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by Noell Clark, APOGEE Yoga Instructor

On busy days—and especially holidays such as Thanksgiving—it’s important to stay energized, calm and open to the people around you. Take five minutes to perform this calming and heart-opening yoga pose and you’ll be restored, relaxed and better able to receive and give gratitude. All you need is a blanket and floor space on which to lie.

To start: Roll the blanket into a cylinder and lay it on the floor. Sit with your sacrum or tailbone on the end of the blanket, then lie down, so that the blanket roll is under the length of your spine and also supporting your neck and head. Now bring your feet toward your groins, place the soles of your feet together and let your knees fall open. Put your arms on the floor away from the sides of your body, palms up. You should feel your chest opening; allow gravity to gently open your joints.

Now breathe: Then close your eyes and begin to breathe through your nose so that your belly moves up and down. Take full inhalations and exhale completely, pulling your belly button toward your spine at the end of each exhalation. As you focus on your breath, also check that your body is relaxed: Release your eyes, mouth, ears, shoulders, elbows, wrists. Focus on your in and out breath. Try to maintain the pose for five minutes, then roll to your right side and slowly come to a seated position, raising your head last. Take one more belly breath, smile, and be thankful for your day.

For more integrative health ideas, please join us on Wednesday, December 2 at 6:00 pm in White Plains, when we host an evening with Woodson Merrell, M.D., chairman of the department of integrative medicine at Beth Israel Hospital in Manhattan. Merrell is author of Power Up (previously known as The Source), in which he presents a 21-day plan for harnessing your body’s healing power and energy.

By Jennifer Vagios, RD,
APOGEE’s Dietitian

You probably have a Thanksgiving shopping list, travel itinerary, and a food preparation schedule. Do you have a Thanksgiving wellness plan, too? If you create a health and fitness strategy now, you’re more likely to emerge from this holiday week feeling energized and in control.

1.  Schedule time for your physical well-being. Whether it’s an exercise class, a walk with a friend, or 20 minutes on your mat at home, find a time each day to maintain your physical fitness habit during this holiday week. Maintaining a routine is easier than stopping and starting. (Check APOGEE’s holiday hours at our White Plains and Bedford Hills locations.)

2.  List the special foods you’d like to indulge in. Nothing says Thanksgiving like a helping of—you name it! Perhaps it’s stuffing, sweet potatoes, or pumpkin pie. If you have preferred dishes, then make a plan to skip the foods that are not your favorites. If you’re a guest, scan the table or buffet before you begin to make your choices. Choosing what is special will help you enjoy the meal without overindulging.

3.  Make a drink plan, too. The calories in alcoholic beverages add up quickly. Decide ahead of time what you will drink and how much. Be certain you have a water glass handy—and full.

4.  Picture healthful portions. Visualize a plate with space between normal-sized portions of the Thanksgiving foods you love. Picture yourself savoring the flavors and textures you look forward to. Then imagine yourself feeling comfortably full afterwards. Visualizing what you want will help you achieve it.

5.  Bring in some healthful options. Have vegetables and fruit on hand so everyone has healthful options to munch on; bring them as a hostess gift if you need to. Include plenty of non-caloric drinks such as water.

6.  Make friends, family and gratitude the focus of the day. Yes, the food brings us together, but it’s the people around the table—and the gratitude you express—that make the day meaningful.

Here comes Thanksgiving, with its mega-portions of planning, shopping, chopping and travel mixed with heaping helpings of friends and family. A wonderful holiday, but handling everything—and everyone—can be stressful, too. There are ways to dial down the stress levels: Physical exercise is one. Remembering happy events is another—specifically, keeping a gratitude journal. Writing just a sentence or two about what you are grateful for is proven to boost your mood and outlook—and could even help you fight off colds and flu.

The health benefits of expressing thanks have been studied extensively. “Research confirms what many spiritual traditions tell us: regularly expressing gratitude increases well-being,” says APOGEE’s integrative health advisor, Woodson Merrell, M.D. As an integrative doctor, Merrell considers the emotional, spiritual, dietary, environmental, and lifestyle influences that can affect health and healing. “A sense of well-being has been found to positively affect good health and immune function,” says Merrell. “Well-being enhances the release of antibodies responsible for fighting off viruses and improves important markers of cardiovascular health.”

The key is to identify and write down one thing you’re thankful for, whether it’s the fact that a grocery store clerk was helpful, your brother has offered to bring dessert to Thanksgiving or just the fact that the sun is shining and warm. Write your gratitude statements anytime and anywhere that’s convenient: on the back of your shopping list, or in your calendar or send them to yourself via e-mail. It’s best if you don’t analyze why you’re thankful—just acknowledge it.

We’re thankful for this opportunity to spread the word about simple actions that can make people feel good. We’ll post more messages about the healing power of gratitude this week. Feel free to write your gratitude statements as comments on this blog or Facebook page, or via Twitter.

Now that the bright colors of fall have faded, you might think that seasonal eating has become dull, too. Not so: Enter the pomegranate. These ruby red fruits from California are in season November through February and are packed with flavor, crunch, and nutrition. Pomegranates started appearing in salads at the APOGEE Cafés this week. “Pomegranate add seasonal spirit,” says Myong, who creates the café’s dishes.

Jewel red and juicy, pomegranates deliver vitamin C, potassium and powerful antioxidants called polyphenols. The potassium and C help you recover from exercise and resist colds and flu; polyphenols help fight cancer and heart disease. And do eat the crunchy seeds inside each fruit section—they deliver 5 grams of fiber per 80-calorie half-cup serving

Getting to the delicious parts of a pomegranate can be a puzzle. Under the tough red skin are hundreds of fruit sections in membrane-lined pockets. There are several ways to remove the fruit: You can cut the whole globe into halves or quarters and ease out the fruit by peeling the membrane; or cut them in half, score the skin and then tap the outside with a rolling pin and catch the seeds in a bowl (here’s a video of de-seeding a pomegranate).

Once fruit is out, sprinkle the sections in salads or add them to sauces; they’re also a sweet-tart topper for oatmeal or granola. Or, drizzle them with orange juice and eat them with a spoon as a nutritious dessert. Myong adds pomegranate to butternut squash with pine nuts for a vegan treat in her Thanksgiving catering menu. Enjoy the season!

We hear it again and again: Good food and physical activity create a deep well of energy that you can draw from all day. Christine Corvalan has been discovering just how true this is. Christine has type 1 diabetes, and, since starting to work at APOGEE in March 2009, she’s been exercising regularly and eating the fresh, whole foods from the APOGEE Café in White Plains.  “It definitely makes a difference in how I feel,” says Christine. Her healthy habits help create a natural energy balance so the 23-year-old often needs less diabetes medication.

November is American Diabetes Month, a time to build awareness of the disease. Type 1 diabetics, like Christine, are born without the ability to regulate blood sugar naturally. They lack insulin, the hormone that moves blood sugar into cells where it’s used for energy. Type 2 diabetics develop the disease as adults; they either no longer produce insulin, or their cells have lost the ability to use it. Both types must monitor blood sugar several times a day. High levels mean they must take insulin to lower their blood sugar as excess blood sugar damages organs.

Christine has found firsthand that exercise is powerful medicine. “When I take a Pilates class at 5:30 I need a very small dose of short-acting insulin with my evening meal, if any at all,” she says. Exercise lowers blood glucose and improves the body’s ability to use insulin. The effect is the same for everyone, including type 2 diabetics and people who don’t have diabetes. Regular workouts create balanced, healthy energy and reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

The APOGEE Café’s soups and whole-grain based salads are also a boon to Christine’s control of the disease. Christine must eat regularly to balance her blood sugar and having such healthful foods available is a real plus. The whole grains deliver fiber, which slows absorption of food; the protein and good fats in the salads also create a steady stream of energy into the bloodstream. “Quality grains require less insulin coverage,” says Christine. “The fiber and the mix of proteins and fat have less of an effect on my blood sugar. “ A fiber- and nutrient-rich diet is another way that everyone can provide their body with steady energy and reduce their risk of developing diabetes.

Now working as APOGEE’s marketing coordinator, Christine knows firsthand how the company’s wellness philosophy translates into a healthy life.