Did you know that breathing is the only essential bodily function performed unconsciously, that you can control consciously? Your body can go without food for months, water for weeks and yet your body can’t go without oxygen for more than a few minutes. Think about it.
The power of breath has been known in India for thousands of years. Any type of quality yoga combines two powerful elements, those of breathing and stretching. The word “spirit” in the Hebrew language or “life-force” can be translated into the word “breath”. You may recall in the bible it describes that god literally breathed the breath of life into Adam.
Our breath is quite literally our life force. Oxygen feeds every part of the body. Breathing deeply and slowly will relax you, while instantly sending powerful doses of oxygen to the brain and every single cell of the body.
One of the main reasons people find smoking relaxing is that they are taking slow deep breaths. It’s powerful enough to calm the system even while inhaling poisons. What would happen if it was done without the cigarette? It’s an interesting fact that the word “conspiracy” comes from a Latin word meaning two or more breathing in unison.
Carbon dioxide robs the body of oxygen. Carbon dioxide is poisonous to our body in high amounts and that?s exactly why we breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. Breathing influences every organ in the body and balances the brain hemisphere. This is a profoundly important lesson: learn to breathe effectively.
Many people report that they’d like to be able to have the ability to relax. How much value would it be if you could relax at will? Being in a relaxed state has it’s side effects, you tend to be able to concentrate more, and retain information more easily. Could this be of use to you? My guess is probably yes.
Breathing deeply and evenly through both nostrils helps to synchronize both sides of the brain. The right nostril tends to stimulate the left side of the brain and the left stimulates the right side of the brain. Research has proven that the brain swaps the dominate nostril we breathe through every 90 minutes.
In addition, breathing has all sorts of physiological effects on the body, some very noticeable and others not so noticeable. Some physicians believe that breath is the doorway between the conscious and the unconscious mind. It can help relax and feed specific parts of the body, give greater control over the nervous system and often plays a large role in miraculous cures.
Breathing deeply puts us in what science calls a “kinesthetic” state; that is, a more feeling state. Some people believe god has created us with a fixed number of breaths. A definite advantage to breathe deeper.
Anytime you’re tired, stop and take ten deep breaths. I?m going to show you the best way to breathe. The best way to breathe is in the pit (or bottom) of your stomach. Why, you may ask? Few people know that the lungs extend beyond the rib cage, in fact 2/3 of the lungs sit below the lowest rib. Filling the larger portion of the lungs will literally explode your energy.
Do the exercise right now. You might as well apply what you’re learning? You do want to feel better, right? It’s so incredibly easy, yet so profoundly powerful. Breathe into the pit of your stomach. As deep as you can. Put your hand on the bottom of your stomach and push your stomach out as you breathe.
While you read this, relax and start breathing deeply. Make sure you breathe in through your nose. Now breathe as deeply as you can, hold it, as long as comfortable then breathe out through your mouth. Would you expect to go to the gym one time and say Great, now I’m fit for life and I’ll never need to work out again!? The answer is no. The same thing applies with breathing. You?ll notice an explosion in how you feel if you take this and use this.
The best thing about deep breathing is it can be done anywhere while you’re doing others things. You can do it while driving, sitting or working at a computer. I advise many of my clients who sit in front of a computer all day to learn to deep breath and keep their circulation moving by doing basic ankle exercises. Do this and the difference in your energy at the end of your day will be noticable.
This tool is simple and can be used anytime, anywhere. It helps lower stress, increase energy, aid mental clarity and infuse every cell in your body with the most precious element for the body, oxygen.
Dr. Edward Steiner has dedicated over 15 years to understanding nutrition and articulating complex information simply. He has worked internationally with indivduals who wish to improve their lives through the proper use of exercise and nutrition. He has condensed the best information he has discovered in 15+ years into one place at http://www.energyboostnow.com.
Showing posts with label energy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label energy. Show all posts
March 1, 2009
February 23, 2009
An Alternative to Aging
Springtime and summer in all its abundance! A time of rebirth and blossoming all around us. Life energy flowing, first slowly, building imperceptibly, as we impatiently wait for the buds to blossom. We know the life force is rising and we want to see it in all its glory: the green, the flowers, the Earth rejoicing! How reassuring that nature is abundantly alive after such a long dormant winter, year after reassuring year. We too, are that. How long have parts of us remained dormant, just waiting to burst forth and blossom?
Yoga itself is a process of unfoldment. For centuries, one of the symbols of yoga has been the thousand petaled lotus, unfolding unfolding, unfolding; reaching deeper and deeper within. As we begin a yoga practice, the first challenge is to overcome the mental and emotional resistance to our inertia, getting our own life force flowing. We challenge the physical limitations of lack of strength and flexibility we feel after perhaps a long period of dormancy. The process of moving comfortably into and out of the poses, maintaining a consistent breathing rhythm and focusing the mind is our process of tuning into the flow of our own life energy. Patience is required, but that flow of life is as surely there within us as it is in nature’s springtime. Its our own personal springtime waiting for us to encourage our life force energy to rise and bloom into summer flower.
Just as different types of plants thrive in different conditions, so do each of us relate differently to different styles of yoga. There are as many different teaching styles as there are yoga teachers. Even those trained in the same traditions bring their own special approach to their classes. Shop around for a yoga teacher that feels nurturing to you and encourages you to unfold at your own pace, in your own way. As we master the physical challenges of yoga, we are also diving deeper into ourselves. The physical yoga is really only the beginning of opening the many layers of petals of our own personal lotus.
We, ourselves, are full of surprises. Our blossoming takes many forms, and a consistent yoga practice can be the springtime nurturing that brings hidden areas of our unfoldment into the summer sunshine. Focused and grounded in our physical form, we can integrate and balance the other areas of our lives into a blossoming of our true potential, an expression of our own powerful, peaceful, precious life paths.
Susan Winter Ward, internationally recognized yoga instructor, author, and video producer, is the creator of Yoga for the Young at Heart?, a multimedia publisher which publishes an informative and inspiring collection of CDRoms, videos, audio tapes, books and television programs, as well as exciting vacation retreats. Her product line is available at: Yoga for the Young at Heart
Yoga itself is a process of unfoldment. For centuries, one of the symbols of yoga has been the thousand petaled lotus, unfolding unfolding, unfolding; reaching deeper and deeper within. As we begin a yoga practice, the first challenge is to overcome the mental and emotional resistance to our inertia, getting our own life force flowing. We challenge the physical limitations of lack of strength and flexibility we feel after perhaps a long period of dormancy. The process of moving comfortably into and out of the poses, maintaining a consistent breathing rhythm and focusing the mind is our process of tuning into the flow of our own life energy. Patience is required, but that flow of life is as surely there within us as it is in nature’s springtime. Its our own personal springtime waiting for us to encourage our life force energy to rise and bloom into summer flower.
Just as different types of plants thrive in different conditions, so do each of us relate differently to different styles of yoga. There are as many different teaching styles as there are yoga teachers. Even those trained in the same traditions bring their own special approach to their classes. Shop around for a yoga teacher that feels nurturing to you and encourages you to unfold at your own pace, in your own way. As we master the physical challenges of yoga, we are also diving deeper into ourselves. The physical yoga is really only the beginning of opening the many layers of petals of our own personal lotus.
We, ourselves, are full of surprises. Our blossoming takes many forms, and a consistent yoga practice can be the springtime nurturing that brings hidden areas of our unfoldment into the summer sunshine. Focused and grounded in our physical form, we can integrate and balance the other areas of our lives into a blossoming of our true potential, an expression of our own powerful, peaceful, precious life paths.
Susan Winter Ward, internationally recognized yoga instructor, author, and video producer, is the creator of Yoga for the Young at Heart?, a multimedia publisher which publishes an informative and inspiring collection of CDRoms, videos, audio tapes, books and television programs, as well as exciting vacation retreats. Her product line is available at: Yoga for the Young at Heart
Bikram Yoga - Hot, New Energy Source
As people search for curative and restorative effects to combat the impact of a chaotic world, Yoga has become very popular in our culture. Yoga is for everyone and can be done by every body. Yoga is the only exercise from which you gain energy instead of burning it and it doesn’t matter how well you do each of the postures, only that you do it the right way. Traditional cardio exercise works on 3-10% of the body, Yoga exercises 100% of the body, from bone to the skin, from head to the toes, and to every organ, gland, tissue and cell.
Bikram Yoga is practiced in a 105 degree heated room and consists of 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises … “So what does the heat do,” you wonder? 105 degrees enhances Vasodilatation, and the capillaries surrounding the muscles respond to heat by dilating and the greater volume of blood brings more oxygen, helping in the removal of waste carbon dioxide and lactic acid. When blood passes through warm muscles, oxygen releases more easily from the hemoglobin, blood passing through cold muscles releases much less oxygen.
Warmer muscle tissue temperatures produce a fluid-like stretch that allows greater elasticity and range of motion. Cold muscles don’t absorb shock or impact as well, so they tend to be injured more easily.
Heat speeds up the breakdown of fatty acids and glucose, and burns fat faster and more easily. The stress of intense exercise drops a deluge of fatty acids into the bloodstream. If you exercise with cold muscles they can’t use the fatty acids as efficiently and they end up in places they aren’t wanted … such as in the lining of the arteries.
Muscles are not the only beneficiaries of heat, higher temperatures improve the nervous system function, meaning messages are carried more rapidly to and from the brain by the spinal cord and other neural transmitters and receptors.
Day by day as Yoga gains popularity, people sweat, strain, laugh and do more for their body, health, and well being than they could ever have imagined with Bikram Hot Yoga.
? 2005 Jolene Schwartz
Jolene Schwartz is a grooming specialist for over 20 years; as a master barber and licensed cosmetologist in her own men?s salon. She launched http://appearancesformen.com e-com site; writing monthly columns about men?s products, lifestyle, and offering the finest in men?s grooming products.
Bikram Yoga is practiced in a 105 degree heated room and consists of 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises … “So what does the heat do,” you wonder? 105 degrees enhances Vasodilatation, and the capillaries surrounding the muscles respond to heat by dilating and the greater volume of blood brings more oxygen, helping in the removal of waste carbon dioxide and lactic acid. When blood passes through warm muscles, oxygen releases more easily from the hemoglobin, blood passing through cold muscles releases much less oxygen.
Warmer muscle tissue temperatures produce a fluid-like stretch that allows greater elasticity and range of motion. Cold muscles don’t absorb shock or impact as well, so they tend to be injured more easily.
Heat speeds up the breakdown of fatty acids and glucose, and burns fat faster and more easily. The stress of intense exercise drops a deluge of fatty acids into the bloodstream. If you exercise with cold muscles they can’t use the fatty acids as efficiently and they end up in places they aren’t wanted … such as in the lining of the arteries.
Muscles are not the only beneficiaries of heat, higher temperatures improve the nervous system function, meaning messages are carried more rapidly to and from the brain by the spinal cord and other neural transmitters and receptors.
Day by day as Yoga gains popularity, people sweat, strain, laugh and do more for their body, health, and well being than they could ever have imagined with Bikram Hot Yoga.
? 2005 Jolene Schwartz
Jolene Schwartz is a grooming specialist for over 20 years; as a master barber and licensed cosmetologist in her own men?s salon. She launched http://appearancesformen.com e-com site; writing monthly columns about men?s products, lifestyle, and offering the finest in men?s grooming products.
Yoga: Adding Balance to Your Life
For 5,000 years, yoga has been a path to good health and conscious living. Would you like to increase your physical vitality, mental clarity, and heighten your spiritual awareness? Regardless of your age or physical condition, yoga can bring you these benefits.
Yoga is training in listening to our bodies. By tuning in through awareness of our breath, through conscious movement in the poses and in the transitions between the poses, we can receive an amazing amount of information from our bodies.
The stuck places, the places in our bodies where energy is blocked, cause us discomfort in order to get our attention. What is that ?stuck place? in your body trying to tell you? You can mentally go inside that place, breathe into the area, expand it with your breath, then relax, open your mind and ask your body what the stuck area is trying to tell you. Be open to the message and you may find the discomfort beginning to melt away.
What are the benefits of yoga?
Yoga has been clinically shown to lower blood pressure, increase circulation, build muscle tissues, increase flexibility, relieve stress and stress-related symptoms, and strengthen the respiratory system. Other benefits can include relief from symptoms of menopause, counteracting osteoporosis, cleansing the internal organs, energizing the nervous system, balancing out the digestive system and obtaining relief from headaches and lower back pain. For caregivers and others with a hectic, stress-filled life, yoga is Yoga is a way to decrease your stress level and increase your stamina and flexibility. Although you may enjoy taking a yoga class, unlike swimming, tennis and many other activities, yoga can be done in your own living room, at any hour of the day or night, without the purchase of any special equipment.
Do I have to stand on my head?
There are as many different styles of yoga as there are yoga teachers. Yoga classes range from very gentle meditative yoga, to very intense and challenging ?power yoga.? It?s important to find a style or a class that is right for your level of ability and for your body. Whatever style of yoga you choose, tune in to your body and do only what feels supportive and beneficial to you.
Although headstands, and shoulder stand, can be an excellent way to improve circulation and concentration, they are not for everyone. In particular, if you have suffered any damage to your neck or back, headstands may not be good for you.
But there?s a yoga style that?s right for everyone. Yoga is now widely taught in yoga centers, YMCAs, on TV, and is available on video, audiotapes and in many of books. Whatever method you choose, be sure to choose a class and teaching style that inspires and is appropriate for you. There as many different yoga styles as there are yoga teachers, so shop around.
Just give it a try. If you?re breathing, you can do yoga. One of the simplest of yoga poses is called ?Savasana,? the corpse pose is the pose of deep relaxation. The idea is to consciously bring your attention to each part of your body and relax it completely, as free from tension as if you were a corpse.
Lie comfortably on your back with a pillow under your knees to support your lower back. Throughout this relaxation exercise, you can first tense the muscles to bring your awareness to them and then completely relax the areas.
Begin with your feet. Consciously tense, then relax, all the muscles in your feet and ankles, then tense and relax the muscles in your calves and knees, then in your thighs, hips, buttocks and lower back.
Relax your groin and abdomen, your ribs, and collarbones, and your upper back. We often carry tension in muscles without knowing it.
After you have relaxed the muscles in your chest, in your arms, shoulders and your neck, you can move on to relax your head and face. Try clenching your jaw and then releasing it; scowling, then releasing your forehead, even tensing the muscles around your ears!
After you have tensed and relaxed every muscle in your body, lie quietly for at least 10 minutes and rest. You will be grateful for the deep relaxation you?ll experience.
A roaring exercise
Another way to relax the muscles in your face is to practice roaring like a lion! Sit comfortably, then open your mouth and eyes very wide, and raise your hands near the sides of your face with the palms out and fingers stretched and breath outwards loudly as if you were roaring. This can be great fun (even if it does look a little silly). It can help expand your lungs and help your face muscles relax.
Susan Winter Ward, internationally recognized yoga instructor, author, and video producer, is the creator of Yoga for the Young at Heart?, a multimedia publisher which publishes an informative and inspiring collection of CDRoms, videos, audio tapes, books and television programs, as well as exciting vacation retreats. Her product line is available at: Yoga for the Young at Heart
Yoga is training in listening to our bodies. By tuning in through awareness of our breath, through conscious movement in the poses and in the transitions between the poses, we can receive an amazing amount of information from our bodies.
The stuck places, the places in our bodies where energy is blocked, cause us discomfort in order to get our attention. What is that ?stuck place? in your body trying to tell you? You can mentally go inside that place, breathe into the area, expand it with your breath, then relax, open your mind and ask your body what the stuck area is trying to tell you. Be open to the message and you may find the discomfort beginning to melt away.
What are the benefits of yoga?
Yoga has been clinically shown to lower blood pressure, increase circulation, build muscle tissues, increase flexibility, relieve stress and stress-related symptoms, and strengthen the respiratory system. Other benefits can include relief from symptoms of menopause, counteracting osteoporosis, cleansing the internal organs, energizing the nervous system, balancing out the digestive system and obtaining relief from headaches and lower back pain. For caregivers and others with a hectic, stress-filled life, yoga is Yoga is a way to decrease your stress level and increase your stamina and flexibility. Although you may enjoy taking a yoga class, unlike swimming, tennis and many other activities, yoga can be done in your own living room, at any hour of the day or night, without the purchase of any special equipment.
Do I have to stand on my head?
There are as many different styles of yoga as there are yoga teachers. Yoga classes range from very gentle meditative yoga, to very intense and challenging ?power yoga.? It?s important to find a style or a class that is right for your level of ability and for your body. Whatever style of yoga you choose, tune in to your body and do only what feels supportive and beneficial to you.
Although headstands, and shoulder stand, can be an excellent way to improve circulation and concentration, they are not for everyone. In particular, if you have suffered any damage to your neck or back, headstands may not be good for you.
But there?s a yoga style that?s right for everyone. Yoga is now widely taught in yoga centers, YMCAs, on TV, and is available on video, audiotapes and in many of books. Whatever method you choose, be sure to choose a class and teaching style that inspires and is appropriate for you. There as many different yoga styles as there are yoga teachers, so shop around.
Just give it a try. If you?re breathing, you can do yoga. One of the simplest of yoga poses is called ?Savasana,? the corpse pose is the pose of deep relaxation. The idea is to consciously bring your attention to each part of your body and relax it completely, as free from tension as if you were a corpse.
Lie comfortably on your back with a pillow under your knees to support your lower back. Throughout this relaxation exercise, you can first tense the muscles to bring your awareness to them and then completely relax the areas.
Begin with your feet. Consciously tense, then relax, all the muscles in your feet and ankles, then tense and relax the muscles in your calves and knees, then in your thighs, hips, buttocks and lower back.
Relax your groin and abdomen, your ribs, and collarbones, and your upper back. We often carry tension in muscles without knowing it.
After you have relaxed the muscles in your chest, in your arms, shoulders and your neck, you can move on to relax your head and face. Try clenching your jaw and then releasing it; scowling, then releasing your forehead, even tensing the muscles around your ears!
After you have tensed and relaxed every muscle in your body, lie quietly for at least 10 minutes and rest. You will be grateful for the deep relaxation you?ll experience.
A roaring exercise
Another way to relax the muscles in your face is to practice roaring like a lion! Sit comfortably, then open your mouth and eyes very wide, and raise your hands near the sides of your face with the palms out and fingers stretched and breath outwards loudly as if you were roaring. This can be great fun (even if it does look a little silly). It can help expand your lungs and help your face muscles relax.
Susan Winter Ward, internationally recognized yoga instructor, author, and video producer, is the creator of Yoga for the Young at Heart?, a multimedia publisher which publishes an informative and inspiring collection of CDRoms, videos, audio tapes, books and television programs, as well as exciting vacation retreats. Her product line is available at: Yoga for the Young at Heart
Yoga?
YOGA? What is this strange and exotic form of exercise that has been turning up in the news lately? Who does it and why? “Yoga” may create images in your mind of an emaciated Indian enunciate sitting in pretzel position, naked on a bed of nails. But, would you believe that those who practice hatha yoga in the good ol’ USA range from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Raquel Welch, from Sting to the Miami Dolphins? The practice is quickly gaining popularity among the health conscious who find that yoga is more effective than pumping iron for building strength and flexibility, more effective than aerobics for building stamina and breath control, and more relaxing than jogging. Its adaptable to any age or physical condition, from super active kids to sedentary seniors, and the benefits of a yoga practice are undeniable.
While our lives seem to be spinning at ever increasing speeds, yoga is emerging as an effective way to slow down and stay balanced while creating physical and mental vitality.
The beginnings of Yoga are lost in the history of India. It has been thought that yoga was originally developed to allow a spiritual seeker to gain complete control over his physical vehicle so that he could meditate uninterrupted for extended periods of time. While there are many branches on the yoga tree, the current popular adaptation of yoga to our modern lifestyle has taken the form of “Hatha Yoga”. This form that tends to focus on “asanas” or poses to build fitness, control, vitality and harmony. The word “Hatha” comes from the Sanskrit “ha” meaning Sun and “tha” meaning moon, expressing the balancing of opposing forces. “Yoga” means “union” or “reintegration.” Together, “hatha yoga” expresses the union or balancing of opposing forces. Through a yoga practice we can create balance, wholeness, health and peace within ourselves.
In this Valentine month of love, what could be more loving than to give yourself the gift of health, vitality and peace? Begin with just a breath, the basis of your life. Try inhaling deeply for 5 counts, hold your breath for 5 counts, and exhale slowly for 5 counts. Repeat 3 to 5 times. Notice how your mind slows down, your body releases tension, and your outlook becomes more relaxed. When we’re relaxed, we’re more patient and loving. By loving and caring for ourselves, we are able to create more peace and love around us.
When I was a kid, my Dad asked me if I could design a chair for people whose knees bent backwards. I’m still working on that one. But since I began doing yoga, I’ve been working on designing a practice for those of us whose knees bend forward many hours a day. What do we do with bodies that ache because we sit, and sit, and sit? We’re a society of “chair people.” We sit for meals, sit for classes, sit in the car, sit at a desk, sit in meetings and movies. We sit to talk on the telephone and watch TV, sit at computers, on planes, on trains, in waiting rooms. Some of us sit due to accident or illness, weakness, or job requirements. Some of us sit because we just have a lazy life style. Do you ever feel that your life has become a series of transitions from one seated location to another?
I don’t think our bodies were meant to live that way! Most chairs aren’t designed to support our bodies with healthy posture. They cause us to slump, curve our spines, push our heads forward or lean us back onto our tailbones. The worst back problem I ever had came after sitting in a seminar room for three days of lectures.
Inactivity can cause stiffness, backache, weakness, constipation, poor circulation, mental dullness, nervousness, cramps, and degeneration. Depressing thoughts. Whatever the reason and wherever you sit, its possible to begin to become fit, even while sitting in your chair.
Yoga, the 5000 year old gift of body/mind balance, can be adapted to a seated stretching program that can counteract the inevitable results of too much sitting. Body awareness, better posture, relief from aches and pains, as well as increased flexibility and strengthening, and a deep sense of relaxation can be achieved right where you are….are you sitting down?
Although a consistent yoga program of standing, balancing, lying poses, and inversions is a more complete practice, yoga need not be relegated to the yoga studio or health club. The time commitment of hours per week can sometimes be difficult to fit in to a busy schedule. Doing a pose or two hourly throughout the day can give you some of the benefits of a yoga practice and help relieve the results of sitting too much. In fact, small efforts while sitting in various daily situations, can contribute greatly to our strength, flexibility, relaxation, increased circulation, stronger respiration, and clarity of mind. Yoga poses adapted to small bites may not have the same intensity as a full yoga class, but the benefits of yoga are readily available to those who nibble on yoga throughout the day.
Those who are physically challenged due to age, illness, or who just can’t do poses on the floor, need not miss out on the many benefits of yoga. Invalids, those confined to wheelchairs or recovering from injury, with their physician’s approval, can benefit from their own adaptation of the breathing and gentle seated poses. Seated yoga can build the strength and flexibility, needed to progress to more and more challenging poses. Breathing, stretching and strengthening can be introduced at a slow pace, gently bringing bodies to new levels of fitness, increasing circulation and bringing in healing “life force” energy.
“Sitting Fit” benefits all of us, regardless of our physical condition. Sitting needs to be balanced with moving, breathing and stretching, so try some of these simple poses for a “mini yoga break.” You’ll feel the difference and return your attention to your work refreshed, more relaxed and with a clearer mind.
Sitting Fit Can Be Done in a Chair … Anytime, Anywhere
Breathing Sit up straight on the edge of your chair, feet flat on the floor directly below your knees. Let your hands rest on your thighs. Take a long, deep breath, and exhale completely. Inhale deeply again, reaching for the ceiling with the crown of your head, lengthening your spine. Continue breathing with full deep inhalations and complete exhalations for 10 to 20 breaths.
As you exhale, slide your shoulder blades down your back, dropping your shoulders away from your ears as you reach through your finger tips. Keep breathing deeply for 3 to 5 breaths. Exhale as you lower your arms.
Shoulder shrugs Inhaling, bring your shoulders up tightly toward your ears. Roll your shoulders back, pressing your shoulder blades tightly together. Exhale as you press your shoulders down toward the floor. Inhaling again, bring your shoulders up again, roll them back and press your shoulder blades together, and release down. Repeat several times and don’t forget to breathe!
Forward Fold Still sitting on the edge of your chair with your feet hip width apart, inhale as you bring your arms out to your sides. Reach forward with your chin as you rotate from your hips, exhaling as you bring your chest toward your thighs. Keep your back flat. With your next exhalation, allow your self to relax, chest on your thighs, arms and head dangling, relaxed. Take 3 to 5 deep, full, relaxing breaths. Inhale as you sit up slowly with a flat back.
Knee Raises Sitting up straight, inhaling as you raise your right knee up in front of you. Grasp your leg in front of your knee with both hands. Keep your back flat as you exhale and draw your knee in toward your chest. Hold it there for 3 to 5 breaths. Release as you exhale. Repeat with your left leg.
Susan Winter Ward, internationally recognized yoga instructor, author, and video producer, is the creator of Yoga for the Young at Heart?, a multimedia publisher which publishes an informative and inspiring collection of CDRoms, videos, audio tapes, books and television programs, as well as exciting vacation retreats. Her product line is available at: Yoga for the Young at Heart
While our lives seem to be spinning at ever increasing speeds, yoga is emerging as an effective way to slow down and stay balanced while creating physical and mental vitality.
The beginnings of Yoga are lost in the history of India. It has been thought that yoga was originally developed to allow a spiritual seeker to gain complete control over his physical vehicle so that he could meditate uninterrupted for extended periods of time. While there are many branches on the yoga tree, the current popular adaptation of yoga to our modern lifestyle has taken the form of “Hatha Yoga”. This form that tends to focus on “asanas” or poses to build fitness, control, vitality and harmony. The word “Hatha” comes from the Sanskrit “ha” meaning Sun and “tha” meaning moon, expressing the balancing of opposing forces. “Yoga” means “union” or “reintegration.” Together, “hatha yoga” expresses the union or balancing of opposing forces. Through a yoga practice we can create balance, wholeness, health and peace within ourselves.
In this Valentine month of love, what could be more loving than to give yourself the gift of health, vitality and peace? Begin with just a breath, the basis of your life. Try inhaling deeply for 5 counts, hold your breath for 5 counts, and exhale slowly for 5 counts. Repeat 3 to 5 times. Notice how your mind slows down, your body releases tension, and your outlook becomes more relaxed. When we’re relaxed, we’re more patient and loving. By loving and caring for ourselves, we are able to create more peace and love around us.
When I was a kid, my Dad asked me if I could design a chair for people whose knees bent backwards. I’m still working on that one. But since I began doing yoga, I’ve been working on designing a practice for those of us whose knees bend forward many hours a day. What do we do with bodies that ache because we sit, and sit, and sit? We’re a society of “chair people.” We sit for meals, sit for classes, sit in the car, sit at a desk, sit in meetings and movies. We sit to talk on the telephone and watch TV, sit at computers, on planes, on trains, in waiting rooms. Some of us sit due to accident or illness, weakness, or job requirements. Some of us sit because we just have a lazy life style. Do you ever feel that your life has become a series of transitions from one seated location to another?
I don’t think our bodies were meant to live that way! Most chairs aren’t designed to support our bodies with healthy posture. They cause us to slump, curve our spines, push our heads forward or lean us back onto our tailbones. The worst back problem I ever had came after sitting in a seminar room for three days of lectures.
Inactivity can cause stiffness, backache, weakness, constipation, poor circulation, mental dullness, nervousness, cramps, and degeneration. Depressing thoughts. Whatever the reason and wherever you sit, its possible to begin to become fit, even while sitting in your chair.
Yoga, the 5000 year old gift of body/mind balance, can be adapted to a seated stretching program that can counteract the inevitable results of too much sitting. Body awareness, better posture, relief from aches and pains, as well as increased flexibility and strengthening, and a deep sense of relaxation can be achieved right where you are….are you sitting down?
Although a consistent yoga program of standing, balancing, lying poses, and inversions is a more complete practice, yoga need not be relegated to the yoga studio or health club. The time commitment of hours per week can sometimes be difficult to fit in to a busy schedule. Doing a pose or two hourly throughout the day can give you some of the benefits of a yoga practice and help relieve the results of sitting too much. In fact, small efforts while sitting in various daily situations, can contribute greatly to our strength, flexibility, relaxation, increased circulation, stronger respiration, and clarity of mind. Yoga poses adapted to small bites may not have the same intensity as a full yoga class, but the benefits of yoga are readily available to those who nibble on yoga throughout the day.
Those who are physically challenged due to age, illness, or who just can’t do poses on the floor, need not miss out on the many benefits of yoga. Invalids, those confined to wheelchairs or recovering from injury, with their physician’s approval, can benefit from their own adaptation of the breathing and gentle seated poses. Seated yoga can build the strength and flexibility, needed to progress to more and more challenging poses. Breathing, stretching and strengthening can be introduced at a slow pace, gently bringing bodies to new levels of fitness, increasing circulation and bringing in healing “life force” energy.
“Sitting Fit” benefits all of us, regardless of our physical condition. Sitting needs to be balanced with moving, breathing and stretching, so try some of these simple poses for a “mini yoga break.” You’ll feel the difference and return your attention to your work refreshed, more relaxed and with a clearer mind.
Sitting Fit Can Be Done in a Chair … Anytime, Anywhere
Breathing Sit up straight on the edge of your chair, feet flat on the floor directly below your knees. Let your hands rest on your thighs. Take a long, deep breath, and exhale completely. Inhale deeply again, reaching for the ceiling with the crown of your head, lengthening your spine. Continue breathing with full deep inhalations and complete exhalations for 10 to 20 breaths.
As you exhale, slide your shoulder blades down your back, dropping your shoulders away from your ears as you reach through your finger tips. Keep breathing deeply for 3 to 5 breaths. Exhale as you lower your arms.
Shoulder shrugs Inhaling, bring your shoulders up tightly toward your ears. Roll your shoulders back, pressing your shoulder blades tightly together. Exhale as you press your shoulders down toward the floor. Inhaling again, bring your shoulders up again, roll them back and press your shoulder blades together, and release down. Repeat several times and don’t forget to breathe!
Forward Fold Still sitting on the edge of your chair with your feet hip width apart, inhale as you bring your arms out to your sides. Reach forward with your chin as you rotate from your hips, exhaling as you bring your chest toward your thighs. Keep your back flat. With your next exhalation, allow your self to relax, chest on your thighs, arms and head dangling, relaxed. Take 3 to 5 deep, full, relaxing breaths. Inhale as you sit up slowly with a flat back.
Knee Raises Sitting up straight, inhaling as you raise your right knee up in front of you. Grasp your leg in front of your knee with both hands. Keep your back flat as you exhale and draw your knee in toward your chest. Hold it there for 3 to 5 breaths. Release as you exhale. Repeat with your left leg.
Susan Winter Ward, internationally recognized yoga instructor, author, and video producer, is the creator of Yoga for the Young at Heart?, a multimedia publisher which publishes an informative and inspiring collection of CDRoms, videos, audio tapes, books and television programs, as well as exciting vacation retreats. Her product line is available at: Yoga for the Young at Heart
Yoga for Life: Vinyasa Flow
Life is a stretch, frequently presenting last-minute,
unexpected change. Through our yoga practice we gain experience at
bending our bodies, our wills, and mind to any task with a certain
amount of equanimity and ease. One of the gifts of yoga is that it teaches
us that true flexibility means adapting to the change in every moment,
while maintaining a spirit of calm, devotion and love. Given the time and
attention we can create our own source of comfort. No matter what the
circumstances we can draw flexibility and strength from our practice
(and our community). This resource allows us tap into a powerful source
of personal energy composed of: physical resiliency, emotional
maturity, and spiritual optimism.
The great yoga master Krishnamacharya emphasized ?Vinyasa? as an
artful approach to living and central to the transformative process of
yoga. ?Vinyasa? literally means ?linking a movement to the breath?, yet
also refers to progressive sequences that are led by the flow of the
breath pattern. These vinyasa sequences are considered ?the sacred
dance of the yogis? referring to the natural, deep rhythm of the breath
acting as the sacred beat. For Krishnamacharya, and his famous
students B.K.S. Iyengar, Bikram Choudry, and P. Jois, Vinyasa yoga is
focused on progressive sequences that unfold with an inherent harmony
and intelligence.
In life, and in Krishnamacharya?s ?viniyoga?, we need to make a careful
assessment before we begin to determine our needs and then build a
complementary step-by-step practice to meet those needs. After
creating the foundation of our practice, paying attention to how we
begin, we can build our practice. We complete our practice, putting the
roof on, being sure we have carefully addressed our stated needs.
The flow of the breath, of life itself, and of a vinyasa practice is well-described by a sailing metaphor. All three require us to synchronize
natural forces that require skill and intuition. Before we take to the ?sea?
we must assess the conditions; boat, wind, tides, waves. These
conditions constantly fluctuate, as do our physical, emotional, and
spiritual states. Then we are ready to build power, take determined
action, and tack with the wind as conditions change. If we get it together
we are in for a fabulous ride!
At the heart of this approach is the deep honoring and attention paid to
the individual. Although Iyengar, Bikram and Jois all came to develop
their own ?brand? of yoga, the notion that any specific yoga prescription
can be given to any person is deeply counter to the teachings of
Krishnamacharya. He stated that the most important thing to remember
about a yogic practice is that ?Yoga should be adapted to the
individual, not the individual to the yoga?.
Karen B. Cohen C.L.C. RYT500 is a wellness coach and master yoga
instructor, writer and speaker residing in a college town in rural Virginia.
Karen leads people to their own limitless supply of creativity and vitality
so that they can express their talent and abilities fully in the world. She
incorporates her expertise in mind-body techniques to work with a wide
spectrum of clients. Karen provides seminars, workshops as well as
individual coaching and training nationally and internationally.
For more
information go to KarenCohenYoga.blogspot.com and RockbridgeCoaching.blogspot.com
unexpected change. Through our yoga practice we gain experience at
bending our bodies, our wills, and mind to any task with a certain
amount of equanimity and ease. One of the gifts of yoga is that it teaches
us that true flexibility means adapting to the change in every moment,
while maintaining a spirit of calm, devotion and love. Given the time and
attention we can create our own source of comfort. No matter what the
circumstances we can draw flexibility and strength from our practice
(and our community). This resource allows us tap into a powerful source
of personal energy composed of: physical resiliency, emotional
maturity, and spiritual optimism.
The great yoga master Krishnamacharya emphasized ?Vinyasa? as an
artful approach to living and central to the transformative process of
yoga. ?Vinyasa? literally means ?linking a movement to the breath?, yet
also refers to progressive sequences that are led by the flow of the
breath pattern. These vinyasa sequences are considered ?the sacred
dance of the yogis? referring to the natural, deep rhythm of the breath
acting as the sacred beat. For Krishnamacharya, and his famous
students B.K.S. Iyengar, Bikram Choudry, and P. Jois, Vinyasa yoga is
focused on progressive sequences that unfold with an inherent harmony
and intelligence.
In life, and in Krishnamacharya?s ?viniyoga?, we need to make a careful
assessment before we begin to determine our needs and then build a
complementary step-by-step practice to meet those needs. After
creating the foundation of our practice, paying attention to how we
begin, we can build our practice. We complete our practice, putting the
roof on, being sure we have carefully addressed our stated needs.
The flow of the breath, of life itself, and of a vinyasa practice is well-described by a sailing metaphor. All three require us to synchronize
natural forces that require skill and intuition. Before we take to the ?sea?
we must assess the conditions; boat, wind, tides, waves. These
conditions constantly fluctuate, as do our physical, emotional, and
spiritual states. Then we are ready to build power, take determined
action, and tack with the wind as conditions change. If we get it together
we are in for a fabulous ride!
At the heart of this approach is the deep honoring and attention paid to
the individual. Although Iyengar, Bikram and Jois all came to develop
their own ?brand? of yoga, the notion that any specific yoga prescription
can be given to any person is deeply counter to the teachings of
Krishnamacharya. He stated that the most important thing to remember
about a yogic practice is that ?Yoga should be adapted to the
individual, not the individual to the yoga?.
Karen B. Cohen C.L.C. RYT500 is a wellness coach and master yoga
instructor, writer and speaker residing in a college town in rural Virginia.
Karen leads people to their own limitless supply of creativity and vitality
so that they can express their talent and abilities fully in the world. She
incorporates her expertise in mind-body techniques to work with a wide
spectrum of clients. Karen provides seminars, workshops as well as
individual coaching and training nationally and internationally.
For more
information go to KarenCohenYoga.blogspot.com and RockbridgeCoaching.blogspot.com
What Mountain?
Hopefully we’re starting to get the message in our goal-oriented culture, that the full life experience is “in the going”, not in “getting there.” What do we miss along the way in the frantic rush to “get there”? Life itself? We miss the process, the richness of fully appreciating where we are in the moment, relaxing into it, and observing ourselves inwardly as we move through our experiences. How often have we reached our goals, gone over the mountain, only to find another mountain!
The style of yoga that I teach is a metaphor or training in relaxing into the process; relaxing into the moment Its referred to as “flow” or “vinyasa” (flowing, in Sanskrit). The emphasis is on the process of moving from one pose into the next, pausing in a pose for 3 to 5 breaths, relaxing, fully experiencing it, and flowing gracefully and gently into the next pose, and so on. How we practice yoga can be a metaphor of how we practice our lives. With tuning into our breath, our life flow, we allow our energy within to carry us along throughout the yoga practice. This brings with it an awareness of our own inner patterns. Where do we rush? Where do we push? What do we do with the discomfort and discipline required in learning a new way of moving and being with ourselves?
A yoga practice can be a microcosm of how we live our lives, if we allow it to to be our mirror. How do you approach your yoga practice? Are you disciplined, rigid in that discipline? Do you give yourself a break when you need to, and honor your body’s limitations? Are you competitive in a yoga class, or with yourself? Do you push to your limit at the beginning of each pose? Do you back away from doing certain poses out of laziness or fear? Do you “listen to your body” and treat it gently with love? How does your attitude toward your practice reflect in your day-to-day lifestyle? Becoming the observer, as well as becoming one with your yoga practice enriches the process of integrating yoga into your life. Let your yoga be your teacher. Slowing down and taking the time to observe your own movement and patterns takes practice. That’s why its called a yoga “practice!”
There is no goal in yoga, there is no place to “get to.” There is always someone who can do the pose “better.” And with about 84,000 yoga poses, (I can’t imagine who counted them,) there is always a new level of any pose to challenge us, another mountain to go over. Isn’t life like that? So what’s the rush? Are we enjoying ourselves, relaxing into our practice of yoga, allowing it to teach us about life itself? We’re not living to compete and beat ourselves up for not climbing more mountains faster, we’re here in this life experience to be happy, to share a joyful, exciting and entertaining journey inwardly, and with each other, and to learn from each other along the way. Let yoga be your teacher.
Susan Winter Ward, internationally recognized yoga instructor, author, and video producer, is the creator of Yoga for the Young at Heart?, a multimedia publisher which publishes an informative and inspiring collection of CDRoms, videos, audio tapes, books and television programs, as well as exciting vacation retreats. Her product line is available at: Yoga for the Young at Heart
The style of yoga that I teach is a metaphor or training in relaxing into the process; relaxing into the moment Its referred to as “flow” or “vinyasa” (flowing, in Sanskrit). The emphasis is on the process of moving from one pose into the next, pausing in a pose for 3 to 5 breaths, relaxing, fully experiencing it, and flowing gracefully and gently into the next pose, and so on. How we practice yoga can be a metaphor of how we practice our lives. With tuning into our breath, our life flow, we allow our energy within to carry us along throughout the yoga practice. This brings with it an awareness of our own inner patterns. Where do we rush? Where do we push? What do we do with the discomfort and discipline required in learning a new way of moving and being with ourselves?
A yoga practice can be a microcosm of how we live our lives, if we allow it to to be our mirror. How do you approach your yoga practice? Are you disciplined, rigid in that discipline? Do you give yourself a break when you need to, and honor your body’s limitations? Are you competitive in a yoga class, or with yourself? Do you push to your limit at the beginning of each pose? Do you back away from doing certain poses out of laziness or fear? Do you “listen to your body” and treat it gently with love? How does your attitude toward your practice reflect in your day-to-day lifestyle? Becoming the observer, as well as becoming one with your yoga practice enriches the process of integrating yoga into your life. Let your yoga be your teacher. Slowing down and taking the time to observe your own movement and patterns takes practice. That’s why its called a yoga “practice!”
There is no goal in yoga, there is no place to “get to.” There is always someone who can do the pose “better.” And with about 84,000 yoga poses, (I can’t imagine who counted them,) there is always a new level of any pose to challenge us, another mountain to go over. Isn’t life like that? So what’s the rush? Are we enjoying ourselves, relaxing into our practice of yoga, allowing it to teach us about life itself? We’re not living to compete and beat ourselves up for not climbing more mountains faster, we’re here in this life experience to be happy, to share a joyful, exciting and entertaining journey inwardly, and with each other, and to learn from each other along the way. Let yoga be your teacher.
Susan Winter Ward, internationally recognized yoga instructor, author, and video producer, is the creator of Yoga for the Young at Heart?, a multimedia publisher which publishes an informative and inspiring collection of CDRoms, videos, audio tapes, books and television programs, as well as exciting vacation retreats. Her product line is available at: Yoga for the Young at Heart
Yoga is Like Sex
Yoga is like sex. You can read about it, hear about it, and watch other people do it, but until you experience it first hand, yourself, you don’t really get it. So what’s the excitement all about? Why is yoga showing up everywhere from auto ads to executive meetings? Why are airlines presenting it to their passengers and why is it featured on Oprah? Kids are doing it in schools; buff athletes are doing it, even pregnant women and the wheelchair-bound. There must be something very seductive about yoga!
If you do yoga, you know that it’s seductive. That delicious feeling of stretching from the inside out; that soothing sensation like warm honey flowing through energized limbs; and the “big payoff” at the end of a practice: floating away into the infinite. You can’t access this in pictures, and yoga isn’t a spectator sport. The real experience is only available to you if you actually do yoga.
Yoga is not just about the beautiful bodies of diehard yogis and yoginis, although fitness is definitely one of the major payoffs, yoga is a path to that illusive center we are all seeking…it’s a path to inner peace. We’re being drawn to yoga by the thousands because we need it; we crave what yoga offers and deeply need the body-mind-spirit connection we experience when we practice the 5000 year old art of yoga.
Increased strength and flexibility, relief from headaches, back problems, sleep troubles, and stress related issues; deep relaxation, feeling energized, powerful, peaceful and centered… Sounds good? These are only a few of the myriad benefits of a yoga practice. Life is so much easier when we feel comfortable in our bodies, relaxed in spirit and come from a peaceful place of power within. Our days become more enjoyable and more relaxed. Our relationships become deeper and more sensitive. The world seems to be more manageable and, rather than reactive, we become positively proactive.
Many people first come to yoga for physical reasons. They want to find relief from back pain or they want to lose weight. They see the external benefits of a yoga practice, but like sex, the internal experience is what keeps them coming back for more.
“This all sounds good,” you say, “but I haven’t bent forward and touched the floor since I was 12. Sure, seems like a good thing to try, but I haven’t exercised since high school! I’d be embarrassed to be seen in those tight yoga clothes… or worse, in a yoga class. I’d make a fool out of myself!” I’ve heard it all… and there’s always a way. Don’t allow your chattering mind or your fragile ego to keep you from discovering the treasures you’ll find through yoga. Yoga is accessible to everybody. All you need to do is make a decision to go for it.
Regardless of your physical ability, yoga can be adapted to be accessible to you. If you are physically challenged, you can do yoga seated in a chair. Even those who are bedridden can do yoga and we can all benefit greatly from “pranayama,” the yoga of the breath.
Too busy? Weave it into your day with seated stretches at your computer, in the airplane, or while standing in line at the bank. Yoga can be subtle, internal and powerful. As you might suspect, I never take “No” for an answer. There’s always a way to do yoga.
Here are a few tips to ease your entry into the world of yoga:
The first step is commitment. My first yoga class was a rude wake-up call. Every injury I’d ever had was talking to me. I thought I was in pretty good shape at 44, but my body’s ability to do those poses was beyond discouraging… I hated it. There was voice inside my head that screamed, “Get me outta here!” But there was a more persistent little voice inside of me that said, “You don’t have to like this, just do it.” I knew, on some level, that I’d be really sorry if I quit so I made a deal with myself to keep going back to yoga class twice a week for a month. No judgments, no analyzing, no deciding “like it or not.” So I pre-paid the classes and took my body to yoga class. After that month, I was hooked. I highly recommend this approach… It changed my life.
Once you get yourself into yoga class, the next biggest challenge is self-acceptance. A yoga teacher of mine once said, “Begin where you are and stay there.” Wise words, and a big relief! After all, there’s no other place to start than by accepting ourselves right where we are and realizing that we’ll never be exactly there again. Every yoga practice is different because we are different, day-to-day, and minute-to-minute. One of the basic lessons we learn from a yoga practice is not to judge ourselves. For most of us, that’s a hard one. Our culture trains us to be competitive. We want to compare ourselves with each other, with the teacher, and especially with our image of what we think we should be able to do. If you want to enjoy your yoga practice, judge not! Watch yourself from the inside; explore the sensations and the new feelings. Experience yourself from the inside out.
Another big hurdle is overcoming the goal-oriented, “Type A” personality approach to yoga; the attitude that the body must conform to perfection and each pose must be the textbook ideal. Give it up! Not a good idea for a number of reasons. First, no body does perfect poses. Not even the teacher, even though you may think so initially. There is no perfect pose. Yoga is a process, not a goal. The perfect pose for your body is different from the perfect pose for my body, or for any other body. The pose that is most integrated and balanced, that give you the best stretch and honors your body’s limits… that is your perfect pose.
Secondly, yoga is a process of unfoldment. The symbol of yoga is the Thousand Petaled Lotus that keeps opening its petals deeper and deeper toward its center. Every time you do a pose, it will be a bit different, you’ll do it at a different level and from a different place within yourself. Allow for those changes and patiently let yoga bring you to deeper levels of each pose as time goes on. After a while you’ll discover that the real yoga isn’t about the external form of the poses, it’s about how you move the energy in your body to create them from the inside out.
And third, honor your body. It’s not about pushing to your limit in every pose. You’ll really regret that the next day! Yoga shouldn’t hurt, and it’s an inside job as to whether or not you’ll experience pleasure or pain. You are in control here. The teacher talks, you do the yoga with your body. Just as we resist psychologically when we get pushed too far too fast (Oh yeah? Just try to make me!), our bodies resist as well. So honor your body’s limits, don’t push; allow, breathe and soften into the poses.
Keep in mind that there are as many different forms of Hatha Yoga (the physical path of yoga) as there are yoga teachers. Every teacher has a unique teaching style, approach and attitude, even if they have been trained in the same yoga lineage. It’s important to shop around for a teacher who is well trained and one who inspires you. Find the teacher that suits your style and don’t be afraid to go to different classes and change teachers as you develop your yoga practice.
Yoga is an amazing journey of self-discovery. The way you approach your yoga practice is a microcosm of the way you approach your life. It’s a truthful mirror, a deep learning and exploration into the depths of the soul. I wish you blessings on your yoga path and light in your journey back to your most beautiful, authentic self.
Susan Winter Ward, internationally recognized yoga instructor, author, and video producer, is the creator of Yoga for the Young at Heart?, a multimedia publisher which publishes an informative and inspiring collection of CDRoms, videos, audio tapes, books and television programs, as well as exciting vacation retreats. Her product line is available at: Yoga for the Young at Heart
If you do yoga, you know that it’s seductive. That delicious feeling of stretching from the inside out; that soothing sensation like warm honey flowing through energized limbs; and the “big payoff” at the end of a practice: floating away into the infinite. You can’t access this in pictures, and yoga isn’t a spectator sport. The real experience is only available to you if you actually do yoga.
Yoga is not just about the beautiful bodies of diehard yogis and yoginis, although fitness is definitely one of the major payoffs, yoga is a path to that illusive center we are all seeking…it’s a path to inner peace. We’re being drawn to yoga by the thousands because we need it; we crave what yoga offers and deeply need the body-mind-spirit connection we experience when we practice the 5000 year old art of yoga.
Increased strength and flexibility, relief from headaches, back problems, sleep troubles, and stress related issues; deep relaxation, feeling energized, powerful, peaceful and centered… Sounds good? These are only a few of the myriad benefits of a yoga practice. Life is so much easier when we feel comfortable in our bodies, relaxed in spirit and come from a peaceful place of power within. Our days become more enjoyable and more relaxed. Our relationships become deeper and more sensitive. The world seems to be more manageable and, rather than reactive, we become positively proactive.
Many people first come to yoga for physical reasons. They want to find relief from back pain or they want to lose weight. They see the external benefits of a yoga practice, but like sex, the internal experience is what keeps them coming back for more.
“This all sounds good,” you say, “but I haven’t bent forward and touched the floor since I was 12. Sure, seems like a good thing to try, but I haven’t exercised since high school! I’d be embarrassed to be seen in those tight yoga clothes… or worse, in a yoga class. I’d make a fool out of myself!” I’ve heard it all… and there’s always a way. Don’t allow your chattering mind or your fragile ego to keep you from discovering the treasures you’ll find through yoga. Yoga is accessible to everybody. All you need to do is make a decision to go for it.
Regardless of your physical ability, yoga can be adapted to be accessible to you. If you are physically challenged, you can do yoga seated in a chair. Even those who are bedridden can do yoga and we can all benefit greatly from “pranayama,” the yoga of the breath.
Too busy? Weave it into your day with seated stretches at your computer, in the airplane, or while standing in line at the bank. Yoga can be subtle, internal and powerful. As you might suspect, I never take “No” for an answer. There’s always a way to do yoga.
Here are a few tips to ease your entry into the world of yoga:
The first step is commitment. My first yoga class was a rude wake-up call. Every injury I’d ever had was talking to me. I thought I was in pretty good shape at 44, but my body’s ability to do those poses was beyond discouraging… I hated it. There was voice inside my head that screamed, “Get me outta here!” But there was a more persistent little voice inside of me that said, “You don’t have to like this, just do it.” I knew, on some level, that I’d be really sorry if I quit so I made a deal with myself to keep going back to yoga class twice a week for a month. No judgments, no analyzing, no deciding “like it or not.” So I pre-paid the classes and took my body to yoga class. After that month, I was hooked. I highly recommend this approach… It changed my life.
Once you get yourself into yoga class, the next biggest challenge is self-acceptance. A yoga teacher of mine once said, “Begin where you are and stay there.” Wise words, and a big relief! After all, there’s no other place to start than by accepting ourselves right where we are and realizing that we’ll never be exactly there again. Every yoga practice is different because we are different, day-to-day, and minute-to-minute. One of the basic lessons we learn from a yoga practice is not to judge ourselves. For most of us, that’s a hard one. Our culture trains us to be competitive. We want to compare ourselves with each other, with the teacher, and especially with our image of what we think we should be able to do. If you want to enjoy your yoga practice, judge not! Watch yourself from the inside; explore the sensations and the new feelings. Experience yourself from the inside out.
Another big hurdle is overcoming the goal-oriented, “Type A” personality approach to yoga; the attitude that the body must conform to perfection and each pose must be the textbook ideal. Give it up! Not a good idea for a number of reasons. First, no body does perfect poses. Not even the teacher, even though you may think so initially. There is no perfect pose. Yoga is a process, not a goal. The perfect pose for your body is different from the perfect pose for my body, or for any other body. The pose that is most integrated and balanced, that give you the best stretch and honors your body’s limits… that is your perfect pose.
Secondly, yoga is a process of unfoldment. The symbol of yoga is the Thousand Petaled Lotus that keeps opening its petals deeper and deeper toward its center. Every time you do a pose, it will be a bit different, you’ll do it at a different level and from a different place within yourself. Allow for those changes and patiently let yoga bring you to deeper levels of each pose as time goes on. After a while you’ll discover that the real yoga isn’t about the external form of the poses, it’s about how you move the energy in your body to create them from the inside out.
And third, honor your body. It’s not about pushing to your limit in every pose. You’ll really regret that the next day! Yoga shouldn’t hurt, and it’s an inside job as to whether or not you’ll experience pleasure or pain. You are in control here. The teacher talks, you do the yoga with your body. Just as we resist psychologically when we get pushed too far too fast (Oh yeah? Just try to make me!), our bodies resist as well. So honor your body’s limits, don’t push; allow, breathe and soften into the poses.
Keep in mind that there are as many different forms of Hatha Yoga (the physical path of yoga) as there are yoga teachers. Every teacher has a unique teaching style, approach and attitude, even if they have been trained in the same yoga lineage. It’s important to shop around for a teacher who is well trained and one who inspires you. Find the teacher that suits your style and don’t be afraid to go to different classes and change teachers as you develop your yoga practice.
Yoga is an amazing journey of self-discovery. The way you approach your yoga practice is a microcosm of the way you approach your life. It’s a truthful mirror, a deep learning and exploration into the depths of the soul. I wish you blessings on your yoga path and light in your journey back to your most beautiful, authentic self.
Susan Winter Ward, internationally recognized yoga instructor, author, and video producer, is the creator of Yoga for the Young at Heart?, a multimedia publisher which publishes an informative and inspiring collection of CDRoms, videos, audio tapes, books and television programs, as well as exciting vacation retreats. Her product line is available at: Yoga for the Young at Heart
Yoga: A Fountain of Youth - REALLY!
Yoga works. It has been clinically shown to lower blood pressure, increase circulation, build muscle tissue, increase flexibility, relieve stress and stress-related symptoms, and strengthen the respiratory system. Other benefits include relief from symptoms of menopause, counteracting osteoporosis, cleansing of internal organs, energizing the nervous system, balancing out the digestive system and relief from headaches and lower back pain. As a spiritual practice, yoga can be a pathway to greater enlightenment. It benefits the body, mind and soul, and the choice to enjoy those benefits is yours.
Choosing to live a full and active life, and to live it comfortably in your body means taking responsibility for your present physical condition, no matter what it may be. Taking good care of yourself deserves a pat on the back, as well as enjoying the benefits of being stronger and healthier. If you know deep down inside that your physical condition leaves something to be desired, what are you willing to do about it?
As we age, we come to realize that “staying in neutral” regarding our health and vitality is not an option anymore. The days when we could demand that our bodies ski, party or hike ten miles without rebellion and next day repercussions are gone. There is no “neutral” anymore. Its not a matter of “do I feel like exercising,” its that everyday we make a choice to become less fit or more fit.
What is your choice in creating the life you want? Are you willing to listen to the messages your body sends you and can you make a commitment to respond to yourself with compassion, love and respect? Health and fitness is a choice. Aging does not automatically mean weakness, pain and degeneration. How do you want to feel? How can you live life to the fullest if you’re dealing with discomfort or pain? Through yoga you can tune in to your body and create a life of strength, vitality, flexibility, and relaxation. You can choose to live a more dynamic and inner-directed life.
For 5000 years, yoga has been a path to health and living consciously in these bodies we inhabit. Here, in the West, we’re just discovering what has been known in India for thousands of years ? that yoga is a personal “fountain of youth.” Through yoga, we can increase our physical vitality, mental clarity, and heighten our spiritual awareness, regardless of our age or physical condition.
Would you enjoy your body serving you more comfortably and with greater strength? Have you heard your body talk to you lately? Yoga is a training in listening to our bodies. By tuning in through awareness of our breath, through conscious movement in the poses and in the transitions between the poses, we can receive an amazing amount of information from our bodies.
The stuck places, the places where energy is blocked, cause us discomfort in order to get our attention. What is that “stuck place” in your body trying to tell you? Yoga helps you tune in and focus your mind on the area of discomfort or contraction. You can mentally go inside it, breathe into the area, expand it with your breath, then relax, open your mind and ask your body what the stuck area is trying to tell you. Be open to the message. When you receive and accept the message is when the healing begins, and your body will tell you that too. The discomfort will begin to melt away, the blockage will open up and you’ll feel free!
I teach a gentle, yet very effective beginning yoga program especially designed for seniors I have been amazed at how quickly so many seniors, even those who have never done any exercise before, have positive results from just two hours of yoga a week. “Yoga for the Young at Heart” is a soothing and healing practice. It creates a format for you to tune in to your body and consciously, with great respect for inevitable limitations, build strength, stamina, flexibility and vitality.
It’s from this place of living life to the fullest, of respecting and nurturing ourselves, that we become relaxed and comfortable. When we are whole and at peace, that’s when our true potential can be expressed. That’s when we create peace within, in our relationships and in all the corners of our world.
We are incredible, powerful spirits having a physical experience. The quality of that experience is in our hands.
Have you heard this before? “You are responsible for your experience!”
Ancient yogis in India took that to an extreme. Imagine choosing to sit naked in the snow and creating such energy within your body that, not only would you not be cold, but steam would rise off your body from the heat you generated!
We choose our experiences, too. Are you “sitting in the snow” in some area of your life? Do you choose to sit there and shiver and moan about how cold you are? OR do you choose to gather your energy, your internal fire and radiate such joy and love around you that you transform your experience and that of everyone around you?
That is the yoga of life, and it begins right here, with your personal yoga practice. Carl Sagan asked, “Why are we here?” I think I’ve discovered why we’re here! To remember why we’re here! Why are you here?
I believe we’re here to grow into our most healthy, creative, and joyful selves, and to create peace and harmony in our corners of the world.
Susan Winter Ward, internationally recognized yoga instructor, author, and video producer, is the creator of Yoga for the Young at Heart?, a multimedia publisher which publishes an informative and inspiring collection of CDRoms, videos, audio tapes, books and television programs, as well as exciting vacation retreats. Her product line is available at: Yoga for the Young at Heart
Choosing to live a full and active life, and to live it comfortably in your body means taking responsibility for your present physical condition, no matter what it may be. Taking good care of yourself deserves a pat on the back, as well as enjoying the benefits of being stronger and healthier. If you know deep down inside that your physical condition leaves something to be desired, what are you willing to do about it?
As we age, we come to realize that “staying in neutral” regarding our health and vitality is not an option anymore. The days when we could demand that our bodies ski, party or hike ten miles without rebellion and next day repercussions are gone. There is no “neutral” anymore. Its not a matter of “do I feel like exercising,” its that everyday we make a choice to become less fit or more fit.
What is your choice in creating the life you want? Are you willing to listen to the messages your body sends you and can you make a commitment to respond to yourself with compassion, love and respect? Health and fitness is a choice. Aging does not automatically mean weakness, pain and degeneration. How do you want to feel? How can you live life to the fullest if you’re dealing with discomfort or pain? Through yoga you can tune in to your body and create a life of strength, vitality, flexibility, and relaxation. You can choose to live a more dynamic and inner-directed life.
For 5000 years, yoga has been a path to health and living consciously in these bodies we inhabit. Here, in the West, we’re just discovering what has been known in India for thousands of years ? that yoga is a personal “fountain of youth.” Through yoga, we can increase our physical vitality, mental clarity, and heighten our spiritual awareness, regardless of our age or physical condition.
Would you enjoy your body serving you more comfortably and with greater strength? Have you heard your body talk to you lately? Yoga is a training in listening to our bodies. By tuning in through awareness of our breath, through conscious movement in the poses and in the transitions between the poses, we can receive an amazing amount of information from our bodies.
The stuck places, the places where energy is blocked, cause us discomfort in order to get our attention. What is that “stuck place” in your body trying to tell you? Yoga helps you tune in and focus your mind on the area of discomfort or contraction. You can mentally go inside it, breathe into the area, expand it with your breath, then relax, open your mind and ask your body what the stuck area is trying to tell you. Be open to the message. When you receive and accept the message is when the healing begins, and your body will tell you that too. The discomfort will begin to melt away, the blockage will open up and you’ll feel free!
I teach a gentle, yet very effective beginning yoga program especially designed for seniors I have been amazed at how quickly so many seniors, even those who have never done any exercise before, have positive results from just two hours of yoga a week. “Yoga for the Young at Heart” is a soothing and healing practice. It creates a format for you to tune in to your body and consciously, with great respect for inevitable limitations, build strength, stamina, flexibility and vitality.
It’s from this place of living life to the fullest, of respecting and nurturing ourselves, that we become relaxed and comfortable. When we are whole and at peace, that’s when our true potential can be expressed. That’s when we create peace within, in our relationships and in all the corners of our world.
We are incredible, powerful spirits having a physical experience. The quality of that experience is in our hands.
Have you heard this before? “You are responsible for your experience!”
Ancient yogis in India took that to an extreme. Imagine choosing to sit naked in the snow and creating such energy within your body that, not only would you not be cold, but steam would rise off your body from the heat you generated!
We choose our experiences, too. Are you “sitting in the snow” in some area of your life? Do you choose to sit there and shiver and moan about how cold you are? OR do you choose to gather your energy, your internal fire and radiate such joy and love around you that you transform your experience and that of everyone around you?
That is the yoga of life, and it begins right here, with your personal yoga practice. Carl Sagan asked, “Why are we here?” I think I’ve discovered why we’re here! To remember why we’re here! Why are you here?
I believe we’re here to grow into our most healthy, creative, and joyful selves, and to create peace and harmony in our corners of the world.
Susan Winter Ward, internationally recognized yoga instructor, author, and video producer, is the creator of Yoga for the Young at Heart?, a multimedia publisher which publishes an informative and inspiring collection of CDRoms, videos, audio tapes, books and television programs, as well as exciting vacation retreats. Her product line is available at: Yoga for the Young at Heart
Healing Hearts with Yoga
Coronary Artery Disease, CAD as referred to in the medical community, is running rampant in our country and is the leading cause of death. Yearly, about 500,000 people die, 600,000 have heart attacks, and 800,000 folks suffer from angina (chest pain caused by blockage or constriction of the coronary arteries.) The incidence of heart disease is increasing and the age at which it occurs is decreasing. The statistics are pretty frightening. Medical intervention techniques are expensive, invasive, and not very effective in the long term. Treating the symptoms is only a stop-gap measure; treating the cause is the real cure.
CAD can be prevented and can be reversed ! We’re talking about a paradigm shift in consciousness here, not just a new medical technique. If we truly understand the cause, we can embrace the cure. And what’s the cause? We’ve heard this all before, high cholesterol, smoking, caffeine, lack of exercise, “Type A” or “workaholic” personality, stress and anxiety. These issues basically represent a disconnection from our innate knowledge of ourselves. If we honor and nurture ourselves, we will eat a healthy diet, exercise, relax, meditate, do yoga, and have deep, meaningful relationships. These self- honoring priorities are the answer to reversing CAD.
In June, a select group of 43 yoga teachers collectively representing over 400 years of yoga experience, gathered with Nischala Devi, one of the developers, and the Director of Stress Management for the hospital-based Dr. Dean Ornish Program for Reversing Heart Disease. In an intense 8 day course, Nischala instructed us in the first Cardiac Teacher Training for yoga teachers. Yoga to reverse Cardiac Disease? Yes!…And it works!
We know that yoga relaxes us and reduces stress. We know that a vegetarian diet is healthier. We know we’re more relaxed and effective if we take time to meditate. We know we need a bit of aerobic exercise daily, and that sharing our lives with friends and family in deep and meaningful ways is of great value for emotional and psychological wellbeing. What we’re discovering, scientifically, is that all of these positive activities combined with yoga heals our hearts.
The program for reversing and preventing Coronary Artery Disease is really very simple, however it takes a steadfast dedication and is actually a lifestyle change for most people. Given the choice of having “open heart bypass” surgery, which is a temporary intervention, or doing yoga and eating vegetables, which is prevention and regression of the disease, which would you choose?
Based on the elements of a healthy lifestyle, you can create more awareness to enable you to make choices that will keep your heart, and the rest of your body, mind and spirit healthy as well. This scientifically proven program consists of four elements: a vegetarian low fat diet, yoga, exercise, and a support group.
Begin with a vegetarian or vegetable based diet Fat is the culprit. Cholesterol, found in animal fats, sticks to the walls of coronary arteries creating plaque. This constricts or shuts down the flow of blood to the heart which starves the heart for oxygen causing “angina” (chest pain,) shortness of breath, and heart damage. The arteries also constrict causing high blood pressure. Sometimes there are no symptoms at all, but heart attack and death are the result. Medically, an angiogram can determine the location of the blockage of the artery. And medically, angioplasty can break up the blockage. Both procedures are very invasive and don’t eliminate the cause of the blockage. From a yogic perspective, a change of diet will address the cause. For reversal of cholesterol blockages eat a vegetarian diet with only 10% fat. For prevention, allow only 20% fat in your diet.
Yoga! The yoga portion of the program is the foundation for success Yoga for cardiac health is a stress management technique, not to be confused with a fitness training. It allows the body to reabsorb the hardened cholesterol, and is effective in healing at a very basic level. One hour and 15 minutes of this yoga program has been shown to be effective. Cardiac yoga has five aspects, all of which are equally important: “asana” or poses, deep relaxation, visualization, breathing, and meditation.
Asana. The “asana” part of the program consists of the poses through which the body stretches, squeezing out the physical tension. The poses free our muscles from tightness, massage our internal organs and sensitize us to become more and more conscious of our bodies. Be gentle with yourself. Tune into your body and stretch only to the level that is comfortable for you. Here is a sampling of some simple poses you can practice:
Neck Stretches. Sitting comfortably in a chair, spine straight, drop your ear toward your right shoulder. Keep your chin slightly tucked toward your throat and your face forward. Feel the stretch on the left side of your neck. As you exhale, gently drop your left shoulder. Now bring your head to the left side and stretch the right side of your neck. Hold for 10 to 15 seconds.
Thigh toward Chest. Sitting in a chair, spine straight, grasp your right leg behind your knee and draw it toward your chest. Be sure to keep your back flat and exhale as you bring your thigh a bit closer. Hold for a few seconds and release. Then do the pose with the left leg.
Cobra Pose. Lie on your stomach with your hands directly under your shoulders, palms flat on the floor, fingers pointing forward. Keep your elbows close to your ribcage as you gently raise your head and chest off the floor. Breathe normally, hold for a few seconds and release.
Forward Bend. Sitting on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you, raise your arms overhead and lift your chest, flattening your back. As you exhale, reach forward stretching toward your toes. Keep your back flat and allow your hands to rest on your legs at a comfortable position. Relax and breathe into the pose. As you come up inhale and raise your arms overhead, then slowly lower them as you exhale.
Deep Relaxation. Deep calming relaxation can release the tensions and stress of everyday life. Its a conscious withdrawal of energy from the physical body and into a place of calm and connection within our deepest self. Most cardiac patients are hard-driving, full power dynamos who have forgotten how to relax, and they’re not alone. Our culture encourages pushing in the fast lane and certainly doesn’t encourage relaxation. For a healthy heart, and to be even more effective in our lives, we must learn to relax. To be at peace in the world we must learn to periodically withdraw from it.
There are a multitude of benefits of Deep Relaxation. It lowers blood pressure and heart rate, lowers cholesterol, reduces angina, reduces anxiety and the need for medication, releases anxiety and improves sleep. It produces the “Relaxation Response” in the parasympathetic nervous system which recharges the nervous system, relaxes the heart and the digestive system.
Here’s how to relax:
Lie down or sit in a comfortable position making sure that all parts of your body are supported.
Close your eyes and scan your body with your mind. Do you feel a tightness or tension anywhere? Is one shoulder tighter than the other? Is your neck tense? Do you feel pain anywhere?
Adjust your body to be even more comfortable.
Bring your attention to your right leg. Stretch it out from your hip, hugging the muscles toward the bones. Raise your leg a little off the floor, and relax it back down again. Roll it from side to side and relax. Then do the other leg.
Bring your attention to your right arm, stretch it out to the side, hugging the muscles to the bones and stretching your hand as wide as possible, make a fist, and release it to your side. Then follow the same process with your left arm.
Squeeze your buttocks, feel your body lift, and then relax down.
Press your belly out as you inhale deeply, and release with a relaxing exhalation. Allow your belly to be soft.
Inhale deeply and allow your ribcage to expand as wide as possible, expanding your lungs. Exhale and let go. Relax.
Draw your shoulders up around your ears. Squeeze them tightly. Roll them back and down, releasing any tension in your neck and shoulders. Roll your head gently from side to side, letting it come to rest at center.
Squeeze your face, pucker your lips, close your jaw, squeeze your eyelids tightly shut and draw your whole face toward your nose. Then release and relax.
Focus your breath. Taking long deep breaths, and as you exhale send the breath through your mind to each of the parts of your body that you just relaxed. Send your breath as a healing balm, searching out the more subtle tensions and releasing them with your exhalation.
Inhale deeply and fill your entire body with relaxation. Bring your attention to your heart and inhale, filling it with peace, centeredness and calm. Realize that this feeling of stillness is your essential self, the place of peace within you from which you may live.
Visualization and imagery. Our minds are incredibly powerful, and our bodies hear and respond to everything we think. Worry and anxiety are the result of imagery. Most of the time we worry about things that never happen, causing physical stress, increased blood pressure and heart rate, lowered immunity, and mental anguish. If our bodies respond to worry, they’ll also respond to positive images and the physical result is healing. Concentrate your attention on an area of your body that needs healing or relaxation. Imagine or visualize it the way it will look to you, seeing it healthy. For example, visualize your heart. Pink, healthy tissue, blood flowing freely through clear, strong arteries, rich red blood flowing out of your heart, through your arteries to feed every cell in your body. Create as graphic an image as you can. Remember, your image is to create healing and your body will believe what you tell it.
Breathing. We can live without food, water, and shelter, for a time, but how long can we live without breathing? Our first inhalation meant life, and our last exhalation will mean death. The way we breathe affects our thoughts, our minds and our emotions. Chronic stress and tension cause shallow breathing, starving our bodies for oxygen and constantly pushing our nervous systems to the edge of a panic response. Control of our breath gives us control of our responses. We’ve all heard “If you’re angry, take a deep breath.” That breath gives pause. It slows us down to give us time to think a different thought, to choose again. Putting space between our thoughts creates relaxation and can be controlled by putting space between our breaths. Begin by noticing your breathing pattern. Are your breaths shallow or deep? Are you breathing only with the tops of your lungs or are you bringing your breath all the way down to your belly? Deep full breathing oxygenates the body, relaxing it, cleansing it and slowing down our emotional reactions.
You can practice controlling your breath with “alternate nostril breathing.” Close your right nostril and deeply through your left nostril. Then close off your left nostril and exhale completely through your right nostril. Take full deep breaths and exhale completely. Alternate as often as you feel comfortable, building up to about 3 minutes. Close your eyes and notice how you feel.
Meditation. When life becomes hectic and stressful its important to have a stress management tool to help us to stay calm. Meditation is a path to creating and maintaining that place of peace and stillness within. When we’re calm and our minds are clear, we’re able to respond to life’s inevitable challenges from a realistic and positive perspective; we have the space in our minds to choose to act appropriately. In a medical study at Duke University, it was shown that people who did stress management after their first heart attack were less likely to have a second.
There are probably thousands and thousands of meditation techniques. The point is to calm the mind and find a technique that you enjoy doing. When you begin to try to calm the mind, it will rebel. Thoughts will be constantly pushing their way in. Be patient, start with short sessions, even just a few minutes at a time and build up to 30 minutes gradually.
To meditate, just begin:
Set up a consistent time and place to meditate. Create the atmosphere, light a candle, use your favorite cushion, light incense; whatever “gets you in the mood.”
Sit up in a comfortable position.
Choose a meditation technique that works for you. Try a few, choose one and stick with it. Meditating on a candle, on your breath, on a word. Writing, walking, meditating on a tone, on the point between your eyebrows. There are many books and tapes on meditation techniques.
As your mind tries to distract you keep bringing it back to your point of focus. If necessary, write down the important thoughts that are coming between you and your calm mind.
Physical aerobic exercise is important. It can be gentle and should very definitely be enjoyable so you’ll do it; about a half an hour a day is effective. Exercise at a comfortable rate so that you can carry on a conversation while you’re doing it. You’ll be exercising your entire body as you walk and talk and share with a friend. Integrate your exercise into your day, climb a few flights of stairs instead of taking the elevator, get a dog to walk with or walk to work with a friend. Sunset is a great time to stroll briskly and relax from the day. The more you walk, the faster you’ll enjoy the benefits of better cardiovascular circulation, overall fitness, stronger respiration, and of course, a healthier heart.
Participate in a support group. Emotional, psychological and spiritual support is valuable for all of us, and especially critical for those who are challenged with a major lifestyle change. The value of interpersonal support systems has been demonstrated in 12 Step Programs, and that type of support is just as valuable for those changing their lifestyle for a healthier heart. Sharing with others opens our hearts, supporting each other heals them.
The medical paradigm is changing. Many medical facilities and insurance companies are embracing stress reduction approaches to healing hearts. We are empowering ourselves, taking responsibility for our health and realizing the importance of loving ourselves and caring about each other. When we heal our hearts in this way, we inevitably heal the world around us. We bring calm, peace and healing wherever we go.
Susan Winter Ward, internationally recognized yoga instructor, author, and video producer, is the creator of Yoga for the Young at Heart?, a multimedia publisher which publishes an informative and inspiring collection of CDRoms, videos, audio tapes, books and television programs, as well as exciting vacation retreats. Her product line is available at: Yoga for the Young at Heart
CAD can be prevented and can be reversed ! We’re talking about a paradigm shift in consciousness here, not just a new medical technique. If we truly understand the cause, we can embrace the cure. And what’s the cause? We’ve heard this all before, high cholesterol, smoking, caffeine, lack of exercise, “Type A” or “workaholic” personality, stress and anxiety. These issues basically represent a disconnection from our innate knowledge of ourselves. If we honor and nurture ourselves, we will eat a healthy diet, exercise, relax, meditate, do yoga, and have deep, meaningful relationships. These self- honoring priorities are the answer to reversing CAD.
In June, a select group of 43 yoga teachers collectively representing over 400 years of yoga experience, gathered with Nischala Devi, one of the developers, and the Director of Stress Management for the hospital-based Dr. Dean Ornish Program for Reversing Heart Disease. In an intense 8 day course, Nischala instructed us in the first Cardiac Teacher Training for yoga teachers. Yoga to reverse Cardiac Disease? Yes!…And it works!
We know that yoga relaxes us and reduces stress. We know that a vegetarian diet is healthier. We know we’re more relaxed and effective if we take time to meditate. We know we need a bit of aerobic exercise daily, and that sharing our lives with friends and family in deep and meaningful ways is of great value for emotional and psychological wellbeing. What we’re discovering, scientifically, is that all of these positive activities combined with yoga heals our hearts.
The program for reversing and preventing Coronary Artery Disease is really very simple, however it takes a steadfast dedication and is actually a lifestyle change for most people. Given the choice of having “open heart bypass” surgery, which is a temporary intervention, or doing yoga and eating vegetables, which is prevention and regression of the disease, which would you choose?
Based on the elements of a healthy lifestyle, you can create more awareness to enable you to make choices that will keep your heart, and the rest of your body, mind and spirit healthy as well. This scientifically proven program consists of four elements: a vegetarian low fat diet, yoga, exercise, and a support group.
Begin with a vegetarian or vegetable based diet Fat is the culprit. Cholesterol, found in animal fats, sticks to the walls of coronary arteries creating plaque. This constricts or shuts down the flow of blood to the heart which starves the heart for oxygen causing “angina” (chest pain,) shortness of breath, and heart damage. The arteries also constrict causing high blood pressure. Sometimes there are no symptoms at all, but heart attack and death are the result. Medically, an angiogram can determine the location of the blockage of the artery. And medically, angioplasty can break up the blockage. Both procedures are very invasive and don’t eliminate the cause of the blockage. From a yogic perspective, a change of diet will address the cause. For reversal of cholesterol blockages eat a vegetarian diet with only 10% fat. For prevention, allow only 20% fat in your diet.
Yoga! The yoga portion of the program is the foundation for success Yoga for cardiac health is a stress management technique, not to be confused with a fitness training. It allows the body to reabsorb the hardened cholesterol, and is effective in healing at a very basic level. One hour and 15 minutes of this yoga program has been shown to be effective. Cardiac yoga has five aspects, all of which are equally important: “asana” or poses, deep relaxation, visualization, breathing, and meditation.
Asana. The “asana” part of the program consists of the poses through which the body stretches, squeezing out the physical tension. The poses free our muscles from tightness, massage our internal organs and sensitize us to become more and more conscious of our bodies. Be gentle with yourself. Tune into your body and stretch only to the level that is comfortable for you. Here is a sampling of some simple poses you can practice:
Neck Stretches. Sitting comfortably in a chair, spine straight, drop your ear toward your right shoulder. Keep your chin slightly tucked toward your throat and your face forward. Feel the stretch on the left side of your neck. As you exhale, gently drop your left shoulder. Now bring your head to the left side and stretch the right side of your neck. Hold for 10 to 15 seconds.
Thigh toward Chest. Sitting in a chair, spine straight, grasp your right leg behind your knee and draw it toward your chest. Be sure to keep your back flat and exhale as you bring your thigh a bit closer. Hold for a few seconds and release. Then do the pose with the left leg.
Cobra Pose. Lie on your stomach with your hands directly under your shoulders, palms flat on the floor, fingers pointing forward. Keep your elbows close to your ribcage as you gently raise your head and chest off the floor. Breathe normally, hold for a few seconds and release.
Forward Bend. Sitting on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you, raise your arms overhead and lift your chest, flattening your back. As you exhale, reach forward stretching toward your toes. Keep your back flat and allow your hands to rest on your legs at a comfortable position. Relax and breathe into the pose. As you come up inhale and raise your arms overhead, then slowly lower them as you exhale.
Deep Relaxation. Deep calming relaxation can release the tensions and stress of everyday life. Its a conscious withdrawal of energy from the physical body and into a place of calm and connection within our deepest self. Most cardiac patients are hard-driving, full power dynamos who have forgotten how to relax, and they’re not alone. Our culture encourages pushing in the fast lane and certainly doesn’t encourage relaxation. For a healthy heart, and to be even more effective in our lives, we must learn to relax. To be at peace in the world we must learn to periodically withdraw from it.
There are a multitude of benefits of Deep Relaxation. It lowers blood pressure and heart rate, lowers cholesterol, reduces angina, reduces anxiety and the need for medication, releases anxiety and improves sleep. It produces the “Relaxation Response” in the parasympathetic nervous system which recharges the nervous system, relaxes the heart and the digestive system.
Here’s how to relax:
Lie down or sit in a comfortable position making sure that all parts of your body are supported.
Close your eyes and scan your body with your mind. Do you feel a tightness or tension anywhere? Is one shoulder tighter than the other? Is your neck tense? Do you feel pain anywhere?
Adjust your body to be even more comfortable.
Bring your attention to your right leg. Stretch it out from your hip, hugging the muscles toward the bones. Raise your leg a little off the floor, and relax it back down again. Roll it from side to side and relax. Then do the other leg.
Bring your attention to your right arm, stretch it out to the side, hugging the muscles to the bones and stretching your hand as wide as possible, make a fist, and release it to your side. Then follow the same process with your left arm.
Squeeze your buttocks, feel your body lift, and then relax down.
Press your belly out as you inhale deeply, and release with a relaxing exhalation. Allow your belly to be soft.
Inhale deeply and allow your ribcage to expand as wide as possible, expanding your lungs. Exhale and let go. Relax.
Draw your shoulders up around your ears. Squeeze them tightly. Roll them back and down, releasing any tension in your neck and shoulders. Roll your head gently from side to side, letting it come to rest at center.
Squeeze your face, pucker your lips, close your jaw, squeeze your eyelids tightly shut and draw your whole face toward your nose. Then release and relax.
Focus your breath. Taking long deep breaths, and as you exhale send the breath through your mind to each of the parts of your body that you just relaxed. Send your breath as a healing balm, searching out the more subtle tensions and releasing them with your exhalation.
Inhale deeply and fill your entire body with relaxation. Bring your attention to your heart and inhale, filling it with peace, centeredness and calm. Realize that this feeling of stillness is your essential self, the place of peace within you from which you may live.
Visualization and imagery. Our minds are incredibly powerful, and our bodies hear and respond to everything we think. Worry and anxiety are the result of imagery. Most of the time we worry about things that never happen, causing physical stress, increased blood pressure and heart rate, lowered immunity, and mental anguish. If our bodies respond to worry, they’ll also respond to positive images and the physical result is healing. Concentrate your attention on an area of your body that needs healing or relaxation. Imagine or visualize it the way it will look to you, seeing it healthy. For example, visualize your heart. Pink, healthy tissue, blood flowing freely through clear, strong arteries, rich red blood flowing out of your heart, through your arteries to feed every cell in your body. Create as graphic an image as you can. Remember, your image is to create healing and your body will believe what you tell it.
Breathing. We can live without food, water, and shelter, for a time, but how long can we live without breathing? Our first inhalation meant life, and our last exhalation will mean death. The way we breathe affects our thoughts, our minds and our emotions. Chronic stress and tension cause shallow breathing, starving our bodies for oxygen and constantly pushing our nervous systems to the edge of a panic response. Control of our breath gives us control of our responses. We’ve all heard “If you’re angry, take a deep breath.” That breath gives pause. It slows us down to give us time to think a different thought, to choose again. Putting space between our thoughts creates relaxation and can be controlled by putting space between our breaths. Begin by noticing your breathing pattern. Are your breaths shallow or deep? Are you breathing only with the tops of your lungs or are you bringing your breath all the way down to your belly? Deep full breathing oxygenates the body, relaxing it, cleansing it and slowing down our emotional reactions.
You can practice controlling your breath with “alternate nostril breathing.” Close your right nostril and deeply through your left nostril. Then close off your left nostril and exhale completely through your right nostril. Take full deep breaths and exhale completely. Alternate as often as you feel comfortable, building up to about 3 minutes. Close your eyes and notice how you feel.
Meditation. When life becomes hectic and stressful its important to have a stress management tool to help us to stay calm. Meditation is a path to creating and maintaining that place of peace and stillness within. When we’re calm and our minds are clear, we’re able to respond to life’s inevitable challenges from a realistic and positive perspective; we have the space in our minds to choose to act appropriately. In a medical study at Duke University, it was shown that people who did stress management after their first heart attack were less likely to have a second.
There are probably thousands and thousands of meditation techniques. The point is to calm the mind and find a technique that you enjoy doing. When you begin to try to calm the mind, it will rebel. Thoughts will be constantly pushing their way in. Be patient, start with short sessions, even just a few minutes at a time and build up to 30 minutes gradually.
To meditate, just begin:
Set up a consistent time and place to meditate. Create the atmosphere, light a candle, use your favorite cushion, light incense; whatever “gets you in the mood.”
Sit up in a comfortable position.
Choose a meditation technique that works for you. Try a few, choose one and stick with it. Meditating on a candle, on your breath, on a word. Writing, walking, meditating on a tone, on the point between your eyebrows. There are many books and tapes on meditation techniques.
As your mind tries to distract you keep bringing it back to your point of focus. If necessary, write down the important thoughts that are coming between you and your calm mind.
Physical aerobic exercise is important. It can be gentle and should very definitely be enjoyable so you’ll do it; about a half an hour a day is effective. Exercise at a comfortable rate so that you can carry on a conversation while you’re doing it. You’ll be exercising your entire body as you walk and talk and share with a friend. Integrate your exercise into your day, climb a few flights of stairs instead of taking the elevator, get a dog to walk with or walk to work with a friend. Sunset is a great time to stroll briskly and relax from the day. The more you walk, the faster you’ll enjoy the benefits of better cardiovascular circulation, overall fitness, stronger respiration, and of course, a healthier heart.
Participate in a support group. Emotional, psychological and spiritual support is valuable for all of us, and especially critical for those who are challenged with a major lifestyle change. The value of interpersonal support systems has been demonstrated in 12 Step Programs, and that type of support is just as valuable for those changing their lifestyle for a healthier heart. Sharing with others opens our hearts, supporting each other heals them.
The medical paradigm is changing. Many medical facilities and insurance companies are embracing stress reduction approaches to healing hearts. We are empowering ourselves, taking responsibility for our health and realizing the importance of loving ourselves and caring about each other. When we heal our hearts in this way, we inevitably heal the world around us. We bring calm, peace and healing wherever we go.
Susan Winter Ward, internationally recognized yoga instructor, author, and video producer, is the creator of Yoga for the Young at Heart?, a multimedia publisher which publishes an informative and inspiring collection of CDRoms, videos, audio tapes, books and television programs, as well as exciting vacation retreats. Her product line is available at: Yoga for the Young at Heart
February 21, 2009
Sitting Fit for Everyone
Public enemy #1 for our bodies….the simple chair. Or is it how we use chairs that’s the problem?
When I was a kid, my Dad asked me if I could design a chair for people whose knees bent backwards. I’m still working on that one. But since I began doing yoga, I’ve been working on designing a practice for those of us whose knees bend forward many hours a day. What do we do with bodies that ache because we sit, and sit, and sit? We’re a society of “chair people.” We sit for meals, sit for classes, sit in the car, sit at a desk, sit in meetings and movies. We sit to talk on the telephone and watch TV, sit at computers, on planes, on trains, in waiting rooms. Some of us sit due to accident or illness, weakness, or job requirements. Some of us sit because we just have a lazy life style. Do you ever feel that your life has become a series of transitions from one seated location to another?
I don’t think our bodies were meant to live that way! Most chairs aren’t designed to support our bodies with healthy posture. They cause us to slump, curve our spines, push our heads forward or lean us back onto our tailbones. The worst back problem I ever had came after sitting in a seminar room for three days of lectures.
Inactivity can cause stiffness, backache, weakness, constipation, poor circulation, mental dullness, nervousness, cramps, and degeneration. Depressing thoughts. Whatever the reason and wherever you sit, its possible to begin to become fit, even while sitting in your chair.
Yoga, the 5000 year old gift of body/mind balance, can be adapted to a seated stretching program that can counteract the inevitable results of too much sitting. Body awareness, better posture, relief from aches and pains, as well as increased flexibility and strengthening, and a deep sense of relaxation can be achieved right where you are….are you sitting down?
Although a consistent yoga program of standing, balancing, lying poses, and inversions is a more complete practice, yoga need not be relegated to the yoga studio or health club. The time commitment of hours per week can sometimes be difficult to fit in to a busy schedule. Doing a pose or two hourly throughout the day can give you some of the benefits of a yoga practice and help relieve the results of sitting too much. In fact, small efforts while sitting in various daily situations, can contribute greatly to our strength, flexibility, relaxation, increased circulation, stronger respiration, and clarity of mind. Yoga poses adapted to small bites may not have the same intensity as a full yoga class, but the benefits of yoga are readily available to those who nibble on yoga throughout the day.
Those who are physically challenged due to age, illness, or who just can’t do poses on the floor, need not miss out on the many benefits of yoga. Invalids, those confined to wheelchairs or recovering from injury, with their physician’s approval, can benefit from their own adaptation of the breathing and gentle seated poses. Seated yoga can build the strength and flexibility, needed to progress to more and more challenging poses. Breathing, stretching and strengthening can be introduced at a slow pace, gently bringing bodies to new levels of fitness, increasing circulation and bringing in healing “life force” energy.
“Sitting Fit” benefits all of us, regardless of our physical condition. Sitting needs to be balanced with moving, breathing and stretching, so try some of these simple poses for a “mini yoga break.” You’ll feel the difference and return your attention to your work refreshed, more relaxed and with a clearer mind.
Sitting Fit Can Be Done in a Chair … Anytime, Anywhere
Breathing Sit up straight on the edge of your chair, feet flat on the floor directly below your knees. Let your hands rest on your thighs. Take a long, deep breath, and exhale completely. Inhale deeply again, reaching for the ceiling with the crown of your head, lengthening your spine. Continue breathing with full deep inhalations and complete exhalations for 10 to 20 breaths.
As you exhale, slide your shoulder blades down your back, dropping your shoulders away from your ears as you reach through your finger tips. Keep breathing deeply for 3 to 5 breaths. Exhale as you lower your arms.
Shoulder shrugs Inhaling, bring your shoulders up tightly toward your ears. Roll your shoulders back, pressing your shoulder blades tightly together. Exhale as you press your shoulders down toward the floor. Inhaling again, bring your shoulders up again, roll them back and press your shoulder blades together, and release down. Repeat several times and don’t forget to breathe!
Forward Fold Still sitting on the edge of your chair with your feet hip width apart, inhale as you bring your arms out to your sides. Reach forward with your chin as you rotate from your hips, exhaling as you bring your chest toward your thighs. Keep your back flat. With your next exhalation, allow your self to relax, chest on your thighs, arms and head dangling, relaxed. Take 3 to 5 deep, full, relaxing breaths. Inhale as you sit up slowly with a flat back.
Knee Raises Sitting up straight, inhaling as you raise your right knee up in front of you. Grasp your leg in front of your knee with both hands. Keep your back flat as you exhale and draw your knee in toward your chest. Hold it there for 3 to 5 breaths. Release as you exhale. Repeat with your left leg.
Susan Winter Ward, internationally recognized yoga instructor, author, and video producer, is the creator of Yoga for the Young at Heart?, a multimedia publisher which publishes an informative and inspiring collection of CDRoms, videos, audio tapes, books and television programs, as well as exciting vacation retreats. Her product line is available at: Yoga for the Young at Heart
When I was a kid, my Dad asked me if I could design a chair for people whose knees bent backwards. I’m still working on that one. But since I began doing yoga, I’ve been working on designing a practice for those of us whose knees bend forward many hours a day. What do we do with bodies that ache because we sit, and sit, and sit? We’re a society of “chair people.” We sit for meals, sit for classes, sit in the car, sit at a desk, sit in meetings and movies. We sit to talk on the telephone and watch TV, sit at computers, on planes, on trains, in waiting rooms. Some of us sit due to accident or illness, weakness, or job requirements. Some of us sit because we just have a lazy life style. Do you ever feel that your life has become a series of transitions from one seated location to another?
I don’t think our bodies were meant to live that way! Most chairs aren’t designed to support our bodies with healthy posture. They cause us to slump, curve our spines, push our heads forward or lean us back onto our tailbones. The worst back problem I ever had came after sitting in a seminar room for three days of lectures.
Inactivity can cause stiffness, backache, weakness, constipation, poor circulation, mental dullness, nervousness, cramps, and degeneration. Depressing thoughts. Whatever the reason and wherever you sit, its possible to begin to become fit, even while sitting in your chair.
Yoga, the 5000 year old gift of body/mind balance, can be adapted to a seated stretching program that can counteract the inevitable results of too much sitting. Body awareness, better posture, relief from aches and pains, as well as increased flexibility and strengthening, and a deep sense of relaxation can be achieved right where you are….are you sitting down?
Although a consistent yoga program of standing, balancing, lying poses, and inversions is a more complete practice, yoga need not be relegated to the yoga studio or health club. The time commitment of hours per week can sometimes be difficult to fit in to a busy schedule. Doing a pose or two hourly throughout the day can give you some of the benefits of a yoga practice and help relieve the results of sitting too much. In fact, small efforts while sitting in various daily situations, can contribute greatly to our strength, flexibility, relaxation, increased circulation, stronger respiration, and clarity of mind. Yoga poses adapted to small bites may not have the same intensity as a full yoga class, but the benefits of yoga are readily available to those who nibble on yoga throughout the day.
Those who are physically challenged due to age, illness, or who just can’t do poses on the floor, need not miss out on the many benefits of yoga. Invalids, those confined to wheelchairs or recovering from injury, with their physician’s approval, can benefit from their own adaptation of the breathing and gentle seated poses. Seated yoga can build the strength and flexibility, needed to progress to more and more challenging poses. Breathing, stretching and strengthening can be introduced at a slow pace, gently bringing bodies to new levels of fitness, increasing circulation and bringing in healing “life force” energy.
“Sitting Fit” benefits all of us, regardless of our physical condition. Sitting needs to be balanced with moving, breathing and stretching, so try some of these simple poses for a “mini yoga break.” You’ll feel the difference and return your attention to your work refreshed, more relaxed and with a clearer mind.
Sitting Fit Can Be Done in a Chair … Anytime, Anywhere
Breathing Sit up straight on the edge of your chair, feet flat on the floor directly below your knees. Let your hands rest on your thighs. Take a long, deep breath, and exhale completely. Inhale deeply again, reaching for the ceiling with the crown of your head, lengthening your spine. Continue breathing with full deep inhalations and complete exhalations for 10 to 20 breaths.
As you exhale, slide your shoulder blades down your back, dropping your shoulders away from your ears as you reach through your finger tips. Keep breathing deeply for 3 to 5 breaths. Exhale as you lower your arms.
Shoulder shrugs Inhaling, bring your shoulders up tightly toward your ears. Roll your shoulders back, pressing your shoulder blades tightly together. Exhale as you press your shoulders down toward the floor. Inhaling again, bring your shoulders up again, roll them back and press your shoulder blades together, and release down. Repeat several times and don’t forget to breathe!
Forward Fold Still sitting on the edge of your chair with your feet hip width apart, inhale as you bring your arms out to your sides. Reach forward with your chin as you rotate from your hips, exhaling as you bring your chest toward your thighs. Keep your back flat. With your next exhalation, allow your self to relax, chest on your thighs, arms and head dangling, relaxed. Take 3 to 5 deep, full, relaxing breaths. Inhale as you sit up slowly with a flat back.
Knee Raises Sitting up straight, inhaling as you raise your right knee up in front of you. Grasp your leg in front of your knee with both hands. Keep your back flat as you exhale and draw your knee in toward your chest. Hold it there for 3 to 5 breaths. Release as you exhale. Repeat with your left leg.
Susan Winter Ward, internationally recognized yoga instructor, author, and video producer, is the creator of Yoga for the Young at Heart?, a multimedia publisher which publishes an informative and inspiring collection of CDRoms, videos, audio tapes, books and television programs, as well as exciting vacation retreats. Her product line is available at: Yoga for the Young at Heart
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