just because of the thought. What we believe determines what we think is possible, our habits, and our choices. But many of our beliefs are under the surface and we operate not being aware of them. However, if we listen to our thoughts and self talk they will reveal our underlying beliefs. You will learn rather or not you expect health or illness. Eavesdropping on yourself will reveal if you are at peace with your body or feel alienated and disconnect from it. What you hear is affecting you on the level of cell health - the essence of wellbeing. If you discover a belief that is negatively impacting your health, how do you change your beliefs? In order to replace or reverse it we first recognize the belief. Do you expect to be stressed? Do you think your health is delicate? Do you expect to recover quickly when sick? Do you think you are undeserving of health or feeling great? Do you think you will always feel bloated and uncomfortable? Do you think you are bound to experience a particular disease? You bring the beliefs to the light. Then, replace the belief with something more aligned to the outcome you want. This process of replacement is gradual, but will work. For example, for a while I had orthorexia. I thought some foods would instantly make me fat and feel terrible. Each time that came up, birthday cake for example, I would tell myself, “My body knows exactly what to do with this food and can use it up quickly.” Over time, I was able to occasionally partake in certain foods without the expectation that they would instantly derail my health gains. Core beliefs I continually reinforce are: I deserve health and energy all day; I eat so my body heals itself; and aging is not inevitable. These beliefs I repeat to myself. This way I expect well being and make choices which support health. It creates habits of choosing food for how they will assist my body in feeling great, When I am sick, rather or not it requires medication, I tell myself that my body is already healing itself. The positive thoughts, help me to heal faster. Using your beliefs for your health is one of the most powerful wellness tools you have. it is effective, free, and accessible.  I love aromatherapy, but find it hard to integrate into everyday lfe. A simple way to use aromatherapy is sprinkling a few drops of essential oil onto the floor of the shower. As you dial in your temperature the whole bathroom becomes an aromatherapy room. Try cedarwood or sandalwood for the scent of bathing in nature.
with light, Julia  My first truly clinical use of food was to cure my 6 year old son of gluten intolerance and IBS. I put him on the GAPs diet for 6 months. A diet based on bone broth and slow reintroduction of normal eating. Nathanael went from debilitating stomach aches and diarrhea after wheat and almost every meal to being able to eat whatever he wants. The results have persisted to this very moment.
A client recently asked me about how to heal their gut. Bone broth is amazing at knitting the lining of the intestine back together. You will see a noticeable difference with just a 1 day broth cleanse. The medicinal broth accelerates healing and maintains a healthy gut through a combination of food, herbs, and roots known to heal and support the intestinal lining and improve gut impermeability. The broth is made from organic chicken bones, a lot of therapeutic mushrooms, vegetables, and 20 different organic roots and herbs to nourish the digestive system. The gut and its microbes are your source of health. When you have a leaky gut, molecules are allowed to cross into the blood which cause inflammation and autoimmune responses. A healthy gut does not allow those molecules to leak into the rest of the body. As the broth restores the lining of the gut, it provides an environment in which the good microbes can flourish. Good microbes = good mood, high metabolism, better brain function, and less disease. Along with the medicinal broth we created the Medicinal Cleanse. A 5 day cleanse targeted at healing your digestion and deeply detoxing the body. It includes only foods and herbs known to heal the gut, liver, inflammation, and the skin. It excludes nightshades, fruit, grains, dairy, nuts, and meat. While nourishing you deeply, you will find the food amazingly delicious and satisfying. To get the broth or cleanse and to learn more look here. You can also email me to see how the medicinal line can help you in your particular situation. Love, Julia xo P.S. The broth contains many mushrooms for their anti-cancer properties for added benefit.  The most primary relationship we have is with ourselves. As a mother, my health, calm, and patience comes from how I nurture or mother myself. Actually, rather or not you are a mother, mothering or nurturing yourself is essential. It is the only way to cultivate the soil of your life so you are healthy, vibrant, and feel alive.
Mother's Day gives opportunity to reflect on motherhood and to introduce Aphrodite Project. Birthing and pregnancy is very dear to my heart: I spent 14 years of my life bearing children, I experienced happily water birth, hospital birth, and home birth. Each was fantastic, monumental, and taught me about myself. But, what I did not realize then, and know now, is how very lucky I was in having one healthy pregnancy and birth after another. Aphrodite Project provides women support in pregnancy and postpartum that is desperately needed. The United States is in a health crisis that few are aware of or speak of: the rate of pregnancy related death is rising in the U.S. while decreasing 44% in the rest of the world although we spend more on healthcare. We are at the bottom of the list when compared to other developed countries. Many studies are now being conducted to find out why. The general agreement in the research is echoed in a Harvard University study which asserts that the main contributing factor is the chronic stress women live under which weakens the entire body making pregnancy an extraordinary challenging environment for maternal wellness. So by dissolving stress and building wellness within the body, your chances of a healthy pregnancy and birth dramatically increases. The practices we focus on at jolie are also the recommendations for creating better maternal outcomes. Aphrodite Project takes these practices and adapts them to pregnancy to help women create better results for themselves. My request to you is to take a look at aphroditeprojectbirth.com. Even if you are not in that stage, you will find useful tools. But even more, please join me in connecting childbearing women with the site. It is a growing treasure trove of support. Love, Julia xo  How do you know you need a detox? But, more than that, do you even need to do a detox in the first place?
Detoxification is something that your body naturally does through the liver, skin, breath, pee, and poop. It is a constant process that never ends and is quite efficient on its own. It is necessary to clear out the remains from all the millions of chemical reactions which allow you to live. It also clears out very natural environmental toxins like too much sun exposure, fumes, smoke from cooking fires, plant and animal toxins. In its ideal state, the body does not need you to do a “detox.” Problems arise when it doesn't have the necessary nutrients to use in the process or is overloaded with environmental and agricultural toxins. Then, we need to detox. A gradual acceleration of detoxification will happen as you eat more plants; to kickstart or deepen the process do a detox. I experienced this after switching to a plant based diet (for the curious, I do eat meat). I could feel the increased energy, clarity, and glow that came as my body was able to function better and detoxify faster. However, at some point I reached a state where the need for deeper detoxification arose - think of weekly cleaning versus spring cleaning. So I decided to do a three day juice cleanse every month. I detoxed in this way for about 3-4 months, then one day a month for another 3-4 months. Each time I felt better and better. But, after the 6th or 7th one, I knew I didn’t need to keep “detoxing.” The deep cleansing was complete and my diet gave my body what it needed from there. I recommend detoxes to clients that are experiencing intestinal issues, mood instability, decreased energy, skin eruptions, and accelerated aging. Do a 1-3 day detox for a few months, then a 1-2 day detox until you feel your body clean - trust the body, it knows when to stop. Soup cleanses, low sugar juice cleanses, broth cleanses, and carefully designed food cleanses can all be used as detoxes. For our cleanses, click here. If you need help designing a detox for your particular needs, I am happy to give you some guidance. Please reach out. Love, Julia xo P.S. Sleep and water are essential for detoxification always. Their benefits are immense and you can start today with 7 hours of rest and more hydration. Jolie | Blue Mill, Morristown, NJ 07960 Unsubscribe {recipient's email} Update Profile | About our service provider Sent by julia@thejolielife.com in collaboration with  I love facial masks. As winter fades and spring is slow in coming my skin reaches its apex of dryness. Awaken winter skin with an at home mask. My favorite hydrator and reviver is Manuka honey. Try mixing it with one of the following to create a nutrient mask:
with light, Julia  When I first started eating clean I was astounded by how many green leafy vegetables I needed to eat for optimal health. The reality is that most Americans are undernourished - even if overweight. In the jolieLife foods you will eat 6-8 cups of green leafy vegetables a day.
Why? Green leafy vegetables feed your gut biome. Maintaining a healthy gut requires you feed the good organisms that live there - they eat compounds found in green leafy vegetables. A healthy gut improves your nutrient absorption and restricts antigens and pathogens from crossing through the gut into the blood where they wreck havoc on a healthy immune system. They help you hydrate from the inside out. Greens are mostly water which can slowly be absorbed into the body as the greens are broken down. Antioxidants galore. If you want glowing, clear, healthy skin you have to eat your greens - lots of them. If dry, aging skin with lots of fine lines is your thing, pass on the salad. Greens make more of an impact on your skin than any serum, cream, or facial. Spend the money on your vegetables - the dividends go deeper than a $400 facial. What you feed yourself impacts the development of Alzheimer’s and cancer more than your genes. Green leafy vegetables contain many neuron and cell protective bioactive compounds. Read Anticancer or Ending Alzheimer’s to know just how important green leafy vegetables are. Try a week of jolieLife meals. Go to the Super Food tab. It will teach you what you need to be eating and will amaze you how great you feel. with love + light, Julia The origins of dis-ease always have many contributing factors. You don’t become depressed due to just one factor. A person does not become seriously overweight from solely making bad food choices.  Chronic disease does not stem from one cause. Our bodies and minds are multidimensional, so healing them has to be multidimensional.
When you are undertaking healing yourself from anything rather it be cancer, alcohol dependency, or anxiety - choose to work on the issue from many angles. I encourage you to choose 3 modalities of healing for starters. For example, if you are diagnosed with breast cancer you can, in addition to your medical treatment, seek to heal yourself with dietary changes, emotional release techniques, and meditation. If you have anxiety you may choose medication; however, it should be coupled with other modalities to activate your body’s healing ability such as exercise, breathwork training, and efforts to increase social connections. We are often discouraged or confused by all the information and recommendations we get. There are always more recommendations than time or energy allows. Here your gut will guide you. Do what resonates with you or the treatment you are draw to. Many modalities will heal, but the key is to find the one that resonates with you because that modality is most likely to heal you. Candida, or yeast, is becoming more of a problem as our diets become heavier on carbohydrates, sugars, and sweet drinks. High levels of yeast in the body create a myriad of health challenges.  Candida overgrowth can cause:
How to Eliminate Candida Overgrowth General Overgrowth:
Vaginal Yeast Infections:
Nutrition:
What’s Missing Fermented Foods & Vinegars: these are great to keep all the flora in balance, HOWEVER, when you are out of balance, fermented foods encourage yeast growth. The single most impactful lifestyle change you can make for your health is to eat more plants. Plant based diets in study after study are shown help fight cancer, relieve autoimmune disease, alleviate various mental health and endocrine disorders, reduce weight, and improve heart disease. Yet, it is sometimes confusing as to how to navigate such a change.  I changed to a plant based diet six years ago and have never looked back. I feel better, look better, and move better. Goodbye breakouts, mood swings, aches, and pains. Here are five tips to set you up for a more vibrant you.
Julia xo Exercise began for me as a way to lose weight, get in shape, and relieve stress. It has become for me one of the primary ways I keep my body feeling and looking young. Exercise is a powerful youth serum available -- if you know how to make it. I created Row jolie as a workout and youth serum in one.  The key markers or characteristics of aging are: limited mobility, frailty, muscle loss, loss of bone mass, weight gain, thinning, sagging skin, random aches and pains, and inconsistent energy levels.
Bright, radiant skin, defined muscles, fluidity in movement, flexibility, endurance, energy, an overall good feeling in your body, and quick recovery from illness and/or injury are the signs of vitality. When I work out, design workouts, and have personal training it is always important that the movements not only do no harm, but assist in keeping my body young and vital. Renewal is the name of the game. 6 ingredients necessary to turn exercise into youth serum 1. It is essential you incorporate full range of motion in some of your weekly exercise. For example, aim for full articulation of your shoulder. You want arm movements which mimic life: arms overhead, pulls and pushes. Think of picking up or playing with a baby - those are the movements: picking the child up, holding the baby and gazing at him, placing him gently in a crib. Push, pull, raise your arms overhead regularly. For the lower body, there is nothing better than lunges and squats. Fully articulate the joint with fluid, controlled movements using body weight or free weights which allow you to build strength while maintaining proper form. 2. Deterioration of balance is a key sign of aging. It affects your stride and ability to recover from being jostled or tripping. Balance is one of things that if you don’t use it, you lose it. Daily exercises that require balancing on one leg and bending over and straightening are a must. Lunges are a great example of balance maintaining exercises as well as one legged squats and burpees. 3. You do not have to jump to build bone density. Closed chain movements build bone density at the same rate as jumping. A closed chain exercise is where the feet are stationary and movement is made by exerting the legs and core. Rowing is an excellent example of closed chain cardio. Weighted squats and pushups are another forms of closed chain exercises which build bone density. 4. Cardio is not only a calorie burner and essential for heart health, but in your youthening routine it provides regeneration at the cellular level. Aging is marked by a decrease in the number of mitochondria in the cells. Aerobic activity, especially interval training, stimulates the production of more mitochondria in the skeletal muscle tissue. More mitochondria equals greater energy, faster recovery, better functioning cells, higher metabolism. On the contrary, as mitochondria in skeletal muscle cells decrease, the cells become insulin resistant, inefficient, and prone to degenerative disease. This increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, systemic inflammation, and weight gain. All three of those situations are a step toward looking and feeling old. 5. Weight training 2-3 times a week. You look younger with visible, defined muscle. Beyond looks, strong muscle contraction maintains the connective tissue surrounding joints and builds bone density. In addition, strong muscle helps maintain posture, improves sleep, and balances blood sugar. Also, strength is important to power the activity of life. Getting up, carrying groceries, gardening, caring for children, moving things around, a day out in the country or in town are all powered by your muscles. The stronger your muscles, the less taxing these activities are. In addition, muscles burn a lot of calories making it easier for you to maintain your figure and not experience the dip in metabolism that many say is an inevitable part of aging. 6. Detoxification. Exercise is an important detoxifier. Sweating, deep breathing, increased circulation all detoxify the body. This creates a healthier environment for every cell of the body by preventing the buildup of free radicals which interfere in cellular function. In addition, sweating and increased circulation stimulate the production of skin cells; thereby preventing thinning and sagging. Healthy cells are young cells, young cells equals young body. I urge you to incorporate each of these six points into your exercise weekly. Over time you will see a difference in your appearance, increase in energy, and the disappearance of random aches and pains. I tell my youthening clients to expect to carve off one year for every month of moving, eating, and living to youthening. Stick with it - the results are amazing! with gratitude, Julia Sometimes it seems the fog in our brain will not lift. We have been at a deadline or a big project, and find ourselves in the Twilight Zone of thought. Stale ideas that keep coming back. Our creativity vanishes. We get tired of even thinking.  This is when you are in need of brain rest. The brain, like your muscles, needs recovery time to refresh so that it can work creatively and powerfully. Think of it as rebooting your computer -- everything closes, the computer shuts down, rest for a moment, and when it's restarted the glitch you had disappears.
5 Steps to reboot your brain:
Next time you are close to brain fatigue, whip out these tools. In just a day or two, you will find energy, productivity, and inspiration restored. with love and gratitude, Julia |
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