Lisa Stavrakas-LMT Yoga Massage Wellness Coaching Archives

Ayurvedic Holiday Recovery Remedies

Have Some Everyday Cleansing Green Soup!

Lisa Stavrakas, LMT
November – December 2025 • Vol 4, No 19

Rich meals, extra caloric intake, and other holiday transgressions can cause the blood to become like sludge, creating circulatory-and lymphatic-system overload. Signs and symptoms might be: mucus congestion, high blood pressure, or decreased metabolism, leaving you feeling tired, with cloudy thoughts, indigestion, acid reflux, food coma (drowsiness or lethargy), gas, or bloating. Here are some natural remedies based on Ayurvedic principles that should help you recover:

Stay Hydrated with warm water.
Drink CCF Tea— Cumin Seed, Coriander Seed, and Fennel Seed tea is an Ayurvedic tea used for supporting healthy digestion, soothing common digestive discomforts, and supporting the body’s natural ability to detox. (Add 1/2 teaspoon of each seed to 8 ounces of warm-hot water. Steep for 10 minutes. Sip throughout the day)
Get a Belly Massage— Ask your therapist to massage up the right side of your abdomen, which is the ascending colon. Continue across the top from right to left, which is the transverse colon. Be sure to massage ahead of any point where there is stagnation. The block is usually downstream from the stagnant material. Stagnation in the transverse colon is usually due to the kink in the colon at the splenic flexure. Continue down the left of your abdomen, which is the descending colon.
Take a Hot Bath— Great if followed by a warm-oil massage.
Get a Warm Oil Massage (Abhyanga)— Helps move congested lymphatic fluid. Always gently massage towards your heart.
Eat Bitter Greens— Bitters allow food to move through the digestive tract by stimulating peristalsis and increasing digestive enzymes, which increases energy, clears brain fog, detoxifies blood, de-congests the liver and gallbladder, decreases cholesterol, blood sugar, and triglycerides. Bitters also help to eliminate unhealthy food cravings by resetting your palate.
Take a Day or Two of Simple Eating— with easy to digest food such as Kitchari, Dahl, or soups.
Have Some Everyday Cleansing Green Soup— This recipe is from The Everyday Ayurveda Cookbook by Kate O’Donnell. This soup is a warm alternative to cold green juice; it’s excellent especially in the winter months. The leafy greens recommended in this soup are considered astringent and bitter. Everyday Cleansing Green Soup helps to give your digestive system the boost it needs after the holidays, or after long travel.

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1-inch piece of fresh gingerroot
1 cup packed chopped kale (about 2 small leaves)
4 cups packed chopped Swiss chard (about 4 large leaves)*
1 cup packed parsley leaves (no stems)
2 teaspoons ghee or coconut oil
Salt and pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a 2-quart saucepan, combine the vegetable broth and turmeric powder and bring to a boil on high heat. Peel and coarsely chop the gingerroot and add to the pot. Add the chopped kale and chard. Cover and simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes. Stir in the parsley and oil. Remove from heat. If using an immersion hand blender, process in saucepan until completely smooth.

If using a carafe blender, transfer liquid and vegetables to carafe and add the reserved cup of broth to cool the mixture down. Put a towel over the blender top and hold it down with your hand. Begin blending on low, gradually increasing the speed, until the soup is smooth. You may need to blend in two batches.

*Kate O’Donnell recommends replacing the chopped Swiss chard with the following seasonal ingredients:

Spring: Broccoli, arugula, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and/or celery.
Summer: Summer squash, zucchini, green beans, celery, and/or broccoli.
Fall: Spinach, peas, and/or green beans.
Winter: Spinach, Brussels sprouts, mung bean sprouts, and/or cabbage.

In Health and Happy Holidays! —Lisa

Lisa Stavrakas is an LMT, a Yoga Instructor, and an Ayurvedic Wellness Coach. Lisa has added Low Pressure Fitness to her holistic offerings for optimal health. She works with clients remotely through private online sessions and offers both in-person and virtual classes for those seeking guided support on their wellness journey.

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2025-10-27T10:00:23-06:00Natural Therapies/Remedies|

Fall Ayurvedic Cleanse

A Mind-Body Reset for the Season

Lisa Stavrakas, LMT
September – October 2025 • Vol 4, No 18

As the leaves begin to change and the air turns crisp, it is the perfect time to consider a Fall Ayurvedic Cleanse—a seasonal reset that supports your body’s natural ability to detox, rebalance, and heal.

Why Cleanse in the Fall?

According to Ayurveda, each season brings unique qualities that influence our health. After the intense heat of summer, our bodies often accumulate internal heat that can lead to dry skin, both externally and along the digestive tract. This internal dryness can compromise organ function, weaken immunity, and accelerate aging.

If we do not address this heat before transitioning into dry, windy autumn, we may experience increased dehydration, inflammation, and seasonal imbalances.

A Fall Ayurvedic Cleanse provides the body with a gentle reset—restoring hydration, releasing toxins, and enhancing digestion. It supports deep nourishment, emotional balance, and stronger immunity through the cold winter season ahead.

What Is an Ayurvedic Cleanse?

Unlike harsh or restrictive detoxes, the Ayurvedic approach is nourishing and supportive, grounded in ancient wisdom. Through seasonal foods, lifestyle practices, and mindfulness, the body is guided to release fat-soluble toxins stored in tissues—improving clarity, digestion, and vitality.

This cleanse is based on a mono-diet, making it safer and easier on the system. You will eat simple, grounding meals that reset digestion and support elimination. Emotional and physical detoxification go hand-in-hand, so expect transformation on multiple levels.

Why We Accumulate Toxins (ama)

In Ayurveda, “ama” is a term that represents toxins. It is derived from the Sanskrit word meaning “uncooked” or “immature,” and it signifies the accumulation of harmful metabolic by-products due to poor digestion. Ama is considered a root cause of disease.

Toxins (ama) can build up from:

Poor digestion
Stress and emotional trauma
Processed foods, sugar, alcohol, and drugs
Environmental pollutants (pesticides, fluoride, mercury, etc.)
Seasonal changes
Infections, injuries, and inflammation

Some toxins are water soluble and easily flushed out, but fat-soluble toxins require liver processing and often get stored in fat cells—especially in the belly, hips, or even the brain. Without proper digestive strength, cleanses can simply relocate these toxins rather than eliminate them.

Symptoms of Toxic Overload Include:

Bad breath, body odor, or foot odor
Constipation, mucus in stool
Acne, rashes, eczema
Coated tongue
Puffy, red skin
Foggy thinking or low mood
Decreased appetite
Distorted taste or smell

How We Eliminate Toxins

Ayurveda supports cleansing through multiple pathways:

Skin: Exercise, sweat, saunas
GI tract: Colonics, fiber, herbs
Urine: Diuretic herbs like celery and dandelion
Lymphatic system: Massage, dry brushing, hot baths, ginger and turmeric teas
Diet: Elimination diets and seasonal foods
Oral care: Oil pulling
Mental/Emotional: Journaling, meditation, belief release

Yes, even beliefs can be toxic! Limiting ideas and emotional trauma can become hardwired, affecting our mental and spiritual well-being. Cleansing is as much about letting go of these mental patterns as it is about physical toxins.

3 Phases of the Fall Ayurvedic Cleanse

Phase 1: Preparation (Days 1–4)

Start by eliminating processed foods, caffeine, sugar, and alcohol. This phase primes digestion, supports liver decongestion, and opens detox pathways. You’ll introduce high-fiber, low-fat meals, including:

Beet tonic
Green smoothies
2–4 apples/day

Set your intentions, reduce stress, and begin daily journaling or meditation to align mentally and emotionally with the cleanse.

Phase 2: Mono-Diet Cleanse (Days 5–9, or more)

This is the core of the cleanse. You will follow a Kitchari or Dahl based mono-diet, allowing the body to:

Burn fat-soluble toxins
Reset metabolic function
Support lymphatic drainage

Kitchari is a traditional Indian dish made of dahl (split yellow mung beans), basmati rice, ghee (clarified butter) and spices such as cumin, coriander, turmeric and ginger, among others. The dish is used in Ayurveda to detoxify the body and balance the three doshas, or bio-energy centers.

You will have various options to choose from for your cleansing path (examples: Intermittent Fasting, Transformative, or Nourishing), depending on your energy level and goals. This is an ideal time to receive a lymphatic massage for added detox support.

Phase 3: Reintroduction & Reset (Day 10)

Once the gut is cleansed, it is time to gradually reintroduce whole foods while strengthening digestive fire (agni). This phase prevents post-cleanse bingeing and supports long-term healing.

Introduce dairy, wheat, soy, and the nightshades slowly—one at a time—to identify any sensitivities. Follow recipes from Phase 1 and 3, and resist the urge to jump back into heavy or processed meals!

What’s Included in Your Cleansing Journey

A detailed guidebook with recipes & instructions
Recorded daily meditations and a recorded cleansing yoga class
Access to expert coaching for support
A self-paced, online format—start anytime!

A Final Word

Ayurveda teaches that healing is holistic—it is not just about food or herbs, but about understanding your body, mind, and spirit. When you cleanse with intention, you clear the path not only for better digestion but for clarity, resilience, and renewal.

Join Us Now for This Self-Paced, Fall Ayurvedic Cleanse!

Lisa Stavrakas is an LMT, a Yoga Instructor, and an Ayurvedic Wellness Coach. Lisa has added Low Pressure Fitness to her holistic offerings for optimal health. She works with clients remotely through private online sessions and offers both in-person and virtual classes for those seeking guided support on their wellness journey.

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2025-08-27T13:14:48-06:00Natural Therapies/Remedies|

Introducing— Hypopressive™

Low Pressure Fitness Training

Lisa Stavrakas, LMT
July – Aug 2025 • Vol 4, No 17

Are you experiencing any of these symptoms?

A weak core
Pelvic-floor dysfunction
Urinary incontinence
Organ prolapses
Poor posture
Shallow or restricted breathing
Pelvic pain
Low-back pain
Poor athletic performance
Constipation
Diastasis recti (a separation of the muscles along the midline of the abdomen, typically seen in women during and after pregnancy)

If so, then Low Pressure Fitness (LPF) may be the answer to your problems. LPF is a comprehensive, holistic movement system that tar-gets the core and pelvic floor muscles (coordinating and toning the muscles), restores posture and myofascial mobility, and helps to improve breathing by focusing on diaphragm and lateral rib cage movement and position. LPF combines breathing, posture, and low-impact exercises to improve core strength, pelvic health, spinal alignment, and enhance sports performance. The practice uses “hypopressive” breath techniques (breath hold or apnea), which involve controlled breathing phases that create a suctioning effect, activating deep core muscles and the pelvic floor.

By focusing on proper posture and managing intra-abdominal pressure, LPF helps individuals develop a stronger, more stable core while reducing unnecessary stress on the pelvic region.

Hypopressive Low Pressure Fitness Training is far more than just a breathing technique. There are specific technical patterns that have been created; each pattern has been studied to facilitate the decrease in pressure and amplify the hypopressive effects, to raise the internal organs and achieve better posture. On the following page are the major benefits often experienced by those who take up Hypopressive Low Pressure Fitness Training.

BENEFITS OF LOW PRESSURE FITNESS (LPF)

Tones & strengthens core & pelvic floor muscles
Improves urinary incontinence problems
Reduces the effects of organ prolapse
Posture & respiratory reeducation
Enhances sports performance
Decreases abdominal girth
Enhances sexual activity
Reduces back pain

The postural tensegrity (a word that combines ‘tension’ and ‘integrity’) developed within each pose creates a more balanced and functional body as a whole. If there is movement, pulling or pushing in one area, energy is sent through the entire body, and everything moves creating a global visceral, fascial, and muscular stretch.

Within the poses, there are specific areas of pull, lengthening, pull or axial shift forward to achieve this response and in the end, you are left with better alignment, continuity, and an overall improved carriage. When you improve one’s posture, you are also helping to improve one’s breathing ability and vice-versa, all of which creates a core body that can move synergistically and manage the stresses of everyday living, in addition to the physical activities we love.

The method is adaptable to individual needs and fitness levels, making it suitable for anyone looking to improve their health and posture. LPF is beneficial in recovering from an injury and is a gentle yet powerful tool you can add to your wellness routine.

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2025-07-01T08:30:41-06:00Fitness & Nutrition, Natural Therapies/Remedies|