Pro Bodybuilders eat about one gram (sometimes even 1.5 grams) of protein per pound of body weight or per pound of non-fat tissue. I'm sure you've seen that the recommended dail
Q: In yesterday’s post Flexibility and Aging, Shari recommended Purvottanasana as an essential pose for maintaining flexible. But this is a challenging pose for a large number of people. Are there any good alternatives?
A: I’m so glad you asked this question! I, myself, was wondering whether I should mention some more accessible variations of Purvottanasana (Upward Plank pose). Then one of our readers, Joanne, left a comment on the post describing how she teaches the pose to her older students using a chair. Before I get to her comment, I’d like to start by describing some of the variations I know, starting with a modified version of the pose you can do on the floor.
Instead of going into the pose with straight legs, start with your knees bent and the soles of your feet the ground. Then, as you press up into the pose, keep your knees bent so your body forms a kind of table shape (this version is sometimes called Table pose). I found an odd little video of it for you (try not to turn your head to face the camera when you do the pose, though):
Another version of this pose that you can do almost anywhere, in any clothing, is the door or kitchen sink version. In the door version, you open the door that has doorknobs on both sides, and stand with your back about six inches in front of thin edge of the door. Reach back with both hands and take hold of the doorknobs behind you. Then, moving from your upper chest rather than your lower back, allow yourself to lean forward away from door, so you come into a Purvottanasana shape, hanging from the door knobs.
In the kitchen sink version, you stand with your back about six inches from the kitchen sink. Then reach back with both hands to grasp the front lip of the sink. As in the door version, moving from your upper chest rather than your lower back, allow yourself to lean forward away from door, so you come into a Purvottanasana shape, hanging from the door knobs.
Last but not least is the chair version that Joanne (thank you, Joanne!) wrote to us about, which makes the pose accessible to folks who are unable to practice on the floor. I’ll let Joanne tell you about the pose in her own words because the results she achieved with her students are so inspiring:
“My chair yoga students do a variation of Purvottanasana that is easier for older students. Sit near the front edge of the chair seat. Place your hands behind you, grasping the side edges of the seat near the back. First just feel a stretch in the upper back, lifting the sternum and arching the upper back. Then move the feet out in front, hip distance apart and pointing forward. Lift the pelvis off the chair. Hold as long as comfortable.
When we first did this, the students were collapsing back on the chair seat after just a few seconds. Now they can hold this position for 30 seconds and longer. One woman who is 87 can hold it for a long time! One woman who is very overweight struggled for over a year to lift her pelvis off the chair. For weeks she pushed with her arms, getting stronger every time. Finally she lifted up and was she ever proud of herself. Now she can hold this position for a long time.”
With all these options, there will surely be a variation that everyone can do. Combining this pose with some version of Downward-Facing Dog pose (if you can’t do the full pose, put your hands on a chair seat, a table top, or on the wall) allows you to stretch both your front body and back body while you strengthen your arms.
Shari and I have talked in the past about how essential it is to maintain strength as we age (see Strength and Aging), but I’ve learned from her that it’s equally essential to maintain our flexibility. I thought today I’d talk with her about this important topic. —Nina
Nina: Why is it important to work on flexibility as we age?
Shari: This question kind of has a long answer because we need to define flexibility and how it might change as we age. The first thing is that as we age we tend to only do things we like to. There isn’t anyone telling us to “stand up straight” or go for a walk or do something other than lay on the couch! I am sort of exaggerating but the truth is that we tend to have habitual postures, and if we don’t reverse these postures often during the day we end up looking like what we do all day. If you sit in a soft sofa or recliner chair all day long when you finally decide you WANT to stand erect, you might not be able to because certain muscle groups have shortened from habitual posture! Also, the adage “use it or lose it” really is true in regards to flexibility. So if you want to continue to be mobile and independent as you age, maintaining flexibility is as important as maintaining strength.
So what should the couch potato do to counteract their sitting posture? Stretch those hips, upper and mid and low back! Move those arms and legs! See yoga does affect our flexibility. But why? When we perform asana, whether it is active or more passive like supported restorative poses, our muscles are often lengthened. We know this intuitively because when we stretch TOO much, we pull back and come out of a pose (at least that is the safe and healthy way to practice asana). But we can also intelligently approach stretching in asana by understanding some fundamental spinal cord reflexes all of us have, at least those of us who are ambulatory with four limbs moving in space.
There are three main spinal cord reflexes: the stretch reflex, the autogenic inhibition, and the reciprocal inhibition.
The stretch reflex is a specialized reflex that regulates the length of your muscles. Whenever you elongate a muscle beyond a certain preset length or unconsciously stretch it too fast, this reflex makes the muscle automatically contract so you can’t lengthen it any further. The stretch reflex is governed by a long thin receptor in the muscles called a muscle spindle. The spindle’s role is to let our feedback systems know about muscle length and the rate of muscle lengthening. When a muscle is rapidly stretched, the spindle (via a loop of nerves) triggers a reflex contraction of the muscle that is undergoing the stretch and this muscle contraction limits the stretching of the muscle.
Within the muscle tendon (which attaches muscle fibers to bone) are structures called Golgi tendon organs (GTO). The GTO’s are stretch sensors, which provide the central nervous system with information on muscle tension. When a muscle is either contracted or lengthened (stretched), this information is processed by the central nervous system. The central nervous system then tells the muscle to release and be inhibited from contracting or to relax and lengthen. This autogenic inhibition protects the muscle from tearing.
The muscle spindle is also responsible for a phenomenon known as reciprocal inhibition. In this case when a muscle contracts, the opposite muscle will relax to allow the movement to occur without resistance. An example here is when you straighten your leg, the quadriceps muscles cause the knee to straighten, but for this to occur the hamstrings on the back of the leg/knee must relax or release at the same time.
We can perform static stretches where our body’s joints are positioned in their outer limits of available range and hold these positions for a certain time, this activity becomes a continuous passive stretch. This type of stretching is typically safe because we don’t go further than we are able. In this type of stretch the connective tissue and the non-contractile tissue is lengthened because of its unique structure. Muscle tissue is called viscoelastic because it CAN lengthen and then return to it’s “resting length.” This is basically what we are doing in asana. AND if we hold a pose for more than 6 -20 seconds, we can stimulate the autogenic inhibitory reflex to trigger a relaxation in the muscle.
If you are interested in a scientific approach to stretching, get Ray Long’s anatomy and asana books for clear through pictures and direct relationship to asana practice. He has six books and you can find them on Amazon. Also, see Fernando Pages Ruiz’s article What science can teach us about flexbility in Yoga Journal March April 2000 issue.
Nina: Which are the most important areas to target for maintaining flexibility as we age?
Shari: How about the entire body? Honestly, I can’t think of any area that should be neglected if we consciously stretch. Of course, we all think about our legs (hamstrings) and hips (hip flexors), but what about keeping mobile ankles and feet and hands? Think about all the arthritic changes that happen in our hands and feet as we age. Also, our spines absolutely need to be maintained to perform full range of motion for flexion, extension, side-bending and rotation. Our activities of daily living aren’t enough and we need to MOVE out of our habitual postures.
Nina: It’s true that most people think about their legs being stiff and maybe their hips, but not so much about their spines, shoulders, feet, ankles, and hands. So what are you favorite poses for maintaining flexibility?
Shari: My favorite poses for maintaining flexibility would be Downward-Facing Dog pose and Purvottanasana (Upward Plank pose). I think of these two poses going together, with the back body being stretch in Downward Dog and the front body in Purvottanasana. Shoulder flexion is nicely addressed in Dog pose and shoulder extension in Purvottanasana.
And, of course, backbends are important for stretching the muscles that get tight from typical seated positions. Passive backbends are good because they don’t take as much muscular effort as Upward Bow pose (Dhanurasana). In an ideal world we should practice our flexibility poses daily. We could do both Downward Dog pose and Purvottanasana for 30 seconds. Then, if we were on a roll, we could add Triangle pose (Trikonasana), and Extended Side Angle pose (Parsvokonasana). Simple and effective!
Nina: What a great mini practice! Both Downward-Facing Dog pose and Purvottansana are also excellent for building upper body strength. Most people practice Downward-Facing Dog pose on a regular basis, but I think Purvottansana is often overlooked and under-appreciated. Thanks for reminding us about what a valuable pose it is.
Although we haven’t addressed the issue so far on this blog, we’re all aware that maintaining healthy eating habits and a healthy weight as we age is vital for healthy aging. As Dr. Timothy McCall says in Yoga As Medicine:
“This is a matter of serious concern because there is little doubt that being overweight can have major health consequences, including type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, high blood pressure, heart disease, and some forms of cancer. Extra body weight makes back problems more likely, increase the strain on the joints, and can contribute to or worsen injuries to ankles, knees, hips and other vulnerable areas of the body.”
And Brad says that being overweight may contribute to a shorter health span (the years of your life during which you are relatively healthy) as well as a shorter life span. So recently Baxter and I decided that we wanted to learn more about how yoga can help with healthy eating. As a first step, I decided to interview Dayna Macy, who is a long-time yoga practitioner and the author of Ravenous, which describes how her yoga practice helped her lose weight and develop healthier eating habits for life.
Nina: Can you tell us a little about your weight issues and how yoga has helped you with maintaining healthier eating habits?
Dayna: I've overeaten for most of my life. It wasn't until I hit 35 that my habits really started to catch up with me. I put on a lot of weight and that made my yoga practice, and my life, difficult. Extra weight made it difficult to do any kind of flowing asana. And it made standing poses and inversions more difficult as well, because it was hard to hold a pose for any length of time. My extra weight also made it harder to simply move through my day. Hiking, cleaning, walking the dog, the stuff of daily life is made more difficult when you have excess weight. When I reached my mid-forties, I realized that if I didn't really start to get a grip on my issues, I was looking at a less than optimal midlife and old age.
I think it's always wise to start where you are, and yoga is a fundamental part of my life. I've been practicing for twenty years. Who and what you are shows up on the mat, and I knew that the practice itself could help me see myself more clearly. It helps you "be here now" and that is essential when wrestling with issues of habit and addiction.
Nina: Are there any particular yoga poses or practices that you found especially helpful for healthier eating and that you would recommend to other people?
Dayna: I have learned to pay deep attention to my feet and how my feet are grounded on the mat. It is essential to learn to literally ground your body when you are working with old samskaras and habits that you want to unwind. I also found slow and attentive sun salutations very useful. It builds tapas and heat, and for people who are carrying extra weight, it is important to slowly burn your inner fire.
Nina: Now that your book has been published, have you heard anything from other people who have also been able to change their eating habits? If so, what about your story do you think has inspired them the most?
Dayna: What I learned most is that just like yoga is a practice, so is learning to eat in a way that serves your body. Most people don't just sit in Lotus, they work to open their hips and one day, maybe, they get there. It's the same with food. You are discovering who you are in your relationship with eating. You don't just wake up one day and say, "ah ha! This is the perfect way to eat! Now I will do this perfectly from now on!" Knowledge is earned and learned, one day at a time. The truth must resonate and live in your body to become real change.
This sense of slow change is helpful for people. It gives them breathing room to experiment and learn. We hear a lot in yoga about how there is no perfect pose. I would say you could also say that about eating, weight and our bodies. In the course of my journey, I lost about 25 pounds. I'm still a curvy girl. And frankly, even at my thinnest, I was still a curvy girl. What I've learned is that I am so grateful for my body. Today, at 51, I'm healthy, active, and my body works. It's a miracle. I spend less and less time wishing I were something other, and more time grateful for what I am. This is the gift of yoga.
Photo by Victoria Yee
Dayna Macy is the communications director and managing editor of international editions for Yoga Journal. Her book, Ravenous: A Food Lover's Journey from Obsession to Freedom, was recently published by Hay House. See www.daynamacy.com for more information about Dayna and her book.
by Baxter Part 3 today of my series on ankles! This post is for those people with more serious injuries than ankle sprains or with post-surgical repair. Although many of recommendations for acute ankle sprain may apply (see Ankle Sprains), your ankle may have some movement restriction in any of the directions we have covered under Getting to Know Your Ankles (plantar flexion, dorsiflexion, supination, and pronation). And because of this, you may be advised by your surgeon to avoid overstretching your ankle to help preserve the stability that surgical correction has provided. Therefore, you may need to modify poses that require more plantar flexion or dorsiflexion than your ankle safely permits, as well as any other combination of movements. My favorite way of accommodating these variables is by using a yoga wedge. Many studios have at least a few of these around for you to use in class, but you may want to get one for yourself to use for your home practice.
Typical Yoga Wedge
Let’s look at an example of how you might use the wedge. Say you have limited ability to point your right foot; in other words, you have limited plantar flexion. Poses like Triangle pose (Trikonasana) and Pyramid pose (Parsvottanasana) would be challenging for your front leg when it is your right one. Without support, the ball of your foot might be up in the air, unable to touch the ground. By placing the wedge pointing toward you under the ball of your right foot, you can now ground down though both your heel and the ball of your foot.
For limited plantar flexion, wedge goes under front foot.
The opposite case would be limited dorsiflexion of the foot. Say you have limited dorsiflexion of your right foot. In this scenario, poses like Downward-Facing Dog pose or the back foot in Warrior 1, Warrior 2, Triangle pose, Extended Side Angle pose and Pyramid pose,would all challenge your ability to safely press your back heel onto the floor. By positioning the wedge toward your heel and slipping it part way under your back foot, you may very well be able to ground both the ball and heel of your right foot.
For limited dorsiflexion, wedge goes under back foot.
Another challenge for our first example, limited Plantar flexion, is poses that require your shins to be on the ground and your feet to point backward, such as Hero’s pose, Child’s pose, Vajrasana and several other seated variations. In this situation, you want to create a support for the front of your ankle joint to diminish the pressure on the front of your ankle joint. Sometimes the wedge can be positioned to do the job, but I prefer to create a small roll with a yoga blanket and place that under the front of the ankle joints. As you drop into Child’s pose, for example, you should monitor your ankle for pain or any other suspicious sounds or symptoms. If you have the proper sized support, all should be quiet and happy on the affected side. By the way, place the support under both ankles so you don’t end up listing to one side. As always, cultivate patience with your body to both gently guide it back to a healthier place and honor its limitations. Subscribe to Yoga for Healthy Aging by Email ° Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook ° Join this site with Google Friend Connect
