Sandra’s Snippets
October, November, December, 2023
I am a summertime gal. Every year at this time I do my best to welcome fall. I struggle as the days get shorter and the colors start to change. I tend to notice the natural changes in me too. Ready for bed way too early. Let us celebrate each day of good fortune. Living in an environment that allows us freedom to make good choices every day. When the world feels crazy, with so much fighting and suffering, I remember my mantra. “I live in a state of gratitude and abundance”.
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Serhii Zaloznyi, center, holds a yoga session in a basement in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023. People gather three times a week for yoga to alleviate the stress caused by Russia’s constant shelling.
Many of us are leading chaotic stressful lives that do not support our mental, emotional, physical and spiritual well-being. We do not eat well, exercise correctly, maintain a positive state of mind, or take the time to get the rest and relaxation we need. It is critical that we pause for a moment in our busy lives and understand how we need to heal ourselves from the inside out.
Using ancient yoga practices, we can incorporate simple and easy-to-do activities and routines in our daily life that increase our prana, that reinvigorate our energy and achieve greater vitality, health and tranquility – amid the hustle of the modern day demands.
What is Prana? Prana is the Sanskrit word for “life force” or vital principle. Prana is the force behind life itself. It is everywhere. It is that which gives life. In Yoga philosophy, the term refers collectively to all cosmic energies, permeating the Universe on all levels. It is the sum total of all energy that is manifest. When prana departs from the physical body, there is no life. It is abundant and all pervading. It is energy and where there is energy, there is life.
In living beings, the universal principle of energy or force of prana, is considered responsible for the body’s life, heat, health and maintenance. One may question, if prana is abundant, then why do we lack it? If we do not know how to get prana, to spend it wisely (i.e. we waste it), we will not know how to recharge ourselves.
Prana comes through the five elements of nature, which are Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether.
We can increase prana through the Earth element by living in nature (for example, camping), walking on earth barefoot, touching the earth (gardening), hugging trees, looking at mountains, eating fresh picked fruits and vegetables, living in natural houses; and above all respecting nature.
By drinking clean pure water that is free of chemicals and toxins, we increase our prana through the Water element. Swimming in oceans, rivers, streams also increases prana.
Spending some time daily outdoors in the sunshine, or even opening windows and doors to let the sunshine in increases prana through the Fire element. It is also important to drink warm water and eat warm food; and cook food in flame stoves if possible.
The main source of prana is through breathing (the Air element). Having a consistent pranayama (breathing exercises) practice, inhaling pure fresh air, living in fresh air, airing out rooms, and staying away from polluted environments are some ways we can increase prana.
The Ether element is associated with thoughts. We are all living in an ocean of thoughts. Chanting mantras, being in a positive atmosphere (for example, places of worship) and keeping good company (satsanga) increases prana and helps us connect to a higher vibration of thinking.
A healthy yogi always knows or has a pulse on his/her level of prana and chooses a lifestyle that is balanced and wholesome. We need to make wise choices in our daily activities that will make our lives more vibrant and alive. Sometimes, a little shift such as this goes a long way in reshaping our lives, giving us endless abundant energy, and allowing us to regain the quality of life that we were meant to live.
Poses to Soothe Sciatica
These 7 simple poses target the tight muscle that often causes sciatic pain: the piriformis. JUNE 4, 2013 BY DOUG KELLER
Sciatica has a long (and painful!) history. As far back as the 5th century BCE, doctors and sufferers alike have tried a host of imaginative remedies, from leeches and hot coals in Roman times to 20th-century use of creams and injections. The principle causes of sciatic pain are less mysterious than its heritage suggests, yet there are still millions who suffer from it. In 2005, the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine estimated that more than 5 percent of the adult population in the United States suffers from sciatica, and over a lifetime, an individual has a 40 percent probability of experiencing it. But here’s the good news: in many cases, a mindful, targeted yoga practice can help you overcome the pain.
Symptoms of Sciatica
By definition, sciatica is tenderness and pain anywhere along the sciatic nerve, typically showing up on one side of the body. There are two sciatic nerves—one for each leg. These are the longest nerves in the human body. Each originates from several nerve roots that exit from the spinal cord, then thread through apertures in your sacrum and merge to form the main body of the sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve passes between layers of the deep buttock muscles (gluteus medius and gluteus maximus), through the deep muscles of the back of the thigh, and down through the outer edge of your leg to your foot.
Burning and tingling in the back of the thigh are signs of sciatica.
Sciatica frequently flares up while bending over, running, sitting (especially driving) and during many other everyday movements, both active and passive. Symptoms can include:
- Pain anywhere along the sciatic nerve pathway: in the lower back, buttock, back of the thigh, and/or calf.
- Fatigue, numbness, or loss of feeling in your legs and/or feet.
- An electric, tingling, burning, pinching, or pins-and-needles feeling known as paresthesia.
- Weakness that can cause your knees to buckle when you stand up from sitting.
- Foot drop: a condition in which you are not able to flex your ankles enough to walk on your heels.
- Reduced reflexes in your Achilles tendon and knee.
Find the Cause of Your Sciatica – How Yoga can Help
The presence of sciatic pain often leads doctors to look for a herniated disk in the lumbar spine, which may be pressing against the sciatic nerve. This is a significant problem, and it’s especially important to have your disks checked out by a doctor if you are experiencing pain in your mid-lower back, painful electric shocks down your sciatic nerve, and/or tingling, burning, weakness, or numbness in your legs or feet. These can be signs that an acute herniated disk is pinching the nerve, which is a bigger problem than sciatic pain alone.
Sciatica can also be caused by a small but significant muscle deep within your hip—the piriformis. In fact, another 2005 study in theJournal of Neurosurgery: Spine showed that nearly 70 percent of sciatica cases are caused by this muscle. The piriformis is one of a few small deep hip rotators that you use to turn your thigh out. It also extends your hip when you walk, and abducts the thigh (i.e., takes it out to the side) when your hip is flexed. The sciatic nerve is sandwiched between the piriformis and the small hard tendons that lie against the bone of the sacrum and pelvic bone. If the piriformis is tight (and it often is), it exerts pressure on the sciatic nerve and pushes it against the tendons beneath it, which can cause excruciating pain; this is known as the piriformis syndrome.
Is the source of your sciatica a herniated or bulging disk? A yoga practice that progresses from gentle poses to standing poses and downward-facing dog will align, lengthen, and strengthen your lower back.
How can you tell if the problem originates in the piriformis? Here are a few indicators:
- Pain and a pins-and-needles sensation down the outside of your calf to the web space between the little and fourth toes.
- Difficulty walking on your heels or on your toes.
- Burning in the back of your thigh and calf down to your heel, with stiffness in your legs. (Note: In some cases this can signal a problem in the spine instead of the piriformis.)
- Pain from sitting, accompanied by a tingling sensation at the back of your thigh. The pain may be relieved by standing, but you still experience numbness in all of your toes even when standing.
- Buttock and sciatic pain from exercising or sitting for long periods of time, with or without sensations of numbness, weakness, or tingling. While the pain may appear during standing activities, it gets worse when you sit down.
You can also try the F.A.I.R. test (in which the thigh is Flexed, Adducted, and Internally Rotated): Lie on your side with the affected leg on top. Is it painful in your hip to have the top leg bent with the knee resting on the floor in front of you? Does it hurt especially when you try to lift your knee away from the floor against a small amount of resistance, such as a bag of rice? Sharp pain in the hip is a sign that the piriformis may be causing the sciatica.
How Yoga Can Help Relieve Sciatica
Hamstring stretches play a major role in relieving sciatica pain.
If the source of your sciatica is a herniated or bulging disk, a yoga practice that progresses from gentle poses to basic foundational asanas like standing poses and downward-facing dog will align, lengthen, and strengthen your lower back. A herniated disk does not always require surgery, and yoga can help you manage and reduce the problems caused by the herniation, sometimes even reducing the herniation itself. However, it’s important to check with your doctor about the severity of the herniation: in some cases surgery may be required.
If the source of your sciatica is pressure on the nerve due to a short, tight piriformis, focus on stretching this muscle. Your approach should be gentle and progressive, since overworking the piriformis may lead to spasms and deep buttock pain, which may or may not be accompanied by sciatic pain.
The Basic Piriformis Stretch: Ardha Matsyendrasana
A simple half spinal twist (ardha matsyendrasana) gives the piriformis a mild stretch that encourages it to release and lengthen, and the intensity can be progressively increased as you approach the full pose. Stretching the muscle too aggressively can provoke sciatic pain, so it’s important to proceed carefully, using the following variations and adjusting the pose so that you feel minimal discomfort. The descriptions are intended to stretch the piriformis in the left hip; be sure to repeat on the other side.
Prep for Spinal Twist
Sit on the corner of a folded blanket with your knees bent and your feet on the floor in front of you. Take your right foot under your left knee and around to the outside of your left hip. Your right knee should point straight forward. For the mildest hip stretch, place your left foot on the floor to the inside of your right knee, so that the left foot is roughly in line with your left hip; for a stronger stretch, place your left foot to the outside of your right knee. It’s likely that your left sit bone is now lighter on the floor than your right. Lean onto your left sit bone to balance the weight between the two hips; this is the beginning of the stretch. Steady yourself by holding your left knee with your hands, and from this balanced foundation, inhale and lengthen upward through your spine. If the stretch is too intense or if you feel pain radiating down your leg, increase the height of the padding under your hips until the stretch is tolerable.
If you don’t feel a stretch in your left hip, gently pull your left knee across the midline of your body toward the right side of your chest, keeping your sit bones equally grounded, and resist your thigh slightly against the pull of your hands. This action will help keep your sit bone grounded and increase the stretch to the piriformis.
Stay in the pose anywhere from 20 seconds to a couple of minutes, then repeat on the other side. Do two to four sets at a time. As your piriformis muscles stretch out over time, gradually decrease the height of your blankets until you can sit on the floor.
Simple Seated Twist
In the full version of ardha matsyendrasana, your upper body turns toward the upright knee. To help your upper body turn fully, place your left hand on the floor behind you; continue to hold your left knee with your right hand. Keep your heart lifted and keep the natural inward curve in your lower back. Use your inhalation to lift, lengthen, and expand; use your exhalation to twist without rounding your back.
Now you can deepen the action on the piriformis by increasing the resisted abduction of the thigh, while releasing any tightness in the groin. As you twist, use your hand on your left knee to gently draw or hug that knee toward your chest. Let your inner thigh or groin relax, allowing it to soften and melt downward toward the sit bone. As you draw the knee toward your chest with resistance, your thigh bone laterally releases out at the hip, pressing against the piriformis and encouraging it to release.
The twist deepens as you draw your knee into your elbow or take your upper arm to the outside of your knee. At this point, as you press your knee against the arm to leverage a deeper twist, the pose becomes more active in the hip and less effective as a piriformis release. If you’re suffering from piriformis syndrome, you certainly don’t want to tighten this muscle further, so it’s best not to try to go so deeply into the twist!
Standing Twist
The standing twist is a milder standing version of the stretch in ardha matsyendrasana. Like the F.A.I.R. test, it brings the thigh into adduction and internal rotation. Place a chair against the wall. To stretch your right hip, stand with your right side next to the wall. Place your right foot on the chair, with your knee bent to roughly 90 degrees. Keep your standing leg straight, and steady your balance by placing your right hand on the wall. Lift your left heel up high, coming onto the mounds of the toes, and turn your body toward the wall, using your hands for balance. As you exhale, lower your left heel to the floor, maintaining the twist. Allow your right hip to descend, keeping your hips relatively level. Hold for several breaths.
More Stretches for Sciatica
Hamstring stretches also play an important role in relieving sciatic pain, because tight hamstrings can gang up with a tight piriformis to constrict the vulnerable sciatic nerve. Sciatic pain caused by a tightening of the hamstrings and surrounding muscles often comes from activities such as driving for long periods, especially when the car seat encourages a slumped or rounded posture, or during athletic activities. In these cases, take a rest stop or a break, and try the following hamstring stretches.
Standing Hamstring Stretches
Put your right foot on a support such as a chair, a table, or a bench. Your foot should be at or below hip level, with your leg straight, your knee and toes pointing straight up, and your quadriceps engaged. If your knee tends to lock or hyperextend, protect it with a microbend. Make sure the hip of your raised leg is not lifted, but rather is releasing downward (without the leg or foot turning outward). Hold for several breaths, repeating on each side. For a deeper stretch, bend forward over your leg at the hip crease, with your spine and leg straight and your quadriceps firm.
To help the descent of the right hip, loop a belt around the top of the thigh of the lifted leg and the foot of your standing leg. Tighten the belt or pull gently downward on the belt at your outer hip to help draw the thigh bone down. You can alternate legs or concentrate on the affected side. Hold for a few breaths.
3 Helpful Hip Openers
In general, sciatic pain is helped by poses that passively stretch the hip with the thigh externally rotated, but not from poses such asbaddha konasana (cobbler’s pose) which actively rotate the thigh outward and thus tighten the deep hip rotators.
Modified Gomukhasana
Gomukhasana (cow’s face pose) is a good example of a passive stretch to the hip rotators. Sit on the floor and extend your legs forward in dandasana (staff pose). If you have trouble sitting upright, you can sit on the edge of a blanket, but also keep a second blanket or a towel nearby. Bend your right knee and bring your right leg over and across your left leg. Use your hand to draw your right foot close to your outer left hip. Move your left foot across the midline to the right. Using your hands on the floor, lift and wiggle your hips until your knees are stacked, with your right knee above your left.
Nutrition For Brain Health
BY MARIA AZZURRA VOLPE
NEWSWEEK LIFE
Our brain health, cognitive function and mental well-being depend on a wide range of factors, including daily nutritional intake. A diet that is rich in vitamins and minerals can help prevent deficiencies linked to several neurological problems, including anxiety and depression.
Many vitamin and mineral deficiencies are caused by malnutrition, which doesn’t only mean not getting enough food, but also not eating nutritious foods such as fruit and vegetables.
If you have vitamin deficiencies, your body will let you know one way or another. Newsweek spoke to scientists to find out what symptoms and signs suggest you may be lacking certain vitamins.
MOST IMPORTANT FOR BRAIN HEALTH
Rudolph Tanzi, a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and scientific adviser at health care company Lifeforce, told Newsweek that the most important vitamins and minerals for brain health include vitamin B complex, vitamin D, Omega 3 and magnesium.
B complex: B vitamins support the body’s ability to release energy from the food you eat. Vitamin B12, in particular, plays a crucial role in developing and controlling the central nervous system.
Low levels of vitamin B6 are correlated to faster cognitive decline, while getting enough vitamin B9 – also known as folate – is linked to improved cognitive performance.
Vitamin D: Vitamin D, the “sunshine vitamin,” promotes nerve growth and cognitive functions through its receptors in the brain. It is linked to mood regulation, according to Tanzi, and has neuroprotective effects. It might also be able to reduce the risk of neurodegenerative diseases.
“Enough vitamin D during early life stages is critical for brain development and cognitive abilities in later life,” he said.
Omega 3 fatty acids: Omega 3 fatty acids play a role in cell-signaling pathways in the brain, influencing gene expression and other processes that affect brain health and function. They also act as an energy source and help your glands produce hormones.
“This means they’re involved in many vital processes for maintaining balance, concentration and focus,” Tanzi added.
Magnesium: Magnesium is a mineral that supports nerve function and neurotransmitter release. It plays an important part in maintaining everyday brain activity, such as memory and learning processes. It also helps regulate calcium levels, which are essential for synaptic plasticity (how efficiently neurons communicate with each other).
Dr. Daniel A. Monti is professor of integrative medicine and nutritional sciences at Thomas Jefferson University, where he also is CEO and medical director of the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health. He told Newsweek that vitamins C and E are essential for brain health, too.
“As a potent antioxidant, vitamin C helps protect brain cells from oxidative stress,” Monti said. It also plays an important role in the production of “feel good” neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin.
SIGNALS FROM YOUR BRAIN
A lack of these essential vitamins and minerals can cause a decrease in cognitive functions and contribute to an increased risk of dementia and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, according to Monti.
“It’s essential to maintain a balanced and nutritious diet to ensure you are getting an adequate supply of vitamins and minerals, probiotics and essential fatty acids,” he said.
“Additionally, a healthy, low-tox lifestyle which includes regular exercise and stress management techniques like meditation will further contribute to optimal brain health.”
Your brain will signal a deficiency in essential vitamins and minerals with a variety of symptoms, including loss of concentration, mood swings or impaired coordination and balance.
Tanzi explained that if your brain is not getting enough B12, you may experience “brain fog” symptoms such as memory and concentration problems. Vitamin D deficiency can contribute to brain fog, too.
“If you follow a vegan or vegetarian diet, you have a high risk of low B12 levels, because only animal foods provide B12. However, taking a B12 supplement can help reduce brain fog for vegans and vegetarians,” he added.
If your brain is lacking omega 3 fatty acids such as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), you may feel less energetic and unable to maintain balance, concentration and focus.
Symptoms of vitamin C deficiency include easy bruising, painful joints, weak bones, poor immunity and unexplained weight gain.
LOOK AT YOUR DIET
You can find most of these nutrients in healthy food choices. Dr. Janice Johnston, co-founder and chief medical officer of Redirect Health, told Newsweek that vitamin B6 is found in chickpeas, fish (such as salmon and tuna), poultry, bananas, and potatoes. Vitamin B12 is found in eggs and dairy products, as well as meat and fish.
Folate, or vitamin B9, can be found in leafy greens such as spinach or kale, legumes such as lentils and beans and avocados.
You can get your daily requirement of vitamin D from fatty fish such as salmon or mackerel, fortified dairy products and exposure to sunlight.
Omega 3 fatty acids can be found in foods such as fish and flaxseed, or added to your diet via supplements. The main omega 3s are alpha-linolenic acid, EPA and DHA. The first is found in plant oils such as soybean, flaxseed or canola, while EPA and DHA are mainly found in fish and other seafood.
To get more magnesium into your diet, eat nuts, seeds, legumes, green leafy vegetables, milk and yogurt.
Vitamin C is found in fruits such as oranges, lemons, strawberries and kiwi, as well as bell peppers. Vitamin E is in nuts and seeds, including almonds and sunflower seeds, as well as spinach and broccoli.
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