Sadhana Sundays with Baxter and Timothy

by Nina

Just a quick announcement that Yoga U will be hosting an interview with Baxter Bell called “Yoga And Healthy Aging: The Evidence And The Promise” this coming Sunday, December 29, 2013 as part of their Sadhana Sundays series. Timothy is also participating in the series with his talk “Yoga And Healing: Building The Body's Innate Ability To Heal,” along with many other well-known yoga teachers. If you’re interested, head on over to http://yogauonline.com/yogaspirit/sadhana-Sundays to register for free!

Autumn Light Festival by Melina Meza

And Happy Holidays, everyone! We’ll be taking a break from posting for a little over a week, and will resume business as usual in the new year on Monday, January 6. See you then!

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To the Ears of Babes

by Baxter

Lelu by Melina Meza

Sometimes the sweetest things can happen during a yoga class. Recently, one of my students sent a description of something that happened when I was leading a Thanksgiving Day class in Montclair community of Oakland to a local reporter. Now it has showed up on the Montclarion website recently. Enjoy!

“Email bag: Reader Brad Newsham shares a story that may give you new faith in humanity. He says a full house at Montclair’s Mountain Yoga (on Thanksgiving morning) was deep into meditation when they overheard a dad and his little girl on the sidewalk below. “You get what you get – and don’t throw any fits,” said the father. Apparently that “Buddha-like parenting wisdom” caused quite a stir in the otherwise silent meditation. “When the ensuing hysteria died down, one Yogi quipped, “Well that’s one kid who might turn out okay,” writes Newsham.”

Happy Holidays, everyone!

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Meditation: Effects on Gene Expression

by Ram

Yoga for Healthy Aging authors have written extensively on the power of meditation (dhyana) and its beneficial effects on so many aspects of life, including, but not limited to, disease and pain, sleep management, control of emotions, stress reduction, depression and weight-reduction goals. In all the above cases it seemed that meditation changed behavioral patterns and enhanced emotional stability. Articles by Baxter (How to Meditate, Thoughts On Dhyana ), Timothy (Starting a Meditation Practice), Brad (Stressed Mind, Stressed Cells), Nina (Meditation and Compassion)  and yours truly (Achieving Stillness in Turbulent Situations, Memory Loss: Meditation to the Rescue) have all provided lucid explanations of ways to meditate, the science of meditation and the effects of meditation on body and mind.

Vine and Wall by Melina Meza

In one of my recent posts, I also discussed meditation’s important role in slowing the progression of age-related cognitive disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. Researchers had demonstrated that meditation reduced hippocampal (the hippocampus is one of the areas of the brain involved in memory) degeneration and improved functional connectivity in those areas of the brain that are affected by Alzheimer's disease (see Memory Loss: Meditation to the Rescue). In response to the above-mentioned article, one of our readers recently sent us the following question:

“What exactly is meditation? At the end of our yoga class my teacher puts us all in a brief meditation session. Each day is different, one day she puts a audio tape and tells us to meditate on it, another day she reads some verses from a book and asks us to meditate on them, a third day she tells us to meditate on a color. I just cannot comprehend these different methods. To me all these are nothing but distractions. So how do I meditate?”

In chapter 3, verse 2 of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, we are introduced to the topic of meditation (dhayana) as follows: “Tatra Pratyaya Ekatanata Dhyanam.” Swami Jnaneshvara () translates this as: “The repeated continuation or uninterrupted stream of that one point of idea/notion is called meditation.” To put it simply, when the mind remains undistracted (still) for a length of time, it is called meditation.

Needless to say, humans inherently fear stillness, as it brings them closer to their true divine nature, which they are not prepared to face. Novices in a meditation practice have a tough time closing their eyes and keeping still in mind and body. It is a very natural response. Hence, in a beginner’s class the teacher usually begins by telling the class to focus on an object, color, flower, and so on. This type of meditation not only allows beginners to focus strongly on one point but it helps to bring their attention back to that focal point when the mind wanders. Another practice might include focusing on some soft music or recitation, engaging the auditory sense. The ultimate goal of the meditation exercise is to be at ease, relaxed and at peace with our surroundings. It is important not to resist any disturbing or distracting influences that come in the way of meditation practice. Everything is a part of meditation, including noise, thoughts, emotions, and resistance from the mind.

Now that I’ve answered our reader’s question about how to meditate, I’m excited to share some news with you about the benefits of the practice. In a new study by researchers in Wisconsin, Spain, and France, mediation seems to trigger very important genetic and physiological changes in the human body. The authors of the study report the first evidence of specific molecular changes in the body following a period of mindfulness meditation. Specifically, the study shows that meditation reduces the expression of several genes associated with inflammation. For more on inflammation, see my article Chronic Inflammation and Yoga.

In this latest study, the researchers investigated the impact of a day of intensive mindfulness practice on the expression of genes involved in several physiological functions. Blood samples from 19 experienced meditators and a control group of 21 subjects with no meditation experience who engaged in leisure activities were analyzed for gene changes. The changes in the gene expression were compared before and after the meditation session. Notably, the experienced meditators showed a marked reduction in the levels of pro-inflammatory genes, which in turn correlated with faster physical recovery from a stressful situation. There was no difference in the tested genes between the two groups of people at the start of the study, clearly suggesting that the pro-inflammatory gene changes were specifically associated with meditation. Interestingly, these same genes are the current targets of anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs. According to the researchers, the research findings set the foundation for future studies to further assess meditation strategies for the treatment of chronic inflammatory conditions. I am very excited because if these studies prove successful, one can use stillness to curb almost all the present day inflammatory-associated maladies, such as, arthritis, thyroid disease, tendonitis, myositis, and neuropathies.

The health benefits from meditation are so strong that scientists are swearing by it and more doctors are recommending the practice to their patients. So it’s no wonder that meditation is going mainstream. I know if I had to choose between anti-inflammatory drugs or calmness of my mind to curb stress and inflammation, I would choose the latter. What about you? 

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Friday Q&A: Bronchitis and Yoga

Q: Every year I seem to get a couple of months of chronic bronchitis.  I have a regular gentle yoga practice, am 63, and am frustrated that when I get a winter cold it seems to settle into my lungs. I am wondering if you have any thoughts on what yoga to practice to strengthen and help heal my lungs.  I looked at your list of topics, but did not see anything that addressed this specific issue. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

A: I happen to be working on this post as I fly home from co-leading a yoga retreat in Mexico, which would have been all well and good except for the fact that I had a cold when I left over a week ago, and now I am still battling with a persistent, non-productive cough that feels like it is in my chest and not my throat. When I slip my doctor hat on, I can’t help but be suspicious that I may have gone from having a typical winter cold to possibly having an acute bronchitis. Bronchitis is an inflammation of the bronchial tree, that part of the lung architecture just down stream from your trachea, which is the biggest part of the tubes that allow air to move from the outside down into the deepest parts of the lungs, the alveoli, where our breathing gases get exchanged. Bronchitis, especially the acute kind, usually implies an infection of some sort, typically a virus or a bacteria, the latter for which antibiotics might be needed to eliminate.

Bronchial Tree

Since my cold showed up nine days ago, I have not felt much like doing a yoga practice! I had a low-grade fever for the first three days, and any mild physical activity left me feeling exhausted, so asana practice seemed like a potentially aggravating idea. Then, when the cough settled in to my chest, lying flat on my back led to more coughing, and deeper breathing also could trigger a coughing fit. So about the only thing I felt up for and that left me feeling a bit more rested afterwards was propping my chest and head up on a long body pillow, and doing yoga nidra practice with the sankalpa: My Immune system is robust! So my personal take-home message for acute bronchitis is that less is more, and that could be true for our reader if the “chronic bronchitis” has already set in for the winter.

Chronic bronchitis is a form of bronchitis that has been around for at least three months in the past two consecutive years and has the other following characteristics: daily cough that produces clear, white, yellow or green mucus, fatigue, slight fever and chills, and chest discomfort. Chronic bronchitis implies a constant irritation or inflammation of the lining of the bronchial tubes, and is often due to a history of cigarette smoking. Other factors can also lead to the chronic form of bronchitis, including air pollution as well as dust or toxic gases in the environment or workplace.

In addition to encouraging smokers to stop and those exposed to environmental factors to make smart changes, western medicine often recommends medications other than antibiotics, which are reserved for situations in which fever or change in color of mucus indicate an acute infection on top of the chronic symptoms. Instead, medicines that improve the symptoms might be recommended, like inhalers that help to dilate or open up the airways to allow easier breathing. And, depending on the overall severity of the symptoms, a very modified yoga practice might be necessary until the chronic bronchitis symptoms resolve for the season.

However, when our reader is in his or her nine months of relative respiratory good health, a combination of yoga practices might help prevent the severity and length of these seasonal bouts. All of the basic balanced yoga practices we have discussed for other conditions that lower the stress response will simultaneously improve immune function, so a regular, daily home asana, pranayama and meditation practice is a must. In particular, asanas that target stretching the tight musculature around the chest and ribs, like Cat/Cow, deep side bends like Gate latch Pose, and backbends like Bridge and Bow that open up the front chest could improve aspects of the overall respiratory system. Basic forward bends and twists will also help to address the entire three-dimensional area of the rib cage and lungs. 

Pranayama focus is also very important here. If there is any hint of asthma as part of the picture, please review my posts on that topic and visit Barbara Benagh’s website to read her insights on modified breath practices. I’d focus on two specific pranayama practices:

1. Improve overall lung capacity by very gradually working to lengthen your inhalation and exhalation. For example, if you find it easy now to do a two second inhalation and a two-second exhalation for a series of six breaths, begin to work towards four-second inhale and four-second exhale (4:4 breath). And when that gets easy, to for 6:6, and so on. Always work in a gentle way and avoid getting short of breath or shaky. If you do get short of breath or shaky, take a break, go down to a lower time ratio and proceed more gradually.
2. Increase muscular strength of the accessory muscles of breathing that are often called into action in breathing conditions like chronic bronchitis by practicing either Kapalabhati, Skull Brightening Breath, or Bastrika, the Bellows breath. By improving the strength and endurance of the accessory muscles of breathing such as the four layers of your superficial abdominal muscles (to mention only a few), you will be improving the stamina of your breathing musculature.  I’ll describe these techniques in a future post. But in the meantime, you can find good descriptions in Richard Rosen’s second book on pranayama, Pranayama Beyond the Fundamentals. And take your time with these techniques by initially doing only 15-30 seconds at a time. Take many days to gradually add more time to your practice.

With all the practices I am recommending here I am assuming that chronic bronchitis is the only health condition you are dealing with. If that is not the case, consult your teacher or a yoga therapist for a more personalized practice that is safe for you.

—Baxter

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In Praise of Gomukhasana (Cow-Face Pose)

by Nina

Because this is turning out to be the almost all-Nina week (don’t worry, all the other regulars will be back soon), I thought today I’d just share with you some more of the beautiful artwork from the current exhibit Yoga: The Art of Transformation at the Smithsonian Museum.

As I was looking through the book, I noticed something surprising to me. While most of the yoga poses we currently do in our yoga classes and in our home practices were developed during the twentieth century (see Authentic Yoga), there are several poses—mostly seated poses—that are quite old. The artwork in this exhibit that portrays yogis in action allows us to see which ones they were. Of course, there are many examples of the classic seated position that we all picture from the past, Lotus pose (Padmasana. But I also noticed how many of these works of art portrayed yogis in a seated position similar to Cow-Face pose (Gomukhasana) legs.

It just happens that this is a pose I practice frequently myself (though not as a meditation pose) because I received advice that stretching my piriformis muscle would help me regain some mobility in my right hip, and Cow-Face pose is one of the best poses for stretching this muscle. And, as it turned out, practicing this pose on a regular basis did increase my hip mobility (see How to Stretch ).

Baxter finds this pose stretches the deep hip muscles in a different way than Sukasana (Seated Crossed Legs), Padmasana (Lotus pose), Baddhakonasana (Cobbler's pose) and Firelog pose, so it can be helpful for those with tight hips who want more mobility. And Shari recommends stretching your piriformis muscle to keep your sacrum happy and healthy. So it was quite amazing for me to see what a common seated poses this for ancient yoga practitioners. And as we haven’t yet taken photographs of one of us doing the pose, I’m so pleased to have some visual examples to show you.

While most of these paintings show the practitioner sitting on the heel of the bottom foot, many of us who aren’t used to this pose, may find this uncomfortable. In that case, sit with your hips on a prop (as in the video), such as a folded blanket, and your bottom foot alongside your hip.

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Doing Yoga Without

by Nina

Yesterday I wrote Cheating at Yoga? about props and how we here at YFHA staff feel it is wise to use them to adapt poses to your body type and/or physical condition. But there are some physical conditions where a prop won’t help. In this case, you can simply modify your poses in certain ways to make them accessible to you.

I was thinking about this because recently a friend told me that she “can’t do yoga” anymore because shoulder injury (as yet undiagnosed). I assured her that she still could because there were a lot of poses that she would still be able to do. She then asked if there were some yoga videos for yoga without arms, and I said that I couldn’t think of any but that most practices (except Sun Salutation practices) could be modified by changing your arm positions or, in some cases, substituting one pose for another. I know all about this because I’ve had two frozen shoulders, which meant even moving my arm was very painful, and I continued to go to a public class and kept up my home practice throughout.

Because lifting caused her pain, I suggested that she avoid all poses where you bear weight on your arms. This would include Downward-Facing Dog, Sun Salutations, and some backbends, such as Upward Bow pose (Urdva Dhanurasana). A modified version of Downward-Facing Dog pose, Half Downward Dog at the Wall, could be substituted for the full pose. Inverted poses, such as Headstand and Shoulderstand, where you bear weight on your shoulders should probably also be avoided. For these, you can do partial inversions, such as Supported Standing Forward Bend and Supported Prasarita Padottanasana (see All About Supported Inversions), where your head rests on a block or other support.

Substitute for Downward-Facing Dog

Even after eliminating those poses, there are still so many other poses someone like her could do, including standing poses, seated twists, seated forward bends, and backbends, such as Locust, where your arms do not bear weight.

But what if even just raising your arms over your head or out to the side causes pain? In this case, in standing poses, you can modify your arm position to one that is more comfortable. For poses where both arms are overhead, such as Tree pose (Vrksasana), Warrior 1 (Virabhadrasana), and Powerful Pose (Utkatasana), bring your hands into Prayer position (Namaste) in front of your heart. You can even take this same arm position in poses such as Triangle pose (Trikonasana) and Extended Side Angle pose (Parsvakonasana), where your arms are out to the side. But you could also practice those poses with just the injured arm alongside your body or with a bent elbow and hand on your hip while your uninjured arm is in the standard position. In other words, just find a position that is comfortable for your injured arm. Feel free to experiment!

Surprisingly, seated forward bends, especially if you are flexible and normally hold onto your feet, can also hurt your shoulder. In this case, for the injured arm, reach it only as far as it can go and use a block underneath to support it. Binding in twists is also not recommended, as it is an intense stretch on the shoulder, but most of us know milder alternatives for the arms in twists.

It’s your practice people, so just make it work for you. Like I said yesterday about using props, this is not cheating! You’re still practicing and that’s all that counts.

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Cheating at Yoga?

by Nina

As I wrote in my post Practicing With Pain, sometimes we get a question from a reader that leaves me feeling sad. This one, from a reader who was accused by a teacher of “cheating,” came in just recently:

Am I a cheater if I use Props?
Cheat/Cheater: (Oxford dictionary): deceive, fraud, deception, a person who behaves dishonestly, a liar



Dear esteemed Writers /Teachers of this blog, I have been practicing yoga for nearly 20 years and have completed 500 hrs of teachers training. I have studied with several master teachers including Judith Lasater, Kofi Busia, Tony Briggs, Tim Miller, David Swenson among others. These days owing to some back and knee issues I use props when required since I know what’s good for me and what can hurt me. Last month I was in a class that saw a new teacher who introduced herself as a teacher with several years of experience and having studied from several well known teachers in this country and in India as well. Despite her impressive background, what surprised me was that in several hip and knee poses when I used the prop or the back wall as a support (for some balancing sequences) she would come to me and say “You are cheating; don’t cheat”. To me the word cheat meant that I was engaging in fraudulent behavior. At the end of the class I confronted her and sought out an apology from her which she refused to do. I have stopped going to her classes. Now my question to you is: Why is anyone a cheater if he/she uses a prop? Do we have to wait for a teacher to tell us to use these supports? If I know my body well and feel the need for a prop, why am I a cheater? Is the use of a belt/block/wall for poses that we feel comfortable akin to engaging in deceit or a dishonest act?

Anyone who has been reading this blog for any period of time—or who even just looks at the photos—knows that we do not consider using props to be cheating. In fact, we consider using props as needed for your body type and physical condition to be a very wise way to practice yoga. So, no, dear reader, we do not agree with the statement that the “use of a belt/block/wall for poses that we feel comfortable akin to engaging in deceit or a dishonest act.” See Yoga Props: An Introduction for a general overview of some of the props we recommend incorporating as needed into your practice.

Baxter protects his hamstrings from tearing by using a prop

I’d say that from our point of view, the only way to “cheat” at yoga is not to practice and then pretend you did. However, there are a lot of different styles of yoga out there, and not every tradition recommends the use of props. So it’s very possible that some of you, as our questioner experienced, may encounter a teacher who is unfamiliar with or does not believe in the use of props. That, of course, does not justify the rudeness of the teacher described above, and it seems wise to me that after such an unpleasant experience with this teacher, our reader decided not to return to class.

But I also think it is wise every time you take a class with a new teacher that you arrive a bit early, introduce yourself to the teacher, and briefly describe any physical problems you may have and let the teacher know you’ll be using props. I have mild arthritis in my right hip, so I always let the teacher know this and assure them, however, that I don’t need special attention as I know how to look after myself by using props and modifications. At that point, the teacher could make clear his or her particular philosophy regarding props, and it would be up to me—if props were discouraged or forbidden—to decide whether or not to take the class.

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Taking Back the "Yoga Body"!

by Nina

Are you familiar with the term “yoga body?” What does it mean to you? Unfortunately, for many people, this term connotes a young, slender, super-bendy woman posing on the cover of a magazine along with promises that doing certain yoga poses will result in a “fierce and fabulous” body, worthy of a photo shoot. Recently, a book cover by yoga teacher Sadie Nardini seems to capitalize on this concept:

Here, a young, attractive and very slender woman, who is not even doing yoga on the cover (really, what is that silly position she’s in?), seems to be promising that in 21 days, you’ll have a body that looks like mine!

Of course, if you’re one of our regular readers, you will know that when we talk about the effects of yoga asana on your body, we’re referring to overall physical health, including strength, flexibility, balance, agility, and reduced stress levels, not the way you will look after practicing for 21 or more days or the advanced poses you’ll be able to show off. So in general we just tend to ignore mainstream media’s obsession with physical beauty and the resulting distortion of yoga practice. Recently, however, some discussions in the blogosphere as well as at my own dining room table made me realize it would be worthwhile to raise my concerns about this disturbing trend and to take back the term “yoga body.”

First of all, there has been the “scandal” over Lululemon’s founder and CEO Chip Wilson’s statements blaming women’s physical “flaws” for problems in the company’s yoga pants. Yes, people, in explaining why certain women found these expensive pants were pilling, Wilson said that “quite frankly some women’s bodies just actually don’t work for it,” and “It’s really about the rubbing through the thighs, how much pressure is there over a period of time and how much they use it.” The take-away here was that if your thighs touch when you stand with your feet together, you don’t have the “yoga body” needed to wear certain “yoga pants.” Do I even have to explain how offensive—and completely antithetical to the real purpose of yoga—this is?

Then, I read some inspiring posts by yoga blogger, Roseanne Harvey, an average-sized yoga practitioner, who decided to test the program in Sadie Nardini’s book and document the results by photographing herself in before and after photos. She decided to do the program for two reasons. The first reason was to test the rather ridiculous time frame being promoted. I’ve already written about the issue of being realistic about the time period required for results (see Take Your Time). But it’s very compelling to see the dramatic before and after photos Roseanne took of herself after doing the program. Spoiler alert: she looks basically the same in both photos, possible even a little rounder in the after photo.

But more importantly, Roseanne wanted to take the opportunity to explore the concept of a “yoga body,” asking some of her favorite yoga writers to weigh in on the topic. And she concluded by saying:

“But I’m starting to feel that the “yoga body” is something that needs to be reclaimed (or possibly even claimed; was it ever ours to begin with?). It needs to be reclaimed from Google, reclaimed from marketers, reclaimed from a fragmented culture that has mixed messages and ideas about the human body.”

Yes, Roseanne! I agree wholeheartedly. So this is me joining your movement! And I’d like to add that while most of the discussion around the term “yoga body” focuses on body image and body weight—certainly vital issues in our culture—what about age? What about the gray hair, wrinkles and sagging flesh that come along with the natural aging of the body? My final inspiration for this writing post was seeing this recent photo of BKS Iyengar on the occasion of his 95th birthday.

How about this as the ultimate “yoga body?” Here is a 95-year old man, complete with sagging flesh, white hair, and wrinkled skin, who is still in good physical and mental health, and who is completely comfortable in his skin. In this case, I really do think the picture itself says it all.

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Friday Q&A: Yoga for Swelling in the Legs (Edema)

Q: I teach a gentle/restorative class on Wednesday evenings and a couple of weeks ago I had a lady come to class who has edema only in her right leg. She had done yoga off and on and was interested in starting back up with yoga. She had limitations of course, but told me that she has had this edema for 4 years and after observing her in that first class, she knew her body well...in what she could do and not do.  Well... she came back for the second class (I am still amazed when they come back) and after class offered for me to feel how much heavier her right leg was than her left... just looking at the leg, it was 2x as big, maybe even a little bit bigger... SO... I lifted her left leg and then the right leg with the edema and I was AMAZED at how heavy that leg was... all that extra weight she was carrying around.  One of the poses I taught that evening was Viparita Karani and she told me it helped her leg.

SO... do you have any suggestions as to what yoga poses would be good for this situation or any other advice?

A: The first thing that jumps out at me is that she only has edema in one leg. Given the fact that she has had this condition for four years now, I’d have to assume she has seen her doctor and has undergone a thorough work-up to figure out the underlying problem causing such significant swelling. It would not be a bad idea, if you feel comfortable asking, to find out if there is a diagnosis, as it could impact how you would address the problem with yoga asana.

As some background, the Mayo Clinic website has this to say about leg swelling, or edema:

“Leg swelling can occur in any part of the legs, including the feet, ankles, calves or thighs. Leg swelling can result either from fluid buildup (fluid retention) or from inflammation in injured or diseased tissues or joints. 

“Many of the causes of leg swelling, such as prolonged standing or sitting or an injury, are relatively harmless in the long term, and your doctor often can easily identify the reason for the problem. Sometimes, however, leg swelling may be a sign of a more serious disorder, such as heart disease or a blood clot. It's important to seek prompt diagnosis and treatment when leg swelling occurs for no apparent reason or is accompanied by apparently unrelated symptoms, such as breathing difficulties or chest pain.”

The list of possible underlying causes is quite impressive and is likely to be a bit overwhelming to the layperson, but for those interested, this Mayo Clinic article on Leg Swelling has that list. The site gives a nice explanation for how the body deals with trying to maintain normal fluid balance in the body:

“Leg swelling caused by the buildup of fluids in leg tissues is known as peripheral edema. Several body systems help maintain the appropriate balance of fluids, including the circulatory system, the lymphatic system and the kidneys. A problem with any one of these systems may contribute to the buildup of fluids. Gravity can also contribute to the accumulation of fluids in your lower limbs, particularly with prolonged standing or sitting."

When there is swelling in only one limb, the causes of the swelling can be different than when both legs or all limbs are involved. In my experience, I have had quite a number of students with swelling in just one arm following surgical treatment for breast cancer. As part of the surgery, several lymph glands are removed from the armpit area, the axilla, to see if the cancer has spread beyond the breast. As a side effect, the normal return flow of lymph fluid from the fingers to the heart is disrupted and leads to chronic swelling on the affected side. There are other causes of one limb swelling, as outlined from the website Healthline.com:

“Some conditions that may cause swelling in just one leg include:

• Blood clots. Clots can cause pooling of fluid and may be accompanied by discoloration and pain. In some instances, clots may cause no pain.
• Weakened veins. Varicose veins, or veins whose walls or valves are weak, can allow blood to pool in the legs. This is a common condition.
• Infection and inflammation. Infection in leg tissues can cause inflammation and increased blood flow to the area. Inflammatory diseases, such as gout or arthritis, can also result in swelling.
• Lymphedema. Blocked lymph channels may be caused by infection, scar tissue, or hereditary conditions. Lymph that can't drain properly results in edema. Lymphedema may also occur after cancer treatments, when the lymph system is impaired by surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy.
• Tumor. Abnormal masses can compress blood vessels and lymph channels, affecting the rate of fluid movement.”

If your student has not yet sought a diagnosis, please encourage her to do so. As to how to address the swelling via yoga, you are already on the right track. Poses where the legs are above the level of the heart, such as Legs Up the Wall pose (Viparita Karani), use gravity to help move the extra fluid in the leg towards the heart. So 10 minutes in Viparita Karani regularly, say twice a day, could be quite helpful. In the book The Woman's Book of Yoga and Health: A Lifelong Guide to Wellness, Patricia Walden has a longer version of Viparita Karani, with variations in which you move your legs into some other positions, such as Upavista Konasana, besides straight up. This would be another good series to try, and your other students may enjoy it as well! Our modified Relaxation pose (Savasana), where the calves rest on the seat of a chair, would be an excellent substitute for flat Relaxation pose. If the prop under the pelvis is uncomfortable, this pose can be done without one. See Easy Inverted pose for more information.

The restorative version of Bridge Pose, where the shoulders and head are on the floor and the torso and legs are supported on two bolsters positioned lengthwise, will also assist in the return of fluid in the legs toward the heart. See All About Supported Inverted Poses for other ideas.

Active use of the leg muscles normally assists the return of blood and lymph fluid from the feet towards the pelvis, as the contraction and relaxation of the leg muscles helps to pump the fluids against gravity in their respective vessels, be they veins or lymph vessels. So some gentle movement practices would also be of potential benefit. Examples include our Dynamic Reclined Hip Stretches, dynamic standing poses such as Warrior 2 Mini Vinyasa, or a modified easy Sun or Moon Salutation. That should give you both a good start. Please let us know how things proceed!

—Baxter

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Yoga for Heart Conditions

by Shari

One of the workshops I teach regularly with my colleague Bonnie Maeda is Yoga for Heart Conditions. Bonnie and I believe that yoga can be so effective for the management of heart disease because it is a holistic health approach that takes into account all of the varied systems of the body —in yoga, the body is part of a greater whole. Yoga is also accessible to all who want to practice, no matter what their physical ability may be. And yoga’s powerful stress management tools, including learning to slow down and breathe deeply, have many beneficial effects on heart health. Several scientific studies have now demonstrated conclusively that learning to breath deeply decreases blood pressure and slows down heart rate by stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system (Relaxation Response) and slowing down the sympathetic nervous system (Fight or Flight Response). And once you learn to become mindful of your breath and of how your body can feel when it is in a relaxed state as opposed to a hyper-arousal state, then conscious, healthy eating is a natural sequel of the yogic approach to health. Finally, learning to move your body (which nourishes all the musculoskeletal, respiratory, lymphatic, and circulatory systems) will help improve heart health.

Today I thought I might give you a little background about heart health, share with you some statistics that I find fascinating, and provide an overview of how yoga can help with heart conditions. To start, the cardiovascular system is made up of the heart, arteries, veins and capillaries, and a pulmonary circuit that transports blood to and from the lungs. The system functions to circulate blood throughout the body, bringing nutrients and oxygen to each and every cell as well as collecting waste products from cell metabolism for elimination by the lungs, skin, kidneys and intestines. The system also functions to deliver hormones and enzymes to specific tissues.

The heart is actually a muscular organ about the size of your fist. The outer layer of the heart muscle is called the myocardium. The heart has four chambers and four valves that function as one-way doors to keep the blood flowing in the proper direction. The heart has its own electrical system that triggers each heartbeat, a regular, coordinated cycle causing the chambers to relax and contract and pump blood through the entire body. There is also a separate artery system (coronary arteries) that runs through the myocardium ensuring that the heart itself receives oxygen and nutrients

Various cardiac conditions include;

• Hypertension: higher than “normal” blood pressure
• Hypotension: lower than “normal” blood pressure
• Atherosclerosis: accumulation of smooth muscle cells, lipids and connective tissue inside the inner most layer of the arterial vessels(plaque build up)
• Coronary artery disease: the three major coronary arteries may be blocked or damaged, and there is decreased blood delivery to the heart muscle
• Congestive heart failure: a clinical syndrome where the heart fails to propel blood forward normally, resulting in congestion in the pulmonary and or systemic circulation, and the diminished blood flow to the tissues causes reduced cardiac output
• Heart attack (myocardiac infarction): occlusion of the coronary arteries with death to the heart muscle cells.
• Dysrhythmias: faster than normal heart rate (tachycardia), slower than normal heart rate (bradycardia), irregular heart beat.

Here are some interesting statistics:

• Heart disease is the number 1 killer in the modern world and more women than men suffer heart attacks.
• Hypertension (high blood pressure) affects 1 in 6 people in the western world and 1/3 of them are unaware they have hypertension.
• Angina (heart pain) attacks most frequently occur between 10-11am.
• Most heart attacks occur on Mondays and more occur in the winter months.
• Emotional stress will most often precipitate heart attacks in women.
• Physical stress will most often precipitate heart attacks in men.
• Dissatisfaction with one’s life, loneliness and unhappy marriages (or relationships) can also increase cardiac risk factors.
• Inflammation, like gum gingivitis and rheumatoid arthritis, is a major factor in heart disease.
• Stress hormones will raise blood pressure and increase heart rate with increasing strain on the heart itself and increasing its need for oxygen.
• Stress will often cause coronary muscle spasms. It takes the body three hours to recover after an episode of intense anger.

So how does yoga fit in with the management of heart conditions? What stimuli do we want to encourage to soothe the nervous system, which in turn affects all the major organ systems in the body? In her post, The Relaxation Response and Yoga, Nina mentioned all the different ways we can use yoga to switch our nervous systems to Relaxation mode, including meditation, breath practices, restorative poses, Relaxation pose and yoga nidra. Deep, slow breathing, including ujjayi breathing and alternate nostril breathing, is found to be extremely effective in calming down our central nervous system. Please refer to Nina, Baxter, and Timothy’s excellent posts on the breath.

Additionally, yoga poses, including both partial and full inverted poses, that stimulate the baroreceptors naturally reduce blood pressure and show the heart rate. Please refer to all the posts that Nina, Baxter, and I have written about what baroreceptors are and how they may be modulated by positional changes of the body. Although there is some disagreement among various sources on which poses to avoid and which to include when trying to manage hypertension (essential idiopathic hypertension), the poses most frequently recommended for their calming benefits include:

Inversions

• Relaxation pose (Savasana) with legs on a chair
• Legs Up the Wall pose (Viparita Karani)
• Supported Bridge Pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana)
• Headstand (Sirsasana), if it is already part of your practice and is comfortable for you
• Shoulderstand (Sarvangasana) if it is already part of your practice and is comfortable for you

(See All About Supported Inverted Poses for more information)

Forward Bends

• Seated Forward Bend (Pascimottanasana)
• Head-Knee Forward Bend (Janu Sirsasana)
• Other forward bend variations

(See for Soothing Yourself with Forward Bends for more information.)

Now some of you may read this list and say, “ I can’t do any of those inversions” or “ I can’t do any of those forward bends.” But the key principle here is how might you modify these poses so you CAN safely do them when considering all the other medical conditions you might also have. For example, propping yourself higher in a seated forward bend, as shown below, can make the pose accessible (and safe) for you.

Everyone can sit on a chair and drape their bodies onto a table or desk for a supported forward bend. And even if you can’t do a classical inversion, everyone can modify Legs Up the Wall pose. It can easily and accessibly be done in bed if there is an available wall for you to put your legs up on or you practice Easy Inverted Pose, which is a bent knee version of Legs Up the Wall pose.

Again the intention is to practice safely and wisely and to try not to put up barriers to prevent yourself from practicing daily.

I’d like to let our San Francisco Bay Area readers know about an upcoming workshop on this topic that Bonnie Maeda, RN and I are doing on December 21, 2013 at Brentwood Yoga Studio in honor of the winter solstice! In this three-hour workshop we’ll be discussing general cardiac physiology and actions, and how the practice of yoga can be an adjunct to self care and health management.

Happy Solstice and be well.

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Depression Accelerates Unhealthy Aging

by Ram

by Melina Meza

In the Sadhana Pada of the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali we are introduced to the eight rungs/limbs/steps of yoga, whose practice helps us develop attention as a tool for discriminating between ignorance and awareness and truth from illusion as the means for liberation or enlightenment. The second limb/step contains five niyamas or observances/practices of self-training and deals with how we relate to ourselves inwardly. One of the five niyamas is santosha, which means “contentment” or “true happiness.” To be contented and happy even while experiencing life’s difficulties is a process of growth through all kinds of circumstances. We need to accept that there is a purpose for everything and cultivate contentment even if the final outcome of the purpose is unforeseen and unfavorable. It also means being happy with what we have rather than being unhappy about what we don't have. Humans in general are never contented with what they possess and are always desirous of some materialistic pleasure, and if these pleasures do not get fulfilled, it triggers depression, discontentment, unhappiness, frustration, anger and loss of mental peace leading to a disharmonious life. If we are truly contented with our needs and justly happy with our lifestyle and what we currently have, it will help us in the journey to absolute truth and the highest realization.

In one of my earlier posts Anger Management: Philosophy, Science, and Yoga, I discussed research studies from health professionals, behavioral scientists, psychologists and others indicating that rage and anger are definitely hazardous to health. Yet another emotional state that triggers unhealthy aging is depression. Past studies have already associated depression with diabetes, cancer, obesity and heart disease. Depression is an extremely complex disease and depressed individuals feel overwhelmed with sadness and loneliness for unknown reasons. Depression prevents an individual from enjoying life. Additionally, its effects go far beyond mood alone as it also impacts energy, sleep, appetite, and physical health. Factors that trigger depression include but are not limited to abuse, certain medications, personal/professional/social conflicts, death or a loss of a loved one, chronic illness, genetics, substance abuse, some traumatic experience, social isolation, and so on.

Now a recent study Major depressive disorder and accelerated cellular aging: results from a large psychiatric cohort study suggests that severe depression may trigger rapid and unhealthy aging. According to this new study, severe depression doesn't just affect the mind, but it also attacks the body on a cellular level and speeds up the aging process. In this study performed jointly by researchers from Netherlands and UC San Francisco, depressed individuals were shown to have accelerated cellular aging by nearly six years, suggesting that these people age significantly faster compared with people without the disorder. The study involved 1,095 patients suffering from severe depression alongside 802 people who had recovered from depression and 510 healthy individuals who had no history of the disorder. Researchers measured the length of cell structures called telomeres, which are "caps" at the end of chromosomes that protect the DNA during cell division. For more on telomeres and longevity, see Baxter’s very informative post Aging, Telomeres, and Yoga.

Normally, telomeres shorten with each cell division and this shortening serves as an index of a cell's aging. Thus, telomeres may be an indicator of longer cell life, and by extension, longer overall lifespan. In the above-mentioned study, depressed individuals had significantly shorter telomeres compared with people in the control group suggesting that cellular aging in people with depression is accelerated by several years. The severity of a person's depression as well as a longer duration of symptoms resulted in an even shorter telomere length. Notably, the results held after controlling for other lifestyle variables—including weight, drinking and smoking—that are also known to contribute to aging. While other research has suggested that lifestyle interventions may have significant benefits for the aging process, it remains to be seen as to whether fruitful interventions for depressed individuals would have an impact on depression and reverse the aging process.

People are looking for ways to bring peace and santosha in their lives and santosha seems to be the most sought after principle in the world today (see Santosha: Happiness and Longevity). The good news is that depression is not an inevitable part of aging, and there are many steps and lifestyle changes that a depressed individual can also take to overcome the symptoms and the challenges they face to bring santosha into their lives. One recommendation is to practice yoga asana, meditation and pranayama, all of which have been shown to reduce the impact of exaggerated stress responses and be helpful for people with severe depression (for suggested practices, see Tamasic and Rajasic Depression and other posts on depression by Nina). Research from several groups has already demonstrated the therapeutic effects of yoga, meditation and pranayama in reducing the parameters of stress, including cortisol, thereby bringing about relief from depression.

Researchers and practitioners alike agree that a combination of yoga, meditation and pranayama is a relatively low-risk, high-yield approach not only to reverse depression and aging but also to improve overall health. The above, together with other findings suggest that depression can be turned into happiness to causally influence health and healthy aging. Albert Ellis, the noted American psychologist once remarked, “You largely constructed your depression. It wasn't given to you. Therefore, you can deconstruct it.” So how about using yoga to deconstruct depression and bring santosha in our own lives!

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Free Download of the book “Yoga: The Art of Transformation” -- NO LONGER AVAILABLE

by Nina

I received an early holiday gift today that I’d like to pass on to you! Some of you may have already heard about the fascinating exhibit at the Smithsonian’s Sackler Gallery of Asian art called “Yoga: The Art of Transformation,” which explores the visual art of yoga. Although I do know a few people who have been able to see that exhibit in person (and I may get to when it comes to San Franciso), many of you I’m sure won’t be able to attend in person.

Update: Although the PDF was briefly available on scribd.com, it has been deleted and I have been asked not to distribute the PDF myself. Instead, to see a preview, please go to asia.si.edu.

In addition to beautiful full-color reproductions of all the images from the exhibit, the book includes essential information about the history of yoga from writers David Gordon White, Tamara I. Sears, Carl W. Ernst, James Mallinson, Joseph S. Alter, Mark Singleton, and Sita Reddy. I think it’s important for us to learn about the history of yoga because it helps dispel a lot of myths about yoga that still tend to get passed around by various yoga teachers and even yoga magazines. One of the most important messages you will take away from the exhibit and/or the book is that in the 2,500 years of yoga’s known existence, there has never been one single type of yoga.

A BBC News Magazine article I read about the exhibit (Sackler Gallery exhibit shows yoga’s complex history) quoted the curator of the exhibit as follows:

"Five years ago I did think I would find that single yoga tradition," says Debra Diamond, curator of the exhibition Yoga: The Art of Transformation at the Smithsonian's Sackler Gallery of Asian Art.

"But yoga constantly transformed and developed over time. Although there are a couple of main goals, there's nothing that shows up in every single yoga path.

"For some traditions it was heightened consciousness and an end to suffering, a way to get out of the cycle of birth, death and re-birth that is so painful. But for other yoga traditions some of the goals were things like supernatural powers and the ability to control other people."

A dramatic example of this is the painting that shows two different factions of yogis at war:

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Regaining Stability—for Free!

by Nina (with Shari)

Many of our readers are already practicing yoga and are taking regular yoga classes. Last week’s Friday Q&A: Ostepenia of the Spine and Headstand is a good example: someone with regular teachers wanted to know if she should continue to practice Headstand after being diagnosed with osteopenia of the spine. But what about people out there who are not already doing yoga? Do we have anything important to say to them? Shouldn’t we be encouraging them to get started, however simply, no matter what their current condition is? And furthermore, what about people who cannot afford to pay for yoga lessons? Although we often say things like ask your teacher, or have your teacher look at your poses, do we have anything useful to say to people who literally cannot afford to pay for an ongoing yoga class?

I’ve been thinking about those questions after reading a moving post on Facebook from a friend. In fact, her post provoked so much thought on my part, I asked her if I could share what she wrote with you. She gave her permission, so here it is:

"I have been discovering something about myself that was made painfully very obvious the other day. A friend posted a study a guy did where he had discovered that those who cannot sit on the floor and get up again without their hands live a shorter time than those who can. So of course I tried it, pulled a muscle, torqued my knee, and crashed into the door jamb. Nothing serious, just a little sore the next day. Anyway, for me that was the culmination of a theory I have been working on for a while: that my fall I took that smashed my face a few years ago not only made me more careful, but actually too careful, to the point where I have very little confidence in my body. As a result, of course I have lost my ability to do these simple things like climb up on stuff or traverse a steep downhill; things that have always thwarted me a little due to my lack of depth perception, but that I could do. Now I have to think twice just stepping off a curb and I'm sick of it. So, my goal is to start re-training my body to be stable and strong, stability being a key factor. I have a bit of research to do, and will take suggestions, but keep in mind there can be absolutely no financial investment at this time, so no trainers or classes or books or videos. If I had money, there is a trainer in town who looks to work on this kind of thing, so when my fortunes change, I hope to look into it."


When I read this statement, my first response was: yoga can help! I’ve actually taken a wonderful workshop from Shari Ser called “Yoga and the Fear of Falling” and I interviewed her about it in Aging and Balance: An Interview with Shari Ser. That’s the very workshop, in fact, that inspired me to ask Shari to contribute to this blog. So I knew I wanted this friend to learn something about how even a few very simple yoga poses could help her improve her balance and move toward having more confidence in her body. But because of her financial problems, I knew I couldn’t just send her to a yoga teacher I trusted. So I wanted to tell her—and others in her position—please don’t think you have to go to class or a personal trainer. You can do so much for yourself at home for absolutely no money at all!

Although people tend to worry about practicing yoga at home that they might not being doing it “right,” basic yoga is actually very safe, and starting to move again is so much healthier than not moving out of fear of hurting yourself. So practicing yoga at home—whether from a free yoga video (there are many online), from a book you find at library (I remember reading that well-known yogi Erich Schiffmann got starting with his yoga practice by practicing from Iyengar’s Light on Yoga), or from our blog or other online resource—is one of the best ways you can start to get in shape for absolutely not money at all. It also provides the advantage of letting you move at your own pace, and customize your practice by including poses that work for you and excluding those that don’t. Although I’m now a trained yoga teacher, when I first started practicing at home many years ago, I hadn’t yet gone through any training, and I just did poses I liked mixed up with poses I wanted to get better at (Rodney Yee and I actually discuss this in the book Yoga: The Poetry of the Body). 

To prove my points, I asked Shari to design a little sequence for my friend so she—and all your readers out there—could see how some very simple and safe movements could help someone who is having balance problems, who has very little or no yoga experience, and has no money to pay for yoga or fitness class.

SHARI'S SEQUENCE

Balance is a multifaceted system. It involves an intricate interplay between a number of our senses. Vision, inner ears, joints and muscles all play a part in how we navigate balance, sometimes successfully and sometimes not (as you have experienced). You have been wise to be cautious after identifying this issue, and you are correct in your assertion that sometimes "too much caution" is detrimental to the ability to move smoothly in your environment. Because yoga is our medium on this blog, I’ll offer some yoga suggestions for you to consider in beginning to start to address your balance challenges.

Begin by exploring Tadasana (Mountain pose), standing with feet body-with apart and your arms by your sides. I like to start my students lying in Tadasana on the floor (with appropriate support, such as a folded blanket, under the head) to sense how the floor supports the different body parts. Notice which parts of your body are touching the floor in the pose and which are not. This is not a passive exploration but an active engagement of body sense. In physical therapy terms,  this “body sense" is called kinesthesia. Here's a good free video of John Schumacher teaching Tadasana!

After you can begin to observe how your body lines up when lying you lie flat on the floor, stand up and to re-create your "Tadasana body" with your back against the wall. Please don't try to push the back of your head against the wall if it doesn't easily reach, but do observe the points of contact of your body to on the wall. Here's a good free video of John Schumacher teaching Tadasana!

Next, step away from the wall to get a sense of your body in space. Start with both of your eyes open. Then try them closed. Next add some movement. Take a breath in, lift your arms overhead, and then exhale, returning your arms to your sides. From there, inhale and raise your arms overhead. Step your left leg back to a wide but comfortable stride. Stay in this position for several breaths. Then inhale and bring your left leg back to the starting (Tadasana) position and relax your arms. Repeat this exercise on the other side, stepping the your right foot back.

Starting again from Tadasana, inhale and bring your arms out to the side (like an airplane’s wings), step your left leg back, then slowly bend your right knee. Take several breaths. Then step forward and relax your arms. Repeat on the second side with by stepping your right leg back and bending your left knee. Do this sequence several times as you warm up.



Next, try a variation on Tree pose (Vrkasana). Stand in Tadasana with your left side near the wall. Shift your weight to the your left leg and lift your right foot on top of your left foot— but try not to have your right toes touch the floor. If needed, you can use your left fingertips on the wall to balance. Actively stand—don't just hang out. "Grow" up from your standing leg, up through the top of your head. Stay for 3 to 5 breaths, then turn around and do the second side.

 Here's a decent video demonstrating Tree pose at the wall. It shows the foot a bit higher, but you can try both ways.

To round out this practice and release any kinks from your body, take practice a Half Downward-Facing Dog Pose at the wall for 30 seconds or so.

Finally, take some time for relaxation. Set a timer for 5 minutes and lie in  Savasana (Relaxation pose), with your calves up on a chair seat if possible. Make sure you are warm enough and allow yourself to relax completely.

This practice should take about 10 minutes, perhaps more if you do more repetitions. This is a great beginner yoga practice that I hope will be challenging but confidence building. Good luck taking "your first step" toward on your yogic journey!

Also see one of Shari's earlier posts Planning a Practice for Improving Balance.

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