A Yoga Offer to Health Care Professionals

by BaxterBefore I can let you in on my offer to health care professionals, I need to give you a little background information on how the offer came to be. As many of you know, I spent the first part of my professional life as a family MD, working in a busy primary care office, dispensing prescriptions for all sorts of diseases and acute illnesses, and sending patients off to see the physical therapist or the MD specialists when the situation warranted...

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On Vacation

Hadley Cove by Brad GibsonThis is just to let you know that our Editor in Chef (that would be me, Nina) will be on vacation next week, so we won't be posting anything on our blog until August. See you th...

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WBPF World Bodybuilding & Physique Sports Championships 2012–Bangkok

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Featured Pose: Eagle Pose Arms (Garudasana)

by Baxter and NinaThis pose from our office yoga series is a wonderful stretch for your middle and upper back and for your neck, which are areas where you may hold a lot of tension. Even thought some of us who are slumped over our computers appear to have wideness in the upper back, you may have noticed there is still quite a bit of tension there. The pose also increases mobility in your shoulders and releases tension from certain parts of your shoulder...

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Mr Malaysia 2012–Team Malacca

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Wednesday Q&A: Arthritis of the Thumbs

Q: I have arthritis of the thumbs. I'm told that it's fairly common in women "of a certain age." I wear thumb braces if I'm lifting or gripping for an extended time. It seldom affects my practice. But I have noticed that I don't have much hand strength. Do you have any suggestions for hand exercises?A: Thanks for writing in about this. In my years as a Family MD and a medical acupuncturist, I have had the occasional patient with complaints of thumb pain at the joint where the wrist bones meets the thumb palm bone, known as the carpo-metacarpal...

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Delaying Joint Replacement

by NinaDid any of you read Jane Brody’s latest article on arthritis Relief for Joints Besieged by Arthritis in the New York Times last week? Well, I did. And as someone who had an orthopedist say to me, “You are heading for a joint replacement. It could be months or it could be years, but there is nothing you can do about it,” I was very struck by her discussion of joint replacement, especially the following quote: “People...

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Mr Malaysia 2012 Official Results

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Mr Malaysia 2012–Day 1 weigh in.

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Friday Q&A: On Your Feet All Day

Q: I liked the comments on flexibility (see Flexibility and Aging).  I would love it, since you addressed the couch person or the sitting person, if you could address the person that stands all day. Is on their feet all day.A: The area that gets tight from standing is your low back. So any type of back-bending is good for counteracting a day spent on your feet. You can do conventional backbends or even bend over the edge of your bed, a table or a counter (the way you back-bend over a yoga horse). Seated forward bends may also help relieve...

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Senarai atlit Mr Malaysia 2012

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Aturcara sempena Kejohanan Bina Badan Mr. Malaysia 2012 – Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

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Yoga Journal Conference Topic Contest Winners!

As we announced recently, Baxter’s going to be teaching at the San Francisco Yoga Journal Conference, January 17 - 21, 2013. For the first time, Baxter will be presenting an all-day workshop on Yoga for Healthy Aging. He’ll also be teaching a two-hour class on Yoga for Arthritis. As many of you know, he was asked to teach one more class and had trouble deciding on the topic. So, because he is so inspired by you, our readers, we had a contest to...

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Cultivating Healthy Posture with a Simple Restorative Pose

by TimothyPoor posture is a common problem that people of any age can have but it is one that tends to worsen over time. Particularly common is the rounding of the upper back into a C-shaped curve, aka Slumpasana. People often hold their heads several inches forward of the body’s plumb line, which can lead to neck and upper back discomfort, among other problems. I’m just back from teaching workshops on therapeutic yoga at Kripalu and the Himalayan...

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Need a Vacation from Your Vacation?

by BaxterIt happened again today. I was asking one of my students about the vacation he recently returned from. And he said, “Oh, man, I am so tired…I didn’t get much sleep ‘cause I was up late and having so much fun.  But now I’m exhausted!” This was only about the third person so far this summer who has shared a similar experience after their “vacation.” It made me wonder if the crazy pace of our western work life is infecting our vacation...

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Got Mindfulness?

by Nina Yesterday I read an Op-Ed piece by Mark Bittman in the NY Times Got Milk? You Don't Need It and I was very surprised to read the following:“This in a country where as many as 50 million people are lactose intolerant, including 90 percent of all Asian-Americans and 75 percent of all African-Americans, Mexican-Americans and Jews.Seventy five percent of all Jews are lactose intolerant? Wow! I’m Jewish and I never even heard this before! When...

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Friday Q&A: Purvottansana (Upward Plank pose) Variations

Q: In yesterday’s post Flexibility and Aging, Shari recommended Purvottanasana as an essential pose for maintaining flexible. But this is a challenging pose for a large number of people. Are there any good alternatives?A: I’m so glad you asked this question! I, myself, was wondering whether I should mention some more accessible variations of Purvottanasana (Upward Plank pose). Then one of our readers, Joanne, left a comment on the post describing how she teaches the pose to her older students using a chair. Before I get to her comment, I’d like...

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Flexibility and Aging

by Shari and NinaShari and I have talked in the past about how essential it is to maintain strength as we age (see Strength and Aging), but I’ve learned from her that it’s equally essential to maintain our flexibility. I thought today I’d talk with her about this important topic. —NinaNina: Why is it important to work on flexibility as we age?Shari: This question kind of has a long answer because we need to define flexibility and how it might change as we age. The first thing is that as we age we tend to only do things we like to. There isn’t anyone...

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Yoga for Healthy Eating: An Interview with Dayna Macy

by NinaAlthough we haven’t addressed the issue so far on this blog, we’re all aware that maintaining healthy eating habits and a healthy weight as we age is vital for healthy aging. As Dr. Timothy McCall says in Yoga As Medicine: “This is a matter of serious concern because there is little doubt that being overweight can have major health consequences, including type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, high blood pressure, heart disease, and some forms...

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Recovering from Ankle Injuries

by BaxterPart 3 today of my series on ankles! This post is for those people with more serious injuries than ankle sprains or with post-surgical repair. Although many of recommendations for acute ankle sprain may apply (see Ankle Sprains), your ankle may have some movement restriction in any of the directions we have covered under Getting to Know Your Ankles (plantar flexion, dorsiflexion, supination, and pronation).  And because of this, you...

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Mr Selangor 2012 Official Result

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Mr Putrajaya 2012 series – Mutalib

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Mr Putrajaya 2012 series – Siddiq

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