And the WINNER is...

The Winner of the Sippy Cup Cleaner Giveaway is....

    The Ryska Family! 

Congrats!! Keep your eye for it in the mail!

   Thanks to all who participated!!!

*Winner was chosen by using  http://www.random.org/*

Healthy Spirits: Beer of the Month Club November 2011

Now ready for pick-up!

Friday Q&A: What is Yoga Nidra?

 

Q: What is yoga nidra (yogic sleep)?

A: Well, this is a good question. A straight up translation is “the sleep of the yogi,” however, done correctly, one does not enter fully into sleep, but is guided by a teacher on a journey while resting in a restorative version of Savasana. I love this practice, as it can lead to a profound conscious rest (that means, again, you are not sleeping!) that has many physiologic, mental and emotional benefits.  Because you are listening and following the voice of a teacher while resting anywhere from 20-45 minutes, your mind is gently occupied and does not tend to revert to its typical habits of remembering, anticipating or judging. This provides a mental respite for your mind, and your body tends to more quickly shift into the rest and digest part of the nervous system, even faster than in normal sleep. Yoga nidra is being used to treat PTSD in vets returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, so the potential effect on anxiety, fear and worry seems obvious.

You can practice yoga nidra is the physical presence of the teacher who is guiding you (in a class or workshop) or on your own using a recording of your favorite teacher. And I hope to record a version of yoga nidra for your listening pleasure in the next few weeks. Nina will fill you in on yoga nidra’s modern roots, which may surprise some of you who have been told it is an “ancient “practice.” — Baxter

A: Yoga nidra was developed by Swami Sivananda Saraswati in the early twentieth century (based on the teachings of his guru, Swami Sivananda). Yes, the twentieth century. He wrote, “I came across many important but little known practices, which interested me greatly. After practicing them myself, I decided to construct a new system called yoga nidra which would incorporate the essence of these practices without having complicated ritualistic drawbacks.” He says the yoga nidra practice was inspired by the tantric practice of nyasa, but nyasa was performed in a sitting posture and involved the use of specific mantras which were “placed” in different parts of the body.

Swami Sivananda Saraswati’s disciple Swami Satyananda Saraswati describes the yoga nidra practice in great detail in his book Yoga Nidra. Swami The form of practice taught by Swami Satyananda includes eight stages: Internalisation, Sankalpa, Rotation of Consciousness, Breath Awareness, Manifestation of Opposites, Creative Visualization, Sankalpa and Externalisation. Contemporary teachers, such as our very own Baxter Bell, often create their own versions of yoga nidra.

So yoga nidra is not ancient after all! But that doesn’t mean it’s not a very powerful practice. Much of the yoga that we know and love was actually developed by a few brilliant Indian yogis during the early twentieth century (Desikachar, Iyengar, Jois, etc.), a very exciting and fruitful time in the long history of yoga.

In simple English, yoga nidra is a practice where you lie in some version of Savasana (Corpse pose) and allow a teacher, who is following a format devised by Swami Sivananda Saraswati, to guide you into a state of conscious relaxation that is referred to as “yogic sleep.” It doesn’t feel like being asleep and it doesn’t feel like being awake—trust me, I’ve tried it.

— Nina

Did you HEAR???

Just incase you live near a Trader Joe's and you are moderately to majorly obsessed... here's a heads up....they now carry KALE AND GLUTEN FREE BREAD!!!! Can you believe it?? Check it out, it's even printed in their Fearless Flyer... TWO GREAT NEW additions in one MONTH!!! I can hardly stand it!

** If you are wondering what to do with kale, you can add it to a salad, it can be sauteed, it can be hidden in apple sauce, it can be made into chips, added to soups or smoothies and it's packed with nutrients that will make your body happy!

** And I think their Brown Rice Gluten Free Bread comes in two options: 1. Whole Grain Brown Rice Bread 2. Multigrain Brown Rice Bread.... it's dense and heavy, but it's great toasted if you are trying to avoid gluten!

What is a Yoga Practice?

by Brad

A year or so ago I was talking with a colleague about a genomics study he was planning that was going to look at exercise and aging. Previously, he and his colleagues had shown that resistance exercise training had a significant effect on the genes that were transcribed in muscle tissue, and that the older people undergoing this training had gene transcription profiles that resembled much younger people. This time around they were planning a more nuanced study and would look at several exercise regimens, including yoga. I remembered asking him what type of yoga practice they planned to use, and was met with a slightly confused look. He wasn’t sure, but thought it was a “standard practice” involving some stretching and aerobic components. When I inquired further about whether it was Iyengar style or one of those high-energy aerobic practices (like Ashtanga Vinyasa), I realized that our discussion had reached a dead end. He had no idea what I was talking about.

Photo from Yoga: The Poetry of the Body by Yee and Zolotow

So when I ran across another article today on Yoga for Back Pain that was mentioned in the Science Times section of this weeks NY Times (see here), I decided to take a little closer look at what the actual practice was. I also looked back at the Ornish and Blackburn study I discussed a couple weeks ago (see here), as well as a few other studies I had run across. I was interested in seeing how well the practice was described and whether it made in sense.

I was surprised to find that the most high profile of these studies, the 2008 Ornish and Blackburn study (see here), had the least detail. What they described as yoga for stress management consisted of “gentle yoga-based stretching, breathing, meditation, imagery, and progressive relaxation techniques 60 min/day, 6 days/week”. In contrast, a study published this summer by Dr. Fishman on osteoporosis and yoga (see here ) was considerably more comprehensive, listing all 10 yoga poses by both Anglicized and Indian names, e.g., “Upward and Downward Dog poses (Adho Mukha Svanasana and Urdhva Mukha Svanasana),” as well providing an appendix of 13 figures illustrating each poses. It should be pointed out that the lead author of this study was extremely familiar with yoga, having practiced it in India for three before attending medical school.

Another group that was fairly thorough in their description was Sherman et al. which just appeared on-line a couple days ago (see here) in their study of chronic low back pain, where they describe a viniyoga practice consisting of 5-11 poses (with pictorial diagrams referenced from earlier 2005 paper by this same group (see here). Interestingly, these authors also provided the credential for the teachers as “instructors with at least 500 hours of viniyoga training, 5 years of teaching experience, and familiarity with the selected postures and who were briefed by our yoga consultant.” This paper also gave a defense of their yoga style (viniyoga), as “a therapeutically oriented style of yoga that emphasizes safety and is relatively easy to learn.” 

Iyengar-style yoga was used in another study examining stress and inflammation by Kiecolt-Glaser, et al (see here) because it ”emphasizes the use of props to help students achieve precise postures safely and comfortably according to their particular body types and need”. In this latter study, the 12 poses and timing of each were well described and was constant, and apparently selected “based on their purported relationship to immune function and/or restorative effects.”

Obviously not everyone is going to agree with what is a good or best yoga practice for stress, back pain, osteoporosis or whatever. But what is clear is that these studies need to provide a through description of the regimen (time, poses, teacher qualifications) and their overall rationale, so that if someone wanted to reproduce this study or compare it with another, they shouldn’t be in the dark as to what the yoga practice was. In the end, it’s you who is going to have to decide on what to believe, as the standards for comparing these practices, pose sequences, and yoga styles are confusing at best. Maybe Nina and Baxter can comment on this, as I’m not an expert.

Homemade Pesto Pizza

This cooler weather calls for a toasted pizza bursting with flavor!

Try branching out, letting go of the traditional marinara pizza sauce, or maybe even the BBQ pizza... it's time to meet Pesto Pizza.

Pizza Dough Rolled out with Pesto Sauce, Sauteed Onions & Green Peppers

 Add the tomato, chicken, and cheese

 Bake at 450 and you are done!

Ingredients: (this will make 2 pizza's)

2 rounds of pizza dough ( I used Trader Joe's pre-made whole wheat dough)

mozzarella cheese, shredded

cooked chicken, cubed (see below)

1 tomato, diced

1 green onion, chopped

1/2 sweet onion, chopped

pesto pizza sauce (see recipe below)

Pesto Pizza Sauce:

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup pine nuts

2 cups fresh basil

3 cloves garlic

Cooked Chicken:

This recipe is great if you have left over chicken from another dish, if not, here's what I did. I baked a package of chicken that was seasoned with sea salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a Pyrex dish, then cubed it. I used half for the pizza, and saved half for the next night's salad. Two meals in one :)

Directions:

If you are using a premade pizza dough, see directions, but the TJ's one will tell you to take your dough out 20 minutes before to let it rise. In a Vitamix or food processor, make your pesto pizza sauce. Then,  on a floured cookie sheet, roll out your pizza dough and spoon on your pesto sauce. You can either add your onions & green peppers raw or saute them for 2 minutes in a drizzle of Grape Seed oil ( I prefer them sauteed with a little s & p!). So, next add your sauteed green peppers, your onion, and your fresh chopped tomato. Sprinkle with Mozzarella Cheese and bake for 12 minutes on 450 until cheese is melted and bubbly, golden brown! YUM! 

Healthy Spirits: The New Stuff

1. De Struise Panneput (Dutch Version)

2. De Struise Pannepot Reserva Vintage 2008

3. De Struise Pannepot Grand Reserva Vintage 2005

4. Mikkeller Speyside Whisky Barrel Aged Chipotle Porter

5. Deschutes The Stoic

cheers,

dave hauslein

beer manager

415-255-0610