Art Therapy: Art therapy is a form of psychotherapy that utilizes creative expression as a means of communication and healing. Through painting, drawing, sculpting, and other artistic mediums, individuals explore their emotions, thoughts, and experiences in a non-verbal and expressive way, fostering self-awareness, emotional regulation, and personal growth. Expressive Arts Therapy: Expressive arts therapy integrates multiple art forms, including visual arts, music, movement, drama, and poetry, to facilitate holistic healing and self-discovery. By engaging in a variety of creative activities, individuals tap into their innate creativity, access deeper levels of consciousness, and express aspects of their inner world that may be difficult to articulate verbally. Soul Collage® Therapy: SoulCollage® therapy is a unique approach that combines collage-making with personal exploration and reflection. Participants create collages using images that resonate with them on a deep level, then engage in guided exercises to explore the symbolic meaning of their creations and gain insight into their inner landscape and soul’s journey. Mandala Therapy: Mandala therapy involves creating and exploring mandalas, geometric designs that symbolize wholeness and the interconnectedness of life. By drawing or coloring mandalas, individuals engage in a meditative process that promotes relaxation, concentration, and self-discovery, while also accessing deeper layers of the psyche and spiritual insights. Music Therapy: Music therapy harnesses the therapeutic power of music to address physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs. Through listening to music, playing instruments, singing, or songwriting, individuals engage in a creative process that promotes self-expression, emotional release, and connection with others, leading to increased well-being and personal growth. Dance/Movement Therapy: Dance/movement therapy utilizes movement and dance as a form of psycho-therapeutic intervention. Through spontaneous movement, guided exercises, and improvisational dance, individuals explore their emotions, release tension, and access deeper layers of consciousness, promoting self-awareness, healing, and transformation. Writing Therapy: Writing therapy, also known as journaling or expressive writing, involves using written language as a tool for self-exploration and emotional healing. By putting thoughts and feelings into words, individuals gain insight into their inner world, process difficult emotions, and create a narrative that empowers them to make meaning out of their experiences and move forward with greater clarity and resilience. Nature-Based Art Therapy: Nature-based art therapy integrates creative expression with immersion in the natural world. By engaging in outdoor activities such as nature walks, eco-art projects, or land art installations, individuals deepen their connection to nature, access inspiration from the natural environment, and experience healing and renewal on a soul level. Ritual and Ceremony: Therapeutic approaches that incorporate ritual and ceremony provide opportunities for individuals to mark important life transitions, honor significant losses, or celebrate moments of healing and transformation. By creating sacred space, engaging in symbolic gestures, and participating in communal rituals, individuals access the healing power of ceremony to integrate their experiences, connect with their inner wisdom, and restore balance and harmony to their lives. Integration and Holistic Healing: These therapeutic approaches promote integration and holistic healing by addressing the interconnectedness of mind, body, and spirit. By engaging in creative expression, individuals tap into their innate capacity for self-expression and self-discovery, access deeper layers of consciousness and spiritual insight, and embark on a journey of healing and transformation that nurtures their soul and fosters greater wholeness, authenticity, and vitality. In summary, art and creativity serve as powerful expressions of the soul and vehicles for therapeutic exploration and healing. Through various approaches such as art therapy, expressive arts therapy, SoulCollage® therapy, mandala therapy, music therapy, dance/movement therapy, writing therapy, nature-based art therapy, and ritual and ceremony, individuals access their innate creativity, engage in a process of self-exploration and emotional healing, and cultivate greater wholeness, resilience, and well-being on their journey of personal growth and transformation. About Karishma Shah Follow Me On Social Media Facebook Instagram Youtube Contact Me Juhu, Mumbai +91 93213 93752 hello@karishmashahnutrition.com

Recipes How do you define a healthy life? Karishma Shah, an Integrative Health Nutritionist & Holistic Wellness Coach says“The truth is, there is no universal definition of healthy living. Simply, understanding why holistic health is important, and believing that optimal health can be achieved by viewing mental, physical, and spiritual health as a whole can be a great start.” She says it is important to understand that health is not simply to nourish ourselves. It is an interface between our body, mind and soul. The way we choose to use this interface will define how our mind, body and soul will feel on any given day.While consistently maintaining healthy habits might seem hard, by incorporating small changes in routine, you can create an enormous impact on your daily life.” During our conversation with Karishma Shah, we got several insights into how beginners can kickstart their journey towards a healthy life.As a Holistic Wellness Coach, we know that you are a strong believer in meditation. The pandemic has also re-enforced the importance of meditation. Why according to you is it important? The Mind-Body connect Meditation facilitates a mind-body-soul connection that produces a deep state of relaxation and tranquillity. It has been documented to positively impact sleep cycles and lower blood pressure, cortisol levels and inflammation. Fitting meditation into your lifestyle in any wayis sure to lead you down a path of completeness and self-fulfilment.While being stuck in the vicious circle of daily tasks, it can be exasperating to devote time to connect with yourself. However, this does not make it unimportant. By simply taking out ten-odd minutes from the day, you will notice the shift in the state of your mental health as well as your daily functioning. You have been a strong advocate of eating local food and integrate the same into your clients’ diet too. Why is that? Switch from Supermarkets to Super-local Have you heard of locavores? Locavores are people who try to choose locally grown fruits and vegetables over other available variety. It is a no-brainer that local fruits and vegetables are fresher, taste much better, and hold more nutrition value. The longer it takes for the fresh produce to reach our plate, the greater is the loss of nutrients. This makes the impact of imported fruits and vegetables on your diet very grave. Moreover, the local produce that matches the season cycle is perfectly designed to maintain your health. Our body needs fresh cooling to produce in the scorching summers and dense, warming, high-fat foods during winters. Overlooking the same to eat supermarket grocery that is available all through the year is less than ideal for your health. Nature acclimatizes with changing cycles and tells us what our body needs. We must listen. Do you think physical activity is important even if one does not have any major health problems? Compatibility with Physical Activity/ Sweat it out If you don’t exert your body, you will end up exerting your mind.Exercising is not about building your physical strength or trimming the waistline. Any kind of movement that makes your muscles work and release endorphins is exercises. Endorphins interact with brain receptors to trigger positivity and happiness They also act as analgesics. This means that they diminish the perception of pain. Most people feel an enormous sense of well-being after a workout. They see improvement in nearly every aspect of their life from the inside out. While it might be impossible to find the “time” to exercise, think of it as something beyond a lifestyle change rather than just a task to check off your to-do list. Sneak it into your daily routine and see the magic ensue! Karishma Shah went on to say “Most times, people set outlandishly high healthy goals for themselves, and when they can’t live up to them, they tend to get disappointed. Make it a habit to look at the brighter side of all things. The idea is to look at the bigger picture.” It is thus sensible totake small, achievable, and maintainable steps to ultimately achieve the long-term goal of health and strength. As a Holistic Wellness Coach, we know that you are a strong believer in meditation. The pandemic has also re-enforced the importance of meditation. Why according to you is it important? About Karishma Shah Follow Me On Social Media Facebook Instagram Youtube Contact Me Juhu, Mumbai +91 93213 93752 hello@karishmashahnutrition.com Search

Gut and Antibiotics Every time you pop an antibiotic, this is how it impacts your health.  Antibiotic resistance occurs when the strains of the microbes, antibiotics are meant to restrict and kill, develop an ability to negate the effects of these medications.The repeated overuse of over-the-counter and non-prescribed antibiotics eventually builds an army of bacteria that are completely resistant and thus the medications become ineffective despite the increase in dosage.Various strains of the bad bacteria such as E.Coli, H. Pylori, C.Difficile develop resistance towards the drugs and find meansto cope and sustain in your body even after treatment with antibiotics. Similar to how the SARS virus has adapted, mutated, and transformed into a more potent and resilient form. The extent of modernization, dependency on packaged and processed foods, the dominance of capitalism with the growth of fast-food chains, and how we are choosing convenience over real foods are pushing us to make poor food choices. Lack of physical activity, high screen-time, inconsistent sleeping patterns, stress, and emotional disharmony is all adding stress on our gut and resulting in poor gut health.Did you know, about 70% of our immune system lies in the gut? Thus, there is no doubt that due to the constant abuse the gut is no longer able to maintain the gut-barrier-integrity which is crucial to support our immune function and overall health. At the same time, frequent antibiotic consumption causes an imbalance in your gut microbiome, and the decline of the ‘good bacteria and overgrowth of ‘bad bacteria’ in the gut further impacts our immune system that can negatively impact our body causing diseases like Rheumatoid Arthritis, Type 2 Diabetes, Autoimmune Thyroid conditions, Allergy, and Food intolerances as well.  It is my proposed solution that it should be made mandatory to improve the condition of someone suffering from an infection or bacterial overgrowth is to use antibodies as a supplementary treatment while prioritizing changes in the diet and lifestyle patterns.  You can trust a nutritionist/ dietitian/ health coach to help you manage and heal your gut-health conditions like Bloating, Flatulence, GERD (Acid reflux), IBS, Constipation, SIBO (Small intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth) with good nutrition, improving fitness levels, and taking care of your health better.  Popping an antibiotic may fix the symptoms first-hand, but that treatment is very short-sighted. When you start looking at your health through a wider perspective, you would realize that the symptoms are only the tip of the ice-berg. It is a slow and challenging process that requires you to be patient and gentle with your body, but simply put requires two things: Understanding the root cause- including poor diet, sedentary lifestyle and no physical activity, inadequate sleep patterns, bad mental and emotional health, poor lifestyle choices like excessive alcohol consumption and smoking. b) Taking charge of correcting the poor habits and choosing habits that support your gut and overall wellbeing. Based on research and my own experience of working with people, this shift of mindset has shown a reduction in antibiotic resistance, as once you heal the root cause the medicine will start working more effectively. One way to support your gut against the side effects of antibiotics is to consciously include real foods, ditch refined sugar, and irritants to your gut like gluten and dairy, while focusing on foods rich in probiotics and prebiotics at least three times a week based on your tolerance levels.  When you start to follow this holistic protocol there will be an improvement in antibiotic resistance, improvement in gut health, immunity, hormonal balance, and overall health. About Karishma Shah Follow Me On Social Media Facebook Instagram Youtube Contact Me Juhu, Mumbai +91 93213 93752 hello@karishmashahnutrition.com Search

Recipes We are living through a pandemic that continues to impact our day to day lives. Grocery shopping is one of those basic things many of us must leave our house for. As this pandemic continues to spread, people all over the world are stocking up on grocery items and food in expectation of staying at home for the long time. But people face so many difficulties on what to add in their healthy food shopping list and what to avoid when stocking up on Groceries for Quarantine.Questions arise in their minds like, Can I get COVID-19 from eating fresh food? What are foods to avoid during the COVID-19 pandemic? Can people in quarantine eat fried foods? Is it safe to go to grocery stores and other food markets during COVID-19?First of all, try to avoid panic-buying. Do not to rush and stockpile. The main aim is to be prepared and purchase gradually. It’s crucial to consider all of the food groups and components that you need to build balanced meals. Here is your nutritionist shopping list next time you need to stock up. You can and should buy fresh fruits and vegetables with a longer shelf life. Fruits and vegetables that increase immunity are specially rich in anti-oxidants like all types of berries, specially amla, citrus fruits, veggies like carrots, beets, sweet potato, spinach leaves etc. Other important thing is anti-angiogenic foods like organic vegetables, fresh and seasonal fruits, turmeric etc contribute to regeneration of cells in our body and provide the needed immunity for overall strength. Immune boosters are present in our kitchen. Please include more of fresh spices like garlic, cumin, onion, cardamom, coriander , clove, black salt, garam masala powder, Honey, lemon etc in your grocery list. Let the traditional spices be part of the intake. Immune boosters are present in our kitchen. Please include more of fresh spices like garlic, cumin, onion, cardamom, coriander , clove, black salt, garam masala powder, Honey, lemon etc in your grocery list. Let the traditional spices be part of the intake. • For dairy, Curd has good bacteria to maintain the gut microbes and gut health. Yogurts, non-refrigerated milk, plant-based beverages can last a couple of weeks, too. There are so many great pantry items to keep our immune system strong. So, make sure that you eat the recommended portions of different varieties of whole grams, nuts, seeds, whole grain cereals. No-sugar added oatmeal is also a great idea for breakfast or snacks. Whole-grains and low-sugar cereals make breakfast and snacks easy and can be a nutritious option too. If you are a coffee drinker, there is a good chance you will want an energy boost. But if you are not then gravitating towards tea, make sure you add ginger and turmeric as they are immune-supportive. No matter what tea you choose adding honey is also a great idea. vegetables are just as nutritious as fresh because they are picked and frozen at the peak of freshness and will last months. Grab sprouted grains that packs in more protein, fiber, and potentially better-absorbed nutrients.Just check the ingredient lists to ensure you are getting whole grains, some vegetables & fruits, and no artificial additives. Hope this guide helps to improve eating style, nutritional status and thus a good immune system, ready to keep any disease at bay. And Avoid These Foods : Avoid canned items, sugar, processed or packaged foods, artificial cold drinks and energy drinks as there are claims that they boost immune health, but that is too good to be true. Also say no to street food, oily and junk food, raw egg, and non-vegetarian items like red meat. Tips for Safe Grocery Shopping : Maintaining good hygiene, sanitation, wearing a mask and following the physical distancing when you go out are the preventive aspects to be remembered as part of self protection against COVID 19. In addition, here is your guide to find out how to shop safely to protect yourself.Consider Grocery Delivery or Pickup Grocery delivery or pickup services are beneficial for high-risk people, especially elderly and those with chronic health diseases. You can also avoid contact with delivery person by making him leave your groceries at your doorsteps. Take Advantage of Sanitizing Stations Almost all the food stores have enhanced their cleaning and disinfecting practices for frequently touched surfaces such as refrigerator doors, grocery carts and basket handles, and they also have free disinfectant wipes for people to use when entering and leaving. Make sure to sanitize your hands and basket handle before and after shopping. Many stores have also started outlying spots to stand in the checkout lines too for social distancing.Shop During Low-Traffic Hours Go in the last hour, as there are likely to be fewer people around then, particularly if it is dark. You can best protect yourself and others by shopping as seldom as possible – plan and make a list to minimize your time in the store. It would also be a good idea calling your local grocery store and asking them when the good time is to come. Wear a clean mask Put it on well before you reach the store, so you do not break the protection by making adjustments in the shared space while touching other items.Pay with a Credit or Debit Card It is worth taking the extra precaution to pay with a card over cash. Eliminating the need to exchange currency notes allows you to keep the distance and limit the spread of virus.Disinfect Surfaces Make sure you disinfect frequently touched areas in your house. After you come home from the store and put your groceries away it is a good idea to disinfect your fridge handle and wash your hands.Do your best to maintain social distancing as you shop (at least 3 feet from others) and stay home if you are feeling sick. About Karishma Shah Follow Me On Social Media Facebook Instagram Youtube Contact Me Juhu, Mumbai +91 93213 93752 hello@karishmashahnutrition.com Search