How IV Therapy Can Help Support Ashtangi Health

This week I had the opportunity to sit down with AYCT’s very own Vitamin Girl, Naturopath Dr. Tara Campbell, to chat all about IV therapy and the impact it can have on Ashtangi’s and their health.

If you have no idea what IV therapy is, or what I’m talking about – keep reading I promise it’s really, really cool.

I hadn’t heard about IV Therapy until I started practicing at AYCT and met Dr. Tara Campbell.

I went to see her a few years back because I was feeling depleted, run down, and totally exhausted. I wasn’t recovering after my practice. I was constantly getting sick, and I just always felt like I was running on empty. I thought it might be the practice. Maybe my body just wasn’t cut out for it.

What I didn’t realize until I went to see Tara, was that it wasn’t the practice’s fault. I was depleted, but it didn’t have so much to do with the practice, as it did my micronutrient levels. After our first session, Tara recommended I do a few sessions of IV therapy, and I can’t even express in words how much better I felt.

Sometimes I describe the transformation, as how a plant that hasn’t been watered for weeks must feel once it finally gets watered. I felt like I came back to life. It felt like every part of my body had been infused with new energy. I was vibrant old me again! My practice felt manageable, and in fact, I actually felt more flexible. SCORE! It made such a positive impact on my life, and my practice that I felt compelled to share more about this amazing therapy with you.

Sitting down with the queen of the IV herself was such a treat. We got to chat all about IV Therapy and how it can help Ashtangis, and I’m so excited to share this with you.

What is IV Therapy and why is it so awesome?

Tara says, “IV Therapy, simply put, is an infusion of micronutrients that goes directly into the blood stream where your body uses the nutrients.”

What really sets it apart from, say, taking a multivitamin, or any oral vitamin is how much actually gets into your blood stream.

“We’re all familiar with Vitamin C. With a typical 1000mg dosage orally, you are actually only getting 200mg to your blood stream. But with IV therapy, you would get the entire amount straight to your blood stream, which can be anywhere from 5-20,000mg! These are wellness based doses.

Vitamin C is a precursor to collagen. Collagen is so important for our joints, muscles and skin. So Vitamin C is incredible for repair an recovery – especially for Ashtangis.” – Dr. Tara Campbell.

Why are micronutrients important?

Well, first of all, we use our micronutrients for everyday living. Vitamins and minerals such as Vitamin C, magnesium, the B vitamins, calcium, trace minerals and selenium, just to name a few. “Every cell in our body requires micronutrients to function,” and as Dr. Tara Campbell asserts, “we likely need to be getting more if we want to thrive.”

The reality of our modern world is that we are constantly exposed to toxins. The more we take in these toxins, the more our body uses up our micronutrients to detox. Your body is smart like that. And while as Ashtangis we may be sweating out many of our toxin’s in the Mysore room, we’re also sweating out many important minerals in the process.

So if we’re using most of our micronutrients to detox, and losing many of them through our sweat, how are we supposed to ever have enough to achieve optimal, energetic, thriving health?

Enter – IV Therapy.

What are the biggest benefits of IV Therapy for Ashtangis?

Tara shared with me the 4 main benefits of IV Therapy for Ashtangis:

• Detox
• Destress
• Repair
• Recharge

DETOX:

As I mentioned earlier, micronutrients are super important for detoxifying the body. The more micronutrients we have, the more efficient this process becomes, and the more we have left for optimal health and wellness. Or, as Tara calls it, Higher Health – which just so happens to be the name of her clinic.

Specifically micronutrients support your detox pathways.  Also, glutathione and magnesium are incredibly important detoxifiers.  Frequent flyers like David Robson and Jelena Vesic need to load up on their glutathione and magnesium following long flights to Croatia, Italy, or China.

Detoxification can be simple and relies on some basics like – getting your blood flowing (Ashtangi style), inverting to get the lymph and cardiovascular system pumping, as well as micronutrients and hydration.

DESTRESS:

Increased micronutrients have a positive action on the adrenals – AKA your stress glands. Micronutrients help to nourish the adrenals, so they don’t wear out from dealing with all the stress and challenges that life throws at us.

“Stress, essentially, stems from depletion. Whether it is adrenal, neurotransmitter (brain food) of mitochondrial dysfunction, having an insufficient amount of micronutrients can cause depletion in any of these areas resulting in suboptimal health and recovery for Ashtangis.”

REPAIR & RECHARGE:

“The Yogi is made up of trillions of cells, and every cell uses vitamin C, Magnesium, B-vitamins – they all use micronutrients. When we try to get these vitamins orally, we are up against more as athletes. Yes, YOU are an athlete – a wise, Buddha athlete. Because we are putting out more energy on our mats, we need to take in more for recovery or for repair of our muscles.”

Think about it. The body is smart. Your body will function first and foremost to keep you alive. Everything else is secondary. Repairing your muscles, and keeping you feeling energized, thriving, and recovering quickly post-practice are secondary concerns for the body. If we have sub-optimal micronutrient levels, the nutrients we do have will go toward basic functions. There wont be much left to have you feeling tip top throughout the week.

Especially with a practice like Ashtanga, where we are putting our body through some pretty intense sh*t 6-days a week, we best be fueling our body for optimal health. If not, we will surely suffer the consequences later, and our practice may not be sustainable.

“For the Ashtangi, especially, there is lots of wear and tear on the body. And while we sweat out our toxins, we also sweat out important minerals. It’s so important to remineralize for optimal health.” – Dr. Tara Campbell.

Here are some other ways IV Therapy can help Ashtangis:

1. Remineralize after a sweaty practice
2. Improve the health of muscles, tendons and ligaments
3. Support recovery post-practice
4. Improve flexibility
5. Keep Ashtangis hydration levels up
6. Reduce Anxiety
7. Improve immune health
8. Indirectly support hormone balance
9. Reduce the risk of muscle injury

So, how often should Ashtangis get IV Therapy, and how does it work?

Tara says the first step is just to try it. Every goal, and every Ashtangi is different. An “across the board” recommendation for feeling better is to start with 1x/week for 4 weeks. She says that within 4 sessions you should really start to notice an improvement in vitality, hydration, and muscle quality.

Though I can attest to noticing these benefits almost immediately!

As the term IV Therapy might suggest, this therapy is done intravenously. Which means yes, there is a needle, and no it doesn’t hurt. I mean, no more than David putting you into Supta on a rough day, or giving you Tick Tocks, am I right?! In fact, its much less painful than those things.

Once the initial needle goes in, a teeny tiny catheter replaces it, which means you can actually move your arm around and feel zero pain and discomfort. Cool right? I’ve actually nursed my baby whilst getting an IV – trust me, you’ll be fine. Then you sit in a comfy chair for say, 30 minutes, put your feet up and bask in the calm ambiance of Tara’s clinic.

It’s that simple, and yet so magnificently beneficial.

If you have more questions about IV Therapy, you can find Dr. Tara Campbell on Instagram or over at her clinic Higher Health Naturopathic Clinic and IV Lounge here in Toronto.

Not from the Toronto area? You can probably google “IV therapy near me” and I’m sure a list of places will come up for you to try. Good old Google… is there anything it can’t do?

Let us know if you’ve tried this therapy before, and how you liked it in the comments below!