Posts Tagged ‘health’

There are moments in this life… work-at-home husband, homeschooling the kids,  large dog, three new kittens, impending spousal unemployment (read: formerly work-at-home husband somewhere-on-the-golf course)… where the tension just seems to mount.

In mere moments, fear, frustration, and just the build up of stress and anxiety, plain and simple, yanks you by the sharp tongue, unwillingly of course, to that place where all bad energy resides and manifests in bad attitude, negativity and sometimes- ahem- just nasty, toxic interactions with those close to you (read: husband).

We’ve all heard the sage advice to ‘count to ten’, of course.  But my question, as the aspiring yogini I profess to be, is how can my practice enhance my ability to manage my frustration… retard my tendency to fly off the handle… or ease my propensity to suffocate on my anger in seething silence.

I meditate.  I practice.  But sometimes… sometimes… in the heat of the moment… is there something, yogically, I can draw on, to provide me with much needed support to get me through it without letting my anger undermine that which I am working so hard to control?

Or should there be?

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Combined with some form of cardio, yoga is without a doubt and effective choice if you are interested in an alternative to conventional strength training.  I, for one, have never been very good at sticking with a routine of dumbbells and free weights.

If you are looking for a great routine to target the ‘guns’, toning and developing strength in one sha-bang, check out the video below.  Sure, I know that the lovely Miyuki Fox is a model.  Yes, I’m aware that for whatever reason she has about 7 percent body fat, tops.  And OK, so in all likelihood the girl is eight feet tall.  So… I guess I have to admit, those facts alone set her apart from the rest of us in her ability to show off miles of bicep-ial sinew with little to no effort… but please, keep an open mind.  Take a gander… even better, give it a go.

I’m willing to bet, that model or no model, you’ll feel it… and maybe, with a little consistency, you too might be boasting model worthy ‘guns’… OK, perhaps not model worthy, but perhaps a little less chicken wing worthy.  How ’bout that?!

15 original songs, rockin’ yoga music for kids for tons of yoga fun!

Folksy, rockin’, funky and fun, Come Play Yoga! features an eclectic mix of musical styles, including rock, reggae, disco, country, new age, and rhythmic chanting.

Kids can practice yoga along with popular songs from the popular classes at Karma Kids Yoga, or they can just chill out and enjoy the yoga groove. Each track playfully aims to inspire confidence, strength, imagination, and inner-peace, as well as bring a smile to your child’s yoga practice.

Look, I’m not sure I’m buying this trend exactly… but anything that involves chocolate warrants an open mind!!

How often can you say that you let go, relax, completely?  Even if you are one who meditates, meditation is still an activity of engagement and distinct focus.

Savasana, as in any yoga posture, requires a certain focus. However unlike in meditation, rather than constantly directing attention to non-attention, shall we say, it is a practice of directing attention to complete and total relaxation.  An emptying from the scalp to the toes, from the spine to the internal organs.

Allowing oneself to sink, heavy into the earth, easing all tension from muscles and joints, allowing the eyeballs to roll back in the sockets, the tongue to lay heavy at it’s root and the stomach and neighbouring organs to lower into the wall of the spine… oh, while remaining awake of course.

This pose is about letting go entirely.  Proper relaxation is integral to healthy functioning of mind and body providing a clarity of thought, aiding in judgment and desicion making.   And in today’s hectic and increasingly stressful environment, at work and in the home, true relaxation is difficult to come by and to many, difficult to justify.

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What’s your Dosha… and does it matter?

I recently learned that I am of the Pitta pursuasion. I am of medium size and well-proportioned.  I have a medium amount of physical energy and stamina.  I also tend to be intelligent with a sharp wit and a good ability to concentrate.  I am passionate, driven, courageous and enjoy a strong sex drive… but I also have a tendency to blame, can be somewhat irritable (I’m sure I don’t have to look too far to have these last points confirmed….) and am prone to over-spending.

I am Pitta… here me roar!  Or, more likely, ‘speak merely to convey a point’.

And so it is with we, Pittas.  Ye of the somewhat sleepy, skinny-minny Vedas or the sturdier and eternally optimistic Kaphas may tell of a different reality.  As we search for ways in which to achieve balance in all of the various corners of our lives, these characterizations can be fun and even a little helpful.  Understanding our Doshas allow a little better insight into our current mind-body state, which in turn allows for a better understanding, in Ayurvedic terms, of what it is our bodies and minds require.

In most cases we are, not surprisingly, a unique combination of all three Doshas, often dominant in two with one being considerably less significant.  While I introduced this post claiming myself to be Pitta, I’m actually a combination of Pitta and Kapha, mind and body, leaning more heavily to the Pitta.

It’s a fun exercise, really, with a few ideas to help in alleviating some of the issues that go along with an accumulation of Pitta, Kapha or Veda in the body and mind.  So, go take a quiz.  Or another.  Check in with your Dosha and take a little heed of the advice offered, from how to best manage stress (for we, irritable and aggressive Pittas), and how to target a diet better geared to your current Dosha.g

Living out in the sticks as I do, the choices are few and far between for yoga instruction, so retreats offer me the face to face guidance and feedback, not to mention valuable adjustments that are just not possible in my own living room, regardless who I’ve got playing on my TV screen.

However, as much as I love the retreats, inevitably the physical is inextricably combined with the mental, a fact I am never quite fully prepared for.   The yoga is often intense.  The body is challenged, stretched, nudged and eased into deeper representations of the postures.  But as the body opens, lengthens and surrenders… well, a whole lotta other stuff tends to emerge as well. Call me repressed… uptight, perhaps… even hung up.  As a reserved Canadian, I’ll accept each of them, because the fact is, while I wasn’t yet prepared or ready to see my growth on the mat translate to growth in other areas of my life, most of the other attendees were eager and ready to let it happen.

In amongst the fresh insights and perspectives, there were also tears, sobs and outright wails.  As one of only a few other repressed, uptight and hung up participants, I was without doubt, uncomfortable.  But, it was a real eye opener to observe how yoga could prove itself such an effective facilitator in profound awareness and change.

Whether it’s a retreat, a program geared to target not only the physical aspects of a practice but also the mental and spiritual, or simply a class, folks are finding healing on the mat in its many forms.  And, if you read on, you’ll find not surprisingly, that an entirely new brand of psychotherapy is finding legs because of it.

Contrary to popular belief, meditation doesn’t have to happen alone in a room, in full lotus, body silent and still.

No, in fact sometimes the most satisfying meditations happen on your feet, outdoors and covering ground.  Certainly, by now, we are all aware of the benefits of walking.  It has been the foundation to many a weight loss program as it’s inexpensive, outside of a good pair of shoes, it can be done anywhere and anyone can do it.  But can we truly achieve a meditative state by doing it?

Many of us already enjoy walking for some meditative benefits already.  Communing with nature, enjoying fresh air and clearing one’s head, all wonderful aspects to a low-intensity, heart pumping activity that can be done right outside your door.

Up until about two years ago, I walked as I run, not to the beat of my heart or to the sounds of the surrounding outdoors, but to the ear-splitting tunes filling my head.  I will likely always need music to help move and motivate me through a run, but it only took one walk without my earbuds to convert me to the centring, perspective gathering benefits of a brisk walk in peace and quiet rather than a brisk walk, thoughts and mind overwhelmed by the intense beat of drums and base.

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I don’t want to characterize myself as a fair-weather yogini… or, to be more precise, a fair-sinus yogini… but in the spirit of full disclosure, I do believe I am.

The first signs of a cold are one thing.  I work through it, snuffling and snorting a little, until I get back my breath.  Several minutes into Sun Salutations I can count on the excess runny boogers fluid draining away… somewhere.

However, once I am suffering with full-fledged head congestion, I give up the yogic ghost.  I just have no patience for struggling for breath through a narrow passage  in my snot, the diameter of the head of a pin… and only one nostril. Nothing cramps my Ujaii style like a nose full of sticky goo.

I recall asking a new yoga instructor years ago, having spent an entire class fighting with my stuffed head, what her best recommendation was for getting the most out of a practice when congested.  After first a long hesitation, and then stammering, her suggestion was ‘well, maybe, holding Downward Dog?’

Erk!  Yes.  Nothing like draining all of the fluid clogging my head…. back into my head!  And so, in the years since, I have managed through congestion, or more often, bagged it altogether once the thickness in my head and the gasping and choking for breath just became too bothersome.  Ahhhhh… holding Child’s Pose… now, that I can see.

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The Urban Zen Foundation (founded by Donna Karan, www.urbanzen.org) creates, connects, and collaborates to raise awareness and inspire change in the areas of well-being, preserving cultures, and empowering children.

The Well-Being Initiative of the Urban Zen Foundation is committed to changing the current healthcare paradigm to include integrative therapies and promote patient advocacy. Our vision is a healthcare system where the patient is treated, not just the disease… a system where eastern healing techniques, yoga therapy, aromatherapy, and nutrition are used in combination with western medicine in a holistic approach to patient care.

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