Barbara Sinclair
Barbara Sinclair is a holistic health practitioner with a passion for Ayurveda – the ancient mind/body system of health and longevity that originated in India.
A lifelong visual artist, Barbara woke up one morning in her late 40s with pain throughout her body. A diagnosis of fibromyalgia eventually led her to seek more holistic methods of healing – all while looking within for clues as to why this had happened.
For several years, Barbara was guided to explore all kinds of alternative practices. It was with fierce intent, a positive attitude, and help from some gifted healers that her body slowly began to repair itself. In the process of healing, Barbara fell head-over-heels in love with Ayurveda, a Sanskrit word which means “the knowledge of life”.
She now lives her daily life by its principles and its deep connection with Nature and the five elements, sharing its brilliance with others.
Meditation and energy healing, with their direct connection to Ayurveda, were also key players in her recovery. They helped her to access an inner place of peace and unlock deeply buried pain.
Today, Barbara is free from the symptoms of fibromyalgia and is grateful for the powerful lessons it taught her. Like many others who have managed to overcome a debilitating condition, it enriched her life, rather than destroyed it.
Barbara’s greatest joy now is to share the fruits of her own healing journey in hopes that it might spark a healing journey for others. Barbara received her Ayurveda training from Wise Earth Ayurveda, the first school of Ayurveda teachings in the US. She is also a certified holistic health counselor and energy healer.
For a complete list of services, or to read Barbara’s blog, please visit her website at www.barbarasinclair.com.
Barbara on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BarbaraSinclairHolisticHealth
Barbara on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BSinclairNYC
Barbara on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/BSinclairNYC/
Barbara posts a new article on CLN every Wednesday. To view her articles, go here:
https://consciouslifenews.com/author/barbara-sinclair/
Late winter is a time for rest and rejuvenation, according to Ayurveda. So even though Punxsutawney Phil didn’t see his shadow this year, and an early spring is predicted here in the Northern Hemisphere, we still have a few weeks to take advantage of this seasonal downtime. Many of us living in colder climates are making the shift from Vata Season (fall/early winter) to Kapha Season (late winter/spring). You can feel the cold, dry, lightness of Vata shifting to the cold, damp, heaviness of Kapha. This is a very tenuous time for the body (and the mind, as well). #Ayurveda cautions us to give extra TLC to ourselves as we make the transition.
Whatever your constitution, it’s not difficult to fall into a pessimism trap in the world we live in today. Things look pretty bleak, right? But pessimism, fear, anxiety, negativity, and lack of hope all seem so heavy and dark, and an unfulfilling way to go through life. For me, on days when I feel pessimism creep in, I get out in Nature, listen to music, ride my bike, and meditate. It’s amazing how things can shift. #optimisim
For someone who suffered from #fibromyalgia for seven years, it’s odd that I’ve never really written a post about it. It was such a defining moment in my life, and yet, thankfully, I never let it define me. So I’ve been hesitant to write about it. It happened, it changed the course of my life, and I moved on. But if I never had fibromyalgia, I might not be writing this blog about holistic health and healing.
#Ayurveda, the 5,000-year-old system of health and longevity is deeply rooted in Mother Nature and her elements. Many people are intimidated by the complexities of this ancient science, but you can benefit greatly from its common sense wisdom without becoming an Ayurvedic scholar. We are all a unique combination of the elements – air, space (ether), fire, water, and earth. Think about the “fire” in our belly that drives digestion. The blood (water) in our veins. The air element that moves everything in the body. Without it, nothing would happen and our life would cease. There is space inside of us and our bones are of the earth. Air, space, fire, water, earth.
Wouldn’t you rather be doing this when the December holiday frenzy rolls around? Recently, during a conversation with a friend, I gently suggested that she might feel better if she focused a little more on herself and her own needs rather than on everyone else’s. She looked at me and said “But I think that’s being selfish.” This is such a common reaction and in my opinion downright dangerous. So, here are a baker’s dozen of self-love tips for the holidays. #holidayseason
This humble herb is so much more than a garnishment. Parsley is one of the most effective diuretics around from a natural food source. Many of us are in Kapha Season right now and might be feeling heavy, bloated, sluggish, and in need of some gentle detoxification.
The ancient system of health and longevity called Ayurveda divides the 24-hour clock into six blocks of four hours. Our body instinctively knows what is best for us during these segments of the day and night (when to sleep, eat, eliminate, etc.) and there is a four-hour block of time in our day when productivity is naturally highest. The answer might surprise you.
We’ve all heard the old adage “Eat breakfast like a queen, lunch (called dinner in many cultures) like a king, and supper (we say dinner!) like a pauper.” This is ancient and important wisdom.
In the morning when we wake up, our digestive fire is still weak – hence, eat breakfast like a queen (not too much, but enough to get you through until lunch). We “break-fast because we haven’t eaten anything all night, but not with a lot of food, which will overload the body.
10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. is the Pitta (fire) time of day. It is when our digestive fire is strongest and therefore we stand the best chance of digesting and metabolizing our meal. Lunch/dinner like a king! Noon – 1:00 p.m. is optimal.
Lack of sleep can do more than just make us cranky and reach for a cup of coffee. It can make us crazy and it can make us sick. Read Barbara Sinclair’s easy Ayurvedic tips for a good night’s sleep.
Can deeply listening to our intuition help give us answers during a healing crisis? As a species, we’ve become pretty out of touch with our intuition, especially when it comes to our health. Rather than “listening to our body” and letting our intuition guide us, we often run to the doctor with the hope that a magic pill will cure us – immediately. Following our inner guidance is a valuable tool that we can all access.
I can’t remember the last cold or flu that I had (knock on wood). But that doesn’t mean that I’m just lucky, or that I have a perfect immune system. What I do have is a list of to-dos that I implement when I feel a virus coming on that almost never fail to nip that cold or flu in the bud.
Food is the essence of healing. Nature’s foods embody rasa, the taste of life, and contain the universes’s energetic building blocks responsible for the body, mind, and spirit being fed, nourished, and celebrated.
Most everyone knows the healing benefits of aloe for sunburn. When you go somewhere tropical on vacation, you can be sure to find a tube of aloe gel at the beach hut or in the gift shop. It’s a hot weather staple. But ancient healing traditions like Ayurveda recognized aloe vera as a powerful plant for many common ailments.
We may take our digestive system for granted, but Ayurveda places an extreme amount of importance on it. In fact, Ayurveda teaches that roughly 80% of all illnesses derive from digestion problems.
Spring is the perfect time for cleansing and detoxifying the body, after a winter of heavier foods and often a more sedentary lifestyle. The lymphatic system especially needs a boost at this time of year (or at any time of year if your body is overburdened, sluggish or toxic).
This colorful salad is full of immune-boosting, detoxifying, lymph-moving foods like beets, pomegranates, apples, cabbage, kale, etc.
