November/December Snippets 2017

Transform Unhealthy Desires Yoga Journal, August, 2015 Every once in a while we all are faced with nagging temptations that take over our thoughts and plague us with an uncontrollable urge to do something we know isn’t healthy for us. When those times come—whether it’s an impulse to eat an entire bag of potato chips or a desire to say something nasty to a coworker—yogic philosophy tells us to acknowledge our desires, focusing on the emotions that fuel them. Once you’ve identified your emotions and how they make you feel, ask yourself what it means in the context of your life. Examine how following the desire will affect you and those around you. Ask yourself: Is the desire beneficial to other people as well as to myself? Could it be hurtful? What will I have to give up to follow this desire? Does it take me closer to my higher Self, or will it create more barriers between my soul and myself? What will I have to give up if I don’t follow it? What do I really want by getting what I want? When you’ve discovered what you really want, voice it, make it an intention, and strive for it in your everyday. The Importance of Feeling Sad by Colleen Saidman Yee Roshi Joan Halifax, who has spent the last 45 years working with death and dying, says one of the biggest problems in our society today is unexpressed grief. We are so afraid to feel sad that we cover it up. Soon, we start to believe the masks that we put on, and who we really are...

September & October 2017

Welcome Autumn This is the time of year that we see changes around us-from the trees and flowers to our own body and mind.  Our ancestors didn’t have the luxury of a heated home or plentiful food.  They had to keep moving.  We tend to sleep and eat more; increasing our time spent indoors.   Yoga Anatomy: Use Yoga to Ease Neck Tension from Slouching Many of us tend to adopt this shoulders-hunched, neck-craned-forward posture regularly throughout our day thanks to our desk-bound jobs. Learn how yoga can reverse its effects. RAY LONG, MD, OCT 11, 2016 Take a moment to sit in Dandasana (Staff Pose): Come to a seated position on the floor with your legs extended in front of you; or sit in a chair, with your spine stacked over your hips and your knees bent, feet flat on the floor. Now, place both hands next to your hips, press your palms down into the ground or chair, take a deep inhale, and notice how you feel. Then, let your shoulders cave in toward your chest, and allow your head to come forward and chest to collapse. How do you feel now? When I ask my patients to do this simple exercise, they report a marked difference in their mood when comparing sitting upright (they use adjectives like “alert,” “happy,” and “bright”) versus hunched over (which prompts reactions like “sad,” “tired,” and “negative”). It’s clear this kind of slumping can lead to energetic problems, but it can also cause biomechanical issues that trigger pain. And the worst part is, the vast majority of us tend to adopt this...

July & August 2017

Last month we saw poses to strengthen the foot. This month we will look at poses for ankle strength and stability.  Many people have encountered ankle injuries. Some can be serious and if not allowed to heal correctly will cause trouble in the future.  Yoga can help. Anatomy 101: Get to Know the Ankle Joint By Jill Miller, June 2017 This joint plays an important role in knee and foot health, balance, and more. Here’s what you need to know about your ankles. Your ankles are the great negotiator between the ground and the rest of your body: The more than two-dozen bones that comprise your ankle and foot, and the three joints of your ankle, play a constant sensing game to determine what type of terrain you’re navigating and how to best move across it. Your ankles absorb the pressure that occurs when your feet hit the ground with each step you take. They also stabilize your body weight, which is driving down simultaneously through your ankles’ narrow, right-angle structure. You’re probably oblivious to the constant work your ankles do—unless, of course, you’re one of the 9 million Americans who sprain one each year. While the majority of ankle sprains occur when we’re young (between the ages of 15 and 24), they often don’t heal completely, leaving many of us with long-term mobility and stability issues. The good news? Your yoga practice is an excellent way to give your ankles the attention they deserve. Below you’ll learn what you need to know about ankles in order to improve your balance and to strengthen and stabilize this joint. Anatomy of...

May & June 2017

  The Functional Design of the Foot By Jenna Tarma Yoga Journal The functionality of the foot relies on both tension and flexibility. Tension in the arch of the foot is what gives us speed, the spring in our step as we walk and run. This arch is also a shock absorber, however, and too much tension leads to instability: Think of a tennis racket that has been strung too tightly, creating an overly taut surface with no elasticity and give.     The Consequences of Imbalanced Feet Keeping all this in mind, we can begin to see how an imbalance between stability and flexibility in the feet can create problems elsewhere in the body. The anatomy of the feet is closely connected to the health of the lumbar spine, and floppy, collapsed arches can be the cause of an achy low back. Conversely, excess tension is linked to inflammation in the soft tissues of the arch, a painful condition known as plantar fasciitis.   Foot-Stabilizing Muscles to Know Because our feet are such tidy, compact bundles of bones, there isn’t much room for housing large musculature in the foot itself. Instead, most of the muscles controlling the feet are in the calves and shins and connect to the feet via a network of tendons. This presents an interesting challenge: In order to refine the actions of the feet, we need tap into awareness and engagement in the lower leg. The peroneus longus, specifically, plays a major role in stabilizing the foot. This long muscle runs down the outside of the calf to the outer ankle. From there its tendon weaves under the sole of the...

April Snippets

  5 Keys to Happiness     Be in the Moment Be Loving Not Right Be a Spectator of Your Own Thoughts Be Grateful For at Least One Thing Everyday Be of Service to Others By Ray Chambers       Is Sitting More Unhealthy Than Smoking? Did you know that 2 hour of sitting is as unhealthy as smoking 2 cigarettes?  One hour of sitting decreases your life expectancy by 21.8 minutes. Men with 23 hours of sedentary activity per week are 64% more likely to die of heart disease. It only takes 90 minutes for the blood flow in the backs of your knees to slow by 50%.  Sources-New York Times, CNN and Daily Mail.       Pose of the Month Trikonasana – Triangle Pose People are more focused on their body images today than ever. So many beginning yoga  students are drawn to yoga because they’ve heard it does wonders for a person’s physique. Even though most serious practitioners eventually abandon their goals of changing flab to fab in favor of a more holistic approach to health, there’s nothing wrong with targeting a specific muscle area you know is weak or tight. One of the hardest-and most-requested-parts of the body to transform are the side waist or “love handles.” Although there may not be a quick fix for yogis who are concerned with toning their side waist muscles, or “love handles,” there are clear advantages to working this part of the body. The side waist muscles (also called the flank muscles), along with the front abdominal, lower back, and buttock muscles, are crucial in supporting...

February & March Snippets

What is Tulsi and Why You Might Want To Try It 10 Benefits of Tulsi – The Queen of Herbs  1. Fights Acne Tulsi kills bacteria and infections, therefore it’s a great natural home remedy for acne and other skin irritations. Holy basil benefits the skin and heals skin infections both internally and externally — and it’s completely safe! The primary compound of holy basil oil is eugenol, the active ingredient in the powerful antimicrobial clove oil, which is widely believed to help combat many skin disorders. Research shows that tulsi is a natural acne treatment, and when used with coconut oil as a carrier, it’s more viscous and absorbs into the skin even better. 2. Protects Against Diabetes  Tulsi has the ability to control blood glucose levels; several test tube and animal experiments, as well as human clinical trials, show that tulsi has anti-diabetic activity. Studies using diabetic laboratory animals show that tulsi can reduce blood glucose, correct abnormal lipid profiles and protect the liver and kidneys from the metabolic damage caused by high glucose levels. 3. Helps Fight Cancer  In general, tulsi may not only work as a natural cancer treatment, but it may also help prevent it.† Research shows that people who regularly consume tulsi are less likely to be immune-compromised and less susceptible to developing cancer cells.† According to research, the phytochemicals in tulsi prevent chemical-induced lung, liver, oral and skin cancers because they increase antioxidant activity, alter healthy gene expressions, induce cancer cell death, prevent blood vessel growth contributing to cell growth and stop metastasis, which is the spread of cancer from one organ to another. Tulsi also helps protect your body from radiation poisoning and heals damage from radiation treatment. It selectively protects the normal tissues against...