Healthy Spirits: New Stuff at Castro

 

 

New at CASTRO:

1. Stone R & R Coconut IPA (limit 3 per customer)

2. Sierra Nevada Tumbler Brown Ale

3. 21st Amendment Hop Crisis

4. Bruery Hottenroth Berliner Weisse

5. Clown Shoes Crunkle Sam American Barley Wine

6. Evil Twin Imperial Biscotti Break

7. Evil Twin Nomader (Brettanomyces witbier)

8. Evil Twin Justin Blaeber (blueberry Berliner-weisse)

9. Stillwater Sensory Series No.2: Small Black (black saison)

Yoga for Menopause: Fatigue

by Nina

Rose Light by Melina Meza

When I was going through perimenopause, the worst symptom I had was fatigue attacks. Although fatigue or exhaustion is a classic symptom of perimenopause, I'm pretty sure I made up the term "fatigue attack" because I needed a special term for how it felt to me. I'm a pretty energetic person who gets a lot of things done in a given day, and my yoga practice during that time was quite athletic. But during that period, once in a while, I'd suddenly feel so drained of all energy that all I wanted to do was collapse into a puddle on the floor. There was something essentially different about these hormonally based episodes of fatigue than normal tiredness, and I remembered that same feeling of utter exhaustion from my pregnancies (although those were combined with nausea). So I knew it wasn't something I could fight with energizing poses, such as backbends or sun salutations. Fortunately, I got some guidance from two different senior teachers, Rodney Yee and Patricia Walden, who both helped me figure out a good way to practice when I was feeling that way.

When I first talked with Rodney about a fatigue practice, he came up with a sequence of supported inverted poses (see Just In Time for the Holidays: Inverted Poses). However, the first pose in the sequence was Downward-Facing Dog with head support (traditionally the beginning pose in a supported inverted pose practice), and I complained to him (whined?) that when I was feeling exhausted, that pose felt like to much. So he changed the sequence to start with a long Legs Up pose (Viparita Karani) so I could have a nice rest to start and then move on to more active inversions. That was a revelation to me who had only done that pose at the end of a practice. Learning I could rest at the beginning of my practice instead of the end—that I could break a rule that wasn't even a really rule— was a revelation. I started to realize I had a lot more freedom to adapt my practice to my particular needs that I had known. And practicing was a good way to get through a fatigue attack and did leave me feeling refreshed.

Later I took a workshop from Patricia Walden on Yoga for Menopause. She, too, recommended a combination of restorative poses and supported inversions. Eventually, when the book she wrote with Linda Sparrow, The Woman's Book of Yoga and Health, was published, I started to practice her menopause fatigue practice on a regular basis. This sequence is quite long and some of the poses may not appropriate for many of you, but I'll list all the poses here just in case.

1. Supported Reclined Cobbler's pose (Supta Baddha Konasana)
2. Supported Seated Forward Bend (Paschimottanasana)
3. Supported One-Legged Forward Bend (Janu Sirsasana)
4. Simple Seated Twist (Bharadvajasana)
5. Downward-Facing Dog with head support (Adho Mukha Svanasana)
6. Standing Forward Bend with head support (Uttanasana)
7. Headstand (Sirsasana)
8. Inverted Staff pose (backbend in a chair) (Viparita Dandasana)
9. Chair Shoulderstand (Sarvangasana)
10. Half Plow pose (Plow pose with chair) (Arda Halasana)
11. Supported Straight Leg Bridge pose (Setu Bandha Sarvagasana)
12. Legs Up the Wall pose (with variations) (Viparita Karani)
13. Relaxation pose (Savasana)

Regardless of whether you try this sequence or not, it's worthwhile to look at the strategy behind it. It begins with Supported Reclined Cobber's pose (Supta Baddha Konasana), which is a very restful and relaxing pose. Next are a couple of supported seated forward bends, which are also quieting and restful but a bit more active than the first pose. The simple seated twist is even more active, and definitely stimulating. So now, after having a rest and being a bit energized, you're ready for the more strenuous poses: Downward-Facing Dog with head support, Standing Forward Bend with head support, Headstand, and Inverted Staff pose (backbend in a chair). From there, with the Chair Shoulderstand, Half Plow pose, Supported Straight Leg Bridge pose, and Legs Up the Wall pose, you are moving into the quieting, soothing supported inversions, ending with the most restful of the group. You are also getting a balanced asana practice, with a combination of forward bends, backbends, twists, and inverted poses. (I should say this my analysis of the sequence, not Patricia's.)

As with any sequence, you could shorten this sequence by leaving out certain poses (especially if there are ones you don't normally practice) but still keep the remaining poses in the same order. Or, you could come up with a sequence of your own that combines restorative and supported inverted poses in a way that allows you to rest in the beginning, move toward more active poses, and then rest again at the end. The important thing is to acknowledge your fatigue, and adapt your practice to your current condition, thinking outside the box as needed. And, remember, doing even just one pose (such as Reclined Cobbler's pose or Legs Up the Wall pose) will very likely make you feel better than doing nothing.

Naturally, if you aren't going through periomenopause or menopause (or aren't a woman!), you can still do a practice like this whenever you feel exhausted.

PLAN AND PREP

I confess that being spontaneous is a difficult one for me.  I am definitely a plan and prep girl when it comes to almost everything about Darla.  I have always done better with structure and a guide to get me from start to finish.  Where this has served me best is in my meal planning and exercise.  I am not one of those who open the door to the refrigerator puzzled by what to eat, looking for something and finding nothing.  I think that would drive me crazy, and talk about wasting energy by leaving the frig open…YIKES. I have dedicated one day out of my weekend and sometimes during the week, to plan and prep my meals.  This not only ensures that I eat healthy, but saves me lots of money, time and stress, especially when time is limited during the busy work week. 

I have two crock pots that are in constant use and filled with boneless/skinless

chicken breast, brown rice, quinoa, and steel cut oats at any given time.  Having crock pot chicken ready to eat is fabulous and I use it for so many things: chicken rice bowls, wraps, tacos, and even by itself with a side of chopped veggies or fruit.  I am not kidding when I say that it takes about 10 minutes to throw the chicken in the crock with my spices and on with my day. 

I also plan my workouts and just as I create a program for my clients, I plan for me.  Not doing so would be like getting ready for a test without studying.  Having a plan, writing it down, and following through makes for a successful, challenging workout catered to what I can do and accomplishing that goal in the time allotted and at least 5 days per week.  I am able to look back on my workouts and know from one day to the next what muscle group I will work, avoiding any sore areas of course.  Having a plan and prepping for it during my fitness routine creates an even flow, eliminates any guessing, and allows me to be very efficient and effective of my time and body. 

The planning and prepping is really not difficult, and actually very simple as a

healthy LIFESTYLE.  I would feel weird if I did not have my healthy food in the refrigerator ready to go, or my exercise program in front of me as my accountability guide to an effective workout.   This is the secret that is really not a secret to living a healthy life and maintaining a healthy body.  What it comes down to is caring enough about ME to make my health a priority and I have done so through the planning and prepping process.  My hubby and I eat most of our meals at home and rarely eat out and we do not consider this a wrench in our life, but we welcome creating and eating healthy foods, and more than that, enjoy how it makes us feel.   The beautiful part about eating healthy is even if the exercise lacks during the week, I am still maintaining a healthy body through my planned meals.  Many studies show that vigorous exercise 3 times per week accompanied by healthy nutrition will maintain a healthy body, which is why the nutrition is so vital to keep up.  Imagine, not working as hard in the gym by maintaining healthy food intake…sounds GREAT to me. 

IN YOUR FACE MOTIVATION

 

Thanks for stopping by my Blog, hope you enjoy the content, and if you have not become a follower yet, I would love to see your face on my friend's list.  If you are inspired, LIKE my entry, leave a comment and I look forward to responding! 

Stay Healthy~ Darla 

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Thanks for stopping by my Blog and I hope you enjoyed the content.  Let me know by leaving a comment, a LIKE, or whatever you are inspired to do. I look forward to responding, and if you have not become a follower yet, I would love to see your face on my friends list.   

Stay Healthy~ 

Darla 

Forbes Magazine Gives Yoga a Thumb$ Up

by Baxter

View From Above by Melina Meza

I love it when capitalist magazines find something good to say about yoga, even if it is how it is making someone lots of money. But in this case, Forbes says yoga might save the US trillions of dollars in lost productivity for our economy. How so, you ask? Why, for a start, by reducing the dropout rate from high schools in this country, rates that shockingly range from 30% in most places to over 50% in our urban “war zones.” (I call them war zones because of the continual violent backdrop that these children are subjected to day in and day out; where just walking to and from school, let alone being in school, is a constant cause for anxiety and worry about getting hurt or killed.)

What was a delight to see is one of the featured yoga experts quoted frequently in the article, BK Bose, in whose Niroga Institute in Berkeley, CA, I have had the great pleasure of teaching for the past several years. Bose, who started his career as a software engineer in the high tech industry in Silicon Valley, has more recently focused his work on bringing yoga to under-served communities, and training teachers to work with these special populations. These include classes at the Alameda County Juvenile Hall, low-income public schools and low-income senior centers, to name just a few. His work, as with most small operations around the country, is done as a non-profit venture. Even on its smaller scale, the results of the yoga classes are significant.

And after all, if we can influence the health of our youngest at an early age, that should lead to a longer, healthier life as they age (and, of course, many of our readers have school-aged children). The key underlying factor that Bose identifies as the culprit in so many of the challenges our young face is chronic stress. We have written on many occasions about the ways in which yoga can help us deal with stress. But what about in our kids, and in the growing number of kids that have to deal with gangs, substance abuse, and crime in their neighborhoods? This adds a whole new twist on doing straight up mindfulness techniques. These techniques can work quite well for children who don’t have the kinds of violent communities that Bose’s programs work with, as you will see below.

For me, as I read the article, I found one concept that comes from mind-body research defined in a new way that I could relate to from my own yoga teaching.  I often refer to the mind’s background chatter as “monkey mind” or “restless mind,” and the tendency is for this kind of thinking to have a background feeling of anxiety or stress associated with it. The following paragraph from the Forbes article talks about what mindfulness practices do to the brain, including the new phraseology “default mode network (DMN)” which I find confirming of my own observations:  

“In 2011, a Harvard study showed that mindfulness is linked to increased gray matter density in certain cortical areas, including the prefrontal cortex and regions involved in self-referential thoughts and emotion regulation. There seems to be a strong connection between mindfulness and the brain machinery involved in self-regulation. Other work has shown mindfulness to be linked to relative de-activation of the default mode network (DMN), the brain system that’s active during mind-wandering and self-referential “worry” thoughts, which are generally stressful in nature.”

Mindfulness practices, then, help us change the way we are thinking, or at least the way we are focusing our minds, which changes our stress response. For a young person, this might equate to changed behavior, in which he or she has more control over emotional reactions that might lead to trouble. Bose, however, notes that in his students who live in violent communities and are more often directly or indirectly victims of trauma, mindfulness is not going to work.  As the article points out:

“This is all well and good, Bose adds, but there’s an obvious caveat. When they’re in the midst of stress and trauma, few kids have the ability to sit still enough to take part in a sitting practice. “If you’re not ready to sit in classroom,” says Bose, “you’re not ready to do sitting meditation. If you have drugs and gangs and violence all around you, you simply can’t sit still. Teachers tell us that they often yell at kids 100 times a day to sit and pay attention. It doesn’t work. And to ask them to do this in the context of meditation can have a worse-than-neutral effect – it could be disastrous.”

He says that you have to go beyond mind-body research to trauma research, which tells us that physical activity can help the brain deal with stress and trauma.

“Trauma research tell us that we hold trauma in our bodies… Neuroscience says mindfulness; trauma research says movement. All of the sudden you’ve got moving meditation or mindfulness in motion. Mindfulness alone isn’t going to cut it for these kids.”

Even for adults who carry a lot of anxious energy stored up in their bodies, we here at Yoga for Healthy Aging have advocated for the necessity of movement practices, sometimes more vigorous yoga styles, as an initial stage in leading to deeper relaxation and stress reduction in your daily practice. Turns out to be true for kids with trauma, too.

The take-away from this Forbes exposure of yoga to a larger audience in the US and for us yogis here as well is that it may prove invaluable to teach young and old alike to do yoga, combining active asana and quieter mindfulness practices for maximum benefit. And that it would be a good idea to change policy on a national level to fund such ventures, so everyone at least has access to trying yoga, to see if it works for them. What an interesting, and possibly wonderful, world that could be! 

Healthy Spirits: CROOKED STAVE EARLY BOTTLE RELEASE! (Please Read Carefully)

 

Healthy Spirits proudly announces that we have been selected as one of only two stores in the Bay Area for the early release of the highly anticipated Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project!


At 5:00pm Tuesday, July 30th (Today!) the following Crooked Stave beers will be available:


Vieille Artisanal Saison

Surette Provision Saison

St. Bretta Whitebier 100% Brettanomyces


Price is $8.99 per bottle plus tax & CRV. Due to the great demand for these exceptional beers there will be a limit of one (1) bottle of each variety per customer.

Bottles will go on sale at both shops 5:00PM sharp. No sales or reservations will be made before that time.

We hope you will take advantage of this great opportunity to grab some Crooked Stave before its official release!

Yoga and Menopause: An Overview

by Shari

Mushroom in Winter by Melina Meza

Nina and I were talking a while back and we realized that we hadn't yet written any posts on menopause. Well, considering that this physiological episode is a major event in every woman's life, we thought it was about time to take this on, and decided that I should start the ball rolling so to speak. Although each woman’s experience of menopause is very personal and individual, there are certain similarities that we all experience, including the end of the ability to give birth! Now this is not to imply that all woman make the decision to become pregnant and raise a child, but the physiological ability to become pregnant is age-related.

To begin our exploration of menopause, I read the book Yoga and the Wisdom of Menopause. A Guide to Physical, Emotional and Spiritual Health at Midlife and Beyond by Suza Francina. This book was published in 2003 but the information it contains is still pertinent. It provides good background information about what menopause is, and how yoga can be applied in all the stages that lead up to menopause as well as during menopause to help alleviate some of the more common issues that woman have to deal with. The usage of yoga was the unifying theme throughout the book.

Moving to specifics, I'll start by defining what menopause is and how you know you are in it. "Meno" means "month" in Greek and "pause" comes from the Greek "pausis" for stop. So menopause is the cessation of menstrual periods, an end to the monthly cycle. There are three stages:

1. The first stage is perimenopause (“pre-menopause"), when the change in hormonal functions leading up to menopause occur. Typically perimenopuase begins around age 40 (but remember this is a rough estimate) but can begin in one’s 30’s. This stage typically lasts around 5 years, but sometimes lasts for 15 years. In perimenopause women may notice changes in their menses where they are lighter and longer to heavier and more frequent. There are many hormone fluctuations and sometimes this time is called “puberty in reverse”
2. The second stage is menopause itself because the menses stop. Menopause is considered official 12 months after the last period. The average age of women whose menstrual periods have stopped is 52. Though a woman’s period has stopped, it doesn’t mean that the hormonal levels are stabilized and this period is categorized by emotional shifts, hot flashes, hot surges or flushes.
3. The final stage, which lasts the remainder of a woman’s life, is post-menopause when the woman’s body has adjusted to its hormone levels.

Most often when we think and talk about menopause, we focus on the physical discomforts, emotional roller coaster ride and weight redistribution in our bodies. But it is a time where we all are learning to adjust to our physical changes, energy changes, and mental challenges. Now Nina has written extensively in the past about emotional health and moods as well as management of depression through the usage of yoga. All of her recommendations can be applied very directly to the challenges some women experience during the stages of menopause.

My particular interest in reading this book was usage of yoga and its effect on the endocrine system and easing menopausal symptoms, especially the management of stress. The book provides illustrations of restorative poses to counter the stresses of a body adjusting to widely fluctuating hormonal levels. Supported Relaxation pose (Savasana), Supported Child's pose (Balasana), Supported Backbends with a bolster, Legs Up the Wall pose (Viparita Karani), and Supported Reclined Cobbler's pose (Supta Baddha Konasana) are highlighted repeatedly in personal vignettes as a prescription for health. (not necessarily in this order). Supported standing poses, inversions, and twists are also recommended, with the woman using a wall or a chair to prevent overly exhausting herself during asana practice. A guiding principle that is cycled back over and over again is that our practice of yoga changes as our body changes. This is not just due to physical aches and pains or the limitations in mobility, energy or strength but in how our intuitive self begins to guide us more in our asana practice.

What I liked most about this book was its celebration of the cycles of a woman’s life. Throughout the book there is joy about entering into an initiation that all women are a part of. The usage of asana is as a guiding tool to help us navigate this unknown territory. The author presents her book as a way to nourish one’s soul through the practice of asana.

Could grain-fed beef liver be particularly nutritious?

There is a pervasive belief today that grain-fed beef is unhealthy, a belief that I addressed before in this blog () and that I think is exaggerated. This general belief seems to also apply to a related meat, one that is widely acknowledged as a major micronutrient “powerhouse”, namely grain-fed beef liver.

Regarding grain-fed beef liver, the idea is that cattle that are grain-fed tend to develop a mild form of fatty liver disease. This I am inclined to agree with.

However, I am not convinced that this is such a bad thing for those who eat grain-fed beef liver.

In most animals, including Homo sapiens, fatty liver disease seems to be associated with extra load being put on the liver. Possible reasons for this are accelerated growth, abnormally high levels of body fat, and ingestion of toxins beyond a certain hormetic threshold (e.g., alcohol).

In these cases, what would one expect to see as a body response? The extra load is associated with high oxidative stress and rate of metabolic work. In response, the body should shuttle more antioxidants and metabolism catalysts to the organ being overloaded. Fat-soluble vitamins can act as antioxidants and catalysts in various metabolic processes, among other important functions. They require fat to be stored, and can then be released over time, which is a major advantage over water-soluble vitamins; fat-soluble vitamins are longer-acting.

So you would expect an overloaded liver to have more fat in it, and also a greater concentration of fat-soluble vitamins. This would include vitamin A, which would give the liver an unnatural color, toward the orange-yellow range of the spectrum.

Grain-fed beef liver, like the muscle meat of grain-fed cattle, tends to have more fat than that of grass-fed animals. One function of this extra fat could be to store fat-soluble vitamins. This extra fat appears to have a higher omega-6 fat content as well. Still, beef liver is a fairly lean meat; with about 5 g of fat per 100 g of weight, and only 20 mg or so of omega-6 fat. Clearly consumption of beef liver in moderation is unlikely to lead to a significant increase in omega-6 fat content in one’s diet (). By consumption in moderation I mean approximately once a week.

The photo below, from Wikipedia, is of a dish prepared with foie gras. That is essentially the liver of a duck or goose that has been fattened through force-feeding, until the animal develops fatty liver disease. This “diseased” liver is particularly rich in fat-soluble vitamins; e.g., it is the best known source of the all-important vitamin K2.



Could the same happen, although to a lesser extent, with grain-fed beef liver? I don’t think it is unreasonable to speculate that it could.

Friday Q&A: One Leg Shorter than the Other

Q: I recently learned that my back pain for two years now (surgery recommended) is due to my right leg being shorter (2nd opinion from another back surgeon). My right shoulder and right hip are higher than the left side. Is there a yoga exercise or two that could help me correct this and alleviate the back lumbar pain?

Upper Leg Bone

A: This is a great question, and quite a common finding for many people: having one leg shorter than the other. And as your second surgeon seemed to point out, the presence of one leg shorter than another and low back pain in the same person could be related. Most individuals have a small difference in their leg lengths. Because this is so common, if the difference between right and left is small enough, it does not typically contribute to lower back pain. This is usually the case for people if their leg length difference is less than a ¼ inch. (On a personal note, when I went to my chiropractor recently for a shoulder/neck issue, she mentioned that I had a slight leg length discrepancy that I had never known about. And it turns out I have occasional lower back and sacral pain!)

When you get leg lengths that differ greater than 1/4 inch, that is when it can contribute to lower back pain. And if you have a leg length difference of greater than ½ inch, you are six times more likely to have an episode of lower back pain. That is pretty significant!

For those not familiar with Leg Length Discrepancies (LLD), I’d like to give a little more background. The two main causes of LLD are: 1) poor alignment of the pelvis and 2) having one leg that is structurally longer than the other. Other potential causes include an injury (such as a fracture), bone disease, bone tumors, congenital problems (present at birth) or neuromuscular problems, but these are much less common. Regardless of the reason, your body wants to be symmetrical and will do its best to compensate for the length difference. Certain other conditions can be present along with leg length discrepancy, such as scoliosis, lumbar herniated discs, pelvic torque, greater trochanteric bursitis, hip arthritis, piriformis syndrome, patellofemoral syndrome and foot pronation. I’ve written about a few of these other conditions elsewhere in our blog. But if you have one of these other diagnoses, you may want to ask your doctor to check you for a leg length discrepancy.

The signs and symptoms of LLD can include:

• one leg being obviously longer than the other (mine was not obvious to me!)

• affected posture, especially secondary scoliosis or one shoulder higher than other (and scoliosis could lead to secondary LLD)

• problems with gait
• pain in the lower back, but also hip, ankle or knee

Lower Leg Bones

As mentioned above, LLDs can be the result of legs actually being of different lengths or the pelvis being torqued and tipped. This leads to two ways of classifying LLD:  a structural leg length discrepancy or a functional leg length discrepancy. A structural leg length discrepancy is a hereditary circumstance where one leg is simply longer than the other leg. This is determined if your pelvis and sacroiliac joints are symmetrical and the leg length is simply due to one leg truly being longer than the other, say via an X-ray.  Functional leg length discrepancy is diagnosed when there is a torsion or pelvic rotation, commonly a sacroiliac (SI) joint dysfunction, which causes one leg to function as though it is longer or shorter than the other. In order to determine if a true structural discrepancy exists, a physical therapist must treat the pelvis and return it to a neutral position before measuring for the leg length discrepancy. Once the pelvis is symmetrical, if the leg length discrepancy goes away it is classified as functional.  If it remains and has a measurable difference, it is a structural leg length discrepancy.  So our questioner of the week may want to begin by finding out if she has a structural or functional LLD, before deciding how yoga can be applied.

How does your western MD and Physical Therapist usually address leg length discrepancy? Structural leg length discrepancy can be treated with a heel lift in the shorter leg’s shoe. You want to let your physical therapist determine the height of the lift, since it is determined by how much lift is needed to restore proper biomechanics in the pelvis and lower back. I know of at least one student of mine who wears a thin-soled shoe on one foot during her yoga practice, as well as a heel lift in one shoe outside of yoga class. This seems to compensate and correct her imbalance and allows her to fully participate in all of her standing poses, especially the symmetrical ones such as Mountain pose (Tadasana), Powerful pose (Utkatasana) and Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana). In rare instances, surgery may be recommended to either shorten or lengthen the limb. This is always accompanied by a course of physical therapy, which helps to stretch muscles and maintain joint flexibility, which is something yoga asana could compliment.

For a functional leg length discrepancy where the real issue is the tipping and torque of the pelvis, no heel lift is required. Instead, a physical therapist would use proper manual therapy techniques and specific therapeutic exercise to treat and normalize pelvic and lower extremity compensations.  In yoga styles where alignment is a main focus of the poses (such Iyengar and Anusara), the asana practice could function to restore pelvic evenness. Once the pelvis is even, you should re-measure your legs. If they are pretty close to even, your leg length discrepancy was functional; if not, you could have an underlying structural leg length discrepancy that might still require a heel lift.  I wish there were one or two poses I could recommend without knowing all this student’s particulars, but that is not possible without an more thorough history and physical exam.  In general, a well-balanced yoga practice that includes reclining, seated, standing and some easy inverted poses could serve as a good starting point. But since low back pain is present, I’d recommend looking for a specialty class on yoga for back pain, where you are more likely to have a teacher experienced enough to give you some special guidance.


—Baxter

More Love for Baroreceptors: Supporting Your Head in Restorative Poses

by Nina

When I first starting taking yoga, I was confused about why my teachers were always rushing put to a folded blanket under my head when I was lying on my back. Something about the position of my head when I was lying on the floor was driving them crazy, but what was it? And why was it such a problem?

Later I learned that they were adding this support because, when my head was flat on the floor, due to tightness in my shoulders, my neck was arching up and back and my chin was tipping away from my chest. Putting the folded blanket under my head allowed me lie with my chin pointing toward my chest like this:

This was considered to be the proper--and healthy—position for the head in supine poses. So I went along with it. But secretly I continued to wonder why. In case you have already noticed, I'm like that—always wanting to know the whys as well as the hows, always wanting to dig a bit deeper. Which is probably why I ended up as a yoga blogger, but I digress.

Anyway, it was only when I learned about baroreceptors that I found a satisfactory explanation. As I mentioned yesterday (see Why You Should Love Your Baroreceptors), when your neck is slightly flexed (the position when your chin is pointing toward your chest), the position puts some pressure on the baroreceptors in your carotid arteries. And this pressure can cause the same response as an inverted pose does on your nervous system—switching you from fight or flight to the relaxation response. The opposite neck position with your neck in extension (a backbend position with your chin tipping away from your chest) can have the opposite effective, stimulating your nervous system.

Of course, this understanding of the role of baroreceptors in yoga poses is very recent. In fact, the understanding of the role in regulating blood pressure in general is pretty recent as well. So the yoga teachers, like B.K.S. Iyengar, who developed restorative yoga discovered the best position for the head through personal observation, not science. (That says a lot about personal observation, doesn't it?) Interestingly, the head position Jalandara Bandha, with neck flexed and chin pointing down toward the chest, used in seated poses for pranayama, which is much older than restorative yoga, was probably adopted for the same reasons. Yoga practitioners noticed that head position enhanced the quieting effect of the practice.

I thought I'd tell you all this not just because you might not have made this connection on your own, but because I also realized there might be some people out there who don't have teachers running to put a folded blanket under their heads every time they lie in a supine restorative pose. So that's both the how and why for you. The how is that when you lie on your back, if your chin does not easily point down toward your chest, always add some support under your head. The why is that having your chin pointing down toward your chest will enhance your relaxation due to slight pressure on your baroreceptors.

Long live head support!

Party Like it's 1993!

Well, not really- LOL!  I was never (and still am not) much of a party person.  I like socializing but am content to just hang out in someone's home.  This weekend I am journeying back to where I grew up (or my formative years of junior and senior high) and will be getting to visit with friends I haven't seen in 20 years!  My parents live about 45 minutes away from that town so I get to see them, spend time with them and their church family, visit with friend that I definitely don't get to see often enough (I have been up in December and March.  Both visits I planned to travel over to visit with him and both visits we had snowstorms and I couldn't- thinking this time we could be safe), and see those that the wonderful world of Facebook has put me back in contact with.  Part of me is apprehensive- just because it has been 20 years- and the other part of me (and more this part) is super excited!  I am REALLY looking forward to this trip down memory lane and seeing where life has taken us all! 

It's been kind of fun watching friends and classmates post pictures from that senior year and see how we have changed since then, clothing styles, big hair, etc. 

I was going to link up some of the #1 songs but there are just too many so if you go here you can see them from 1992 (Aug-December) and here is 1993 (January-June).

Sometimes it doesn't seem like it's been 20 years and then some days I feel every bit of those 20 years (and then some- LOL)

 

If I could go back and tell 18 year old Tami a few things I would say: don't take life so serious; have fun; DREAM BIG DREAMS;  celebrate the small stuff along with the big stuff; realize that things happen for a reason- if nothing else that you grow closer to God;  people are sinful (myself included) and that means they will hurt you, break your heart, and try to steal your dreams- listen to them, take and apply what you need and move on; those guys in high school- yeah, they're not the one(s) for you ;) (not saying that's for everyone just my 18 year old self) ; keep in touch with those you are closest to; realize that people will change, grow up, and become a completely different person (and so will you) AND, don't be fearful to go back (alone) 20 years later and see those you have reconnected with and make new memories!

Question- if you could go back and tell your 18 year old self (or just 20 years ago for those who 18 is far far away) what would you say?

Why You Should Love Your Baroreceptors: Stress Management Made Easy

by Nina

I found this nice little illustration of baroreceptors that I'm excited to share with you. Okay, I admit it, I'm a little obsessed with baroreceptors. But that's because ever since I found out how our baroreceptors help regulate our blood pressure and I understood how we can use this aspect of our anatomy to switch our nervous systems from fight or flight to relaxation mode, I've not only included supported inverted poses in my practice on a regular basis but I've been on a mission to spread the word. Using supported inverted poses for stress management is one of easiest ways—at least for me—to calm yourself down because all you have to do is set yourself in the pose and stay there for a while. The shape of the pose itself causes the baroreceptors to work their magic.

As I wrote in my post Just in Time for the Holidays: Inverted Poses, the reason that inverted poses trigger the relaxation response is due to the pressure sensors called baroreceptors that are connected to the nerves controlling your heart rate and blood pressure. Your baroreceptors are located in the wall of each internal carotid artery at your carotid sinus (the arteries on each side of your neck that carry blood from your heart to your brain).

And in the wall of your aortic arch (just above your heart).

Aortic Arch

These baroreceptors detect any changes in your blood pressure, stretching when your blood pressure is high and shrinking when your blood pressure is low. If your baroreceptors detect a fall in your blood pressure, they send signals via your nerves to increase your heart rate, constrict your blood vessels to raise your blood pressure, and switch your nervous system to fight or flight mode. Likewise, if your baroreceptors detect abnormally elevated blood pressure, they send signals to slow your heart rate, relax your blood vessels to lower your blood pressure, and switch your nervous system to relaxation mode. And now I have a picture to illustrate this!

In an inverted pose, your heart is higher than your head, the opposite of its position when you are upright. With your heart higher than your head, gravity causes more blood to flow in the direction of your head, creating more pressure than usual on your carotid sinus and aortic arch. As the arterial pressure is increased, your baroreceptors are stretched and signals are transmitted to your central nervous system as if your blood pressure was high throughout your body. Feedback signals are then sent back to your body to reduce the arterial pressure, slowing your heart rate, relaxing your blood vessels, and releasing hormones that decrease adrenaline production. This automatically switches your body to relaxation mode.

Because there are baroreceptors in your carotid sinus (the arteries on each side of your neck that carry blood from your heart to your brain) inverted or partially inverted poses where your neck is flexed (that is, your chin is pointing toward your chest), as in Shoulderstand, Plow pose, or Bridge pose, puts added stimulation on your baroreceptors, which may enhance the calming effects of the inversion.

Any yoga pose where your heart is above your head is considered to be an inversion. Inverted yoga poses include full inversions, such as Headstand and Shoulderstand, where your heart is directly over your head and the rest of your body is also fully inverted. Partial inversions, such as Downward-Facing Dog pose and Standing Forward Bend, where your heart is less directly over your head and your legs are either not fully or not at all inverted, are also considered inverted poses and will have similar calming effects. As long as you are warm, quiet, and comfortable in the inverted pose, all you have to do is let the baroreceptors work their magic. Naturally, supported versions of the poses (such as Shoulderstand with a chair or Bridge pose on blankets) are more relaxing than the versions of poses in which you must support yourself, so if you’re practicing inversions for stress reduction, choose the supported versions. See Just in Time for the Holidays: Inverted Poses for a complete list of the inverted poses.

I'm such a believer in these poses that I recently had a friend (thank you, Erin Collom) take photographs of me doing all the supported inversions, so I could write in detail about the individual poses. For now, here's a photograph of a Supported Standing Forward Bend, a surprisingly calming pose.

Caution: Inverted poses may be unsafe for those with certain medical conditions (see here).

Yoga Better than Injections for Low Back Pain

by Baxter

A July 18th New York Times blog post entitled Alternatives for Back Pain Relief surprised me when it proclaimed that a modern and widely used treatment method for low back pain is no longer considered effective, especially for chronic or long-standing low back pain. That treatment is the use of injections into the areas of pain. The injections usually contain the inflammation-decreasing drug cortisone, but can also have ingredients like morphine, ibuprofen and vitamin B12 in the mix. Over the years I have had many patients come to me with low back pain, and from their reports, the effectiveness of the injections never seemed particularly strong. For some patients with new acute low back pain, who experienced more serious signs and symptoms, like radiating pain to the leg or actual weakness, the injections more often seemed to provide some temporary pain relief.

However, several new studies have revealed that, when looking back at those patients treated with injections, the injections were not significantly more effective than no treatment at all. And one study indicated that those who did not get injections for a pinched nerve in the lower back fared better down the road than the patients who received an injection course.  In the commentary published in a recent issue of JAMA:

“Based on the available data, the JAMA authors conclude, doctors “should not” recommend injection therapy to their patients with chronic low back pain.” 

That may be a hard pill for some doctors to swallow, as there has been a steady increase in the use of injections for low back pain, mainly because it is relatively inexpensive, can be done as an outpatient in the office, has fewer risks compared to surgery, and makes the docs some bling. The possible one positive use of injections is that is does often provide some temporary relief of low back pain symptoms.

The New York Times post then went on to reference a recent systematic review of yoga for low back pain that we reported on here early this year. This study looked back at all of the best designed studies on the subject and concluded that there was “strong evidence of short term effectiveness of yoga for low back pain and moderate evidence of long-term effectiveness of yoga.”

But although the New York Times post mentions the clear benefit of yoga for short-term back pain, it does not emphasize the second claim that the study discovered: moderate evidence for yoga's help over the long term. I took another look at the study itself, and discovered an important caveat: the authors would only recommend Viniyoga style practice for long-term benefits, as the other yoga methods studied did not demonstrate the same benefits. As they state:

"The American Pain Society's guidelines recommend that clinicians consider offering yoga to patients with chronic LBP (lower back pain). However, this recommendation is limited to Viniyoga-style yoga as the net benefits for other yoga styles could not be estimated."

Now, I love Viniyoga and integrate its methods into my own practice and teachings, along with the wisdom of the Iyengar method and some other modern yoga styles I’ve learned over the years as well. But I suspect that some of the alignment-strong styles, like the Iyengar method, will prove to be helpful in the long run as well, but we will need better studies to bear that out. That said, for those who are not familiar with Viniyoga (a term coined by American yoga teacher Gary Kraftsow for the yoga he learned from T. Krishnamacharya and TKV Desikachar) I would recommend to you two books to learn more:

1. The Heart of Yoga by TKV Desikachar
2. Yoga for Wellness by Gary Kraftsow

For now, this is all good news for those of us dedicated to our practice. As one of my students said to me just this morning after class, it's his regular yoga class that keeps his back in the best shape over time since he first developed low back pain many years ago. I’d love to hear back from our readers about your experiences with yoga for low back pain, so send me your story!

And don’t forget, my live webinar on Yoga for Healthy Digestion starts today, Tuesday July 23, 2013 on Yoga U online! Click here to learn more about it and sign up to join me Tuesday and Thursday from  8:30 EST (5:30 PST).

Letting Go (Part 2)

You can see part 1 Here

**Part of becoming an overall healthy individual is addressing our "issues" in all areas- physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.  As I work on letting go I will be addressing these- which is why I feel these things belong on my blog.**

With that said...
It's summer and summer means wedding season.  As the years have gone by I have been invited to and attended many weddings.  I am ashamed to admit that there have been weddings that I have been invited to that I decided at the last minute to not attend (and have regretted it) because my heart was not in a good place.  I was struggling with my singleness and questioning, "why not me?"  This summer I have been invited to and attended 2 weddings.  What makes this summer different?  Why is it easier for me to go to these weddings with joy?  There are a couple of reasons- one is that both of these weddings involved a bride that I knew well- one has been a co-worker for 9 years and one has been a friend for 10 years and was even my roommate for a year.  But, what I think is the biggest reason, my heart is in a better place.  Is it where I want it?  No, but it's getting there.

Where is "there"? It's resting in Him- again- trusting that His plan is bigger than mine.  It's holding on to Psalm 37- that when I delight myself in Him, when I find joy in Him, when I cling to His truths, then He will give me the desires of my heart (which in reality should be his heart)

Interestingly enough, in my ABF (Adult Bible Fellowship= Sunday School) we have been reading and studying the book Trusting God by Jerry Bridges.  The chapter this week was about Experiencing God's Love and there was a part in the chapter that I am going to type out- it's a bit long but I don't want to paraphrase and lose it.  Bridges started with Isaiah 54:10 which talks about God's unfailing love not being shaken (here's where I'll let him speak) "And because His love cannot fail.  He will allow into our lives only the pain and heartache that is for our ultimate good.  Even the grief that He Himself brings into our lives is tempered with His compassion (Lamentations 3:32).  The assurance here is that God will show compassion.  It is not enough to say He is compassionate, but He will show compassion.  That is, even the fires of affliction will be tempered by His compassion, which arises out of His unfailing love.  Our afflictions are always accompanied with the compassion and consolation of God."  Then later in the chapter Bridges brings up Isaiah 43:2

"God promises specifically to be with us in our sorrows and afflictions.  he will not spare us from the waters of sorrow and the fires of adversity, but He will go through them with us."

So, what does that mean- to me it means simply this- He knows what my heart is going through.  He knows what I can't often express. He allows pain and heartache into my life BUT, (sometimes I love that word) He is there to walk through that water, that fire, the pain that threatens to overwhelm my soul, the loneliness that aches when I go home to an empty house, the longing that worms its way in when I see a family together when I am out and about. He promises that He will be there.  If I am choosing to let go and trust then that means I have to let go and trust completely.  For the last 10-11 years "my verse" has been Zephaniah 3:17 and it will continue to be so but I think it's time for a new verse as well.  This verse is part of Psalm 37 and when I saw it- I knew- this is what God is calling me to pray, what He is calling me to do, who He is calling me to be. So it's time.  It's time to let go of my singleness, to surrender- once and for all- that part of my life to God.  It's time to be still and wait patiently for Him.  If that takes one day, one month, one year, or one lifetime then I know that He will walk this journey with me.

And to close out this long post I want to share this video that came to mind today during the message- as it was being said that we live out the fruit of the spirit from the inside out and the following lyrics fit perfectly: "Your will above all else, my purpose remains. The art of losing myself in bringing you praise... my heart and my soul, I give you control. Consume me from the inside out, Lord..."

Unclear on the Concept: Yoga as a Treatment

by Nina

Wet Handle Bars by Melina Meza

“A comprehensive review published in May in The Clinical Journal of Pain finds that there is “strong evidence for short-term effectiveness” of yoga against back pain, although whether the benefits last beyond a year is less certain.” — Gretchen Reynolds, NY Times Sunday Magazine

In this Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, there was a short article called “Spinal Trap,”
about alternatives for treating back pain. The subtitle was “How do you solve back pain? Don’t ask your doctor.” We’ve already heard from Baxter on this topic, when he confessed that he had little to offer his patients when he himself was a family doctor (see For the Young and Old: Back Care). And you’ll be hearing from him soon about the comprehensive review mentioned in the quote above.

For now, I’d just like to rant a bit about the second half of the sentence:

“strong evidence for short-term effectiveness” of yoga against back pain, although whether the benefits last beyond a year is less certain

At first, I was just confused. What does she mean it is less certain whether the benefits last beyond a year or not. If you’re doing yoga for your back pain and it helps your back pain, why wouldn’t it continue to help your back pain for as long as you kept practicing? But Brad pointed out to me the underlying confusion in this statement. He said, “She’s thinking about yoga like physical therapy. In other words, it’s like a “treatment” you get from the doctor, something you’d do for a couple of months to “cure” your back pain, but then when you felt better you’d stop the treatment. And then maybe the pain would come back eventually.”

Ah, so that's what she meant. But how completely unclear on the concept is that? Naturally, if something in your life is causing you back pain, whether it’s your posture at your desk or in your car, standing all day at your job, too much gardening, lifting your children, lack of exercise in general, stiffness in certain areas of your body, lack of strength in certain areas of your body, you can’t just go back to your old way of life and expect the results of a short session of yoga classes to see you through the rest of your life. That would be like thinking you could do a few months of weight training to get stronger, and then expecting that would keep you stronger for years to come.

Brad laughed and said, “Yeah, and it’s not like there’s a “cure” for aging.”

So, yes, we’re afraid that whether you are practicing yoga for back pain or another condition, or just, you know, for healthy aging in general, it’s going to require an ongoing commitment. But it’s free, has no unpleasant side effects, and oh, yeah, it actually works.