Everything You Need to Know About Bower, Part 1

Here at Bodybuilding.com, we decided to migrate to a private Bower registry to use as our artifact repository.  There were numerous growing pains, and we’re hopeful that if we share them with others, maybe they can be spared some groans.

Semantic Versioning (SemVer)

Before we can dive in, first we need to visit the idea of semantic versioning.  The gist of SemVer is this: a version number consists of a triad of numbers, for example: 1.2.3.  The individual numbers are referred to, from left to right, as Major, Minor, and Patch.  As your project develops, you should adjust different sections of the version number depending on how significant the change was between this release and the previous one:

• Increment the Major when releasing a feature that breaks the API and is not backwards-compatible.
• Increment the Minor when releasing a feature that doesn't break the API.
• Increment the Patch when releasing a bug fix (or a dozen).

And that's more or less semantic versioning.  (By the way, did you notice that the SemVer spec is actually versioned using SemVer?  How meta!)

The Subtle Nuances of Node's and Bower's SemVer

But when used with npm and Bower, SemVer is more complicated than that.  There are several pitfalls in the many exceptions, shorthands, and minutiae of the way node-semver handles ranges.

This information is technically available in the version section of the node-semver README.  Go ahead, read that document; we dare you.  I'll wait...

Ah.  Back already?  Right, because that documentation reads like, well, Git documentation.  It's obtuse and assumes you're a lawyer.

It's simple enough to say, "This bug fix is a patch release, therefore my new version is x.y.z+1."  But when you need to say, "My software depends on library X and library Y, and specifically these versions," Bower can accommodate, by expanding the SemVer spec with some extra syntax.

You can use >, >=, <, <=, and ^ and ~ to ask for the latest within a range of versions.  For example, >=1.2.3 will resolve to the latest version, as long as it's at least 1.2.3, but under 2.0.0.  >=1.2.3 <1.3.0 will resolve to any 1.2.x version, as long as x is at least 3.  ^ is shorthand for the first example (^1.2.3 will get any 1 release greater than or equal to 1.2.3) and ~ is shorthand for the second example (~1.2.3 will get 1.2.3, 1.2.4, etc, but not 1.3.0).  Don't worry about writing this down; there will be an examples section in part two.

At this point, let's cover some of the wrong assumptions you might be making about Bower.

Bower is Just Git

It's helpful to know that Bower is really just a layer between you and Git tags.  Bower "knows" about releases by scanning Git tags for SemVer-like tag names.  When you register a Bower project, you have to give it a name and a Git endpoint–and that's it.  Bower then treats Git tags that look like SemVers as released versions, takes care of resolving the request for you, and performs Git actions on your behalf.

Where this bit us is that Bower is set up to periodically scan Git repos for tags.  It caches the Git tag list, which is reasonable, but when we're working with our own libraries and apps, it can be tedious to wait up to 10 minutes for a fresh version to show up in Bower.  We have since reduced this refresh rate to 1 minute, but it's still possible to be moving fast, catch Bower at the very beginning of that refresh cycle, and try to install your new lib/app but not have it show up because Bower doesn't know about it yet.

To actually do this with your private Bower server, edit the config file property repositoryCache.git.refreshTimeout from the default of 10 to something more reasonable.  

To see if a version is available yet, perform a bower info command.  Simply feed it the name of the project (such as bower info project-name), and, optionally, a version request (such as bower info project-name#>=1.2.3).  Without the version request it will return a full list of available versions, and with the version request you'll see which version it resolves to, which will hopefully be your freshly-released version.

Random Bower-related Git Tip

Say you're curious which branch was used to release a given version of an app – we typically work in descriptive branch names that may not indicate the version number.  You can find a branch related to a tag with the following:

git branch -r --contains 1.2.3

Bower Prefers Stable Versions

This should be tattooed on your forehead, and you should have a mirror at all times so you don't forget it.  Or at least, it should be added to the bower.io masthead.

When we say that it "prefers stable versions," let's explain by way of example.  Let's suppose we have these two versions available:

• 1.2.3
• 1.2.4-0 (a pre-release version)

And then let's suppose we specify that we want ~1.2.3 of this library. It's reasonable to think that the resolved version would be 1.2.4-0, because it's the latest release and the version is less than 1.3.0, so it fits the description.  However, it actually resolves to 1.2.3–because it prefers stable versions.  It doesn't matter if a newer, fresher pre-release is available; if a stable version matches the request, Bower declares that you roll with that.

But what if there are no stable versions that match?  Then, Bower sighs heavily and looks at you with an exasperated "if that's what you really want" kind of look and gives you the latest pre-release. For example, ~1.2.4 would resolve to 1.2.4-0.

Just to follow this logic through, if 1.2.4 was properly released, and 1.2.5-0 was begun, then:

• ~1.2.3 resolves to 1.2.4, because it's the latest stable release
• ~1.2.4 resolves to 1.2.4, because it's the latest stable release
• ~1.2.5 resolves to 1.2.5-0, because there is no stable release that qualifies, and that's the latest pre-release.

Major Version 0 is Special

Bower treats v0.y.z as initial development, which means that the public API should not be considered stable.  This actually has ramifications when using the caret as a range identifier (see below).

You Don't Need to Specify a Full Triad in Bower

You can specify a version as simply 1 or 1.2.  Specifying a single digit is, in effect, specifying the major version, and saying, "I care not what minor and patch version I get, just get me the latest."  In other words, 1 == ^1.0.0. Using just two digits, such as 1.2, will, as you might expect, be the same as ~1.2.0.  This in itself isn't terrible, but it leads to the following...

^ Behaves Differently Depending on Unexpected Things

We initially explained the caret as a range that is greater than or equal to the specified version, including patch and minor updates but not major updates.  There is a dramatic "but" here–the official node-semver definition of the caret is that it allows changes that do not modify the leftmost nonzero digit.  So if you specified ^0.0.3, 3 is the leftmost nonzero digit, and that's not allowed to be modified when using the caret, so you've basically locked this down to 0.0.3.  And ^0.2.3 is basically the same as ~0.2.3.

~ Has Alternate Behaviors, Too

Not be left out, the tilde also has exceptions to the basic rule.  Generally the tilde allows patch-level changes, but if you have specified a simple ~1, then minor-level changes are allowed.  That is, ~1 == ^1.0.0.  Just to be clear, ~1.2 == ~1.2.0.  That's a slight difference from ~1.2.3, which wouldn't pick up 1.2.0.

Pre-release Tags Factor Into the Version

Let's start with some basic facts:

• A pre-release is a version that is not considered stable or finished.  SemVer stipulates that a version must not be changed once it is released, but a pre-release is a way to iterate over a single version during development.
• In SemVer, a pre-release is designated as either:
  • A hyphen and then a digit following the main tuple (such as 1.2.3-0).  The digit gets incremented as pre-releases are made.
  • A hyphen, a string identifier, a dot, and a digit (such as 1.2.3-awesome-feature.0).  The string identifier can only contain alphanumerics and hyphens.  The digit after the dot would get incremented as pre-releases are made.
• A pre-release tag is the string identifier in the previous example.

Bower seems a little hard to understand when it comes to discerning pre-release tags. Consider the following scenario: Two teams are working on the next release of awesome-project, and differentiate their work with versions 1.2.3-awesome-feature.0 and 1.2.3-killer-feature.0.  Obviously they increment the .0 to .1, and so on, as needed.

Now, let's say you're on the "awesome feature" team.  And you want to request that version, not the "killer feature" version.  So you set awesome-project's version in your app's bower.json to >=1.2.3-awesome-feature.0. And you would reasonably expect Bower to pick up the latest "awesome feature" tag, whether it's .0 or .12.

You can tell where this is going; it doesn't.  It picks up the latest "killer feature" tag.  Why?  Because Bower doesn't look at the pre-release tag so much as an identifier in its own right, but as an indicator that there is a pre-release tag.  Once it sees that you want a pre-release tag, it looks at all pre-release tags and picks the highest one.  As in, alphabetically highest.  Therefore, "killer-feature" will win out over "awesome-feature."

It gets better.  You don't even need to supply an existing pre-release tag to get Bower to look for them.  This request will also resolve to the latest "killer feature" release: >=1.2.3-made-up-stuff.  We kid you not.

The only way to restrict Bower to a single tag is with the following: >=1.2.3-awesome-feature.0 <1.2.3-awesome-feature.100 or some improbably high number.  This is rather unwieldy, but it does work.

As such, pre-release tags may be useful for supplying meaning to a version in development, but not much else.

To Be Continued

In Part Two, I'll take these little bits of Bower logic and share our solution for working with Bower in a way that allows multiple teams to work in parallel, using Bower as a means to distribute our in-house libraries.

References and Further Reading

Official SemVer spec: http://semver.org/

Official node-semver spec: https://github.com/npm/node-semver#versions

A decent introduction to SemVer ranges: http://developer.telerik.com/featured/mystical-magical-semver-ranges-used-npm-bower/

A short and easy-to-read attempt at making the SemVer spec more approachable: http://semver-ftw.org/

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Video of the Week: Turkey in the Oven

Yes, you can do a balance pose in the kitchen, though maybe not with a real turkey. 

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Yoga for Healthy Eating (Rerun)

by Nina

Seeing that it’s the holiday season—when people often make resolutions regarding healthy eating—I thought now would be a good time to rerun our overview of yoga for healthy eating. Basically, between the two of us, we’ve come up with a four-pronged approach to support healthy eating:

• Understand your digestive system

• Practice stress management
• Cultivate mindfulness
• Strengthen Will Power

1. Understanding Your Digestive System

Baxter has recorded a short audio tour of the digestive system (see Audio Tracks) that you can use to learn about how your digestive system works and what happens to your food as and after you eat it. It’s especially helpful for you to learn about how your digestive system interacts with your Autonomic Nervous System and higher brain function. When you’re in a state of stress (see Stress, Your Health and Yoga), your nervous system diverts your body’s resources away from your digestive system (you don’t need to be eating or digesting your food when you’re running away from that tiger or that car that looks like it’s not going to be stopping before the crosswalk!). So chronic stress can cause digestive problems. In addition, even thinking about stressful situation can have a potential negative impact on digestion!

2. Practicing Stress Management

Chronic stress may not only cause digestive problems as I mentioned above, but the cortisol that is released can cause weight gain by stimulating your appetite (Yoga, Stress and Weight Management). So one of the most important things you can do to improve digestion and move toward healthy eating is to use your yoga practice to reduce your stress levels. See The Relaxation Response and Yoga for basic information on using yoga to switch your nervous system from the Fight or Flight response (stress mode) to the Rest and Digest response (relaxation mode). It’s not called the Rest and Digest mode for nothing!

3. Cultivating Mindfulness

Many poor eating habits are just that—habits! Practicing yoga asana with mindfulness and meditating will help you tune into your body, and not to ignore it. And as you tune into your body, you may learn about foods you are currently eating that are compromising your health (see Got Mindfulness?) or notice poor eating habits, such as eating beyond satiety (see Meditation and Healthy Eating). Cultivating mindfulness can teach you to recognize:

• which foods are good for you and which are not (not just junk food, but maybe food intolerances or allergies) 
• when you are full and don’t need to eat more
• when you are thirsty instead of hungry
• when you are eating for stress, not for hunger

See Yoga for Healthy Eating for more information.

Mindfulness will also help you start to recognize habitual thoughts that are getting in the way of healthy eating. You can then work on changing your perspective (see Cultivating the Opposite).


4. Strengthening Will Power

Once you’ve identified your habits or have decide to eliminate or cut back certain foods, it takes will power to change! According the Dr. Kelly McGonigal, being in a state of stress can increase impulsive behavior and decrease will power. So practicing stress management as we describe above will help with your will power (see Healthy Eating, Stress and Self Control). However, you can also use a meditation practice to intentionally strengthen your will power.  Meditation teaches you to return to your object of meditation (your focus) and tune out distractions (temptations):

“Neuroscientists have discovered that when you ask the brain to meditate, it gets better not just at meditating, but at a wide range of self-control skills, including attention, focus, stress management, impulse control, and self awareness. People who meditate regularly aren’t just better at these things. Over time, their brains become finely tuned willpower machines. Regular meditators have more gray matter in the prefrontal cortex, as well as regions of the brain that support self-awareness." —Dr. Kelly McGonigal

See Meditation and Healthy Eating for more information. 

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It is not finding gratitude that matters; it is remembering to look in the first place.

by Nina

In a Meadow by Melina Meza

II.33 Upon being harassed by negative thoughts, one should cultivate counteracting thoughts. —translated by Edwin Bryant

For some time now, I’ve been intrigued by Facebook posts from certain friends that simply list things the person is grateful for. I particularly like the ones by my friend Liz because her lists include very simple things, mostly free and available to almost everyone.

Today's good things:

1. Walked six miles;
2. Dog therapy on campus today, in particular the golden retriever puppy;
3. Watching the bushtits (birds) flit in and out of the trees on campus;
4. Got a lot of items off my 'to do' list at work, moving forward with several work projects and learning new things.

I also happen to know this gratitude practice is a very serious one for Liz, because she suffers from a serious, chronic illness that affects her quality of life and requires quite a bit of time spent in the hospital. She says, “It’s been bumpy, but I saw research that said gratitude practice helps. And I set intentions at the beginning of each day and have seen improvement.”

Today's good things:

1. Three mile walk at lunch, great watching the hawks circle;
2. Very productive day at work, a lot of weeding and organizing;
3. Ran into a lovely friend whom I haven't seen in a while, always great to catch up;
4. Gluten-free ice cream sandwiches

So I was very intrigued when I learned that neuroscientist Alex Korb’s book The Upward Spiral: Using Neuroscience to Reverse the Course of Depression, One Small Change at a Time actually provides a scientific explanation of why this practice works. Apparently, cultivating gratitude actually has a beneficial chemical effect on the brain, boosting dopamine (a neurotransmitter that helps control the brain's reward and pleasure centers) and serotonin (a neurotransmitter that affects our mood) levels.

“The benefits of gratitude start with the dopamine system, because feeling grateful activates the brain stem region that produces dopamine. Additionally, gratitude toward others increases activity in social dopamine circuits, which makes social interactions more enjoyable …”

“One powerful effect of gratitude is that it can boost serotonin. Trying to think of things you are grateful for forces you to focus on the positive aspects of your life. This simple act increases serotonin production in the anterior cingulate cortex.” —Dr. Korb

When I was thinking about how this practice related to yoga (haha, I figured it must!), I came back to this sutra by Patanjali about cultivating the opposite (pratipaksa-bhavanam).

II.33 Upon being harassed by negative thoughts, one should cultivate counteracting thoughts. —translated by Edwin Bryant

Bryant explains in his commentary on this sutra that the “negative thoughts” being referred to are those that counter the yamas and niyamas. So thoughts that are the opposite of contentment (the niyama santosha), such as dissatisfaction, displeasure, and unhappiness, would count as negative thoughts that you should counteract. And the practice of being grateful for what you have, which is cultivating contentment, is indeed the practice of cultivating thoughts that counteract dissatisfaction, displeasure, and unhappiness.

Of course, when you are being “harassed by negative thoughts,” it often isn’t easy to find and focus on things you are grateful for. But Korb says, the effort alone provides the benefits.

“It’s not finding gratitude that matters most; it’s remembering to look in the first place. Remembering to be grateful is a form of emotional intelligence. One study found that it actually affected neuron density in both the ventromedial and lateral prefrontal cortex. These density changes suggest that as emotional intelligence increases, the neurons in these areas become more efficient. With higher emotional intelligence, it simply takes less effort to be grateful.”

Fascinating, isn’t it? Just like strengthening a muscle, a regular gratitude practice makes you stronger at being grateful over time. So that means getting better as it as you age, and eventually more time spent in a state of contentment. And those brain density changes? That sounds to me like the gratitude practice is improving brain strength—always a good thing.

And by the way, thank you Liz for agreeing to share your story with us. I'm grateful for your friendship and your honesty.

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Mini Digestion Practice

by Baxter and Nina

Even though we posted this sequence a few years back, the day before American Thanksgiving seems like a good time to revisit Baxter's Mini Digestion Practice. Even if you don't celebrate American Thanksgiving—or if you don't overeat on that day—sooner or later we all need to pamper our digestive systems a bit.

A simple underlying principle for working with digestive issues is that no matter what’s going on, all digestive issues respond to restorative poses. Remember, the opposite of the Fight or Flight Response is the Rest and Digest Response (also known as the Relaxation Response—see Relaxation Reponse and Yoga for information). So, this mini restorative practice, which consists of three of Baxter’s favorite restorative poses, can be very helpful for digestive problems as well as other problems caused by stress, such as insomnia, fatigue, and anxiety. 

1. Reclined Cobbler’s Pose, from 10 to 20 minutes. Set a timer so you don’t fall asleep in the pose.

You will notice from the photograph that we’re using quite a few official yoga props (including a block under the bolster to prop the bolster at an angle). Don’t let this prevent you from trying it! If you don't have bolsters and blocks, look around your house to see what else you can use; try cushions from your couch, folded blankets, beach towels, and so on. Just make sure you’re completely physically comfortable in the pose. (See Featured Pose: Reclined Cobbler's Pose for more information.)

One of the important parts of completing digestion is good elimination. In addition to physical relaxation, which this pose provides, gravity is also helpful for good elimination. As you can see from the photo, Reclined Cobbler’s pose creates a gradual slope from your head to your hips. Therefore, it’s possible that this pose can help with problems such as constipation and sluggish elimination. One of our favorite teachers, Patricia Walden, suggests that this pose may increase blood flow to your organs, as well as cool your digestive fire. 

2. Supported Child’s Pose, for 3 to 5 minutes. Turn your head to the other side when you’re half way through.

Make sure your bolster (or folded blankets, stacked pillows or couch cushion) is pulled in against your pubic bone so your belly actually rests on the prop. If necessary, turn the bolster on its edge or add folded blankets on top of the bolster to make sure your belly is fully supported. (See Featured Pose: Supported Child's Pose for more information.)

As you can see from the photo, Child’s pose is a forward bend of your belly toward your thighs. Because the bolster is pressing against your belly, it’s possible this posture will have a stimulating effect on your digestive system and your abdominal organs. Patricia Walden suggests that this pose can relieve constipation, gas, and bloating.

3. Legs Up the Wall pose, from 10 to 15 minutes. Come out if your legs fall asleep.

We’re showing two versions of the pose, one with just a folded blanket and the other using a bolster with a folded blanket underneath it and a second folded blanket under the spine. Try both versions to see which one is more comfortable for you. If they are equally comfortable, try the higher version, as this may enhance your relaxation. (See Featured Pose: Legs Up the Wall Pose for more information.)

This pose is a slight inversion (more so on the bolster than on the blanket). Therefore, it could have any even more profound quieting effect on your nervous system than the first two poses. Also because your hips are higher than your heart, there is a mild reversal of the effects of gravity, which could quiet an over-stimulated system in people who have, for example, IBS or chronic diarrhea. Patricia Walden says this is an excellent pose of nausea and diarrhea. However, if you have a history of gerd or chronic heartburn, take care with this pose, and come out if makes your symptoms worse. 

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Featured Pose: Marichi's Pose 3 (Marichyasana 3)

by Baxter

Like Easy Sitting Twist, Marichi’s pose 3 (Marichyasana 3, named after the sage Marichi) is a basic seated twist that is generally accessible, though some will be a bit more challenging due to the leg and arm positions.

Also, like Easy Sitting Twist, Marichi’s pose 3 helps to maintain and improve your twisting flexibility, which you need for everyday actions such as grabbing something off to your side or turning to look behind you as you drive. The pose also strengthens your diagonally oriented muscles, including the abdominal obliques, as well as the small muscles between your ribs and close to your spine. While some of these muscles are shortening in the twist and others are lengthening, by twisting in both directions, you will both strengthen and stretch them all. Additionally, as your small spinal muscles pull on your spinal bones in the twist, they actually stimulate thin bones to strengthen over time, so a simple twist can help strengthen the bones of your spine (although those with osteoporosis/osteopenia may need to be careful not to overdo twists). And moving your spine through its full range of motion helps nourish the spinal joints to keep them healthy.

The leg position provides the additional benefits of stretching your outer hip muscles on the bent knee side and your hamstrings and inner thigh muscles on the straight leg side.

I prescribe this pose for:

• Improving the twisting ability of your spine, from your tailbone to the top of your neck
• Stretching outer hips, hamstrings and inner thigh muscles
• Addressing some digestive issues, such as sluggish digestion and elimination as twisting seems to help these functions
• Improving sitting posture by strengthening back, front and side muscles that contribute to spinal elongation
• General stimulation of your body and nervous system
• Releasing physical tension from your body
• Counter-pose for backbends or forward bends

Cautions: Due to the asymmetry of the legs, this twist can be problematic for those with lower back pain and dysfunction as it can aggravate their symptoms. Those with wrist pain may need to modify the position of the back hand, as this twist brings more potential pressure into that area. And because this twist constricts the abdomen, women in the 2nd and 3rd trimester of pregnancy should do other more open twists (see version 4 of Easy Sitting Twist), as well as those with diagnosed osteoporosis.

1. Classic Version

Start by sitting in Staff pose (Dandasana), with your legs extended straight forward and your hands on the floor by your hips. Now bend your right knee and place your right foot on the floor near your right sitting bone and a few inches away from the straight leg. 

Place your right hand on the floor 6 to 12 inches behind your right hip. Keeping your right elbow straight, firm your fingertips or palm into the floor, and create a subtle, internal lengthening up from your hand to your chest that will support the lengthening of your spine. Next, reach your left arm up toward the ceiling. Then, on a exhalation, turn your upper belly and chest toward your right leg while bending your left elbow and bringing it across the outside of your right knee, pressing it back into your outer knee and leg. Either keep your head in a neutral position as shown the photo of the classic pose, or, if comfortable, turn to face your back hand, as shown for version 3. 

Although it may be tempting to use your arms to lever yourself aggressively deeper into the twist, concentrate your muscular action in your abdomen and spine instead of using your arms. Keep your sitting bones even side to side and your left leg strong and straight at the knee. As you inhale lengthen up from your tailbone to the crown of your head, and as you exhale gently encourage your spine and chest to turn a bit more deeply towards your right leg. 

Continue this subtle shift of inner attention and action from breath to breath for 30-60 seconds, gradually working towards longer holds of 2-3 minutes. To come out of the pose, release the twist and place your hands on the floor, and straighten your right leg to come back into Staff pose. Repeat the pose on the second side. 

2. Hand on Knee

For many practitioners—either due to general stiffness or larger body size, bringing the elbow to the outside of the knee can be problematic or even impossible. This variation provides you makes the pose accessible by providing an alternate hand placement.

To come into the pose, follow the same steps as the classic version, except when you bring your left arm over to the right, simply bend your left elbow and hook your left hand around the front of your right knee. From here, practice the pose as in the classic version.

3. Seated On Prop 

For those with tight hamstrings or stiff or rounded lower backs, elevating your hips a few inches off the ground on a blanket can allow you to do the pose while maintaining a straighter back and leg.

Start by folding a blanket into a narrow rectangle and placing it crosswise on your mat. Then sit down at the front edge of the blanket (on the thicker folded edge), and come into Staff pose. From there, follow the steps for the classic version of the pose, using either the arm position from either the classic or hand-on-knee versions. If you have trouble placing your back hand on the floor without leaning back, use a block to support that hand so your spine remains vertical and upright. From here, practice the pose as in the classic version.

4. Foot Crossed Over Leg

(sorry, no photo) 

This variation is for those who already have fairly open outer hips and want to increase flexibility in that area. 

To come into the pose, start in Staff pose, as described above. Bend your right leg and bring your right foot towards your right sitting bone. Then lift your right foot up and over your left leg, and place the sole of your right foot on the floor, just to the outside of the middle of your left thigh. If your foot can not easily remain flat on the floor or if your right sitting bone lifts way off the floor, you may not be ready for this variation, so you should return to versions 1-3 for now. Otherwise, follow the steps for the classic version of the pose, using either the arm position from either the classic or hand-on-knee versions.

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Video of the Week: The Marionette 2.0

With this new version of The Marionette, a one-legged balancing pose, you may actually feel more like a marionette! Try to keep your torso and hips steady as you puppeteer your lifted leg around in space. Special thanks go out to Tress Fontaine for the idea.

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Friday Practical Pointers: Forward Bending of the Spine

by Baxter

We are often asked by someone if they should avoid certain movements in the joints when doing yoga poses, especially if that person has something going on a particular area. Perhaps the most common area that I get asked about is the movements of the spine (see All About the Spine: Anatomy and Movements for info on spinal movements) These include forward bending (known technically as flexion of the spine), back bending, (known technically as extension of the spine), twisting (known as rotation of the spine), and side-bending (often referred to as lateral side-bending of the spine). There are, of course, possible combinations of these movements in complex everyday activities, such as reaching into the back corner of a deep car trunk to grab a bag of groceries, which includes forward bending, twisting and a bit of side bending, and in real life we rarely do a single spinal movement at one time. But, in general, if there is a particular movement you shouldn't be doing on its own, you should not do it combined with other movements.

For now, I’d like to keep it simple and address each one of those basic spinal movements over the coming weeks. Today, let’s take a look at those who should avoid forward bending of the spine, as encountered in yoga poses where you bring the front of your torso toward your legs, such as Child’s pose (Balasana), Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana), Seated Straight Legged Forward Bend (Paschimottanasana), and many others. Forward bending of the spine includes bending from any point in your spine, from your neck all the way to the top of your pelvis. (You can also forward bend strictly from the hip joints, a movement I’m not addressing today.) 

So who needs to avoid the forward bending spinal movement?

Always Avoid For:

• Osteoporosis of the thoracic (rib cage area) spine 
• Herniated discs anywhere along the spine (most commonly at the cervical or neck area of the spine and the lumbar or lower back area of the spine)

Avoid if Pain is Acute or Symptoms Worsen For:

• Low back pain that is worsened by forward bending of the spine 
• Acute strain of the lower back if you notice pain with forward bending 
• A history of degenerative discs in the spaces between the lowest spinal bones, the vertebrae, if you notice pain with forward bending 
• Spinal stenosis, if you have been instructed by the doctor to minimize forward bends 
• 2nd and 3rd trimester of pregnancy, if you notice pain with forward bending 
• Abdominal hernias or abdominal wall separation if increased bulging in those areas is created by forward bending 
• Hamstring tendonitis, if you notice any pain in your hamstring muscles created by this movement 

For those of you who cannot forward bend your spine, note that you can still practice certain “forward bend” poses by folding forward from your hip joints while keeping a neutral spine. For example, you could practice a seated forward behind with a straight back or a “half” version of Standing Forward Bend (Ardha Uttanasana) by coming forward with a straight back and placing your hands on high prop or on your legs. 

If any of you can think of other conditions that we should include on this list, please let us know!

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4 Tips For Serious Muscle Gain

Believe it or not, if you want serious muscle gain then you must do more than just go to the gym and pump iron. If you aren’t eating and drinking correctly then you may simply be wasting all your effort.

Here are 4 tips to making sure you can gain a substantial amount of muscle in the next few months:

1. Eat the right amount of calories

This is crucial to building muscle. You’ll not be able to increase your weight and muscle if you aren’t eating enough calories. You’ll just be burning off what you already have. So pay close attention to how much you are consuming and how much you are burning off. You can use bodybuilding supplements to help with this.

2. Eat enough protein

If you don’t eat the right amount of proteins, then your muscles will lose their tone and mass very quickly. Protein helps the muscles to grow whilst still maintaining the tone. You can get protein from meats and fish and also from bodybuilding supplements such as high protein bars or shakes.

3. Train, train, train and then train some more!

Obviously to build muscle you must weight train effectively. Constantly exerting your muscles will help them grow larger and become more toned. But you must also have the right balance of protein, calories, water and nutrients. Otherwise your muscles won’t be able to grow naturally.

4. Introduce Creatine into your diet

When the body needs energy, it will take it from stored fats but also from muscle. To prevent this you can use Creatine to feed the body the fuel it needs so that it won’t break down the muscles. This is a great way to keep your muscles large and will only get bigger the more you train.

Burning fat will also help your muscle definition to show through also. Burn The Fat - Feed The Muscle is a fantastic guide to help you do this quickly.

Hopefully these 4 tips for serious muscle gain will help you realise that there really is more to building muscle than just going to the gym and lifting some weights. Just follow these tips and you’ll be surprised at how quickly you can start to build up those muscles!

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The Importance of Yoga for Strength

by Nina

Lately as I’ve been teaching yoga for healthy aging to several older people, I’ve couldn’t help but notice how weak some of them are. For example, one woman has trouble balancing because knee problems led her to stop walking and her legs became very weak. (Even though balance requires much more than just brute strength—see Yoga and Balance: An Overview—if you don’t have the muscle tone to keep yourself upright, you’re going to be all wobbly.) Then, there’s the man who walks regularly but who is losing his upper body strength due to a white-collar job that leaves him using his body for light physical labor only on the weekends. 

Left unchecked, this kind of muscular weakness could lead to an inability to live independently because even the simplest daily activities, such as getting up out of bed, getting out of a chair, and, especially, walking up or down the stairs, require strength. (See Yoga for Strength: An Overview for information about what happens to muscular strength as you age.) And lack of ability to balance due to weakness is going to increase the risk of falling, which is a serious problem for older people (see The Importance of Preventing Falls).

In fact, even though I had originally intended to cycle between strength, flexibility, balance, and agility, I quickly realized yoga for strength should be included as part of every single yoga for healthy aging class or daily home practice. So I thought today I’d recommend a few of my favorite strengthening poses and practices. Although Baxter has written some full-length sequences for strength (see Lower Body Strength Practice, Upper Body Strength Practice, Core Strength Practice), you can don’t necessarily have to do a long practice. I feel that practicing just a few strengthening poses on a regular basis will allow you to bring about real change. What I like about the following poses is that they are simple, accessible, and safe, yet they allow you to work as hard as you wish (though longer holds or repetitions). 

And although I haven’t been focusing specifically on bone strength—I can’t tell what’s going on with people’s bone strength just from looking at them—the good news is that all these poses will strengthen bones at the same time they strengthen muscles. 

1. Warrior 2 (Virabradrasana 2) mini vinyasa, followed with a long hold of the pose. People with balance issues can practice with their backs near a wall. Provides both lower body and upper body strengthening. See Warrior 1 and Warrior 2 Mini Vinyasasas and Featured Pose: Warrior 2 (Revisited).

2. Warrior 1 (Virabradrasana 1) mini vinyasa, followed by a long hold of the pose. People with balance issues can practice with their back heel against the wall. Provides both lower body and upper body strengthening. See Warrior 1 and Warrior 2 Mini Vinyasasas.

3. Powerful pose (Utkatasana), in all its variations. I particularly like using a block between the thighs to activate the thigh muscles, which are so vital for basic movements of getting around in the world, especially getting up out of a chair or off the toilet. Provides both lower body and upper body strengthening. See Featured Pose: Powerful Pose.

4. Downward-Facing Dog pose (Adho Mukha Svanasana), in all its variations. Provides upper body strength. See Featured Pose: Downward-Facing Dog Pose.

5. Plank pose, in all its variations. Provides upper body and core strength. See Featured Pose: Plank Pose.

6. Side Plank pose (Vasithasana), in all its variations. Almost anyone can do the wall version. Provides upper body, side body, and core strength. See Featured Pose: Side Plank Pose.

7. Upward Plank pose (Purvottanasana), in all its variations. Provides upper body, back, and core strength. See Featured Pose: Upward Plank Pose.

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