A “Thank You” a Day Keeps the Doctor Away: Practicing Gratitude for Physical and Mental Health

One of the first lessons in manners we teach our children, as we were once taught ourselves, it to “say please and thank you,” and add a smile while you’re at it. And it’s a beautiful practice. We express gratitude for life’s smallest gestures- a door held open, and hot tea handed over the counter, or a fellow driver letting us in to a jammed lane.

But do those “thank you”s follow us throughout the day? Do we remember them, do we savor them? If you do, you’re ahead of the game- and welcome to what is probably your favorite month of the year! But if not, here’s a quick highlight on the magic of gratitude, and its benefit to the body and mind.

Through the years, we’ve come to recognize little things that make us happy. For me, it is a warm cup of tea in the morning, followed by clean socks out of the drier and wearing the comfiest, baggiest sweater I own. Those are my happy moments. Those little moments of action spike my happiness for a moment, and then I am back to my balanced, stabilized, happiness level. My “normal”. This is called the hedonic treadmill.

The hedonic treadmill is our normal state of being, despite small positive or negative stimulus. It is the state we remain in when we do not acknowledge happiness. Throughout the day we see people we love, eat yummy food, use modern infrastructure, and are surrounded my incredible nature all around us. But if we do not acknowledge it, we remain on the treadmill.

Jumping off the treadmill means acknowledging happy moments and expressing gratitude. Dr. Robert Emmons, a university Psychology professor, performed a gratitude experiment on 300 students. They were broken into three groups. Each group, for one week, was to keep a log of what made them happy, what annoyed them, and what they did during the day, respectively. The “happy list” group was shown after one week to have increased well being, as expressed in deeper, longer sleep, and higher levels of motivation as expressed in exercise levels.

This month we not only celebrate Thanksgiving, but the 15^th anniversary of Passiflora, all in the same week! To say “thank you” to YOU, our incredible community, we are offering 15% off all teas and a free cupcake of the café’s choice on Saturday, November 24^th.

If you’d like to cater your Thanksgiving with Passiflora at Home, it’s not too late! All ordered placed before Saturday 11/17 will be honored, pick up ready on Tuesday 11/20 and Wednesday 11/21. Check out our Thanksgiving special catering menu here.

Really, it’s as easy as “thank you”. Acknowledge it, express it, savor it, and be well.

From Farm to Tablet: Simplify your Supplements with Mega Food

Taking the first step away from big pharma and getting closer to the plant world is a big and empowering, but confusing decision. There is a plethora of information out there for what supplements you should be taking, but unlike the pharmaceutical world, there isn’t a one-size-fits all solution for optimizing your life with herbal supplements. This overwhelming information can lead us to buy and buy and buy, hoping the next bottle of supplements will be “the one”. Yes, we have all been there. Most of us are still there. But we don’t have to be. Let’s work together to simplify our life with herbal supplements.

The CDC reported that 90 million Americans are low in vitamin D, including 23 million with a severe deficiency; 18 million people are deficient in B12, 30 million are low in B6 and 16 million are vitamin C deficient.

Tieraona Low Dog, MD., is a leading expert in integrative medicine, with a focus on women’s health. Her wide range of expertise includes massage therapy, martial arts, midwifery, and herbal medicine, serving as the President of the American Herbalist’s Guild. She received her medical degree from the University of New Mexico to continue her path as an advocate for compassionate, effective, equitable, and environmentally conscious health care.

Dr. Low Dog believes that by getting in touch with our own bodies, we can target the exact vitamins we may deficient in. Let’s have a chat with some of our body’s most essential vitamins:

•Magnesium: Without me, you’ll feel muscle cramping, eye twitching, fatigue, and anxiety.
•Omega 3: I help lower risk of chronic health issues. I’ll also improves cognitive function, mood, and behavior.
•B vitamins: B12 here, I help immune function and get rid of fatigue, depression, and chronic levels of inflammation. For the ladies, B6 is essential for your overall health, especially reproductive health.
•Zinc: I am necessary for blood clotting and wound healing. I will also give you a strong helping hand to improve immune health.
•Iron: Hey kids! I will help you grow big and strong by formulating of hemoglobin in red blood cells.

As you set yourself up for fall health, the most important thing to get ready is taking a multivitamins and B vitamins. We can later incorporate vitamin D and magnesium.

It is important to focus on the person not the symptom. After all, you have existed for far longer than your symptom. Your physical form, mental state, and life experience, all make you the amazingly unique person that you are.

Our goal is to simplify your supplement intake to 3 supplements a day. We’re talking quality, not quantity.

Our long-time favorite vitamin supplier is New England native, Mega Food. Mega Food functions on the motto “From Farm to Tablet”. Mega Food sources over 500,000 pounds of real, farm-fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains and herbs directly from farmers every year to use in their supplements. Each vitamin or mineral is paired with an ideal whole food using their unique process to deliver guaranteed potency and the benefit of health-promoting compounds present in the whole food itself. They offer supplements for men, women, and children.

Karen Tyson, the found of Passiflora Café, Tea Room, and Herbal Shoppe, takes 7 supplements a day. Keep in mind, she’s been developing this routine for years- you do not need to strive for this many supplements early in the game!

Karen has an MS in Nutrition, Ayurveda Certification from Kripalu in Lenox, MA, and Herbal Certification from Herbalist and Alchemist, David Winston. She is currently pursuing her degree as a Naturopathic Doctor (ND).

Karen’s Mega Food Daily Dose:
•Adrenal Strength
•Women’s Over 55
•Balanced Mind
•B Complex
•Un-Stress
•Complex C
•Vitamin D3

Karen will be offering FREE herbal supplement consultation. She is dedicated to helping our community realign their bodies with the rhythms of their life and the needs of their physical being. We want to make this process easy for you, and make sure the information and dosage you receive is in alignment with your body’s needs. As Dr. Tieraona Low Dog says “if a patient has a vitamin D level of 12ng/mL, they could take 1,000 IU per day for the rest of the life, and it still wouldn’t budge…[physicians] can’t be imprecise.” We’re here to simplify, correct, and improve your health!

Contact Karen at passifloratearoom@gmail.com to set up your FREE consultation!

As always, be well.

Resources:
Tieraona Low Dog, MD. “A Clinician’s Guide to Thoughtful Nutritional Testing”
www.MegaFood.com