Yoga for Menopause: Fatigue

by NinaRose Light by Melina MezaWhen I was going through perimenopause, the worst symptom I had was fatigue attacks. Although fatigue or exhaustion is a classic symptom of perimenopause, I'm pretty sure I made up the term "fatigue attack" because I needed a special term for how it felt to me. I'm a pretty energetic person who gets a lot of things done in a given day, and my yoga practice during that time was quite athletic. But during that period,...

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Forbes Magazine Gives Yoga a Thumb$ Up

by BaxterView From Above by Melina MezaI love it when capitalist magazines find something good to say about yoga, even if it is how it is making someone lots of money. But in this case, Forbes says yoga might save the US trillions of dollars in lost productivity for our economy. How so, you ask? Why, for a start, by reducing the dropout rate from high schools in this country, rates that shockingly range from 30% in most places...

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Yoga and Menopause: An Overview

by ShariMushroom in Winter by Melina MezaNina and I were talking a while back and we realized that we hadn't yet written any posts on menopause. Well, considering that this physiological episode is a major event in every woman's life, we thought it was about time to take this on, and decided that I should start the ball rolling so to speak. Although each woman’s experience of menopause is very personal and individual, there are certain similarities...

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More Love for Baroreceptors: Supporting Your Head in Restorative Poses

by NinaWhen I first starting taking yoga, I was confused about why my teachers were always rushing put to a folded blanket under my head when I was lying on my back. Something about the position of my head when I was lying on the floor was driving them crazy, but what was it? And why was it such a problem?Later I learned that they were adding this support because, when my head was flat on the floor, due to tightness in my shoulders, my neck was arching...

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Why You Should Love Your Baroreceptors: Stress Management Made Easy

by NinaI found this nice little illustration of baroreceptors that I'm excited to share with you. Okay, I admit it, I'm a little obsessed with baroreceptors. But that's because ever since I found out how our baroreceptors help regulate our blood pressure and I understood how we can use this aspect of our anatomy to switch our nervous systems from fight or flight to relaxation mode, I've not only included supported inverted poses in my practice on...

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Yoga Better than Injections for Low Back Pain

by BaxterA July 18th New York Times blog post entitled Alternatives for Back Pain Relief surprised me when it proclaimed that a modern and widely used treatment method for low back pain is no longer considered effective, especially for chronic or long-standing low back pain. That treatment is the use of injections into the areas of pain. The injections usually contain the inflammation-decreasing drug cortisone, but can also have ingredients like...

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Unclear on the Concept: Yoga as a Treatment

by NinaWet Handle Bars by Melina Meza“A comprehensive review published in May in The Clinical Journal of Pain finds that there is “strong evidence for short-term effectiveness” of yoga against back pain, although whether the benefits last beyond a year is less certain.” — Gretchen Reynolds, NY Times Sunday MagazineIn this Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, there was a short article called “Spinal Trap,” about alternatives for treating back pain. The...

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Friday Q&A: Helping a Student with a Hip Replacement

Hip Joint from BehindQ: I am a relatively new yoga instructor that teaches Gentle Hatha to (mostly) seniors.  Recently, a gentleman came in with bilat hip replacements from 10 and 12 years previous. He rides his bike and is in pretty good shape for a gent in his 60's. His hips were replaced by a posterior approach. How cautious do I need to be with this man? Do we modify mostly in the early days after the operation? Of course, I've modified...

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Steroids and performance enhancing drugs in Sports Supplements? By Veeraj V. Goyaram

Steroids and Other Performance Enhancing Drugs in Sports Supplements?Researched and composed by Veeraj GoyaramArticle published 27 July 2013It is not uncommon for over-the-counter health and sports supplements to contain steroids and other  classified substances that improve performance. Most of us have certainly heard of several cases in the media about products that have been found to contain controlled substances or athletes...

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Yoga and Dementia: Welcome News

by NinaA Rainbow at the Dam by Melina Meza"Dementia Rate Is Found to Drop Sharply, as Forecast”Now that’s the kind of headline I like to see! Yes, an article in the New York Times this week Dementia Rate Is Found to Drop Sharply, as Forecast announced the results of two different studies that showed that the incidence of dementia—in one case in England and Wales and in the other case in Denmark—was declining. And the reasons for this are very exciting...

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