Home Practice: Pick Yourself Up, Dust Yourself Off, and Start All Over Again

by Nina

People who know me are often impressed by my dedication to my home yoga practice. Although I take class once a week, most of my yoga practice consists of what I do on my own, in my own house. And in general I'm very steady and consistent about practicing. But, of course, I'm only human, and sometimes I fall off the wagon. 

The two main times I fall off the wagon is when I have house guests (I just cannot bring myself to sneak off and practice while friends or relatives are in my house) and when I'm traveling. Yes, I know, we're posting all kinds of information about yoga you can do anywhere and everywhere, at the airport, in your hotel room, blah, blah, blah, but here I am in Austin, Texas, at a bed and breakfast, helping a family member who is going through some hard times, and, you know what? I'm not practicing. My days are long, with a lot of walking, unpacking of boxes, shopping for necessities, etc., and practicing just doesn't feel possible. 

But years of experience with similar situations have taught me that when I return home and things get back to normal, I'll simply resume my practice, with no harm done. It's like that song from the Fred Astair and Ginger Roger movie "Swing Time," where Ginger teaches Fred to dance: "Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again." Years of experience with this have also taught me that it's easier dust yourself off and start all over again if you don't judge yourself and just accept it as a normal part of yoga for real life. If you're too hard on yourself, your more likely to think of yourself as a failure and give up entirely. And the more often you do pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again, the easier becomes. Maybe even as easy as it is for Ginger to teach Fred to dance!

Ginger tells Fred not to be discouraged:

 And, of course, Fred learns to dance really quickly:

Resting Between Poses

by Baxter

Have you ever found yourself in one of those classes where the teacher has you in some challenging standing pose forever, chatting with one student, while apparently oblivious to the rest of class? There you are, shaking to your feet, uncertain what to do. Well, one option you have is to come out of the pose when you feel it is appropriate, and simply rest until the next pose is introduced. This is actually an advanced skill, as you have to have the experience, understanding, courage and confidence to know when enough is enough for your body and mind. And when we are newer to yoga practice, this is not usually the case; the newbies will stick it out to the bitter end, for better or worse!

If you look around at some of the varied styles and traditions of yoga practices out there, you will come upon several that employ this idea of resting between poses often. In one case, Savasana or Corpse pose is practiced between every other pose you do!  This may feel a bit cumbersome, so what I recommend and do myself when employing this strategy, is to do one of the following:

• If I am doing supine poses (on my back), I will rest in Savasana.
• If I am doing seated poses, I will rest in simple Sukasana or Easy Seated pose.
• If I am doing standing poses, I will rest in Tadasana or Mountain pose.
• If I am inverting, I will simply rest by floating above the floor (just kidding!) or come down into Child’s pose.

You get the idea!  The question naturally arises, why am I resting, other than for the distracted teacher abandoning me in Half Moon for 5 minutes? Well, there are a variety of reasons this technique can be helpful. In a home practice, you can use it to do your Post Asana Assessment, which not only lets you notice the immediate effects of the last pose, but may guide you to your next pose. If you are suffering from fatigue, recent colds or flu, or recovering or dealing with treatment for serious illness like cancer, the brief rest can allow you to safely do a practice, while allowing the body these essential pauses to truly get some rest.

Cattle at Rest by Brad Gibson

In this last scenario, because the mind is so easily distracted and disturbed, I’d recommend you let your attention focus on the movement of your breath, or perhaps, if in a class situation, you can utilize the rest as a time to observe your fellow students still in pose, as a learning opportunity to deepen your understanding of how the pose can be done. I found this particularly useful during a period of low back pain, when I could not fully participate and had to sit out many poses during a class.  Instead of wallowing in my inability to do a full practice, I decided to see what I could learn by observing my fellow students. And I learned a lot!

So, if you have not experimented with resting between poses, why not try it this week in your home practice? See what you discover.

Gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time: Various issues and two key requirements

In my previous post (), I mentioned that the idea of gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time seems impossible to most people because of three widely held misconceptions: (a) to gain muscle you need a calorie surplus; (b) to lose fat you need a calorie deficit; and (c) you cannot achieve a calorie surplus and deficit at the same time.

The scenario used to illustrate what I see as a non-traumatic move from obese or seriously overweight to lean is one in which weight loss and fat loss go hand in hand until a relatively lean level is reached, beyond which weight is maintained constant (as illustrated in the schematic graph below). If you are departing from an obese or seriously overweight level, it may be advisable to lose weight until you reach a body fat level of around 21-24 percent for women or 14-17 percent for men. Once you reach that level, it may be best to stop losing weight, and instead slowly gain muscle and lose fat, in equal amounts. I will discuss the rationale for this in more detail in my next post; this post will focus on addressing the misconceptions above.

Before I address the misconceptions, let me first clarify that, when I say “gaining muscle” I do not mean only increasing the amount of protein stored in muscle tissue. Muscle tissue is mostly water, by far. An important component of muscle tissue is muscle glycogen, which increases dramatically with strength training, and also tends to increase the amount of water stored in muscle. So, when you gain muscle, you gain a significant amount of water.

Now let us take a look at the misconceptions. The first misconception, that to gain muscle you need a calorie surplus, was dispelled in a previous post featuring a study by Ballor and colleagues (). In that study, obese subjects combined strength training with a mild calorie deficit, and gained muscle. They also lost fat, but ended up a bit heavier than at the beginning of the intervention. Another study along the same lines was linked by Clint (thanks) in the comments section under the last post ().

The second misconception, that to lose fat you need a calorie deficit; is related to the third, that you cannot achieve a calorie surplus and deficit at the same time. In part these misconceptions are about semantics, as most people understand “calorie deficit” to mean “constant calorie deficit”. One can easily vary calorie intake every other day, generating various calorie deficits and surpluses over a week, but with no overall calorie deficit or surplus for the entire week. This is why I say that one can achieve a calorie surplus and deficit “at the same time”. But let us make a point very clear, most of the evidence that I have seen so far suggests that you do not need a calorie deficit to lose fat, but you do need a calorie deficit to lose structural weight (i.e., non-water weight). With a few exceptions, not many people will want to lose structural weight by shedding anything other than body fat. One exception would be professional athletes who are already very lean and yet are very big for the weight class in which they compete, being unable to "make weight" through dehydration.

Perhaps the most surprising to some people is that, based on my own experience and that of several HCE () users, you don’t even need to vary your calorie intake that much to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. You can achieve that by eating enough to maintain your body weight. In fact, you can even slowly increase your calorie intake over time, as muscle growth progresses beyond the body fat lost. And here I mean increasing your calorie intake very slowly, proportionally to the amount of muscle you gain; which also means that the incremental increase in calorie intake will vary from person to person. If you are already relatively lean, at around 21-24 percent of body fat for women and 14-17 percent for men, gaining muscle and losing fat in equal amounts will lead to a visible change in body composition over time () ().

Two key requirements seem to be common denominators for most people. You must eat protein regularly; not because muscle tissue is mostly protein, but because protein seems to act as a hormone, signaling to muscle tissue that it should repair itself. (Many hormones are proteins, actually peptides, and also bind to receptor proteins.) And you also must conduct strength training to the point that you are regularly hitting the supercompensation window (). This takes a lot of individual customization (). You can achieve that with body weight exercises, although free weights and machines seem to be generally more effective. Keep in mind that individual customization will allow you to reach your "sweet spots", but that still results will vary across individuals, in some cases dramatically.

If you regularly hit the supercompensation window, you will be progressively spending slightly more energy in each exercise session, chiefly in the form of muscle glycogen, as you progress with your strength training program. You will also be creating a hormonal mix that will increase the body’s reliance on fat as a source of energy during recovery. As a compensatory adaptation (), your body will gradually increase the size of its glycogen stores, raising insulin sensitivity and making it progressively more difficult for glucose to become body fat.

Since you will be progressively spending slightly more energy over time due to regularly hitting the supercompensation window, that is another reason why you will need to increase your calorie intake. Again, very slowly, proportionally to your muscle gain. If you do not do that, you will provide a strong stimulus for autophagy () to occur, which I think is healthy and would even recommend from time to time. In fact, one of the most powerful stimuli to autophagy is doing strength training and fasting afterwards. If you do that only occasionally (e.g., once every few months), you will probably not experience muscle loss or gain, but you may experience health improvements as a result of autophagy.

The human body is very adaptable, so there are many variations of the general strategy above. In my next post, I will talk a bit more about a variation that seems to work well for many people. It involves a combination of strength training and calorie intake variation that may well be the most natural from an evolutionary perspective.

Friday Q&A: Scoliosis

Patterns in the Sand by Michele McCartney-Filgate

Q: Scoliosis. I have a mild case of it and find that twists and side bends make my back feel good. Any other advice? When I look at my students doing forward bends, it seems that a lot of them have one side of the back of the rib cage that protrudes higher than the other side. Just how common is scoliosis anyway?

A: The conventional wisdom when working with scoliosis is to apply some therapeutic principles to the spinal structural changes. They include to lengthen the concavity, strengthen the convexity, and to try to neutralize the curvature in asana. This isn't as easy as it sounds because most scoliosis patterns that are in an "S" shaped curve will have a more pronounced primary curve and then a compensating secondary curve.

To successfully work with your own scoliosis you need to first know if the curve is from postural imbalances or from structural changes. The quick way for this to be screened is to have someone watch you as you bend into Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana). If the curve worsens, then it is structural. If the curve evens out, then it is most probably postural overlay. But the only conclusive way to know if you indeed have scoliosis is to have an X-ray of your spine from head to tail. A skilled radiologist needs to read it to measure the curve.

That said, your observation that twists and side bends make it feel better are reinforcement that you are probably stretching your concavity. There is a way that spines move that is unconscious (meaning it just occurs) and that is the law of side-bending and rotation. In a neutral spine (like Mountain pose or Tadasana,  side bending and rotation occur to opposite directions (we are talking about how the vertebra individually are moving. So, that is why in Triangle pose (Trikonasana) you are asked to rotate your torso over a fixed pelvis. But in forward bends or backbends, spinal movement changes. In this case rotation and side-bending occur to the same side (picture One-Legged Forward Bend or Janu Sirsasana). So this is where the confusion comes in because you need to move the spine differently depending on the asana you are practicing. Also the scoliotic spine is not symmetrical and there are elements of side-bending and rotation already present so when you bend forward in Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana), you are increasing the spinal rotation; this is why the curvature worsens.

So it depends on how much information you want or need to apply to your yoga practice. Some teachers recommend doing your poses three times, starting and end a pose with the problematic side, that is, the side for which twisting is more difficult. I would recommend you obtain Elise Browning Miller's yoga DVD on scoliosis, and, if you live in the Bay Area, try to take her workshops on yoga and scoliosis because they are excellent. See http://www.ebmyoga.com/.
—Shari

A: Regarding the prevalence of scoliosis, out of every 1000 children born in the US, 3-5 will develop an abnormal curvature of the spine serious enough to require intervention. The scoliosis usually first shows up during growth spurts, especially around puberty. In 80-85% of the cases, the cause is unknown, and so it is labeled “idiopathic scoliosis.” Most of these students will not require serious intervention, and yoga could be a great way to address the spinal curve and twist.

Recently loss of bone density has been shown to cause lateral deviations in the spine that may contribute to the onset of scoliosis in postmenopausal women. Estrogen hormones are very important for the maintenance of bone mineral density, and during menopause, the normal levels of circulating estrogen decline. So there is increased risk for losing bone density, and therefore an increased risk for degenerative scoliosis. Recent evidence also suggests that the development of scoliosis in postmenopausal women is much higher than in juveniles and adolescents. One has to wonder if there was a mild scoliosis present, perhaps undiagnosed, that becomes more apparent at menopause. Also, kyphosis, or dowagers hump, is well know to arise at this time as well, and is likely a combination of posture and osteoporosis.

Other stats on scoliosis:

• Scoliosis curves measuring at least 10° occur in 1.5% to 3.0% of the population
• Curves exceeding 20° occur in 0.3% to 0.5% of the population
• Curves exceeding 30° occcur in 0.2% to 0.3% of the population
• Small spinal curves occur with similar frequency in boys and girls, but girls are more likely to have a progressively larger scoliotic curve that will require treatment

And I agree with Shari's insights on scoliosis and also recommend Elise Miller's DVD and workshops around the US on yoga for scoliosis. One example of how one approaches this would go like this: if the main curvature is to the right side of your thoracic spine, that is, the convex bulge is easily seen in Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana) as a skyward prominence on the right side of the back rib cage, you would likely approach asymmetrical poses like Triangle differently going to the right side and to the left side. When going to the right side, focus on spreading from the spine around the side of the ribs toward the front of the chest, something Elise calls "de-rotation."  When going to the left side, focus on lengthening the left side of the waist and torso, from the left hip crease to the left armpit. No specific attention would be directed at the right-side prominence on this side. This same principle could be applied to other poses such as Extended Side Angle, Warrior 2 pose, and Half Moon pose. The principle may change with symmetrical poses, as Shari said.

Another good East Bay resource is Sandra Safadirazieli, who trained with Elise, has been working with her own scoliosis, and offers classes at Piedmont Yoga Studio on an ongoing basis. Teachers from other parts of the country should chime in with recommendations for other teachers and workshops.

—Baxter

Spicy Peanut Green Bean Wrap

What's for lunch? Easy-to-prepare spicy peanut and green bean wraps! These tasty tortillas are filled to bursting with flavourful green beans and sunflower seeds in a mouth-watering peanut butter and habanero chili tomato sauce. Rolled, warmed, and sprinkled with hemp hearts and freshly chopped parsley, they satisfy the heartiest of appetites while energizing the body with healthy, easily digested protein. A dish to heat up any mealtime.

You'll Need:

Fresh green beans, about 1 lb.; 1 red onion; 2 cloves garlic; 2 large, ripe tomatoes; 1 very small dried habanero chili; 1 tablespoon olive oil; 1 tablespoon tamari; 2 tablespoons warm water; 2 tablespoons organic crunchy peanut butter; 1/4 cup soaked sunflower seeds; 1/4 cup freshly chopped basil; 1/4 freshly chopped Italian flat leaf parsley; sea salt; 2 tablespoons hemp hearts; tortilla or wraps (I used gluten-free rice tortillas).

Method:

Wash green beans and remove any stem pieces, leaving the tails intact. Dice red onion, chop garlic into small pieces,and crush habanero pepper. Heat olive oil gently in a large saucepan. Add diced red onions and cook until soft and translucent. Add garlic and cook until it begins to soften. 

Stir in peanut butter and water. Cook, stirring gently until peanut butter melts. and forms a thick sauce. Add tamari; stir until blended in. Add green beans and toss to coat with peanut sauce. Cover sauce pan and cook over low heat for 2-3 minutes. Dice 1 tomato and chop the basil, and and to saucepan. Gently stir into green bean mixture. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender-crisp. 

Chop the flat leaf parsley. Dice remaining tomato. Set 1 teaspoon of hemp hearts aside, and toss remainder tomato, parsley, and a little sea salt. Remove green beans from heat. Let cool slightly, and stir in sunflower seeds.

Place a generous portion of mixture on a tortilla. (Reserve 1 teaspoon bean mixture of each wrap) Add some of the tomato-parsley salsa along top of green bean filling Roll tortilla and place in an oven-proof dish and cover.

Place dish in a warm oven for 2-3 minutes until tortillas are heated through.

Remove dish from oven. Sprinkle with remaining hemp hearts and chopped parsley.

To Serve:
These chewy tortilla wraps with crunchy peanut green bean filling make a great meal served on their own.
Paired with a crisp lettuce salad, and/or a cup of creamy butternut squash soup, they are a causal but satisfying dinner.

Enjoy this intriguing spicy peanut flavour,

For thoughts about food and the art of mindful cooking, visit my zen-cuisine blog at http://zen-cuisine.blogspot.com/

Healthy Spirits: New Arrivals

1. Rogue Voodoo Doughnut Bacon Maple Porter

2. Bayrischer Banhof Doppel Porter "Porticus"

3. 8 Wired Batch #31 (oak aged imperial coffee stout)

4. 8 Wired Saison Sauvin

5. 8 Wired Sultan Quad

6. Anchorage Brewing Galaxy IPA

7. Hanssens Gueuze

8. Mikkeller Tiger Baby

9. Buxton Tsar Imperial Stout

10. Coniston's Bluebird Bitter

cheers,

dave hauslein
beer manager
415-255-0610

Featured Pose: Simple Chair Backbend

by Baxter and Nina

Another one of our five essential office yoga poses, the simple chair backbend is the perfect antidote to the typical postural habits of slumping forward that we develop from sitting all day at our desks, in cars, and airplanes, and from the many everyday activities where we are bending forward, such as gardening or washing dishes.

The basic back-bending shape re-establishes the natural curve of your lower back, correctly aligning your spine in its natural curves, which helps to keep your back healthy. The backbend also lengthens the front of your body, allowing many of us to breath in with greater ease. It helps release stress from your upper body, especially the upper chest. And while stretching the front of your body, the pose strengthens your back body muscles, which tend to be overstretched and weak if they are ignored.

Because backbends in general tend to be uplifting, you may even find this pose helps encourage a more positive mood as you take deep inhalations and exhalations.

The pose can be done almost anywhere. Although a chair without arms is preferable, you can use almost any chair, as long as the back is low enough for you to rest your shoulder blades on.

Baxter prescribes this pose for:

•    Kyphosis of the upper back
•    Chronic lower back pain
•    Head forward syndrome
•    Scoliosis
•    Carpal tunnel syndrome (when symptoms are coming from the shoulders)
•    Sore back from traveling or sitting at your desk
•    Depression
•    General digestive concerns (such as heart burn and acid reflux)

Instructions: If possible, try to find a chair with a back that touches you near your lower shoulder blades. Then move your chair away from the wall or other furniture so you leave some space behind you.

Next sit on the chair, either it the center (if you’re shorter) or near the back (if you’re taller) so the soles of your feet are flat on the floor. If you’re small, you might need to add some support on the chair seat and/or underneath your feet. Align your feet below your knees, with your thighs parallel to the floor. Now, reach your hands around to grab the lower sides of the chair (where it meets the seat) or, if this is not possible, rest your palms on the back of the chair seat.

Root down through your feet and arms, lengthen up from your tailbone to the crown of your head, and mindfully arch your spine up and back until your upper rib cage touches the chair back and rests there lightly. Keep your chin tucked toward your chest.

If you are very comfortable deeply bending your neck, you can take one or both hands behind your head for support as you allow your neck to follow the backbend of your spine, as shown below.

As you inhale, encourage the lift and arch of your spine. As you exhale, maintain your lift and arch. Continue for four to six breaths, working your way up to 12 to 16 breaths as you become stronger in the pose. Come out with a strong exhalation.

Take a moment to notice how you feel. You should feel stretched, strengthened and alive, not painful and miserable. If you experience any pain afterwards in your neck or back, this backbend variation might not be for you.

Cautions: Not all forms of low back pain (such as, spondyolisthis, facet arthritis, spinal stenosis or disc herniation) will be helped by the chair backbend, so you have a back condition, check with your doctor before doing this pose. If you have cervical spine or neck issues, be careful with the position of your neck, keeping your chin tucked toward your chest as you go into the backbend. If you have osteoporosis, adding padding to the top edge of the chair so there is less pressure on your spine is recommended.